HTC Evo 4G (black, Sprint)
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"Worth the Hype/Wait, Absolutely Love It!" on by MarionMobileCrazy
Pros: + Gorgeous, gigantic, super bright, crystal clear screen.
+ Call quality is excellent
+ WiFi works very well
+ 8 Megapixel camera AND HD video camcorder
+ Touch screen is VERY sensitive and fast
+ Everything about this thing is just fast.Cons: - Battery Life. This makes sense as the gigantic screen by itself likes to eat up juice when in use. WiFi, Bluetooth and certain auto-updating apps also drain the battery.
Summary: I've been on Sprint since 2005 and have experience using many of their smartphones: from the Mogul and Touch Pro to the Pre/Hero and Moment, and now the one that makes all those look like toys: the HTC Evo.
Let's start off with the battery life myth: Since the FroYo update, I am easily making it 30-40 hours without charging. I can drain a full battery in 5 hours if I'm trying to, but never with typical use. The negative reviews on battery are typically from not so savvy smartphone users and you will find these types of reviews on all smartphones.
Android is easy to use and you will love all the Marketplace apps to customize it as your own. The Evo has HTC's Sense UI, which looks decent and is user-friendly. A great thing about Android is that if you aren't happy with Sense UI, you can go to the marketplace for ADW.Launcher (my strong preference), or Launcher Pro. With these other launchers, you can add more rows and columns for apps and tweak everything to the way you want it.
Navigation works so well that I sold my Garmin Nuvi 265WT. It loads directions almost instantly, which is great because my biggest pet peeve with Garmin was waiting for the satellites.
Let's talk about media: For music there are several well designed apps but my favorites are PowerAmp (gorgeous and has an equalizer), Doubletwist (wireless air-sync), and TuneWiki (scrolls lyrics). For streaming, of course there's Pandora, Last.FM and Slacker. For viewing you loaded video files, I've only used Rock Player, which views AVI files. I like it a lot, so I haven't felt the need to search for any others.
Voice quality: I make a lot of calls, and usually 3-4 a day to people I've never talked to before. Calls are very clear and they need to be. I get 4-6 out of 6 bars from Los Angeles, all over Orange County, down to Chula Vista. I would be beyond frustrated with anything else. This obviously depends on your region, but in Southern California, I get excellent reception everywhere I go.
Camera: At 8MP and with 2 LED lights, it's better than most phone cameras but if you are expecting a phone to be on par with your point-and click shooter, that's a little unrealistic. I still use my Canon and however far these smartphones advance, if you take your picture quality seriously, you will always want a camera. As for the video recording, it gets the job done. I was considering a Flip type camera, but the Evo has 720p recording and makes that obsolete.
vs. iPhone 4: since many will make the comparison, it's fair to touch upon and since I've used it for several hours (I resell used ones), I'm qualified. If you already have an iPhone, it doesn't matter how glowing my review of the EVO is, you're most likely getting the iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 is a sleek piece of hardware but you already know that. If you want things really simple, that's an area iOS, to it's credit, excels in. If you like to customize all the little details to your liking, chances are, you'll prefer Android. The display on the iPhone 4 does look nice but it's not really something you think of when you are using it, despite Apple embellishing this feature. I get why people love their iPhones, but I don't get why those in bad coverage areas (like Southern CA), would sacrifice the main feature of a device because they think it's a fashion statement. If you are a texter and rarely make phone calls, then I can understand somewhat, but it's a matter or principle for me. For AT&T to charge as much as they do, have subpar customer service, lie to you about rebates as standard protocol, and still have extremely spotty data and voice coverage in my region, no thanks.
For Sprint users, the Epic 4G is one many will compare the Evo to: I've used it for a week as my main phone. It has much more vibrant colors with the Super AMOLED screen. Physical keyboard comes down to your personal preference, but I prefer software keyboards now (something I didn't think would happen). If you plan on playing a lot of games with your phone, Samsung's Hummingbird CPU will leave the Evo in the dust. The Epic is a great phone and the SAMOLED screen is impressive. I would gladly pay the $50 premium to get that screen on the Evo, but I'll get over it. The Evo has the edge in everything else I prefer.
BOTTOM LINE: Shop for carrier coverage in your area, BEFORE the phone, unless you don't make that many calls. A great phone with poor coverage is not so great anymore. If Sprint sucks in your area, don't get the Evo. If Sprint is awesome, like it is in Orange County, CA, you are going to love the EVO.
*** P.S. If you are looking for this phone I suggest at: www.**********/gp/product/B003N9B3CY?ie=UTF8&tag=***************&********=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&************=B003N9B3CY -
"Palm Pre to EVO 4G -- for those considering the switch" on by Gadgetarms
Pros: My pros would have to be screen size, speed, cameras, kickstand, overall hardware, the internet experience, virtual keyboard,call quality, apps, expandable storage, voice commands work Very.. etc.. I can go on and on..
Cons: Weight (noticeable difference from Pre), $10 monthly fee even in 3G only areas, Multitasking
Summary: Let me start off by saying this is mainly for people who are considering the switch from the Pre to the EVO. It's just some of my thoughts.
IMO WebOS is GREAT!!! It's simple to use and extremely user friendly. If you're emotionally attached to cards, gestures, your touchstone and the homebrew community, I'd think twice about getting the EVO. After thinking twice I'd probably still get the EVO. If you're hesitant because there's no physical keyboard, don't be. After my last 2 phones (the BB 8330 and the Pre) I was unsure myself. To my surprise the virtual keyboard on the EVO is good. With the options of portrait, landscape, and even voice to text I find it rather easy to use. The large screen definitely helps with that.
The multitasking on the EVO (or any phone I've ever used/seen) doesn't compare to WebOS. IMO WebOS does this perfectly. Multitasking on the EVO is simple but WebOS is king here. I miss the cards and gestures but not nearly as much as I anticipated. With the EVO my pages and apps load so fast it's a trade off I'm willing to keep.
My gf loves her Pre even more than I do. We still have them lying around.. lol.. One of her biggest concerns switching to the EVO was size. For those of you (especially with smaller hands) who share this concern, I wouldn't let that be the deciding factor either. The phone is not as big as people make it out to be. When the keyboard is exposed on the Pre it is longer than the EVO. The EVO is wider but still thinner than the Pre. My gf is 5' tall with small hands and hasn't complained about the size much at all. It is obviously larger but with that size you'll find it amazing to use for media, internet, email, messaging, etc... I enjoy the screen size so much I'm holding off on a netbook because I'm satisfied browsing on it.
I haven't experienced the "TERRIBLE" battery life that others have. The EVO has lasted both my gf and I longer than our Pre's. This is not to say the Battery life is great however, for us it just hasn't been a con based on our past phone. Maybe this is due to the fact that I'm in a 3G only area. I've read that 4G drains the battery at a pretty high rate. I don't know.
The hardware on this phone is great. It is a lil heavy but a huge difference in quality from the feel of the Pre. The EVO feels like a phone that's worth what it cost. The Pre's hardware as always been an issue.
WebOS to Android and Sense is definitely a transition that will take some getting used to. You'll have to control your thumb from wanting to swipe everything. It's a fun change though and one I can honestly say I'm happy I made. The ability to customize the layout of the home screens, widgets, and app shortcuts are great. The market with access to thousands of apps is great. Google maps as well as other applications just run better on the EVO. It's newer hardware so that is to be expected. I'll always have a soft spot for WebOS and if HP PALM come out with a device I feel is better then I'll consider getting it. I miss my touchstone as well.
With that said I won't be returning the EVO. Our thoughts were we'd buy the EVO and try it out and if we weren't completely satisfied we'd return them and go back to the Pre. Well we're completely satisfied. All the things I miss about WebOS this phone makes up for any many other ways. Both are great devices but this phone is close to perfect. If this thing had gestures and cards it would be perfect. -
"An iPad mini (only better)" on by richardlawler
Pros: Gorgeous screen. Super-fast. Plays most Flash media in browser. HTC Sense UI.
Cons: Kind of big. Sprint may not be your first choice for carrier (although I'm finding it works very well in San Francisco - Sprint EVDO 3G is easily twice as fast as AT&T 3G on Nexus One). $10 surcharge. The device's name.
Summary: I received a Sprint EVO 4G the other day. It's a super-fast Android phone with a gorgeous 4.3" screen. It has a cute little kick-stand. It plays most Flash. You can read eBooks. It's got a huge, rich browser. It's got me very seriously wondering if the dominance of the iPad (particularly the form-factor) is a fait accompli.
I don't think the EVO device will take over the world. (It's big. So it won't fit in your pocket if you wear skinny jeans. It's on Sprint and they charge an extra $10/mo more than other smartphones because it can use their new 4G network.) But playing with the EVO 4G for two days has made me realize this phone, in many ways, has more in common with the iPad than with the inch-smaller iPhone. And it leads me to think that perhaps there's more than one way to skin this cat (ie what defines a viable tablet computer and what are the limits of smartphones).
The Sprint HTC EVO 4G is a pockeable iPad mini (only better) and without the "curated" experience. -
"My Cell Phone is now my Cell Phone and my Home Internet" on by kentdshaw
Pros: Mobile Hot Spot, 4G for my area, full Google integration, personalized home screen, Android O/S, 30-Day Money Back Guarantee with Sprint, unlimited data, Android voicemail, Android notification
Cons: Battery life, if it switches to 3G while running as a hot spot, you have to reset to get it back to 4G
Summary: I second most of the positive reviews here. I actually decided to write this review to clarify a couple things I read in one of the previous reviews.
First, I have been able to receive phone calls even while I have my phone on Hotspot. Because I'm trying to get rid of my home internet (so I can save money), I was a bit concerned about it. I don't get that many phone calls, so I didn't think it was going to be a big deal. One day, though, I was surfing the internet on my computer, using the phone as a hotspot, and the phone rang. Someone mentioned this wasn't possible, and I just wanted to offer another experience.
Second, the speeds on 4G aren't 9MPS where I am. I am constantly speed testing it (using an Android app from speedtest.net), and I consistently get 2MPS and 2.5MPS down. .7-1MPS up. Which is fine. My suspicion is that these speeds are going to get better as time goes on. Yeah, yeah, I know that people say WIMAX is going to clog up its network, and LTE is going to be the more advanced technology. But these are the same things people said about Cable internet, when it was competing against DSL. And, from what I can see, Cable is still fastest.
Third, if you use Google for things (I use it religiously for calendar, gmail, picasa, and maps), you are immediately signed in to your whole internet world. I had all my contacts and phone numbers entered in Google contacts, and I had to enter no phone numbers into my phone. The experience is amazing. It took one sign in, and I was done. I have an iPod touch, and I had to enter my signin for whatever I was using.
Last thing, the battery situation. Yeah, it's kind of annoying. The main plus is that Android lets you customize so much on the phone, and the home screens. I have the switch widgets for all the services on this phone (GPS, 4G, WiFi, 3G, Hot Spot) on my home screen, and when I'm not using them, I make a point of switching them off. One thing to keep in mind, though, when the battery on this phone goes dead, I can buy a new one and replace the old one myself. You have to send an iPhone back to Apple for the same thing. Really, that's not good design.
In the end, this phone can do so many more things than an iPhone (like 4G, customization, multi-notification, etc.), but all the iPhone people can hit it on is the battery life. -
"Bonnie, how is this not an Editors Choice?!?" on by randyoaks187
Pros: It is just as good as Verizon's HTC Droid Incredible in every way, with the following additions:
4.3" screen, front facing camera, 720p video recording, HDMI out, 4G, kickstandCons: Well, since CNET doesn't rate phones based on carrier, the only thing that one could say is that the size would be a problem. I went to Best Buy to check out the HD2 and I didn't have a problem with it, and neither did my wife.
Summary: I think that it is a real disservice to CNET that they haven't given this phone the editors choice over the HTC Droid Incredible. As I mentioned above, other than being slightly larger, and on a potentially inferior network (but also potentially superior, depending if you are in a 4G area) there is no reason that this phone doesn't meet or beat the Droid Incredible in every way.
I think CNET ought to revise it's Editors Choice selection process. My idea is to combine it with the Prize Fights, where the Editors Choice award would go to the Prize Fight champ. The latest and greatest phone should go up agains the Prize Fight/Editors Choice phone (which seem to be in categories, so for these, we are obviously talking smartphones). To start off now, the HTC Droid Incredible should go up against the HTC EVO 4G, and for arguments sake, when the EVO wins, it should take the Editors Choice crown, untill the next hot smart phone comes along, say the iPhone 4G, and then it would go agains the reigning Prize Fight champ, the HTC EVO 4G for the rights to the Editors Choice award. And again for arguments sake, the EVO 4G wins again, it would retain it's Prize Fight champ status, as well as it's Editors Choice award, untill the next smart phone came along to challenge it again, like say some new phone like a Windows Phone 7 phone or a webOS from Palm or even a newer android phone, to repeat the process over again (althogh even if they don't decide to fold this in to the Editors Choice process, I still think this is the way that the Prize Fights ought to be done).
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