Thunderbolt vs Charge

[Ken7]

Thanks Farabomb. What exactly is 'google media iirc'? Also curious if you're having the 3G data connectivity issue?

 

[Farabomb]

Probably should have typed google media, iirc (if I recall correctly) and I was slightly wrong. It's Marketplace's rental service


Sorry, home sick and forgot about the other question. Where I live and work is all 3g but my mom lives in lte country and I haven't seen any issues.

 

[delco714]

ok so I am getting my charge tomorrow and you convinced me to root it. I bought a preowned og droid that was rooted ( i didnt know until I got it) and I learned how to deroot then update android.. HOWEVER

Is there a comprehensive manual/walkthrough to root THIS phone and flash it and put that beast thing on it? What makes the beast thing so special anyways? I watch that posted video, and very impressive!

 

[saillling4life]

I was just on Amazon and saw the Charge for $199 with an upgrade. This is great news I hope some people can use this to get their phones at a cheap price.

 

[prodigy]

I was just on Amazon and saw the Charge for $199 with an upgrade. This is great news I hope some people can use this to get their phones at a cheap price.

That's awesome. Could I buy it off Amazon, and then have it activated and stuff at Verizon for no charge? And how would things work if something went wrong with the phone? Do I talk to Amazon or Verizon?

 

[saillling4life]

That's awesome. Could I buy it off Amazon, and then have it activated and stuff at Verizon for no charge? And how would things work if something went wrong with the phone? Do I talk to Amazon or Verizon?

If I where you I would go to best buy and do a price match. Since you'll be in the store when they set it up. If you where to do that then you would go to best buy with any problems, plus best buy's return policy is a lot better.

 

[Raptor007]

I'm pretty impartial, I had the TB for about 5-6 weeks and got it on launch day. It is a solid phone, very fast, great processor and available RAM. However to get the most out of it I rooted and installed Das Bamf ROM, if you get the TB go with their ROM it will blow you away. Now that said, the stock battery won't last unless you plan to keep it plugged in (your car, office). It just eats batteries too quickly, and I had issues with lockups, reboots other issues.

Charge, is also a great phone, but again (in my opinion) benefits as well from rooting, root/kernel/cwm package with Voodoo lagfix will greatly benefit you by simply changing the file system from rfs (samsug proprietary) to ext4 (in other Android phones) and speeds up internal processes. There is a kernel with OC/UV abilities and of course we have a AWESOME ROM from DroidXcon called Altered Beast which shows just how fast the Charge is. Charge has an awesome screen, great battery life.

Regarding battery life, I had and OEM extended battery on my ThunderBolt and I have an OEM extended battery on my Charge. Same type of use and abuse during the day, calls, email web. The charge is lasting well past what the ThunderBolt ever did for me.

 

[pauldroidr2d2]

I don't generally purchase the extended batteries for these phones. Mostly because I don't like the added weight and thickness they tend to add. But, the standard battery that came with Charge is far better than what HTC chose to put into the Thunderbolt.

The Thunderbolt is a typical HTC phone. It is a great idea. I do like Sense UI. But, no matter how you cut it, HTC underpowers the battery. I think they do it because of price and putting these things together as cheaply as possible. The problem is it ticks off some customers like me who will end up not going back to HTC.

Add in the Super AMOLED screen and Samsung at least at this point is light years ahead of HTC and Motorola.

 

[Cruiserdude]

Yeah, after having my Charge for a week and still being very happy with it, I don't really see much logic in picking the Thunderbolt over it unless you just really like HTC. It's got better battery life, a better screen, a smoother stock UI, a better gpu, and although the cpu is a year older, it keep up with and even beats the 8655 in many areas. The Snapdragon seems to handle an individual task just a bit more quickly, but the Hummingbird still seems to be the better multitasker. Samsung phones have great development support, and seem to have better recovery options to prevent a brick, not to mention their source code repository for the devs. Many of the Fascinate's problems appear to have been fixed, and with all the advertising VZW is throwing behind it, I would expect they will support it very well. Don't forget its the only one of the three LTE phones to get both the Droid branding, as well as BMX's seal of approval.

I honestly expect it to hold its own against the Bionic when that drops, unless the Moto manages to have a better screen than the other qHD's AND an unlocked bootloader. Even then, its looking like it won't be out until tiered data hits.

But all things considered, I would definitely recommend a Charge over everything else in VZW's line-up if you live in a 4g area.

 

[TootNBerry]

Thanks for the feedback, and I'm on the thunderbolt and have been looking at this phone..

Sent from my Thunderbolt using Tapatalk

 

[pauldroidr2d2]

Thanks for the feedback, and I'm on the thunderbolt and have been looking at this phone..

Sent from my Thunderbolt using Tapatalk

I have a Thunderbolt. I have pretty much given up using it at this point in lieu of using my Charge.

 

[shobuddy]

No one brought this up but I want to mention one plus for the TB. The TB can do simultaneous voice and data even in 3G. This, for me, is a big deal.

 

[shobuddy]

One plus point for the TB: It can do simultaneous voice and data even in 3G. For me this is a big deal.

 

[turkishcoffee]

I've had my Charge for about a week and really like it. Haven't tried a T'bolt, but have read a lot of owner feedback on various product review sites and forums that indicate it has some issues. I think that if you search this forum you'll find more people pleased with their Charge's and more people who have traded in their T'bolts.

 

[saillling4life]

I've had my Charge for about a week and really like it. Haven't tried a T'bolt, but have read a lot of owner feedback on various product review sites and forums that indicate it has some issues. I think that if you search this forum you'll find more people pleased with their Charge's and more people who have traded in their T'bolts.

Yes, I will agree with you on that, but some people are reporting that everything is amazing.

 

[bellison41]

I have both the charge and the TB, and there are things of each that I like. The TB is fast and has a great solid construction feel, but the battery is worse than most. With that said the Charge has a much better screen and the battery life is pretty good for a smart phone. I am not crazy about touchwiz, but a launcher replacement is an easy fix. The Charge has a good feel in the hand and I like the weight of it. The plastic feel was something I thought would bother me, but after having it in my hand for a couple of days I really got used to it. The HDMI out is a bonus if you want to mirror what you are doing on your Charge (movies, and some of the games are fun). Over all both are good phones, but I am enjoying the Charge for now coming from a Incredible the Bolt was just not enough to keep me happy for the moment. My wife has my Bolt and she is happy with the bigger screen coming from my old Incredible. Bottom line is what works for you, but the charge has some backing and will just continue to get better with roms and mods.

 

[saillling4life]

I have both the charge and the TB, and there are things of each that I like. The TB is fast and has a great solid construction feel, but the battery is worse than most. With that said the Charge has a much better screen and the battery life is pretty good for a smart phone. I am not crazy about touchwiz, but a launcher replacement is an easy fix. The Charge has a good feel in the hand and I like the weight of it. The plastic feel was something I thought would bother me, but after having it in my hand for a couple of days I really got used to it. The HDMI out is a bonus if you want to mirror what you are doing on your Charge (movies, and some of the games are fun). Over all both are good phones, but I am enjoying the Charge for now coming from a Incredible the Bolt was just not enough to keep me happy for the moment. My wife has my Bolt and she is happy with the bigger screen coming from my old Incredible. Bottom line is what works for you, but the charge has some backing and will just continue to get better with roms and mods.

Thanks for the input, the more people that I hear from the more informed my decision will be.

 

[shobuddy]

I think that if you search this forum you'll find more people pleased with their Charge's and more people who have traded in their T'bolts.

I agree that the Charge has been getting better reviews, however, IMHO, if the Charge had come out before the TBolt, there would be people trading in the Charge for the TB also.

 

[turkishcoffee]

I agree that the Charge has been getting better reviews, however, IMHO, if the Charge had come out before the TBolt, there would be people trading in the Charge for the TB also.

Possibly, but it seems that most people who are trading in the T'bolt are doing it because of frustration with the poor battery life and some of its issues (i.e. reboots, GPS, etc).

 

[davesnk]

I had both the Thundebolt and now the Charge. I came from the Droid x. If someone could combine all of the good from the droid x with the thunderbolt with the charge what a phone that would be. Anyway I had issues with the thunderbolt as well, reboots, very poor noise cancellation, and the battery would last about 3 hours. Also the weight of the phone in the car dock would make it bounce so that looking at the GPS screen was quite annoying. Issues with the charge have been fewer. Some of those issues are as follows: When video recording every once in a while I get an error message that states "unable to record resolution not supported on this SD card". There is lag every once in a while but not too bothersome. I did bring it back to Verizon and they exchanged the phone now it only happens maybe once a day. Call quality is much better on the charge and the desk side charger comes with an extra battery and has a compartment to charge the extra battery as well. Over all I am happier with the Charge.