Thunderbolt vs Charge.....anyone switching?

[rcyphermd]

Anyone Thunderbolt owners switching to the charge now that it is released? Why or why not?

 

[Gravytrain]

I'm considering it... Waiting to see what the experts recommend.

 

[rabernet]

Nope - love my TB. No desire to switch.

 

[nateap87]

No. I'd switch carriers before paying for that. The charge is easily onee of the ugliest phones I've seen.

 

[Gravytrain]

The price is awfully steep....

 

[solo65impala]

No. I bought the thunderbolt because I wanted an HTC phone, and its a badass! Plus that Charge is hideous.

 

[jcnyc]

Touchwiz blows a big one. Plus the phone isn't even as powerful as the bolt. If they released the s2 I would more than likely switch but not about to switch to a lesser phone for more $

 

[dguy]

Touchwiz blows a big one. Plus the phone isn't even as powerful as the bolt. If they released the s2 I would more than likely switch but not about to switch to a lesser phone for more $

The Hummingbird and the SGX540 are both a bit more advanced than the 2nd gen Snapdragon and Adreno 205; any benchmark will show this. The Thunderbolt's only performance advantage is more RAM.

That said, one thing I like about the Thunderbolt that the Charge does not have is simultaneous 3G and voice. Calls and data at the same time isn't the only benefit this has. The one that I like is that you can be web browsing or downloading files over 3G and your data connection won't disappear/halt for a moment when you receive a text message.

 

[willdogs]

If you think you waited a long time for this latest update from HTC... Wait until you own a samsung phone. They have the worst track record for updating their phones.

 

[DroidSuks]

I remember the days when we were happy to get that flip-phone that some of us just retired to get the t-bolt. Now we're trading in a $650 2 month old pocket computer for what??!!.

Have we really become such consumer tools?.

 

[willdogs]

Have we really become such consumer tools?.

Unfortunately, for a small minority, technology has become a drug and they need the latest and greatest fix as soon as its available. Some others just need to "show off" to others that they have the latest and greatest to make themselves feel better about themselves (no offense to anyone)

Me? I'll be more than happy until my contract is up next year and probably a bit after.

If someone can afford it, then good for them. What scares me are the people just scarping by who feel the need to skip meals and choose which bills to pay this month just to get the latest phones.

 

[Mitchell4500]

The Droid charge has rfl, witch means it eventually lags like crazy.

 

[82nd Airborne]

The Hummingbird and the SGX540 are both a bit more advanced than the 2nd gen Snapdragon and Adreno 205; any benchmark will show this. The Thunderbolt's only performance advantage is more RAM.

That said, one thing I like about the Thunderbolt that the Charge does not have is simultaneous 3G and voice. Calls and data at the same time isn't the only benefit this has. The one that I like is that you can be web browsing or downloading files over 3G and your data connection won't disappear/halt for a moment when you receive a text message.

Actually the Benchmarks show that the Thunderbolt is faster. 1800ish vs 1000ish on Quadrant. The Thunderbolt also has 8GB of onboard memory vs the 2GB on the Charge. Also, both phones are using Verizon's SVDO so both are capable of simultaneous voice and data. Here are a couple of links to some side by side comparisons of the two phones.

YouTube - Samsung Droid Charge System Benchmark Tests

YouTube - HTC Thunderbolt 4G vs Samsung Droid Charge 4G Verizon "Face Off"

Both are nice phones, but like all things, everyone has their own preferences. To answer the OP's question, No, i'm switching. Mostly because to me the TB looks to be the better phone (not by much) and it wouldn't make for a very good cost decision.

 

[JustinHEMI]

No, not switching. In fact, it will be a while before I switch again. I have finally found "the one", for me (all the phones I had in the last year are under my name). This phone rocks my socks off. Been perfect since launch, been perfect since OTA.

 

[rcyphermd]

The Droid charge has rfl, witch means it eventually lags like crazy.

what is "rfl"?
The only reason I would consider switching is the weight and the mediocre battery life. The Charge is lighter because of the plastic; we will have to see what the real battery life is like as people start to use it.

 

[moondrius]

After using my Charge for almost 2 week I do no regret making the switch. The Charge has way better battery life, a better display and performs better in games. It also has hdmi mirroring that it works very well.

 

[sean76]

After using my Charge for almost 2 week I do no regret making the switch. The Charge has way better battery life, a better display and performs better in games. It also has hdmi mirroring that it works very well.

How's the Stock browser? Is it very laggy like some of the early reviews.

 

[moondrius]

Its a little laggy on some sites but it works well most of the time.

 

[dguy]

Actually the Benchmarks show that the Thunderbolt is faster. 1800ish vs 1000ish on Quadrant. The Thunderbolt also has 8GB of onboard memory vs the 2GB on the Charge. Also, both phones are using Verizon's eHPRD so both are capable of simultaneous voice and data.

Quadrant has a compatibility issue with the I/O test on the Droid Charge, that's the only reason the Droid Charge scores the way it does on that test. The Droid Charge is every bit as powerful as any of the first gen Galaxy S phones; all of which are more powerful than the Thunderbolt.

The Thunderbolt has simultaneous 3G and voice because it has two separate cellular radio chips. One is capable of 1X and 3G connectivity and one is capable of 3G and LTE connectivity. The stock configuration of the Thunderbolt uses one radio in 1X mode at all times for voice and the other radio switches between 3G and 4G data depending on which is available. It is my understanding that the Droid Charge does not have both radio chips(and possibly no other phone releasing on Verizon in the future). While it may be possible to have simultaneous 4G data and voice on the same radio, it isn't possible to do it with 3G data and voice over CDMA. Do you have a link that undeniably proves that the Droid Charge can do simultaneous 3G CDMA data and 1X voice?

 

[moondrius]

The Charge can only do it over lte.

 

[82nd Airborne]

Quadrant has a compatibility issue with the I/O test on the Droid Charge, that's the only reason the Droid Charge scores the way it does on that test. The Droid Charge is every bit as powerful as any of the first gen Galaxy S phones; all of which are more powerful than the Thunderbolt.

The Thunderbolt has simultaneous 3G and voice because it has two separate cellular radio chips. One is capable of 1X and 3G connectivity and one is capable of 3G and LTE connectivity. The stock configuration of the Thunderbolt uses one radio in 1X mode at all times for voice and the other radio switches between 3G and 4G data depending on which is available. It is my understanding that the Droid Charge does not have both radio chips(and possibly no other phone releasing on Verizon in the future). While it may be possible to have simultaneous 4G data and voice on the same radio, it isn't possible to do it with 3G data and voice over CDMA. Do you have a link that undeniably proves that the Droid Charge can do simultaneous 3G CDMA data and 1X voice?

Undeniably?, no. But in BGR's review they claim it did. Since Moondrius has one, maybe we should ask him (what say you Moondrius!). I can get both voice and data on my TB when my LTE chip is turned off, so I don't believe it has anything to do with the amount of transceivers that are in the phone. I stand corrected about eHPRD. I meant to say SVDO (I will edit the above post). Here's a link that explains what SVDO is and how this relates.

SVDO allow simultaneous 1x voice and EVDO data : EVDOinfo.com

 

[rcyphermd]

After using my Charge for almost 2 week I do no regret making the switch. The Charge has way better battery life, a better display and performs better in games. It also has hdmi mirroring that it works very well.

How were you able to have it for 2 weeks when it was just released? Can you tell us more about how it compares to the TB? Battery life? weight? Do you miss sense? Is their stock software version as bad as others have said?

 

[moondrius]

How were you able to have it for 2 weeks when it was just released? Can you tell us more about how it compares to the TB? Battery life? weight? Do you miss sense? Is their stock software version as bad as others have said?

I bought it at best buy before they knew they were not to be sold. Battery life is way better on the Charge. I have gotten up to 2 whole days out of it. I hate sense, it ties into way too many things in the os. The messaging, gallery, contacts app all suck. The new notification bar with the last 8 apps is also a horrible addition to the os. With the Charge I like the fact that the notification bar has toggle widgets on it instead of something useless like the new sense has. It also has a built in task manager, and native screenshots. The launcher is not as smooth as Sense but it looks like the new ota released today fixes that as well as some other issues. I have not downloaded it because the new update is unrootable as of right now.

 

[rcyphermd]

I bought it at best buy before they knew they were not to be sold. Battery life is way better on the Charge. I have gotten up to 2 whole days out of it. I hate sense, it ties into way too many things in the os. The messaging, gallery, contacts app all suck. The new notification bar with the last 8 apps is also a horrible addition to the os. With the Charge I like the fact that the notification bar has toggle widgets on it instead of something useless like the new sense has. It also has a built in task manager, and native screenshots. The launcher is not as smooth as Sense but it looks like the new ota released today fixes that as well as some other issues. I have not downloaded it because the new update is unrootable as of right now.

I thought the task manager messes up android and should not be used? (at least that what many on this forum say). Is the Charge as responsive as the TB?

 

[fourseamer]

Getting a TB tomorrow. I have owned a Samsung Rogue for the last two years, and the Samsung Droid Charge has a slightly similar look to it. Which is to say that it feels cheap and plasticky in the hand. Not a bad phone on specs, but I want something with a more premium feel.

I'll echo the sentiment from above that if the SGS2 were available, I would more strongly consider it. Alas, I'd also like to stay on Verizon's LTE network, and the SGS2 is probably destined for AT&T or T-Mobile.