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Thinking of switching to Thunderbolt... lol

S

SeanGTS

Newbie
I'm sure you guys are annoyed by these posts, but here we go.

I have big hands, the incredible 2 is tiny in my palm. I like the idea of having a larger screen, and dont think it would bother me in my pocket. I do not have 4g in my area, but do an hour away.

Are the biggest reasons to not use the Thunderbolt the battery/size issues? What else am I missing? Any other big differences?

REally appreciate the experts input. I'm sure most of you are partial to the INC2... it really is a great phone. I just wish the headset jack wasn't so sensitive!
 
I heard it was the other way around. If you were on 4G it was horrible and it was fine on 3G.
 
I heard a lot of people turn the 4g off to conserve battery. I don't think that's the only battery drain issue though. You will have the same htc UI though.... which I think is a big plus.
 
I purchased the Thunderbolt right after the release date, a co-worker just picked up the inc2 yesterday, from what I can tell, the build quality is much better on the Inc2. I ended up taking back the t-bolt and sticking with the Inc1... The battery was terrible on the T-Bolt. I loved the phone otherwise...
 
The battery life was one of the biggest issues that caused me to choose the DInc2 for my upgrade from the beloved Eris. The size didn't work for me either, since I carry my phone in the side pocket of my Carhartts, and I have heard about connectivity issues with the TB. As I understand it though, the connectivity issues are when the phone switches between 4g and 3g so maybe not an issue for you.

I do hope that if you switch, you will come back to this thread no sooner than a few weeks into your new TB to let us know how things are working out for you.

If the size of the DInc2 isn't big enough for you, maybe you should get a tablet and hang that on your hip... :D
 
Im a bit concerned now too. I JUST got my Dinc2 in the mail as a replacement for that abomination known as the Fascinate. I absolutely LOVE the device and so happy im in something stable and good. Although Ive been thinking, should I upgrade (Once july 16th hits) to a new 4G phone and avoid the tiered plans? I want to stay in this phone for a while and dont really feel a need to upgrade QUITE yet. Although Im scared if I dont jump now onto 4G (I do want my next phone to be 4G for security purposes) and wait until something a bit more compelling comes out (A sensation variant would be a dream) then Im not going to be grandfathered into the unlimited 4G data and be stuck with a tiered plan...and I REALLY do not want that...
 
I've heard that the thunderbolt actually feels more solid. Hmmm you guys have made this tough! I have until tomorrow to decide.l
 
I had the Tbolt & got switched to the Inc2. This may not be what everyone else has experienced, but here is mine.

Screen. While it is bigger on the Tbolt, it was much more washed out compared to the Inc2. I did a test side by side of the Inc1, Inc2 , & Tbolt. The two Incredibles were almost identicle, with a slight edge on blacks in favor of the Inc1. I tested them with all set to 25% brightness, but the Tbolt looked like it was at 100% compared to the other two, with the contrast suffering.

Battery. I am not in a 4G area, so I had it set to cdma auto (ie no 4G). Some days the battery was great, while others was horrible, with the same use. I made sure there were no apps causing the issue. The odd thing was even on days when I'd only get less than a half hour total of on screen time, the display was the largest battery drain. The battery on the Inc2 however has been great, beating both the Tbolt & Inc1.

Random issues. My Tbolt has had a lot of random issues raning from gps showing me anywhere from the next state to the coast (I live in the center of South Dakota). I had random reboots, but unlike most of the Tbolt owners with the issue, I had not installed the recent OTA, opting to see if it was going to cause issues. And yet I still had the reboots.

Size/weight. Even though the difference in physical size between the Tbolt & Inc2 is minimal, it fits easier in my hand, probably due to the terraced sides/back. The Tbolt's weight came to be an issue on long calls. With the Inc2 I could probably go all day with the phone to my ear without my hand getting tired. A light phone IMHO is not a bad thing.

Build. While my Tbolt seemed fairly solid, the battery cover never seemed to fit correctly. The corner down by the kickstand hinge would never actually snap into place, even if that was the first section I popped into place. While the Tbolt looks like it's made out of aluminum, it's actually painted plastic (I have heard the frame is aluminum however). The Inc2's front bezel and frame is aluminum, and the battery cover attaches much more solidly than my Tbolt did. Those factors give the Inc2 a much more solid feel even with the lighter weight.

The only things that were really better on the Tbolt are:

Video chat. I used the plugin for Yahoo messenger as you can video chat with either other phones or PCs. While I have installed it on my Inc2, it only recognizes the rear cam on it, while the Tbolt worked great with either the front or rear cam.

Speed. While almost a minimal difference, the Tbolt was about a 1/4 second faster than the Inc2, be it web browsing or general phone operations.

4G. Even though I don't have it, I may travel to areas that do have it, & it would have been nice to see what all the hubbub is about.

Wrapping up, the benefits on the Inc2 in my situation outweighed the possible plusses of staying with the Tbolt. Screen is better, battery life is more predictable (and better), less random issues, better build quality and size/weight.

This is only my opinion. Perhaps I had a run of bad Tbolts (3), but I didn't want to keep swapping to different phones and spending around 1.5 hours each setting them up (that's with appbrain auto downloading my apps). If not for the things I mentioned above (mostly battery and random issues) I might still be with the Tbolt today. Personally I will wait until 4G has matured a bit and is within a year of being in my area to jump on a 4G phone again (unless something absolutely mindblowing comes out). As it is, I'm extremely happy with my Inc2. My first smartphone was the Inc1, and I had that same feeling all over again when I got the Inc2.

But, in the end, nothing what any of us can say matters if you feel the Tbolt is better for you. You know yourself better than we do, so you know what your needs are. Good luck.:)
 
Wow, thank you.

I will stick with the Inc2, it really is a sweet phone, I was just hoping for a bit bigger screen with all the same features of the INC2.

My history, I purchased the Storm 1 the day it came out. I went though something like 14 of those until they got me a storm 2. Still not satisfied they got me into a BB Bold which was overall a great phone just lacked the flash and freshness of my current INC2.

Thank you all, I will keep with the inc2, bigger isn't always better.
 
If you want to increase the heft of the Inc 2, get the extended battery. I have large hands myself due to my size, and the extended battery makes it feel quite nice in my hand.
 
I picked up a Thunderbolt a few days after it launched, but just swapped it out for an Incredible2 as well. The two big issues I had with it that caused me to ditch it was battery life and stability of the phone. I bought it knowing the battery would not be as robust as the iPhone4 it replaced, and I know everyone complains about the battery, but it doesn't come close to the performance Verizon advertised the phone was capable of. I probably got 1/2 the performance that HTC/Verizon said it should get.

The other thing that made me snap was after they sent the latest OTA update to it, my phone started rebooting randomly, something Verizon admitted was a bit of a known issue. The last thing I need is to be on a business call only to have the call drop due to the phone rebooting! I ditched my iPhone on AT&T because of call drops, but atleast with the iPhone I could simply redial - with the Thunderbolt I had to wait for it to boot.. and it was slow to do that!

I will say, I do miss LTE. Not as much for browsing on the phone itself, but I used the hotspot function quite a bit. I did however notice that the Incredible2 seems a lot more polished. The phone boots *much* faster, the interface is smoother, and the build quality is better. Just compare the top power button on the Incredible2 with the Thunderbolt. The Thunderbolt may *feel* more solid, but the overall quality of the phone is terrible in comparison.
 
I had the option of the T-Bolt but decided on the DINC2. I was on the phone with Verizon about my DX and was offered a replacement so I had a split second to make a decision. Talk about pressure! Anyway after reading this thread I am glad that I chose the DINC2.
 
I am doing the opposite - switching from a Thunderbolt to the Incredible2. I am currently on my fifth Tbolt (in just a little over 2 months) and it's having the same problems as the others I've had. Three of the phones I had, had a frequently unresponsive keyboard that would take about 5 minutes to snap out of. They ALL had rebooting issues and had an LED notification light that would stop blinking if it sat for more than five minutes or so without being checked, which was a pain because I couldn't tell if I had anything waiting or not just by looking at the phone. Two of them would randomly go to speakerphone, mute, or end the call all on their own. Three would become unresponsive at the bottom part of the screen where you have the Phone "button" in the middle, the Settings on the right, and the App Menu button on the left, which left me unable to make calls. This last one also has a bad camera on it. While the phone definitely has its great qualities, I am giving up on it and going for a different model that will hopefully be more dependable.

As far as my experience goes, I loved the camera (except with this last one). The color on it was amazing! Very true-to-life, vibrant, and the pictures were always very sharp. I take a lot of pictures with my phone so that was a huge plus for me. I've taken some with it that people have thought I took with my expensive digital SLR! Call quality was always very good. The screen looked great, and I loved how big it was! The phone was very fast for the most part, but I noticed that with all except this last one, the texting program would lag and that was a little annoying. The phone felt nice in my hand, which was surprising since I have small hands.

As far as battery life goes, I can verify that it varies from phone to phone (or battery to battery). With the first two phones I received I could easily get a full day's use out of it. Even with moderate/heavy use I still had battery left when I went to bed at night (usually about 16 hours, sometimes longer. keep in mind I'm in a 3G area.) I couldn't understand where all the complaints about battery life were coming from. Then with my third phone, it was a different story. With light/moderate use, I was lucky to get 8 hours out of it. I was running the same few apps, had the settings set the same, etc. Unfortunately, since that was the last new phone I was allowed since I was then past my 30 days, that was also the battery I was stuck with when I started getting the refurbs. I ended up buying the extended battery, which was wonderful. Even with extremely heavy use, I still have about 30% left at the end of the day. With moderate use, I can easily go two days on one charge. If you can get past the added weight (which I wasn't a huge fan of) and the bulkier shape (I found this made it easier to hold the phone and somehow, to text more accurately), it's definitely worth it.

Having said all this, I know plenty of people who have no problems whatsoever with their Thunderbolts. It's beyond me how I managed to get stuck with five bad ones, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. One thing to make note of - when I called about getting this last phone I have, the guy specifically told me not to do the new system update on the Thunderbolt, as it's causing some issues. That makes no sense to me because I thought the whole point of an update is to fix existing problems; not make them worse and create new ones! :confused: I did notice that with my second-to-last one, it was rebooting a lot more frequently after updating.

Good luck with whatever you decide!
 
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