Nearly four years ago I entered the world of Android with the original Motorola Droid. Two years later, I was eager to upgrade to one of the most early anticipated Android phones: the Droid Bionic. Like many, I was led to believe that this was going to be Motorola’s next flagship phone, ushering an error of dual-core processors and 4G LTE. After months of delays, I stood in an (albeit small) line on release day to get the phone, only to find out that this wasn’t the flagship device I was looking for.
A month later Motorola released their revamped Razr line, a phone that learned all of the lessons from the mistakes that caused the Bionic to become so delayed. As quickly as the Bionic flashed onto the scene, the phone seemed to have fizzled out from Motorola’s roadmap. Soon it became apparent that I bet on the wrong horse, that this phone was the red-headed step-child that Motorola conveniently ignored. The device had some pretty gaping holes, from a crappy camera to unstable Bluetooth. I realize that every phone has its problems, there isn’t a perfect one out there – but the issue came with how Motorola addressed Bionic problems: they ignored them.
The phone shipped with Gingerbread installed, with a promise to upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich soon. As the months passed, the promises of the upgrade grew more ambiguous, as we watched more and more phones released after the Bionic get upgraded. Over a year after its release, with Jelly Bean on the horizon, Motorola and Verizon finally gave us our coveted upgrade. Again more empty promises were made about the Jelly Bean upgrade, and of course the Bionic’s younger cousins got first dibs on the new bits, with the Bionic not being updated until last month.
Don’t think Bionic owners got a raw deal? Just ask Motorola’s VP of Product: he admitted as much last September. Nothing changed however, Motorola has got bigger problems to deal with. Google has all but cast them out from the product party, there doesn’t seem to be any worthwhile products in their pipeline. The rumored “X Phone” is all but vaporware, with Google reportedly pulling out of the device’s development.
Here we are in May, when I become eligible for an upgrade, and not only has Motorola not given me any incentive to stay, but they’ve justified my resentment of their products, to the point where I won’t even own a Motorola device ever again. Now that the Galaxy S4 is out, I’m more than happy to buy a product from a company that hasn’t ignored their products the way Motorola does. Thanks for introducing me to the world of Android, Motorola – but I’m happy to leave you for greener pastures.