Saturday, January 8, 2011

iPhone 4 vs HTC Thunderbolt... FIGHT!

Its a given that I have been wanting the iPhone since January 2007... so for 4 years now, and saying its a given is actually putting it rather lightly. To give you an idea of how badly I wanted that phone, I can tell you that I distinctly remember being on a boat, in the middle of the sea off the coast of Hawaii, dolphin watching, and looking down at my watch and thinking, "The iPhone just got released on the East coast." Thats how crazy obsessed I was.  Hell, I even bought the thing while in Hawaii, and told my parents I was switching to AT&T no matter how much it would cost me to jump off the Verizon family plan and pay my own way for the iPhone. Three weeks later, as the phone sat in front of me unopened, I realized I could never afford to be on AT&T without my parents support, and so I returned the phone, and vowed to wait until Verizon received it in a few months or so to get it.

4 years later, here we are, and I cant say Im still drooling and slobbering from anticipation. In September of 2007, I picked up the iPod touch, my only savior that helped me weather the storm of not having an iPhone. And every September since 2007, I bought a new iPod that came with many of the features the iPhone was given just 2 months earlier. And so, I continued to wait patiently.

But then Droid happened to Verizon in November of 2009. And suddenly, Verizon had a geek phone to call its own. Not only that, it had a killer app that even the almighty iPhone didnt have: Free Navigation, direct from Google Maps. It even had voice search, voice dial, voice-to-text, voice-anything. And it was insanely accurate. And suddenly the iPhone wasnt the only game in town anymore. The phrase "iPhone Killer" got thrown around a lot prior to the Droid series of phones, as a way of decreeing an upcoming phone that would finally best the iPhone in all ways. The Droid series never got called an "iPhone Killer," yet the phrase stopped getting tossed around as Droid picked up steam, and more and more awesome phones got announced - all on Verizon. I dont think one Droid phone every had a chance of contending with the iPhone, but I think the Droid series may have put a serious damper on the iPhone awesomeness.

I wont spend a great deal of time explaining what a Droid can do, but lets just sum it up by saying that Verizon's first marketing campaign for its Droid was simply, "Droid Does." And it "does" really well.
Source: Verizon
And this week, Droid Does got a WHOLE lot better. Not only did Verizon announce that faster wireless data speeds would be coming to Verizon phones this year, but all the phones announced were Droid phones, and they would be here in the next 3 months. This faster speed is referred to as 4G LTE, similar to what Sprint has with their network. This means I would go from downloading youtube videos or internet webpages at 256kb per second to downloading them at 5MB per second (over 10 times an increase). This is CRAZY fast, and the best part is, Verizon isnt planning on raising their prices. AND its already in my area, so all I have to do is buy a 4G LTE phone, and Ive got instant amazingness in my hand.



One phone Verizon announced this week in particular, has caught my attention: The HTC Thunderbolt. The Thunderbolt look STUNNING (pictured below on the left). Its got a huge touchscreen, a super fast processor, an amazing UI, and its got 4G LTE to boot. HTC's first marketing campaign for this phone even said, "This is not your dream phone. Its the one after that." And from everything I have heard from people who have reviewed this phone, its pretty amazing.

Source: Engadget




So after this phone was announced, I was all over getting it. And then THE VERY NEXT DAY, Verizon announced that they have something else to announce this coming Tuesday the 11th. Why would Verizon hold a second press conference so soon after a major, major one? iPhone, everyone and the Wall Street Journal screamed. Verizon iPhone.

Source: 9to5Mac


Which is actually why we are here.  This morning I woke up to rumors turned reports from credible individuals and journals that YES, INDEED AND ACTUALLY ARE TRUE, Verizon will announce the imminent release of the iPhone for its network on Tuesday, January 11th, 2011 at 11am. Or, 1/11/11 at 11am.

After 4 years of lusting after the Verizon iPhone, my first sleepy, half-awake thought was OMG BREAK OPEN MY PIGGY BANK I WILL NEED PENNIES AND NICKLES NOWWWWWWWWWW IPHONE IZ 2 BE MINEEEEEEEEZ.
Source: The Oatmeal and Engadget

But then after the insane hallucinations of Verizon iPhones everywhere, I started to re-think my decision through the long term. What about the navigation app I use at least once a week with my Droid? What about all the 4G LTE phones that were announced just two days ago (The Verizon iPhone will not have 4G LTE at launch)? What about the HTC Thunderbolt I was already cutting out my kidney for???? This was problematic.

So I decided, like any kid these days, that instead of thinking through my decision in my own head privately, I would blog and publicly record the whole ordeal online.

So here we are. 3..... 2..... 1..... iPhone 4 vs HTC Thunderbolt - FIGHT!!!!!

......

...... ummmm...... on second thought, Im kinda exhausted after writing all this.

Lets just do a pros and cons thingy and call it good.

iPhone:
Pros: Apple, A bazillion neat apps, sleek design, syncs with my iCal, Email, Music, etc Flawlessly, i LOVEEEEE the touch screen keyboard, and have gotten really good at it over the years in trusting it. reliable software, angry birds, attracts quality developers, has facetime, itunes mobile store for buying music when i hear it on the radio, it just works.....
Cons: You cant tweak the software, doesnt have 4G, Id be locked into the iPhone 4 for 2 years before getting the ability to get the new version, Id have to switch over all my stuff from android, no wireless tethering, and id lose navigation and earth and other cool google maps shit.

Thunderbolt:
Pros: 4G LTE amaZing speeds, google maps, navigation, tweak it to my hearts content, free syncing to google.... calendar widget to remind me.....
Cons: big phone, have to use google, doesnt have itunes music store or my music, has trouble syncing my calendars, cant use my r.l@tme.com email account, doesnt have all the cool apps, apps are kinda buggy sometimes, keyboard typing sucks, etc, etc.....

14 comments:

  1. I have the same dilemma. Now, I remind myself of being Ace Ventura: Finkle! Einhorn! Einhorn! Finkle! LOL...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm having the same problem! Trying to decide between the iPhone or HTC Thunderbolt. :( I am seriously on the fence. Want the iPhone pretty badly but....no voice to text, no voice nav.....sigh. I just don't know now! And I'm with the previous commenter.... Einhorn is Finkle! Finkle is Einhorn! ARRGH!

    ReplyDelete
  3. My battle right now.. except I do not have a "smartphone."

    ReplyDelete
  4. Im going with the Thunderbolt because the iPhone 4 is already a year old and I don't want to be under Apple's Marshall Law!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for all the info. It was interesting to read.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Go with the bigger screen because its much easier to do things on a bigger screen. Me personally I like 3.7 or 3.8 screens maxing at 4". I think 3.5 is just too small although the resolution on the iphone is amazing. I just wish iphone had a bigger screen to showcase that amazing reolution

    ReplyDelete
  7. I had the Iphone 4 and don't get me wrong, I loved that phone but honestly ever since the HTC Thunderbolt was released, hands down there is no comparison. I'm big on personalization and a lot of free apps and that is just something the IPhone doesn't offer. I think most people want the IPhone for its name minus what it can actually do. All around, the HTC Thunderbolt just all together has better specs too.

    ReplyDelete
  8. HTC has a bigger screen - but lower resolution...4G is nice - when you are at home/city if you are lucky enough to have a market with 4g.
    After the root kits/viruses found in apps on the "official" android market, the overall lack of apps in comparison to Apple, not being able to simply upgrade to the real latest OS with Droid like you can with Iphone , not being able to buy an app once and use it on Ipad and phone when u have a droid cause lets face it, 16 tablet focused apps for the Xoom? ya right. Who would buy that.
    Flash? no problem - Iswifter is an awesome free app that allows me to run any flash I want now on my iOS devices...
    HTC has only a single core CPU..ya have to upgrade to match the storage space of an iphone, there are tons of free apps for iphone ( not sure what previous poster was thinking)
    Honestly - I dont see what the issue is. Iphone is the clear winner still.

    ReplyDelete
  9. There is NO competition. Own an iPod, and a 64GB wifi iPad, and have used the iPhone. I have had the Thunderbolt since Friday. The Thunderbolt blows all of the Apple devices away, but for one thing - battery. I have ordered the 2750mAh battery, and I don't care if it pulls my pants down. This phone totally $#%*s all over the iPhone. Better speed, better cameras, TFT LCD so you can see it from any angle, More USEFUL and CHEAPER apps on Android... Did I say FASTER? Use Tango, and you can video call all the lemmings who have iPhones! The Interface is just as sexy, and so is the feel. You can switch batteries, change memory, and it has a kickstand. Use SlideIt keyboard, and get used to slide-typing. It has ARROW KEYS so you don't have to backspace and type over again. I am sure it will be trumped soon, but dual-core processor phones are going to eat battery for breakfast, and will run hotter. Unless you are a gamer, you really don't need a dual-core. This phone is plenty fast enough. This lame stuff about iPhones being superior is done with, kiddies!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh yeah, and you can google and talk at the same time... :D :P

    ReplyDelete
  11. I bought the Thunderbolt and tried it out for the last week. Did all the tweaks: new keyboard, better apps, customized screens...the works (all except flashing it). At the same time I bought my sister an iPhone 4 (Verizon). Android is powerful and flexible but that doesn't add up to much when the gui is not as intuitive and resources cause the phones battery to be complete rubbish.
    The real question is can you hold out another few months for when they announce the iPhone 5! My guess is that it'll feature 4G LTE, Dual Core, Better Camera, Added apps (photobooth, garage band) :) I'm switching to the iPhone4 and will take the hit once the 5 comes out.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Well, these comments didn't help me decide one way or the other yet. It seems that the people who have always liked Apple will opt for the iPhone and the ones that haven't will opt for the Thunderbolt. I still can decide.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Well I can tell you, I just came off from the iphone 4 which i was waiting to come to verizon for like 3 to 4 years now, and sadly. It wasnt everything I wished it was. I Miss my android. So Im returning and getting the htc thunderbolt. Which Is beautiful.

    ReplyDelete