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15 Android Phones Versus the iPhone 5

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The iPhone 5 may or may not be coming out in 2011. Assuming it does, there will be plenty of Android-based competition to deal with.

HTC Thunderbolt

Challenger: HTC Thunderbolt

Processor: 1GHz Snapdragon MSM8655

Screen Size: 4.3-inch 800x480

iPhone Threat Level: Orange

The HTC Thunderbolt is Verizon’s very first 4G LTE smartphone, and it has gotten a lot of attention because of it. With real life download speeds hitting around 25Mbps, the iPhone 5 simply won’t be able to compete, even if it turns out to be HSPA+ capable. The Thunderbolt is also an extremely well built device, with solid construction and thoughtful kickstand.

Network speed is the only place where it has the iPhone 5 beat though. Apart from the 4G LTE antenna, the Thunderbolt is really nothing more than a tweaked EVO 4G, even sharing a similar 1GHz single core processor. It is a fast and capable processor, but it just pales in comparison to the iPhone 5. As many reviewers pegged it, the Thunderbolt is a 2010 smartphone with a 2011 network radio.

31 Comments Comment from the forums
  • caseyd 27 April 2011 16:29
    Excellent article. I am a long time user of the IPhone, but I've been waiting for the latest and greatest by Apple. Since they decided to push off the launch of the new product as they had previously from June to September/October, I decided I am going to look into Android products as I don't want to wait that long. After this article, I know what phone I'm interested in. I'm even willing to wait a few months for it. Who knows, Apple may pull me back if they ever announce anything, but at this time, I'm extremely excited by the prospect of using an Android phone for the first time!
    Reply
  • CTPAHHIK 27 April 2011 16:49
    iPhone needs to incorporate T-Mobile 4G LTE band, which would make it compatible with all GSM networks in North America/Europe. This would significantly expand prospective user base. There is no need to sell iPhone on T-Mobile, as unlocked versions will show up on T-Mobile network. This would be a big plus for ATT as they are buying T-Mobile. Happy apple users, as now they can seamlessly switch between ATT and T-Mobile. There is still no 3G world phone on the market and Apple would be first one again.
    Reply
  • dimar 27 April 2011 18:17
    For some reason I feel that it will be missing the most important features I need such as FLAC playback, high quality audio with professioanl EQ, 1080p60 at 80Mbps HD video recording/playback, dual microSDXC card reader, USB 3.0 support and on & on... So yes, I'll wait for Samsung Universe T instead.
    Reply
  • 27 April 2011 20:37
    Had one HTC last year, sold it fast again. Going no touch now, battery is king. Anyway, not speaking about battery time makes this rather useless. I will consider Iphone 5 if they bring in even more battery life.
    Reply
  • burnley14 27 April 2011 22:02
    It means that even if the iPhone 5 launches according to schedule, two months later there will be a phone on the market that is more than twice as powerful (or, using Apple’s math when comparing the iPad to the iPad 2, eight times as powerful).

    This gave me a good chuckle. Very nice article by the way, it was a pleasure to read.
    Reply
  • blueer03 28 April 2011 00:32
    It looks like I may need to replace my Nexus 1 with the Sensation; the design even makes it look like an N1. I just hope the build quality is up to the same standards, as it is one of the things that I love about it over the other plastic HTC phones.
    Reply
  • quantumrand 28 April 2011 01:04
    blueer03It looks like I may need to replace my Nexus 1 with the Sensation; the design even makes it look like an N1. I just hope the build quality is up to the same standards, as it is one of the things that I love about it over the other plastic HTC phones.
    The Sensation should be a very sturdy phone. If you look closely, you can see that it has a unibody exoskeleton, which I believe is made from aluminum or at least some metal allow. It doesn't cover the whole phone though, so you won't have any antenna issues like the various versions of the iPhone.
    Reply
  • 28 April 2011 01:11
    It's good to hear from IPhone owners, but until they have used Micorsofts Windows Phone 7 they don't know what they are missing. Windows Phones will surrpass Apple and Google by providing phones that are both easy to use and clolely tied to all Windows systems.
    Reply
  • 28 April 2011 02:58
    To me, support from third party developers is almost more important than hardware specs. Apple and Android both have excellent support but, as we all know, Apple has a slight edge. Let's not forget there's so many Android sets out there with only a handful of real true smart phones. There will always be millions and millions of Android os's out there but Apple sells millions and millions of one phone and will continue to do so and so will the Android OS. I think everyone has learned from RIM and Palm... Don't get lazy by shoving out the same garbage year over year.
    Reply
  • fulle 28 April 2011 05:43
    The Droid 3 should release soon as a iPhone5 competitor as well. A lot of the specs are unknown, but we can basically assume it'll be very competitive, with its show stopper feature being a 5 row qwerty keyboard.
    - Us existing Droid and Droid 2 owners might know more than others missing out, but a good 5 row qwerty is a pretty big deal.
    Reply