Spreadsheet comparing Verizon LTE phones

[OME6A]

The Thunderbolt and the Samsung seem like the front-runners to me, though I'm anxious to see the RAM on the latter.

The Bionic just seems like its specs have been nerfed, maybe to offset the dual core cost? The FFCamera and the RAM especially. The size of its batter makes me wonder how power-hungry the dual cores will be.

The LG I personally think has the nicest physical design. I always favored LG devices in the dumbphone days, but they're still new to Android. I think I'll give them a couple more models before considering a purchase. And the Bing? Eww.

I'll probably wait until March before considering upgrading from my Droid X.

 

[SailingMan]

After the flurry of info pouring out of CES this past week about the upcoming Verizon LTE phones, I started a Google Docs spreadsheet to pull all of the specs together so I could compare them side-by-side to help me figure out which one I wanted to make my next phone. Then I realized that it might be helpful to others as well, so I prettied it up a bit and made the link publicly viewable.

Most of the information was gathered from the official press releases, official web site, and the articles by Android Central's intrepid reporters. I wanted to stick to the facts instead of reacting to every rumor.

The link is below. I hope you find it helpful. I will continue to update it as more information becomes available. Feel free to send me a PM if you've found sources for any of the missing information or if I made an error (gasp!). Enjoy!

>>> Comparison of Verizon LTE Phones <<<

Richard,

You're a star newbie. Great Job. Keep up the analysis. Very helpful!

 

[TBolt]

Please add whether the device is "global" or not. That's important for some.

 

[RichardClark]

Thank you so much!!! I'm considering these four phones when I move from a stale BlackBerry on AT&T (yuck!) to VZW and an LTE Android phone as they start coming out over the next few months. I'd narrowed it down to that Samsung phone and the Droid Bionic but damn if your spreadsheet doesn't make that Bionic look AWESOME!!

Can any of you experts help me understand the difference in screen resolution. How will 540 x 960 (qHD) compare to 480 x 800 (WVGA)?

Thank you

I'm glad you found it helpful. I wouldn't consider myself an expert on smartphone displays, but since no one else responded I'll give it a shot. While the qHD will look sharper compared to the WVGA due to greater pixel density, I doubt that difference alone will significantly change your impression of the quality of the display in normal use.

Where you may notice a difference is when watching HD video. qHD stands for "Quarter High Definition". That 540 x 960 display is exactly half of normal full HD resolution (1080 x 1920) in each dimension, so it has one quarter of the pixels found in full 1080p HD. So when shrinking down HD video to fit on the qHD display, there is less load on the GPU (graphics processor) because it can simply show every other row and every other column instead of having to do extra work to extrapolate what color to show for all of those pixels that fall in between the rows and columns specified in the HD video source data. It seems like that would result in smoother, sharper video but only real world testing will show whether the difference is actually noticeable.

The only negative I can think of is that those extra pixels also consume more electricity. Fortunately, the Bionic has a pretty sizable battery.

 

[RichardClark]

Please add whether the device is "global" or not. That's important for some.

Alright. I'll keep an eye out for global radios. I haven't seen any mention of them yet. My gut feel is that this first generation of LTE radios is bound to be a bit large so there might not be room to squeeze in a global radio as well until the LTE radios shrink.

 

[rewd]

I'm glad you found it helpful. I wouldn't consider myself an expert on smartphone displays, but since no one else responded I'll give it a shot. While the qHD will look sharper compared to the WVGA due to greater pixel density, I doubt that difference alone will significantly change your impression of the quality of the display in normal use.

Where you may notice a difference is when watching HD video. qHD stands for "Quarter High Definition". That 540 x 960 display is exactly half of normal full HD resolution (1080 x 1920) in each dimension, so it has one quarter of the pixels found in full 1080p HD. So when shrinking down HD video to fit on the qHD display, there is less load on the GPU (graphics processor) because it can simply show every other row and every other column instead of having to do extra work to extrapolate what color to show for all of those pixels that fall in between the rows and columns specified in the HD video source data. It seems like that would result in smoother, sharper video but only real world testing will show whether the difference is actually noticeable.

The only negative I can think of is that those extra pixels also consume more electricity. Fortunately, the Bionic has a pretty sizable battery.

Fantastic, thank you for the additional info. Basically what your saying is qHD > WVGA (when watching something in HD)?

The Bionic is winning hands down for me. My only concern is the lack of a physical keyboard. The only full touchscreen device I've ever owned was the original BB Storm and I despised the whole experience. I hope full touch Android Devices are better in that department or I may have to wait for the first dual core QWERTY slider...

 

[RichardClark]

My only concern is the lack of a physical keyboard. The only full touchscreen device I've ever owned was the original BB Storm and I despised the whole experience. I hope full touch Android Devices are better in that department or I may have to wait for the first dual core QWERTY slider...

I was a little worried about that too, having become so accustomed to rapidly thumb-typing on BlackBerries for years. I've spent a good bit of time playing with my wife's Droid to see if having a physical keyboard would be a "must" for me (it is for her). I found that I'm a much slower typist on both the Droid hard and soft keyboards than I am on the BlackBerry; however, the hard keyboard is only slightly faster for me than the soft keyboard. There isn't much of the tactile feedback that helps touch typists zoom along. Since this device will be more for personal use than business, I don't expect to be typing as many long e-mails and documents as I do with the BlackBerry. So in the end, I decided a physical keyboard is a "nice to have" instead of a "must" for me.

I seriously considered the Droid Pro for a bit. While it would make the transition from a BlackBerry easier, I decided I valued a larger screen over the familiar form factor. The large 4.3" screen on these LTE devices also means that the keys on the virtual keyboard are larger too and, therefore, makes it easier to trigger the correct one on the first try.

 

[RichardClark]

I made several updates to the spreadsheet this morning. Not a lot of new information, but I did add a section showing the voice and data bands the phones are capable of using to help identify any global-capable devices that show up. I also cleaned up the source links at the bottom so that they display a more useful title instead of the URL. Now I'm ready for a flood of spec sheets, if Vzw, HTC, Moto, LG, and Sammy would just cooperate!

 

[ReuvenNY]

... The only full touchscreen device I've ever owned was the original BB Storm and I despised the whole experience. I hope full touch Android Devices are better in that department or I may have to wait for the first dual core QWERTY slider...

This seems to be a typical concern of Blackberry users, coming from a world of physical keyboards.
I got the original Android T-Mobile G1 2 years ago for the same reason...
I am now planning to move to the Thunderbolt as my experience is that the keyboard is not that important.
With the 4.3 inch real estate the virtual keyboard is just fine.
Also the phone is less thick in comparison to the sliders.

 

[RichardClark]

I just updated the spreadsheet to include a list of the top pros and cons of each phone. Of course, this is purely opinion (and labeled as such), so your mileage may vary, but at least it gives some food for thought. There are fewer points for the LG and Samsung phones because fewer details are currently available. I'll update the list as more information is released. If I left out any points that you think many people would consider to be a big pro or con, please let me know.

 

[RichardClark]

FYI: I intentionally left off the Bionic's 512mb of RAM as a negative for now because the RAM of the LG and Samsung models isn't yet known. If they come out with 768mb of RAM (to match the ThunderBolt) or more, then I will show the Bionic's 512mb as a negative because it will be behind the pack. If they come out with 512mb, then I'll consider it par for the course and just leave HTC with the positive for giving more. 512mb is what the Droid X and Droid Incredible have now, so in and of itself it's not a negative, it's just not an advancement. I think the only reason it's notable is because the Atrix comes with 1gb leaving folks to wonder why the Bionic didn't get all of the same shiny new toys.

 

[RichardClark]

Update on the global phone questions. Check out Verizon's presentation at CES that you can view at Verizon Wireless | Facebook

Jump to 37:43 and you'll hear Verizon say the following in response to a question about global roaming:

"The devices will be able to take advantage, over the course of this year as we build some back-end infrastructure, to be able to roam overseas utilizing 3GPP networks whether it is LTE, if it is available, or, if LTE is not available, then HSPA or GSM/GPRS."

 

[lapeter]

Thanks. I assume if you buy the TB now, later in the year the phone I bought at launch, will then be global. is this what you think.

Update on the global phone questions. Check out Verizon's presentation at CES that you can view at Verizon Wireless | Facebook

Jump to 37:43 and you'll hear Verizon say the following in response to a question about global roaming:

"The devices will be able to take advantage, over the course of this year as we build some back-end infrastructure, to be able to roam overseas utilizing 3GPP networks whether it is LTE, if it is available, or, if LTE is not available, then HSPA or GSM/GPRS."

 

[Thig]

It is amazing that HTC could put a 4.3" screen on a device with 4.58" x 2.6" overall size. I hope that is correct. I would like the 4.3" screen but I don't want to carry around a huge phone.

 

[RichardClark]

Thanks. I assume if you buy the TB now, later in the year the phone I bought at launch, will then be global. is this what you think.

That's how I interpret Verizon's comment too. Sounds like no phone hardware change is needed. Must be all software changes on Verizon's end (and possibly to the phones) for them to be able to roll it out that quickly. Hoping that's true.

 

[RichardClark]

It is amazing that HTC could put a 4.3" screen on a device with 4.58" x 2.6" overall size. I hope that is correct. I would like the 4.3" screen but I don't want to carry around a huge phone.

Those dimensions came from here: Infographic: Motorola Droid Bionic vs. Apple iPhone 4 vs. HTC Thunderbolt | Skatter Tech
116.3 mm x 66.0 mm = 133.7 mm diagonally (hooray geometry!)
Which is 5.265 inches diagonally (hooray Google conversions!).
So, plenty of room for a 4.3" diagonal screen plus buttons, etc.

 

[rafareyes]

Very useful, thank you for sharing. This was what I was looking for. Saved a bunch if time of research.

 

[Thig]

Those dimensions came from here: Infographic: Motorola Droid Bionic vs. Apple iPhone 4 vs. HTC Thunderbolt | Skatter Tech
116.3 mm x 66.0 mm = 133.7 mm diagonally (hooray geometry!)
Which is 5.265 inches diagonally (hooray Google conversions!).
So, plenty of room for a 4.3" diagonal screen plus buttons, etc.

Not doubting your math at all, just sort of comparing the Droid X which has a 4.3" screen and is about 1/2" longer.

 

[sethjk]

Fantastic, thank you for the additional info. Basically what your saying is qHD > WVGA (when watching something in HD)?

The Bionic is winning hands down for me. My only concern is the lack of a physical keyboard. The only full touchscreen device I've ever owned was the original BB Storm and I despised the whole experience. I hope full touch Android Devices are better in that department or I may have to wait for the first dual core QWERTY slider...

Touch on an Android device is nothing like it was on the Storm; I had one. It's pleasent and works and you'll never think about your BB again after, like, an hour.

 

[cdford]

Touch on an Android device is nothing like it was on the Storm; I had one. It's pleasent and works and you'll never think about your BB again after, like, an hour.

I still have the old droid, and used to rely on the slide-out keyboard. But after getting on the swype beta I've maybe used it twice. I'm looking forward to a keyboardless phone simply because I've had such a great time using swype.