HTC ThunderBolt Review

The excellent: The HTC ThunderBolt provides extremely quick 4G information speeds. The Android 2.2 smartphone also supports simultaneous voice and information above 3G and boasts a sizable four.3-inch touch screen, ample storage, and a superb camera.

The negative: Battery life will take a large hit when employing 4G. There is absolutely no strategy to toggle amongst 3G and 4G.

The bottom line: The HTC ThunderBolt lights up with blazingly rapidly information speeds, but these who want 4G now must be conscious that it will take a massive toll around the smartphone's battery life.

Introduced at CES 2011, the HTC ThunderBolt is Verizon's 1st 4G LTE, and it really is lastly readily available for $249.99 having a two-year contract. The Android two.two smartphone may not provide the most recent and greatest (e.g., dual-core processor), but together with the carrier promising regular download speeds of 5Mbps to 12Mbps and upload speeds of 2Mbps to 5Mbps, it is no surprise why quite a few are clamoring to obtain their hands on this gadget. This contains us, that is why we had been so excited to take the HTC ThunderBolt out for any test-drive. The lightning-fast smartphone delivers on numerous fronts, nevertheless it also comes at a expense for iPad 3 release date.

Design and style
The HTC ThunderBolt is cut from exactly the same cloth because the HTC Evo 4G along with the HTC Want HD, so if you have ever handled these devices, you then possess a relatively very good concept of what to anticipate from the ThunderBolt.

At four.75 inches tall by two.44 inches broad by 0.56 inch thick and six.23 ounces, the ThunderBolt is not for all those who choose dainty devices. The smartphone is huge and really slightly thicker and heavier than the Evo, but it is manageable along with the tapered back and soft-touch finish make it cozy to hold within the hand. As we've come to anticipate from HTC, the cellphone is solidly constructed and includes a wonderful, premium really feel to it iPhone 5 release date.


The HTC ThunderBolt features a comparable style for the Evo 4G.

On front, you have got precisely the same four.3-inch WVGA (800x480 pixels) touch screen because the Evo. You will discover higher-resolution displays available, like these around the Motorola Atrix 4G or iPhone four, however the ThunderBolt's screen nevertheless holds up, with clear and brilliant image excellent. Text was simple to study, and Net pages and video looked beautiful around the huge screen.

The touch screen can also be responsive. Apps launched as we tapped them, and we have been capable to smoothly navigate as a result of the household screens and menus. The show also functions a proximity sensor and built-in accelerometer, which was rapid to alter screen orientation when we rotated the cellphone.

The front-facing camera sits correct above the screen around the proper; under the show are the household, menu, back, and search navigation buttons. Meanwhile, the 8-megapixel camera and flash are situated on back, but we genuinely want there was a devoted camera button around the cellphone. As an alternative, you will need to use the touch screen to snap pictures.

Around the vivid side, the ThunderBolt features a sturdy kickstand so you are able to prop the mobile phone on a desk to view movies, conduct speakerphone calls, plus the like. There is a Micro-USB port around the left side, and also a volume rocker occupies the proper side. Ultimately, on leading with the gadget, you are going to come across a power/lock button and three.5mm headphone jack.


The ThunderBolt attributes a built-in kickstand that lets you spot the mobile phone on a table and view movies, slideshows, and additional.

The HTC ThunderBolt comes packaged with an AC adapter, a USB cable, a preinstalled 32GB microSD card, and reference materials.

4G functions and overall performance
Ahead of we get for the phone's more-basic attributes, we believed we'd tackle the HTC ThunderBolt's entire raison d'etre, and that is 4G help. As talked about earlier, the ThunderBolt could be the 1st smartphone to function on Verizon's LTE 4G network, which guarantees typical download speeds of 5Mbps to 12Mbps and upload speeds of 2Mbps to 5Mbps.

Offered the impressive outcomes we got utilizing Verizon's LG VL600 LTE USB modem, you'd assume we'd be a bit much more ready for what we knowledgeable around the ThunderBolt, but we have been nonetheless blown away by what we saw. It really is rapid. Actual rapid HTC thunderbolt review.

Operating Ookla's Speedtest.net app around the handset yielded some erratic and suspicious benefits (upload speeds have been registering as much as 39.79Mbps), so we also measured speeds making use of the telephone as a mobile hot spot and as a tethered modem. Using the ThunderBolt linked to our MacBook Pro as a mobile hot spot right here in New York, we have been capable to acquire normal download speeds of 7.41Mbps and upload speeds of six.56Mbps.

By comparison, the HTC Evo 4G from Sprint averaged three.42Mbps down and 0.93Mpbs up; the Samsung Galaxy S 4G on T-Mobile averaged four.17Mbps down and 1.68Mbps up; along with the HTC Inspire 4G on AT&T averaged 1.75Mbps down and 0.31Mbps up.

We got even better benefits when we had the ThunderBolt tethered to our Lenovo T61 ThinkPad. We averaged download speeds of 15.58Mbps and upload speeds of three.44Mbps. (See example speed check beneath.)