HTC EVO 4G SmartPhone Review

In 2002, RIM launched the original smartphone: Blackberry. It revolutionized businesses that could now be completely connected while on the go, making Blackberry as influential as it is today. In 2007 the first iteration of the iPhone hit the market, thus beginning the smartphone craze. Then in 2008, Google released their open source Android OS. Every wireless service provider is vying for the consumer's money, and to get the money, the provider's must have the greatest technology to woo the consumer. HTC's EVO 4G smartphone is the latest attempt to gain more of the consumer market share.

The HTC EVO 4G (from this point forward known as the EVO) employs a 1GHz Snapdragon QSD8650 processor, 512MB of LP-DDR, 4.3" 800x480 TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen, 8MP/720p digital camera, and is the first 4G phone on the market with the makings of a new powerhouse to destroy the iPhone monster. As for the design, HTC did everything they could to draw your attention to the gorgeous 4.3" screen that gives the EVO its large size. This includes removing all buttons from the front and replacing them with touch sensitive controls.

The HTC EVO 4G smartphone is poised to be a powerful multipurpose device with the ability to work and entertain in a quick and efficient manner on its large 4.3" screen and customizable Google Android 2.2 'Froyo' O/S.

Manufacturer: HTC Corporation
Product Name: EVO 4G
Model Number: HTC A9292
Price As Tested:$584 or $199 with Sprint plan

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been self-supplied.

SmartPhone Features

Each carrier has a top of the line phone. AT&T has the iPhone 4, Verizon has the DroidX, and Sprint has the HTC EVO 4G, so lets see how they compare. Being that they all came from the same generation, the specs should not have that much disparity with minor differences in processors and screen size.

HTC EVO 4G Specifications

As you can see, the three major carriers with their three majors phones all are very close in specs, and although the architecture is different for each phone, by this time next year the phones of this era will be "old". The present era of phone technology is like the early times of personal computers with each year bringing new operating systems and with each company quickly leapfrogging each other to reach the next level of performance while at the same time making previous technology obsolete.

Closer Look: HTC EVO 4G

The Android OS seems to be all the rage right now with carries making phones of all shapes and sizes running this OS. From the minuscule HTC Tattoo all the way up to the EVO, HTC has in its short existence quickly built a market for itself using many different OS's but with many of its most profitable phones using the Android OS. These pocket-able powerhouses are even more powerful than many of the first computers readers will have had (Intel 486DX anyone?). With the ability to never lose touch with the electronic world, it should come as no surprise that some users want the larger 4.3" screen for surfing it.

From the front you can see the 1.3MP camera, the beautiful 4.3" screen, and the four capacitive buttons. Although these look great and generally work well, I have found some problems with them, the largest being that the home and search button are located just close enough to the bezel that you can quite easily hit these buttons, many times closing the program you are using.

On the back, you have the 8MP camera with dual LED flash. This camera has perfectly adequate quality for day to day life. We will look into the camera a little bit more later. On the bottom of the phone, you have a kickstand which is well suited for a phone that can quite easily be used as a miniature video device while traveling.

Under the sleek black cover of the back is the fiery red interior which contains the speaker and user replaceable 5.55Whr battery.

Under the battery, you have the MicroSD slot and the standard 8GB card which you can replace for up to 32GB of storage. Right now, this can only be used for data storage, but with the upcoming Android 2.2 Froyo update, this limitation will be removed.

Back to the kickstand. It has many uses, but I mainly use it to set the phone on my night stand where it is at the perfect level to read while I lay down. Currently I use this so that when my alarm on my phone goes off in the morning, it allows me to instantly look at my daily agenda that has been set on my calendar.

Size: How big is too big?

One of the comments I have heard about this phone is the matter of physical size. For some, this is a plus. For others, this is a major flaw deterring them (ed. this includes me) from the purchase of the phone. The truth is that this is a matter of personal preference. I like to use my phone to replace a whole host of devices including GPS, a point and shoot camera, a music player, and a daily planner. For me, the size is a plus as it makes it easy to type and read while at the same time making, in my opinion, making a very good media platform for it size.

Even in my relatively small hands hands, I do not find that it is cumbersome even when you add a hard case for protection. One problem you may run into is that if you enjoy wearing skinnier jeans then you may find it difficult to insert this in your pockets.

When you compare the size of the EVO and HTC Hero from the rear, you can see that they don't really have that much difference in thickness. One of the major differences is the EVO's ability to connect with a smaller USB connector and the mini HDMI.

Again from the side, the general size difference is not as apparent. Both phones use a rocker button to control volume, one of the two physical buttons on the EVO (the other being the power button).

From the top, the difference in these phones becomes a bit more apparent. The size of the EVO is kept in check somewhat with it only being slightly larger in physical size then the Hero. This is done by the use of a smaller bezel around the screen, having no roller for menu navigation, and keeping the buttons in line at the bottom.

Battery Life: Management is key

Unfortunately, this is where the EVO is lacking. Even with a 5.5Whr battery, running all out the battery life of the EVO is abysmal managing only to last 4 hours. This is the price you pay to work the best technology, running the fastest possible, on the largest screen you can get right now.

Thankfully, this is only the worst case scenario. With correct management of the systems on this phone, you can easily coax 12+ hours of life out of the phone in a day. One of the big things you need to do is turn off the radios when you are not using them. This means when you are home, use the Wi-Fi connection; when in a 4G area, turn off the 3G line; when in a area with 3G, vice versa. Also, unless necessary, make sure to turn off the GPS. The other major things which will extend you battery life are to shut off unnecessary programs when not in use, and most importantly, slow down the update process of many of the programs that are running. If you have your Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, and other social applications running updates every two minutes, then you will quickly drain the battery by both preventing the system from going to sleep and by using the radios constantly.

If you think that the battery life is still too much of a hindrance but you must have this phone, you can buy a higher capacity battery or a second battery which you can charge while using the one in your phone.

HTC Sense User Interface

Although many phones use the Android OS, as of now phone manufactures can use their own custom skins. For HTC, this user interface is called Sense, and it comes with seven screens that can be customized to fit your needs.

In the basic setup, this is the home screen. It quickly lets you get to all the information you need showing received mail, messages, and voicemail all in one location. Along the clock you can quickly check the weather for your area (as long as it detects where you are correctly).

This is the basic calendar. It automatically syncs with your Google Calendar, and if you use the HTC Sense Facebook app, it will automatically put everyones birthday's onto your calendar. Along with this view, there are other views you can use. My personal favorite shows each day and and everything that needs to be done in a list view. It is this type of integration that makes the Android OS such a wonder. Throughout the OS you will see it sync your contacts with your Gmail account, you documents with you GDocs, and your Calendar with your Google Calendar. All of this comes together in a way that lets you access much of your needed information in one place.

The Friend Stream integrates with your Facebook and Twitter accounts in a way that you can quickly check for new posts and then quickly tell everyone whats on your mind.

This lets you quickly change between "Scenes" which is HTC's way of breaking up the difference setups you would use on the seven screens. In addition to the default scenes, you can make your custom scenes which you can then save so that you can make your own scenes for different occasions.

On this page you can set your favorite contacts, but far more importantly, you can easily turn on and off the different radios although in my day to day life I find I prefer setting these to the home page so that I can quickly change what radios are on based on what I am doing at the moment.

When it comes to website navigation, I believe that the EVO 4G is the device to beat. Its screen is wonderful for reading news and tech sites, quickly letting you zoom in with a pinch, and, with the upcoming Android 2.2 Froyo update, even bring flash 10.x support.

HTC EVO Camera Photo Quality

When people buy phones, they are not expecting to get a good or even decent camera out of it. I would consider the EVO to have an above average camera for a phone letting you take acceptable photos in sunshine and semi-decent photos indoor.

It did a good job with the photos outdoors, and although this is a bit overexposed, when you need a photo in a pinch and all you have is your phone, at least you know the photos are good enough to look at on a screen larger then your phone.

The Dual LED flashes on this phone are amazingly bright and close up can easily illuminate any situation enough to take a decent photo. The flash is bright enough to even take a photo in a pitch black room and still get a recoverable image from it (some post processing will be required. Unfortunately without sunlight or very bright lights the photos quickly become very grainy.

SmartPhone Final Thoughts

Four years ago, a phone of this power and ability would have been unthinkable. Contained within is what previously would have taken multiple devices - a GPS, camera, video recorder, mp3 player or iPod, a computer with internet nearby, and much more. Just like a desktop replacement laptop is not expected to set records for battery life, neither should a phone that contains the latest and the greatest. If users expect to be able to use many of the features on this phone full bore, then they should also expect that these features will use up battery. What this means is you need to do proper planning and management, making sure if you are going to be out for 12+ hours you carry a second battery, and that as you use features you turn them off when you are done. With the Froyo update coming in the near future for this phone and 3.0 sometime next year, this phone still has a long life ahead of it.

HTC EVO 4G Conclusion

IMPORTANT: Although the rating and final score mentioned in this conclusion are made to be as objective as possible, please be advised that every author perceives these factors differently at various points in time. While we each do our best to ensure that all aspects of the product are considered, there are often times unforeseen market conditions and manufacturer changes which occur after publication that could render our rating obsolete. Please do not base any purchase solely on our conclusion, as it represents our product rating specifically for the product tested which may differ from future versions. Benchmark Reviews begins our conclusion with a short summary for each of the areas that we rate.

For a phone, the performance is wonderful, easily taking care of any task given to it. It can be bogged down by running too many at the same time, but generally, the OS does a good job of keeping things running quickly and efficiently. With a performance boost coming with Froyo, hopefully the efficiency will go up helping the EVO be able to do more while sucking up less battery.

I like the appearance, but this is personal preference. Many people will feel this phone is too large size, but for those who want a minimalist look with a large amount of screen real estate, you need not look any further then the EVO.

Construction is superb with no dead pixels, no loose parts, the few buttons there are can take abuse, and I have seen them dropped from standing height with no visible damage. I would still be careful since as wonderful as the large screen is it also makes it more susceptible to damage if dropped.

Everything works. Phone calls sound good; GPS gets a good signal everywhere; 3G speeds are adequate.

With a new two year contract or an update to your contract, this phone only costs $199 through Sprint or $599 without a phone plan. If you think about what you get, it is a good deal. The camera, navigation, phone, web browsing, and many others things this phone can do would cost a lot more if everything was done by individual products. Its functionality is brought down by its lackluster battery like the Achilles heel on...Achilles.

If you are on the Sprint network and in the market for a cutting edge phone with a large screen, then this phone is for you. In addition, if you are in a city with 4G your Internet speeds for web surfing will be exceptional, and you can use the hotspot function for free, further sweetening the deal. Finally, as of early August 2010 the HTC EVO 4G SmartPhone will receive the Google Android 2.2 'Froyo' operating system update through Sprint.

Pros:

+ Beautiful large LCD Screen
+ Powerful 1GHz Snapdragon CPU
+ 4G Network capable
+ Free 4G Hotspot capability
+ Decent multimedia capabilities

Cons:

- Lackluster battery life without optimization
- Camera performance in low light could be better

Benchmark Reviews invites you to leave constructive feedback below, or ask questions in our Discussion Forum.

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