I'm on the last day of my trial period with my Thunderbolt. I love many aspects of the phone and don't like others. I'm 98% sure I will call them up and tell them to send me an Incredible 2 and ship this TB back to them. But since it's the last day, I won't have a new 14 day clock to use to evaluate it. So it's kind of a crapshoot. Keep something that's not working out great, or double down on something unknown except the small amount of promising info I've read here and in other forums. Can't go back to the Tbolt if this doesn't work out. So I'm looking for your input and advice on anything I might have overlooked in making my decision.
In a nutshell I'm not happy with the Tbolt's battery life, call quality, or weight.
1. The weight is what it is and I would probably just live with it if nothing else was wrong. Don't like it though. Size is great, it's just the weight. The Dinc2 weight is perfect. And while I don't have a problem with the Tbolt size, the slightly smaller Dinc2 is kind of nice. I like how it sits in the hand.
2. The call quality is bad for me. This is my only phone, so for home use and for working from home like I may start doing, it's essential that I can hear and be heard. I tested out a Dinc2 and it's better. I sound crystal clear to people I call instead of muffled and muddled. And on my end I hear no weird garbling, robot voice, or dropouts like on the Tbolt. I understand this is variable and that some people here are getting wonderful Tbolt call quality. Not me, not here. Could just be my hinterland area, but I did a test call on another Tbolt in the store and the same things happened, whereas the Dinc2 in the same store had no problems. I feel like I can't risk keeping the Tbolt and swapping it out again and again looking for one with better call quality when that might not happen and then I'm stuck.
3. We talk a lot about battery life tweaks here. I've done all of them short of rooting/rom-ing/kerneling. I don't want to have to think about battery life or actively manage it through all of this stuff. I want to pull it off the charger first thing in the morning and have it last until midnight when I put it on again and I don't want it dying on me since it's my only phone. Ideally I want longer than that in case I forget to put it on the charger or have an unexpected kind of day or unusual travel or whatever. I'm hearing great things about the Dinc2 battery. That sounds like sweet relief by comparison and is tied for first place with call quality as my main reason for switching.
There are a number of other big issues that we talk about here that I've already resolved for myself and that we don't need to consider.
I understand about all of the implications of having 4G vs. not having it and of using it all the time vs. conditionally, buying for the future, etc. etc. etc. No need to address that. I had to use 3G most of the time anyway and am fine with that for a year (1 yr contract).
I'd rather have the bigger screen but the Dinc2 is really fine at 4".
I love love love the kickstand but can live without it or get a case that has one.
The Dinc2 speakerphone is pretty quiet, which sucks. I'm willing to sacrifice that to get the other advantages of the phone.
One reviewer said he's seen better photo/video performance. I barely use those things so am not overly fussed. Better would be better but it's not a top priority.
The Dinc2 only has about 1GB of usable internal memory for apps. This sounds bad. But I'm told a GB is more than enough for apps. And lots of apps can go on the card if needed. Any thoughts here?
The Dinc2 comes with 16gb card instead of Tbolt's 32. I'll need 32 to fit all my music (which I'll listen to via aux plug on the car stereo), so that's an extra expense. But I'm chalking it up as an acceptable sacrifice.
Am I overlooking any other considerations? Any hidden pitfalls with the Dinc2? Thanks.
In a nutshell I'm not happy with the Tbolt's battery life, call quality, or weight.
1. The weight is what it is and I would probably just live with it if nothing else was wrong. Don't like it though. Size is great, it's just the weight. The Dinc2 weight is perfect. And while I don't have a problem with the Tbolt size, the slightly smaller Dinc2 is kind of nice. I like how it sits in the hand.
2. The call quality is bad for me. This is my only phone, so for home use and for working from home like I may start doing, it's essential that I can hear and be heard. I tested out a Dinc2 and it's better. I sound crystal clear to people I call instead of muffled and muddled. And on my end I hear no weird garbling, robot voice, or dropouts like on the Tbolt. I understand this is variable and that some people here are getting wonderful Tbolt call quality. Not me, not here. Could just be my hinterland area, but I did a test call on another Tbolt in the store and the same things happened, whereas the Dinc2 in the same store had no problems. I feel like I can't risk keeping the Tbolt and swapping it out again and again looking for one with better call quality when that might not happen and then I'm stuck.
3. We talk a lot about battery life tweaks here. I've done all of them short of rooting/rom-ing/kerneling. I don't want to have to think about battery life or actively manage it through all of this stuff. I want to pull it off the charger first thing in the morning and have it last until midnight when I put it on again and I don't want it dying on me since it's my only phone. Ideally I want longer than that in case I forget to put it on the charger or have an unexpected kind of day or unusual travel or whatever. I'm hearing great things about the Dinc2 battery. That sounds like sweet relief by comparison and is tied for first place with call quality as my main reason for switching.
There are a number of other big issues that we talk about here that I've already resolved for myself and that we don't need to consider.
I understand about all of the implications of having 4G vs. not having it and of using it all the time vs. conditionally, buying for the future, etc. etc. etc. No need to address that. I had to use 3G most of the time anyway and am fine with that for a year (1 yr contract).
I'd rather have the bigger screen but the Dinc2 is really fine at 4".
I love love love the kickstand but can live without it or get a case that has one.
The Dinc2 speakerphone is pretty quiet, which sucks. I'm willing to sacrifice that to get the other advantages of the phone.
One reviewer said he's seen better photo/video performance. I barely use those things so am not overly fussed. Better would be better but it's not a top priority.
The Dinc2 only has about 1GB of usable internal memory for apps. This sounds bad. But I'm told a GB is more than enough for apps. And lots of apps can go on the card if needed. Any thoughts here?
The Dinc2 comes with 16gb card instead of Tbolt's 32. I'll need 32 to fit all my music (which I'll listen to via aux plug on the car stereo), so that's an extra expense. But I'm chalking it up as an acceptable sacrifice.
Am I overlooking any other considerations? Any hidden pitfalls with the Dinc2? Thanks.
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