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Help Is anyone returning this phone?

If you want to wait 3-6 months for a phone then enjoy. Also enjoy tiered plans.

I'm going to enjoy my TB for the next 10 months and then evaluate. IF tiered plans suck I stick with TB. If they dont then I upgrade and get my next phone and sell TB for $250

Actually, April 21 is the rumored date, which if that is true less than a month. And take my word, there wont be the date changes with a Motorola Android phone like there was with HTC. Moto had the first android, and theyve been firing them out like rockets ever since.

I am definitely returning this phone and I have to say at this point it isn't even a matter of the battery! I've had numerous issues with this phone, more than any other and I believe I've given myself adequate time to judge the phone and make my final decision. Does the battery suck? Yes, this we know but it is something that I could deal with if everything else was working properly. I am in a strong 4G area, yet have multiple service problems. If I power my phone off and turn it back on, I have no service unless I pull the battery out. I have also had multiple dropped calls between 4G and 3G areas. I originally thought the call quality was clear, but it has gotten progressively worse. All phone calls have extreme static. My phone has also been lagging a lot lately. I have an insane amount of SMS errors, where I can't even get a text message to go through and the whole phone overall is just lagging. Many of my applications have been force closing such as Twitter and Pandora. I couldn't even get through a song last night without Pandora force closing on me every minute. I am also having issues with my Gallery, where sometimes pictures will show up and other times they won't. I just can't see doing a battery pull or a reset multiple times a day every day to get the phone working properly for a temporary amount of time. Even today when I tried to pull the battery it took such a long time to get the back cover off. I'm really disappointed because this is a sexy phone and I really wanted to love it! It seems that as each day goes on I am getting a bit more frustrated. I think it's safe to say I will be returning my HTC Thunderbolt and waiting for a new model, or waiting til they atleast fix all these problems everyone has been experiencing. I've never had any major issues with my Incredible or Fascinate quite like this. I understand the new 4G technology is creating a few complications but until it is perfected I will wait it out for something better! I should have known with the extreme delay in release that I'd be encountering some problems.

I could possibly have a lemon, but I'm curious since I notice others having similar problems. If anything, I could always give it one last try and do an exchange to see if the second one is any better. We all know how frustrated these things can make us! I also understand that the whole 4G/SIM card concept is new to VZW and I can't expect it to be perfect. Once they do get around to perfecting it though it should definitely be amazing! It's almost been a week already with this phone so I'll see what else I come across in the upcoming week!

Unfortunately Lady, I had the same problems as you. I got a replacement and it is just as big of a piece of crapola as the first one I got. I think too many people look at the phone and say "This is awesome" and look past the serious issues the phone has. I am now awaiting VZW to send me a return box so I can ship it out. This phone, I dont care what half of you say, has serious antenna problems, serious battery problems and that is enough for me to say the phone itself is a lemon and is in no way living up to the hype. I guess they shouldve waited longer to release it.. My advice, to you is to return it before it is too late, and get your upgrade back and wait for the Bionic or the Stealth or heck even the LG Revolution. One thing is certain, the problems you are having, I had as well and I can say hands on that a replacement didnt fix the device.
 
Actually, April 21 is the rumored date, which if that is true less than a month. And take my word, there wont be the date changes with a Motorola Android phone like there was with HTC. Moto had the first android, and theyve been firing them out like rockets ever since.





Unfortunately Lady, I had the same problems as you. I got a replacement and it is just as big of a piece of crapola as the first one I got. I think too many people look at the phone and say "This is awesome" and look past the serious issues the phone has. I am now awaiting VZW to send me a return box so I can ship it out. This phone, I dont care what half of you say, has serious antenna problems, serious battery problems and that is enough for me to say the phone itself is a lemon and is in no way living up to the hype. I guess they shouldve waited longer to release it.. My advice, to you is to return it before it is too late, and get your upgrade back and wait for the Bionic or the Stealth or heck even the LG Revolution. One thing is certain, the problems you are having, I had as well and I can say hands on that a replacement didnt fix the device.

I don't see how you can say that the phone overall is a lemon, I and many others are not seeing these huge problems you have seen. I know for a fact that I am not simply "overlooking" major problems. My signal is actually better on this phone (both 4G and 3G) then my OG Droid. My battery (while granted I do have the extended) has never been an issue.

The phone is exactly what I expected it to be and I am NOT an HTC phanboy, I actually prefer Moto in terms of build quality. I understand the frustration of getting a bad phone or two, hell I knew some people who had to return the OG Droid over 5 times before they got one that worked and I would in no way call the phone a lemon. But to say the entire phone is a lemon and not living up to the hype because a few people have had to return the phone twice is a bit much.
 
I don't see how you can say that the phone overall is a lemon, I and many others are not seeing these huge problems you have seen. I know for a fact that I am not simply "overlooking" major problems. My signal is actually better on this phone (both 4G and 3G) then my OG Droid. My battery (while granted I do have the extended) has never been an issue.

The phone is exactly what I expected it to be and I am NOT an HTC phanboy, I actually prefer Moto in terms of build quality. I understand the frustration of getting a bad phone or two, hell I knew some people who had to return the OG Droid over 5 times before they got one that worked and I would in no way call the phone a lemon. But to say the entire phone is a lemon and not living up to the hype because a few people have had to return the phone twice is a bit much.

where service is concerned, look sta you location compared to others who have problems. Of course youre not going to have any service/data issues living right in phoenix
 
I don't see how you can say that the phone overall is a lemon, I and many others are not seeing these huge problems you have seen. I know for a fact that I am not simply "overlooking" major problems. My signal is actually better on this phone (both 4G and 3G) then my OG Droid. My battery (while granted I do have the extended) has never been an issue.
Agreed - and I am quite demanding when it comes to phones. ;)

HTC screwed up a few things here but, overall, I love how much of an improvement this phone is from my Incredible, and that was a great phone.

4G is new - everyone knows this - and the network is not mature. If you're in a big well covered area, 4G is superb as it is for me. My battery is an issue but, I too, bought the extended which isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, coming from an Incredible with an extended battery. The only thing I am miffed at is HTC putting in a battery any idiot would know is too small, probably to upsell the extended battery. But it's discounted at VZW and worth the huge boost if you can handle a little extra heft.

There is no way this phone is a lemon, even with some stupid design decisions .
 
where service is concerned, look sta you location compared to others who have problems. Of course youre not going to have any service/data issues living right in phoenix

Right I live in Phoenix but also go to Surprise all the time (Surprise is a city west of Phoenix). Surprise has 4G coverage only on the outskirts as you enter the city from Phoenix proper. I do not have any issues with the phone dropping signal when transfering to 3G.

I'm not saying that some phones have connection issues. However I do think that the connection issues are more with VZW learning how to use sim cards (remember they don't really have any phones that use them at all since CDMA doesn't need them) then an actually design flaw with the phone.

All I'm trying to say here is that getting a lemon device is something that happens all the time when any new tech device launches (yes even the iPhone), to say that the TB overall is a lemon because you and a few others have had to return it for some issues (and some of the issues are indeed major) isn't genuine. If we were seeing more of the devices needing to go back then were actually with out issues, then I would agree that the device overall is a lemon (ala the whole Blackberry Storm fiasco).
 
NOPE! after the wait we went thru to get this damn phone...LMAO! its goin NO WHERE! its a beast and im da beast master! HAHAHAHAHA
 
Seriously considering it right now. My TB is only downloading at about a 200 kbps clip which is what I typically get with my 3G connection when I'm tethered. Yeah the 4G speeds on Speedtest.net look impressive, but if you can't download a file even a LITTLE BIT faster than 3G speeds, then I may as well go back to my 3G phone.
 
Man you guys turn your back to quickly dam just because of battery life?Maybe you should of bought the longer battery one and been alright.People these days.
Don't use your phone as a business line, do you?

Battery life is a critical feature of a smart phone. I know we ask a lot of these phones, but other phones can handle the load. After 45 minutes of GPS, a phone call, and the screen being on for awhile, I was down to 60-65%. It's ridiculous.

I hate comparing this to the iPhone because they are different beasts all together, but the battery life on the 4 decimates the Thunderbolts.'

Likely returning this and going back to the iPhone.
 
Don't use your phone as a business line, do you?

Battery life is a critical feature of a smart phone. I know we ask a lot of these phones, but other phones can handle the load. After 45 minutes of GPS, a phone call, and the screen being on for awhile, I was down to 60-65%. It's ridiculous.

I hate comparing this to the iPhone because they are different beasts all together, but the battery life on the 4 decimates the Thunderbolts.'

Likely returning this and going back to the iPhone.

Having had the iPHone and dealing with the hassle of Apple's anti-drag and drop, I will avoid it.

1) I got the extended battery. It's not as bad as I thought with the case going around the battery and is a workhorse.

2) Why not return for another 4G Android device that will come out? I bought a $15 blackberry to tide me over for a week during transition and stayed with an OS that served me well.
 
I must be a goober cause I LOVE MY PHONE!! Can't please all the people all the time....I agree that if you are having serious issues with the phone you maybe should exchange it, cause other than the very short battery life on my first day only, I have had no issues....
 
Having had the iPHone and dealing with the hassle of Apple's anti-drag and drop, I will avoid it.

1) I got the extended battery. It's not as bad as I thought with the case going around the battery and is a workhorse.

2) Why not return for another 4G Android device that will come out? I bought a $15 blackberry to tide me over for a week during transition and stayed with an OS that served me well.
This thing failed me miserably yesterday when I had to use Navigation a bit. It seems the battery is all over the place for me. Today I have kept live wallpapers on, little bit of navigation, some calls, emails, and texts, and auto-update of widgets on and I'm at 50% which I am actually shocked I have right now. By no means is it anything special, but yesterday it probably would have been down to 25% now.

Obviously the Navigation is a huge battery hog. Which is very unfortunate.

I still have my iPhone 4 by my side as I wasn't sure if this would be the right phone for me. I think it's going back. I might make the official move to VZW if I like the Bionic or the next big HTC release.
 
Sadly, I am going to return this phone today... I love everything about it, but the battery life is killing me. I have it set up the exact same way my Incredible was (it would usually be at 35 to 40% every night when I turned it off). The Thunderbolt has yet to make it through a day without charging. I find myself not using the phone for fear that I am going to drain the battery faster.

I ordered online from VZW and plan on returning to a VZW corporate store, does anyone know if I will be charged the $35 re-stocking fee? Has anyone had that waived?
 
Sadly, I am going to return this phone today... I love everything about it, but the battery life is killing me... ...I find myself not using the phone for fear that I am going to drain the battery faster.

^^^Ditto

Hard as it was...and still is...I returned mine today. I feel bad because I must have had a great device. Never had an issue with 4G, 3G worked when I was out of my area, no dust under the glass. Everything was awesome except the big issue of battery life. Like the quote above...I found myself throttling back my use of the phone just so it wouldn't die too soon. I also thought the speaker performed poorly when mounted in the car dock and attempting hands free calling.

I feel like a heel because I was at the store an hour early on release day, only to return the T-Bolt today. But I gave it 9 days of use and bump charging. GREAT DEVICE, but it just didn't work to my expectation.

Thanks to all the posters here in the TB message board. As a lurker, your advice and tips were great. Good luck with your T-Bolts, it really is a nifty phone. Perhaps updates down the line will improve battery life. But with only 4 days remaining to get a full return refund (minus the restocking fee) I had to make the difficult choice when I did. :(
 
Are you guys giving the battery life a chance before bashing it??.. After a couple days my battery life is a lot better than a few other devices that I have had... I was always charging the Pro at work... If I make sure to charge all night, and bump 30 minutes on my way to work, Im good all day and have some left to tinker when I lay down at night... I make sure its orange by then so i can get another FULL charge in overnight...
 
The bottom line is that if you just buy the extended battery then your problems are solved.

I see what you mean, but the only approved extended batteries need a new battery door and make the phone bulky.... I have to use the holster case at work (sure others do too) so that wouldnt work for some... An aftermarket that could fit a bit more power in the same slot would be nice though...
 
Are you guys giving the battery life a chance before bashing it??

I gave it 9 days and as I stated, it was a very difficult decision to return it. I loved the device. But I can return the phone during the week because of my schedule and today was the last day I could do it before my 14 days were up. I wish we had 30 days to decide. I tried all the "tricks" to get the most out of my battery life, the only thing that really made a difference was running WiFi when possible.

And to be clear, I am not bashing the Thunderbolt. I love the phone. But being plugged in is not the definition of portable. It just wasn't the right fit for me. I would much rather have TB sitting on the desk next to right now. If not for an inferior battery, I would. And no, the extended battery is not an option for me.

And the thread is titled "Is anyone returning this phone?". I assumed honest, critical observation would be appropriate here.
 
Returned mine but for a reason you all might think odd. I simply could not deal with the pinpoint LED that's virtually unusable as it is and one I never could get to light for texts for over 5 min. No such problems on the latter BTW on the X or EVO.

I also hated the power button but found workarounds for that. Tis a pity as it was near a perfect phone in all other respects. For me the hunt continues.
 
And the thread is titled "Is anyone returning this phone?". I assumed honest, critical observation would be appropriate here.


I didnt mean that to sound like a critical question... I was just curious if some were giving it (the battery life) a chance before being so hasty to talk it down.... Not the whole phone in general... Im aware that everyones use is different, as will their battery life...
 
I am keeping mine. Yeah battery isnt the best but with future updates and im sure other batteries that you will be able to purchase later on I can deal with it until then. I am not having any of the other issues that you say and sucks you are having problems.
 
I just got 4G in my area Saturday, and it is awesome! I have had it hang up on 4G causing me to have to reboot to get a web page to load, but that doesn't bother me, as I'm sure it will get better with software updates. But I am probably returning this phone also after waiting for months, because of the battery life (I haven't decided 100% but I'm 95% there). I don't want to have to charge it during the day. It will last 17 hours if I don't use the internet. But I also don't want to have to think twice everytime I want to use the phone for websurfing, because I'm worried about the battery usage. My Droid1 would easily make it through the day. I also don't like having the screen down to 28% just so the phone will make the whole day. I have wanted HTC sense for a year. I love the look of the phone. I love the screen dimensions (wider than 4.3 inch Moto screens). But I think I will go with the uglier Bionic and MotoBlur to get the 33% larger battery so I can stop worrying about how much I get on the internet. (If HTC had eliminated the kickstand and lowered the speaker, they could have fit a much larger battery).
 
Mine goes back this week. My OG Droid has a signal here. My bf's who knows how old LG phone has a signal here. My shiny new HTC TB? Dropped call, calls fade in and out until disconnected, no texting in or out. I connected it to my Wifi at home and didn't notice that I wasn't receiving calls or texts because I was too busy looking at wallpaper and all those important things. :P But go inside a building and no one can contact me until I come back out and see sunshine. Anyone who loves their HTC TB and wants to part with their empty box for a small appreciative fee? PM me. I threw mine away like a dumbo because I didn't expect Verizon to go from full signal to no signal in one phone. I am back to my OG Droid. At least I can make calls and text again. Very sad. I liked the speed and the screen and the features. But after three factory resets with different techs and basically having to go stand outside at a certain spot to receive a call... I am done. Hope my Droid lasts. Reason I was getting a new phone to begin with. It is dying a slow death.
 
I just got 4G in my area Saturday, and it is awesome! I have had it hang up on 4G causing me to have to reboot to get a web page to load, but that doesn't bother me, as I'm sure it will get better with software updates. But I am probably returning this phone also after waiting for months, because of the battery life (I haven't decided 100% but I'm 95% there). I don't want to have to charge it during the day. It will last 17 hours if I don't use the internet. But I also don't want to have to think twice everytime I want to use the phone for websurfing, because I'm worried about the battery usage. My Droid1 would easily make it through the day. I also don't like having the screen down to 28% just so the phone will make the whole day. I have wanted HTC sense for a year. I love the look of the phone. I love the screen dimensions (wider than 4.3 inch Moto screens). But I think I will go with the uglier Bionic and MotoBlur to get the 33% larger battery so I can stop worrying about how much I get on the internet. (If HTC had eliminated the kickstand and lowered the speaker, they could have fit a much larger battery).

You cant compare a 3g phone to 4g phone since 4g is newer and will clearly suck down more battery. But all of this was stated in early reviews and they will have larger batteries out that do not need a larger back cover.
 
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