If you've purchased the HTC Thunderbolt and are enjoying the great speeds users are reporting when using the new Verizon 4G LTE network, I'm guessing you're also extremely disappointed with the HTC Thunderbolt battery life.
I'm not naive to believe or understand that smartphone manufacturers are constantly having to balance which features to include on their new smartphones and which features they forgo depending upon the latest technology, the consumer market they're trying to tap, and the overall usability of the smartphone product they're delivering to the market.
Keeping this in mind, I still don't understand the HTC Thunderbolt battery life or, for that matter, the battery life on most of the smartphones currently on the market today. Some reports are noting that the HTC Thunderbolt battery life (a 1400 mAh battery inside) is supporting as little as 3.5 - 4.5 hours of use while on the new Verizon 4G LTE network with significantly more usage time if you back off to the Verizon 3G network.
It seems to me that it would be awfully hard for there to be a disconnect between the smartphone manufacturers and the consumer in this regard. I will say that the battery life on the AT&T iPhone 4 is great provided you toggle off of the AT&T 3G network and leave your iPhone on the Edge network when not in use. Unless I'm browsing the web, using maps, or any other feature requiring the use of data and don't have access to a Wi-Fi hotspot, I always leave my iPhone on the AT&T Edge network, rather than the AT&T 3G network, as I've found, in addition to the greatly improved battery life, that the call reliability and dropped calls noticed by many is reduced substantially.
Getting back on track, I'm going to reiterate that I do understand that there are many variables being balanced and that there is a huge demand from the consumer to buy a smartphone that has the software and hardware to power the latest technological advancements available at the time. There's also no doubt that pushing the limits of technology comes with having to make some sacrifices.
Again, that being said, I still don't understand why something more can't be done to address the battery life issues that plague most of the feature rich smartphones on the market today. There were battery life issues on the HTC EVO and you knew that the same was going to be true for the HTC Thunderbolt battery life.
You'd think we'd have a better solution to this issue other than constantly having to charge your smartphone battery or purchasing an expensive and clunky battery life extender.
Right?