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. Here is an example of a picture I took at sunset.
I have taken quite a few videos with the phone as well and here is an example of a live sporting event. 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, there is no other competing phone with so many features along with the ease of usability !!
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. Here is an example of a picture I took at sunset.
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, there is no other competing phone with so many features along with the ease of usability !!
