If you’ll recall, the HTC Thunderbolt was released as Verizon’s first phone compatible with their 4G LTE network, which provided impressive speeds which are even capable of functioning as a high-end gaming connection for consoles. Beyond the impressive 4G speeds, the phone has HTC’s hallmark build-quality, a good camera, and a great kickstand to boot.

The HTC Sense overlay that takes place of the default Android interface is liked by some, but hated by others. While I don’t hate Sense, I will say that I lean more toward the latter group. Not that I don’t see the value in HTC Sense, they’ve actually build an impressive number of widgets and mini-applications for users to choose from, but I tend to prefer multi-platform solutions (and official ones at that), so that I don’t have to wait for a company like HTC to get around to updating their software to take advantage of updates to Twitter, Facebook, etc. I spoke a bit more about HTC Sense in my HTC Thunderbolt overview video.

Because the Thunderbolt has been on the market for some time, I’m going to give you a quick rundown of notes that I’ve taken during testing, rather than a full fledged review. If you’re looking for a formal review, the folks over at Laptop Magazine have a great one waiting for you.

Notes

• Haptic feedback motor can’t keep up if you type too quickly, the motor won’t be able to vibrate the phone as quickly as you type, this makes it feel as though the phone is dropping key presses when it’s really not.
• Custom skinning (HTC Sense) is visually clunky, especially in the People (contacts) application
• Twitter for HTC Sense is a nightmare the widget for the homescreen is called ‘Twitter for HTC Sense’ but the corresponding app is called ‘Peep’ in the application screen; the DM section of which inexplicably doesn’t tell you who sent you the DM, or even the time that it was sent (looks to be a bug). The widget that interacts with Peep shows, at most, three tweets, and has no indication of what tweets have arrived since the last time you checked. You can’t directly click on anything within the tweets of the widget, such as a username or link, instead you have to click the tweet in the widget which launches Peep, then you can go ahead and click on the link or the username.
• The ‘dismiss keyboard’ button is where the number pad toggle or shift key usually is on other handsets annoying!
• The lock button on the Thunderbolt is too small and too flush with the top of the phone. It’s a little bit hard to find with the finger and the feedback should be better.
• HTC has included a cursor handle to make it easier to move the cursor around in text which is tremendously frustrating to do without such a handle. Thanks to HTC for adding this as it doesn’t get officially implemented into Android until 2.3 (Thunderbolt is running 2.2). It’s oddly inconsistent though; you can tap in the text field to evoke the handle, but if you hold your finger, a small magnifier will pop up and move with you as you move the cursor. It almost seems like they tasked two people to come up with a solution for cursor selection then accidentally implemented both.
• When looking from a high angle, there is backlight leakage at the bottom of the LCD screen, and at two small points under the capacitive buttons.

• SMS doesn’t vibrate the phone by default which seems a bit silly (dig through the settings and you can fix this)
• Thanks to HTC Sense, many of the default icons have been changed visually for no reason that I can think of, other than to be different, which isn’t a good thing if you are trying to cater to users who are already familiar with Android (perhaps they are going for people already familiar with Sense?).
• I may rag on HTC Sense a good deal, but if you like to customize your phone, it has a number of great themes and options to do so.
• Between the keyboard and the predictive input pop-up, little room is left for what you’re actually looking at on the screen.
• The space bar on the landscape keyboard is off-center which causes me to hit the period key frequently when I meant to hit the space bar.
• The Thunderbolt’s kickstand is top-notch and springs up and down with satisfaction. As a bonus, it also holds the phone up in portrait mode which is great for video calling. Sadly, HTC missed a golden opportunity with the stand. They should have placed the micro-USB port on the bottom of the device so that it could sit in landscape with the stand and be an excellent bedside alarm clock/info center while charging. Unfortunately they placed the micro-USB connector on the ‘bottom’ of the phone when the stand holds it in landscape, which blocks the micro-USB port.

• HTC added four arrow keys to the already clunky keyboard which take up lots of space and I’ve never desired to use them.
• You can calibrate the keyboard for a better typing experience, which is something that I haven’t seen any other phone manufacturer allow you to do (it’s unclear whether or not this calibration affects keyboard input only, or all touch input {I would hope the latter}). After calibration, typing on the Thunderbolt’s keyboard is a better experience than most Android phones. Unfortunately this advantage is counteracted by the fact that the Thunderbolt’s screen is overly sensitive. It’s quite easy to press a key by holding your finder near the screen without actually touching it (and issue I’ve found on other devices as well). This means that accidental key presses can (and likely will) occur during fast typing.
• At 4.3 inch the screen is too large in my opinion, especially when asked to reach all the way up to the status bar for notifications, then all the way down to the capacitive buttons.

Camera

In my review of the Nexus S, I noted the following about the device’s camera:

What you see is not what you get. It’s very hard to visualize exactly how your photo will turn out after you press the capture button. Pictures are often suddenly brightened after you hit the capture button. Shooting good photos with the phone would be much easier if the viewfinder gave a more clear idea of what will actually be captured once you pull the trigger.

I’m very happy to report that the Thunderbolt is the opposite of the Nexus S. When you hit the camera button, you can be assured that what you see on the phone’s screen is exactly what you’re going to capture. This makes it much easier to snap good photos. Noisy low-light photos and the lack of an HDR mode makes the Thunderbolt’s 8MP camera still inferior to the iPhone 4’s 5MP camera.

The Thunderbolt is capable of capturing great photos given the right conditions (as with many smartphone cameras). Here’s a few unedited sample shots I took with the phone (click to enlarge):

The colors could pop a bit more on some of these photos, but it does work in daylight as a great point-and-click camera.

We’ve got the LG Revolution on hand and have prepared an unboxing video for you which also features a flash test. I’m happy to report (and somewhat impressed) that the LG Revolution has so far handled YouTube 720p flash video quite well. This surprised me because the Revolution is using a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU as opposed to Nvidia’s Tegra. Have a look below:

If you’ve been following Carrypad for some time, you are likely to have seen some hints of gaming in my work. Specifically, such hints usually take the form of any one of the games from the Halo series. I’ve been playing these games (made by Bungie) for nearly 10 years.

While evaluating the HTC Thunderbolt [tracking page], Verizon’s first 4G LTE phone, I’ve been intrigued by it’s mobile hotspot capability with regards to using it for real-time multiplayer gaming. This post is to talk about whether or not the Thunderbolt capable of providing a 4G connection that can result in smooth competitive multiplayer gaming.

I’ll be using the latest Halo game, Halo Reach, as my example for this post as I have lengthy experience with how the game ‘feels’ while playing multiplayer on various connections.

There’s nothing more frustrating than dying because your connection is worse than another player’s, or because your connection dropped some vital packets on the way to the host.

As a gamer, having a high-quality internet connection is absolutely vital for competitive multiplayer gaming. What do I mean by ‘high-quality’? In the world of real-time competitive multiplayer gaming, super high-speed connections will not give you the edge. Low latency, low packet loss, and low jitter are often much more important than having huge bandwidth. Even the host of the game (the machine that is sending all of the information around to each individual client) needs a relatively small portion of bandwidth to host a well performing multiplayer match, as long as they keep the aforementioned parts in check.

Let’s briefly define what we’re talking about:

• Bandwidth Available download/upload speed
• Latency (also known as Ping) How long it takes for information to be transmitted to and from another machine
• Packet Loss How much of the information that gets sent actually reaches the destination
• Jitter Average change in latency over a period of time

Verizon’s 4G LTE service easily has the first bullet covered. The Thunderbolt rips data right out of the air at an impressive rate. I’m currently seeing 18mbps download and 21mbps upload which is absolutely overkill for most gaming scenarios (or any other scenarios for that matter).

Fortunately, Verizon’s 4G is also upping the ‘quality’ end of the connection (latency, packet-loss, and jitter). They are approaching quality levels that would, not so long ago, be considered unthinkable for a mobile data connection.

I connected to the Xbox 360 through a WiFi adapter and was able to connect to Xbox Live and play several games of Halo Reach.

For the most part, the Thunderbolt’s 4G connection was sufficient for competitive gameplay. It felt like being connected to a dedicated home connection, which is very impressive considering that you are getting quality that rivals a direct connection, and speed that outpaces it.

	Home Connection	4G Mobile Hotspot
Bandwidth	13.55 mbps / 4.18 mbps (down/up)	20.89 mbps / 5.42 mbps (up/down)
Latency	32 ms	65 ms
Packet Loss	0%	0%
Jitter	30 ms	10 ms

 

As you can see, the numbers are quite competitive, that is… most of the time. I have to mention that while the Thunderbolt’s 4G connection can get the job done for gaming, it does occasionally crap out in short bursts and greatly impact gameplay. From years of play, I can tell you that it feels like a packet-loss situation when this happens. It’s unclear to me whether this is a result of the 4G connection itself being unable to communication for brief periods of time, or perhaps it’s the fault of the Mobile Hotspot app that may be locking up from time to time.

The Thunderbolt’s connection might have double the latency as my home connection, but if you look at the handy chart below (well, actually the second one down), you’ll find that it’s still within an acceptable range for close-quarters competitive, and even tournament quality gameplay. Long range tournament quality gameplay has an even larger tolerance for latency, so we’re definitely in the clear there.

Jitter on the Thunderbolt’s 4G is also impressively low. The 10ms figure up there means that the latency won’t fluctuate by more than 10ms on average, which is very useful for having consistent and quality gameplay without the connection impacting your ability to play.

There’s also one piece to the puzzle that I haven’t yet talked about, and that’s NAT (Network Access Translation). The NAT has 3 possible states, Open, Moderate, and Strict. For many games, Halo Reach in particular, you’ll need an Open NAT to have the best online experience. This chart shows how peers on a network can/cannot communicate to one another based on their NAT setting:

 

	To Open	To Moderate	To Strict
From Open	Yes	Yes	Yes
From Moderate	Yes	Yes	No
From Strict	Yes	No	No

Unfortunately, the connection from the Thunderbolt has a NAT status that is set to moderate. While not an absolute roadblock to gaming online, when it comes to Halo Reach, this limits the pool of players that you have to match with, resulting in longer times waiting to enter games. Players with incompatible NATs also cannot communicate via in-game voice-chat. There are some advanced settings within the Thunderbolt’s Mobile Hotspot app, but none that I could find that would change the NAT configuration.

The thing that is a bit upsetting to me is that using a mobile data connection for competitive gaming should have been possible for a long time. On certain carriers, and in certain places, 3G connections have the bandwidth to support competitive multiplayer gaming, but they’ve never had the quality necessary. There’s really no reason that 3G connections can’t have high-quality characteristics, but it seems that the current fad in mobile data is to shove bandwidth that we don’t really need down our throats, when perhaps their time would be better used improving the quality of their existing data infrastructure. Have a look at this chart from Halo Reach’s Lead Networking Engineer, David Aldridge:

250 kbps ………………………………………….	Minimum total upstream for the host of a solid 16 player game
675 kbps ………………………………………….	Maximum total upstream bandwidth use from a single peer
45 kbps ……………………………………………	Maximum bandwidth sent to one client from a host
1 kbps …………………………………………….	Host upstream required to replicate one biped to one client at combat quality
10hz ……………………………………………….	Minimum packet rate for solid gameplay
100ms/200ms …………………………………….	Maximum latency for close-quarters gameplay for tournament/ casual
133ms/300ms …………………………………….	Maximum latency for ranged gameplay for tournament/casual

 

If you compare this to my chart of tests above, it’s clear to see that bandwidth is not the problem, it’s the quality that is important here. A 3G connection from Verizon could easily serve as the host to a 16 player match of Halo Reach in terms of bandwidth, but cannot keep up with the ping or jitter necessary to support competitive gameplay conditions.

Either way, Verizon’s 4G connection does have what it takes for real-time competitive gaming, though you may occasionally experience bursts of poor quality which will result in awful gameplay. There’s also the fact that the moderate NAT setting will impact your online experience. As a serious gamer, I wouldn’t rely on the Thunderbolt’s connection for gaming use, but it certainly makes an excellent backup connection if your console can connect with WiFi to the Thunderbolt’s 4G hotspot, and would presumably let games online in places that you normally wouldn’t be able to (in the car?).

Along with a number of other 4G devices, Verizon has launched several USB modems for their speedy 4G data network. The modem is compatible with Mac and Windows, backwards compatible with 3G, and can send text messages from its own number. Data plans will run you $50/month for a 5GB allowance or $80 for 10GB. Overages will cost you $10/GB. Before I jump into the review, I should talk about the allotted data. 5GB of data will almost certainly be enough for someone who has a primary connection at home, but needs data on the go. I’ve been using the modem pretty heavily as a mobile user over the last few weeks and have not yet racked up 5GB (thought I’m pretty close). I doubt I’ll use another gigabyte before the billing cycle ends, but even if I did, I’d only be charged an additional $10 which would mean $60 for the month, but still cheaper than the other option of $80/month for 10GB. Speaking of the $80 option, that’s what I would recommend if you plan on eliminating your home connection and rely on the USB modem as your full-time connection. If you aren’t a heavy internet user though, you could definitely get away with the 5GB plan as a dedicated connection. Also remember that 4G from Verizon is only currently active in places with significant population (major cities) for the most part, but by 2013 they plan to have 4G coverage as widespread as their current 3G coverage (thus, if you are in the market for a 3G USB modem from Verizon, you might consider getting a 4G stick just so that you’ll be compatible when your area is infused with 4G service). While the USB modem is backwards compatible with 3G, definitely check your coverage to make sure that you are in a 4G area. Now that that’s through, let’s get on with the mini review!

Hardware

The hardware itself is the LG VL600, and it’s pretty big. I’ll certainly be looking forward to the size of USB 4G modems to come down in the future, but the VL600 isn’t unwieldy. The cap is permanently attached and flips up when you need to plug the modem in. I’m fairly certain that there’s an antenna in the cap part; otherwise I’d be pretty annoyed that such a huge cap is permanently attached! Out of the box you’ll get the USB modem, a clip-holder, and (thankfully) a 2-foot USB extension cable — in case you want to elevate the position of the modem, or if you don’t have room for the rather large USB plug to go into your computer. There’s also a CD included for installing the necessary software; more on that in the Software section of this mini-review. My only critique of the hardware is that it’s quite large. The overall size isn’t that much of an issue (I’m not exactly looking for fashion in my USB modems) but the problem is how wide the area around the USB plug is. On some notebooks — MacBooks especially — the wide shape of the housing will likely block adjacent USB ports, which is annoying. Fortunately, there’s a USB extension cable included to fix this issue, but it would be great if the USB modem was small enough not to get in the way in the first place. A note before we move on: If you pop the back cover off the stick, you’ll find a SIM slot which most Verizon customers won’t be used to. Presumably you could swap other 4G SIM cards into this slot which means a bit more flexibility over having your number embedded within the device.

Performance

Verizon’s 4G speeds at the moment are phenomenal. The 4G service that comes down to this USB modem deftly surpasses my dedicated home connection from Comcast, and is faster than 80% of US connections, according to Speedtest.net: While the blazing fast speeds above are certainly impressive, Verizon warns that things will change as their 4G infrastructure takes on more traffic as time goes on, but they are still promising between 5-12 Mbps download and 2-5 Mbps upload which is nothing to scoff at. The upload in this particular test wasn’t so great, but I have seen speeds upwards of 20Mbps. Aside from an issue requiring me to occasionally restart the connection (see Connectivity/Reception section below), web browsing feels like you’re on a speedy dedicated line which is very impressive considering all of that data is coming to you without wires!

As promised, we’ve got a solid 30 minute video overview of the HTC Thunderbolt, Verizon’s first 4G phone. You’ll see a quick hardware tour in the beginning followed by a look at the software (Android 2.2 with HTC Sense UI) of the meaty and well built device. Have a look below:

With the launch of Verizon’s first 4G (LTE) smartphone, the HTC Thunderbolt, just behind us I thought it’d be a good time to lay down an overview of Verizon’s initial 4G device lineup. If you’re planning on jumping into the 4G action, listen up: these are the devices that you’ll be seeing right down the road.

At Verizon’s CES 2011 keynote, the company announced a goal to launch 10 4G devices by mid-year (which is now being refined to “summer”). Of those 10 devices, four are smartphones and two are tablets.

Availability:

All of the devices listed in this article will be available by this summer, according to Verizon.

As for 4G coverage, Verizon is continuing to roll out coverage to more regions. Take a look at the following map to see if your area is already 4G enabled, or marked as coming in 2011 (be sure to read the map legend!)

http://network4g.verizonwireless.com/pdf/VZW_4G_LTE_Coverage_Map.pdf

We saw the launch of the first of Verizon’s four upcoming 4G phones with the HTC Thunderbolt just a few days ago:

HTC Thunderbolt

The sleek looking HTC Thunderbolt is already in the hands of consumers, and we’ve seen some incredible 4G speed tests so far – speeds that easily outperform my home broadband connection (and probably yours too!). Check out this video from GottabeMobile.com of the Thunderbolt benchmarking 24.30Mbps download and 16.60Mbps upload:

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This is no doubt very impressive, but be forewarned: Verizon does not anticipate that customers will see these speeds once the 4G waves become saturated with users. Verizon has been claiming from the beginning of their LTE campaign that users should expect 5-12Mbps download and 2-5Mbps upload.

They are getting great press thanks to the ridiculous speed that the Thunderbolt achieves and even though the speed will reduce as 4G devices become more widespread, they are going to benefit greatly because the idea that “Verizon’s 4G is fast” is going to stick around in the heads of the general public much more easily than specific figures. When customers pick up a 4G phone, even after the speeds have come down to 5-12Mbps, they’ll likely still be impressed with the speed if they are coming from 3G.

Specs:

The HTC Thunderbolt isn’t just a data speed-demon, it’s also a top-of-the-line smartphone packed with some impressive hardware:

• Android 2.2 with HTC Sense interface (unfortunately not 2.3!)
• Qualcomm MSM8655 Snapdragon CPU @ 1GHz (Qualcomm MDM9600 chipset with LTE support)
• 768MB of RAM
• 8GB of built-in memory + 32GB pre-installed Micro-SD card
• 4.3” capacitive touchscreen @ 800×480
• 8MP rear camera with dual-LED flash and autofocus, 1.3MP front-facing camera
• WiFi b/g/n & Bluetooth 2.1
• GPS, FM radio

It’s also got a sweet kickstand – a hallmark of several HTC devices:

I’m disappointed that it isn’t using running Android 2.3, but it seems like almost every upcoming device has this in common with the Thunderbolt. If we’re lucky, we’ll see an update to 2.3 down the road.

What it doesn’t have in common with most other smartphones on the market today is that the front-facing camera is 1.3MP instead of 0.3MP, this should offer a nice boost in video-calling quality (especially over 4G where the bandwidth is there for higher quality video).

Reviews:

If you’re looking for some quality info about the Thunderbolt, check out these reviews:

• http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/18/htc-thunderbolt-review/
• http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/htc-thunderbolt-verizon-wireless/4505-6452_7-34468664.html

Next Up: Motorola Droid Bionic

Just a few weeks ago, a series of strange rumors began floating around about the HTC Thunderbolt’s release date being pushed back. Oddly, a lot of people seemed to be upset about this news regarding Verizon’s first 4G phone, which is peculiar considering that neither HTC nor Verizon had yet officially announced a release date. It looks like Verizon actually wanted to quell the talk about rumored push back of release dates. @VerizonWireless tweeted the other day:

We share excitement about the HTC Thunderbolt! When there’s actual news, you’ll get it here. Until then, on to other topics.

Today, however, it’s official (for real). The HTC Thunderbolt will be launching on Verizon tomorrow (the 17th) for $250. Verizon says that they aren’t taking pre-orders, though customers can start buying the device online starting at midnight EST tonight, and that stores will be operating during regular hours.

Verizon is on its way to making good on it’s promise at CES this year: that 10 LTE devices would be launched by mid-year. Though Verizon has launched other LTE devices (like mobile hotspots), the HTC Thunderbolt is the first phone to be using the carrier’s recently launched 4G data service. Still on the device-bench for a 4G release is the Droid Bionic, a Samsung 4G smartphone, the LG Revolution, and a 4G upgrade for the Xoom and an enhanced 4G version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

People have been excited for the Thunderbolt for good reason. Aside from being created by the reputable HTC and supporting Verizon’s 4G data, the specs are looking quite nice:

• Android 2.2 with HTC Sense interface (unfortunately not 2.3!)
• Qualcomm MSM8655 Snapdragon CPU @ 1GHz (Qualcomm MDM9600 chipset with LTE support)
• 768MB of RAM
• 8GB of built-in memory + 32GB pre-installed Micro-SD card
• 4.3 inch capacitive touchscreen @ 800×480
• 8MP rear camera with dual-LED flash and autofocus, 1.3MP front-facing camera
• WiFi b/g/n & Bluetooth 2.1
• GPS, FM radio