HTC ThunderBolt vs. Samsung Droid Charge: Which 4G LTE Smartphone Is Better?

BUILD & DESIGN:

The Droid Charge is, overall, just a little larger than the ThunderBolt, with the Samsung device just a little over 5-inches tall, and HTC's offering coming in at 4.8-inches tall. The other dimensions are quite similar to each other across devices.

Design-wise, nothing really stands out on either model, aside from the nice little kickstand on the back of the ThunderBolt, which makes its easy to prop the device on a desk and watch video. That's a good thing, because the ThunderBolt, just like the Droid Charge, has a slick, non-textured back that can be hard to hold.

Display
Both these smartphones have 4.3-inch, 480x800 WVGA Touchscreen displays. The Droid Charge's screen is also a Super AMOLED Plus display, while the ThunderBolt's is not.

I personally prefer the ThunderBolt's display, because the one on the Droid Charge is so intense that it almost makes my eyes bleed, but that's just a preference on my part. I know my fellow reviewer, Adama Brown, is a big fan of Super AMOLED Plus screen.

Both displays work well in all conditions, though the Droid Charge has an edge here if you're planning to use it outside--that super-bright screen means that you won't have to waste any time angling it away from the sun or shading it with your hand.

Keyboard
Both devices have a virtual on-screen keyboard, not a physical one, so neither model really has an edge in this category.

Other Buttons & Controls
Samsung's handset definitely wins in this category. That victory isn't the result of some spectacular new feature, but rather because the buttons on the ThunderBolt are so minimal and so low profile that they can be difficult to feel and use. You really have to be looking right at the buttons (or know exactly where they are) in order to use them; otherwise you'll be fumbling quite a bit because they aren't very well defined.

One extra feature the Droid Charge has that the ThunderBolt does not is an HDMI port on the right side of the device. If you want to share your photos and video on a large screen TV, the Droid is clearly the better choice.

PERFORMANCE

Both of these run Google's Android OS 2.2, and an upgrade to Android OS 2.3 for each is expected to come out soon, so these device tie in this area. The Samsung device has more storage capacity out of the box: 32GB over 8GB.

The Quadrant score for the HTC ThunderBolt is 1800, while the Droid Charge scored a 939. That result frankly surprised me, because I didn't feel that the ThunderBolt was twice as fast or twice as responsive as the Droid Charge. They're both based on a 1GHz processor and perform well, opening apps and switching between them quickly, with few delays.

But benchmarks and performance numbers tell only half of the story here, because the user experience is just as important. The ThunderBolt is from HTC, which means that includes the Sense user interface as well as HTC-exclusive apps such as Friend Stream, which helps to unify your personal contacts, your Facebook contacts, and all the people you follow or who follow you on Twitter, into a giant glowing ball of happiness.

Than means that the ThunderBolt feels faster to me in many ways, because the Sense UI makes everything I do with the phone more efficient. If you're not a fan of Sense, that may not be a big deal to you, which is why it's important to understand that in real world testing, both the ThunderBolt and the Droid Charge had roughly the same performance.

Communication
Both smartphones are 4G, and Speed Test tells me that the Droid Charge gets the edge with 13.77 Mbps download speeds as compared to between 9 and 10 Mbps for the ThunderBolt . But when you look at upload speeds, which are important for folks who share a lot of photos or need to send emails with large attachments, the story is reversed. The ThunderBolt upload speeds were 2.6 to 3.7 Mbps, while the Droid Charge managed a dismal 0.48 Mbps upload speed.

By my reckoning, it's always good to use Wi-Fi instead of Wi-Fi where possible in order to get the best browsing experience. It's often faster and you won't run into Verion's monthly limits on data transfers.

Call quality on the Droid Charge is good, but is exceptional for the ThunderBolt. Both phones also offer the mobile hotspot feature, allowing you to create a short-distance Wi-Fi network that can be shared with up to five other devices.

The social experience is quite different for each phone, with the Droid Charge offering the "Buddies Now" and "Feed and Updates" widget, while the ThunderBolt has Friendstream and HTC Peep. While I personally prefer the social experience on the ThunderBolt, the one on the Droid Charge isn't too bad, and is something I could probably get used to, given the time.

Because they both include the default Android apps, the email and web experience on both devices is virtually the same, more dependent on your location and the local network than on any particular feature or specification on either phone.

Productivity
The score is fairly even here, with the Droid Charge coming with a copy of ThinkFree Office, while the ThunderBolt comes with Dataviz Documents to Go. Each is capable of viewing all of the attached documents that your coworkers are emailing to you.

In all other respects the two phones are virtually identical on the productivty front, with the standard Google PIM apps for Calendar and Contacts, Google Maps and VZ Navigator.

Entertainment
Since both of these smartphones are from Verizon, they come preloaded with the same standard assortment of apps and game demos, such as BitBop mobile TV, Rhapsody, and Slacker Radio, Let's Golf 2 and Rock Band, etc.

It's another dead heat when it comes to the camera, because they both have an 8 megapixel rear camera and a 1.3 megapixel front camera for video conferencing. Both devices are capable of taking very good photos in a variety of settings, and can stand in for a dedicated digital camera on any but the most special of occasions.

Battery Life
This is unfortunately a serious problem for both devices, and both come up losers in this category. Maybe it's the 4G, maybe it's the large Touchscreen displays, but both phones suffer from major battery life issues.

If you're willing to do a lot of tweaking and shut down and/or remove as many uncessary apps and services as possible, you should be able to get through a typical day with either phone if you don't spend too much time surfing the web or playing games. Don't even think about leaving your charger at home, though, even for something as short as an overight trip. You're going to need it no matter what, whether you choose the Droid Charge or the ThunderBolt.

CONCLUSION

One factor not to be overlooked is price. The Samsung Droid Charge sells for $250 with a two-year contract, while the HTC ThunderBolt is $200. Of course, if you do some hunting around and are willing to wait for a deal you can probably even this out, but I have to give the nod toHTC's model in this area.

Weighing everything up, after using the Droid Charge for a few days, I found that I preferred using the ThunderBolt. The devices are quite similar in many respects -- size, features, and specifications. Samsung's offering is slightly larger than HTC's, but it also has a Super AMOLED Plus screen and HDMI out.

The reason I keep going back to the ThunderBolt is the fact that it's just easier and more enjoyable to use, thanks to the HTC Sense UI that is overlaid on top of the Android operating system. Themes and sound sets are nice, but Friend Stream is even better and it makes the ThunderBolt into a social powerhouse.

In the end, it all depends on what is most important to you. If you're not interested in Sense, or have tried it and just aren't a big fan, the Droid Charge does have some features that the ThunderBolt does not, such as HDMI out, and it has much better buttons.

Each one has its strengths and weaknesses, and either device would be a good choice. The race is almost too close to call.