Difference Between iPhone 4S and HTC Thunderbolt

iPhone 4S vs HTC Thunderbolt | HTC Thunderbolt vs Apple iPhone 4S Speed, Performance and Features | Full Specs Compared

Apple finally release iPhone 4S on 4 October 2011, and it will be available from 14 October 2011. The external appearance of 4S seems identical to iPhone 4. The much anticipated iPhone 5 has been delayed for 2012 release. iPhone 4S is the first dual core smartphone from Apple. iPhone 4S will be compatible with wide range of networks. It will be available in US for all major carriers except for T-Mobile. iPhone 4S carry a price tag similar to that of iPhone 4 at release; 16 GB model is priced at $199, and 32GB and 64GB are price $299 and $399 respectively, on contract. Apple has brought down the prices of iPhone 4 now. HTC Thunderbolt is one the most popular phone with Verizon. Thunderbolt is a 4G phone, it was the first phone to experience the 4G LTE speed.  It is priced at $250.

iPhone 4S

The much speculated iphone 4S was released on October 4th 2011. The iPhone which has bench-marked standards in the smart phone hemisphere has raised the expectations more. Will iPhone 4 deliver to the expectations? Having one look at the device one can understand that the appearance of iPhone 4S remains similar to iPhone 4; the much raved predecessor. The device is available in both black and white. The glass and stainless steel built that most find appealing remains intact.

The newly released iPhone 4S remains 4.5” of height and 2.31” of width the dimensions of iPhone 4S remains similar to its predecessor iPhone 4. The thickness of the device is 0.37” as well regardless of the improvement done to the camera. There for, iPhone 4S remains the same portable slim device everyone love. iPhone 4S weighs 140g. The slight increase of device is maybe due to the many new improvements that we will discuss later. iPhone 4S includes a 3.5” touch screen with 960 x 640 resolution. The screen also includes the usual fingerprint resistant oleophobic coating. The display marketed by Apple as ‘retina display’ has a contrast ratio of 800:1. The device comes with sensors such as an accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate, three-axis gyro sensor, a proximity sensor for auto turn-off and an ambient light sensor.

The processing power is one of the many improved features on iPhone 4S than its predecessor. The iPhone 4S is powered by a Dual core A5 processor. According to Apple, the processing power is increased by 2 X and enables graphics that are 7 times faster and the energy efficient processor will improve battery life as well. While the RAM on the device is still not officially listed the device is available in 3 versions of storage; 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB. Apple has not allowed a micro SD slot to expand the storage. In terms of connectivity, iPhone 4S has HSPA+14.4Mbps, UMTS/WCDMA, CDMA, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. At the moment, iPhone 4S is the only smart phone which can switch between two antennas to transmit and receive. Location based services are available through Assisted GPS, digital compass, Wi-Fi and GSM.

iPhone 4S is loaded with iOS 5 and usual applications one can find on an iPhone, such as FaceTime. The newest addition to the uniquely designed applications on iPhone is ‘Siri’; a voice assistant which can understand certain keywords we speak and virtually do everything on the device. ‘Siri’ is capable of scheduling meetings, checking weather, setting timer, sending & reading messages and etc. While voice search and voice command assisted applications were available in the market ‘Siri’ is quite a unique approach and sounds more user-friendly. iPhone 4S comes with iCloud as well, enabling users to manage content across multiple devices. iCloud wirelessly pushes files across multiple devices managed together. Applications for iPhone 4 S will be available on Apple App Store; however it will take some time for the number of applications supporting iOS 5 to increase.

The rear facing camera is another area improved on iPhone 4S. iPhone 4S is equipped with an improved camera with 8 mega pixels. The mega pixel value itself has taken a huge leave from its predecessor. The camera is coupled with LED flash as well. The camera comes with useful features such as autofocus, tap to focus, face detection on still images and geo tagging. The camera is capable of HD video capture at 1080P at about 30 frames per second. In cameras it is important to have a larger aperture since it allows the lens to collect more light. The aperture in the lens of camera in iPhone 4S has been increased allowing more light to come in however, harmful IR rays is filtered away. The enhanced camera is capable of capturing quality images in low light as well as bright light. The front facing camera is a VGA camera and it’s tightly coupled with FaceTime; the video conferencing application on iPhone.

iPhones are generally good on their battery life. Naturally, users will have higher expectations for this latest addition to the family. According to Apple, iPhone 4S will have up to 8 hours of continuous talk time with 3G on while on GSM only it will score a massive 14 hours. The device is rechargeable via USB as well. The standby time on iPhone 4S is up to 200 hours. In conclusion, the battery life is satisfactory on iPhone 4S.

The preorder of iPhone 4S starts from 7 October 2011, and will be available in US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, and Japan from 14 October 2011. Worldwide availability starts from 28 October 2011. iPhone 4S is available for purchase in different variants. One will be able to get their hands on an iPhone 4S device starting from $199 to $399 on contract. The price without contract (unlocked) is Canadian $649/ Pounds 499/ A$799/ Euro 629.

HTC Thunderbolt

The HTC Thunderbolt has a 4.3″ WVGA (800x480pixels) display and takes the full advantage of the 4G speed with 1GHz Qualcomm processor in tandem with multimode modem and 768 MB RAM. The chipset in HTC Thunderbolt is the second generation Qualcomm MSM 8655 Snapdragon in tandem with MDM 9600 multimode modem (supports LTE/HSPA+/CDMA). MSM 8655 chipset has 1GHz Scorpion ARM 7 CPU and the GPU is Adreno 205. With Adreno you can expect an enhanced graphic acceleration. Qualcomm claims that they are the industry’s first to release LTE/3G Multimode Chipsets. 3G multimode is required for ubiquitous data coverage and voice services. 4G-LTE can theoretically offer 73+ Mbps on downlink, but Verizon, the US carrier for HTC Thunderbolt promises users 5 to 12 Mbps download speed in the 4G coverage area, when 4G coverage drops, HTC Thunderbolt 4G will automatically move on to 3G network.

This handset has 8megapixel camera in the rear with dual LED flash and 720p HD video recording capability. It has got a 1.3megapixel camera in the front for video calling, Dolby Surround Sound, DLNA streaming and kickstand for hands free viewing. The phone runs on Android 2.2 (upgradeable to 2.3) with HTC Sense 2 that offers fast boot and enhanced personalization option and new camera effects. It also offers 8 GB internal memory with preinstalled 32 GB microSD card.

HTC Thunderbolt has integrated Skype mobile with video calling, you can make video call easily like a standard voice call. And with the mobile hotspot capability you can share your 4G connection with 8 other Wi-Fi enabled devices.

The featured applications on Thunderbolt include 4G LTE optimized apps such as EA’s Rock Band, Gameloft’s Let’s Golf! 2, Tunewiki and Bitbop.

In brief:

iPhone 4S vs HTC Thunderbolt

1. iPhone 4S is the same design as iPhone 4, thus it is slimmer and lighter than HTC Thunderbolt

2. iPhone 4S will feature 1GHz dual core A5 dual core processor, whilst it is 1GHz Qualcomm processor in Thunderbolt.

3. HTC Thunderbolt has the advantage of being compatible with 4G-LTE network (a true 4G network), while iPhone 4S will support HSPA+ network

4. Thunderbolt has a larger display, but iPhone 4S will have a higher resolution display.