HTC ThunderBolt:
Pros
Extremely fast
Latest Sense UI
Cons
Lots of bloatware
Bottom Line
The well-appointed ThunderBolt is the phone to buy if you want to see what 4G can do.
Verizon ThunderBolt Review: Real 4G Speed Comes to the Smartphone
The HTC ThunderBolt, which went on sale March 17, is the first phone available in the United States that can connect to Verizon’s lightning-fast 4G LTE network.
That fact alone makes the ThunderBolt ($250 with a new two-year
contract) a considerable piece of hardware, especially for users who
routinely run high-bandwidth apps such as video chat, online gaming, and
high-definition video streaming. Network speed aside, I found the phone
itself to be another solid addition to HTC’s mostly impressive family
of smartphones, albeit one with a few shortcomings.
Handsome Design
The
ThunderBolt definitely feels well built and sturdy in the hand.
However, for someone coming from a smaller phone, the 5.78-ounce
ThunderBolt, with its 4.8-by-2.6-by-0.52-inch frame, can feel like a
monster in comparison.
But
the phone makes good use of its size. The ThunderBolt’s 4.3-inch WVGA
screen gives you ample room to maneuver your fingers while touch-typing
and navigating Websites when you’re on the go. My one complaint about
the screen is that it is difficult to see outside under direct sunlight.
The
phone's design is quite simple, offering a power button and a headphone
jack up top, a volume rocker on the right spine, and the standard Home,
Menu, Back, and Search buttons on the face of the device. On the back
are an 8-megapixel camera (with a dual-LED flash) and a kickstand, much
as we saw on the HTC EVO 4G. You'll also find a 1.3-megapixel camera on the front of the device for video chatting (more on that farther down).
Lightning-Fast Broadband Speeds
The ThunderBolt’s main draw is its broadband speeds,
which in my tests were simply stunning. Using the Ookla FCC Mobile
Broadband Test, I saw consistent download speeds of between 8 megabits
per second and 12 mbps. With full bars and in an area that supports
Verizon’s 4G LTE network, I managed to load the PCWorld mobile site in
about 4 seconds. Image-heavy sites such as Escapistmagazine.com loaded
in under 10 seconds.
The ThunderBolt can share its 4G connection with eight devices via its mobile hotspot function (though
the service can cost extra depending on your plan). To test the limits
of the 4G connection, I set up such a hotspot and connected an iPod
Touch and another smartphone with it. I was able to stream live TV to
the iPod Touch, as well as to download apps and watch high-quality
YouTube videos on the phone, while at the same time browsing the Web and
downloading apps on the ThunderBolt. All of these tasks ran quickly and
smoothly over Verizon’s LTE service, and I got the feeling that I could
have connected a few more devices to the hotspot with little
performance loss.
Call
quality on the ThunderBolt was not crystal clear, but it was close. The
people I called said they could hear minor wind noise from my end, but
no other interference.
HTC Sense Gets a Face-Lift
The
ThunderBolt comes preloaded with a new and improved version of Sense
UI, HTC’s custom software that overlays the Android OS. Although most of
the Sense UI improvements seem merely cosmetic, HTC has thrown in a few
nifty new features as well.
For
instance, dragging down the notification bar at the top of the screen
now reveals a list of previously opened apps. This extremely useful
function may have been inspired by a similar feature in Apple’s iOS.
Turning
on the fast-boot option will allow you to start the phone almost
immediately, though you will have to turn the function off to use
certain Android Market apps.
The
'+' icon on the right side of the dock (at the bottom of the home
screen) has been replaced with a brush and palette. Tapping it brings
you to the personalization menu, where you can set the wallpaper, add
items to the home screen, and change the sound settings. You can also
change the skin of the Sense UI to one of the five available options.
Android Add-Ons
Unfortunately the ThunderBolt also comes loaded with too much unwanted software. Along with the Blockbuster app we saw on the Motorola Droid X,
Verizon has loaded the ThunderBolt with a demo of Let’s Golf 2 and
videos advertising Bitbop, Rhapsody, and Rock Band for Android. The
usual Verizon suite of apps (Navigator, Slacker, V Cast Media, and the V
Cast App Store) also makes an appearance. And guess what? You can’t
remove these apps. This is not a major negative, but the extra apps do
clutter up your app drawer, making it hard to quickly locate the app you
want.
Cameras Are a Mixed Bag
The
ThunderBolt features two cameras: a 1.3-megapixel camera on the front
and an 8-megapixel one on the rear. Pictures that I took with the
8-megapixel camera came out well (click the thumbnails at left to see
full-size images). The photos were surprisingly sharp. Even when I
zoomed in, the resolution was reasonably good. Colors looked robust and
true to the subject of my photos. Pictures taken in extremely low light
were clear and easy to see, thanks in part to the dual-LED flash. The
HTC EVO 4G also has an 8-megapixel camera on the back, but the
ThunderBolt’s camera is clearly superior.
The
ThunderBolt’s front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera is another story;
pictures that I took with it came out dark and a little murky. The
front-facing camera is meant for video-chatting services, but I couldn’t
find such an app that would work on the phone. Skype for Android does
not yet support video chat, and Fring doesn’t recognize the camera at
all.Qik could
be another option, but it does not yet provide a video-calling app for
the ThunderBolt. Although it’s nice to see more Android phones with
front-facing cameras, without any software to use them they’re not much
good.
The
video I shot with the phone was reasonably clear, but certainly not as
clear as the still images I captured. When I shot a moving image, the
video seemed a bit fuzzy; only when I held the camera still in front of
an object did the sharpness of the video improve. A more serious problem
relates to the audio: In video mode the phone records sound at such a
low level that you have to turn the volume all the way up to hear it on
playback, and even then you can hear only the loudest sounds.
Plays Nice With Other Devices
A DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance)-certified
device, the ThunderBolt can stream photos, music, and video to and from
DLNA-supporting devices on your home wireless network. For instance,
you can stream video to your DLNA-certified TV for playback. The music
player can also stream from any media servers you have on your network.
If
you like to listen to your music on the go (as most people do), you’ll
be quite happy to learn that the ThunderBolt ships with a 32GB MicroSD
card on board so you can carry several thousand songs or movies with
you.
Bottom Line
The
HTC ThunderBolt looks, feels, and handles like a solid piece of
hardware. Although its specs aren’t anything we haven’t already seen in
the Droid X or the Droid 2, the ThunderBolt’s ability to utilize the
unprecedented speed of Verizon’s LTE network makes it a special phone
indeed. Users who like to run high-bandwidth apps on the road--as in
streaming high-def video or playing online games--will find no faster
phone on the market right now.
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