Phones.com » Cell Phones » Review of the HTC Evo 4G

Scaling towards the heavier side, the HTC Evo 4G is by no means a lightweight or even small enough to clutch. Appearing similar to the HTC HD2, it is still comfortable to operate as a depth of 0.5 inch thick makes it manageable. As they say, you win some, you lose some. The weight and dimensions do not matter when you get a glimpse of the gigantic 4.3” HTC Sense powered touch screen. The screen size always brings about a huge impact while viewing web pages, emails and other text documents. The vibrancy of colours and pinch & zoom browsing adds to the enticing effect of operating such a large screen.

The HTC Evo 4G is a standard bar phone with four touch sensitive buttons at the bottom for navigation: Home, Menu, Back and Search. Compared to regular buttons, these are easier to control and pilot the screen. The top of the handset is implanted with a power button and a 3.5 jack whilst the micro USB and HDMI port take charge of the bottom. A deep-seated kickstand with a spring action enhances the video watching experience. The 8-megapixel camera is placed at the back of the phone together with an added secondary 1.3-megapixel camera in the front for video calling. All in all, no one would deny that the HTC Evo 4G is a massive handset but its slim design feels unexpectedly good to hold.

The HTC Evo 4G features the latest version of HTC Sense UI, a user-friendly interface that is preferred by many compared to other interfaces doing the rounds in the market. The Sense was always a dream to surf, but the newly release version is something else altogether! Navigation is smooth with minimal lagging, the online QWERTY keys are large enough to type with easily and viewing web pages is a remarkable experience that cannot be expressed through words.

Based on the Android OS 2.1, the phone comes with the regular Google and Android apps. Further dimensions are added by availability of features such as Google Maps and voice to text messaging. The release of the Android 2.2 or Froyo is not far away which brings with it support for the latest version of Flash 10.1.

The HTC Evo also has the regular HTC music player, dual cameras (8-megapixel at the back for still images and a 1.3-megapixel in the front for video calling), HD Video Recording and a HDMI port to stream videos at high resolution on your home theatre. With a firm Sprint backing, the Evo includes all its carrier services like Sprint TV, Sprint Football Live, Nascar Sprint Cup Mobile, and Sprint Navigation. Of course, additional apps are available for download at the Android Market. The Evo includes a default 1GB of internal memory and an option of expanding it up to 32 GB with a microSD card.

HTC Evo scores over its competitors in just one word ‘WiMax'. The first 4G handset in America, it is currently available in limited markets, but Sprint is planning to include more cities under its 4G coverage area. The unfortunate one, who does not come under the 4G coverage, need not be sad. The phone also supports 3G and WiFi networks, both of which show good results. GPS is provided by Sprint with map assistance by both Sprint and Google Maps.

You could call the HTC Evo 4G a mini tablet. 4G speed, massive screen and apps combined together are absolutely in charge of the multimedia department. Watching videos without any hiccups was a surreal possibility, until HTC Evo 4G evolved. It is portable with a performance to match that of a tablet. Watching a YouTube video would be an excellent example of its infinite possibilities.

HTC Music player is  standard with good audio listening experience teemed with a FM Radio for an added advantage. However, the radio is not a wireless one.

The Evo 4G includes two cameras. The 8-megapixel camera is capable of shooting still images and 720p videos while the front facing camera is great for self-portraits and video calls. The camera delivers excellent results with no grainy pictures and sharp colour detailing.  There are other great features like face detection and geo tagging as added bonuses.

The same cannot be said about HD Video recording.  This was okay, better than normal video resolutions but the colour quality was not as good as expected.

The front facing camera is to be used with the Qik video chat application for making video calls. The app is free of charge,  unless added services like high-resolution videos are to be entailed.

Call quality is good if not mind blowing. Both sides can hear each other properly except for  minor disturbances and voice quality distortions.

The battery lasts for about 12 hours with moderate use of features. With use of 4G speeds the battery drains in just a few hours. No stand by or talk time results have been released by Sprint, so the comparison factor is missing.  
A sore point with HTC Evo 4G is the limited availability of the 4G network by Sprint. Those who will not avail 4G services due to lack of area coverage  will yet have to pay the increase of $10 for the premium data add-on.

With its bountiful features, HTC Evo 4G is by no means a cheap phone. The 4G experience is for limited customers and yet all have to pay for the premium add-ons. Yes, the glitch is there, yet for its price, the Evo offers everything and more that a multimedia smartphone enthusiast could ever ask for. Its consistent detailing of features and stylized handset tilts the balance in its favour. We hope that Sprint covers more customers under its 4G umbrella very soon.!.