Difference Between Samsung Exhibit 4G and HTC Thunderbolt

It is hard to compare a new entrant with a heavyweight that has been well appreciated by the consumers. Thunderbolt by HTC has been creating waves all over the country while Samsung’s latest offering Exhibit 4G is a new entrant. While Thunderbolt is the first 4G phone for Verizon’s 4G-LTE network, Samsung has endeavored to make available Android experience to those who cannot afford the expensive gadgets. Let us see how the two smartphones fare when pitted against each other.

Samsung Exhibit 4G

With Exhibit 4G, Samsung has dared to break the psychological $80 barrier. Now anyone can have a smartphone by paying just $80. Sounds unbelievable, isn’t it? But it is a fact that though technically a smartphone, Exhibit 4G has the most basic hardware and software but it is able to provide the complete Android Gingerbread experience to the users. Exhibit 4G is available at such a paltry price on a two year contract with T-Mobile’s blazing fast HSPA+ network and T-Mobile also has a affordable data plan of $10 per month to access web based servies.

Exhibit 4G is armed with the latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread, has a nice 1 GHz single core Hummingbird processor, and packs a decent 512 MB of RAM. It boasts a 3.7 inch display that uses AMOLED screen and produces a resolution of 480×800 pixels that is good enough though not a super AMOLED plus. If you doubt its credentials, it has accelerometer, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, multi touch input method with swype and yes, the omnipresent 3.5 mm audio jack at the top. The smartphone has dimensions of 119×58.4X12.7 mm and weighs a paltry 125g.

The phone is Wi-Fi802.11b/g/n, DLNA, GPS with A-GPS, Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP, and a stereo FM with RDS. It is also tuned T-Mobiles for HSPA +21Mbps network and has an HTML browser that performs satisfactorily with full flash support. Exhibit 4G is packed with standard Li-ion battery (1500mAh) that provides a talk time of up to 9 hours. You get 1 GB of onboard storage and another 8 GB is provided in the form of micro SD cards. The user has the ability to expand internal memory up to 32 GB using more SD cards.

Oh yes, how I could forget to mention the shooting abilities of the smartphone. Exhibit has 3 MP camera at the rear that can click pictures in 2048×1536 pixels. The camera has auto focus, LED flash, and captures DVD quality videos also, though not in HD. It also has features like geo tagging and face detection. There is another camera at the front that is VGA and can be used to make video calls and to take self portraits by those who like to update their profile on social networking sites every now and then.

Availability: June 2011 in T-Mobile stores

HTC Thunderbolt

HTC is a heavyweight in high end smartphones and it has only enhanced its reputation with the latest Thunderbolt which is packed with an array of features like a monstrous 4.3 inch display and an impressive 8 MP camera at the back.

Thunderbolt measures 122x66x13mm and weighs 164g. Thus it is chunkier than many of the super slim and lightweight smartphones of the generation. But then, considering it has to house such a huge display, HTC cannot be faulted with the size. It has TFT capacitive touch screen that produces images at a resolution of 480×800 pixels that is quite bright and in addition, the colors (16 M) are vivid and true to life. The Gorilla Glass screen means it is scratch resistant and the smartphone is rugged to say the least. There is an accelerometer, proximity sensor, light sensor, multi touch input method, and the phone glides on the now legendary HTC Sense 2.0 UI.

Thunderbolt runs on Android 2.2 Froyo, has 1 GHz second generation Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with Adreno 205 GPU, packs a solid 768 MB RAM, and provides 8 GB of internal storage. It’s packed with pre-installed 32GB microSD card and the memory can be expanded by up to 128 GB using SDXC cards. The smartphone is Wi-Fi802.11b/g/n, and GPS with A-GPS, Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP+ EDR, DLNA, hotspot (can connect up to 8 devices), Dolby Surround Sound, and stereo FM with RDS.

The smartphone is a delight for those fond of clicking as it packs a very fine 8 MP camera at the back that shoots in 3264×2448 pixels and can record HD videos in 720p. It has features like geo tagging, face detection, dual LED flash and auto focus. It boasts of a secondary 1.3 MP VGA camera for making video calls and to take one’s own portraits.

The phone is equipped with standard Li-ion battery (1400mAh) that provides talk time of up to 6 hr 30 min.