Droid Bionic by Motorola Review

Design

In terms of physical appearance, the Droid Bionic by Motorola is similar to some of the other Motorola Droid smartphones we've seen from Verizon Wireless, such as the Droid X2. The phone has a basic candy bar form along with a thicker spot near the top. Whereas the Droid X2 features four hardware buttons at the base of the front of the phone, the Droid Bionic has four backlit touch-sensitive keys (Menu, Home, Back, and Search) that are flush with the screen.

As is the case with many candy bar-style Android phones today, the Droid Bionic's 4.3-inch qHD screen covers the vast majority of the front of the smartphone. One unique thing about the Droid Bionic's screen is that it uses scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass. This screen also features a dual-layer anti-reflective coating, which helps viewability outdoors.

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Just above the screen to the left of the Motorola logo, you'll notice the front-facing webcam for video chat. The left edge of the phone houses the micro USB port as well as the micro HDMI port. On the right edge of the phone, you'll find the volume rocker which can also be used as zoom keys. A 3.5mm headset jack and the power button are located on the top edge of the phone.

   

Although the Droid Bionic is the thinnest 4G LTE smartphone from Verizon Wireless at 10.99mm, anyone who picks up the phone will immediately notice the thick, raised area near the top of the phone that's a few millimeters thicker than the thinnest part of the phone. In this raised area, you'll find the 8MP rear-facing camera that's capable of recording 1080p HD video. Next to the camera, there's also a LED flash. By removing the back cover, you'll get access to the preinstalled microSD card, battery, and a SIM slot. The back cover has a matte finish.

    

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The Droid Bionic weighs about 5.57 ounces. Although not the heaviest phone we've seen, it's definitely not the lightest, either. Here's how the Droid Bionic compares to a few other phones:

Samsung Galaxy S 4G
4.2 ounces
Samsung Captivate
4.5 ounces
Nexus S
4.55 ounces
HTC Droid Incredible
4.6 ounces
Apple iPhone 4
4.8 ounces
Samsung Droid Charge
5.04 ounces
Motorola Droid X
5.47 ounces
Samsung Epic 4G
5.47 ounces
Droid Bionic
5.57 ounces
HTC EVO 3D
6 ounces
HTC Thunderbolt
6.23 ounces
 

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