To Thunderbolt or not to Thunderbolt (from Droid X)

[Kelby232]

Hi all,

I currently have a Droid X that I am selling for $250 and going to be buying a Thunderbolt for $250. Do you guys think this is a good upgrade? I have a few questions. I am near a 4g area and battery issues are not a problem since I am near a charger all day.

1. If I buy now will I still be locked into the unlimited 4g plans? Sorry I have not kept up to date on the 4g plans now.
2. I have never played around the phone so it is snappy when transitioning through menus?
3. I do take a lot of pictures and video, how do they compare to the droid x.

Thank you in advance.

 

[MarkAllan22]

I'm kinda in the same boat. Had my Droid X since it was out and it's been a great phone. Since this will be my last annual upgrade, I'm looking into a 4G phone even though my area probably won't get 4G for a good while. The HTC Thunderbolt and the Droid Bionic are the two I'm really looking at, and the Thunderbolt seems pretty cool, although it only being single-core and the ridiculousness of the look with the extended battery are hurting it so far (although we have no idea how bad the battery will be on the Bionic either). Not to mention, the Bionic basically being a more powerful Droid X with 4G is making it tempting too.

Although, if the rumored free Thunderbolt sale from Verizon comes to fruition, I might have to jump on it. So it would be nice to get some feedback on what people like and don't like about it.

Sorry I didn't help you any, OP.

 

[Kelby232]

I'm kinda in the same boat. Had my Droid X since it was out and it's been a great phone. Since this will be my last annual upgrade, I'm looking into a 4G phone even though my area probably won't get 4G for a good while. The HTC Thunderbolt and the Droid Bionic are the two I'm really looking at, and the Thunderbolt seems pretty cool, although it only being single-core and the ridiculousness of the look with the extended battery are hurting it so far (although we have no idea how bad the battery will be on the Bionic either). Not to mention, the Bionic basically being a more powerful Droid X with 4G is making it tempting too.

Although, if the rumored free Thunderbolt sale from Verizon comes to fruition, I might have to jump on it. So it would be nice to get some feedback on what people like and don't like about it.

Sorry I didn't help you any, OP.

Hm 2 questions.

What is this free thunderbolt sale you are speaking of?!?! haha.

I thought the annual upgrades were over? I got my Droid x release day as well. I have received the annual upgrades before as I am the main line on my family plan. Does this mean I have one final annual upgrade left?

 

[MarkAllan22]

Hm 2 questions.

What is this free thunderbolt sale you are speaking of?!?! haha.

I thought the annual upgrades were over? I got my Droid x release day as well. I have received the annual upgrades before as I am the main line on my family plan. Does this mean I have one final annual upgrade left?

Verizon to offer iPhone 4 for $50 off, HTC Thunderbolt for free? ? Cell Phones & Mobile Device Technology News & Updates | Geek.com

Who knows where that screen came from, or if it ever comes true. Hopefully it does as I would quickly jump on the 'bolt.

And from what I understood, the annual upgrades were no more after your next one. Ex., they announced no more annual upgrades earlier this year, but I still had one coming in July, so that one stuck. I just won't have anymore after this upgrade, unfortunately.

 

[AntimonyER]

That free thunderbolt promo page was posted a while ago, and still nothing. I had been waiting/looking for it, I was kind of hoping this weekend, as the MAP date for the Thunderbolt ended thursday (if you noticed, 3rd party retailers dropped their prices on Friday).

 

[dangerous]

Hi all,

I currently have a Droid X that I am selling for $250 and going to be buying a Thunderbolt for $250. Do you guys think this is a good upgrade? I have a few questions. I am near a 4g area and battery issues are not a problem since I am near a charger all day.

1. If I buy now will I still be locked into the unlimited 4g plans? Sorry I have not kept up to date on the 4g plans now.
2. I have never played around the phone so it is snappy when transitioning through menus?
3. I do take a lot of pictures and video, how do they compare to the droid x.

Thank you in advance.

I would NOT get the TB. I have the Droid X, my wife HAD the fascinate and i got her the THUNDERBOLT. If you can sell your X for $250 and got a TBOLT for FREE it's Still not worth it IMO. The phone has too many problems. Wait for the BIONIC, Hopefully that will be a better (4G) phone.

 

[dangerous]

PS.. I've (my wife) has had the New TB, 4 Refurbs, and finally another New TB. (It's still running on the Original Release Software and doing "OK"

 

[Chi-TownTx]

Sadly it looks as if the TB is going to become the red headed stepchild of the HTC lineup. From looking around these boards the last update did more harm than good. The TB has been out awhile now but it looks like the Droid Charge will see a GB update long before the TB ever will. If i were you i would skip the TB and get the Charge instead. It has a lot less issues than the TB does at the moment.

 

[BoostDeuce]

i have a Thunderbolt and have no issues at all with it. But i'm a normal phone user. I don't care to root it or anything. Battery life leaves a little to be desired, but i'm near a charger all day anyway. The huge screen isn't a problem with the phone, it's just something i'm not used to yet.

I say go for the Thunderbolt. Its definitely fast and works great for every day use.

 

[IamMark]

I have a Droid X (bought in December) and recently purchased a Thunderbolt. The Droid X became my wife's phone. In all honesty, I prefer the X over the Thunderbolt. The only thing the Thunderbolt has over the X is 4G. The build quality and battery life are definitely better on the X, and Gingerbread on the X made the OS much more appealing. I'm actually a little jealous that I gave her the X. I really haven't compared picture quality between the two phones, so I can't help you there. I can't imagine the Thunderbolt's images being worse than the X, which definitely suffered in low light situations. I found the video on the X pretty good, and again, I doubt the Thunderbolt's video is any worse (haven't played with it really).

My main issue with the Thunderbolt is the battery. It doesn't even make it through a day with occasional use. I haven't, however, experienced the other problems people have run into, such as random reboots and other bugs. So in terms of stability, its been great for me. I really only bought it primarily to lock in the 4G unlimited data plan. If it wasn't for Verizon's termination of unlimited data, I would have waited for the Bionic or other 4G phone.

 

[red66charger]

Since I assume you have unlimited data with your X, you will be granfathered into 4G unlimited.

I'd wait for Bionic, but it will cost you. Pricing (or release date) hasn't been announced yet. Some have speculated as much as $300.

TB has some nice features (4G, kickstand, Sense 3.0...hey, I like it) but the horrendous battery life, the before mentioned and perceived lack of support, no Skype, I just think you'd be better off waiting on something else.

I bought TB on launch day and returned it after 13 days. Ended up buying another off contract to lock in unlimited data. (I dind't realize any unlimited data plan would lock me in at the time). My plan is to see how Bionic's battery holds up. If it gets better reviews than TB's I'm on it and TB gets sold...if anyone will buy it.

 

[xeno2011]

I would go with the Thunderbolt. I love mine, and get great battery life with no issues to speak of (owner as of 7/5/11 - I use all the phones features, moderately). It's obvious it was released too early and they have been playing catch up with it ever since. I think the 4G technology is messing with all the 4G phones battery life, and buying any brand new phone, whether it be the Bionic or whatever, is a risk as well, so I'd go with one that is already showing signs of stability. I'd be curious to know how many new Thunderbolt owners are having problems out of the box now, as compared to the release day owners, who seem to have had a lot more chance of a bad experience.

 

[stanlalee]

you guys are nuts! Now my oppinion may be scewed by the fact my phone is rooted with GB but in said form the Tbolt is night and day better performing (even stock) AND night and day better looking not to mention easier on the pocket (its shorter with no hump) and the real trump card: has front facing camera and 4G.

What are all these nagging problems people keep talking about? Reboot has been addressed with the last OTA and root fixed that for me long ago. Battery life is not a problem. You buy a big HTC 4G phone with 4.3 LCD screen and 1400mh and expected not to compromise battery life you didn't do your homework. It will certainly get you thru a normal 8hr work day if your work does not consist of playing on your phone all shift. Beyond that, you can go into any other android phone forum and everyone will have people nitpicking about something. For some reason its made more of a deal when it comes to the Tbolt. Go to galaxy S, motorola droid forum or any other and there are/were complaints of people being on their 3rd or 4th replacement. For example the recessed power button. HTC phones have had powe rbutton issues since the Nexus one and Evo yet only hear was it blown into astronomical proportions even though unlike those phones have heard of hardly anyone who's button stopped working (as opposed to being just reccessed).