Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Development
    • Development
    • IT Management
    • Mobile
    • Small Business

    Sprint HTC Evo 4G LTE: Solid Smartphone That Lacks 4G Power

    By
    Michelle Maisto
    -
    June 19, 2012
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Sprint€™s HTC Evo 4G LTE shared headlines with AT&T€™s HTC One X in May when the two smartphones found themselves in a U.S. Customs limbo, while Apple and HTC argued over patents. Still, the white, wafer-like One X has much more in common with the Evo 4G LTE, a phone with a chunky, black and red predecessor, than a holding cell in the basement of some federal warehouse.

      This didn€™t occur to me until I had the new Evo in hand.

      Despite their very different aesthetics, the Sprint Evo 4G is, no doubt, a sibling of the One X. The Evo 4G LTE measures 134.8 by 68.9 by 8.9mm and weighs 134 grams; the One X measure 134.4 by 69.9 by 8.9mm and weighs 130 grams. Both have wonderfully smooth Corning Gorilla Glass over 4.7-inch Super IPS LCD2 capacitive touch-screens.

      But while the One X has a fully polycarbonate body€”which the industry seems to like but always strikes me, in its lightness, as feeling rather cheap€”the new Evo is half matte anodized aluminum and half glossy polycarbonate, which responds to even freshly washed hands as though the user were eating French fries.

      Separating these two sections is a red metal ribbon in which the phone€™s kickstand is embedded. I don€™t know what it€™s made of, but it€™s thin and square-of-edge and feels intense in a good way€”a dramatic improvement from the rounded-tipped kickstand on the original Evo 4G, which any wobbling of the phone or surface would easily (and irritatingly) send folding back up inside the phone. The new kickstand not only stays put but can be used from the north or south, with the kickstand hinge at the top or flat against the table€”which further creates the opportunity of charging the phone while watching a video.

      Regarding the red band and those two black textures on the back: While I€™m not one for a black and red color scheme, HTC did a fine job here. In these days of nature-theme palettes, I expected to be put off, but wasn€™t.

      In lots of other ways, too, the new Evo is a dramatic improvement over the original. Really, the kickstand and color scheme are about all the two have in common. The camera is still 8 megapixels, but it€™s dramatically faster and there are lots of new features, many of them more likely, thanks to the Android Ice Cream Sandwich build than anything of HTC€™s doing. There are quick-to-access filters for taking shots with, and a user can hold the shutter to take a load of photos at once€”making sure you catch the dog connecting with the Frisbee or the baby smiling. The phone is then happy to point out the best frame and quickly delete the others. Choosing between video or still shots also no longer requires entering a menu, but is an instant option.

      The biggest camera improvement, though, is indeed thanks to HTC, which has added a physical shutter button exactly under one€™s right index finger when the phone is held in landscape mode. It feels good to push down, offers perfect tactile feedback and is a million times nicer than trying to tap the screen while holding the phone perfectly still. Every phone maker should do this.

      There€™s also a bigger battery on board, and it€™s obvious in the best way.

      Aside from the camera, and I should say, too, that while the physical button on the Evo is especially nice, the physical button on the One X is especially annoying, in my opinion. (See slide five in eWEEK’s May 2 slide show on the HTC One X.) The major reminder that I wasn€™t using the One X is that there€™s no 4G LTE€”except, of course, in the name.

      Sprint hasn€™t yet flipped the switch on its new LTE network, and while it offers 4G in the form of WiMax, the new Evo doesn€™t play that game. So, this is an all-3G-all-the-time game. Though truly, given how much time my own 4G phone spends reverting to 3G, this didn€™t feel especially patience-taxing.

      It€™s a good, of-the-times phone€”sitting on my desk alongside a Samsung Galaxy S III, the two were of a piece, just a hair€™s difference in size and weight and screen size. If, like me, you€™re wooed by such things, I€™ll tell you, too, that the highly recyclable packaging of the new Evo is refreshingly minimal and stark. When Sprint€™s LTE network becomes a reality, the Evo 4G LTE will have still more to recommend it.

      The HTC Evo 4G LTE is now available on the Sprint network for $199.99 with a two-year contract.

      Follow Michelle Maisto on Twitter.

      Michelle Maisto
      Michelle Maisto has been covering the enterprise mobility space for a decade, beginning with Knowledge Management, Field Force Automation and eCRM, and most recently as the editor-in-chief of Mobile Enterprise magazine. She earned an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University, and in her spare time obsesses about food. Her first book, The Gastronomy of Marriage, if forthcoming from Random House in September 2009.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×