Thunderbolt First Impressions/Reviews

[AndroidJay]

What type of Bluetooth stereo headset do you use?

 

[beveritt]

Aesthetics: very pleasing, feels like a solid block of metal with a soft touch plastic wrapper. The weight is just right, not like my Fascinate which was so light it felt like a toy.

Screen: Screen quality is quite good, seems a bit better than Evos I've demo'd. Colors are bright, not Super AMOLED bright, but text is much sharper.

Hardware: Overall seems very nice, well constructed, no build quality issues. Volume buttons seem almost too easy to press, and not a big fan of the micro-USB on the side.

Phone - including bluetooth & speakerphone usage: Voice quality is good, volume is plenty loud, haven't tried BT, I hardly use it.

Overall User Interface (including HTC Sense): Sense is very friendly, I'm a Launcher Pro advocate, but I may stick it out with Sense for a while.

Widgets: Sense widgets are useful for many people, not my cup of tea.

Signal quality (Compared to other devices): Seems to pull a much better signal than the Fascinate in all areas, 3G, 4G and wifi

GPS: it works, and that's a good thing!

Social Networking: I don't use the stock apps, I'm hooked on Tweetdeck to unify my Facebook and Twitter feeds in one place.

Email/Calendar: Sense versions of these apps are the best around, period. All the features you need are there.

Battery Life: unknown

Performance: very speedy so far, lag free. 4G speeds are awesome.

Media (music, movies, DLNA): Music player works well, streamed shoutcast with Winamp for 45 minutes without a hiccup

Keyboard's: Sense keyboard is decent, downloaded Swype beta and it works great

Camera (both still & video): took a few sample photos, no complaints at all. Camera app has more features than the Fascinate, focuses fast and takes the picture instantly

How the Thunderbolt compares to your previous smartphone (if applicable): I think it's a big step up from the Fascinate, that phone was glitchy from day one, and very laggy. For example, selecting 20 messages on the Samsung to delete from my work Exchange account would take 30+ seconds, the TB deletes them in 1 second. I always had trouble connecting to wifi at work using PEAP, the Thunderbolt worked flawlessly the very first time. Shoutcast streams never played on the Fascinate, on the Bolt it works exactly as it should. I'm very pleased.

Disappointments (if any): While good to have 4G all around Denver, at my house in the suburbs I'm still on 3g. Umm, that's not the phone's fault...

 

[radub109]

just get the phone a new line and then ad some old phone on it n just pay 9.99 a month thats wat i did . got this on a new line then activated on my original line n on the new line i just added an old lg phone i had.

 

[booboolala2000]

Screen is much more vibrant than my DX
Audio out through BT and Headphones seems crisper and more even toned

Very snappy
Sense is much more functional and better looking than Blur
Battery life during heavy use is about seven hours, I'm sure once I get all my apps and start using this as normal I will get about ten hours from it.
Browser seems faster than my DX

 

[booboolala2000]

Finally set my screen brightness to Auto, will see if this helps with the battery. Really, the battery isn't THAT bad. Just not stellar. I'll take the speediness anytime. So much smother than my DX.

 

[Atrav]

My only gripe so far is the microusb slot which in a very bad location. You can't charge and watch a movie using the kickstand. What the hell was HTC was thinking?

 

[Kmasum]

I live in Detroit and getting 12mbps down and 20 up speed!! So far very happy with this phone, coming from droid x, only downside is battery issue

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

 

[booboolala2000]

Plus the Voice/Data works at the same time both 3g/4g

 

[Jeryl31]

-Definitely heavier than the Evo but in a good way, solid
-Snappy but not too noticeable than other great Android phones
-Love the big display
-Sound quality through a couple calls in the day has been great
-Came from using a Moto Atrix and iPhone 4, so the battery life definitely doesn't stack up to those, but really on par with the hardware/network specs

 

[anon(4608)]

As much as I am excited about my Tbolt, I think I am more excited in the fact that you have one. I have been monitoring your posts for several months now.

" I have been monitoring your posts for several months now."

That's not creepy at all...

 

[Puterguru]

My first impressions,

I just did a factory reset on the phone after getting it yesterday.

It kept showing a weird phone # when I texted some people.
I cannot click on a photo in my gallery, hit share and send to Picasa, it gives me an error every time.
This morning I woke up late for work. I had two alarms set on the phone for 6:30 am and 7 am. The alarms never went off. When I looked at the phone it said 2:23 pm.
I am in a heavy 4g area according to the Verizon map and I almost Never see 4g on this thing.
I like how heavy and solid the phone feels. Hoping the reset I just did will fix some of these problems.

 

[Firespyer]

Really, the battery isn't THAT bad. Just not stellar. I'll take the speediness anytime. So much smother than my DX.

^^This

So happy to finally be free of my DX

 

[pufidad]

Didn't notice anyone comment on the wireless hotspot. I tried it out as soon as I got home and it pushes 12mbps down to my laptop via speed test. Excellent hotspot, but make sure you have it plugged in, it will seriously drop your batter 10% a minute if not plugged in. Your kinda screwed if you want to use it out no where near a plug.



UPDATE: My friend with an incredible decided to use my hotspot to download an app, because his download speeds were sluggish compared to 4G LTE!! & his homes wifi.

 

[NikoB]

Well I had to work yesterday but I picked up my TB first think..went in late to work and everything so I didn't get to play with it much but what I do know is I LOVE IT. The screen is just beautiful. Definitely a learning curve being my first Android phone but I'm thoroughly impressed with it initially. The battery is crap though. This phone is doing to much for the battery to keep up I think so I'm going to jump over to the other forum on this topic for much needed tips and tricks. But my first impression is definitely love at first site. I got the Seidio Innocase Surface in Burgundy for it and so it looks really nice. Now I just have to learn how to use the dang thing! Very happy and well...WELL worth the wait.

 

[Mike_is_Mike]

The Phone feels great in the hand, and coming from a storm which is slightly smaller, this isnt an issue - still feels good. It looks and acts much better

- The screen is really nice, good color saturation crisp etc.
- LTE is BLAZING fast WOW!!!! If you don't have it in your area yet enjoy it on 3G, but you will be very very hapy when you travel or when 4G gets to you.
- Audio load not particularly awesome from youtube which is highly compressed we'll see when i download some music to it..
- Camera, I took some pics in the store with their demo, handled the mixed lighting nicely. I'll have to test fully here once i charge up fully
- Keyboard has a haptic buzz when you type - you can turn it off, but it will help me transition from surepress. Keeps me from pressing down hard until i hear a crack

I will avoid the software side since i have to get used to it. The phone is snappy overall and especially browsing the web which is huge for me. Coming from a storm 1 I miss the pull it from your holster and it is awake aspect. I don't think I used the on off button on the storm ever. I have to get used to waking this phone up. Still trying to get a sense of sense...

No regrets

Coming from Storm 1 as well.

Things I like:
- Size, screen, weight.
- Speed
- Graphics
- WiFi
- Hot Spot (for iPad when not home)
- Talk and surf and at the same time

Things I don't like:- touch screen... every time I handle this phone I "touch" something and it takes me to a different page or program. When I'm on the phone I like to keep tract of how long I've been talking or waiting. But I invariably "touch" something and the screen changes to somewhere else. I miss the click screen already, except for typing.

- Bed time alarm clock. The Storm had a "bed side" mode, where the clock was visible all night and would not ring or buzz for incoming calls or messages. This phone just goes dark and if I want to see what time it is I have to fumble in the dark to find and press the tiny power put-on. I haven't been able to set up my home or work email yet, so nothing buzzes at night - but I also can't get my messages.

- Advanced App killer, not sure I like this or hate this. It seems there is no other way to turn off some apps?.and I wonder if they ever really turn off!. Pandora IS ALWAYS ON very time I "kill" the open aps, EVEN WHEN I DON'T TURN IT ON.

- There are tinges I don't like about the phone set up too, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

- The whole OS seems bit more confusing, again, this is my first Droid so I'm sure I will get used to it.

- Battery has been talked about, we'll see if it gets any better by the weekend. But charging it twice a day will get on my nerves.

- Now the part that people will hate. I will give this phone a 10 day try, but if it has too many compromises to fit my tastes, it will go back to the store and I will get an iPhone or wait for the Storm3.

 

[Treknologist]

Coming from Storm 1 as well.

Since you are new to Android, take a look here for some helpful information:
http://forum.androidcentral.com/general-help-how/31622-getting-started-android-tips-tricks.html

 

[Friend-O]

" I have been monitoring your posts for several months now."

That's not creepy at all...

LMBO. I was thinking the exact same thing.

 

[mlf80]

My first impressions,

I just did a factory reset on the phone after getting it yesterday.

It kept showing a weird phone # when I texted some people.
I cannot click on a photo in my gallery, hit share and send to Picasa, it gives me an error every time.
This morning I woke up late for work. I had two alarms set on the phone for 6:30 am and 7 am. The alarms never went off. When I looked at the phone it said 2:23 pm.
I am in a heavy 4g area according to the Verizon map and I almost Never see 4g on this thing.
I like how heavy and solid the phone feels. Hoping the reset I just did will fix some of these problems.

I am having the same issues with Texts. They were fine last night, but this morning people are receiving texts from me with a weird number. Our computer person was here earlier to set up my work email on the phone and he seemed to think it was related to the network and not the phone. Has anyone else had this problem/fixed it?

 

[mlf80]

I am apparently not receiving texts either. My texts were working earlier this morning.

 

[dbermanmd]

Coming from Storm 1 as well.

Things I like:
- Size, screen, weight.
- Speed
- Graphics
- WiFi
- Hot Spot (for iPad when not home)
- Talk and surf and at the same time

Things I don't like:- touch screen... every time I handle this phone I "touch" something and it takes me to a different page or program. When I'm on the phone I like to keep tract of how long I've been talking or waiting. But I invariably "touch" something and the screen changes to somewhere else. I miss the click screen already, except for typing.

- Bed time alarm clock. The Storm had a "bed side" mode, where the clock was visible all night and would not ring or buzz for incoming calls or messages. This phone just goes dark and if I want to see what time it is I have to fumble in the dark to find and press the tiny power put-on. I haven't been able to set up my home or work email yet, so nothing buzzes at night - but I also can't get my messages.

- Advanced App killer, not sure I like this or hate this. It seems there is no other way to turn off some apps?.and I wonder if they ever really turn off!. Pandora IS ALWAYS ON very time I "kill" the open aps, EVEN WHEN I DON'T TURN IT ON.

- There are tinges I don't like about the phone set up too, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

- The whole OS seems bit more confusing, again, this is my first Droid so I'm sure I will get used to it.

- Battery has been talked about, we'll see if it gets any better by the weekend. But charging it twice a day will get on my nerves.

- Now the part that people will hate. I will give this phone a 10 day try, but if it has too many compromises to fit my tastes, it will go back to the store and I will get an iPhone or wait for the Storm3.

I am currently sitting on my Storm 1 and have been waiting for the TB for a while now. I have decided to wait and see how you guys react to it.

The question i have for you if you dont mind answering it is what would you do retrospectively now that you are several days into the flight of your TB, would you have still gone ahead and moved to the TB or would you have kept your Storm 1 and observed?

I am very interested in your reply, thank you in advance.

David