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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful.
All-in-ONE Smartphone
By Yashas Joshi
I have been using HTC Thunderbolt since April 2011 and it is definitely THE King of Smartphones. I had a choice between Thunderbolt and iPhone and finally decided to purchase the Thunderbolt running on the Verizon 4GLTE network. Just a quick note here, Verizon's 4GLTE network is definitely super fast and data transfer, videos, music streaming is smooth with absolutely no buffering. Here are some of the Pros and Cons of HTC Thunderbolt PROS:1) Screen Size: 4.3 inch screen is neither too big nor too small and reading or making notes on the phone is quite easy without straining your eyes. Remember, you can zoom in and zoom out on any article and it auto fits itself to the screen. I find this feature very helpful (This is not possible on my Galaxy Tab, where if you zoom, you then have to scroll left, right, up and down to view the article). Screen size is also perfect for making video calls using Skype, Tango, Google Hangouts !!! 2)4G LTE: This was supposed to be the first phone capable of connecting to Verizon's 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. There is no doubt that Thunderbolt and 4GLTE form a potent combination delivering high speed data transfer, fast streaming of movies and music without having to wait. I have actually watched some live sports events through websites and there is hardly a time when I would see "Buffering" during the video. This is, again, possible due to Verizon's network but Thunderbolt is the first phone to take advantage of LTE. 3) Camera: 8MP back camera and 1.3 MP front camera makes this a great smartphone to have. The camera quality is amazing and I have already taken thousands of photos through my phone.I have taken quite a few videos with the phone as well. It might not be the best when compared to a better CAMERA, but it is definitely one of the best among the current smartphones. iPhone didn't have a 8MP camera in April 2011. The front and back camera is a great feature to have especially during video calling. The picture clarity is amazing and I use Skype very often through HTC Thunderbolt. 4) Android Market: This is an ever growing area for Android phones with loads and loads of apps for almost anything that you need. Android team does their bit by even providing some good training materials for people who want to write code for Android apps. I have been using the following apps regularly; Facebook, Twitter, CNN, Mashable, Engadget, TOI, Entrepreneur, Foursquare, Viber, SKYPE, LinkedIn, Google + and many more. Android application development will surely provide one of biggest opportunities for programmers to make money as Android phones already have the highest market share and it keeps growing everyday!!! I would recommend the SwiftKey X keyboard for anyone with Android smartphone. This is probably the best Android Keyboard App in the market with Artificial Intelligence capabilities!! Just to round off with some more great features, HTC Thunderbolt is now running 2.3.4 Gingerbread OS. This is again up-gradable to Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0). When I purchased this phone, it was running Android Froyo (2.2) version which was now upgraded to Gingerbread (2.3.4). The phone comes with 32GB, yes, 32GB SD card installed in addition to phone memory. That is a lot of storage space on a smartphone. Most of my apps are now stores on the SD card freeing up my phone memory. CONS:1) Battery: There has been a vast improvement in the battery through the OS upgrades but still connecting through 4G LTE network does consume a lot of battery. If you are going to be connected to 4G all the time, I am sure you'd have to charge your phone at least twice a day. Ice Cream Sandwich OS upgrade might improve the power management capabilities, but currently it is surely a concern.2)SD Card slot: Most of the Thunderbolt owners have a hard time opening the phone to remove the SD card. There is no real need to remove the card but if someone really wants to transfer information from the card without using the wires, it'll take you some time to get the card out.3) Heavy: Thunderbolt is slightly heavier than iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S II but I don't think it's a big issue personally !! From my point of view, I will definitely recommend this phone. The price has reduced considerably and unless you want Galaxy Nexus or Galaxy S II or Galaxy S III, there is no other competing phone with so many features along with the ease of usability !!
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful.
as described. great product.
By gerald
product as described. great. good replacement for my broken phone. A lot more cheaper than the phones on sale/refurbished on actual verizon stores.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
A very powerful 1st gen 4G phone
By Rocman
I have been using my HTC Thunderbolt for about a year now, and I have found it to be a very powerful phone with flaws that are inherent to a 1st gen product (with regard to 4G LTE).Pro:Screen size AND aspect ratio - the 4.3" screen was big when this phone came out one year ago in July '11. At the time, I thought this was going to be the physical limit on smartphone screen sizes - boy was I wrong haha The resolution is 800x480, which is low by today's standard, but this was the highest resolution available on the android side at the time of this phone's launch. One thing I've come to love is the screen's aspect ratio. This phone has very thin bezels framing the screen. I simply love this. Compared to the a same size 4.3" 720P phone (ex. Rezound), the Thunderbolt's screen is noticeably wider and negligibly shorter. This makes for a much more useful screen in everyday use, such as Google map, browsing, etc. The Rezound's 720P screen, which by the way is gorgeous and has even higher pixel density than the "retina display" on the iphone 4s, shows you less content except with movies and videos, where its 16:9 ratio minimizes black bars. Honestly though, I don't watch much video on my phone, and I prefer to see more in things like Google map versus less black bar while watching video.4G LTE - this was the first 4G phone for Verizon, and it was a SCREAMER. When I first got the phone last summer, Verizon was just rolling out its 4G network. Here in NC, I was getting anywhere from 25 to 50 Mbps download and 8 to 15+ Mbps upload (verified by the Speedtest ookla app). The download speed has tapered off a bit now, no doubt due to the fact that now most people are on 4G. But still, it's pretty incredible that my phone's connection is comparable to my Road Runner Turbo (20/2 here in NC) at home! The upload speed is actually much, much faster than my RR turbo.Using internet/data while on a call - this phone is actually able to do simultaneous data and call over BOTH 3G and 4G! I could not believe Verizon did not advertise this out the wazoo, because at the time of launch, AT&T was making an ad attack on Verizon saying Verizon's network could not handle using internet while on a call. This was true, except for the Thunderbolt! I've personally verified this on both 3G and 4G. I was able to access apps, check emails and in general use data while on a call without any problem. I didn't thought this would be a big deal until I had to look up directions on google map while during a call. Very useful feature.Kickstand - this might be a love-it-or-hate-it thing, but I've found the kickstand on this phone to be VERY useful. It's elegantly designed and very robustly built. The hinge has a solid and satisfying spring assisted snap to it. You can prop up the phone both portrait and landscape. For one thing, this makes the phone a super alarm clock for me without the need for a dock. I am a minimalist by nature and I love it!Call quality - believe it or not, I still make calls with my phone - sometimes :) The sound quality for both incoming and outgoing is great. And as much as I hate Verizon's more expensive plans, they do have a very decent network which no doubt contributes to this phone's great call quality.Good build quality - I've dropped this phone once or twice without a case and it's survived gracefully. There are scratches of course, but I am very impressed. Overall there are no creaks or otherwise cheap feel to this phone. Very impressive since it's not built on an uni-body construction.Cons:Battery life - this has to be the biggest drawback for this phone. Being a first generation 4G phone, this phone used a discrete 4G modem chip that was power hungry. Combine that with a woefully small OEM battery (only 1400 mah), and you have very bad battery life performance. It's like outfitting a Corvette with a two gallon capacity fuel tank. You can go really fast but you will be out of juice very soon, too.Over the past year, I've been able to coax a useful almost-one-day battery life out of this phone by a) forcing it to 3G and b) rooting it to get rid of the Verizon bloatware. There is also the extended battery, which doubles the battery capacity (2750 mah) but adds a bump and more weight to an already bulky phone. Recently, I bought a Rezound OEM battery, which fits this phone with the standard battery cover. The difference was very noticeable! That battery should have shipped with the Thunderbolt. I would definitely recommend getting a Rezound battery (I bought from Amazon for $12) for this phone.Bulk - this phone is not wafer thin nor feathery light. The weight I actually don't mind - it feels like the premium product. I wish the phone could be thinner, though. What really makes the size a bit frustrating is the fact that with this bulk, HTC could have fitted a much larger battery inside, thus alleviating the battery life issue.Speakerphone position - the speaker on this phone is hidden behind the kickstand when it's flush against the phone. Therefore, the sound is a little bit muffled, unless you open the kickstand. Not a big deal really, as it is still plenty loud.Data connectivity - this phone had some teething problems with the initial software (froyo). After the upgrade to Gingerbread (android 2.3), this phone was much, MUCH better and stable. Of course, mine is rooted so... ;)[Update March 1st, 2013]FYI - Verizon released the Android 4.0 (ice cream sandwich or ICS) for the Thunderbolt! Finally, after nearly a year of delay.
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Wireless Circle sucks.
It's an "Average" Phone
no htc
