I thought I'd take this to the forums...

[HumanDroid]

Guys,

Here's my conundrum. I've been wanting to get an Android for about a year now. The company I work for has an app for the iPhone, but not the Android. Because of this - I've been using the 3GS since it came out.

Well, good news and bad. Good news: Our Android app is coming out next month so I can swap over to Android. Bad News: My backlight just went out on my iPhone (3 days ago). I now have to look at it in direct sunlight or use a flashlight to read/use it. This is a HUGE PAIN. I can't barely even handle doing it for another day... let alone until early next month. I say early next month because that is, supposedly, when we will hear some news about the iPhone 5 and Evo 3D (Sprint). I'd love to have a look at these two phones before I jump into any contracts.

However, the Thunderbolt has been appealing to me lately. I like some weight and size to a phone. I went to Best Buy with the intention of picking up the Nexus S (love the google phones), but couldn't STAND the plasticky crapiness of it. I then picked up the Thunderbolt and loved it. But it's single core... and getting older.

On Wirefly it can be picked up for 129.99 with two year right now. I need a phone pronto. Should I do it? OR, I could get a crappy phone on Sprint... use it for a few weeks and return it when the Evo 3D comes out. But will the Evo 3d just be a gimmick? Buggy? For teens? Or worth waiting for.... is the iPhone gonna show up next month??

I can't make any decisions!!!

 

[YankInDaSouth]

Grab the Tbolt! You won't be sorry ... I am not

Sent from my ADR6400L using DroidForums

 

[reuuin88]

Its truly a great phone. And it definitely has a very sexy weight/size ratio. Its really perfect in the palm. As far as technolgy, the 4g service is absolutely amazing if its in your area. The hardware itself is slightly outdated, but honestly very few phones with the newer dual cores will even begin to utilize their potential for a long time. This will definitely last you until your next upgrade, and very happily at that. The camera is great if you're into that, the snappyness of the phone is amazingly quick. 768mb of ram for the ram hungry android system to have fun with. And if you're on this forum you certainly are a power user correct? The roms and development for this phone is growing at an amazing pace! It has an unlockable boot loader and the root process is easy and really opens up the phone for even better battery life and performance. The stock software is just as fun though! HTC sense is by far the best "stock" software out of the 3 major brands, Samsungs touch wiz, motorolas blur, both of which I've seen horrible slugish performance and underwhelming customization options. HTC sense is actually moving in the right direction. People like to complain about the battery on the thunderbolt, but from my expirience with previous phones such as the nexus one, droid 1, droid x it is very very comparable depending on usage times. I squeeze about 12 hours out of mine with moderate use, enough to last me the day just like every other smart phone. Heavy use, just like other smart phones like gps features, 4g downloading, 3g downloading, media viewing, etc will of course eat up the battery.

As far as complaints I only have one, the battery cover. If you have to remove the cover frequently, say you're a developer or a flash-aholic like myself and do battery pulls. The htc back covers have always been notoriously flakey. I havnt had one break on me, it just seems like its just a bit gimmicky. you literally have to snap the piece off, and snap it back on. You feel like you're going to break it everytime you have to do this.

Hope my insight helps your decision. If you are out of a 4g area, you might look also into the droid x 2, while it doesnt have 4g, it has just about everything else!

 

[Jacob9424]

I agree its a great phone and the battery cover is kinda cheap...but when im flashing I just keep it off till I'm done lol

Sent from my ADR6400L using DroidForums

 

[capetocairo]

I have the same dilemma when choosing a new phone. Me and my wife combined accounts into a family plan on Verizon and she got the iPhone4, and I had to make a choice between the tbolt and the iPhone. In general, it's difficult to compare apples to oranges but the tbolt seems like a much better fit for MY needs. It's build quality is pretty solid and fits in your hand decently.

The only downside to the tbolt (obviously) is the battery life, but if you read the many threads on here about conserving your battery life then you are golden. Even if the hardware is "somewhat" outdated, like reuuin said, not many dual-core phones are truly using their hardware to their full potentials, and if you flashed the tbolt that helps too. Regardless, out of the box it is fast, buttery-smooth, and overall the best phone I've ever owned.

Hope that helps your thought process.

 

[Larry_ThaGr81]

Sounds like nothing but goods news from where I'm sitting. There are too many utilities out on the market that can improve your battery. You should be aware that you still won't get the same kind of battery life that you got from your iPhone, but you are without question getting a better device overall. Sounds like you are leaving AT&T in order to make this switch regardless of whether it be with Verizon or Sprint. I own the Droid (550Mhz unrooted or 1.2GHz rooted), Droid 2 Global (1.2GHz unrooted) and Droid X (1GHz unrooted) and now the Thunderbolt. So here are a few things to know about the Thunderbolt should you decide to give it a whirl.

- Verizon's LTE service (if you live in a LTE serviced area)
- HTC Sense fully optimized to take advantage of the 1GHz processor (the fastest and smoothest 1GHz phone currently on the market)
- the only CDMA phone to support voice and data simultaneously over 3G (like GSM phones in general)
- Great 8MP rear and 1.3MP front facing camera with all the bells and whistles you'd come to expect
- Battery is acceptable (plenty of apps and setting suggestions available)