First Smartphone: Droid X or HTC Thunderbolt

[leonozug]

I would get a DX any day over a Thunderbolt. I just did a few weeks ago and I'm glad I did. I'm not in a 4G area, and I wanted to save some cash. I'll be happy with my X till next spring. Way too many problems with the Thunderbolt's battery life as well. Ain't havin' it.

Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums

 

[Quicksilver7714]

A better comparison would be the Incredible to the Thunderbolt.

I think that I comparing the top of the line Motorola phone with the top of the line HTC phone is the best comparison.

Sent from my Thunderbolt using Tapatalk.

 

[xeene]

Having had dx since July of last year, thunderbolt is leaps and bounds better device then dx was. Extended battery solves any problems that were power related on tb. You can't compare the two phones, HTC just makes more user friendly device

 

[libirm]

Sounds like either way you can't go wrong; they are both great phones

 

[WorldOfJohnboy]

A better comparison would be the Incredible to the Thunderbolt.

I think that I comparing the top of the line Motorola phone with the top of the line HTC phone is the best comparison.

Though I agree with you, as an owner of both the TBolt and Droid X, I have to say that to compare them only does a disservice to the DX.

I seriously have to underclock my Tbolt down to 245 (SetCPU) to get it to act as staggered/poorly as my Droid X did.

 

[dark juggalo]

it depends alot on how your planning on using it... i spend alot of time in a semi truck and used my X for a phone/musicplayer/gps rite out the box..when i went to the TB i discovered I couln't do that..i now only have music & gps and have to blutooth my calls. I know it sounds like its a just a little inconvenance..but having something stuck in my ear all day isnt my idea of fun.
although the TB is much faster its still not worth the trouble i have to go thru to use it like I do...I'll be going back to the X...just my 2 cents.

car docking..droid x text messaging...droid x
speed...thunderbolt display color...thunderbolt
cost....droid x ease of sync...droid x
apps...thunderbolt vid & web chat...thunderblot
battery...droid x camera....thunderbolt

both great phones...its all about how your gonna use it.

 

[WorldOfJohnboy]

it depends alot on how your planning on using it... i spend alot of time in a semi truck and used my X for a phone/musicplayer/gps rite out the box..when i went to the TB i discovered I couln't do that..i now only have music & gps and have to blutooth my calls. I know it sounds like its a just a little inconvenance..but having something stuck in my ear all day isnt my idea of fun.
although the TB is much faster its still not worth the trouble i have to go thru to use it like I do...I'll be going back to the X...just my 2 cents.

You should purchase a 3.5mm stereo extension cable with built-in mic. I tested it and it works like a champ and only cost me $2. (HERE is the link.) Especially since you are in a vehicle for so long, the battery life (which isn't an issue for me now that I am rooted, anti-bloated, and underclocked) doesn't come in to play for you.

car docking..droid x text messaging...droid x
speed...thunderbolt display color...thunderbolt
cost....droid x ease of sync...droid x
apps...thunderbolt vid & web chat...thunderblot
battery...droid x camera....thunderbolt

both great phones...its all about how your gonna use it.

I partially agree with your statement that it depends on your use, but strongly disagree with many of your assessments. I agree with: Car docking, speed, display, video/chat, and camera. I'm not sure how/why either one can be better at text messaging, that's a push. Cost: I got my thunderbolt for $75 after incentives and rebates... shop around I bet you could too. (Plus, is it really fair to compare the price of a one month old phone to a nearly one-year phone?) Apps: This is also a push, as both have the same apps. Battery: Even without root, I was getting nearly the same battery life with my TBolt as the DX. I now get well over 24 hours on my TBolt since I am rooted and could custom ROM the TBolt (which you can't do with the DX).

The biggest issue for me with the Droid X is the User Interface. HTC Sense is by far the best Android experience available. Motoblur is by far the worst performing one available, and if it weren't for a few nice Widgets, I would put it 3rd behind Samsung Galaxy and HTC Sense. See my post a page back, I have to underclock my TBolt ~800mhz to get the same performance I did on my Droid X.

 

[nogobaker]

Speed

Hey, I've had the droid x and now the thunderbolt. If your like me and dont have 3g in your area yet its interesting to note that my x blows the thunderbolt away with connection speed in 3g. Also I haven't been recieving all of my text messages on the thunderbolt when I had no issues at all on the x. Honestly I'm pretty upset about the speed. Its download and upload are both half what my x was on 3g. Throw the text message and battery issues on top of that and I'm sending the phone back before I get out of my 14 day only get screwed by 35 dollar period. I'll just wait on the bionic which I regret not doing in the first place.

 

[dominick_7]

will upgrading to DX or TB-
No 4g in my area I'd for at least a year.
TB is $100.00 more.
I don't think it is worth it, do you?
By the time 4g gets here i be ready for another upgrade.

The main reason I got the thunderbolt was because it had 4g and I assumed would have better signal out and about, but specifically in the house.. I was wrong. I'm in a 4g area ill get it outside, but the second I close the door, its only 3g, no 4g. Also it has worse call signal strength than the droid x, especially in the house which is absolutely unacceptable. It is generally faster in productivity throughout the day than the dx, but having no 4g indoors, worse call signal made it very much not worth keeping. I also had no phone service or data for 6 days because of a nation wide problem with some phones going from 3g to a 4g device, and they wouldnt let me activate my droid x or they would have thrown out the trouble ticket.. I got a replacement thunderbolt and it also didnt work.. it wouldn't activate. 4g is very fast and very nice...if you can get it. Other things I didnt like were that I couldn't plug headphones in and make a call where the other side could hear me.. I can do this on the droid x, not on the thunderbolt, as it seems to expect a headset for calls to function out of the 3.5 jack. I very much wanted to love Sense but its no where near as good as using launcher pro which is more customizable.. can't resize the widgets in sense.. really? Could mention other things but ill leave it at that. I'm happily back on my trusty Droid X and am waiting for the Droid Bionic.

 

[WorldOfJohnboy]

Lest you TBolt haters forget that the Droid X had some severe issues out of the box... I had a demo of the phone back in June of 2010 and ordered mine the first day it was released. There were issues with the Exchange email, which is the entire reason for me having a phone. Thankfully, I found Touchdown, which saved me from going back to a Blackberry. There were screen issues on some phones, battery indicator issues, and many other small fixes that came either in minor updates or with FroYo upgrade many months after the release... heck, Motorola still hasn't fixed the Social Network Picture sync issue (whereby someone on Facebook changes their picture, your phone contact still shows their old picture), and the MotoBlur software is supposed to be all about Social Networking.

My point: I understood that all phones have issues and let the manufacturer work them out and/or found workarounds until they were fixed. The only thing that gets me with the Tbolt is the whole headphone/AUX cable looking for a Mic, which I solved by purchasing a 3.5mm extension cable with a mic on it for $1.87. HTC has already said lots of people are complaining about it and will likely fix it under the first hotfix.

 

[dominick_7]

Lest you TBolt haters forget that the Droid X had some severe issues out of the box... I had a demo of the phone back in June of 2010 and ordered mine the first day it was released. There were issues with the Exchange email, which is the entire reason for me having a phone. Thankfully, I found Touchdown, which saved me from going back to a Blackberry. There were screen issues on some phones, battery indicator issues, and many other small fixes that came either in minor updates or with FroYo upgrade many months after the release... heck, Motorola still hasn't fixed the Social Network Picture sync issue (whereby someone on Facebook changes their picture, your phone contact still shows their old picture), and the MotoBlur software is supposed to be all about Social Networking.

My point: I understood that all phones have issues and let the manufacturer work them out and/or found workarounds until they were fixed. The only thing that gets me with the Tbolt is the whole headphone/AUX cable looking for a Mic, which I solved by purchasing a 3.5mm extension cable with a mic on it for $1.87. HTC has already said lots of people are complaining about it and will likely fix it under the first hotfix.

Went through 6 Droid xs before I felt good about one, mostly to do with random reboots and wacked out a symetrical buttons that wouldn't push right. I hear what youre sayibg, but i was not about to do that or anything close to that over the thunderbolt. Also as you said they were for the most part small issues..but signal strength isnt a small issue with a proposed upgrade. If exchange was a major issue for you then its understandable why that would be a big issue for you, though it wasnt for me. As a side note.any ideas on why these devices get laggy while plugged into the wall charger? Seems to be the worst with the thunderbolt and bionic based on the ces videos.

 

[jseah]

As a side note.any ideas on why these devices get laggy while plugged into the wall charger? Seems to be the worst with the thunderbolt and bionic based on the ces videos.

FWIW, my Droid 1 is the same way. When it is plugged into the charger, the touchscreen is not responsive at all.