Thunderbolt vs iPhone 4

[Applejuiced]

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I just got this iPhone 4 last week from Verizon. Trying to decide whether to keep it or get the Thunderbolt with the 4g. I gotta make the switch before Tuesday if I decide to. Not sure what to do. I love this iPhone. Just wondering if I would love 4g more...

Thanks for all the insight everyone!

Do they have 4G available in your area?

 

[michael.lauden]

Just because the outer shell and design of the 3GS looks like an iphone 3G doesnt mean its basically an iphone 2G-3G.
Not even close. If you think it does you never used a 3GS, it is way ahead in speed and usability than the older 2G and 3G iphones.
The 3GS when it comes to performance is closer to the i4 when running the iOS and many apps just as fast.

Correct me if I'm wrong - but isn't your post just proving his? notice when he said "same basic design".

OO iPhone -> 3G: Antenna, GPS
OO iPhone 3G -> 3GS: Processor/RAM Bump

 

[Ponderous]

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I just got this iPhone 4 last week from Verizon. Trying to decide whether to keep it or get the Thunderbolt with the 4g. I gotta make the switch before Tuesday if I decide to. Not sure what to do. I love this iPhone. Just wondering if I would love 4g more...

Thanks for all the insight everyone!

Do they have 4G available in your area?

I'm sandwiched between new York and Philly. If it's nor here yet it's gotta be soon.

 

[sundiego]

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I just got this iPhone 4 last week from Verizon. Trying to decide whether to keep it or get the Thunderbolt with the 4g. I gotta make the switch before Tuesday if I decide to. Not sure what to do. I love this iPhone. Just wondering if I would love 4g more...

Thanks for all the insight everyone!

Considering the iphone 5 is coming out in July, if it were me at this point I'd consider the Thunderbolt with unlimited $30/mo 4g+3g plan, if data is useful to u, then switch to iphone 6 when the contract is up in 2 years.

If you have wifi everywhere you go then of course it doesn't matter.

 

[Applejuiced]

Correct me if I'm wrong - but isn't your post just proving his? notice when he said "same basic design".

OO iPhone -> 3G: Antenna, GPS
OO iPhone 3G -> 3GS: Processor/RAM Bump

Yes, that's what I was explaining.
Design and looks yes but it's night and day when it comes to performance and usability.

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I'm sandwiched between new York and Philly. If it's nor here yet it's gotta be soon.

You never know how long they would take though.
Sometimes they expand and upgrade service to places you think they would go last and leave important markets behind.
I still think 4G is premature.

 

[Ponderous]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_6 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E200 Safari/6533.18.5)

Correct me if I'm wrong - but isn't your post just proving his? notice when he said "same basic design".

OO iPhone -> 3G: Antenna, GPS
OO iPhone 3G -> 3GS: Processor/RAM Bump

Yes, that's what I was explaining.
Design and looks yes but it's night and day when it comes to performance and usability.

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_6 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E200 Safari/6533.18.5)



I'm sandwiched between new York and Philly. If it's nor here yet it's gotta be soon.

You never know how long they would take though.
Sometimes they expand and upgrade service to places you think they would go last and leave important markets behind.
I still think 4G is premature.

Good point apple. I think I will stick tight. This iPhone 4 is bad ass!

 

[Reaper0bot0]

The Thunderbolt has a second-generation Snapdragon. It's much faster than the one in the EVO. The GPU in the Thunderbolt is massively more powerful than the one in the EVO. The Thunderbolt has (IIRC) 50% more RAM than the EVO. The Thunderbolt is an aluminum body, the EVO is plastic. The Thunderbolt supports SVDO (simultaneous voice and data over 3g) whereas the EVO does not.

Faster processor, much better GPU, much more memory, hellaciously faster data connection....

Yeah, it's just an EVO with a red check on the back........

 

[Ponderous]

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The Thunderbolt has a second-generation Snapdragon. It's much faster than the one in the EVO. The GPU in the Thunderbolt is massively more powerful than the one in the EVO. The Thunderbolt has (IIRC) 50% more RAM than the EVO. The Thunderbolt is an aluminum body, the EVO is plastic. The Thunderbolt supports SVDO (simultaneous voice and data over 3g) whereas the EVO does not.

Faster processor, much better GPU, much more memory, hellaciously faster data connection....

Yeah, it's just an EVO with a red check on the back........

I detect a hint of sarcasm...

 

[Apple...]

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The word on the street is that the Thunderbolt is the real deal.

I haven't been to a store to play with one yet, but I might this weekend.

I played with one. It sucked.

But then again, nothing about Android impresses me.

 

[CrAkD]

The future of 4g looks bright. speed is impressive. however I wont touch 4g till its in an iphone.

 

[Ccrew]

The Thunderbolt has a second-generation Snapdragon. It's much faster than the one in the EVO. The GPU in the Thunderbolt is massively more powerful than the one in the EVO. The Thunderbolt has (IIRC) 50% more RAM than the EVO. The Thunderbolt is an aluminum body, the EVO is plastic. The Thunderbolt supports SVDO (simultaneous voice and data over 3g) whereas the EVO does not.

Faster processor, much better GPU, much more memory, hellaciously faster data connection....

Yeah, it's just an EVO with a red check on the back........

Interesting that even the industry reviewers liken it to an Evo. http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/18/htc-thunderbolt-review/

Is it a decent phone? Remains to be seen. Is it evolutionary? No. Pay particular attention to the fact even even Engadget says the design already looks dated compared to HTC's newer hardware. The Thunderbolt has been a nightmare getting to market, with battery life @ 1-2 hours up until a month ago in testing. I doubt a miracle occurred in the last 30 days. While I like my Incredible, it still can't make it through a full day of use without looking for power like a junkie needing a fix, even with a 1750mah battery upgrade. And the T'Bolt has a 1450

Now if it was a Tegra dual core w 4G? I'd be all over it like white on rice, but this is nothing but a rush out the door to be the first 4G to market since it's been in the pipeline for better than 6 months.

 

[Reach9]

All comes down to personal preference.

Iphone:
- HID Bluetooth keyboard support
- Netflix app that streams video
- Better camera

Android:
- Google Maps Navigation
- Larger Screen
- Better notification system

My pick is the iPhone atm but could easily change if Android fixes the deficiencies above though...

LTE? Meh... 7 mbps is more than enough for me

I don't know what you use your phone for.
But personally with those 3 things you noted of each of the devices, i'd pick Android at a drop of a hat.

I'm sorry but for some key features Android OS > iOS.

 

[hcho3]

Everyone needs to calm down with this whole LTE network. It only cover 1/3 of population in the US. All of these reviewers are getting ridiculous speeds on their thunderbolt because no one is actually on the god damn network. So, we shall see how fast it gets when the LTE network gets stressed.

AT&T also showed LTE network demo speed at CES and it got 50 MB per second download. That kills my home network.

LTE is nothing to be excited about until it gets matured.

I would only jump LTE when it's ready for real action.

 

[Applejuiced]

The future of 4g looks bright. speed is impressive. however I wont touch 4g till its in an iphone.

Not only that but also the amount of battery 4G/LTE/WiMax consumes its nuts.
Leave 4G on and see your phone die in 1-2 hours

 

[Bonds79]

Ok, so I've been playing with the new LTE verizon thunderbolt today. Very nice phone, but wouldn't trade my iPhone 4 for it. When it has a 4G LTE signal it's bloody fast! I was pulling down speeds of 10 - 25 MBPS, and up 18-15 MBPS. Bright future for verizon LTE as it's faster than any other current 4G service out there today. Makes me look forward to the day when the iPhone finally goes LTE.

The only thing it has going for it in my opinion is the 4G data, and the fact it is the only phone on Big Red that can do both Voice & Data even on 3G. The rest is your same old Android OS with HTC sense, nothing new here really. Could not give up iPhone even for those blazing speeds, as the coverage is still very spotty anyways even in a market where it's been fully deployed (Washington DC) I can get 4g in some parts of the office and not others, 4G right out side my home, but only 3G inside. I have always had bad cell signal's on all carriers in my townhouse for some reason, despite blanketed coverage by both, don't know why that is. Anyways, its been fun to play with, and their LTE service is truly amazing speed wise. I even tethered my work PC as I get faster speeds than my LAN in the office.

Could never switch to Android full time, just too invested in Apple products and iTunes. Maybe we will be suprised and iPhone 5 will be LTE....not holding my breath!

THe only things nice about the ThunderBolt is the Speed.

I dislike the 7 screen Android desktop on the ThunderBolt and there is so much VZW bloatware/crapware on it running in the background that it hampers performance and feel clunky, choppy, and a bit slow. It also runs an old version of Android, and the Thunderbolt has no gyroscope.

It would be much better if it ran plain stock Android GingerBread 2.3

 

[mpossoff]

Everyone needs to calm down with this whole LTE network. It only cover 1/3 of population in the US. All of these reviewers are getting ridiculous speeds on their thunderbolt because no one is actually on the god damn network. So, we shall see how fast it gets when the LTE network gets stressed.

AT&T also showed LTE network demo speed at CES and it got 50 MB per second download. That kills my home network.

LTE is nothing to be excited about until it gets matured.

I would only jump LTE when it's ready for real action.

VZW is expected to have 2/3 of the USA blanketed with their LTE buy 2012. VZW claims in a saturated/congested market you will get 5 Mbps down speeds.

 

[Charlie Sheen]

Go for the iphone. But you should wat intill june for the new iphone release

 

[decafjava]

All comes down to personal preference.

Iphone:
- HID Bluetooth keyboard support
- Netflix app that streams video
- Better camera

Android:
- Google Maps Navigation
- Larger Screen
- Better notification system

My pick is the iPhone atm but could easily change if Android fixes the deficiencies above though...

LTE? Meh... 7 mbps is more than enough for me

I'm missing something doesn't iphone have google maps? What was I using to go to a dinner party last night then?

 

[princealfie]

Umm, the Incredible and subsequently the Thunderbolt pretty much have the industries best rating for the quality of the camera in the phone.

I have an Incredible, and have an iPhone 4 sitting here as yet unactivated because I'm a quandary myself. Short of the 4G the Thunderbolt is nothing but an Evo. The beauty of the Android OS is the fact it's open source with a huge developer following, and once rooted there are huge numbers of ROM's available that can make the phone just about anything you want. Want it to look like an iPhone? Install MIUI. Want more features than you can shake a stick at? Install Cyanogen Mod 7. You don't have that option in an iPhone. While you can jailbreak it you're still at the base of it left with the features and the user experience Apple wants all their lemmings to have.

Don't get me wrong, I have a ton of Apple gear, but it's because it was the best suited for the job. Only reason i actually got the iPhone is because it plays with the rest of the gear, not because it's my favorite phone.

Wow, you stole the words out of my mouth too. Kudos to the Thunderbolt baby!

 

[kicko]

I'm missing something doesn't iphone have google maps? What was I using to go to a dinner party last night then?

google maps on the iphone and full blown (free) turn by turn navigation are not the same.

 

[kdarling]

Is it a decent phone? Remains to be seen. Is it evolutionary? No.

I think perhaps you meant: Evolutionary, yes. Revolutionary, no. ??

The Thunderbolt has been a nightmare getting to market, with battery life @ 1-2 hours up until a month ago in testing. I doubt a miracle occurred in the last 30 days.

You never can tell. Back when the iPhone was first announced, for the first six months Apple said it had only five hours of talk time, which wasn't that great.

A few days before sales launch, they suddenly bumped the talk time to eight hours, and also increased the video and web times.

Everyone needs to calm down with this whole LTE network. It only cover 1/3 of population in the US.

Yes, about the same population that ATT's 3G covered when the iPhone 3G came out.

By the time ATT finally rolls out 3G everywhere in its footprint, Verizon will have 4G everywhere in its.

 

[zephxiii]

Yeah in a few small select areas of the US rather than the entire US.

Not quite, i've hit that in my small ass indiana crap town before.

 

[zephxiii]

By the time ATT finally rolls out 3G everywhere in its footprint, Verizon will have 4G everywhere in its.

And you're forgetting that they'll also have LTE.

 

[kdarling]

And you're forgetting that they'll also have LTE.

Got a link to any firm plans?

AFAIK, AT&T has only said they'll start deploying some LTE at the end of the year. They said the same thing last year.

Many observers figure that a sure sign that AT&T isn't in any rush to deploy LTE, is that they decided to stop bashing T-Mobile and instead join them in calling HSPA+ as "4G".

It's actually a pretty good plan. Why spend money on yet another technology when they're just finally getting up to speed on their current deployment?

Verizon doesn't have much choice. They need and want to go to something like LTE. ATT can drag out using UMTS for a few more years.

 

[mpossoff]

Got a link to any firm plans?

AFAIK, AT&T has only said they'll start deploying some LTE at the end of the year. They said the same thing last year.

Many observers figure that a sure sign that AT&T isn't in any rush to deploy LTE, is that they decided to stop bashing T-Mobile and instead join them in calling HSPA+ as "4G".

It's actually a pretty good plan. Why spend money on yet another technology when they're just finally getting up to speed on their current deployment?

Verizon doesn't have much choice. They need and want to go to something like LTE. ATT can drag out using UMTS for a few more years.

I maybe looking at it differently. I don't consider AT&T current hspa+ 4g. AT&T says hspa+ then LTE. I look at hspa+ as the starting point to the end result which is LTE.

This plan is good because where there isn't LTE coverage you'll have hspa+ coverage.

But AT&T needs to expand it's current 3G network and make it rock solid then enhance the rock solid large 3G network into hspa+. IMO AT&T needs larger and more reliable 3G coverage.

However VZW plans are different. First it's expected and VZW plans to have 2/3 of the USA blanketed with LTE by 2012? That's pretty impressive.

How much of the USA is blanketed with AT&T 3G? VZW is going to have 67% of the USA blanketed in LTE.

I've been with AT&T for a long time and I covet what VZW customers are going to have or have the opportunity to have. I'm somewhat dissapointed that a juggernaut like AT&T seems to be so behind.

However it's possible that VZW LTE can come to a halt if they get more iPhone traffic in their 3G network cause they'll have to spend the funds on their existing 3G network to keep up with the demand.

I covet my VZW neighbor because he has LTE VZW coverage.