I think the tone for the Thunderbolt launch was set with HTC's ridiculously pretentious slogan "this isn't your dream phone, it's the one after that." The expectations were set high. And them came the official announcement, with no release date and lackluster specs. But then again, the dual-core phones that were announced probably wouldn't be out for awhile, so excitement for the TB remained high.
Next, the Verizon iPhone is announced and then released shortly after. Pricing information puts the Thunderbolt at $250, making it one of the most expensive phones out there. This was surprising considering the specs, despite the 32GB SD card included. Release date rumors run rampant, with rumored dates coming and going. Best Buy starts taking money for pre-orders without a date or data plan pricing announced.
Some videos of the TB get posted on YouTube, including benchmarks. Disappointingly, the Thunderbolt can't even match up to the 9 month old Galaxy S in the gaming benchmarks.
Then, the final nail in the coffin for me: the release of the Atrix. Now, I personally have no interest in buying a Motorola phone, but it beats the pants off of the Thunderbolt in all of the benchmarks, is dual-core, has more RAM (1GB vs 768MB in the TB), has a significantly higher resolution screen (despite being smaller), and is about 20% thinner/10% lighter while having a 40% higher battery capacity. It also has Gorilla Glass, which the TB may well have but we wouldn't know. And, to add insult to injury it is $50 cheaper than the unreleased Thunderbolt.
After typing all of that out, HTC's slogan seems even more ridiculous to me (which I didn't think was possible). Now, this all may seem overly harsh, but this is a phone that you're going to be stuck with for 2 years with no options for early upgrade (thanks Verizon!). As time goes on without a release date, new phones are being announced and released and the Thunderbolt is losing its luster. I can't imagine them screwing this launch up any more than they have.
Anyways, I just wanted to vent my (and my wife's) frustrations and see what everyone thought...
magnafides said:
I think the tone for the Thunderbolt launch was set with HTC's ridiculously pretentious slogan "this isn't your dream phone, it's the one after that." The expectations were set high. And them came the official announcement, with no release date and lackluster specs. But then again, the dual-core phones that were announced probably wouldn't be out for awhile, so excitement for the TB remained high.
Next, the Verizon iPhone is announced and then released shortly after. Pricing information puts the Thunderbolt at $250, making it one of the most expensive phones out there. This was surprising considering the specs, despite the 32GB SD card included. Release date rumors run rampant, with rumored dates coming and going. Best Buy starts taking money for pre-orders without a date or data plan pricing announced.
Some videos of the TB get posted on YouTube, including benchmarks. Disappointingly, the Thunderbolt can't even match up to the 9 month old Galaxy S in the gaming benchmarks.
Then, the final nail in the coffin for me: the release of the Atrix. Now, I personally have no interest in buying a Motorola phone, but it beats the pants off of the Thunderbolt in all of the benchmarks, is dual-core, has more RAM (1GB vs 768MB in the TB), has a significantly higher resolution screen (despite being smaller), and is about 20% thinner/10% lighter while having a 40% higher battery capacity. It also has Gorilla Glass, which the TB may well have but we wouldn't know. And, to add insult to injury it is $50 cheaper than the unreleased Thunderbolt.
After typing all of that out, HTC's slogan seems even more ridiculous to me (which I didn't think was possible). Now, this all may seem overly harsh, but this is a phone that you're going to be stuck with for 2 years with no options for early upgrade (thanks Verizon!). As time goes on without a release date, new phones are being announced and released and the Thunderbolt is losing its luster. I can't imagine them screwing this launch up any more than they have.
Anyways, I just wanted to vent my (and my wife's) frustrations and see what everyone thought...
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I'm upgrading from an old school flip phone so I'm happy no matter what
Chopes said:
I'm upgrading from an old school flip phone so I'm happy no matter what
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Haha I'm just upgrading my DINC but I'm happy still too
I don't care about having the cutting edge I just want a decent phone and the TB is a decent phone
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
I agree. No matter what you buy , there will be a better phone out the next week. Just get a good one and you will be happy with it. I have had my Inc almost a year and I have been very happy with it. It will be the same with the Tbolt.
Sent by my Droid Incredible
The OP is also forgetting that the Atrix is on another network.
So while it may be cheaper up front, you would end up paying far more per month for less data. Also, the Atrix is not LTE but HSPA+ so as ATT starts moving over to LTE, the ATRIX wont take advantage of it.
I agree but thunderbolt is still a good phone. Oh by the way Atrix is lte capable just reaserch it. I might be going with the atrix even though I hate Motorola. I might return.my inspire 4g since the bumped up the attic release date.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
This Best Buy commercial explains it all... I love it. The BB program kinda sucks, but the commercial hits technology to the tee.
nkd said:
I agree but thunderbolt is still a good phone. Oh by the way Atrix is lte capable just reaserch it. I might be going with the atrix even though I hate Motorola. I might return.my inspire 4g since the bumped up the attic release date.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
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I thought that was debunked since the FCC papers do not show a LTE radio in there. The rumor is of a possibly refreshed Atrix down the line with an LTE chip, but I thought the current one is categorically not LTE able.
andydumi said:
I thought that was debunked since the FCC papers do not show a LTE radio in there. The rumor is of a possibly refreshed Atrix down the line with an LTE chip, but I thought the current one is categorically not LTE able.
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No I swear I read from a very credible website and even could have been one of the videos where they said. Atrix 4G will be only phone that will be able to do LTE down the line when ATT upgrades their network. It was a few months back, I am sure if you google it a little, you might be able to dig it up.
superchilpil said:
I don't care about having the cutting edge I just want a decent phone and the TB is a decent phone
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Unfortunately the price point on the TB is not appropriate for a "decent phone".
andydumi said:
The OP is also forgetting that the Atrix is on another network.
So while it may be cheaper up front, you would end up paying far more per month for less data. Also, the Atrix is not LTE but HSPA+ so as ATT starts moving over to LTE, the ATRIX wont take advantage of it.
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No I'm not forgetting that at all. If I could live with 2GB/mo AT&T would be substantially cheaper than Verizon for me, but I won't go to AT&T as a matter of principal. But I don't think the argument holds up either way, because $200 has always been the ceiling for new phones on both networks (aside from the ridiculous Droid R2-D2).
My post is really about the phones anyway--my main gripe is that HTC/Verizon are pitching (and charging for) the TB as if it's some cutting-edge device, when it's nothing more than an incremental improvement over what was already out there and has significantly inferior hardware to a phone that will be shipping before it.
And as for LTE, lots of places will be waiting 2+ years for it to come to their area.
To the OP, what was u expecting some quad core phone that can run crysis on max. Sang so what if its not the fastest dam phone stay with ur Samsung. You act like this is some type of game system lol. I don't see the price as an issue. Really is a duel core going to improve my Twitter , Facebook, angry birds experience no lol. If the bionic,GS2
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
magnafides said:
Unfortunately the price point on the TB is not appropriate for a "decent phone".
No I'm not forgetting that at all. If I could live with 2GB/mo AT&T would be substantially cheaper than Verizon for me, but I won't go to AT&T as a matter of principal. But I don't think the argument holds up either way, because $200 has always been the ceiling for new phones on both networks (aside from the ridiculous Droid R2-D2).
My post is really about the phones anyway--my main gripe is that HTC/Verizon are pitching (and charging for) the TB as if it's some cutting-edge device, when it's nothing more than an incremental improvement over what was already out there and has significantly inferior hardware to a phone that will be shipping before it.
And as for LTE, lots of places will be waiting 2+ years for it to come to their area.
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Simple as this, dont like it.. dont buy it.
if you have to gripe to world so be it, but most people wont see eye to eye with you
i agree the price tag may be high but thats all i agree with
I will never stray from HTC again after i tried other android phones. they are **** crap compared to HTC
end of discussion/
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/cellphones/motorola-atrix-4g.aspx?page=2
While the Atrix 4G's speed was also reflected on our benchmark tests, it didn't blow other smartphones out of the water. The handset achieved an An3DBench score of 6,305, more than 1,000 points above the current average, but just 25 points faster that the Inspire 4G. Also, both the Nexus S (6,853) and Droid Pro (7,352) handily beat the Atrix 4G on this test.
Though the Atrix 4G notched a fast Linpack score of 32.7, beating the Evo Shift 4G (29.7) and T-Mobile G2 (28.7), the Inspire 4G logged a higher 37.58. The Atrix 4G's most impressive score was on the Benchmark CPU test, where it notched a record 2,369, almost 1,500 points above average, and almost 200 points higher than the myTouch 4G (2,190)./
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the tegra 2 chip is yet to be optimize fully in 2.2 so until the update to 2.3 and beyond to utilize the two cores, it will have comparable data to the sencond generation snapdragon in the thunderbolt/inspire/mytouch 4g/desirez.
superchilpil said:
Simple as this, dont like it.. dont buy it.
if you have to gripe to world so be it, but most people wont see eye to eye with you
i agree the price tag may be high but thats all i agree with
I will never stray from HTC again after i tried other android phones. they are **** crap compared to HTC
end of discussion/
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I probably won't buy it; but as you said it's certainly within my right to post my thoughts and I was just curious how other people felt about the whole thing. I prefer HTC's skin (if I couldn't have vanilla) and build quality over the other manufacturers, however my MyTouch 3G is an absolute piece of junk and has been since the day I got it.
And no, I'm not expecting a quad core phone in 2011, that's a false dichotomy. There are shades of gray, and I don't think expecting the TB to beat a 9 month-old phone in gaming is too much to ask. Considering I'd be stuck with the phone for 2 years, I don't want to worry about whether I'm going to be able to use new apps/play new games a year and a half from now.
There will be a phone like the Atrix on Verizon released in Nov. From a very reliable source.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Being me, money is an issue. $250 is obscene, but by pre-ordering with bestbuy, I received a $50 giftcard too. So it is actually $200. But I will be paying the tax of $250 and not $200. So $200 is the cost of current upper tier, so eh.
Actually guys the skype thing isnt a big suprise since the icon installed on the phone says "SKYPE DEMO" !!!
Even when youve seen videos online it was always a DEMO VIDEO of skype in action.
i am on att with the iphone 4 and was thinking about the atrix but when i seen the bionic and decided to wait i wish there was a release date for the bionic
I still dont see how its not cutting edge. Its one of the top phones that will be on the market. It has already been benched against 2 other "future release" phones (bionic & the samsung) and it beat them both in testing and the bionic is a dual core.
Yes its true there will be bigger and badder bad boys out there eventually but that is true for all electronics pretty much. Even when these newer phones come out this phone will still run neck and neck with them in terms of features and such. I can understand speed and memory for PC and laptops but this is a phone, how powerful do you need it. Yes I like the specs and all but I still dont think all the power it has will be fully tapped into by me.
Well said , my feelings exactly ! It is a phone , not a laptop or ipod.
It had a quadrant score of 1950, how fast does it need to be.
Sent by my Droid Incredible
Related
Anyone else think its going to be almost impossible to get one? Look at the evo... its STILL out of freakin in and out of stock online...
With the earthquake in Japan slowing the manufacturing industry down, I would imagine there will be shortages of a lot of products, beyond what there normally would be.
I don't see why japan disaster would slow the chinese sweatshops
yes there well be lots of shortages due to demand for a few months, even now the evo 4g still runs out of stock and the E3D well certainly be more popular
The only reason they keep running low on stock is because they haven't ramped up production. If Sprint wanted to, they could flood the market with EVO 4Gs.
I'm going to bust my ass to get on the list.
Sent From My HTC Evo 4G On The Now Network From Sprint Using Tapatalk Pro!
I doubt it. Most who got an EVO now wont be able to upgrade and that means less purchases.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
Perfect reason to preorder one! I know I will.
NewZJ said:
I don't see why japan disaster would slow the chinese sweatshops
yes there well be lots of shortages due to demand for a few months, even now the evo 4g still runs out of stock and the E3D well certainly be more popular
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some of qualcomm's part comes from japan. so.......yeah.......it means delay.
evank418 said:
some of qualcomm's part comes from japan. so.......yeah.......it means delay.
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KIRF to the rescue?
NEW FLASH!!!
There are to few Premier members that will qualify for the upgrade now that it won't make any difference.....
Ok, maybe it's not a news flash, but my gut is telling me demand for the EVO 3D won't be as high as it was for the EVO. There's just to many choices now on other carriers and like I said, Sprint's annual upgrade basically doesn't exist for more now...
BTW, I have a feeling that the Japan issue is really a non issue; mostly because the phone won't be released till the summer. Also, Toyota and other car manufactures have already gotten their plants running, so there has to also be a way to ship them out. If you get a auto factory running and can ship a ship full of cars out, I think they should be able build phone parts and ship a billion phone parts out...
I went to verizon the other day with a friend of mine and he was checking out the Thunderbolt. He àsked how their stock has been and they guy said they have sold a ton of them but HTC has been shipping them as soon as they run out. so they haven't had any problem keeping them in stock. Im not sure but im thinking that could be a sign for us that they will keep a decent stock this time and not miss out on sales like with the Evo.
crabjoe said:
Ok, maybe it's not a news flash, but my gut is telling me demand for the EVO 3D won't be as high as it was for the EVO. There's just to many choices now on other carriers and like I said, Sprint's annual upgrade basically doesn't exist for more now...
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Due to the recent change in the gold/silver Premier levels?
If that's the case, because I'm still gold, I'll be ahead of almost everyone. Sweet! I'm so tired of my HTC Hero already, been holding out all this time for a dual-core.
crabjoe said:
NEW FLASH!!!
There are to few Premier members that will qualify for the upgrade now that it won't make any difference.....
Ok, maybe it's not a news flash, but my gut is telling me demand for the EVO 3D won't be as high as it was for the EVO. There's just to many choices now on other carriers and like I said, Sprint's annual upgrade basically doesn't exist for more now...
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There are still going to be a lot of people using full upgrades/other lines on family plans as well as new customers. Not to mention the people who are still eligible for premier upgrades, and, of course, those who will buy the 3D outright. I fully expect demand to be as high or higher than the OG Evo.
My store is still selling out of stock on the 4G whenever we get them, so the demand is there. You also have to factor in a year of people talking about the EVO which spreads it appeal to the more average customers, as opposed to the 4G launch which was driven by tech-types who knew it was coming.
NewZJ said:
I don't see why japan disaster would slow the chinese sweatshops
yes there well be lots of shortages due to demand for a few months, even now the evo 4g still runs out of stock and the E3D well certainly be more popular
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You don't see why plant closures in Japan from some large semiconductor manufacturers would slow them down? Not to say it's going to grind to a halt, but it will have an effect, even if only a small one.
NewZJ said:
I don't see why japan disaster would slow the chinese sweatshops
yes there well be lots of shortages due to demand for a few months, even now the evo 4g still runs out of stock and the E3D well certainly be more popular
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also you are thinking wrong. you think if korea has been hit with the disaster, you are probably thinking apple will now rule thw world? wrong.
apple uses lg displays, samsungs chip. world can not survive alone anymore. no lg and samsung=no apple.
Bp3dots said:
There are still going to be a lot of people using full upgrades/other lines on family plans as well as new customers. Not to mention the people who are still eligible for premier upgrades, and, of course, those who will buy the 3D outright. I fully expect demand to be as high or higher than the OG Evo.
My store is still selling out of stock on the 4G whenever we get them, so the demand is there. You also have to factor in a year of people talking about the EVO which spreads it appeal to the more average customers, as opposed to the 4G launch which was driven by tech-types who knew it was coming.
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I'd say the reason you're still selling out of EVO's are because, on Sprint, there's nothing that compares to it in over all features. Sprint is very limited in what top tier phones they carry, and they just don't seem to want to stock them. Believe me, it's not a manufacturing issue. If it were, it'd be almost impossible to get an iPhone.
Here's another possible problem for block buster sales of the EVO 3D. Unlike last year, where Sprint was the only one offering 4G and the was really no comparable phones to the EVO 4G, it's a different story now. Verizon's spring roadmap has been leaked and they are announcing more 4G dual core phones in May.
If people see comparable phones sooner on another carrier and it's available sooner, why wouldn't many people just switch? Especially since LTE is the new buzz word and we've all come to see that LTE coverage is very good (I'm talking about actually having coverage where coverage is supposed to be), with great building penetration? In addition to that, Verizon is saying they'll have 4G (LTE) available in 147 markets by the end of this year, where Sprint/Clearwire looks frozen. Sprint won't even give a hint on what's to be expected by end of year. Because of this, Sprint's price advantage is gone... No one wants to stay on yesterdays network, that's clogged, when you get get new for just a bit more a month.
Given same costs, which would you prefer?
I originally wanted to go to the Sensation, and I waited for it. But, lukewarm initial reviews, $5 more a month for a limited 2GB data cap (vs unlimited and LTE on VZW), and a more active development community with the Thunderbolt convinced me to change my order to VZW.
However, considering the terrible battery life of the Thunderbolt, the fact that I don't get LTE in my office or at home (1x and 3G are my normal connections), and the Tbolt being slightly inferior in the hardware department, I am thinking that i should switch back to the Sensation idea. I get 20% discount with Verizon, versus 12% on Tmobile.
I want to trust that upcoming Gingerbread ROMs for Thunderbolt will result in a better product on a faster network. I'm just somewhat underwhelmed with the Tbolt after a week.
Thoughts?
personally, i would look at it like this
1. what carrier has stronger signal strength where you are
2. LTE vs Hardware. your either going to get amazing download and upload speeds when LTE finally rolls out in your area and imo its amazing + its unlimited if you are grandfathered in; or you can get slightly improved specs which honestly, wont really matter in day to day usage. The only differences you'll really see are when you play high end games or something like that.
3. Which phone has a more developed community. As far as i know, the thunderbolt has a huge community just like the original incredible. Even now, after so many years the incredible is still getting roms. I saw a sense 3.0 rom on an incredible!
sooo up to you lol. your going to be using the phone not me :]
You know I was at the same exact crossroads. I just came off of my 2 year contract with T-Mobile and I was pondering buying the Sensation or switching to Verizon (which has much better coverage in my area). I like the Sensation just a tad better due to its dual core processor and how much shimmer it is. This goes without saying, the Sensation is one sexy phone. It all came down to the carrier for me. In my house I would average 1-2 bars. So I went with VZW and the Thunderbolt. Honestly I love the Thunderbolt. It's great. For you, I would say go with the carrier that has better service in your area which I believe is safe to say Verizon.
Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt using XDA Premium App
if you don't get Ltd where you are most I would go with the sensation
Yeah, it is completely a coin toss. Look at the development community here vs. Sensation, the Tbolt is much more active.
Considering the hell that an AT&T buyout would bring to Atmosphere, I'd be far happier stuck on VZW for two years.
If I can just work around this battery misery, I think the Tbolt will be fine.
Sent from my TBolt using XDA App
BoulderGeek said:
Yeah, it is completely a coin toss. Look at the development community here vs. Sensation, the Tbolt is much more active.
Considering the hell that an AT&T buyout would bring to Atmosphere, I'd be far happier stuck on VZW for two years.
If I can just work around this battery misery, I think the Tbolt will be fine.
Sent from my TBolt using XDA App
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Im getting about 8-10 hrs. on mine right now
setup in sig
Sensation looks pretty sweet. If Verizon had it in their line up it would be a top choice.
Agreed with everybody else. Depends on the carrier. If no LTE get the sensation.
T-Mobile will throttle down your data after you hit the 2GB ceiling, get Verizon before the 7th of July and you're locked in with unltd data with no cap or throttle, be it 3G or LTE. Even if you don't have LTE yet, you will eventually. The majority of features on a smartphone use network data, so all the memory and processing power technology has to offer means absolutely **** when your data stinks.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
If you don't get LTE in your area, download LTE On/Off or a similar program and switch to CDMA Auto. This will greatly improve your battery life.
I would take a not-so-hot device on Verizon's 4G any day over a "hot device" on a non Verizon carrier any day!!
Plus, the TB is definitely hot
Let me offer my feelings, because I have just completed the exact same journey you are embarking on, meaning I had a Sensation on Tmo, and just witched to VZW for the Thunderbolt. Here are my impressions:
HTC Sensation 4G:
I used to be on my company's corporate plan with blackberrys but recently accepted a new job, which allowed me to get whatever phone/carrier I wanted. I had used Tmobile years ago and did the whole HTC HD2 custom ROM thing and had a really good time with it. The sensation always claimed to be on 4g mode and I got relatively good speeds. I could always stream music/videos without any delay, and Speedtest would report about 3mbps on average, with a peak of 8 on a couple of occasions. Coverage was excellent & no dropped calls.
The phone itself is a work of art. It's very light, had outstanding battery life under heavy usage, and Sense 3.0 is beautiful. The tweaked functionality of the camera app among other things was nice. My favorite feature of course being free built in hotspot/tethering. However something was missing.
I really missed the screensize of the HD2. While both are 4.3" diagonal, the S4G has a higher aspect ratio, so the phone is actually skinnier. I didnt like this. I really liked how readable text was on my HD2, and the proximity of icons/buttons when texting were. All in all, the HD2 was simply the perfect size for me.
Then I went to a VZW store and made then unbox a thunderbolt for me so I could try it out without those security wires attached to it. I immediately fell in love and knew within seconds that this was the phone for me. I ran out the buyers remorse period on tmobile just to make sure, and finally made the switch on Monday! I cant tell you how pleased I am. The phone just feels right in my hands.
Every time I used the S4G I was constantly judging it for its screensize. This was a huge bummer, because I could never enjoy the phone. Every time I picked it up all I could think about was how much more smushed and how much scrolling I needed to do to get the same screen real estate visible on the Thunderbolt.
Thoughts on the Thunderbolt:
People arent lying, the battery life is borderline abysmal, but this is actually fine with me since I work behind a desk. I am actually charging it via USB as we speak. I'll probably also plug it into my car charger so it's boosted by the time I get home. I seem to get about 4-6 hours of heavy usage out of it (I was recording myself giving seminars this morning, then surfing all through lunch using the kickstand). I dont mind the battery life since I can easily keep it juiced, but I would NEVER recommend this phone for anyone on the go.
The only thing I actually dont like is how bulky the phone is. Even my HD2 was slimmer/lighter. Maybe its the LTE modem, or maybe it's the kickstand, but the phone feels fat in my hand. In fact, I've basically traded one nuisance for another, nagging on the S4G due to size, and nagging on the TB due to weight. Time will tell if I begin to regret my decision, but I think the other benefits will make up for it.
On TMO, within my first week on the S4G I had already used 1gb. Granted I was playing around with it a bit more than usual, but still. I think we're all gonna hit 2GB a lot sooner than we realize, and the carriers on banking on this (hence the reason they made them). Having 100% unlimited grandfathered 4G with the TB was probably my second biggest selling point. I dont like using a phone and constantly checking the MyAccount app, or 3g watchdog to determine how close I am to running over. It kinda sours the whole experience. With the TB I can just kick back relax and know I'll never be bothered with it.
And speaking of bulk/kickstand issues, I just want to say how AWESOME this kickstand is. I am constantly using it (even though it's only been 3 days lol). I love being able to stand it up and flick through web pages with 1 finger while I eat a sandwich or pasta or something at work. I'm really shocked they arent doing this will all their phones now.
Oh yeah, one other thing, performance. Believe it or not, but the TB actually feels snappier to me running Froyo than the S4G. Dual core or not, the S4G's framerate when switching homescreens always had a little choppiness to it. This really blows and feels like you're using a bogged down phone. The TB always has wonderfully smooth transitions. Obviously this is due to lack of 3d fx, but I'd rather have a smooth simply interface than a clunky advanced one. The only feature of Sense 3.0 I actually used was the lockscreen widget. It's pretty hand to be able to open emails/sms messages from here, but it really only saves you from 1 extra step when you use a standard lockscreen. All the other upgrades apps were pretty useless. Yeah the new weather widget is awesome and I would just stare and stare at it for minutes at a time. That was on my first day. On the 2nd day I never even noticed it. I even used the weather as my wallpaper, and still I didnt notice it.
P.S. I was really nervous about this whole ATT thing too. ATT has given some blanket statement that existing 4g users on Tmo's network will be "given an opportunity to upgrade" or something along those lines. Basically you WILL have to get a new phone eventually. LTE is NOT what Tmo is using, and ATT wants that spectrum baaaaad. Believe me, once it's theirs they are going to use it, and completely redeploy it for real 4G as they can. If you're LUCKY, they MIGHT do it in a series of phaseouts, letting users of phones like the S4G exhaust their contracts before each little piece of spectrum is gobbled up and transformed into LTE space. And thats assuming they're going to play nice, and since when has ATT ever played nice? ATT is always the first carrier to impose some asinine rules or restrictions on their services. They are the last company I would trust to be fair and not just force me to renew my contract in 13 months or be dumped to 2g speeds forever.
Hope that helps!
Verizon + Unlimited 4G LTE on the Thunderbolt can't be beat.
Thank you very much for taking the time to write that up, RunNGun!
You've hit upon many of my concerns and observations. I was actually thinking that the Sensation's aspect ratio difference and smaller size would be a positive for me. the Thunderbolt with a silicone bumper case feels as massive as the old Apple Newton I had in 1994.
But, I'm a relatively substantial guy at six feet and 215lbs, so it's not overwhelmingly large. I think that the 4" AMOLED of the Samsung Galaxy S line is the sweet spot for me. but, when I had one on AT&T, I returned it within three weeks. And I am glad that I did.
I'm getting about the same battery that you are. I also have USB at work and chargers all over the house, cars and motorcycles so I'm quite covered for applying power. I might get 8 hours on the stock battery, with wifi off and green power on.
I'm holding off the root and flash until I am out of return period and whatever upgrade that may come has been seen. I did port over my TMobile number that I've had since 1998, so I am pretty much sold on the Tbolt. i did a Speedtest in the car at a stoplight the other day and got 30mbit! And, I've already burned through 5+ Gigs of data just letting the bloatware do its thing and playing some Pandora.
I had a very good experience with Tmobile on my old Nokia 5800. But that sucked so badly for data services, that i only had text and voice on it. However, i could always make a call, where my GF on iPhone 4 has about a 50/50 chance of getting service or an inbound call.
I've also had good experiences with VZW in the past, but CDMA is such dead tech, it is hard to buy into it in 2011. I'd prefer a true world phone for my travels.
Cheers again for a great synopsis.
So you got the TB then? I have to agree with you about CDMA, but with a carrier as big and powerful as VZW I guess it doesnt really matter, they've certainly proven that it is a reliable platform and they can do great things with it. I wish I could use my phone overseas too, but at least I'll always have my wife's HD2 which is GSM for those occasions.
BTW I forgot to mention that my battery life is stifled from use of bluetooth a lot. I basically leave bluetooth on 24/7, GPS too, even though I'm not really using GPS that much. I dont actually shut off the radio. WiFi is always off. The first day I actually got 12 hours out of it before charging, because I was just too busy to play with it. Hard to say what my ultimate average will really be.
First off, I love my E3D! Is it just me or is anyone else concerned that Sprint is not marketing this phone very good at all. I've seen the lame ping pong commercial and a NASCAR commercial for a contest. Is this truly the flagship phone for Sprint? I am still seeing EVO 4G commercials! Why are they not pumping this thing up? C'mon Sprint...convince me I have the best device on the Now Network! I know I do, but I want to hear it from you!!
Its because they are prepping for the Motorola and Samsung phones coming out. I think they are having commitment issues with the EVO. I love it tho
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There is the possibility that the apple vs htc case is involved somehow. I'm not sure though.
Sent from my smartphone IN 3D!
I know..they should be pumping out commercials with specs..How bout mentioning the qhd display or the blazing fast 1.2ghz dual cores..first and best for sprint..they have a ****ty advertising dept thats for sure!!
Marketing
No on all of the above. There is no flagship phone coming out on any network including the Iphone 5 (what happened to the A5) anytime soon. The battle is not on selling the hardware, It's marketing price plans specifically data. Verizon just capped their plans, ATT did it as well, they are buying T-mobile or trying too. Sprint's stock won't get a boost from the EVO 3d, nor Motorola, Nor Samsung, maybe a little from Apple. But that is it. Not that Sprint is saying the phone sucks, but dual cores will be everywhere soon. (Buy Qualcomm) This is not a flagship like the EVO 4G or the Iphone was for Apple. Without a quad core 4 ghz 128 gb sd card qhd 2156x1080 auto stereoscopic (which the 4g was in its debut as far as innovation) no carrier has anything groundbreaking. They are selling plans, which is their competitive edge. And unless you own stock, and I do, what do you care about the commercials?
3d is said to be releasing on T-mo later this year. So its not really exclusive to Sprint therefore lack of advertising
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Randy D said:
No on all of the above. There is no flagship phone coming out on any network including the Iphone 5 (what happened to the A5) anytime soon. The battle is not on selling the hardware, It's marketing price plans specifically data. Verizon just capped their plans, ATT did it as well, they are buying T-mobile or trying too. Sprint's stock won't get a boost from the EVO 3d, nor Motorola, Nor Samsung, maybe a little from Apple. But that is it. Not that Sprint is saying the phone sucks, but dual cores will be everywhere soon. (Buy Qualcomm) This is not a flagship like the EVO 4G or the Iphone was for Apple. Without a quad core 4 ghz 128 gb sd card qhd 2156x1080 auto stereoscopic (which the 4g was in its debut as far as innovation) no carrier has anything groundbreaking. They are selling plans, which is their competitive edge. And unless you own stock, and I do, what do you care about the commercials?
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I suppose you are right, it's more about plans now. As far as stock..I don't own shares but I believe my years of service with Sprint does give me a little room here to voice my concerns. And when I saw more commercials today for the OG 4G it just kinda bothered me, but you're right and I didn't think about that...it's about the plan more than the phone.
dmablade said:
There is the possibility that the apple vs htc case is involved somehow. I'm not sure though.
Sent from my smartphone IN 3D!
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Oh wow this has nothing to do with it the damn phone been our for a good 3 weeks now and that no import sue just happened last week,
Now back to topic.well that's how sprint is, the do no how to advertise sometines, they do pay a lot of money tho , the EVO 3 D commercial were everywhere for the grand opening of harry potter movie ok Thursday night, unlike Verizon sprint doesn't know how to advertise some products, the new commercial about data caps is the best so far, and don't worry the phone is selling good so there will be good future for it
If you don't have an Evo3d well you don't have an Evo3d
Re read my post and apologize to Apollo and others for coming across as an ahole. Marketing is tricky... A dual core 1.2 doesn't mean anything to most. Show them settings/applications/manage/all and scroll it... They will get it then. Qhd? A commercial would be displaying video of a video and losing the 3d and resolution, compressed or stretched to fit = "simulation" in fine print in an add.
Way more than 10 chars. Sorry
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Just saw an ad for the Evo 3D during American Dad on Fox.
I haven't seen much ads either.
Randy D said:
Re read my post and apologize to Apollo and others for coming across as an ahole. Marketing is tricky... A dual core 1.2 doesn't mean anything to most. Show them settings/applications/manage/all and scroll it... They will get it then. Qhd? A commercial would be displaying video of a video and losing the 3d and resolution, compressed or stretched to fit = "simulation" in fine print in an add.
Way more than 10 chars. Sorry
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Thanks Randy, no worries! You are absolutely correct though...very tricky, especially for this phone! They'll figure something out as I believe this is the Flagship phone...they threw a big party for its release like they did for the EVO 4G. From a shareholders perspective how do you think the whole t-mobile att deal will affect Sprint?
ATT T-Mobile Acquisition
As far as that is concerned, that is a slippery slope. Short-term Sprint could benefit from defectors refusing to sign with ATT. 99% done deal that Sprint will be getting Iphone 5. That is another enticement for T-Mobile customers to be swayed to Sprint. Long term who knows... Sprint could end up being bought by someone. Verizon is the popular name because of the shared CDMA platform. I personally don't think that matters. There were rumors a year ago that Google would might dive in, they certainly have the cash but that isn't their arena. They use other companies hardware and airwaves to grow product. Google voice, any and all isp's... etc. All I know is Dan Hesse (sprint CEO) Is launching a war to prevent it. And he's driven the stock price up 25% this past ytd. Stock hit $6 earlier this summer. He's doing something right.
BTW Sprint is launching a $3 million EVO3D Sprint Nascar giveaway ad campaign.
Carl Edwards was on SportsCenter talking about it.
Also the adds will continue to roll out, My guess is Sprint wanted the phone to circulate for a month or so to work out the bugs... get out the firmware updates before going with the "full court press". They don't need a ****load of new customers with EVO3D problems that don't know how to figure out fixes while the phone is in its infancy. Have a great day
A lot depends on the advertising medium as to which phone they'll promote. The 3D, despite its good hardware, is a nitch phone. Not many business users will be tempted. Cutting edge users will be.
On the other hand, I bet you'll see lot of promotion in business media for the Photon. With an equal emphasis on their "truly unlimited".
......
My wife has Virgin and she's sick and tired of her Samsung Intercept (what a shocker.) We want her to stick with a non contract provider, and it seems like most of the other carriers have sub par android offerings. The EVO V seems intriguing but I have 2 big concerns. 1. The phone is a year old. I know it had Good specs at the time and having ICS helps now but I want this phone to last more than a year. 2. I've read in some places that battery life is atrocious. Now my wife isn't a power user, but I also don't feel like hearing her complain constantly about the battery life. I'm leaning more toward this phone than the Milestone because I like the bumped specs and having a legit ICS is a big selling point. As far as a no contract Android goes, is this a good get or should I wait / keep shopping around or do others have some suggestions I may have overlooked?
dvandam said:
My wife has Virgin and she's sick and tired of her Samsung Intercept (what a shocker.) We want her to stick with a non contract provider, and it seems like most of the other carriers have sub par android offerings. The EVO V seems intriguing but I have 2 big concerns. 1. The phone is a year old. I know it had Good specs at the time and having ICS helps now but I want this phone to last more than a year. 2. I've read in some places that battery life is atrocious. Now my wife isn't a power user, but I also don't feel like hearing her complain constantly about the battery life. I'm leaning more toward this phone than the Milestone because I like the bumped specs and having a legit ICS is a big selling point. As far as a no contract Android goes, is this a good get or should I wait / keep shopping around or do others have some suggestions I may have overlooked?
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The battery life is about middle ground as far as Android high end phones. You can get a full day out of it if you need/want to. The phone, IMHO, still has plenty of life left in it. It fits great in your hands. And watching 3D videos on YouTube is awesome. I know people will say it is/was a gimmick, but I completely disagree. It is just an extra feature on a phone that sets it apart from the other ones. I think once the iPhone comes out with 3D, everyone will rush to get one and other phone makers will make it a standard feature on all phones. It was just ahead of its time on the Evo 3D. With hardly any other phones to share 3D images with, it makes it hard to show off how awesome 3D images and videos are without being next to someone and showing them on your phone.
I can understand people wanting to have the next generation of bigger and better phones, but just because a newer model is out doesn't make the Evo 3D magically stop working or cease to have a dual core processor with 1GB of RAM...which still runs every app and game, still makes phone calls, and send texts with ease.
This may or may not affect you, but could...the Evo 3D uses WiMAX and will that network will still be support for a few years in places where it is operational. Such as my little city. I have WiMAX and I use it as if my life depends on it. Sure, I could get the newest phone with LTE, but until Sprint gets it in my city, I'm stuck with 3G. And once you go 4G you can't go back.
I vote get the Evo 3D. And enjoy! I know I have enjoyed mine and will continue to...I am eligible for an upgrade, but I'm not sure I can do it yet because I love this phone and 4G data.
-Ken
Sent from my iPhone with the bigger Gee Bees.
It's a great phone at $100 off craigslist if you are already on sprint or can flash it somehow for another carrier. To pay $300 for it would be an incredible waste of money. Sprints wimax is worthless if you are moving and only ok if you are not. If your house is right next to a wimax tower you might be ok. I thought it has been said it has a few problems out of the box with sprints\virgins version of ics so be ready to flash\root it right away to make it work better. A lot of work for a $300 phone. The 3d part is really just a gimmick, kind of a add-on for the kiddies. These are the realities of this phone.http://voices.yahoo.com/3d-devices-smartphones-causing-headaches-eye-8858717.html
I love my Evo 3D now with ICS, but I wouldn't buy a new one now. Phones get old fast, your best bet is to buy the latest and greatest and it may last 2 years.
Buy it new for like $100 flash it to virgin. Its $300 cuz your not signing a contract. I'm running meanrom ics and I get days of medium use with absolutely no lag or issues.
Everybody gets the latest and greatest because that's how manufactures control the market. I don't think any other phone for this price is even comparable.
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notasimpleway said:
The battery life is about middle ground as far as Android high end phones.
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Those must be the magical unicorn Android phones...
I'm averaging 50% remaining charge after ~36 hours with everything enabled except 4G. You can get 2 days out of the EVO V easily with Harmonia 3 (a cleaned up stock ROM):
http://www.vmroms.com/index.php?topic=157.0
I can't report on stock battery performance because frankly I rooted and installed Harmonia 3 about an hour after I got the phone.
Of the smartphones I've owned (Palm Pre, EVO 4G, Optimus V, Optimus Slider) and used, the EVO V is by far the best all around. This phone with a no-contract Virgin plan is just about perfect (for me).
I suspect those reporting atrocious battery life are leaving 4G on.
sailio said:
Buy it new for like $100 flash it to virgin. Its $300 cuz your not signing a contract. I'm running meanrom ics and I get days of medium use with absolutely no lag or issues.
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There is a LOT of issues with flashing it to Virgin, he'd be better off flashing to Boost but regardless of which carrier it would involve cloning the MEID/ESN of a donor phone and I wouldn't suggest it unless you know a lot about phones and have a backup in case it takes you a while. It is worth it though even at $300, the specs are just as comparable to today's phones and over the time she would have the phone a couple of years it would have paid for itself several times in comparison to getting it on contract at a subsidized price. I would DEFINITELY suggest it, the phone's specs as I said are comparable to phones coming out today (even higher specs than some new phones) and whether or not it remains supported it'll still remain a good phone for a time to come.
Esn has nothing to do with flashing it to another carrier... Just firmware and pri. I work for radioshack so I deal with this on a daily basis
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Not to hate on HTC... but I would wait for new galaxy to drop in price. I think that is going to be the best phone out this year and honestly you will be good for atleast 2 years.
Battery is amazing if you are using a MEAN rom. Otherwise, so/so. Also... I would say the biggest concern is the crappy hardware. You are taking a chance at having a blown earpiece or failing digitizer. These are common issues and I suffer from BOTH.
sailio said:
Esn has nothing to do with flashing it to another carrier... Just firmware and pri. I work for radioshack so I deal with this on a daily basis
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lol it does when the carrier doesn't allow flashing Work at radio shack? I've actually flashed phones so I know Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile blocks MEIDs/ESNs that are not in their database. It's not like flashing to Cricket or Metro PCS because of this fact. You could flash to Boost or Virgin without changing it but you won't be able to put it on your account Go to Virgin or Boost and just try and activate an account with an ESN/MEID not in their database, it won't work and customer service won't do it either lol (nor will they add it)
The only and I mean *only* way to get a non virgin or boost phone working on a virgin or boost account is by flashing and changing the ESN/MEID.
Also, I HAAAAATE when people say "I work for Radio Shack" or "I work for Best Buy Mobile" or "I work for geek squad" and use it to say (hey I'm an expert) not to diss on any of these (in fact I'm sure a lot of them are very good), but the vast majority of people I know at these jobs know very little and only know what's part of their official training etc. Again not all of them but pleeeaaassseee don't be so sure in something you obviously don't have experience in and giving a user HORRIBLE advise in which they will likely regret it if they try and follow it In fact you probably shouldn't give advice on a subject unless you've tried it (which you obviously haven't lol)
OK, I know this question gets old, but I'm going to ask it anyway. I'm currently on a 4G LTE and became upgrade eligible on 8/1. The One seems like the no-brainer choice right now, but I'm reading a lot about upcoming phones like Nexus 5, Moto X, upcoming Sony phone, LG G2, etc. What would you guys do in my shoes?
My wife becomes upgrade eligible on 2/1, so I'm considering swapping my upgrade with her for now so that she can move from her iPhone 4s to the 5 (or 5s in Sept) and finally have 4G while I wait a few months for something else. That said, in the cell phone upgrade game, there's ALWAYS going to be something amazing on the horizon -- that's what makes these decision brutal. I've had every Evo since the OG, and right now I'm basically happy with my 4G LTE: rooted, S-Off, get 4G in my area, use tethering extensively, like the look/feel, and I love the kickstand. That said, some cons are that I'm not crazy about the battery life, I get launcher crashes fairly regularly on stock Sense and most Sense roms, and I don't feel that the radio is the strongest -- particularly at switching from 3G to 4G.
Thoughts?
One Max with bigger screen and faster processor, g2 with all x3 sprint lte band. The red One looks alright too. moto x is just soso with slower processor and lower resolution screen.
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abeln2672 said:
OK, I know this question gets old, but I'm going to ask it anyway. I'm currently on a 4G LTE and became upgrade eligible on 8/1. The One seems like the no-brainer choice right now, but I'm reading a lot about upcoming phones like Nexus 5, Moto X, upcoming Sony phone, LG G2, etc. What would you guys do in my shoes?
My wife becomes upgrade eligible on 2/1, so I'm considering swapping my upgrade with her for now so that she can move from her iPhone 4s to the 5 (or 5s in Sept) and finally have 4G while I wait a few months for something else. That said, in the cell phone upgrade game, there's ALWAYS going to be something amazing on the horizon -- that's what makes these decision brutal. I've had every Evo since the OG, and right now I'm basically happy with my 4G LTE: rooted, S-Off, get 4G in my area, use tethering extensively, like the look/feel, and I love the kickstand. That said, some cons are that I'm not crazy about the battery life, I get launcher crashes fairly regularly on stock Sense and most Sense roms, and I don't feel that the radio is the strongest -- particularly at switching from 3G to 4G.
Thoughts?
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I'm in a similar boat but it's my wife that has the upgrade as of 8/1 and I just upgraded to the One at launch. She doesn't care much about her phone so long as it gets Facebook, has a good camera and can last her the day on one charge. We're waiting until the holiday season to see what devices are announced and what discounts are available. I'd suggest the same if you can wait. I wouldn't be able to and would have a One on 8/1, . I'm impatient. But if you're happy enough with your current device, wait for the 5s for her and get that or the discounted 5 and use your upgrade next year. You'll likely be in a similar situation though because new devices will only be a couple months away and will likely be announced in March.
There are pros and cons to buying any phone; radios, features, updates, etc. That being said, I would wait it out a little bit. Keep in mind that the One has been out for 4 months already. So if you're on a 2 year upgrade plan like most people are, the One will be nearly 2 & 1/2 years old by the time you'll be eligible again.
The next generation of phones is so much better. Have you seen the G2? It's crazy! 3000 mAh battery!
The One totally pales in comparison.
Plus, the One is riddled with defects and there's a very very high chance that you will get a defective device. Most of the people here (including me) have defects and just live with it because chances are we'll get a worse device back. Hopefully for the next generation, HTC will tighten their QC.
I would wait for a really high end Moto to arrive.
I don't recommend either Sprint or HTC, because I've had horrible experiences with both. Did you know that the one has no thermal safety system? That's caused several bricks and as far as we know, is still causing them.
Also, ask around for how good sprint is in your area. Some people got nice data with Wi-max but terrible LTE. HSPA+ is actually way faster than Sprint's LTE, and it's more developed. Of course, you would have to switch carriers to get HSPA. Sprint's 3G is usually unusable.
I really appreciate the feedback, everyone -- it's been really helpful. I've pretty much decided to hold off and see what's available in Sept/Oct, which is around the time the new iPhone would come out anyway. I'm pretty intrigued by the G2, but I think I'll regret missing out on the One's front-facing speakers, 32gb storage, and high quality body design. I've also had Sense for many generations, so I think I'll miss that, but I've got other Android devices as well and won't have a problem adjusting.
Feel free to chime in if you have an opinion on this...like someone else said earlier in the thread, it's easy to get impatient when it comes to phone upgrades -- I need a lot of convincing to hold off, lol!
My wife became eligible and I upgraded her to the One for similar reasons. Thing is I got a great deal at Target, believe it or not. They had the One for 100 upgrade, a $25discount when giving in your old phone, plus what the phone was worth. She had a blackberry and after everything the new phone was about $40. She's happy makes me happy.
Point is keep your eyes open for deals cause even though new phones are coming, some deals are hard to pass up.
My wife did the same with her BB Curve. Even after 3 years it had a $100 trade-in value and in the end, we ended up getting a gift card back from Best Buy with $22 on it! She got used to the HTC EVO Design after a week or so and won't look back to BB
photos?
if you primarily use the camera for social network stuff i'd say upgrade. it is a pretty good phone!