Thunderbolt First Impressions/Reviews
- Thread starter Cyber Warrior
- Start date
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What do you mean by voice quality is great...not tested yet?
The ONE thing that I'm wondering about, voice quality, evidently isn't being tested....Um, isn't this thing a PHONE?? lol
The ONE thing that I'm wondering about, voice quality, evidently isn't being tested....Um, isn't this thing a PHONE?? lol
bdragon
Well-known member
- Oct 29, 2010
- 113
- 10
- 0
Played with one in a vzw store(mine is in the mail) and first thing I notice was that it wasn't as heavy as I thought it would be. I think the Storm is heavier. Love the look and feel of it, and it was real snappy to say the least. My main concern is the battery life. Didn't find anything I didn't like about the phone while I was playing with it.
Well, I'm coming from another HTC phone (Touch Pro2-Windows) but my sound is great! Very clear, very loud, not distorted, just plain great. But, that's what I expected from an HTC phone. My experience so far has been very good for sound on HTC phones.
BTW, the speaker phone is very good and very loud too.
-Frank
Full Disclosure-I'm coming from a BB Storm 1 so I gatta say that this thing is blowing me away!
- Aesthetics- Very solid. Seems well built and very attractive.
- Screen- Bright (turned it down to save battery), vivid, little hard to see in bright sunlight but its manageable. Could be because I turned the brightness down.
- Hardware- Well built. Seems like it could withstand several drops. (Not that I'm gonna drop it).
- Phone - including bluetooth & speakerphone usage-No bluetooth usage. Phone call quality is very good. The other end doesn't hear background noise.
- Overall User Interface (including HTC Sense)-Love Sense! Also, I downloaded a free thunderstorm live wallpaper that looks great. There is a paid version that lets you adjust the settings but the free version is doing what I need it to.
- Widgets- I'm using News, contact, friendstream, bookmarks, and a tip calcualtor. I also have several small widgets on a settings screen where I can turn on/off various functions and monitor the battery percentage. Its nice to do this stuff from the main menu rather than opening several different apps.
- Signal quality (Compared to other devices)- Its hard to tell. My Storm was slow no matter how my signal was. 4g is really quick though.
- GPS- Tried to use the Navigator app and it just says "Checking Navigation Availability. My Garmin GPS has difficulties until I get closer to St. Louis so I'm not sure if this is a fault of the phone or not.
- Social Networking- Love the friend feed widget. Also downloaded the standard FB app for extended capabilities. Uploaded a few pics online without problem.
- Email/Calendar- Email works great now that I got all my contacts in.
- Battery Life- Not sure yet. Still haven't given this thing a full charge.
- Performance- All I can say is FAST!
- Media (music, movies, DLNA) Loading music on there right now actually.
- Keyboard's- Roomy! I'm no longer misstyping every other word.
- Camera (both still & video)- Seems good enough for a camera phone.
- How the Thunderbolt compares to your previous smartphone (if applicable)- NO comparison. This thing blows the Storm away.
- Disappointments (if any)- none yet
What's the deal with Google talk I can't figure out how to video chat with it there is no option anybody get it to work
Sense Newbie
Well.. My Impressions, coming from a Droid Original.. The phone is decent build quality.. The only concern I have is the Power/wake button. Mine is hard to press..almost like it's too Shallow and I really have to push it to get it to power on/off etc. Not sure if that's just mine or the design.
Still trying to figure out sense.. All I want is the thing to Autorotate in CAR MODE in the Retail VZ Dock. Can it do that? Right now i have to unlock it sideways ...scroll through my Icons Sideways..till I find my third party Car Dock I used for my Droid.. Any Tips here..???
Speaker seems ok.. my Droid was too quiet for media..this seems a bit better. I was able to get away with having my GPS on the Droid all the time.. but this one probably will have to have everything off to avoid battery death..
Looking forward to ROM Goodness on this beast as i see it's already been Rooted.. So it's a Hardware playground..
Well.. My Impressions, coming from a Droid Original.. The phone is decent build quality.. The only concern I have is the Power/wake button. Mine is hard to press..almost like it's too Shallow and I really have to push it to get it to power on/off etc. Not sure if that's just mine or the design.
Still trying to figure out sense.. All I want is the thing to Autorotate in CAR MODE in the Retail VZ Dock. Can it do that? Right now i have to unlock it sideways ...scroll through my Icons Sideways..till I find my third party Car Dock I used for my Droid.. Any Tips here..???
Speaker seems ok.. my Droid was too quiet for media..this seems a bit better. I was able to get away with having my GPS on the Droid all the time.. but this one probably will have to have everything off to avoid battery death..
Looking forward to ROM Goodness on this beast as i see it's already been Rooted.. So it's a Hardware playground..
Aesthetics- huge screen is amazing and the soft touch backing is really cool.
Screen- AMAZING! not over saturated at all and very colorful and bright.
Hardware- feels great! a little hefty but i was surprised how light it was.
Phone- a little blurry on the speaker phone but my area is in and out with voice quality.
Overall User Interface (including HTC Sense)- it is my favorite android skin to date and this does not change my mind. it is VERY snappy and is easy to use.
Widgets- HTC's widgets are the best ever.
Signal quality- (Compared to other devices) keeps the signal constantly
GPS- works
Social Networking- friend stream is really cool.
Email/Calendar- htc's mail app is organized and makes sense
Battery Life- what you would expect from a 1400 mAh.
Performance- super snappy, quadrant was pretty fast too.
Media (music, movies, DLNA)- haven't had a chance to use DLNA yet, music is VERY loud with dolby sound.
Keyboard's- i downloaded swype and that works great. HTC's keyboard is on e of the best android keyboards.
Camera (both still & video)- great quality pics, hi res video works great.
Disappointments (if any)- the microUSB port is on the wrong side
, NO OPTION to turn off 4G from what I can see.
Screen- AMAZING! not over saturated at all and very colorful and bright.
Hardware- feels great! a little hefty but i was surprised how light it was.
Phone- a little blurry on the speaker phone but my area is in and out with voice quality.
Overall User Interface (including HTC Sense)- it is my favorite android skin to date and this does not change my mind. it is VERY snappy and is easy to use.
Widgets- HTC's widgets are the best ever.
Signal quality- (Compared to other devices) keeps the signal constantly
GPS- works
Social Networking- friend stream is really cool.
Email/Calendar- htc's mail app is organized and makes sense
Battery Life- what you would expect from a 1400 mAh.
Performance- super snappy, quadrant was pretty fast too.
Media (music, movies, DLNA)- haven't had a chance to use DLNA yet, music is VERY loud with dolby sound.
Keyboard's- i downloaded swype and that works great. HTC's keyboard is on e of the best android keyboards.
Camera (both still & video)- great quality pics, hi res video works great.
Disappointments (if any)- the microUSB port is on the wrong side
, NO OPTION to turn off 4G from what I can see.It would be about close to 50.00 more a month.Try this add a line get the phone home activate it on your line and throw an old feature phone on the new line then it would only be 15.00 more a month.
My first impressions:
The screen is low resolution with big pixels :/
- My OG droid had 54 * 480 = 25,920 more pixels and they were packed into a smaller space which made it much prettier to look at.
With that being said. It was a 'worth-it' trade off to have LTE speed (which is AMAZING) and a snappy processor with lots of ram.
My battery life thus far seems much better than the OG droid.
I LOVE how fast the camera app is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! trying to get my OG droid to take a picture was like waiting for a turtle to climb Mt. Everest wearing tap-dancing shoes. (Seriously it made a horrible clicking noise)
The screen is low resolution with big pixels :/
- My OG droid had 54 * 480 = 25,920 more pixels and they were packed into a smaller space which made it much prettier to look at.
With that being said. It was a 'worth-it' trade off to have LTE speed (which is AMAZING) and a snappy processor with lots of ram.
My battery life thus far seems much better than the OG droid.
I LOVE how fast the camera app is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! trying to get my OG droid to take a picture was like waiting for a turtle to climb Mt. Everest wearing tap-dancing shoes. (Seriously it made a horrible clicking noise)
Joelist
Well-known member
- Apr 23, 2010
- 346
- 30
- 0
Um, I've seen a Droid and had a DX. The TB has a WAY better screen. Nice coloration (saturation is good) and resolution is perfect. The Droid may have more pixels but the screen technology in the TB is more advanced (SLCD?).
Also noticing a slightly distorted, talking through a tin can kinda experience with the earpiece for call quality. Everyone says I sound fine on their end, I'm going to try my buddies this weekend and see how it compares. Speaker phone seems fine. Aside from that all seems to be going as expected.
-Mayhem
-Mayhem
- Aesthetics - Incredible. Love the form.
- Screen - Beautiful screen. Big upgrade from my DInc.
- Hardware - Solid feel. Love the weight to it.
- Phone - including bluetooth & speakerphone usage - Great call quality. Earpiece and speaker.
- Overall User Interface (including HTC Sense) - love the new Sense.
- Widgets - So far love that you can EDIT widgets without deleting them.
- Signal quality (Compared to other devices) - Strong signal quality. 4G everywhere I go (except subway )
- GPS - Good lock. no issues.
- Email/Calendar - Gmail works great as usual. Calendar is good.
- Battery Life - Better than I expected on 4G.
- Performance - Smooth. NO lag.
- Keyboard's - Using Steven Lin's Gingerbread Keyboard. Hate Froyo.
- Disappointments (if any) - Didn't arrive sooner? :-D
So I've had the phone for about 16 hours and I figure now would be a good time to write my review.
* Aesthetics - Looks really really good. I love the LED Indicator under the ear grill. The only thing that threw me off at all was the different locations of the home/back/search/menu buttons (I'm coming from the OG). The phone feels like it is really well built, great weight for its size. Even with a Seido case, it is not too bulky.
* Screen - It is awesome in my opinion. Sure the Sammy LTE is going to be SUPERDUPERAMOLEDOMG, but, in the end, its a phone, I don't need a 3D 56" LED TV picture quality in my hands. The colors are much more vibrant, darks darker, lights lighter, than any other phone I've ever had. HD Video Looks AMAZING. All in all, im impressed with the screen.
* Hardware - Running fast and smooth. Cant ask for much more than that.
* Phone - including bluetooth & speakerphone usage - The call quality is so much better than my OG that its insane. My wife knew instantly I was calling from a different phone because she could actually hear me. Incoming audio sounds crisp and clean. Just a note: Talking while driving with the windows down...great. The sound canceling made it so my wife could actually hear me and not just wind.
* Overall User Interface (including HTC Sense) - I'm used to stock android, so getting used to Sense is a little tricky, but I already feel like I've got the knack of it. Its really user friendly, and highly customizable.
* Widgets - I'm using a ton of widgets on this thing, where as with my OG I was using 3-4. The widgets are great, they are probably eating my battery, but I'll discuss that later.
* Signal quality (Compared to other devices) - My signal has been great. My LTE speeds have been incredible. I Speedtest'ed next to a lady in the VZW store who was ditching her "4g" Evo, and the speeds were literally, 5x as fast. She was hitting 3.1 mbps, I hit 14.9 mbps (both down).
* GPS - Satellites are trying to steal my thoughts. (But really, seems to work fine. Its GPS, if they didn't have it right by now after all these years...ohh...sorry Fascinate owners.)
* Social Networking - I don't use the friend stream, but I use apps for both twitter and Facebook. I like to keep them separate or else they look like spam. Basically, they are the same...JUST FASTER!
* Email/Calendar - Awesome. Work. I like the Calendar over the stock android one from the OG.
* Battery Life - Besides from punching the TBolt in the face when I first got it by intentionally trying to drain the battery from 50% to 0 in an hour (Which I did, thank you very much), after I let it charge full, 10 hours later without a charge and heavy use (LTE on the whole time) and im still at 30%. That's not bad battery life to me. *Shrug*
* Performance - Great. I really like this phone. Does everything I want it to do for a stock device without rooting/romming.
* Media (music, movies, DLNA) - Haven't tried the DLNA, but Music sounds really good on the speaker. I think that the OG speaker was just slightly louder than this one, but the sound quality is much crisper on the Tbolt. I rented a blockbuster movie just for kicks (rip-off) and it looked superb, and played well. I haven't tried DLNA because I'm Lazy.
* Keyboard's - Its odd not having a physical keyboard anymore, but I'm getting used to it quickly. Its nice not having to pop my phone "open" every time I want to type something because the OG portrait keyboard blew.
* Camera (both still & video) - I haven't taken any video yet, but I played around with still pics, both front and back, and they both look good. Not great, but good. I didn't expect much from the FFC, but for Myspace picture whores, that's a godsend (I am not one of those people...I swear). You need to adjust a lot of things to get a good quality picture depending on the environment. I'm looking forward to some camera improvement apps that should come out eventually to take advantage of the camera.
* How the Thunderbolt compares to your previous smartphone (if applicable) - Destroys it. The OG Droid was an amazing device, but this...this is a whole new beast.
* Disappointments (if any) - None really. Battery life hasn't been much of an issue for me. I cant get my Seido Innocase off now that I have it on. That is kind of funny. One thing to add on to this: Sometimes my LTE signal just disappears for about 5-10 seconds, for no apparent reason, then comes back, just as strong as it was before.
Overall impressions from day 1: My wife hates this phone because I spent more time with it today, than her (we both had the day off). The end. This phone was worth the wait.
* Aesthetics - Looks really really good. I love the LED Indicator under the ear grill. The only thing that threw me off at all was the different locations of the home/back/search/menu buttons (I'm coming from the OG). The phone feels like it is really well built, great weight for its size. Even with a Seido case, it is not too bulky.
* Screen - It is awesome in my opinion. Sure the Sammy LTE is going to be SUPERDUPERAMOLEDOMG, but, in the end, its a phone, I don't need a 3D 56" LED TV picture quality in my hands. The colors are much more vibrant, darks darker, lights lighter, than any other phone I've ever had. HD Video Looks AMAZING. All in all, im impressed with the screen.
* Hardware - Running fast and smooth. Cant ask for much more than that.
* Phone - including bluetooth & speakerphone usage - The call quality is so much better than my OG that its insane. My wife knew instantly I was calling from a different phone because she could actually hear me. Incoming audio sounds crisp and clean. Just a note: Talking while driving with the windows down...great. The sound canceling made it so my wife could actually hear me and not just wind.
* Overall User Interface (including HTC Sense) - I'm used to stock android, so getting used to Sense is a little tricky, but I already feel like I've got the knack of it. Its really user friendly, and highly customizable.
* Widgets - I'm using a ton of widgets on this thing, where as with my OG I was using 3-4. The widgets are great, they are probably eating my battery, but I'll discuss that later.
* Signal quality (Compared to other devices) - My signal has been great. My LTE speeds have been incredible. I Speedtest'ed next to a lady in the VZW store who was ditching her "4g" Evo, and the speeds were literally, 5x as fast. She was hitting 3.1 mbps, I hit 14.9 mbps (both down).
* GPS - Satellites are trying to steal my thoughts. (But really, seems to work fine. Its GPS, if they didn't have it right by now after all these years...ohh...sorry Fascinate owners.)
* Social Networking - I don't use the friend stream, but I use apps for both twitter and Facebook. I like to keep them separate or else they look like spam. Basically, they are the same...JUST FASTER!
* Email/Calendar - Awesome. Work. I like the Calendar over the stock android one from the OG.
* Battery Life - Besides from punching the TBolt in the face when I first got it by intentionally trying to drain the battery from 50% to 0 in an hour (Which I did, thank you very much), after I let it charge full, 10 hours later without a charge and heavy use (LTE on the whole time) and im still at 30%. That's not bad battery life to me. *Shrug*
* Performance - Great. I really like this phone. Does everything I want it to do for a stock device without rooting/romming.
* Media (music, movies, DLNA) - Haven't tried the DLNA, but Music sounds really good on the speaker. I think that the OG speaker was just slightly louder than this one, but the sound quality is much crisper on the Tbolt. I rented a blockbuster movie just for kicks (rip-off) and it looked superb, and played well. I haven't tried DLNA because I'm Lazy.
* Keyboard's - Its odd not having a physical keyboard anymore, but I'm getting used to it quickly. Its nice not having to pop my phone "open" every time I want to type something because the OG portrait keyboard blew.
* Camera (both still & video) - I haven't taken any video yet, but I played around with still pics, both front and back, and they both look good. Not great, but good. I didn't expect much from the FFC, but for Myspace picture whores, that's a godsend (I am not one of those people...I swear). You need to adjust a lot of things to get a good quality picture depending on the environment. I'm looking forward to some camera improvement apps that should come out eventually to take advantage of the camera.
* How the Thunderbolt compares to your previous smartphone (if applicable) - Destroys it. The OG Droid was an amazing device, but this...this is a whole new beast.
* Disappointments (if any) - None really. Battery life hasn't been much of an issue for me. I cant get my Seido Innocase off now that I have it on. That is kind of funny. One thing to add on to this: Sometimes my LTE signal just disappears for about 5-10 seconds, for no apparent reason, then comes back, just as strong as it was before.
Overall impressions from day 1: My wife hates this phone because I spent more time with it today, than her (we both had the day off). The end. This phone was worth the wait.
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