First Smartphone: Droid X or HTC Thunderbolt

[max105]

My impressions of the two phones:

Droid X
Pros: Cheaper (free), good battery life
Cons: No 4G LTE, end-of-life 3/31, less resale value?

HTC Thunderbolt
Pros: 4G LTE, lock into 4G unlimited plan, better resale?, more responsive?, future-proof?
Cons: costs $200 more, poor battery life

I've decided to upgrade my basic flip-phone and move onto my first smartphone: either the HTC Thunderbolt or Droid X. My smartphone experience is limited to a 3 week trial with the Droid X back in Jan 2011. I'm going on a trip to Seattle/Vancouver at the end of April and would like a new phone by then.

I live in an area with 4G (SF) and played with the Thunderbolt at BestBuy over the weekend. The TB seems a little more responsive than my memory of the Droid X, but I can't tell if it's actually true or a placebo effect. The screen also seems a little nicer but again, I can't tell if it's just a placebo effect. They didn't have a working Droid X for me to compare there.

When I borrowed the Droid X, I was mostly on wifi and rarely on 3G. However, I don't think I had enough time to become acquainted with all the smartphone features/functionality. This said, I don't know how much I'll be able to take advantage of the 4G/LTE network. I'm hoping I can rely on experienced users here to guide me through this decision. If it helps for you to know, I'd consider myself a heavy daily Internet user: ~8 hrs @ work and ~4 hrs @ home. I'm not a social media person but I do like to "research" things when I'm out (i.e. Wiki/Yelp).

My biggest complaint with the TB is the battery life. From early reports/reviews, it sounds like I'll need to recharge the TB after 6 hours of medium usage. Battery life is important to me and I recall the Droid X being able to go 1.5-2 days on a single charge.

My concern with the Droid X is future-proofing. The Droid X is free with a 2-year contract, but I'm worried about being stuck on old tech for 2 years. I'd be okay with a 1-year contract on the Droid X, but it will cost me $220/170 for the phone. At that price point, I could just get the TB.

Do you guys think there's any valid concern with being "stuck" with a Droid X after mid-2012? Or do you think I should try to lock in the 4G unlimited plan with the Thunderbolt?

 

[djb28]

Ive heard about those flip phones. Never saw one in real life. Just kidding. Dont lock in with old stuff. Thats why its free.

 

[moondrius]

I would go with the Thunderbolt. My battery life is getting better each day. My phone has been off the charger for over a day now and I still have 40% life.

 

[redraider1]

Thunderbolt. You never know if they will continue to support the droid x and HTC is pretty good with keeping their phones updated and especially since this is their first 4g phone on verizon I'm sure they are going to keep it updated. Battery life isnt really that bad its by no means great but what do you expect with a 1400mah battery? You can always buy an extra battery.

 

[Mallissa]

Ive heard about those flip phones. Never saw one in real life. Just kidding. Dont lock in with old stuff. Thats why its free.

That's exactly what I was going to say. It's free for a reason, most likely because a newer version is coming out. Why get something old and outdated.

I would go with the Thunderbolt. My battery life is getting better each day. My phone has been off the charger for over a day now and I still have 40% life.

I am not having battery issues like others either. I have taken 4 calls at around 15-30 minutes each, and have been texting throughout the morning. I still have 80% battery left, with an up time of 7 hours and 22 minutes.

 

[MongolStomp]

I think in the long run you'll be much happier with the Thunderbolt. It's way smoother and since you're in a 4G area you're browser speed will be ridiculous. Worth the money.

 

[lamoglinsgal]

I agree on the TB. If you're going to upgrade, you may as well go all the way. The X is outdated, and the X2 is in the works. I am also not having battery issues. I got over 15 hours on a charge yesterday.

 

[Mallissa]

I agree on the TB. If you're going to upgrade, you may as well go all the way. The X is outdated, and the X2 is in the works. I am also not having battery issues. I got over 15 hours on a charge yesterday.

Niiice!

 

[jtl]

Please tell me what you all are doing to get such great battery lives?!?!? I am only lasting 6+- hours (no wi-fi) even in a 3G area!

 

[rushmore]

Please tell me what you all are doing to get such great battery lives?!?!? I am only lasting 6+- hours (no wi-fi) even in a 3G area!

It is called subjective use. Your "heavy" use might be the same as somebody elses "light" use but the battery lasts them all day (of course it would).

All of the posts about battery life are only relative if everybody uses the same apps, the same radios, the same coverage, display brightness a same data settings. Oh, and a very important thing called "actual time duration of use".

 

[moondrius]

Please tell me what you all are doing to get such great battery lives?!?!? I am only lasting 6+- hours (no wi-fi) even in a 3G area!

Check to see if any apps are running in the background. If you have something that wont allow your phone to sleep it will rapidly drain the battery.

Also check your settings under accounts and sync. Stocks, news, and weather are all set to auto sync by default. I disabled both stocks and news because to me they are useless but I kept the weather auto updating every 3 hours.

 

[nkk]

This thread has sort of derailed, but I will suggest the following: if you are going to get old tech cheap, get the DINC. It is faster (IME--never owned the DX but played with many of them for a long-ish time period). It is also more future proof them the DX given the open bootloader and many more ROMs. Whereas the DX does not have 2.3, the DINC has a CM (CyanogenMod) release candidate. Also, post root, the DINC gets fairly good battery life (light ROM and more importantly an undervolted kernel do wonders).

I would still get the TB. But I also got the DINC on preorder. So I sort of have a problem. Like most here.

-Nkk

 

[max105]

I would go with the Thunderbolt. My battery life is getting better each day. My phone has been off the charger for over a day now and I still have 40% life.

Is this behavior typical with all the new phones nowadays? Obviously I haven't had a new phone in awhile, but does battery life improve as the phone "breaks in"? If so, how long will it continue to improve until it starts to recede?

Maybe I'll wait for the "break in" period to pass and hope people post updated battery life reviews.

 

[max105]

Thunderbolt. You never know if they will continue to support the droid x and HTC is pretty good with keeping their phones updated and especially since this is their first 4g phone on verizon I'm sure they are going to keep it updated. Battery life isnt really that bad its by no means great but what do you expect with a 1400mah battery? You can always buy an extra battery.

The extra battery is definitely an option. I just don't like the idea of carrying two batteries around. The extended battery looks like a huge anchor to me:
HTC ThunderBolt Extended Battery [Hands-On] | Android Community

 

[Yellow Snowman]

Thunderbolt. Change some settings and the battery will improve. If it isnt sufficient the new 1800mah battery will be out in a few weeks

 

[darkxsun]

The logic I used was, "if I'm stuck with the thing for two years, it may as well blow me away now, in one year it'll still be decent given the tempting competition, then in 2 it'll be bearable... If I pick something decent w.r.t. the competition now, it'll be unbearable by 2 years from now."

 

[dequardo]

Thunderbolt. Change some settings and the battery will improve. If it isnt sufficient the new 1800mah battery will be out in a few weeks

What new 1800 mAh battery?

 

[Wolfedude88]

I think it depends if you want a 4g phone or not, or if you want to spend more money on the phone. I personally have had both and like the Thunderbolt better.

But if you don't care about 4g, and don't want to spend the money then get the Droid X. The Droid X is still a great phone, while it can become outdated, it is still a top phone.

The only thing the Thunderbolt has over it is the 4g radio. Processors are different but not enough to call the Droid X outdated yet! Thunderbolt is top of the line now on Verizon, I would say Droid X is second. With Dual Core phones coming our Thunderbolt will not be the latest and greatest, but that wont make it outdated or unusable.

Do what you want and don't care what others say is the best, you can take their advice if they are informed but I wouldn't my up my decision solely based on someone elses.

 

[nateap87]

i think if he's even considering the droid x, then he's in no rush to grab what might be no longer availabe unlimited lte for 30 bucks. so does anyone else think that he might as well wait for the bionic? the only reason i'm not waiting is because i want the unlimited lte plan in case it changes. i'm upgrading to the TB right now but only keeping it if my girl likes it and if she does, she gets my OG droid until the bionic comes out and she'll sign a contract for it and we'll trade. bam. both of us would have unlimited lte and 450 minutes each for only 66 per line

 

[Fronc]

I will say this... if $ is an issue for you, you can get a Droid X, and install Liberty Rom on it and it will be amazingly fast. You will have 0 complaints, I assure you.

Having said that, 4G LTE is unreal fast. I wouldn't go back to 3G now that I've had a T-Bolt.

 

[Fronc]

With Dual Core phones coming our Thunderbolt will not be the latest and greatest, but that wont make it outdated or unusable.

The Thunderbolt will most definitely be around for a long time. Hardware wise, it will have no problem keeping up with the phones of 2011 and most of 2012. But the real beauty is in the developers' community. The T-Bolt has already been split wide open. Expect and future phones by Moto and Sammy to be locked even more so than the X (which after a year, still hasn't been fully opened up to its full potential. For this reason alone, the T-Bolt will be a champ well past your next upgrade date.

Hell, my original droid lasted its full 2 years for the very same reason. Custom ROM's/Hacks FTW!

 

[medic552]

Good Luck with your decision. I am a Droid X user and I get about 6 hrs a day out of it before I have to throw it on for a quick charge. I am used to the poor battery life because I consider myself to be a power user. I am expecting delivery of my HTC T-Bolt today and I ordered a spare battery from the start and will go through all the necessary steps to insure my devices battery lasts the longest. Wish you luck with your decision. Im sure whatever you do you will be overwhelmed with everything a SMART PHONE can do coming from a flip.

 

[max105]

I think it depends if you want a 4g phone or not, or if you want to spend more money on the phone. I personally have had both and like the Thunderbolt better.

But if you don't care about 4g, and don't want to spend the money then get the Droid X. The Droid X is still a great phone, while it can become outdated, it is still a top phone.

The only thing the Thunderbolt has over it is the 4g radio. Processors are different but not enough to call the Droid X outdated yet! Thunderbolt is top of the line now on Verizon, I would say Droid X is second. With Dual Core phones coming our Thunderbolt will not be the latest and greatest, but that wont make it outdated or unusable.

Do what you want and don't care what others say is the best, you can take their advice if they are informed but I wouldn't my up my decision solely based on someone elses.

Agreed! I'm trying not to let anyone here make my decision for me. But I would like to hear everyone's input and opinion since you're all more experienced with smart phones than me.

In case I haven't said it already, thanks for all the input everyone and keep'em coming!

 

[max105]

i think if he's even considering the droid x, then he's in no rush to grab what might be no longer availabe unlimited lte for 30 bucks. so does anyone else think that he might as well wait for the bionic? the only reason i'm not waiting is because i want the unlimited lte plan in case it changes. i'm upgrading to the TB right now but only keeping it if my girl likes it and if she does, she gets my OG droid until the bionic comes out and she'll sign a contract for it and we'll trade. bam. both of us would have unlimited lte and 450 minutes each for only 66 per line

Actually, probably the biggest reason I'm considering getting the Thunderbolt is to get locked into an unlimited 4G plan. I just did some Googling and it looks like there's rumors that might tiered 4G plans might start this Friday. If this is true, I might be more likely to get a Thunderbolt now. Have you guys heard any other news regarding 4G plan changes?

Verizon Could End Unlimited 4G Data Plans On Thursday
Verizon Data-only 4G Plan Changing on March 25 from Unlimited to 5GB for $49.99? - Droid Life: A Droid Community Blog

 

[max105]

I will say this... if $ is an issue for you, you can get a Droid X, and install Liberty Rom on it and it will be amazingly fast. You will have 0 complaints, I assure you.

Having said that, 4G LTE is unreal fast. I wouldn't go back to 3G now that I've had a T-Bolt.

Regarding the price issue, I won't have financial problems buying the Thunderbolt. I'm more concerned if it's worth the extra $$ to get a Thunderbolt over the Droid X.

Phone-wise, I'm not that impressed by the Thunderbolt over the Droid X. Network-wise (4G vs 3G), that might be something I might start to regret in a year or so. However, if I'm using wifi most of the time, network speed might not matter too much.

I guess I should be researching average monthly data usage and calculating how much wait time I'll be doing each month on 4G vs 3G.