Garrett Kelley

After some discussion we decided that I would leave Sprint and join Susan on a Verizon family share plan. On release day, March 17, I purchased the Verizon HTC ThunderBolt. For those of you who don’t know what the ThunderBolt is yet, it is Verizon’s newest Android phone and first 4G LTE capable phone. Coming from the Sprint HTC EVO 4G, an earlier cousin of the ThunderBolt’s, I feel right at home with the ThunderBolt as they are very similar devices. The ThunderBolt offers a 4.3″ display, 2nd generation Qualcomm® MSM8655 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 768 MB of RAM, 1GB emmc, and a 32GB microSD card. Also included are front and rear cameras, GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, and WiFi hotspot capability (which Verizon is throwing in for free until May 15th).

I am and have been really excited about 4G service. Having had the EVO 4G for the last year and not able to use Sprint’s 4G service (Sprint does not offer 4G in Detroit yet) has really been painful. Verizon’s 4G LTE network I am happy to report is stupid fast. Using the Speed Test app I consistently see between 8 Mbps and 10 Mbps down. I cannot report current upload speeds as Speed Test is not currently reporting accurate results for upload. A forthcoming update to the app will resolve this issue.

I am extremely disappointed to see that Verizon choose to load the ThunderBolt with as much crapware as they did. These largely useless applications consume a lot of precious memory and some of them are battery hogs! The first step for any new ThunderBolt owner should be to disable the BlockBuster application’s background update. Battery life on the ThunderBolt is about what we can expect from a high power 4G phone. Not to say it is acceptable. I learned early on with the EVO that I need to carry a spare battery with me at all times. HTC really needs to find a way to shoehorn larger batteries into these phones. The included 1400 mAh battery just does not have enough juice in it. The ThunderBolt’s 4G radio is quite the battery sucker. If I perform any high amount of downloading over 4G service, the battery goes quickly. WiFi, however, is much easier on the battery. After some tweaking I can usually get the battery to last an acceptable amount of time. See my prior post for tips on better battery life.

The ThunderBolt feels really solid in my hands. It is a well constructed device that appears to be able to take a beating. Side note: this is a really good thing too because my fiancée has a ThunderBolt as well and she is quite hard on her phones! The device is hefty in my hands. If you’re looking for small and light, this is not the phone for you! Other than the battery door, the body appears to be of metal construction. Interestingly, the antenna is integrated into the battery door.

Overall I believe this is a really great device. The device is snappy with no lag at all. Verizon’s 4G service is really fast, although not easy on the battery. I only have a few complaints regarding the device. The crapware is excessive and unnecessary. Most people will never use it. The USB port is on the lower left side instead of the bottom. This makes watching movies with the kickstand and charging at the same time impossible. The battery life is not as good as it should be. The battery door is not easy to remove.

If you are looking for a fast device with the fastest available network, the ThunderBolt is for you!

I thought I would throw together a few tricks for everyone which I’ve
learned over the last year to make the battery last a little longer in
our high power Android phones.

1. Don’t use Live Wallpapers – I know they are pretty, but they can
really drain the battery.
2. Set the display brightness to a lower setting, for example 25%.
3. Set the display timeout to 30 seconds, the default is 1 minute.
4. For applications that background sync or download background data,
decrease the frequency they sync or update. Usually no more frequent than every hour or two.
5. Turn off Friendstream (delete the widget)
6. Keep Bluetooth turned off unless needed
7. Use WiFi whenever possible, but turn off WiFi when not using it.
8. Turn off WiFi network notification.

No matter what anyone tells you DO NOT install a task manager. The
latest versions of Android are quite good at doing this itself. Task
managers can do more harm then good.

I know, I know. With the release of the EVO 4G every website out there is doing a top apps post. I’m hoping to offer you all a top app list from a different perspective. Not one of a seasoned Android user, but from the view of a new Android user and technology enthusiast. I’m not going to include all of the Google apps or social media apps. Half of them are included on the device, and the others most of you are already aware of. Without further adieu here we go.

Utilities:

aCar: aCar allows you to track your vehicle’s (or multiple vehicles’) fuel mileage and maintenance schedule.
Advanced Task Killer: Android does not include a utility for managing running applications. You can use ATK to manually kill running apps or ATK will automatically kill them on a time based schedule or automatically when the display turns off. You can maintain an ignore list of apps you don’t want ATK to kill. I’ve used this one for a short period of time, but thus far it seems to have improved the battery life on my EVO 4G. Read this article on why you shouldn’t use task killers.
ASTRO File Manager: Android also does not include a good way to browse files on the installed SD card. This is a good file browser and included some other handy features.
Bubble: Bubble is a bubble level. You can calibrate the level and it includes both a plumb/level and 360 degree level.
Keeper Password & Data Vault: This is a United States government certified encrypted password and login data vault. It is similar in function to BlackBerry Wallet.
MyBackup: This is a backup utility for your Android device. It allows you to backup all of your device data and settings to the developer’s secure servers or an installed SD card.
ConnectBot: A telnet and ssh client.

Financial:

Bank of America: The Bank of America application will help you find banking locations. It will also all you to view transactions, view and pay e-Bills, and transfer funds between your accounts.
Mint.com: If you use Mint.com to manage your finances, this app will keep you up to speed on your financial portfolio when you’re on the go.
State Farm Pocket Agent: If you have State Farm insurance this app allows you to view your policies, document an accident, and help you find auto related services while on the go.

Sports:

The Hockey News: THN provides all of the NHL news, scores, stats, and standings you can digest.

One Google app that I believe is worth mentioning and is my new favorite: Google Sky Map. In Google’s own words: “With Google Sky Map for your Android phone you can discover and browse the night sky just by pointing your phone to space.”

Since 2005 I have been a devoted and loyal BlackBerry user. No phone could part me from my beloved BlackBerry devices. That is, until now. Over the last year I have witnessed people use their mobile device to surf the web quickly and easily, playback smooth video, and enjoy large high resolution displays. My BlackBerry started to make me feel left behind. Where BlackBerry excels at messaging, it falls flat on its face when it comes to a rich media experience. Strong messaging capabilities are exactly what many people are after, especially the business types. To that I say great! Continue to use your BlackBerry! I, however, want more. This lead me to researching new phones and platforms. Where I landed is Android. Yesterday (6/4/2010) I picked up the HTC Evo 4G from Sprint! So far this new device is everything I want. It integrates tightly with all of the Google services and includes push Gmail support! My Google contacts sync effortlessly over-the-air with my Evo. The UI is fast and responsive and video playback is smooth. The Android Market has thousands of applications which I have only thus far scratched the surface of. My initial impression of this device is that it is simply amazing.

The one feature that only BlackBerry offers which I will truly miss is BlackBerry Messenger. It really is the best at what it does. There is no replacement. BBM alone though is not enough to keep me with BlackBerry. I believe that if RIM does not step their game up, BlackBerry will be left behind. I understand that they are a secure, corporate devices but consumers want a rich media experience. That is a fact RIM cannot ignore.

I’ll post additional thoughts after I have more time to become acquainted with my new device.