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Help Is anyone returning this phone?

redraider1 said:
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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It is well known that 3rd party battery makers lie about their capacity. The stock battery already fills the entire area. You can't get more Amps without either changing the battery chemistry (not happening - LiPo is the best we got right now), or making it bigger. Motorola went with a more efficient processor, and made the battery roughly 33% bigger. That should prove HUGE for battery life. I need to talk to my Verizon store rep. Through work, I currently get a 22% discount on plans (got the TB on one year contract for $250), and something like 25% off on accessories. If I get a 20+% discount on phones that I buy retail, then I'll keep the TB until the Bionic comes out, compare the two, and only sell the TB if the battery is still killing me (if they haven't improved it with software updates, etc).
 
IRuninCircles said:
I don't understand how anyone can know after a couple of days if they want to return his/her phone already?? You cannot even discover what all the phone is capable of without giving it a decent amount of time. I took mine today with me when I went offshore fishing, hoping to take pics of HUGE fish, and I had my Thunderbolt fully charged. After about 4 hours of fishing, I got it to take a picture and NOTHING! It would not turn on. Brought it home, put it on charge and it came right on, I still don't want to return it. Maybe I forgot something that caused the battery to drain so quickly...
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real offshore = out of range, meaning your phone is going to constantly search for signal and will kill itself trying. turn your network off if you are going out of range for extended periods of time.
 
i have yet to purchase this one, will be in a couple weeks. trading my inc. but when you get your new phone you are spending above average time on for the first 2-3 weeks. then it just becomes a phone. learn to live with the lack of battery or buy a bigger one. turn off the things that aren't necessary. if i am trying to save battery power for a late night, i will turn off the data. when i do that the phone will last for 2 days without charge. i used to bump charge, but got sick of it. once i changed the settings on my phone from auto updating to manual updating i saw a HUGE increase in battery life. also the screen brightness...i use the power control widget and always use the first click (40%) unless i go outside then i use the 2nd. always keep wifi on if u are frequently in wifi areas, its a big battery saver! get over the fact that u have a new phone and get on with normal day life and most of you will probably get better battery life.

tips:

1. quit acting like a 5 year old with a new toy.
2. turn off auto updates
3. turn off sync when not needed. i keep mine off at work and on over lunch/ after work.
4. turn off auto brightness. mine is always at 40% unless im outside.
5. wifi will use less power than the 3G or 4G network.
6. cameras, gps, led lights/flash DESTROY your battery. Dont use nav on long drives/commutes. or atleast keep the screen off between waypoints.

ps: when the carriers made the switch from 2g to 3g, everyone with a smart phone was freaking out because there phones didnt last for 5 days any more between charges. accept the fact that 4g is going to use more battery, or wait another 2 years until its no big deal like 3g phones are today.
 
I gave it a solid week of use. I was amazed by the speed of the LTE network, but disappointed by the battery life and the Sense UI. After using the iPhone 4 it's hard not to expect more battery life out of a phone. We shouldnt have to turn features off, or buy additional batteries. The phone should be able to handle 8 hours of normal use on a single charge. I also had other issues with the phone being unable to switch between 4g, 3G, and regular CDMA reception. I would have to reboot the phone for it to get back onto the 4g network.
I love the android OS, but I hate that Vzw, and others, fill the phone with a bunch of crap apps that you cant remove. And I'm not a fan of the Sense UI. The Nexus S is an awesome phone with a pure Android experience. Plus the battery life is really good for an Android phone. I was able to get 12hrs of moderate to heavy use on a single charge. I might have to give it a try again now that it's going to be on Sprint's network.
VZW's LTEnetwork is awesome. I look forward to them getting a better LTE capable phone.
 
18t said:
tips:

1. quit acting like a 5 year old with a new toy.
2. turn off auto updates
3. turn off sync when not needed. i keep mine off at work and on over lunch/ after work.
4. turn off auto brightness. mine is always at 40% unless im outside.
5. wifi will use less power than the 3G or 4G network.
6. cameras, gps, led lights/flash DESTROY your battery. Dont use nav on long drives/commutes. or atleast keep the screen off between waypoints.

ps: when the carriers made the switch from 2g to 3g, everyone with a smart phone was freaking out because there phones didnt last for 5 days any more between charges. accept the fact that 4g is going to use more battery, or wait another 2 years until its no big deal like 3g phones are today.
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4G is not that big a problem. Putting a smaller battery in a 4G device than we see in 3G devices like the DroidX IS the problem. If only a phone company would put a BIGGER battery in a 4G phone...., oh wait..., Motorola is doing that with the Bionic. Don't get me wrong. I really want to like my TB, and love just about everything about it. But the tiny battery to make room for the kickstand was just plain stupid.
 
monkeylicious said:
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.
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Actually it just sounds like you got a lemon. I would take it back and tell them to give you a new one, because of the radio issues. It isn't the network but how your particular device is working on the network.

This isn't present in all Thunderbolts and your's is actually the first issue of this type I have seen. I would return and see if the new TB has the same issues.
 
I have to decide by Wednesday 9 (that's day 13), Still have the DX, and not a lot of responses trying to sell it. I really like the size of the TB, and my gosh is it fast - but I'm also not sure it's THAT much faster. I miss root (I know it's been rooted - but I'm a 60yo non-geek and rooted via Z4Root) and the great battery life and the liberty rom.....
someone convince me to keep the TB!
 
cbanning said:
I have to decide by Wednesday 9 (that's day 13), Still have the DX, and not a lot of responses trying to sell it. I really like the size of the TB, and my gosh is it fast - but I'm also not sure it's THAT much faster. I miss root (I know it's been rooted - but I'm a 60yo non-geek and rooted via Z4Root) and the great battery life and the liberty rom.....
someone convince me to keep the TB!
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Become a geek and root that thing :p It's not that difficult. All of the instructions are here: Thunderbolt Android Development - xda-developers
 
cbanning said:
I have to decide by Wednesday 9 (that's day 13), Still have the DX, and not a lot of responses trying to sell it. I really like the size of the TB, and my gosh is it fast - but I'm also not sure it's THAT much faster. I miss root (I know it's been rooted - but I'm a 60yo non-geek and rooted via Z4Root) and the great battery life and the liberty rom.....
someone convince me to keep the TB!
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Not up to us though...it's your call here :D

Seriously, the TB is a nice phone but the DX is a nice phone as well. What do you want to do with it? What can't you do with one of the devices that you can do with the other?

Is locking in the unlimited 4G data plan important to you? Front facing camera important?

Many people report having terrible battery life with the TB. If you are one of them...that is a big consideration as well.
 
I traded my x for this phone. It was a hard call for mw as well. While I miss the outstanding battery life of my x, my tb's battery life is not deplorable. Ub is right this is your call to make. For me it mostly came to two factors that led me to keep my thunderbolt : I got locked into unlimited 4G (at least for the foreseeable future) and two i missed having a fully rooted device that I could run soap find on.
 
digdug1 said:
I traded my x for this phone. It was a hard call for mw as well. While I miss the outstanding battery life of my x, my tb's battery life is not deplorable. Ub is right this is your call to make. For me it mostly came to two factors that led me to keep my thunderbolt : I got locked into unlimited 4G (at least for the foreseeable future) and two i missed having a fully rooted device that I could run soap find on.
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Haha! Damn the new devices with their auto-correct and their lack of Android terminology out of the box! Have fun running the "soap find on"! :D
 
Yesterday, after charging all night and my usual bump charge on my way to work, mine went from 730am to 1130pm (when it gave me the 15% message).....Yesterday I sent texts, took a few calls and just regular daily use.... Im just not getting the horrible battery life that others are having with theirs...
 
Outlaw.99 said:
Yesterday, after charging all night and my usual bump charge on my way to work, mine went from 730am to 1130pm (when it gave me the 15% message).....Yesterday I sent texts, took a few calls and just regular daily use.... Im just not getting the horrible battery life that others are having with theirs...
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My battery will last all day also if I don't use the internet and don't make too many calls. But I want a phone I can use the internet for an hour, or use the GPS on to go GeoCaching, and still make it through the day. My Droid1 did it. The DroidX can do it. And I'm sure the Bionic will do it. Everyone has different expectations and needs. I LOVE the look of the TB, the screen geometry, HTC sense, etc, better than the Bionic. But the battery life is important enough for me that I will return the TB tomorrow before I get locked in for the next year. I will be shedding a tear though....
 
I think it's a keeper for me. First time off the charger today (got it yesterday) and without bumping. I have 5 hours 31 minutes up and 2 hours awake time. Nearly an hour of that was streaming music and playing games, the other hour was email and single apping.

I have a couple days until the bat is where it's going to be, that will be the true test I guess.
 
rcyphermd said:
what "magic" did VZ do?
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It wasnt a reset like all these other guys got lol. I'm not sure really, he told me at the time what he was doing, and I had to reboot like 3 times. But after he was done I was 7-10dbm better than before he started. And like I said, not a single 3G issue since. I was amazed, srs
Before: bathroom =-101dbm living room=-95dbm
After: bathroom =-96dbm living room=-89dbm
As I was explained it: -90dbm is average reception, -70dbm is perfect, -101 is bad reception , almost no service
 
Well, I returned mine yesterday. If HTC makes a phone with a 4.3 inch screen and a 1900+ battery without a hump, I'll jump on it. Until then, I'll have to slum it with the Bionic once it is released. My Droid 1 is killing me with how slow it is, but at least I can use it all day and still have plenty of juice in the battery 14 hours later.
 
Binglut9 said:
Great phone just not ready for 4 g should of kept it 3 g
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I wanted this phone back in September/October when it was rumored to be a 3G device (releasing in November). I didn't really care about 4G at the time because I'm on WiFi so often.

I don't know what your 4G market is like, but in Columbus, OH it has been pretty solid (apart from a couple of days when 4G was basically down). The network speeds are fast, the phone is fast, and I can stream videos in the car without buffering and share that internet connection with my kid's NookColors (which will keep them quiet :))

I don't see why the phone isn't ready for 4G? I almost passed on this phone because it didn't have a dual core...I would have definitely passed if it was a single core 3G phone. 3G only would have been a huge mistake...
 
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