HTC Thunderbolt

amazon HTC Thunderbolt reviews

Design

Thunderbolt design with soft plastic shell covered most of the back, at the bottom with a piece of metal encased speaker protection Google logo engraved. Metal pieces can be opened and made into the rack helps Thunderbolt can stand on your desk while you open this tripod to reveal huge loudspeaker of Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt’s design makes removing the battery is extremely difficult, so make sure the battery inserted and is somewhat too hard. Fortunately, the machine comes with 32GB microSD card available to most of us probably do not need to bother to remove so to replace the memory card.

Screen

Visibility of the Thunderbolt can say is excellent, with a 4.3-inch WVGA screen. The colors on the screen appear brilliant and honest value, very wide viewing angle. Even the fastidious users also can not help but admit that the Thunderbolt display too great. With a resolution of 480 x 800, Thunderbolt screen is ideal for browsing or viewing photos. Though HTC Sensation reached qHD resolution of 540 x 960 (640 x 960 iPhone 4) and it seems to be the standard-resolution qHD new HTC smartphones, but you can not complain what about the Thunderbolt display.

Display

The HTC Thunderbolt was equipped with a 4.3-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, resulting in a pixel density of approximately 217 pixels per inch (PPI). While this resolution might seem modest by today’s standards, it was fairly typical for high-end smartphones in 2011.

The display was one of the standout features of the Thunderbolt. It offered bright, vibrant colors and good viewing angles, making it ideal for media consumption, web browsing, and gaming. The screen’s size was considered large at the time, providing ample real estate for users to enjoy their content without feeling cramped. The display’s color accuracy was decent, though it tended to be slightly oversaturated, a common trait of HTC’s displays during that period.

One area where the Thunderbolt’s display excelled was outdoor visibility. The screen was bright enough to be easily readable in direct sunlight, a critical feature for users who needed to use their phone on the go. The capacitive touchscreen was responsive and accurate, ensuring smooth navigation through the phone’s interface and apps.

However, the display’s resolution did have its limitations. Text and images were not as sharp as they could have been, especially when compared to devices with higher-resolution displays that began to emerge shortly after the Thunderbolt’s release. Despite this, the screen was still one of the better ones available in the early 4G smartphone market.

Speaker and battery

The sound quality of the speakers which are pretty good, but when using the rack, the volume dropped drastically. The conversation through the speakers is fairly easy and completely user can hear sounds clearly. Thunderbolt battery life slightly less, in standby machine can only operate in about 4 days. Unlike the EVO, the user can not manually adjust the tuner off mode 4G for only CDMA network in order to save battery. Thunderbolt uses an auto-detect function and tuner. For some people, it is not easy to calculate much affected, but would have many users expressed dissatisfaction know this function when consumed a significant battery life.

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Camera

HTC Thunderbolt is equipped with an 8 megapixel camera, outperformed the EVO 4G, HTC Thunderbolt. But there are still some defects in photography software. In macro mode, users have difficulty in focusing. And there are a few problems with light measurement, it seems HTC use the light measurement full-screen mode, so will face some major problems when users want to shoot backlit.

In movie mode, Thunderbolt allows for high-definition video shoot very well, without interference. But in this version there is no autofocus mode, but you can focus manually by pointing to the focus point on the screen.

Performance

Under the hood, the HTC Thunderbolt was powered by a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8655 processor, paired with 768 MB of RAM. At the time of its release, this hardware configuration was considered powerful, though it was not the absolute cutting-edge. The single-core processor was capable of handling most tasks with relative ease, including web browsing, social media, and basic multitasking.

In day-to-day use, the Thunderbolt delivered a smooth and responsive experience, particularly when navigating the Android interface and using common apps. However, the device did start to show its age when running more demanding applications or games, especially those that required significant processing power. The limitations of the single-core processor became more apparent as newer, more resource-intensive apps were released, pushing the Thunderbolt’s hardware to its limits.

One of the areas where the Thunderbolt struggled was multitasking. While 768 MB of RAM was sufficient for running a few apps simultaneously, switching between multiple heavy apps could result in slowdowns and occasional stuttering. This was particularly noticeable when using the phone’s browser with multiple tabs open or when running apps that required significant memory, such as games or media editors.

Despite these limitations, the Thunderbolt was still a capable performer for most everyday tasks, especially given the context of its release. It was one of the faster Android devices on the market at the time, and its performance was more than adequate for users who did not demand the absolute best in processing power.

Software and User Interface

The HTC Thunderbolt shipped with Android 2.2 Froyo out of the box, with an upgrade to Android 2.3 Gingerbread arriving later in its life cycle. HTC’s custom Sense UI was layered on top of the Android operating system, offering a unique and distinctive user experience that set it apart from other Android devices.

HTC Sense was widely regarded as one of the better custom Android skins of the time. It featured a sleek and polished design, with smooth animations, a customizable home screen, and a wealth of widgets that provided quick access to information such as weather, news, and social media updates. The Sense UI also included a variety of customization options, allowing users to tailor the look and feel of their phone to their liking.

One of the standout features of HTC Sense was its integration of social media. The phone included apps like Friend Stream, which aggregated updates from various social networks into a single, unified feed. This made it easier for users to stay connected with their friends and family without having to switch between multiple apps. The People app was another highlight, offering a centralized location for managing contacts, complete with integration of social media profiles and communication history.

However, the Sense UI was not without its drawbacks. While it added a lot of useful features and customization options, it also introduced some bloatware and additional processes that could slow down the system over time. The heavier customization also meant that software updates were slower to arrive, as HTC needed to adapt the new versions of Android to work with their custom UI.

Despite these issues, HTC Sense was generally well-received, and it provided the Thunderbolt with a polished and user-friendly interface that was superior to the stock Android experience in many ways. The additional features and customization options were appreciated by many users, though those who preferred a more streamlined and lightweight interface might have found Sense to be somewhat overwhelming.

Battery Life

One of the most significant challenges faced by the HTC Thunderbolt was its battery life. The device was equipped with a 1400mAh battery, which was relatively small given the phone’s powerful hardware and 4G LTE capabilities. As a result, battery life was one of the most frequently cited issues by users and reviewers alike.

The introduction of 4G LTE was a double-edged sword for the Thunderbolt. While it provided incredibly fast data speeds, it also placed a heavy drain on the battery. In practice, users who heavily utilized the LTE connection for web browsing, streaming, and downloading content found that the battery would deplete rapidly, often requiring a recharge by mid-afternoon.

Even with more moderate use, the Thunderbolt struggled to last through a full day on a single charge. This made battery management a crucial aspect of using the device. Many users resorted to carrying spare batteries, using battery-saving apps, or toggling the LTE connection off when it wasn’t needed to extend battery life.

HTC did attempt to address these concerns with software updates and optimizations, but the fundamental issue of the small battery capacity relative to the power demands of the device remained. Some users also purchased extended batteries, which provided additional power but came with the trade-off of increased bulk.

Overall, battery life was one of the Thunderbolt’s weakest points. While it was possible to manage the device’s power consumption with careful usage and additional accessories, it was an ongoing frustration for many users, particularly those who were drawn to the device for its 4G LTE capabilities.

Operating system

Thunderbolt uses the Android 2.2 operating system and equipped with the HTC Sense interface. Although the Thunderbolt’s HTC Sense a little bit differently, compared with products such as network unlocked Desire HD and Desire Z, but Thunderbolt also additional function “Fast Boot” like two models mentioned above. Like the standby mode of the computer as if Fast Boot is enabled every time you shutdown, Thunderbolt will not shut down completely. This makes boot process becomes extremely fast, in just over 9 seconds compared to 58 seconds if off Fast Boot. There is one thing that many users are not happy that some of the software’s built-in Thunderbolt, and can not remove this software, such as Adobe Reader, City ID, Kindle, … The use of Bitbop what software is depending on the preferences of each user and the manufacturer should not force the user, this will cause some negative reactions to the product.

But overall, the HTC Thunderbolt is a quite outstanding handset with a compact design, the screen is nice and sharp, the camera works well. If these are the criteria towards the people who are looking for a new mobile device, this is certainly a great choice.