Four Mistakes Which Can Kill Motorola Droid Bionic

Motorola's highly anticipated offering, the Droid Bionic, after playing hide-and-seek for nine months has finally arrived.

The buildup, in anticipation, was more a product of its Verizon LTE connection rather than the specifications it hosts. It is touted as one of the most powerful phones on Verizon's 4G LTE network. The phone dwarfs other phones like HTC Thunderbolt and Samsung Droid Charge which run on Verizon LTE. Thus the phone was aptly called an all-powerful, unstoppable machine by Best Buy in a promo released in July.

However, there are chinks in Droid Bionic's armor which can result in its undoing. Here are the top four factors which can stall Droid Bionic's march:

Price:

The price that Motorola is demanding for the joys of using the phone on Verizon's LTE is pretty steep. At $300 its beats the $200 price range at which most of the superphones like iPhone 4, HTC Sensation and the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S2 are available. HTC Thunderbolt which also runs on Verizon LTE is available for $250. However, the complete Droid Bionic experience with the laptop dock and HDMI port will set you back by $400. Laptop dock costs $300 and HD Station dock is priced at $100. Motorola's phone Atrix, which was the first to optimize the ecosystem of docks, is priced $99. Thus Droid Bionic with its paraphernalia stands to be cannibalized by Motorola Photon and Atrix. With a host of other Android phones which boast better specifications than Droid Bionic available at $199, Droid Bionic has an uphill battle on hands.

Processor:

Droid Bionic is powered by a 1 GHz dual-core TI OMAP processor which seems rather challenged in view of upcoming devices which sport 1.2 GHz and 1.5GHz micro-processors. Both Samsung Galaxy S2 and HTC Sensation are powered by 1.2GHz dual-core chipsets. Upcoming phones like HTC Vigor which is rumored to be a Verizon LTE phone is expected to don a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor. Also in the fray is HTC Holiday which is rumored to sport a 1.2GHz Qualcomm MSM8660 processor and is destined for AT&T 4G network and Nexus Prime which is rumored to feature a 1.5 GHz chipset. Thus Droid Bionic may have come a little late and the next batch of super-powered Android phones is just around the corner.

Display:

Droid Bionic's 4.3-inch display has a screen-resolution of 960x540. However, in spite of its high resolution, its display quality has been more of a dampener. PC Magazine in a review of Droid Bionic said: The pixel arrangement makes colored lines look subtly fuzzy and PCWorld called the display experience a little grainy, with a slight bluish tint. The lack luster performance of its display does not bode well, in the light of the crisp Super AMOLED display which Samsung Droid Charge and Galaxy S2 boast of. Also Apple with its Retina Display offers superior quality of image. Both these phones can trump Droid Bionic in the display segment.

Upcoming Superphones:

Most of all it's the upcoming Apple iPhone 5, rumored to arrive in September, which can spoil Droid Bionic's chances. Had Droid Bionic appeared earlier it could have gained the early mover advantage but now with phones like Samsung Galaxy S2 and iPhone 5 on the anvil, Droid Bionic has a lot to contend with. The delay has given the likes of HTC and Samsung the lead time to polish their 4G LTE offerings. Samsung showcased its Galaxy S2 LTE phone in IFA Germany and rumors of HTC Vigor which is slated for Verizon LTE are also doing rounds. Droid Bionic just has a month on its hands before the next round of superphones arrives.