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Home HTC ThunderBolt 4G Android Phone (Verizon Wireless) | |
|  | |  | | | HTC ThunderBolt 4G Android Phone (Verizon Wireless) | | | | | | | |
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| | Features | Ultra-fast, 4G-enabled smartphone running Android 2.2 with 4.3-inch multi-touch Super LCD displayGPS for navigation and location services8-MP camera; 1.3-MP front-facing camera for video calls; HD 720p camcorder; Bluetooth stereo music;1400 mAh rechargeable battery for extra-long talk time and video playback; released in February, 2011What's in the Box: handset, rechargeable battery, charger, 32 GB microSD memory card, quick start guidemicroSD expansion; HTML web browser; corporate and personal e-mail
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| | Description | | Product: HTC Thunderbolt 4G LTE- VerizonNetworks: LTE 700, CDMA EvDO revAPlatform: Android 2.2 + HTC Sense Current software number: 2.11.605.5Display: 4.3" WVGA TFT capacitive touch screenCamera: 8MP with autofocus, LED Flash (2x LED), 1.3MP front facing cameraMemory: 8GB emmc + 768 RAM Memory card, preinstalled 32 GB microSDWLAN: 802.11 b/g/nBluetooth: 2.1 with EDR (3.0 when available)GPS: GPS/AGPSBattery: 1400 mAhSpecial Features: Dual mics with noise cancellation, Surround sound, Compass sensor, G-Sensor, Proximity sensor, Light sensor, 3.5mm audio jack, MicroUSB, FM radio, LTE SIM slot , TI audio DSPChipset: Qualcomm MSM8655, 1GHz, Qualcomm MDM9600 | |
| | Product Details | | Product Length: | 4.8 inches | | Product Width: | 2.6 inches | | Product Height: | 0.52 inches | | Product Weight: | 0.36 pounds | | Package Length: | 5.8 inches | | Package Width: | 3.7 inches | | Package Height: | 2.3 inches | | Package Weight: | 0.95 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 209 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 209 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1027 of 1076 found the following review helpful:
 My honest review of the Thunderbolt - a week later Mar 30, 2011
By Alex
If you're looking for an honest review of the Thunderbolt (mind you, I've only had it a little less than 2 weeks at this point), please read on.
First, a little background: I've been a Verizon customer for years. I previously had an LG Env2 for 3 years before buying the Thunderbolt. Like a lot of you, I'm sure, I waited and waited and skipped over several releases of the iPhone (on AT&T), desperately hoping for something equal or better on Verizon. For better or worse, I stood my ground and kept on waiting for something on Verizon. I was eligible for an upgrade about this time last year, but I never pulled the trigger on it for one reason or another. I guess I just never found a phone that really made me want to spend the extra money for the data plan (although the Droid Incredible came close). As soon as I heard that the LTE phones would start to roll out in early 2011, I knew I was waiting until that point to use my upgrade.
That brings us to the present. Dismayed a little by the continuous delays that plagued the release of the Thunderbolt, I waited patiently until the weekend following the release. I told myself I was going to wait a little longer to see if there were any major problems. I was a bit nervous on this purchase, just based on the rumors I'd been hearing about (and reading about) that delayed the Thunderbolt's release. In the end, though, I decided I just couldn't wait any longer and I made the purchase. My $50 upgrade credit (incidentally, the last time I'll be able to use one of those on Verizon, since they're doing away with the program) brought the price of the phone from $250 down to $200. Initial set-up at the Verizon store was minimal and I was out the door fairly quickly.
A few caveats here, before I dive into the guts of the review:
1) I live on the East Coast, in Arlington, VA. I frequently travel up/down the I-95 corridor to NJ/NYC/CT/etc, where Verizon's 4G LTE signal is very strong.
2) Even though this is my first Android phone, I'm quite familiar with the operating system (OS) since my fiancee has one (Droid Incredible) and my father has one (Droid X). I've spent extensive time with both of those phones, so I have a pretty good reference point.
So, the first thing everyone wants to know is, of course, about 4G. (This is certainly the start of the "Pros" category, by the way.) As I mentioned above, I spend most of my time on the East Coast in the mid-Atlantic region. I've found the 4G signal to be excellent so far. During a recent trip from Philly down to Arlington, VA, I had 4G signal a good majority of the time. There were definitely spots in Northern Maryland and Delaware that didn't have 4G, but once I hit the outskirts of Baltimore, I had 4G signal pretty much the rest of the way south to Washington, DC. Keep in mind, too, that the 4G LTE network (on this phone, anyway) is for DATA only. It won't be until later this year or next year that Verizon starts to release phones that actually make phone calls over the 4G network.
The 4G LTE network that Verizon has up and running is BLAZING fast. I can't possibly overstate that in any way, shape, or form. I have a Comcast cable modem at home that provides Wifi to my apartment. The 4G speeds that I'm getting with LTE right now are FASTER than my home network. And not even really that close, to be honest. Verizon's 4G network is considerably faster than the Comcast cable modem. How much faster you ask? Take these numbers for instance (generated using the SpeedTest.net app from the Android app store):
On my home Wifi: 2941 kbps DOWNLOAD, 1390 kbps UPLOAD
On Verizon's LTE network: 5102 kbps DOWNLOAD, 21214 kbps UPLOAD
In case your math is a little rusty, download speeds are almost twice as fast on the LTE network. Upload speeds are 15+ times faster! That's compared to a CABLE MODEM! That's insanely fast, folks!!! The big question, of course, is will those speeds continue to hold up as more folks jump on the LTE network? I can't answer that question since I'm not a Verizon engineer. I certainly hope so, that's for sure. Verizon's network is their reputation, so I'm willing to bet that the speeds hold up fairly well. And let's face it -- even if there is a *slight* downgrade in speed once more folks are on, it's still insanely fast for a cell phone.
To go along with the network speeds, lets discuss the Mobile Hotspot on the phone. You can connect up to 5 devices to the hotspot. My understanding is that the mobile hotspot option is free on this phone through mid-May (roughly, don't quote me on this). I tested it out this weekend, and it performed flawlessly using my MacBook. Speeds were, again, outstanding. I didn't run any numbers, but just browsing the Internet seemed considerably faster when connected to my phone (vs. the Cable Modem Wifi). Definitely an awesome feature to be able to turn the phone into a mobile 4G LTE hotspot. Am I going to use that feature after May when I have to pay extra? I'm not sure, but it's certainly a great option to have for some folks. I guess the answer will also depend on Verizon's pricing structure, whenever that fully emerges.
The phone itself feels well put together. Make no mistake about it: it's LARGE. But it's not too large. Personally, I think it's the perfect size for cell phone. Screen size is the same as the Droid X at 4.3 inches, although the phone itself is smaller in profile and feels a lot nicer to hold than the Droid X. It's great for any type of video, Google Nav, etc etc. The list goes on, but the screen is big, bright, and beautiful. Is it the latest and greatest screen technology out there? I doubt it, but it certainly looks really good, I can tell you that much.
That about does it for the PROS. Now for the CONS. Some of them are nitpicky, and some are not. Some may be mixed with future updates, and others probably won't.
First thing I noticed when I got the phone home: Verizon loads this thing with bloatware CRAP. I don't know about you, but that really, REALLY annoys me. Not so much that they put it on there, I understand that Verizon probably has marketing agreements with other companies (Blockbuster, for example). I can live with that. That's if they made the apps removable - they are not. And that's what drives me absolutely crazy with this phone. The only program that can be deleted from the device is CityID. The others are baked into the ROM - meaning that even if you go though the procedures to delete them, guess what -- they're still there! They don't go away!! And there's nothing you can do to get rid of them, short of rooting the phone (which I'm not recommending). To name a few: Blockbuster, Bitbop, Amazon Kindle, Lets Golf 2, Peep, Rhapsody, Rock Band, Slacker, VCast Apps, VCast Media, and VZ Navigator. Keep in mind that some of these apps run AUTOMATICALLY in the background (draining battery! which I'll get to in a minute). If you didn't just read that list and say "Are you kidding me?!?!" then you're nuts. I have a demo of Lets Golf 2 on my phone that I CAN'T DELETE because Verizon says so. That is total crap, in my opinion, and a huge downside to this phone. I'm okay with them pre-loading it on their phones - just don't put it in the ROM. I literally hate that Verizon thinks you should have no choice on deleting some apps. Huge minus for this phone.
That leads me nicely into battery life. Believe (most of) what you read. It's more or less a disaster. I'd like to tell you otherwise, believe me! And it's even more annoying when you realize there are Verizon apps running in the background that you can't get rid of (or stop with a Task Killer program -- they pop right back up!). If you run this phone on the 4G LTE network all day long, I'm here to tell you that it's HIGHLY unlikely you're even getting through the day without having to recharge. I found that I average (so far) about 4-6 hours between charges. And that is NOT with heavy use (streaming video, etc.). That's with light-to-moderate use during the day (1 or 2 quick phone calls, checking Gmail and Facebook, etc). If you read the reviews on here (and elsewhere - check on Verizon's own forums), you'll see people complaining of the same thing. I really hope that Verizon will put out a software update to address this issue, as it's most certainly one of the phone's major problems. Having said that, there are ways around the issue. Using different apps from the app store (Phone Info is the one I use), you can force the phone to operate in 3G mode only. That definitely helps batter life tremendously. You can also download/purchase a "task killer" app to close out apps running (draining battery) in the background. That also helps, but the biggest saver of the battery is forcing the phone into 3G only mode. Which, for me, is quite frustrating. Yeah, I'm saving on the battery life, but one of the MAIN REASONS I bought this phone to begin with is to access the 4G network. So it doesn't do me much good to run it in 3G only mode, although I'm forced to do it right now because of the battery life. It's frustrating, to say the least. Is it something Verizon will fix in the near future? Let's hope so. Just be aware of this issue before you buy this phone (many of the rumors surrounding the delayed release of this phone centered on the problems with its battery life).
Phone call quality is mediocre, at best. When I think of a word to describe the call quality, what comes to mind is "meh". That's really all I can say. For a device this technologically superior, it's call quality should be fantastic. It's NOT - it's just OK. Both the Droid Incredible and the Droid X are *FAR* superior than this phone in that regard. Why? I don't really know. If you read up on some of the newest Android phones (the Motorola Atrix on AT&T for example), a lot of them are having problems with call quality. Put the HTC Thunderbolt in that category too. I haven't really had anyone complain, per se, but it's just not that great. People sound very "tinny" on my end. I agree with others: the uppermost volume setting is definitely not loud enough, either. If you're in a really quiet room, it's fine, but good luck being able to hear anyone on a crowded city street. Again, I hope we'll see a fix for this sooner than later through a software update.
The camera on the phone is also just "OK". It's really nothing great. Yeah it's 8 megapixels, and yeah, it takes decent shots for a cell phone, but that's about all. It's been covered in great detail by reviews elsewhere, and I haven't really used it too much yet, so I'm not going into great detail here. I haven't been that impressed by it, at least not yet, but it's not awful either. I haven't used the front camera for any video calls or anything like that yet, so I can't comment on it much. It's 1.3 megapixels, that's about all I know. I'm sure it's also mediocre.
I think that about covers it, at least the main aspects of the phone, anyway. I will edit/update this initial review as I spend more time with the phone. Believe me, I *really* wanted this to be a 5-star phone, but it's honestly not. It's probably more like a 3.5 star phone, but due to the sheer speed of Verizon's LTE network, I'll be generous and give it a half-star bump to 4-stars. If Verizon can figure out the battery life problems and the call quality problems, it's definitely a 4.5 star phone (I'm keeping that other half-star reserved until Verizon decides not to kill the phone with bloatware!).
It's definitely a good (but not great) entrance into the 4G/LTE arena for Verizon. If you're going to buy the phone, temper your expectations a little. That's the best advice I can give. If you can stand to wait a few more months, I'd probably do so to see what's coming from Motorola, Samsung, LG, etc.
I hope this review helped you make a reasonable decision on the phone.
138 of 151 found the following review helpful:
 Coming from an iPhone 4 user on AT&T... Mar 24, 2011
By R. Vogt
"Robert"
As a previous iPhone 4 user, I would say I was apple brainwashed (or is it "applewashed"?) and thought the iPhone was the only smartphone worth considering. Well, the iPhone truly is a great phone, but a combination of AT&T's miserable service - including 5-10 dropped calls a day on average and terrible reception otherwise - the iPhone was often rendered a $700 smart paperweight unless WiFi was accessible. So why not get an iPhone 4 with Verizon you say? Well, after hearing about Verizon's new LTE network and the new HTC Thunderbolt I decided to take the plunge into Android for a change of pace.
I will not talk much about Android itself, well, because this isn't a review of Android. However, I will say that I really like HTC's Sense overlay and the level of customization that is possible. HTC's platform and the Android GUI's feature set is impressive compared to the iPhone's cut and dry. I love the widgets and having instant access to a bunch of useful information on the home screen.
So about the phone. The phone is substantially bigger if you are used to the iPhone. The size alone might rule this phone out for some people. It works out well for me since I have bigger hands and felt myself squinting at the iPhone screen. Reading and viewing text is made a very pleasurable experience on the Thunderbolt given the screen size. In terms of data speed, the phone is blisteringly fast when on Verizon's 4G. The speed of the GUI is smooth, albeit not as smooth as the iPhone 4. For example, when scrolling amongst apps, it's just not as fluid. It's not a deal breaker by any stretch and perhaps they might tweak this a bit in future OS revisions.
In terms of style, where the iPhone 4 is svelte, the Thunderbolt seems "all business". The case itself is robust and hefty but the material is actually a bit slippery - a good reason to opt for a rubberized cover of some sort. Nonetheless, it does feel good in the hand and quality made. I'd say the touch responsiveness with the capacitive screen is near equal to the iPhone's.
The camera is a downgrade from the iPhone 4 but is still passable. For me this really wasn't a big deal since I have this incredible invention called a digital camera for high quality photos.
The stock battery life is not as good as the iPhone, but it's also not bad at all for average use in my experience. Unless you are simultaneously streaming your HD soap opera over 4G, syncing 30 apps, playing Angry Birds, and listening to music through your bluetooth headphones, you'll probably find that the battery life is satisfactory. That being said, the iPhone 4 vs. HTC TBolt battery comparison is not truly apples to apples one (no pun intended) because the screen is so much larger on the HTC and it's running 4G. But guess what: you can actually replace the battery yourself without sacrificing your phone to Apple, and furthermore, you can replace the battery with an extended one if you need it. What luxury.
So there you have it. Coming from the iPhone 4 I feel like I made a great upgrade, and I am no longer having my blood sucked by AT&T. While both phones are without a doubt superb, my preference is for the HTC. Faster and better things will surely come down the pipe like they always do, but this is a great phone for the here and now.
-UPDATE - APR 28 -
I just wanted to post a quick update on my experience with the Thunderbolt thus far. I still am very pleased with the phone, and I find it cumbersome when I go back to using my girlfriend's Iphone 4. I've grown accustomed to the bigger screen size (which I think it's just about perfect).
It does seem like the phone has some issues switching amongst the 3G/4G radios and I hope HTC will release an update soon. For instance, at times it seems like the handoff isn't smooth and apps like Pandora will skip momentarily. I also find it annoying that certain apps (such as the internet) won't transfer data when on basic 1X service like the iPhone would (albeit super slowly which is expected). Perhaps this is also something that could be addressed.
I would like to make one suggestion and recommend purchasing the aftermarket charger/battery options provided by Seidio if you find yourself draining the battery. They have a nice battery charger that will allow you to charge your spare and your phone at the same time - which is great for those days when you use the phone more and need the extra juice. I don't often need to change the battery during the day but on the weekends it's nice to have the spare.
152 of 167 found the following review helpful:
Fast internet browsing, lots of nice features, but still some issues. Mar 20, 2011
By Petur O. Jonsson
My wife and I just bought a couple of these and we have been playing with them and learning their features for the last few days. Overall, we both like the phones a great deal, but there are still some issues.
The good:
1. We both like the touchscreen keyboard features on this phone better than on other smart phones that we have tried. The phone gives you tactile feedback with a subtle vibration whenever you hit a key, and, as you get more used to this feedback it really speeds up your typing. I still find that I need to type in landscape mode, else the keys are too small for my fingers, but it really works pretty well.
(2) Web-browsing is lightning fast and zooming in and out and moving across web pages seems instantaneus. This makes it very easy to read newspapers, etc. For me, this phone is as good as a tablet for reading newspapers.
(3) The camera and the video recordings work pretty well. Due to limitations of the lens, etc., the 8 Megapixel camera is not even close to what you get from even the cheapest of digital cameras, but it is still a big improvement over earlier phones.
Still needs improvement:
(1) My wife and I have so far not been able to exchange multimedia messages using these phones. Messages that have video and/or audio attachments remain undelivered. A verizon tech support person told us that this was due to some temporary bugs in transmitting multimedia attachments with messages from the Thunderbolt and that this was an android issue which should be straightened out very soon (Update: the problem was indeed taken care of soon: it is now fixed and all backlogged multimedia messages were delivered after we rebooted the phones).
(2) Voice dialing is not as efficient as it is on the blackberries. With the Thunderbolt, you can voice dial a contact, but then if there are multiple numbers, you must use the touchscreen to select one of them (unless you are using bluetooth). In contrast, on a blackberry you can voice specify one of several number for a given contact even without a bluetooth.
(3) Battery life seems to be on the short side. I do not believe that you get even two hours of intensive browsing, etc., from the battery.
Update 6/4/2011:
We bought HTC extended life batteries few weeks ago and I now see these a necessity for the Thunderbolt. Even with the extended life battery,we still have to recharge the phone every other day with light use and every day with moderate to heavy use. Also, my wife's phone started using up the battery at an even faster rate, to the point where the original battery would be depleted in two hours with little or no use. We returned that phone under warranty and the replacement phone is doing better.
Another issue is that my phone has frozen up a few times and when this happened I was not able to get the phone to reboot until I actually removed and reinstalled the battery. This seems to happen about every other week. So far it has not been a big problem albeit this it is annoying when this happens.
Update 6/14/2011:
Whatever problem is causing my phone to freeze up started getting progressively worse. These last few days it has happened every day and earlier today it simply refused to come back on when I took the battery out to reboot it. I then took the phone to a verizon service center, where they were eventually able to get it to reboot, but then it had lost all its data including my address files, etc. At that point I was expecting the verizon backup assistant software to reinstall my data, but it failed to do so, so I seem to have lost my directory of contacts (I will check later whether it can be retrieved through other means). Verizon tells me that I will be receiving a replacement phone in overnight mail. I will post another update once I receive that one and have set it up properly.
Update 6/19/2011:
I received a new thunderbolt the very next day as promised and I was able to download all my original information to it. I am not sure exactly what the problems were with the first one, but the new one has been faster from the get go and so far everything has been copacetic.
179 of 200 found the following review helpful:
 I wish I liked it more Mar 22, 2011
By Ryan Woodard
I bought the original Motorola Droid when it first came out. That device was not only a flagship (like the Thunderbolt), but was a "Google Experience" device, which means that Motorola did not botch it up nor did the carrier because Google wanted a pure experience for the user. The Thunderbolt is NOT an experience device, sadly.
The Good:
The internet speeds are awesome! Within about 6 minutes of signing into my phone in the store, it had downloaded and installed all 58 of my apps (if you aren't aware, Google knows what you use and automatically downloads them when you sign into a new phone or sign into a phone after you have reset it).
The phone is very fast; my Droid was getting so slow, this thing blows it out of the water.
The screen is large but not too big. The phone feels good in your hand; it is a bit heavier than my Droid, but is the same length and barely any wider, yet has a much bigger screen.
The Bad:
The amount of preinstalled and unremovable programs installed by Verizon & HTC is insane. ALL of those programs run in the background, constantly. Even WITH a task killer, they automatically come back on every time (this does NOT help the battery life issue).
That said, I know a lot of people love Sense UI, but I do not. Sure, it is better than MotoBlur and maybe some other skins out there, but I much prefer the pure Android UI. Sense DOES have some nice features, but all of those features are again, running constantly and interfere with other things on the phone, killing the battery and making it less enjoyable to use. A great example is "Facebook for HTC Sense." It isn't an actual substitute for the Facebook app, it just means you have to sign in a second time and that program then populates other fields on the phone. If you end up setting both to sync, then you end up with 2x the FB contacts. Also, FB for HTC populates your FB events on your calendar. I don't know about you, but I 'attend' a lot of events that I either don't go to or aren't real, in person events. It would be great if there was a standard Google Calendar, but there is not.
Speaking of Sense UI some more, all of it's add ons require you to sign into your accounts twice; they don't talk to the accounts you are already signed into on your phone to begin with.
On my Droid I had RockPlayer installed and could watch movies/videos in any number of formats, including MKV. I haven't tried any format other than MKV on my Thunderbolt, but it couldn't play it for some reason. I read online that it has a very limited set of compatible formats, so that might have something to do with it. That said, this is a big down side for me.
I didn't realize this when I bought it, but there doesn't seem to be a notification light of any type. A light comes on when it is charging, under the speaker screen, but there is no notification light on this phone. How am I supposed to know if I have a message or something waiting if I am not sitting next to it to hear it? REVISION: The light is there, it is just not as bright as the charging light & it is farther behind the speaker grill, meaning you have to be looking DIRECTLY at it or you won't see it. From the side? Good luck! Oh, and it appears to stop blinking after a certain amount of time, which is also dumb.
Battery life: all you need to know is, it's bad. It would be better if you could turn off the preinstalled apps, the duplication of Facebook (but you need both on & updating for the various applications and widgets), etc. Also, it would be really nice if you could have an option to turn on and off the 4G radio only; most of the time you are fine with 3G and only need 4G on when downloading large files, web pages, or data intensive apps. If you were able to turn off the 4G, then you could save battery life as well.
Summary:
The phone is fast, gorgeous, and has a great feel in hand. However, switching from a Google Experience device to a non-experience, skinned, and bloated device might prove to be too much of a negative change for me. I can overlook a few things because, after all, if every device was the same, we wouldn't make any forward progress. That said, there might be too much that I don't like on this phone that I just can't ignore, even though I REALLY want to and really want to keep it! I bought it at Best Buy instead of Amazon (cheaper) or at Verizon because Best Buy has a 15 day return period. Sadly, I might be taking advantage of that flexibility in hopes that the Droid Bionic by Moto doesn't suffer from these same issues.
106 of 119 found the following review helpful:
Amazing Phone Mar 18, 2011
By Nate Hubel
I just got this phone as an upgrade from the original Droid. I have only used it for about a day so far, but I can honestly say it was well worth the upgrade. 4G is wicked fast. I got 15Mbps down and 25Mbps on my phone. That's insane! Everything else about the phone feels fast too. HTC Sense comes with some bloatware and small annoyances, but it's amazingly smooth and does have some improvements over stock OS. The screen, while not Super AMOLED, looks really good. It's the same resolution as many other phones but it looks beautiful and the contrast is better than I expected.
Battery life isn't as bad as I thought it would be. It should last a full day, but I think i'll get the extended battery anyway. The camera isn't great, but it's not bad. The addition of a front facing camera is nice and the camcorder function takes higher quality video than I expected. The only gripe I have is that the screen squeaks occasionally when pressed, but it's not too annoying. I wish it had support for more video codecs like mkv, but few phones have that right now. Overall, it's easily the best phone on Verizon right now. It's not dual core, but it acts like it, so while the benchmarks may not show it to be as fast as the Atrix or Bionic, it feels and acts just as fast in real-life. There's nothing to be dissapointed about with this phone.
See all 209 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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