This past January at CES, there were many announcements that seriously caught our attention in the mobile space. One such announcement was the Motorola Droid Bionic, which has since seen its fair share of mishaps, delays, and whatever could happen to a handset to keep it from store shelves. More than half a year later, the handset that made everyone swoon may soon be eclipsed by better choices soon to come.
Like we have covered before, the allure of the Droid Bionic wasn’t that it was a good phone, but the fact that it was the first handset to support a dual-core processor and Verizon’s 4G LTE network. Fast forward to today and such a handset still doesn’t sit on the shelves of the largest carrier in the US, but we do know of a few that could. The problem is that the rumored devices that may have the dual-core/LTE combo are seriously more appealing than the Bionic ever has been, and when you throw in the possibility that one of these rumored devices is a part of the Nexus line, one could say that the Bionic is already past its Prime.
When we first got our hands on the Droid Bionic, it looked a lot different from what we’ve been seeing more recently and that’s very much a good thing. The big and bulky handset has been slimmed down a bit but we’re not expecting the handset to be that thin, as we recently saw it sitting next to the upcoming Droid HD.
Techno Buffalo was recently tipped off that the Google Nexus Prime has graced the halls of Verizon’s offices. The first Ice Cream Sandwich device is said to bring one of the hottest feature sets ever seen on a handset, not to mention be the first handset of the Nexus line that would be available for Verizon. The minimal advertisement of the past two Nexus handsets yielded little fanfare outside of the uber-geek and development community but the hardware of the Prime and a carrier like Verizon backing it may prove to be much more successful than a large-scaled replica at the local Best Buy to get attention.
You’d be hard pressed to find a feature a feature the Bionic has that the Nexus Prime doesn’t. Of course, no one but a select few have even seen the latest Nexus device but we’d imagine that it’s basically going to kill everyone Android phone available today when it debuts. The rumored specs of the Nexus Prime, most of which likely will materialize completely, simply put the Bionic to shame. From the screen resolution and size to the dual-core processor’s clock speed, the Nexus takes the cake. Of course, not everyone will want a 4.5+ inch display in their pockets but we’d imagine that if you were considering a 4.3 inch display on the Bionic, an extra .2 inches isn’t going to be a deal breaker. Throw in the fact that the Nexus Prime will sport Samsung’s latest AMOLED display, the AMOLED HD, and we’re sold.
Oh yeah, and we’d take Ice Cream Sandwich over any version of Motoblur any day.
Google’s recent acquisition of Motorola may (hopefully) make the manufacturer change its ways on the software front in upcoming devices but that likely won’t happen with devices on track to ship this year. If you honestly want to know what the Bionic will be like, just go to your local Verizon store and look at the Droid X 2. Now imagine it thicker and with a LTE radio inside. If that’s all you’re asking for, grab the Bionic when it comes out.
If you’re looking for a top of the line handset that’s not a recycled version of an existing handset, wait and see what October will bring you. When Verizon LTE handsets run about $250-$300 a pop, you may find a bit more bang for your buck in the next Pure Google handset.
