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Verizon has just gotten its very first 4G LTE handset out the door, and the reception for the HTC Thunderbolt has been good so far. Though one major gripe users are complaining about is that that new LTE radio really gulps down power. PC Mag reports that their own testing only resulted in 2.5 hours of LTE streaming. The solution? A big honking battery apparently.
HTC and Verizon are offering a massive extended battery for the Thunderbolt with a capacity of 2750mAh. The stock battery is only 1400mAh. The extended cell ads a full ounce of weight to the already hefty 6.5oz phone. It also makes the back of the phone bulge out awkwardly, requiring a replacement back plate. Later in the spring, the Thunderbolt will also get wireless charging with an additional backplate and power pad.
Large extended batteries are nothing new in smart phones, but it is unusual to see a carrier and manufacturer to have a first-party one ready to go so soon after release. The battery will run $49.99 and should be available soon. Would you consider using a battery in your phone that is physically larger?
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komiller05
March 22, 2011 at 4:17pm
I chose to get 3 standard size batteries off ebay for $15. I may have to swap batteries but its way less money
bling581
March 22, 2011 at 10:07am
"Large extended batteries are nothing new in smart phones, but it is unusual to see a carrier and manufacturer to have a first-party one ready to go so soon after release."
Because they knew about and found a way to squeeze more money out of people.
Keith E. Whisman
March 22, 2011 at 3:05am
Hell even with a larger battery the phone is still awesome when compared to the old AT&T brick phone and the even older yet shoebox phone. That was back when cell phones were really expensive and were expensive to use. Back when cell phones were equiped with Nicad batteries and you needed a lot of those batteries to get a few hours of waiting time and about a half an hour of talk time.
chinomon
March 21, 2011 at 10:54pm
I have a g2 with cyanogenmod 7 rc2 and the newer rom seemeds to drain my battery, and not to mention after overclocking the snapdragon cpu from 800hz to 1.5ghz my battery dies way faster. so i've been looking at the 3600mAh battery from mugen, and it makes the thunderboald cover look like a ipad 2 in thingnes lol. so who ever has a thunderbolt and thinks it's to bulky? then you havent seen sh*% lol
scottd34
March 21, 2011 at 8:40pm
I bought the extended battery with my thunderbolt on launch day, totally worth the price.
Danthrax66
March 21, 2011 at 8:09pm
You could just root it, use a custom kernel, custom PRI, custom Radio, and bam you have better battery life. Also it's streaming, of course it is going to die fast...
Guisano
March 21, 2011 at 5:12pm
I would use a larger battery, sure. I've done that for every phone I've had when one was available.
I put Juice Defender on my Nexus One and so far it really seems to be making an impressive difference in battery life. Being free, it's also likely a whole lot cheaper than what a cellular company will charge you for a battery.
Guisano
March 21, 2011 at 5:11pm
I would use a larger battery, sure. I've done that for every phone I've had when one was available.
I put JuiceDefender on my Nexus One and so far it really seems to be making an impressive difference in battery life. Being free, it's also likely a whole lot cheaper than what a cellular company will charge you for a battery.
Guisano
March 21, 2011 at 5:11pm
I would use a larger battery, sure. I've done that for every phone I've had when one was available.
I put JuiceDefender on my Nexus One and so far it really seems to be making an impressive difference in battery life. Being free, it's also likely a whole lot cheaper than what a cellular company will charge you for a battery.
tornato7
March 21, 2011 at 4:41pm
I had a gigantic extended battery for my droid 1 and it was awesome. I would never have to worry about my phone dying. I could even forget to plug it in for a few nights and I would still have most of my battery remaining. it was 3500mAh
