The HTC ThunderBolt, which recently launched for Verizon, is the wireless carrier’s first 4G-enabled device. As such, while it’s been a reportedly successful device so far, it seems that it may just be too big of a device for the general public. So it’s not surprising to hear that Verizon and HTC may be taking the necessary steps to bring a new, smaller device to market sometime in the future. But, considering how similar plenty of other HTC devices look that are currently available in the wild (with plenty more to come), can we really say that whatever the HTC Mecha S is, that it’s really a smaller ThunderBolt?
As a quick refresher, the HTC ThunderBolt is considered to be the HTC EVO 4G (which has been available for the Sprint network for quite some time), but with the Verizon logo on it. The ThunderBolt features a 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen display, featuring a resolution of 800x480. There’s an 8MP camera around the back, and a 1.3MP front-facing camera. It’s running Android 2.2, and under the hood you’ll find a 1GHz Snapdragon processor.
So, what do we know about the recently uprooted HTC Mecha S? So far, pretty much absolutely nothing. We do know that it’s a CDMA-based device, and that the display will feature a resolution of 320x480. It’s that screen resolution that has some believing that the Mecha S is indeed a smaller version of the original HTC ThunderBolt, and that the “S” therefore stands for “small.” Keep in mind, though, that an S at the end of an HTC codenamed device generally stands for a handset that’s making its way to Europe. However, HTC may be making an exception in this case.
The largest indicator that this device won’t be making its way to Europe (at least, not in this guise), is that the device shares the same codename as the HTC ThunderBolt. Before it would forever be known as the ThunderBolt, the device was running around in the wild as the HTC Mecha (which, I’ll just say, is a better name in my opinion). So that Mecha S is now believed to be a smaller version of the HTC Mecha, which may mean that if the device does indeed launch for Verizon sometime in the future, it could get a name like the HTC ThunderBolt S, or ThunderBolt Mini.
But, just because the device’s codename matches a previously released device, does that really make it a smaller version of its bigger sibling? After all, there’s no denying that many HTC manufactured devices look similar to one another, so if the ThunderBolt and ThunderBolt S look alike, who’d be surprised? If HTC does indeed launch the Mecha S, and it sports Verizon branding, I think Verizon and HTC have to try a little harder to make the Mecha S and ThunderBolt really similar. Meaning, at the very least, the Mecha S should feature a higher-resolution display than it reportedly does.
Furthermore, the Mecha S will need to have a 1.3MP front-facing camera and 8MP camera around back. And let’s not forget that there has to be a 1GHz processor under the hood. Oh, and even if it launches in the next several months, it will have to launch with Android 2.2 (unless the ThunderBolt actually gets upgraded to Android 2.3 beforehand). I think if any of these other features change, then the Mecha S isn’t a smaller version of the ThunderBolt at all – but just an entirely different device manufactured by HTC and released for Verizon. And it better be a 4G-enabled device, too. This can't be just a branding endeavor, where Verizon paints the Mecha S as a smaller version of the ThunderBolt. It really should reflect that in its features.
But, generally speaking, do you want a smaller version of the ThunderBolt? Are you someone who wants to get their hands on a 4G LTE-connected device from Verizon, but feel that they’re all too big at this point? Would you buy a smaller version of the HTC ThunderBolt? Let me know what you think in the comments below.
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