HTC ThunderBolt Review

Introduction:

When we first learned in 2007 that Verizon was going to be updating its network to 4G LTE, we’ve been wondering which smartphone would be the first to utilize it. Now it’s here: the HTC ThunderBolt. Without a doubt, the ThunderBolt is being advertized as the must-have device, with fast internet data speeds, a 4.3” display, and a 1GHz processor. Verizon is counting on early-adopters at this point; people not wanting to wait around for other 4G smartphones, such as the dual-core Motorola DROID BIONIC, LG Revolution, or the (un-named) Samsung 4G LTE smartphone with Super AMOLED Plus display. But there are already a few 4G devices out from other carriers, so let’s see if the ThunderBolt was worth the wait, as we dive into it.

Included in the retail box is the HTC ThunderBolt ADR6400 phone, 1400mAh battery, SanDisk 32GB Class 4 microSDHC memory card preinstalled, wall charger with detachable microUSB cable, and user guides.

Design:

The overall design of the HTC ThunderBolt is pleasing, but it isn’t ground-breaking by any means, as it looks to be an amalgamation of other HTC phones, such as the Inspire 4G and EVO 4G, though we like the black and graphite grey colors that are used on the exterior. The phone is constructed out of plastic, but feels quite sturdy, and has a noticeable weight to it, coming in at 6.23oz, making it even heavier than the 5.47oz metal DROID X. The ThunderBolt also has a generous size to it, and feels very “wide” when holding it, so people with smaller hands might not be as comfortable with it. When we placed the phone in our pants pocket, we could feel it there, and after walking some, the weight started to get annoying.



You can compare the HTC ThunderBolt with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.



We are glad to see that HTC stepped-up to a 4.3” WVGA capacitive display on the ThunderBolt, where the HTC Droid Incredible from last year was limited to a smaller 3.7”. Though in doing so you give up the AMOLED display for a standard TFT. One thing that we noticed (as we had 2 ThunderBolts to compare) was that one of them had better looking display, as colors were more saturated and life-like with good contrast, while the second ThunderBolt’s colors were a bit more “dull” and whites looked more gray. We looked at the same images, videos, and web pages on each, and could clearly see a difference. This doesn’t mean that the 2nd unit’s display is defective, as it could have been made at a different plant or not calibrated correctly, just that there are differences here that we noticed. Regardless, the one thing that we didn’t care for is that you can hardly read the display while being outside in sunlight, as it is dark and hard to see, even when the backlight is turned all the way up. In comparison, the Motorola DROID X is a bit easier to view in sunlight.


The HTC ThunderBolt comes with the standard touch-sensitive buttons on the lower part, which will take you to the home screen, menu, back, and search. Up above is the earpiece speaker with a hidden LED status indicator that will flash green when you get a new message, as well as change between red and green while charging, and on the opposite side is a 1.3MP camera for taking self pictures, and (eventually) for video chatting via Skype. Along the sides are the microUSB port, volume rocker, power/lock key and 3.5mm headset jack. Even though the volume rocker is large and protrudes some from the surrounding plastic, the power/lock key (which is used more often) is small and flush with its surroundings, making it more difficult to find by touch alone. On theback is the 8MP autofocus camera with dual LED Flash, and a kickstand that comes in handy when watching videos, though we don’t like that it covers up the rear speaker when closed. Removing the battery cover can be quite difficult, but will reveal the hidden slot for the Verizon 4G SIM card, as well as the microSDHC memory card slot. One thing missing from the ThunderBolt is an HDMI output, but it does support Wi-Fi streaming to DLNA compatible products.

Interface:

The HTC ThunderBolt uses the latest version of the HTC Sense user interface, which is seamlessly layered over Android 2.2.1 Froyo. If you’ve never used it before, HTC Sense can take a bit of getting used to, but it is no more challenging than using stock Android. In fact, it’s easier. For example, you can personalize the 7 homescreens and add icons without a long-press of the homescreen. Instead, just tap the paintbrush palette symbol on the bottom right of the homescreen - very intuitive. Also included are plenty of pre-loaded HTC widgets which are very functional and further improve usability. For added customization, you can choose from 6 different scenes (Verizon, HTC, Social, Work, Play, and Travel) as each one has its own distinctive layout. If that were not enough, there are also 5 skins (HTC, Black Board, Metal, Slate, and Wood) that can alter the appearance of each scene. So for example, you could actually combine the Work scene with any of the skins. This allows for 30 different looks all together. Naturally, you can go even further by selecting different wallpapers.


The Sense UI perfectly adheres to the needs of social networking happy individuals with its Friend Stream app, and it’s accompanying desktop widget, that aggregates content from your Facebook and Twitter accounts. In addition to reading the latest messages from friends, you can even post your own tweet or Facebook status message simultaneously without the need of running two separate dedicated apps. Moreover, it even allows you to shoot a photo and upload it directly to your social networking accounts. Though it is still nice to have the stand-alone Facebook app installed, as that does allow for some extra features like direct chatting with on-line Facebook friends.


And if you love taking photos and wish to record pertinent information regarding them, you should try out the location based HTC Footprints app. Basically, it will tie in GPS coordinates to photos you've taken and categorize them based on your preference – such as shopping, dining, leisure, and others. For the constant travelers out there, it proves its value in keeping you connected with your cherished memories of places you've visited.

Unfortunately at this time, the ThunderBolt is not supported by the HTCSense.com web site, so you can’t use its features, but you can download the HTC Sync program, that can be used to sync the phone with your PC’s contacts, images, and music files via USB connection.

Even though dual-core processors are already here, the included 1GHz single-core Snapdragon processor (Qualcomm MSM8655) and 768MB of RAM on the ThunderBolt allow the software to reach its full potential, as opening programs is fast, with almost no delay. Moving between the 7 homescreens is also as fluid as can be.

Phonebook:

Clicking on the “People” icon on the desktop or in the app drawer will bring up a list of all your contacts shown alphabetically and with their picture on the left side. This is populated by your Google, Facebook, Flickr and Twitter accounts, as well as being able to tie-in with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync accounts. Furthermore, you can import and export contacts to the SIM card. When you click on a contact, it will then open up a new screen and show all their information, as well as 6 icons on the bottom for viewing their details, messages, email, updates & events, gallery, and call history. This is all very useful, and we love the way that HTC Sense brings all this information together, yet makes it easy to use.



Organizer and Messaging:

The calendar works very well, as it pulls information from all your accounts (Google, Facebook, Exchange, PC Sync) and aggregates them to the phone. This way, when you go to the calendar app (or desktop widget), all your events are shown in a day, week, or monthly view. You can also click on them to add reminders and alert tones.


We still have a fondness for using a physical keyboard when tying a message, but the QWERTY keyboard on the ThunderBolt’s large 4.3” display is the next best thing. You can automatically setup your email for AOL, GMail, Microsoft Exchange, Verizon.net, Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo, as well as manually entering in your own POP3 and IMAP accounts. Once they are all set up, you can view your emails by account, or in a combined view that designates each account’s email with a different color bar on the left side. Naturally, you can also send and receive text and picture messages, as well as using the Mobile IM program to connect with Windows Live, Yahoo and AIM buddy lists. Google Talk continues to use it own separate app.

Connectivity and Internet:

Being that the HTC ThunderBolt is the first smartphone to utilize Verizon’s 4G LTE 700MHz network, we were very interested in seeing what type of data speeds the device could get. First off, for standard web browsing, the ThunderBolt was able to completely load the PhoneArnea.com home page (included all Flash content and ads) in only 22 seconds, compared to the Motorola DROID X that took 45 seconds to load the exact same page (including Flash and ads) using Verizon’s EVDO Rev A network. We tried a few other web sites, and all loaded two-to-three times faster on the ThunderBolt.

Of course, the Webkit based web browser displays sites just like they would appear on your home PC and supports multitouch pinch-to-zoom and Adobe Flash content. One major benefit with the ThunderBolt is that you can use 4G data, such as web site browsing, while simultaneously talking on the phone too.


Next we tested some app download speeds from the Android Market. First up was the Adobe Flash 10.2 update at 4.24MB, which took 13 seconds to download on the ThunderBolt and 42 seconds on the DROID X. Then we downloaded Angry Birds Lite at 11.44MB, which only took 18 seconds on the ThunderBolt, while the DROID X took forever at 2 minutes and 40 seconds to download. Noticing a trend here?

We did try the SpeedTest.net app, and on the ThunderBolt got 9.42 to 12.0 Mbps downloads, but the upload speeds were messed up saying it was 32 Mbps, so we think the app might not be fully compatible with 4G LTE devices yet. But when used on the DROID X, we got about 1.25 Mbps download and 0.54 Mbps uploads.

Lastly, we wanted to see how the HTC ThunderBolt and LG VL600 USB modem would compare 4G data speeds when connected to a PC. The ThunderBolt has a feature called Internet Connection Mode, where you can connect the phone to your PC via a USB cable and use the 4G data network as the PC’s internet source. When doing this, we were able to use our FireFox web browser and run the regular SpeedTest.net web site. In doing so, we got a download speed of 11.53 Mbps and an upload speed of 6.50 Mbps with the ThunderBolt. We then removed it and used the LG VL600 modem, which gave us a download speed of 10.61 Mbps and an upload speed of 6.48 Mbps.



The 4G Mobile HotSpot app allows you to connect up to 8 devices to the ThunderBolt via Wi-Fi, which in turn uses the ThunderBolt’s 4G connection for data. We tested this with the DROID X connected to the ThunderBolt, and were able to get 10.43 Mbps download and 3 Mbps uploads using the SpeedTest.net app.


Based upon our tests and usage, it is obvious that the HTC ThunderBolt is a clear winner and has the fastest web browsing and data speeds of any smartphone currently on Verizon, but that’s because it’s the only 4G smartphone on Verizon for the time being. It also appears that Verizon isn’t throttling speeds back (yet), as the ThunderBolt and VL600 modem got similar results. It will be interesting to see if over time throttling does occur as more people start to use the 4G network.

Camera:

The 8MP autofocus rear camera on the HTC ThunderBolt does a very good job of taking pictures as long as there is plenty of light. Since there isn’t a physical camera button, you have to use the display to tap where you want it to focus (otherwise it will focus on the center) and then tap the shutter icon on the right side. Images that were taken outside during the day had highly saturated colors (though a bit too much) and were sharp with plenty of detail. But we did notice that bright areas have a tendency of being overexposed and just look white. When moving indoors however, image quality is still OK if there is enough light, but in low-light conditions, images start to look grainy and soft. When you want to take a picture in the dark and use the LED flash, it tries to focus without using the flash first, which is impossible to do. Then when it does use the flash, it can be out of focus or have a blue hue to the image. It took us several attempts of using the flash just to get a picture that was in-focus and had good color. There is also a 1.3MP camera on the front that you can use for self portraits, but the quality is pretty lacking of course. One cool thing that you can do with either camera is press the little magic wand icon on the right side of the screen, which will then open up a menu on the left of different camera effects, including Distortion, Vignette, Depth of Field, Vintage, Vintage Warm, Vintage Cold, Grayscale, Sepia, Negative, Solarize, Posterize and Aqua. They are fun to try out, though we doubt they would get much use.





Videos can be recorded up to 1280x720p resolution with 28 frames-per-second and a data rate of 8 Mbps. When viewed on a PC, the color is very saturated, just like when taking pictures, and there is plenty of detail, but the video looks jerky, even though we were holding the phone steady with both hands and just panned slowly left-and-right. So it’s probably best not to move the phone at all when recording videos. One thing we wish is that it could record in stereo (like the DROID X) instead of just Mono audio.


HTC ThunderBolt Pro Sample Video:



Multimedia:

For phone viewing of your media files, such as photos and videos, they are broken down by folders in the Gallery app, plus you also have the ability to browse content from your Facebook and Flickr accounts. All the common features are there for photos, like pinch gestures to zoom in/out, but there are multiple options in terms of sharing them. Moreover, the handset offers the minimal set of editing tools at your disposal – such as cropping and rotating.

With its WVGA display and 1GHz processor, there is no arguing the effortless approach that the ThunderBolt takes when playing high definition videos. Upon loading a video encoded in MPEG-4 1280 x 720 resolution, it didn't have any problems in playing it entirely. In fact, the details are crisp, vivid, and super smooth with no evidence of jerkiness or slowdown to ruin the experience.


For video streaming, there is Bitbop, which can play pre-recorded clips and full TV episodes (currently at 156). We tested a couple, and after about 10 seconds of buffering, the video will start to play. You can also jump to other parts of the video, but it has to re-buffer each time. At first we had it set to the highest setting of 9MB/min, but noticed that the video wasn’t playing smoothly and there were some audio-sync issues. We lowered it down to 5MB/min, which did improve the smoothness of the video, though there was still some audio-sync problems, so we’re not sure if that has to do with the way the videos were encoded, or with the data connection. You also have the option of subscribing to VCast Video and Blockbuster, both of which have their own fees involved. Thankfully there is a YouTube app, which works quite well over the 4G network and doesn’t require a subscription fee.


The HTC Music Player is noticeably a step-above the stock Android player that most other phones use. Even though we’re presented with pretty much the same look in portrait mode, tilting the phone to landscape presents a full cover-flow interface that effortlessly allows you to swipe between albums. Audio quality is decent though the rear speaker, though you have to uncover it by opening up the kickstand for best sound. There is a SRS Enhancement, but all it does is give a reverb-delay that we didn’t care for, so we kept it turned off. If you plug-in a set of wired headphones, there are a few other equalizer presets that you can select, but again it sounds best without using them. By the way, when you have your headphones connected, you can also use the FM Radio app, which actually uses the headphone wires as the antenna. Just don’t expect any amazing radio quality from it. Or if you want a wireless connection for listening to your music collection, you can always use a pair of Bluetooth headsets (just remember the radio app won’t work with it).



We are glad to see a 32GB memory card included, as this is a first on a Verizon smartphone, allowing ample room of saving picture, videos, music, and pretty much anything else you can think of. Though there is one thing that is puzzling to us – on the HTC and Verizon site it states that the phone has 8GB eMMC (internal memory) but we haven’t been able to find a way to access it. Furthermore, when going into the phone’s settings shows only 2.6GB of internal memory. So we’re not sure what’s going on here, or how the 8GB is split up, though it does seem like there is a lot that isn’t accounted for.

UPDATE (March 25): We contacted HTC directly about the 8GB eMMC internal memory feature that is listed on their web site (and Verizon’s web site) for the ThunderBolt. We were first told in an email from HTC that “this is a misprint and that the ThunderBolt actually has 4GB eMMC internal memory, of which most is being used to make sure the phone is running at optimal performance levels.” But a few days later we were contacted by someone else at HTC and were told by email that “the device does indeed have 8GB of internal memory, but much of that is occupied by the OS, preinstalled apps, and reserved memory for upgrades”. Regardless of which is correct (8GB or 4GB of internal memory), the fact still remains that only 2.6GB of it is available to the user for installing apps and storing information, such as contacts, emails, etc. By contrast, the Motorola DROID X also comes with 8GB of internal memory, but almost 6.5GB is available.

Software:

For GPS guided driving directions you have a choice of using Google Maps, which is free, or VZ Navigator, which is $10 per month. Both provide you with turn-by-turn directions and audio prompts, though their layout is slightly different. Our choice between the two is Google Maps, as it doesn’t have a monthly fee, but this is personal preference. We’ve used it in the South FL area, and with the 4G connection it is accurate and shows satellite images without having to wait for them to load (unlike with EVDO on the DROID X).


There is also a demo version of Lets Golf 2 and Rock Band, though you have to upgrade to the full version of Rock Band for $10 to have access to the MultiPlayer mode. Unfortunately we didn’t have anyone else to multi-play with, so just used the stand-alone mode, which works fine.


For viewing your Microsoft Office files, there is the QuickOffice app, which can view Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and there is a separate Adobe Reader app for PDF files.

Performance:

The one area that we are not thrilled about with the HTC ThunderBolt is with the call quality. The sound is decent for the most part, however there's a bit of buzzing if we turn the call volume all the way up with someone talking. At this point we’re not sure if all ThunderBolts have this problem, or maybe this is just a bad batch, but it is something to look for and try out if you are thinking about purchasing one. Aside from that, we could also hear a continual background “hiss".

Signal reception remained good around south FL, and showed 2-3 bars most of the time, though we’re not sure if it is showing an indicator just for 4G 700 MHz reception, or is also taking into account standard voice cellular 800/1900MHz reception.

The included 1400mAh battery seems a bit small for a device with such a large screen and 4G LTE data, though it is rated to get up to 6 hours of talk time or 13 days of standby time on a full charge. During our testing over the past few days, we have been able to get up to 7 hours of talk time on a fully charged battery with no data used in the background. But when doing normal mixed usage, which includes some talk time, web browsing, social networking, and using other applications, we could only get about 5-6 hours total before the battery required charging. So it appears to us that the combination of the 4G data, large display, and 1GHz processor will eat through battery time. Verizon does sell a larger 2750mAh capacity battery on their accessories page for $49, which heavy users may be interested in trying out.

We ran a few benchmarking programs on the ThunderBolt to see how well it would stack-up to the DROID X. With Quadrant benchmark, the ThunderBolt got up to 1863, though sometimes would drop down to 1450 (probably because there was another app using the CPU in the background), while the DROID X was usually around 1350-1420. When we ran NeoCore, the Thunderbolt would get between 57-60 fps, with the DROID X at 30-40 fps. And finally we ran AnTuTu Benchmark, which got 1839-1841 on the ThunderBolt and DROID X.



Conclusion:

There’s a lot to like about the HTC Thunderbolt – fast web browsing and data speeds, Sense user interface, ample 4.3” display, 8MP camera, 32GB memory card, and overall snappy performance thanks to the 1GHz Snapdragon processor. If you’re in need of the newest and fastest smartphone now, the ThunderBolt is clearly the best choice out there for Verizon. But our two concerns are with the buzzing we heard in the earpiece speaker, and with the color difference we saw with the displays of the two units we received. Because of this, we’d recommend at this point you purchase it from a local store so you can see and try it out there. Just in case it has any issues, you can exchange it on the spot. But if you aren’t in a major rush, we’d suggest waiting a while, as there are three other LTE phones coming out in the next few months, and it’s hard to tell at this point which one may turn out to be the best. With that said, yes, guys, it is super-awesome to use data with Verizon's brand-new 4G LTE network, and the HTC ThunderBolt makes the experience even better.

Software version of the reviewed unit: Android 2.2.1, Build 1.12.605.6, Kernel 2.6.32.21 Sat Feb 19 2011

HTC ThunderBolt Video Review: