Why I Am Passing on the HTC Rezound

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As many of you know, I have been on the search for a new smartphone to replace my iPhone 3GS. Last week, I wrote at length as to why I would be passing on Apple’s latest and greatest smartphone, the iPhone 4S, and one of those reasons was because of the quality of the Android smartphones that will be coming out in the days ahead.

From the Samsung Galaxy Nexus to the newly rumored HTC Edge, there always seems to be a phone that’s calling my name. Another Android phone on my radar is a device called the HTC Rezound which was announced last week at an event in New York.

The HTC Rezound, originally known as the HTC Vigor, is a phone that many of you, myself included, have been waiting for since April when it became clear that the HTC ThunderBolt was a smartphone demon sent to terrorize consumers.

The Rezound represents HTC’s return to the biggest stage of all, 4G LTE, and it’s a phone that the company is very excited about. I’m sure there are quite a few of you out there that are enticed by this phone as well.

Me? I am going to be taking a pass on the HTC Rezound despite what it offers: LTE,  HD display and Beats Audio.

And here’s why.

I’ve said this time and time again. I think the HTC ThunderBolt was one of, if not the worst launch in the history of smartphones. Sure, it was a cutting edge device on a new network but that doesn’t excuse all of the bugs that have plagued owners since the phone was released in the early part of 2011.

One of those bugs, a nasty one that gave owners random reboots, persisted for months until Big Red and HTC decided it was time to roll out a remedy. If I had bought the phone, believe me, I would have paid whatever ETF fees were required of me. That debacle was unacceptable and embarrassing and the way the two handled the device’s Gingerbread update was even worse.

It took them just around 7 months to finally roll out Android 2.3 to what a device that was in the upper echelon of Verizon’s lineup and the update hadn’t been out for more than a few days before it was pulled. The reason? You guessed it.

Bugs.

HTC and Verizon then proceeded to remain completely silent on when the update would roll out again preferring to speak in riddles in regards to a specific release date. Now, I will say, the update has worked like a charm which means the extra time to work on the software was worth it, but it should have been done correctly the first time.

Smartphones are expensive devices and data plans are even more expensive. We’re talking thousands of dollars here. And I think that ThunderBolt owners deserved better. It can be argued that those who bought the ThunderBolt were HTC and Verizon’s biggest fans. After all, they were the ones willing to become early adopters.

But I doubt that’s the case anymore.

I never owned the HTC ThunderBolt (I have friends and co-workers that do) and I find myself as mad as those that own it. And you know what? That anger and frustration is the driving force behind my decision to pass on what appears to be a fantastic phone.

HTC doesn’t deserve my money and most of all, it doesn’t deserve my loyalty. It has not earned my signature on a new two-year contract.

That being said, I hope that HTC figured it out this time around and the Rezound is able to restore confidence in those that were let down by their experience with the HTC ThunderBolt.

It really does looks like a great phone.

I just won’t be buying it.

About the Author (Author Profile)

Adam is a technology blogger based in San Francisco, California who loves his iPhone 3GS and Motorola Droid 2 equally. You can follow him on Twitter or reach him by email at adam@notebooks.com.