In re: The Motorola Droid Bionic

I purchased the Motorola Droid Bionic phone before Thanksgiving this year. I love it. I recommend it to any lawyer looking to purchase an Android smartphone.

The Connected Lawyer, Bryan Sims, also has a Droid Bionic. He loves his.

However, Bryan has some complaints, which I want to address, and which are complaints about any smartphone in general.

Complaint #1: It is big. Yes, the Droid Bionic is bigger than most other smartphones. I dont mind the weight, and I have an extended battery too (not sure if The Connected Lawyer bought the extended battery.) I carry my phone on my hip because Im a cowboy because Im a geek. I was a sucker and made the salesman some extra cash purchased the protective case and hip holster. This adds a little weight to the device too.

Complaint #2: Iffy connections. I agree with this complaint. Sometimes my device suffers data loss, but its quick to recover. However, Motorola released a major update (which begs the question why so soon?) that fixes the connectivity problem. To apply the update: Settings > About phone > System updates. After the download, youll be on system version 5.5.893blahblahblah. Its great. I no longer lose connection.

Complaint #3: Contact pictures. Not exactly sure what this is, because all of my contacts have transferred over. I dont use Exchange server though. Using sync for Google Apps, my Outlook and Google Apps accounts talk like theyre two old friends. Unfortunately, my biggest problem in this arena is organizing my contacts into some meaningful categories in Outlook and on Google Apps.

Complaint #4: Battery life. Yes, more power means more battery consumption. I dont have this problem because I purchased the expansion, which basically gives me a gazillion hours (Im not sure how many, thats just a lie) of use. I also have a car charger/dock and charging cables in my office, so that helps too. I also havent experienced much battery drain when using my phone as a hotspot. I suspect that if I had multiple devices connected, that might be a problem.

A couple suggestions to conserve battery life on any device:

1. Turn off Wi-Fi. This is a proven battery killer. Settings > Wireless & networks > Wi-Fi
2. Turn down the brightness of your screen. Settings > Display > Brightness
3. Disable widgets. Widgets, those cute little apps that run in the background and feed you everything from the weather to your social media, feast at the battery buffet.
4. Turn off background updates and notifications. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Google Voice, Email, and similar apps, always ask for permission to deliver you timely information. Unfortunately, these notification updates also feast at the battery buffet. If youre not interested in knowing what your friends are doing every minute of the day, kill these background updates.
5. Connect to cords when using a hotspot. I usually connect my Droid Bionic to my tablet or netbook via USB if Im going to be hotspotting for awhile. This keeps my device charged, and I can still use Wi-Fi, which is faster than the USB connection.
6. Limit videos. If youre streaming a lot of Netflix movies, YouTube videos, or NFL, youre going to use a lot of battery. Im impressed though. I watched 5 full episodes of Burn Notice, on Netflix, without so much as a hint of battery drain.

Unlike Bryan though, I have one small complaint which Ill add to his list: call volume. Not sure if its my hearing loss, or the Droid Bionic itself, but I notice that when I talk on the phone, the volume is atrocious. Sometimes I can barely hear the other party. Its likely me, because a slight adjustment of the phone on my ear helps correct the issue. I prefer, although the listener may not, to operate from my car dock using my car stereo.

We both love our Motorola Droid Bionic smartphones. I think any attorney looking for an Android device will be happy with the Droid Bionic. In case you didnt know, I debated between the HTC Rezound, the Motorola Droid Razr, and the Motorola Droid Bionic.

Update: 9:52 CST Heres an actual photo from my Droid Bionic: