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We’ve been quite certain that the HTC Thunderbolt would be launching in the final weeks of February, but it appears the final date is being honed in on. February 24th seems to be the date Verizon will greet its first 4G LTE handset, according to DroidLife. Their insiders are also confirming a $249.99 price on a two-year contract with $329.99 being the price if you go the one year route.
This lines up with leaks that Best Buy would be getting Thunderbolt accessories on February 19th, a move typical of Best Buy putting device peripherals on shelves a few days before launch. It also, as DroidLife points out, lines up all too well with Verizon’s new 14-day return policy. A certain Apple product happens to be launching just 14 days before the 24th on Verizon, meaning envious customers rocking that 3G device won’t be able to simply hand it back into Big Red in favor of the more capable Android handset. What a shame…
[via DroidLife]
LTE pricing? Thats all I care about
How is this going to compete with the atrix at at&t for $149?
of course. :) best moneymaking strategy by VZW yet! sell people the infantile Iphone and then let them drool over the sexy sophisticated Android… is it worth the money to change? well if you have it hell yeah xD i say A+ for devious manipulation Verizon! kudos!
I work for VZW. As far as what the higher ups have told us SO FAR, unlimited internet (even for 4G LTE phones) is still $30 til further notice. So let’s keep our fingers crossed that that doesn’t change!
It’s a wonder that this phone is priced at $250 dollars. Why? No dual-core, no higher screen resolution. It’s also a wonder that Sprint offered the Evo (pretty much the same phone) for 200 dollars 9 months prior to the Thunderbolt’s release. Granted I would rather have 4g LTE than 4g Wimax, but Sprint’s monthly plan is significantly lower than Verizon’s. I’m not price centric, but as Lane points out you can spend $100 less for a better phone in the Atrix–granted it’s under At&t. I hope too many consumers don’t buy into the Thunderbolt. I love HTC and I own a N1, but I’m not at all impressed by this release.
I can think of no tribute more fitting to the 31st Anniversary of the US Olympic Hockey team winning the gold in Lake Placid.
atrix for 149 that a really good price and im liking 1yr activation!!
Everyone quit crying, if you are making a huge deal about a $250 price vs. $200, you probably can’t afford your data plan. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. Until these dual cores are mainstream and are effectively utilized, with an Android OS and programs that can take advantage of dual cores, the Thunderbolt will be a relevant phone for a while, and a good purchase. Plus, I have three android phones, all with data, 1400 minutes, and my VZW bill is $175 all in, including insurance on two lines. How is Sprint significantly lower?
I guess if you want to go the apple first route, you’ll just have to wait one day and buy your iphone a day after launch.
1-year price has been adjusted on DroidLife to $329.
I don’t mind buying the phone, what i do mind is if they try to raise the data package. Verizon is expensive as it is and I’m not willing to pay one more dime than what i should.
Does everyone forget this phone is coming with a 32gb micro sd card? Those alone cost a good 60 bucks or more maybe. I’ll take this phone over a Motorola phone with locked bootloader and on ugh AT&T anyday!
What!?! Verizon can choke on my left testicle with those prices. I wanted to sign a 1 year contract, but for that amount of money I can get an Atrix 4G AND the laptop dock!
@Phil
I don’t think anyone’s crying, but the proof is in the pudding.
Everything Data Family – with Any Mobile, AnytimeSM
Plan Summary
Monthly Price
1500 Shared Minutes $129.99
Line 1 included in monthly price
Line 2 included in monthly price
Line 3 $19.99
Total for 3 shared lines $149.98
So Sprint offers a comparable plan (100 more minutes) for 25 bucks less. This also includes free mobile to mobile, which is a hell of a lot better than carring over your minutes (At&t).
Froyo and Gingerbread may not support dual core but Honeycomb does. I’d rather be prepared for the future.
enough bashing about the iphone- each has it strengths and weaknesses
Thunderbolt is going to be Verizon’s first LTE 4G device. The hands on showed a very zippy 2nd Gen Snapdragon CPU. Indeed several previewers at CES thought that it was a dual core device before the rep stated it was the tweaked EVO chipset. And heck if the mere announcement of Verizon iPhone gets ppl by the thousands clamoring to sign up then this phone should do well as the first 4G LTE device. And yes I’d take the Thunderbolt and it’s specs over the iphone anyday.
@Phil: I’ll complain about the price! Not because I can’t afford it, but simply because it doesn’t look like $50 more phone than the EVO or $100 more phone than the Atrix. I’m looking to get my first android phone when I’m eligible to for an upgrade. At that price I’m seriously considering a Dinc.
i wish the phone was all black like the incredible…i hate the silver across the top!
If the comment from ‘j’ above is right, and the data plan for LTE will also be $30/unlimited per month, then I will *definitely* be getting the HTC Thunderbolt! That would be great news to have that confirmed. :-)
I hope this doesn’t become a trend in pricing for our newer smartphones. We are signing two year contracts; many companies are getting rid of their yearly update programs, and our out of pocket costs on phones are creaping up to the $300 mark.
Sprint vs. Verizon pricing is just foolish…
Verizon has a plan that is 1400 minutes (10 friends and family), unlimited data and txt for $139. I pay with insurance on both phones and discounts my wife gets is $145/mo with taxes. So I am not sure why you think there is huge price difference with Sprint and Verizon.
By the way, as the Verizon rep said and I was told $30/mo unlimited will include 3G/4G.
Cree
How is the overall size of the thunderbolt compare to the incredible?
Um… It seems that everyone is forgetting that the EVO was also $250 when it first launched…
@j false.
Alli can say in the sprint vs verizon debate is atleast with verizon data is unlimited even in extended network roaming ive spoke with my sprint rep and if your not on a sprint native coverage your data is taken out of your minutes also january 30th marks a change for sprint there everything data plans will contain a 10 dollar a line per smaetphone so that 19.99 will be 29.99 and 2 line will be 149.99. And everyone who wants to say not true or wont happen just wait and eat crow :p
I am debating: Wait for the Motorola Bionic or get the HTC Thunderbolt. Any thoughts on the differences between the Bionic and ThunderBolt besides the HDMI input and dual core? A late 2 QTR release is bothering me, I want a new phone NOW!
At all the people who are comparing this to the Evo, PLEASE STOP. You are only embarrassing yourself. The only similarity is the 4.3″ 800×480 Super LCD with an 8MP camera, dual LED flash with 1.3MP front facing camera and kickstand. Everything else is like night and day. This phone has 8GB of built-in storage plus an included 32GB MicroSD card, the Evo has 1GB built in storage plus an 8GB MicroSD card included. This phone has 768MB of RAM, the Evo has 512MB of RAM. This phone has the newer Qualcomm processor which has a better GPU. This phone has Sense 2.0 (which includes fastboot, access to htcsense.com along with HTC’s service that rivals Apple’s MobileMe FOR FREE). The moment this phone launches, it will be the best phone on the market.
If you don’t believe the specs I just listed, here are my sources- http://www.htc.com/us/products/thunderbolt-verizon#tech-specs and http://www.htc.com/us/products/evo-sprint#tech-specs
The 32GB Micro SD alone is probably worth like $100. This phone is a bargain at $250 even with contract.
I’m switching from Droid X to Thunderbolt…even if it’s a stupid name. :)
@marcusashaw – my bad. For some reason was thinking Evo & epic were both $250 at launch. Thanks for correction. Self-fail.
@Ace preach on Brotha! :) That’s what I thought the 32 gig SD card definately ups its value.. as well as the updated specs… Thunderbolt may not be dual core.. but it is no slouch either. Definate improvement over my Eris! lol
I too am debating on whether I should pick up the thunderbolt or wait for the Motorola Bionic…im sure that a dual-core processor would really be a drain on the battery however, maybe that will only be true if there are a ton of applications actually utilizing both cores? Oh….and just a little piece of info for everyone to digest…I was told by more than one vzw rep that my plan will be grandfathered in so I will still only be paying $30 for unlimited data!
@Ace curry
Disagree, Samsung epic with bonsai 2.2.1 is and will continue to be the best phone out there until tegra 2 reaches the states.
SGX 540 >>>> adreno 205
45nm hummingbird = 45nm snapdragon
Super Amoled >>>>> super lcd
Keyboard vs no key board, Personal opinion but I love the keyboard
@Mike L. It is close. If you are into 3D gaming and keyboards, then zero doubt that the Epic is the better phone BUT in terms of productivity, the myTouch 4G (same processor) does get higher Smartbench 2010 scores (with both clocked at 1GHz) than Epic on 2.2 (tho Epic blows it away in gaming). Also those new Qualcomm processors seem to be stable at higher speeds when it comes to overclocking.
I’d prefer the TB (my dream phone, I’m probably going to end up getting the Inspire since Verizon is so damn expensive) for these reasons:
4.3″>>>4.0″
768MB of RAM>>>>512MB of RAM (this is huge for me)
8GB internal+32GB SD>>>500MB internal+16GB SD
HTC Build Quality/Support>>>Samsung Build Quality/Support
LTE>>>WiMax
WHYYYYYYYYYYYY
Why cant it be all black…the EVO looks cooler…but i hate SPRINT….tear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@33, Use a sharpie. While the Atrix is obviously a better phone, I’d rather have the Tunderbolt and have an actual highspeed data connection (jab at AT&T’s shotty 3G coverage). Keep in mind that the Thunderbolt is not too far behind the Atrix. It makes up by having better coverage.
*Thunderbolt
a sharpie!!!!!!!!!! great idea! the evo is cool, it has a white back option too….i have the incredible now and LOVE IT …but i will be getting the thunderbolt!!
About the TB, I believe it’s also supposed to be the only VZ phone for a while that let’s you do voice and data at the same time ala iphone.
I must admit though that my perfect phone would still have a keyboard and optical mouse to keep the screen from gettin’ all greasy.
Everybody is leaving out that Sprint charges ten dollars more for 4g data for a total of 40 dollar data plan go to sprint see for yourself
Everyone’s leaving out the fact that the thunderbolt is gunna have a small battery I like the phone buh battery life on smartphones is not good and this is a 4.3 inch display with a small battery anyone got numbers on how long the battery will last?
Most important question is battery life for sure. What’s it going to be? Will there be an extended battery for sale at launch? This phone should be a category killer but if you can’t get past 12 Noon as power user, what good will it be?