CES 2011 Live: Verizon 4G LTE Phone Comparison

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Tomorrow is the final day of the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show. I’ve spent the past few days searching the show floor for the latest and greatest gadgets for the TFTS readers. One of the big stories of the show has been that Verizon’s 4G network has really come into it’s own, with Verizon announcing tons of devices for their new next-generation network. I’ve gotten my hands on all four launch 4G phones that carrier will be providing – but which one is the best? Here’s my power rankings after getting hands-on on the show floor.

1. HTC Thunderbolt

I surprised myself with this one, but I found the HTC Thunderbolt to have a light, well-built design, while the phone’s performance was quick and responsive. I have to give the Thunderbolt the edge over my #2 pick, only because it’s lighter and thinner. HTC was right – this isn’t my dream phone, it’s the next one after that.

2. LG Revolution

Ignore my fat mug in the reflection above. I really liked the LG Revolution and thought it would be my #1. What surprised me about the LG Revolution is that, well, it’s an LG phone. LG had a dreadful year in mobile sales in 2010. Their LG Ally did horrible, in spite of a (surely expensive) Iron Man 2 tie-in campaign. And, even though our own Catalin found the mid-end LG Optimus One to be a competent phone, I wasn’t impressed with it. But LG’s patch of phones they had on display at CES is good, very good. Watch out, folks – LG is this year’s Samsung. Watch out for them to make a turnaround in the quality of their Android phones.

3. Samsung’s unnamed Verizon 4G LTE Phone

First off, it annoys me that Samsung can’t think of a name for this device. 275,000 employees worldwide and one of them can’t think of some name? Call it a codename and change it later if you want. At any rate, this phone is another solid offering from Samsung’s phone line up. So, why is it ranked so low? Personally, I’m not a fan of the styling of the Galaxy S phones and this phone is a close cousin. While it doesn’t have the same plastic feel, it still has the same Samsung curves and also is packing Samsung’s (dreaful, in my opinion) TouchWiz custom user interface. If you like the Samsung Android phones, you’ll find this phone right up your ally. It’s quick, powerful and should be great.

4. Motorola Droid Bionic

I really want to like this phone. I really do. I’m sort of an Android fan and through my job here at TFTS, I’ve had the honor of reviewing every Motorola Droid device that they’ve put out. The Droid X is my personal phone. So, I really want to like the Droid Bionic. But I can’t, honestly in good faith, put it above the other three. Why? Because it’s slow and unresponsive. Yep, in my hands-on in the Motorola booth, I found the phone to be a big sluggish and unresponsive in the home screen. Other parts of the phone were fast, like browsing the apps menu. But something was off. Which, in some respects, breaks my heart. As for the feel of the phone, it’s a bit thicker than the Droid X and has the same Motorola build quality and has a nice ‘heavy’ weight to it. The big screen is similar in size to the Motorola Droid X, and in general, I really like the phone. Until I tried to use it. To be fair, the phone isn’t out yet – and Motorola and Verizon have time to optimize performance. Let’s hope so.

There you go – my first-hand opinions of Verizon’s four 4G launch phones. I’ve spent all week here at CES checking out the show floor, and that’s how they stack up. What do you think? Did they come out how you expected? Tell me your comments in the comments section.

Looking for more detail concerning these devices?

View more news and detail concerning the HTC Thunderbolt smartphone here.

View more news and detail concerning the LG Revolution smartphone here.

View more news and detail concerning the Samsung Verizon 4G smartphone here.

View more news and detail concerning the Motorola Droid Bionic smartphone here.