HTC EVO 4G LTE
Phone Scoop Review
May 14, 2012 by Eric M. Zeman
The HTC EVO 4G LTE carries the EVO brand forward for Sprint, and makes the huge jump from WiMax to LTE for 4G tech. Phone Scoop's full report details what's great and not-so-great about the EVO 4G LTE. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Best EVO yet!!!
HTC made a great phone with the One X and then made it even better when it was customized for Sprint. I had the original EVO and last year went with the E4GT due to the EVO 3D being junk. I am glad to be back to the EVO. The overall design and build quality is amazing. Using the media link HD is such a cool feature for those that like connecting their phones to their TV. I have been happy with the battery life being able to go all day generally 16+ hours on one charge. At first I was not thrilled there was no menu button but after going through the settings discovered the ability to enable the Recent Apps button to also act as a menu button. Overall I am very happy with my phone choice and with a JB update coming soon I know this was the right choice.
Pro's
Build Quality
Battery Life
Screen Size/Resolution
Kickstand
Camera
Sense software
LTE data
Beats Audio
Con's
Side charging port
Speaker volume
Software glitches
Great Phone......But,
Overall decent phone, way better than the Evo 3d, HTC's last major Sprint attempt. Battery Life is good, screen is beautiful, sound was great, very fast, and nice feel to it.
However,
The back plate of the phone is very prone to finger prints, which is just a slight nuisance and you should be able to tell just by looking at it, that this would be the case. The Problem that I noticed was the camera. The camera turned peoples skin red on more than a few occasions. Also the focus seemed to not focus on the subject as much as the surrounding stuff in the picture. After seeing these things I did a little research and found that many people are having these problems. The focus one is easy you just have to make sure that right before you take the picture you tap on exactly what you want to focus on. (not really an instant shutter if it has to focus again) As for the red balance problem, they do allow you to change the red balance in the camera manually, (This seemed like a lot of work for a point and shoot camera)
The camera is one of the most important parts of the phone to me so I want to let people know that if they are looking for an amazing camera, the GS3 has a camera that functions wonderfully, at least as well as the Iphone if not better.
If the camera is not important to you, this is a rock-star of a phone. The speed and ease of use make it a great option for anyone looking for the top of the line Smart-phone.
Good Upgrae
I've had my new phone about a week now. All in all, I love it. I blame myself for not doing the research about the absence of any 4G capabilities, but luckily I don't have to wait long. In the meantime, the 3G is AWFUL.
I don't like the "recent apps" static button, but I haven't missed the search button either. Customizing is easy, ICS/Sense are smooth, and coming from the first EVO, it was a good upgrade, that I think will be great after LTE. I like the screen size, but it might almost be too big. I'm not a fan of either of the keyboards, but so far that is the only real thing I haven't liked, and I'm sure I can find one I like.
I love the look & design of the back that so many hate, I think it has character. And it's so lightweight! I'm almost afraid I'll hurt it.
Pros:
Screen
Camera & Video
Speed (on wifi)
Lightweight
Beats audio
Cons:
Network
Stock keyboards are laggy
I don't love the USB port on the side.
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All pros true, except for bluetooth problem
Great phone, however, if you use a bluetooth (while driving especially), watch out if the voice recognition doesn't recognize the name you're spoken. Mine, on MANY occasions has converted a frequently dialed friend's name to a seven digit number, different numbers actually, AND DIALED IT AND WOULDN'T LET ME HANG UP UNTIL THE WRONG NUMBER CALL WAS COMPLETED. When I called HTC and spoke to a technician, and then to a supervisor, it turned out that the problem is how the system is programmed. It pretty frustrating, to me, to have to listen to a fax number, or a junk yard recording, BEFORE I can hang up the phone, at least while driving - unless I pull off the road to hang up manually, or take my eyes off the road (echoes of texting while driving) to hang up on a phone number that wasn't recognized by their EVO voice recognition software. I might mention, I do a lot of public speaking and am always clearly understood - unless someone has a hearing problem, which the EVO apparently does when using a Bluetooth (mine is a high end Plantronics). I'm also not happy with the battery life: when I turned on my fully charged phone this morning, the battery monitor advised me that I had 47 minutes remaining - maybe it's just this phone. The bluetooth problem, however, is part of the design and it's really maddening while driving to have to listen to a fax before it will allow my Bluetooth to hang up on the call. UPDATE: I traded it in on a iPhone 4S - too bad the Bluetooth kept dialing wrong numbers - otherwise it was a great phone.
Not for the productive type! Battery life claims are a crock!
I have to laugh when I see the Vzw Anroid commercials asking "does your phone run strong, all day long? Android does!". Well, Vzw must have some angle that Sprint does not, because I'm lucky to make it 10 hours before the low battery warning arrives. This is my first Droid aft having a 'berry for 4 years, and I'm beginning to regret that I didn't go Samsung. I may have had 15 minutes of talk time (12 short calls logged), 5 minutes of texting, one photo with flash, 5 minutes on the web, and was in need of a charge at 5pm, when I pulled it off charge at 6am. My wife has the same phone, same issues.
If HTC wasn't so worried about making the thinnest phone, I would have gladly accepted another tenth of an inch for another 6 hours of battery. The "kickstand" is a waste, it's taking up space that would have been better utilized by a large battery. The side-usb port makes cumbersome to talk while charging, that connection could have been on the bottom, but I suppose I have to credit them for not putting it on the top.
Yes, the screen is nice, yes the processor is fast, but what good are they if You can't even go dawn to dusk, without keeping a charger close by?
Moreover, the sound level is too low for noisy environments (ie. vehicles with the window down), and the speakerphone function is nearly worthless, the speaker volume is WAY too low. Hopefully, some firmware comes out soon to fix the volume issues.
I was surprised to learn that the "open" Droid OS doesn't permit easy customization, I can't turn off the "vibrate on connect" without "rooting" the phone!
I can't comment on reception, except that it's about 60% as successful in finding a signal as my 'berry was, but that may simply be the difference between Vzw and Sprint.
In summary, it's probably fine for someone who's used to just texting all day, and really wants a large screen. I was looking for the latest & greatest, to hold me over for another 4 years, but I'm seriously having doubts.
Almost Perfect
This phone is definitely the best android phone in the market, if not the best phone of all currently available, and I'm glad to see how far the EVO line has come. However my 4 star rating is because I believe that despite being the greatest device out there, HTC missed the opportunity to make this a 4.5 or 5 star phone.
I will point out the features that I think make this device very solid and the main reasons why I would recommend this phone to anyone, and the things that HTC could've done better.
PROS:
BATTERY life is great. Average users will easily get a full day.
SCREEN is gorgeous and the size is perfect.
ICS and sense 4.0 provide a great user experience.
CALL quality is the best I've experience on any HTC phone.
BEATS audio really make listening to music a nicer experience, I can even tell the difference on my $25 earbuds.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT:
DESIGN in my opinion only deserves 4 stars at best. Don't get me wrong, it's nice but HTC missed the opportunity to take the evo line entirely to a new level. I would have wished that when I set my phone on a table everyone would know that it is a high end phone, but unfortunately it doesn't. In my opinion they handed that privilege in a silver platter to apple as I'm sure the new Iphone will beat the new EVO in design hands down. In the mean time most EVO LTE user will rather carry their phone in a case.
SPEAKER in my opinion is not loud enough and it sounds tiny, I find my first gen EVO 4g louder. I wish HTC had also provided beats audio enabled stereo speakers in the back of the phone.
EARBUDS: I didn't expect to receive a free pair of beats earbuds but I did expect at least some kind of coupon or discount to buy a nice set of earbuds or headphones.
CONCLUSION: this is the best android device for 2012 because I don't think the SGIII is any better. If you're not in the business of impressing anyone and your are not picky about sound this might be a 5 star phone for you.
.
HTC EVO 4G LTE Winner
I am an HTC fan now since the first EVO 4G, and what they have done with this new phone is nothing short of amazing! While others may judge the phone by the 4G standard, I am not, as I am confident that when the new LTE system is brought online, it will kick some serious butt! What I do judge it by are the new slim features and I admit I am a fan of the kickstand as well. The phone is blazing fast, starting with an extremely fast boot-up and a very nice layout onscreen! The graphics are stunning, and the phone is an absolute breeze to set up and customize! An ample amount of memory on-board with 16GB, I added an additional 16GB card to go along with the fantastic 8MP included camera! Almost bought the Samsung Galaxy(not a bad phone), but glad I did not, given Samsung is slow in updating it's Android phones, which brings me to the other reason I really like this new HTC; the new Ice Cream Sandwich operating system is one more reason to call this phone a winner! Just an opinion from an old IT guy!
The Evo went from an Amazing Device to Nuclear
The phone is awesome for all the reasons stated. I just realized it does something no other phone in the Sprint line, makes phone calls and connects to the internet on a 3G connection. What??!?!?!? HTC does it again!
Best Phone Hands Down!!!
I'm a previous owner of all EVOs that sprint had except the small one with the keyboard (the fake evo aka evo shift). And I must say this latest phone is the shiznit!!! First I must admit I'm a lover of the Evo 3D. Coming from the OG Evo the 3D improved on everything except camera/video quality. But this latest addition to the Evo family has improved on everything.
Cons:
Faster
Better battery life
larger screen
gps works faster
they did away with the for-ever turning carousel(from evo 3D)
Sense 4.0
Android 4.0 (ICS) improves alot so i'll break em down.
-the ability to now drag apps on top of each other to create folders.
-the ability to create folders on not only on ur 7 pages but also on ur "main ics bottom row of buttons"
-the ability to quickly go to and/or close any previously loaded app
-smoother ui
Cons:
it didn't come sooner... :0)
EvO lOvE or whatever it says
Every time a new EVO comes out I'm always so hard on it but its only because I want it to succeed and I think this time it finally did.
Pros
-Beautiful screen
-Great battery life (for a smart phone)
-Nice size
-Soo smooth
-ice cream sandwich
-call quality is amazing
- music player
Cons (well not really...just things I miss)
-Not a big fan of the recent app button
-Miss the (physical) home and search button
-no removal battery
I always believe there is room for improvement so I give it a 4.5 but I still have LOvE for the EVO
