HTC Thunderbolt Review: The First Verizon 4G LTE Smartphone

Conclusion

The Thunderbolt reminds me of the EVO, and otherwise shares design language with all of HTC’s 4.3” form factor smartphones. The comparisons are so completely obvious that it’s almost pointless stating all of them. It’s a phone packed with latest and greatest cellular connectivity that actually does a very good job at disguising the number of design challenges doing so poses. LTE is easily an order of magnitude faster than EVDO, and if you're as obsessed with cellular network throughput as I am, the added thickness and reduced battery life are absolutely worth it. 

I’ve talked a lot about thickness and weight, but at the end of the day the Thunderbolt is entirely pocketable and feels great in the hand. Despite not being metal and unibody like the Desire HD, the phone feels sturdy and build quality isn’t going to disappoint. It’s almost unfair to make size and weight comparisons against devices that are primarily built around one transceiver and a SoC. 

That said, there’s no getting around issues such as battery life and the fact that though the Thunderbolt is the current latest and greatest, it still lacks dual core and a qHD screen. Those two features are going to be must-have in the next set of refreshes from HTC, and as a result makes the Thunderbolt almost feel a bit delayed. Battery life can be doubled by using the double capacity official battery, but again at the expense of adding more mass and thickness to an already beefy handset. 

The HTC Thunderbolt in front of a Verizon 4G LTE eNodeB

The Thunderbolt’s cellular architecture is impressive, and its status as the first smartphone on Verizon (or CDMA2000 to the best of my knowledge) that can offer simultaneous voice and data in both 3G and 4G network conditions is a huge plus even if you aren’t in a 4G LTE market. It’s very surprising to me that Verizon has neglected to pick up on and aggressively market that selling point, considering AT&T's repeated jabbing. It’s a special extra that will likely continue to distinguish the Thunderbolt from a growing lineup of 4G LTE enabled smartphones set to arrive on Verizon this year. It's likewise surprising that the Thunderbolt isn't a "Droid" level phone, and considering the amount of unique things the Thunderbolt brings to the table, the other 4G LTE smartphones will have their work cut out for them stacking up. 4G LTE works perfectly on the handset, and is fast enough that I believe we’re back to page loading being SoC-bound rather than network-bound.