Tomorrow marks one week since I upgraded from the Motorola Droid (A855) to the HTC ThunderBolt. I was eligible for the new every two program that Verizon has since done away with, so this was my only chance to get a $50 credit. I was a little hesitant to jump on it when it came out on March 17th, so I gave it a few days to see what reviews would come out. I was very impressed with what I was ready and became eager to get one for myself. Let me say, there are few disappointments with this phone.
First of all, the size of the phone is a leap from the Droid. At first glance, one might think the phone is cumbersome and hard to handle while talking. That is simply not the case at all. The phone is comfortable to use, has good call quality, and I have never felt that it was too big to use as a phone. The sheer size of it is what makes the phone great, in my opinion. On the Droid, I had a hard time navigating Web pages without having to scroll or zoom quite often. In fact, there was no good way for me to do much posting through the Web browser. The ThunderBolt, on the other hand, allows me to do so much more. In fact, I have logged into my Blackboard account and posted for one of my Master’s classes a few times, with extreme ease! The screen also allows me to view pictures taken with my phone bright, crisp, and with more extreme ease. The size of the screen, however, is the downfall for many on the ThunderBolt pilgrimage.
While the screen is very nice, bright, and easy to read, it also takes a lot of battery power to keep it lit. I have experimented with different settings in the Profile app to see about saving battery power and, quite frankly, I haven’t found much that works. The screen is constantly sucking the life right out of the batter. The solution? I have a charger at home (computer and wall), in the car, and at work. Therefore, other than being out of the vehicle or away from work/home, my phone can easily be put on the charger. I know what many of you are saying; I’ve read your gripes. However, I am not turned off by the fact that my phone needs charged several times during the day. Part of my problem, I believe, is that I am on the edge of 4G coverage. That said, I likely lose a little more off of the battery due to the radio jumping from 4G to 3G and back. Am I concerned? Not at all. I just make sure my phone is charged and ready to go if I’ll be away from a charger for a bit, or make sure I have a charger ready to give my ThunderBolt more juice! Yes, the battery life is low, but the screen and the sheer speed of the phone blow me away!
The phone is quick and responsive to EVERYTHING! My Droid, over the course of a day, would get sluggish and slow to respond. The end result was several force closes in a lot of different applications. The ThunderBolt, however, delivers content in amazing fashion. As soon as I touch an app to lauch, it’s loaded and ready to go. Additionally, I love the way that HTC keeps the last ten or so apps in sight when you pull the notification bar down. Sometimes I jump back and forth between apps. Now I don’t need to go back to the home screen to find that application I was just using. I simply drag the notification bar down, select the app, and I pick up right where I left off. Not only does the ThunderBolt offer amazing speed in regular usage, the 4G rates are BLAZING fast!
I wanted to test the 4G data speed of my phone, so I set up the mobile hotspot feature that Verizon is offering free until May 15th. I was blown away by the speed I received, as indicated by the speed test above. The data connection on the ThunderBolt is much, much faster than my DSL connection through AT&T and is comparable (if not better than) to most cable connections. I have used Pandora to listen to radio over the data connection and have not had a single skip while in 4G mode. I have also used the DAAP program to listen to my music from home over the Web with relative ease. I attribute the skips to my very mediocre AT&T connection. So, we have a large screen, quick response on the phone, and blazing fast data, but what about the camera?
The camera on the HTC ThunderBolt is simply amazing! I have a Canon Digital Rebel (4.3MP) and this camera, aside from not being able to shoot RAW, is just as good for pictures taken outside. This image is just one example I took this weekend:
The photo quality of the ThunderBolt really is amazing. No longer will a feel like I wish I had brought my camera, as my phone will now allow me to take beautiful snapshots to take home!
Overall, I am not disappointed with the ThunderBolt. Yes, the battery life is pretty poor, but I look at all of the other features the phone offers and just can’t justify griping about this phone. If you’re willing to sacrifice battery life for a bright, vivid, large screen and extremely fast speeds, what are you waiting for?
