HTC ThunderBolt compared

By Phil Nickinson  | Jan 19 2011 | 11:56 am  | 35 Comments

HTC ThunderBolt comparison

Hey, look at that. Someone's comparing the HTC ThunderBolt against the Evo 4G, iPhone 4 and myTouch 4G. Not a whole lot here we didn't already know -- yes, you get simultaneous voice and data on the ThunderBolt when using LTE or Wifi -- and there's the new Skype mobile listed again. Don't think it'll ship with a 32GB microSD card, that's the maximum available listed there. (Whoopsie: 32GB card it is!)

Still no word on a release date. Rumors are floating around about the first week of February, or the last week of February. So we'll see.

Phil Nickinson

Phil Nickinson Editor in Chief

"Phil is a recovering print journalist, editor of Android Central, subtitles and street signs."

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There are 35 comments

n64kps says:

That's quite the botched job. It essentially makes it looks the same as the EVO. However, the EVO doesn't have 2.1 anymore and the removable memory at 32gb for the TBolt and EVO and then 8gb for the MyTouch is discontiguous. It also doesn't show that the Thunderbolt has a next gen processor, which is much improved. Oh well, I guess it's meant for n00b phone buyers. Most people who are on here will know what they're getting themselves into.

Steb0ne says:

Where does it show the Thunderbolt has a next gen processor? I believe it's the same as the Evo.

Kedar says:

Tbolt has the 2nd gen Snapdragon, which has approximately 4x the graphical performance.

HTC won't get caught putting the first generation snapdragon on their phones now... It pretty much plagued a lot of the phones from doing any graphical work. Yes it's great for mobile standards, but hardware from all the other major platforms require quite a bit of graphical power.

32gb sd card... and a few other hardware improvements make it a good enough upgrade from the Evo. Also, I think the Thunderbolt has an SLCD screen, not the plain old LCD screen that the Evo has. Not sure about this one though.

But... HTC needs to stay ahead of the game. Dual core won't make much of a difference to most consumers, but we'll see how marketing can change that.
HTC probably has some of the better customer support though. Samsung and other carriers take ages rolling our updates and Motorola loves locked bootloaders.

svargas05 says:

4X?

No, no, it barely makes it up to 2X. And thats rounding up, sir. Thats still a great advantage, but dont spec bump.

http://www.qualcomm.com/products_services/chipsets/snapdragon.html

^Read specific spec differences there. It REALLY isnt that much of a difference.

JohnB101 says:

This is true. There are some differences but it isn't huge. The processor here is identical to the one found in T-Mobile's myTouch 4G. You can compare the processor and graphics scores either in Smartbench 2010 app (in the Android Market) or compare Smartbench results smartphonebenchmarks.com. It is better, but not 4x better.

Kedar says:

Sorry I must have gotten confused.

I was confusing the graphical performance of the MSM8x60 chipsets and the MSM7x30/MSM8x55 chipsets. I'm guessing the MT4g/HD Desire/etc. have the MSM8x55 chipsets and the Evo shift has the MSM7x30... The regular Evo has the QSD8x50?

The 2x improvement is still good enough to run any app on the market and gameloft apps... but I'm afraid some of the games that Nvidia has in their new app corners in the marketplace might not run optimally. It may though. I guess we won't know until actual testing.

That begs the question. Where do the new dual core phones stand when it comes to graphical performance? I know the Droid Astrix/Bionic played some high end games beautifully, but where are they in terms of these new snapdragons and the arm cortex a8?

SylarDX says:

EVO has 2.2 Froyo.

ekt8750 says:

Well my Evo is running Gingerbread

Steb0ne says:

LoL! Mine too.

jarobusa says:

Skype bought Qik by the way.

Darian says:

Pretty sure Verizon said it would come with a 32GB microSD card at CES.

Green_Laser says:

This table is interesting in the fact that the TB is on it and the iphone and the iphone says "coming soon" and the TB is on the table as if it's already out. Not sure who's (vzw?) table this is but interesting. I really hope it does release early feb as I was thinking to myself for a while that the TB could be released in parallel to the iphone. I mean for real now, iphone users are used to those types of grand openings and if you're a tech fan of no matter the device, you're going to block interest in other devices and go straight and buy the one you want whether it be the iphone or TB. I cannot wait for the TB.

storm14k says:

I've gotta wonder if Apple is happy about Android releases along side the iPhone. Hell I've gotta wonder if they aren't cautious about this VZW move as a whole. Yea the true iPhone fans will buy it but what will happen when people entering the consumer smartphone market see these specs and especially screen sizes next to each other?

Green_Laser says:

I agree with you 100%. Actually I would be the same way if I didn't do my hw. I would definately be like "hmm, this one has a larger screen than the iphone, I wonder what it is, I should go online and investigate it further so I know what I'm getting into." But fortunately for us and unfortunately for them, they don't care for specs and just know one thing.. Iphone. He'll people come from different countries just to goto the apple store to jump on an iphone. I personally do not own one (I have friends and fam who do), the phone is made of great quality and has a pretty solid OS for people who don't find much interest in customization important. I'm not bashing Jobs (no1 needs to go thru cancer - if that's what he has). I'm simply on a blackberry storm 1 typing this and can't wait for the TB.

djcyph says:

hey ANDROID CENTRAL! the Thunderbolt DOES come with a 32g microSD card!...check it:

http://www.htc.com/us/products/thunderbolt-verizon#tech-specs

Memory: 8GB emmc + 768 RAM Memory card, preinstalled 32 GB microSD™

storm14k says:

Yea this might just prompt me to try and sell my Incredible lol.

afazel says:

As opposed to just buying a 32GB SD card? Or you were teetering on the edge and the 32GB card pushed you over?

Phil Nickinson says:

D'oh! You're right. Fixed.

DibDab says:

As per the HTC website it does say that it will ship preinstalled with a 32 gig SD card. http://www.htc.com/us/products/thunderbolt-verizon#tech-specs

DibDab says:

Humm... lol, guess I should read through all the responses first :)

flan says:

Doesn't the MT4G have 768MB of RAM? Also, like someone else said, 1 GHz on the iPhone and EVO does not equal 1 GHz on the TB and MT4G.

TrekMD says:

Well, I'm eagerly waiting for the Thunderbolt. My old Touch Pro has been fun to have but it is way too slow by today's standard's. I'm ready for a change. The single core doesn't detract me since I don't use the phone for heavy gaming. I'll want the dual core on a tablet when the time comes, however.

svargas05 says:

I, me, personally can not wait for Feb 7. :)

I also hope that the next Evo that comes out, whenever it comes out, has better specs than the TBolt.

The TBolt is a great device with a great spec sheet, but I just dont think its specs would be a decent enough upgrade to warrant the EVO 2 4G name.

n64kps says:

What's Feb 7? The Sprint announcement is the 10th

Vivi#AC says:

Pretty sure it's the 7th...

Stevez48 says:

Anyone else slightly disappointed in the resolution of the screen? Would have like to see that get improved...

T72018 says:

Im not dissing the TB cause I love Htc phones. I have an Evo running 2.3 Gingerbread CM7 Rom. Verizon should have came out with a better phone this yr, for customers since it will be 4GLTE. I mean it's an Evo with a little different specs. To me it doesnt beat the Evo. Sprint had this type of phone on the market 6months before everyone else. I gurantee Sprint and Htc will announce a monster Evo 2 that will blow this out the market, just like the Evo did to the Incredible. Once the Evo came out, no one even remembered the HTc Incredible and it came out before the Evo. Im just saying verizon gets Htc's leftovers. Verizon focuses more on motorola which to me the mototblur UI is not better than Stock or Sense UI,in my opinion. Verizon needs to take care of it's customers more when it comes to Sense UI phones. I hope the Thunderbolt doesnt disappear when Sprint announces this next Evo phone, but we will see!!! Let me know your thoughts about this... Feedback Pleaseee...

mjvoss says:

I'm not sure how it "doesn't beat the EVO." It beats the EVO in many many ways. People are underestimating this phone. It's a lot better than the iPhone and it's better than the EVO.

I don't think Verizon gets the leftovers or whatever. I have an Incredible and I am in love with it. It looks good, it's powerful, and it can run all the apps. You are comparing very similar phones when you compare EVO and Incredible. EVO has many better specs, but all in all, they are both pretty similar. They work as phones, they both run almost all the same apps, etc. I wonder why everyone always focuses on trying to get a phone with the best possible specs. That's like getting a $10,000 computer with all the most advanced technology vs. getting a great computer with technology that has been out for years. Clearly very few people need the $10,000 computer...

CaddyDave says:

Not impressed they waited all this time to release what sprint has had for a year already

raveesor says:

yeah if sprint announces an EVO 2 that is significantly better, then its gonna be hard to justify getting the TB.

doncerda says:

Maaaannn.. I want one now but i have my fasinate... for 20 months... unless I buy the Thunderbolt without a discount ... but thats 500 bucks.. ohh well decisions decisions. ahahahah

Raptor007 says:

HTC Thunderbolt has over the Evo 4G

2nd Gen processor
8GB vs 1GB ROM
678MB RAM vs 512MB
32GB microSDHC card included vs NONE
SLCD vs LCD
Integrated Skype vs NONE
HTC Sense 2.0 vs Sense 1.5

So its not an Evo 4G, its what the Evo 4G could have been but isn't. Whoever put together the chart needs to be far more accurate.

svargas05 says:

The Evo 4G was and has been 6 months ahead of the game.

It has yet to be surpassed by ANY phone available on the market now.

"What the Evo 4G could have been" HA!

And my Evo 4G came with a microSD card. Not 32, but I honestly dont and wont need 32GB on my phone.

SLCD? Sure about that?
Integrated Skype? Only a feature Verizon can tout around for a few more months.

HTC Sense 2.0 vs 1.5? Nothing wrong with my Sense, so no Sense in me needing 2.0 :)

Dont be a hater. I dont hate on the TBolt, I'm just giving you more factual information.

Bigtuna00 says:

EVO included an 8GB SD card.

mykpfsu says:

I wonder since the TB has of yet not gotten the Droid branding, if we'll be seeing a newer HTC Droid phone coming out sooner then 6 months from now.