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Verizon HTC Thunderbolt steals the show from iPhone

By: , IntoMobile
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011 at 11:15 AM
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Early we reported that the Verizon iPhone failed to make a real dent in AT&T iPhone sales, but for the month of March it looks like the Apple smartphone took a back seat to the new HTC Thunderbolt, too. What could this possibly mean?

Well, anything would be speculation, of course, but it seems that users definitely love speed. After all, it’s the most salient feature for the HTC Thunderbolt, and perhaps the only real reason to own one. With faster speeds comes a better online gaming experience, improved streaming video quality and better video calls. The Thunderbolt also allows simultaneous voice and data usage, the first phone on the Verizon network to do so, and the only one so far. The fact that it’s running Android is an obvious bonus for Android fans, but apparently the fact that it costs $50 more than the 16GB iPhone didn’t stop users from grabbing it.

If the numbers are correct, I’d be really impressed. Simultaneous voice and data and ridiculously fast data transfer speeds, along with the heftier price tag, didn’t seem to deter users from a phone that gets paltry battery life. In our own review, in fact, we opted to call it “battery death” instead of battery life.

Did you buy a Thunderbolt recently, and was your decision between it and the iPhone? If so, let us know how your decision process went, and more importantly, how you’ve managed to deal with battery life so far.

[Via: NY Post]

About The Author

Marc Flores

Marc has been a mobile fanatic for the better part of a decade and has had more devices pass through his hands than he would care to count. Originally from Los Angeles and briefly in San Francisco, Marc now lives in Brooklyn where, unlike Will Park, he longs for simpler times and simpler technology. All the while, he writes about gadgets and wireless technology as he tinkers, hacks and ultimately breaks most of his gadgets in the process. Marc has written about the mobile industry for Boy Genius Report, MobileCrunch, Laptop Magazine and has had his work appear in the Wall Street Journal, Gizmodo, CrunchGear and more.

  • http://twitter.com/Geek_News Geek_News

    It doesn’t surprise me that the Thunderbolt is out selling the iPhone. It comes with 32gb of memory so it actually cost less than the similarly equipped iPhone 4 (yeah $50 more than the 16gb version), has true 4G LTE where available and has a few better specs. The biggest selling point really is just the 4G speeds and simultaneous data and voice. But that would be enough reason for me to pick one up.

  • http://twitter.com/jmauro1979 Joey Mauro

    I love how you mention it costs “more” than a 16GB iPhone…. why not say it costs “LESS” than a 32GB iPhone? Why not compare “Apples to Apples”??

  • Sha`Bren

    I’ve had the Thunderbolt for 3 weeks now, and I love it! I’ve seen all the complaints about battery life, but I have LTE turned off (not available here in Raleigh until June) and easily make it through a day with >50% remaining. The primary reason I chose it over the iPhone is because I have an iPad and am familiar with iOS, but I’d never used Android before. I have to say I haven’t regretted my decision in the least.

  • Tlk1969

    I was indeed one of those who vascillated between the iPhone and HTC Thunderbolt. Having had an Incredible since they were released I knew HTC made great phones (btw, *everyone* bleached about their battery life at the time), but what I really wanted was the iPhone all along. Fastforward a year and a half.
    It was finally time for an upgrade-one of the benefits of the family plan is that you’re almost always within a few months of one-and I was torn. In the end I bought the Thunderbolt for it’s many advantages-save battery life-over the iPhone. I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER! The Apple albatross is *finally* off my neck. Sure, battery life is not great, but you could hardly expect it with an enormous display and rockin’ LTE! And it may.not have dual cores, but considering the new gpu and substantially updated Snapdragon, you’ll be hard pressed to notice! And with updated Sense-which is skinnable (i prefer brushed metal)-Apple has lost the UI edge as well….

  • Jijordan

    Yeah. I picked the thunderbolt over the iPhone. Android is the better os. That plus LTE = beast. With the big screen it makes viewing videos a lot easier on the eyes. The battery to me is pretty solid. Using certain apps to kill task, switch 4g and 3G, and other things the battery last 12 hrs for me. With the price, the thunderbolt is cheaper online for 149.99-179.99.

    • Hahahaha

      your a fucking dumbass. The phone itself and the operating system was stolen from apple. All you android losers can complain about how ios 5 has a pull down menu similar to android but you dont seem to recognize how everything ells was apples idea. The fact that the phone even has an operating system was apples idea and there would be no android without them. You can buy a cheap imitation that might have a faster processor or a better camera for a while and pretend that its a better phone but the truth is you cant beat the iphone. Just because a crappy chinese company makes an android phone with a fast processor and gives it a cool name doesnt mean its better. Apple is always the company that truly comes out with the new product, not just an imitation with slightly better tech specs. So go ahead, play with your HTC this or samsung that, they will eventually be obsolete when the new iphone comes out and then you will have to buy another droid that simply took the same idea. Give me an example of one time where another phone company came up with an idea before apple. The front facing camera, the touch screen, the gestures, the glass on the back and front. Droid didnt come up with any of these and yet they still seem to have trouble stealing it from apple.

  • Akuleboat

    My brother and I switched from the iphone and never looked back. The speed is amazing. I got an app to conserve battery and it has lasted longer but I still keep a charger close by. With the wirefly and amazon deals its $50 cheaper than the 16gb iphone 4 and its a 40gb LTE phone. Nothing but happy with it so far and I own a mac and previously the iphone.