New HTC Thunderbolt

Looks as though the new HTC Thunderbolt is living up to the hype. I just watched a few hands-on videos on the phone and it looks impressive. I'm fairly familiar with the phone as I have an HTC Evo, which the Thunderbolt is somewhat based off of.

Overall, I like the phone. It's definitely more refined than my Evo is. The specs are pretty damn good too. Many people complained about the Evo's 4.3" screen, but I have yet to hear anyone complaining about the Thunderbolt's screen size. In my opinion, the screen size is perfect. Many people were probably not used to seeing a phone so large and were a bit intimidated by it. It's really not uncomfortable at that size and viewing videos on it is awesome. The camera is pretty sweet too. Having an 8mp camera and being able to record in 720p is impressive.

Of course, the coolest thing about this phone is the kickstand. These kickstands are really underrated. I can't count how many times I've used the kickstand on my Evo to watch videos on my phone or to show my friends a video. It is much more convenient than having to hold the phone up, especially on substantially long videos. I haven't really had a chance to see how the screen stacks up against other phones, but I'm sure it's no slouch.

With all things great, there are always things that could have been better. I have two main complaints about this phone. The first is that there is no apparent way to turn off LTE on Verizon, besides pulling out the LTE card behind the battery. I'm not sure how this affects battery life or the performance of the phone, but I can't think it helps it any. Secondly, the location of the charge port is just puzzling to me. The charge port is located on the side of the phone right where the phone rests with the kickstand being used. If you're watching a video with the kickstand, there is absolutely no way to charge the phone.

Other than those two gripes I have, the HTC Thunderbolt is a superb phone. With the screen size, hardware, kickstand and of course the HTC Sense UI, there aren't many smartphones that can compete head-to-head with this phone. If I didn't already have my HTC Evo on Sprint, I'd pick this phone up in a heartbeat.