HTC ThunderBolt Review

The delay is assuredly over for Verizon Wireless's aboriginal 4G LTE smartphone! Say accost to the HTC Thunderbolt, which will be demography advantage of the company's new 4G LTE network. After reviewing AT&T's Inspire 4G, which is cut from about the above cloth, it was credible that Verizon barter were the advantageous ones based on the Thunderbolt's all-embracing package. Not alone does it affix to Verizon's new 4G LTE network, but the HTC Thunderbolt in fact offered some decidedly avant-garde appearance if compared to its AT&T cousin. Competing smartphones should be afraid abundantly with the absolution of the Thunderbolt, which offers 40GB of accumulator out of the box, a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera with skype video babble on the rise, kickstand, and admission to the beginning Android Market. The HTC Thunderbolt is not the a lot of groundbreaking accessory on the planet, but we begin it to rank amidst the top smartphones in its time. Join us on our coursing for the storm as we hunt the Thunderbolt (specs) throughout the InfoSync labs.

From a bang perspective, the HTC Thunderbolt is about identical to the HTC Inspire 4G. We're assaulted by a ample 4.3-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen affectation and a console of haptic acknowledgment buttons: Home, Menu, Back, and Search. Just like the Inspire 4G, the phone's awning was awful acute and offered an absorbing cartoon spread. However, the Thunderbolt beasts from the Inspire by embedding a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera next to the handset speaker. At some point, users will be able to yield advantage of video calling via skype, but that wasn't accessible to us just yet. To acclaim the front-facing camera, the buzz is able with an 8-megapixel primary camera on the aback with 720p HD video recording adequacy and a bifold LED flash.

Aside from the front-facing camera, the buzz is a anamnesis apparatus compared to the Inspire 4G. Out of the box, we get a whopping 32GB MicroSD agenda and 8GB of centralized storage, bringing the absolute to 40GB from the starting line! The HTC Inspire 4G has 4GB of centralized amplitude and an 8GB MicroSD card, alms a net of 12GB out of the box. For the multimedia junkie, the Thunderbolt packs in one of the bigger accumulator capacities in its class. Unfortunately, accessing the MicroSD agenda on the Thunderbolt agency removing the batteryвЂ"something we didn't accept to achieve on the Inspire 4G, acknowledgment to its abstracted compartments. Therefore, we begin it was best to affix the buzz to a computer via the included USB cable for drag-and-drop action.

Lastly, you'll apprehension that the buzz has a kickstand for propping the buzz up while watching movies and arena assertive games. Not alone that, but we absolutely dig the Thunderbolt's style, affected a gunmetal gray and matte atramentous blush aggregate with stainless metal kickstand active beyond like a belt. The Thunderbolt aswell offers the accepted architectural fanfare, including a 3.5mm audio jack, aggregate ascendancy rocker, accessible USB terminal, and Power/Lock switch. Portability wise, the buzz is hardly thicker than the HTC Inspire 4G, but we adopt its looks over its AT&T accessory any day.

The 4.3-inch affectation on the HTC ThunderBolt is beautiful. The examination angles are actuality are beeline up absurd вЂ" acutely bigger than the HTC EVO’s screen. Colors are actual rich, whites are bright, and argument is appealing crisp. With such a big display, however, the 800 x 480-pixel WVGA resolution shows its shortcomings. This is a accepted affair a part of accessories with beyond displays: aback they advance the above amount of pixels over a beyond apparent compared to avant-garde sub-4-inch displays, the aftereffect is a beneath absorbing picture. The ThunderBolt’s affectation is still great, but I would accept admired to see one of HTC’s qHD displays on here.

The Thunderbolt's array and architecture abstracts save it from a botheration both the EVO and Inspire ache from: the camera's rim is about even with the aback and the lens is in fact recessed, acceptation you're not traveling to chafe up your 8 megapixel ballista artlessly by ambience the buzz rear-down on a few too abounding harder surfaces. The dual-LED beam is abiding absolutely as you acquisition it on HTC's added 4.3-inch devices, and it suffers from an abnormal (but now familiar) quirk: you can't use it if the Mobile Hotspot affection is enabled. Presumably, it's just too abundant accompanying ability draw amid the behemothic display, the able-bodied processor, and the LTE, CDMA, and WiFi radios to add a brace of ultra-bright LEDs into the mix, admitting it's absorbing that Mobile Hotspot uses no added apparatus than you would in accustomed buzz use -- we accept the WiFi ability achievement ability be at a college level.

Audio superior ranges from "good" to "great," with two caveats: one, the above botheration with loudspeaker muffling if the kickstand is bankrupt (not severe, but something to yield agenda of), and two, the earpiece could use addition akin or two of volume. It's affluence clear, but in blatant environments, we begin ourselves adulatory we could eke a little added out of it on a brace occasions. Callers told us we articulate a little "staticky" but were still absolutely aural -- we were never asked to allege up or echo something we'd said.

Verizon's aboriginal 4G LTE buzz is not too bare at all. The buzz joins one of the arch abstracts networks in the country and gives users 40GB of accumulator amplitude out of the box. It has a front-facing camera, Android 2.2, HTC's admirable Sense interface, and a kickstand to adhere with the blow of the premiere multimedia smartphones. Yes, the buzz is absolutely a arresting alpha for Verizon's LTE network, and will absolutely be a hot agent this year.