HTC ThunderBolt launches as first LTE phone

17.03.2011
HTC's ThunderBolt smartphone. Sales of HTC's ThunderBolt kicked off Thursday, but it isn't clear that faster speeds it offers on Verizon Wireless's LTE (Long Term Evolution) network are exciting buyers, possibly because of their concerns about battery life.

One man at a Verizon store in suburban Boston said he was buying the ThunderBolt because its hardware seemed more durable than an 4, not because of other features or because it is the first Verizon phone running on LTE. "I beat my phones up," he noted.

Other potential buyers said they worried the faster LTE speeds would drain the smartphone's battery too quickly, a concern that was rumored to have delayed the phone's shipment date several times while testing and refinements were made to the phone.

Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney, responding to a question about shipment delays, said Thursday, "When phones have completed the testing process, we launch them."

She repeated published specs for the phone's battery life of up to 6.3 hours of usage time and up to 330 hours of standby time, and wouldn't speculate on LTE's impact on battery life.

Raney also said customer "response has been good" for ThunderBolt midway its first day on sale, although Verizon almost never offers sales figures. At the suburban Boston store, a small crowd that gathered at the 9 a.m. opening had thinned out by 9:30 a.m. and several customers were looking at the 2 and other devices.