HTC ThunderBolt
Phone Scoop Review
Mar 18, 2011 by Eric M. Zeman
Phone Scoop takes an in-depth look at HTC's Thunderbolt, the first LTE 4G smartphone to become available from Verizon Wireless. Can it live up to the hype -- and the hope -- for the future of 4G? read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Bring Down The Thunder!!!
Almost the perfect phone! But still Awesome phone that I recommend completely coming from a Dinc to the Bolt is like going from an infinniti to a Porsche!! Everything is a little bit sweeter. I personally while still annoyed by the newness of the 4g, I also feel like I'm apart of the next faze. It getting fun.
It Is Certainly the One After That
There is not one single thing that this phone does average. Everything is extraordinary and phenomenal. After waiting since November, going through activation problems, and a Sim card mix up, I've found that everything about the phone (with the slight exception of battery life) was worth the wait and trouble. WARNING: This phone operates at TREMENDOUS SPEED. If you can't handle speed, efficiency, and the stellar Android OS, then maybe you should look into an iPhone instead of this device. Nothing I've seen even comes close to the magnificence of the Thunderbolt. Between HTC's Snapdragon processor, Verizon's 4G LTE network, and HTC Sense, what's not to love?
Pro's: Seriously everything (except for battery life, but I am getting an extended battery to remedy that minor issue).
Con's: Just the minor issue stated above in the Pro's.
The screen and sound are fantastic, everything is blazing fast and simple. It's like someone duplicated my mind and placed it into an Android because my phone now does everything for me. My friends own iPhones, LG smartphones, Samsung Smartphones, and older HTC smartphones and nothing really can compare. It's unreal.
I had to give this device 5 stars because it is exactly what HTC said it would be: the phone that came AFTER my dream phone, because the phone has gone beyond my wildest dreams.
Love it! But....
i love everything about this phone!! Its 99% perfect! There are a few glitches that will need fixed however. When sending a text message, instead of it being from your phone number, its from you SIM number or something. So the receiver doesn't know who you are, and would have to open a fresh message to your phone number in order to respond. Also, it will send a few copies of the text you're sending. I'm sure they will fix this asap. Very inconvenient until then. But i'm still in love with this phone;) And like other people have pointed out...the kickstand bein on the same side as the charging port. Silly.
Great Phone - Small Complaints
Overall the phone is great like others have said but there is some room for improvement.
First why would they put the phone charger port on the side where if you wanted to kickstand the phone u cant?? Poor design in that respect. It should be on the bottom or the other side. Or make the kickstand reversible. Any one else see the stupidity in that? If you wanted to have it plugged in and watch a movie you cant...
You cant put a 64gb micro SD card in i heard. is that true?
Battery does drain fast.
Skype Video not available yet.
Other than those items i do like the phone very much.
Very nice phone
Everything I've been looking for as a successor to my Droid X. Was going to wait for the Samsung Stealth to drop but decided to give this a go. I gotta tell you, this is a great phone. Super fast but battery life could be better. Cameras are ok, but i can live with it. Overall, this phone is better than many, but baseline to what's to come.
Great device
I love the hardware on this phone. The processor is very fast, the screen is larger and easier to read than the Droid Incredible. Sense has been updated to make it easier to move around on the screen using arrow keys, and the screen now zooms in when you click inside a word to make it easier to select what you want. I find it much easier to use the virtual keyboard than the Incredible for someone who has large fingers. The LTE speeds I am experiencing are typically 10-15 mbps down and 2-3 mbps up all around Cleveland, Ohio area, which is nearly as good as my Uverse internet at home. The sound quality is excellent, and signal seems very strong, especially inside buildings. I'm assuming that is because of the lower 700 mhz band that LTE is using. The phone is able to access the internet while a voice call is in progress which is a plus in 4G & 3G as well. I don't know about 1X I haven't tried that yet. This is good for those reverse lookup apps that normally choke on CDMA phones.
A huge plus as well is for technically saavy people like myself is the support of XDA Developers. I rooted my phone the first day I got it. Within a week I installed a custom kernal and a custom ROM. The updated software greatly increased my extended batteries life so I can surf and play angry birds all day and still have half a battery left at the end of the day. The Flash Hulu APK from XDA Developers allowed me to watch Hulu on my phone. I found that if you popped out the show and watched it in landscape mode, it was perfect.
Watching any video on this phone is a treat. First of all, 4G streaming ensure you have the speed to catch all the frames, and the processor is also fast enough to dish the video out.
Almost everything stated in this review are the same results im seeing. The better reception is all in your head. This phone still uses 3g for radio, and 4g for data only.
Best Android on the Market
This phone is an amazing phone, I've used all of AT&T's Android phones, and I've used the iPhone's as well. This phone blows them all out of the water by a landslide victory.
Pros:
--Screen has great color
-Camera and Video amazing quality
-Operating system is very quick
-Apps work amazing on the phone
-Memory is great as well
-Very user friendly
-4G is amazingly fast
- Screen rocks
-Sound Quality is fairly loud and clear
Cons:
Took Verizon this long to release a victorious phone
Battery Life could improve
I recommend getting this
My favorite phone yet
I really like this phone. I had the Droid X and really liked that phone, but this one blows it away. I really love the screen and the speed on the Thunderbolt. I don't know why everyone gives this phone such a hard time, because I think this phone is the best one to date. I love the sense and the UI looks so much better than the cheesy Moto Blur.
Pros:
Speed
Sense
Screen
Can talk and surf and the same time
4g Speeds are awesome
Cons:
Battery life could be better, but on par with my Droid X and its a smart phone.
I wish I could give it five stars but no phone is perfect, but this one is close.
HTC's Got Thunder But Where's The Bolt
One of the first on the block to get The Thunderbolt. Nice to have the prestige of aquiring Verizon's first 4G device.
Once you go droid there's no turning back. Big drawback, I was told the lightning fast LTE could be soon or six months from now so even though I have the power, unless I go to surrounding states, just need patience.
Anyway, having the Droid X, I am no stranger to the larger devices, the Bolt's large display rivals the Moto, might be clearer and more colorful, and the device weight gives it a quality feel.
One big feature which has been an extreme disappointment!! The same old unsophisticated voice command, Bluetooth built-in setup, it's no different than the Incredible. Thought with the higher technology this would have changed.
HTC needs to learn a lesson from Moto which has superior voice commands which are crystal clear voice prompts, not the fuzzy crackling VAD as in the HTC devices.
Maybe it's me, but I follow the law and don't hold the headset. The only thing I found which overrides what's built in was a download from the Market, and the only way it works (which is quite clear) is going back to the stone age by using a wired headset.
Pros:
Large colorful, clear display
Quality build and feel
Fast even though we're still 3G
Easy to use
As with the other droids free Market Apps
Cons:
Battery life like other droids drains, might be better than the Incredible
Poor hands free Bluetooth voice activated dialing
Thunderbolt is Mind Blowing but not for me :-(
GOOD
Internet Speed - The most amazing thing is the speed of the internet. I got 18/21. Thatâs not a typo, folks. When I was setting up the phone and getting the apps, one app was finished downloading, by the time I got to the next app. I was never slowed down.
* Data Plan â Unlimited LTE data for $30
I did feel a little pressure to buy this for the Unlimited LTE Data for $30/month, as most forums indicate that future phones will have a tiered data plan for LTE. Otherwise, I might have waited for the Bionic (dual core, higher res display)
* HotSpot that utilizes LTE speeds. (Currently, thereâs a two-month promo: Pay the $20/month and Unlimited HotSpot. After that, the 2 GB limit sets in.)
* All other features are great.
BAD (for me, maybe not you)
* The most disappointing thing is that Verizon canât put this phone on their âNationwide Plus CanadaâÂ. (It could be that none of their LTE phones will be enabled on that plan.) With me talking about 500 minutes to Canada each month, that would cost me an additional $50 (or $600 per year).
I thought I might be able to use Skype to call Canada (since I pay the $3/month), but, here is the US, you can only makes calls to land lines if youâre using Wi-Fi.
* Battery drains quickly, of course. Thereâs a 2700 mAH battery for $50, but it would have been nice to have it included with phone.
OTHER THOUGHTS
Iâll probably return this phone within the two weeks due not being able to call Canada for free, unless Verizon is able to work out this issue.
