As a member of Verizon’s Midwest Moms program, not only do I get to test out a Motorola Xoom Tablet, but I also get to use the new Motorola Droid Bionic phone, which runs on Verizon’s 4G LTE network. So far,  I am loving almost everything about this phone!  I say almost because it does run through the battery faster than I would like, less then 24 hours on a full charge, but the good thing is, it uses the same charger as my Samsung phone, so keeping it charged isn’t a problem.

I appreciate that the Bionic comes loaded with videos called “Guided Tours”. The  Basic Set-Up and Usage videos show how to navigate the phone, how to make a call, send a text, and manage contacts, how to set up email, how to switch to wi-fi, and tips for conserving the battery.  There’s also a terrific online Beginner’s Guide that shows how to set up the home screens, adding widgets, and more. For someone for whom this is their first smartphone, these are all tips that are very useful!

I knew 4G was supposed to be fast, but until I saw it for myself, I had no idea just how fast it was. The most obvious improvement in speed compared to my other phone that uses the 3G network is in downloading apps from the Market.  I click install, and in a matter of seconds, I have my app. It is blazing fast!  The phone is almost always connected to the 4G network, but if I happen to move into an area without it, the phone switches to 3G, and it’s still pretty fast.

My favorite features of the phone so far are the quick contacts and the gallery.  Preloaded on one of the homescreens is four boxes that when you touch and drag down become 20 boxes. Each box is a link to a contact, with a shortcut to call, send an email, send a Gmail, send a text, and for Facebook contacts, view their profile, send a message, write on their wall, or poke them. All that from one quick launch button!

Once I got all my contacts imported to the phone – this eHow article How to Import Contacts to Your Droid Using a USB walks you through it step by step – I chose my four most called contacts for the top four boxes.  Not only is it so convenient to have all those ways to contact my husband, sons, and stepmother right on my homescreen, but it’s nice to see their faces when I look at my phone

The gallery is a carousel of images pulled from my Facebook friends. When any of my friends posts a photo or changes their profile photo, it shows up in the gallery, which is a fun way to see what my friends are up to without having to launch the Facebook app.

So, that’s what I’m loving about the Droid Bionic so far.  Do any of you have one? Are you thinking about buying one? I’m happy to answer any questions you might have, just leave them in the comments!

disclosure: As a member of Verizon Wireless’ Midwest Moms program, I received a Motorola Xoom Tablet and a Motorola Droid Bionic at no charge along with six months of service, in exchange for my participation in the program. All opinions are my own.