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  • DaveGirard - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    you're missing the iPhone 4 in the battery life and there is only one phone in the H.264 page.

    And I think you need to set your white point properly for the iPhone 4 pics. Saying that's the best picture you can produce is not accurate.
  • Anand Lal Shimpi - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    The iPhone 4 review is next, and the white balance was actually a problem for the iPhone 4 - regardless of where I tapped to sample the white balance pretty much came out that way.

    More on this tomorrow...

    Take care,
    Anand
  • SandmanWN - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    "The size of the screen is really what sets the EVO 4G apart from the competition, and honestly I couldn’t think of a better phone for browsing the web. Loading full websites is a pleasure and the screen is large enough where you can actually read a lot of content, even while zoomed in. I’d be willing to go as far as to say that it is almost too small for the ideal web browsing experience."

    This whole paragraph is confusing and contradicting. You say you couldn't think of a better phone for web browsing. Then say you you can read a lot even while zoomed in, which I think you meant to say out there. Then you contradict the first sentence and say it is almost too small for web browsing.

    I think that paragraph needs a mulligan.
  • Anand Lal Shimpi - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    I've cleared it up a bit :)
  • tipoo - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    It would be great if you could include Evo 4G benchies in the iPhone 4 review.
  • rf40928 - Friday, July 2, 2010 - link

    Yeah, I guess u saw the Evo benchmarks.

    I have an Evo and Im considering a Iphone 4 ( my cousin got one )..

    I posted above the following: ... funny how the Iphone 4 review that Anand did proves Iphone 4 on a "slower" 3g network is consistantly faster then the Evo on a 4G network when it comes to the web .. I guess 4G's Peak performance is theoretically better.. but are Sprints 4G average 4g Speed numbers better then ATT's avg 3g speeds?? ..it would seem not.."
  • yibrushn - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Sorry just gotta make 2 corrections. The front camera is 1.3 mp and the screen is TFT not AMOLED.
  • Anand Lal Shimpi - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Fixed and fixed :)

    Hmm that was actually a bit confusing, Sprint lists it as an OLED screen and it is very similar to the OLEDs we've used in terms of color calibration but all the data I can find points to a TFT display.
  • DigitalFreak - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    I thought the screen thing might have been a typo, until I saw there was an entire paragraph describing the "AMOLED" screen. :-/
  • Anand Lal Shimpi - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    That was absolutely my bad. HTC appears to have calibrated the screen to mimic the other OLEDs, it's overly red. Combine that with the OLED listing here http://shopamerica.htc.com/cell-phones/productdeta... and it resulted in my mistake. I was wondering why viewing angle was so bad for OLED, I should've been more careful in my research there instead of just making an assumption. I will be more careful in the future.

    Thanks again for catching the error early on.

    Take care,
    Anand
  • Belard - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    I'm not on Sprint... but a friend has this phone and its very nice.... and huge.

    If they come out with an unlocked version, I may consider it... but the size is both plus and minus. Yeah, the kick stand is handy. And doing TEXTING by voice without actually using keys is handy... he says it freaks people out because his responses are so fast :)

    But with this being a "google" phone, the OS feature set should be the same on any other.
  • Belard - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    needed to add...

    Using the keyboard in LANDSCAPE mode is very easy, plenty of room... I never understood why the Apple iPhone didn't include this ability considering it knows how its orientated.

    I was a bit shocked how well I can work with some webpages without having to ZOOM in (but more scrolling) while in landscape.
  • kmmatney - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    The iPhone has a landscape keyboard - I'm using it to type this post...
  • Belard - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    When the iPhones first came out, it didn't.

    It was an after thought... common sense would be Landscape.
  • henrybravo - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    You'll have to change/clarify your comment one more time. The original iPhone had a landscape keyboard in Safari.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_ZToHMUb7k

    I suppose now you'll say "The original iPhone didn't have a landscape keyboard in everything else except Safari", which would be accurate. But 3 years later it's kind of a moot point. Not sure what you're getting at.
  • Acanthus - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    I would hope for some kind of FroYo revisit to the EVO.

    Google claims 200-500% increases in performance.
  • chriscusano - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Yes, please! maybe this can help the scrolling problem?
    Also, what if you kill all those apps running? Does it improve any? (personally I'm more of a kill the app when done using it type guy anyway)
  • strikeback03 - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    That would require rooting, which they may or may not want to get into as plenty of users wouldn't. Plus the performance increases are in 3rd party programs that run in the VM, so I doubt the basic interface would see the kind of performance gains mentioned.
  • chriscusano - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Spring $69.99 + $10 4G for unlimited everything?
    (see: http://anymobileanytime.sprint.com/?id9=SEM_Google...
  • DigitalFreak - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    No. It's unlimited calling to any mobile user, but you only get 450 minutes for land-line, roaming, etc.
  • Strk - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Last I knew, it was free roaming regardless. The minutes is just anytime, which for Sprint is 7am to 7pm (free nights and weekends). But like you said, you get unlimited mobile to mobile regardless of the other person's carrier.

    I wonder how this thing will stack up against the Samsung Galaxy S phones? I believe all the major carriers are getting one.
  • ed1112ward - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Yup, as a owner of the phone i can confirm then $10 evo tax, err I mean "Premium Data" charge.
  • ChillyPenguin - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    The 69.99 plan only include 450 minutes to land lines, while it does include unlimited minutes to any cellphone on any network. This review is correct in listing the 900 minute plan as 99.99 including the $10/mo 4G fee. That being said, my wife and I are on a sprint "Simply Everything" 1500 minute shared plan. By the time we get free calling to all cell phones and free nights and weekends, we used less than 300 minutes combined last month.
  • Alexstarfire - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    It's hard to really compare AT&T prices to Sprint prices since you can't get the exact same plans most of the time. Sprint truly has an "unlimited everything" option while AT&T has a 2GB max limit now. The fact that AT&T ended up being cheaper once tethering is included means little if you go over every month. With 4G and a true unlimited plan it's a pretty safe bet to say that Sprint has a much better plan in place. You can actually use it like it's supposed to be used.

    I'm very disappointed to hear about the screen in the EVO. A TFT, really? Why sully a great device with a craptastic screen? Not that the screen can't look good, but it'll never look as good as an AMOLED.

    And I agree with another person on here that this topic needs to be revisited with Froyo on the device. Would also be worth noting if there is a difference between stock and a "formatted" phone so-to-speak. It would suck to see a stock phone behaving like most stock laptops, but it's still something I'd like to know.
  • solipsism - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    In some areas, sure. Like display size, aspect ratio and the built in kickstand. But I would argue the EVO 4G loses that title by having a worse panel type and dot pitch over the new iPhone 4; and, most importantly, such a short playback time whist in Airplane Mode.

    PS: To extend your entertainment needs one can continuously charge their smartphone from their laptop if on a long flight without access to power. You should be able to get at least 4 charges out of the average notebook.
  • DigitalFreak - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    I'm waiting to see how the Droid X pans out. Unfortunately, Verizon is quite a bit more expensive than Sprint, and they don't have any "4G" options. Never been a fan of HTC either.
  • Zebo - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    Great review Anand. Good things come to those who wait, right.:P

    Evo is a non starter for me since I spend at hours on the phone each day and in the field and battery life kills it in addition to poor screen outside.

    Looking forward to iPhone review on battery life and outdoor capability.:)
  • fifoloveritas - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    The 30 charge is for wireless hotspot, which is not available on iPhone. Not sure if it's available on any other phone. There's no charge for regular tethering, phone has Share Connection option when it is plugged into USB.
  • Mr Perfect - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Anand,

    I've noticed that the majority of articles on the site lately have been for phones, consoles, laptops and other pre-assembled consumer electronics. Is this the new focus of AT? Has there simply been a dry spell of PC components?

    Thanks,
    MP
  • Anand Lal Shimpi - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    I've got a stack of SSDs here that need work and we'll have new GPUs coming very soon. The smartphones are hot right now but we'll see things come and go in waves. If there's a demand for us to review it, we will :)

    Take care,
    Anand
  • Mr Perfect - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Ah, ok, that's fair then. Looking forward to the coming reviews.

    Thanks for the reply,
    MP
  • mikephenix - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Most of the choppyness can be attributed to the 30 fps cap imposed on the OS. Both 2d and 3d framerates are capped at 30 fps on this phone. It's unusual that HTC would cap this device, when the nexus one and incredible do not have this cap in place:

    http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=6...
  • AmbroseAthan - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    One thing I feel like you overlooked is the Sprint TV.

    I own the EVO also and one of the things I have absolutely loved is the Sprint TV, and this is mainly right now for ESPN. Every single World Cup game is streaming live, so if I am for some reason away from the TV, I can watch. Even in only 3 bars of 3G service, it comes through very clean. With the kickstand, I set it up on a kitchen counter and a group of us watched Brazil play (grandpa had commandeered the TV for the US Open). Battery live looks to be in the vicinity of 3.5+ hours of TV.

    I admittedly need to explore it more, but there are multiple live stations and several stations of older material.
  • ale087 - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    I do see a degree of choppiness when compared to the iPhone and as you said it can be attributed to the lack of GPU acceleration in the UI... You should, however, mention in your review that there are optimized home replacements like ADW launcher and Launcher Pro that offer very smooth scrolling and better responsiveness, and excellent task manager/killer apps and widgets that help with memory management....
    Your browsing speed tests puzzle me, however. In real life tests on the same wifi network after clearing all cache, I consistently see the EVO and the Incredible render webpages faster than the iPhone 4 and 3Gs.... Also, the nexus one with the FRF83 froyo renders pages noticeably faster than even the iPad (with flash 10.1 set to on-demand or off), and its Java script performance far excells that of the other handsets and the iPad from what I have seen from other sources....
  • mongo lloyd - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Looking forward to a Samsung Galaxy S (A.K.A. Captivate, GT-I9000) review. Maybe that'll be the device Anand's searching for.
  • ale087 - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Hi Anand,
    I remember you previewed the Galaxy S and left us all excited about its release, any chance you've received one to review? The international unlocked version is out and I would really like to see an in-depth hardware review to decide if I want to spend the big bucks for it. It would also be fantastic if you do an iPhone 4 vs. Galaxy S review since they have such similar hardware :D. BTW I think it's great that you're doing phone reviews! nobody else goes as in-depth into the hardware as you do, and it's great to get a better understanding of what's ticking inside of these devices...

    Thanks!

    Alejandro
  • spathotan - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Glad I went with the Incredible instead. Had it for about 3 weeks and I love it. Ive tortured it a bit and its passed with flying colors. Was downloading/converting 2 songs and 2 videos off YouTube while playing a 3D game (ZENONIA) all at once with ZERO performance lags. I was quite suprised.
  • juampavalverde - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    I will like to see the improvement of this evo4g with android 2.2, i have the feeling that with some time this android phones will just get better (also in battery life). Anyway looks great!
  • Impulses - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    Many of them have already seen a steady improvement thanks to the user community of devs... If you're the sort that doesn't mind tweaking and messing with your device a little bit anyway. Personally I've never been big on any of that w/electronics outside of my PC (I want my phone, DVR, MP3 player, etc. to just "work")... But I've delved into the world of custom Android ROMs and whatnot and it really is quite amazing what some of these guys can accomplish, it certainly puts Google/HTC's stock builds to shame.

    Sprint has also issued two OTA patches for the EVO already (review was probably written before the 2nd one), the last one corrected some scrolling issues when the phone was not handheld (grounding issue I believe, personally I rarely encountered it even tho I read w/the phone laying on the table a lot) and made some other small improvements to the radio (which in turn should help w/battery).

    Frankly I haven't been bothered by any performance issues w/my EVO, but my only real basis for comparison is a 2nd gen (slower) iPod touch so YMMV. Battery life was somewhat disappointing w/the stock ROM but has improved a lot w/custom ROMs and/or some tweaking of the default sync settings. By default it's set to sync several different accounts (FB, Gmail, News, etc. etc.) at different intervals, some as often as 2-3 hours. Anand made no mention of this, I wonder if he looked into that at all when testing...

    The last thing I'll mention is that Swype blows any other touch keyboard out of the water, by a longshot... You really have to experience it first-hand to know what all the hype is about. It's still in beta (not hard to find leaked .apk's on the message boards) and I believe they're even gonna try selling it on the iPhone app market eventually (also available for WM).

    Regardless, it's a joy to use, 'specially on such a large screen, I can type faster w/one hand and Swype (AND more accurate) than I can with two hands on a Samsung Impression (which has one of the better landscape/slider keyboards amongst feature phones out there). The freedom to try all these things out (w/o waiting for Apple or anyone's approval) is what I really love about Android.
  • smsmith - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Hey Anand,

    Thanks for the great review! Your iPhone 3GS sunspider time seems a bit high though. Just now I ran it on my 3GS and got 13771ms.
  • JimmiG - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Amazing how expensive plans are over there compared to where I live.

    I have unlimited data at 6Mb/s and make calls for the equivalent of 5 cents a minute. That costs $26 a month (plus the cost for any calls or texts). There are cheaper alternatives if you only need 1GB or 5GB of data month. Sure, there's no subsidized phone included, but I just bought an unlocked HTC Desire (~Nexus One), it costs about the same as a high-end netbook.

    Over 24 months I pay maybe half of the quoted prices, one-time cost of phone included.
  • chriscusano - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Where is there?
  • DigitalFreak - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Considering he's getting 6Mb/s, I'd have to assume somewhere in Europe. :-)
  • JimmiG - Thursday, July 1, 2010 - link

    I'm in Sweden which is why I was even more surprised. Everything tends to be more expensive here, not cheaper.

    Another operator offers 1GB/month at 6Mb/s for $9 a month and 5GB/month at 10Mb/s for $16 a month. But I choose unlimited data over the higher speed since stuff like HD video is kind of pointless on a 3.7" screen.

    Of course you don't always get those speeds. Some 3G areas, especially in rural areas, don't support HSDPA so you only get 384Kb/s. But most built-up areas have at least 2Mb speeds and the entire city where I live offers the full bandwidth.
  • strikeback03 - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    So what would it cost for about 1500 minutes, 6000 SMS, and 200 MMS?
  • Gamingphreek - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Anand,

    I have found SIGNIFICANT performance and battery improvements in using LauncherPro by Federico Carnales on my HTC Hero <www.launcherpro.com>. I would be interested to hear if you notice the same thing.

    Additionally, while it is only for root users, Autokiller is a terrific application for modifying the Android's preset memory limits.

    Finally, regarding internet use, Dolphin Browser HD 2 is head and shoulders above the stock browser in every aspect. You may consider trying and seeing if that makes a difference in the browsing tests.

    Great review regardless, but as a long time Android user, I have found these to make a significant positive impact on my overall experience with the device.

    I know adding different applications to review can get out of hand very quickly, but is there any chance we might hear about your experience with some of these aforementioned applications?

    Thanks,
    -Kevin
  • chriscusano - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Hey great thoughts. Well I don't have an android myself, but maybe you guys might want to consider writing up an article (after official 2.2 release I'm thinking) with a phone "fully optimized" using some of the best (and cheapeast/free) apps out there. I think a phone with these apps will be sigificantly better than a stock phone. It's *almost* like comparing an oem computer out of the box to a customized computer (with a few performance tweaks). All serious computer users as well have their own customized setups that make their experience much, much better than a standard one (choice of web browser w/ addons/extensions, cutomized start bar, useful desktop gadgets, etc). Truly the experience can be totally different when things are customized. I'd image the same is the case with a phone like this.

    Also, man I've been looking for some VOIP 4G tests. Help me out guys! I may try to downsize to one internet carrier for home and phone but my major concern is I NEED VOIP for work. Can 4G cut it if the signal strength is strong (from a static location)? Does tethering via USB to the computer affect internet speeds? If so, how is VOIP from the computer when tethering via USB? Anyone? Anand ? :)

    -Chris
  • Gamingphreek - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    I have an HTC Hero, so I'll have to run all the tests over before I do it with the apps, but I would be more than happy to run a couple tests and send in a short little article for Anand's consideration. I can post it in the forums too just for general knowledge.

    My undergraduate research prior to my graduation this past May was on the Android OS (More specifically how secure it was from an IT Security perspective).
  • Impulses - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    There's a ton of things you can do to optimize battery life, from alternate launchers, to custom ROMs, to simply configuring the stock sync settings for the various accounts. Something Anand made no mention of, and it's one of the more obvious tweaks, the stock settings are actually pretty poor if you wanna preserve battery life but they're easy to change from 2-4 hours to 8 hours or daily or w/e.

    The latter alone made a difference for me, but some of the custom ROMs and such make a very very noticeable difference as well. It's really quite amazing what some of the user devs come up with, it puts Google/HTC's stock builds to shame. I've no idea if the iPhone jailbreak community delves into that kind of low-level optimization but the stuff they're doing on Android's end is awesome.
  • misaki - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Froyo is now getting rolled out officially, so I hope you guys will include it in your browsing comparisons since the speed gains are so drastic ;)
  • DigitalFreak - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Problem is, no one knows when the EVO will be getting the 2.2 upgrade. Sometime this year is the only official word.
  • finbarqs - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    The "choppiness" and/or "lagginess" during scrolls is due to one MAJOR flaw in the EVO 4G Design:

    30 FPS cap!

    our favorite XDA developers found a way around it on some EVO's with the proper hardware...
  • MrBrownSound - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Hopefully Froyo will sway people to take a second look at evo.
  • alfredska - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Little late to the game with an EVO 4G review aren't we? Engadget and others already have quite comprehensive reviews.
  • RamarC - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    I just got an evo today and I like it. Since I have 4 phones on a family plan (including a hero and moment), I'm married to Sprint. And since all 4 only cost $170 a month (with unlimited text n data), the price is too good to consider a divorce. Performance is good and it meets my expectations. Comparatively it might be a bit lacking, but it's a good upgrade to anyone who doesn't have/want an iPhone.
  • MrX8503 - Monday, June 28, 2010 - link

    Awesome review Anand, I wish I was able to hold off on buying cellphones before your review as it would of helped a great deal.

    After buying the EVO, I also noticed the lag and performance issues. People thought I was crazy and most review sites don't even mention this. A lot of other tech sites get their reviews out quick, but none of them are as thorough as yours or pick up the little details.
  • nkf - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    While the default keyboard on the EVO is pretty good (big screen helps), you might like to try out the Swype beta. Usual disclaimers (yes, it's a beta. no, I have nothing to do with swype except as a user, etc, etc).

    Have had it for a few days now (on the recommendation of some other android owners), and it has sped up my typing and accuracy by a huge amount.
  • mrdeez - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    I have had the Evo since day one and haven't noticed any lag whatsoever...I don't know what phone your talking about but this one loads pages fast and have had no lagg issues on mine...I'm stock with Advance Task Killer and some games and apps 2.1...

    What I like:
    Speed
    Screen
    Speech to text
    Camera and camcorder
    Android
    Options Galore
    Its not an iphone

    What I don't like:
    Screen sometimes too sensitive
    Music player is too low
    Paying for 4g-don't have it...aah the cost of early adoption!

    This is my first android phone and I left apple pho..I mean at&t because I was tired of waiting for a android phone......I'm very happy with sprint.
  • t13190 - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    Just wanted everyone to know that as of now a Sprint/Clear is limiting 4G upload speed to 1Mbps until they get more bandwidth available
  • Deusfaux - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    You might find the HTC Desire to be the right mix of what you're looking for in a phone. It's the 4th pillar, if you consider you've looked at the top HTC Android phones for the other 3 big networks.

    Should be out in a month or so.

    Also, how does one go about emailing or contacting you about something else?
  • tommo123 - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    any chance of revies of some apps?

    i.e for android keyboards, swype is awesome - best keyboard i've used
  • stryder76 - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    Sprint/HTC has released an OTA update yesterday. Supposedly, the EVO is now faster or at least feels snappier.

    Will you redo the benchmark tests?
  • cknobman - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    LOL only thing the OTA update yesterday did was brick alot of phones (including mine)!!!!!

    What kind of idiotic developer dosnt do a software check before installing new software? And what half assed QA team dosnt check for that scenario and lets the crap code roll out to production?

    For those that arent aware the problem was the OTA update installs fine the first time then shortly later the user is notified a upgrade is available (apparently same one you just applied) and when the user tries to apply update instant bricked phone!!!!!!!

    Its kind of my fault but after installing the first time I went home and was playing with my kids and surfing the web when my phone poped up the upgrade available again. I was busy and just hit ok thinking it was another upgrade in a series of progressive ones. Boy was I wrong. As a applications developer myself Im dumbfounded how some sh!tty code like this could roll out which is now going to cost sprint quite a bit of money.

    Sprint has officially pulled the upgrade until they can fix this issue.
  • stryder76 - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    You mentioned that there is a website that lists the virtual keyboards but all it states is "at .com". What website were you going to link to?
  • BlueAqua - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    Nice review Anand. Don't forget that Sprint makes you pay and extra $10 a month just to have an EVO. Undscountable too. Their new plans and this fee would have cost me over $2000 over my current similar plan for 2 phones, which really isn't worth it at all.
  • rothnic - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    Have you been trying to get your hands on a Droid X at all? I have really been hoping it would address most of the issues that the Evo has, while having the 4.3" screen. I have been comparing T-Mobile vs. Sprint vs. ATT vs. Verizon and think the Droid X might be the winner.

    Some reviews of the Droid X point to slightly better video and picture quality. (not as good as some iphone 4 samples I have seen, but a compromise)
    No $10 charge for 4g that isn't even in my area.
    No capped internet, which has turned me away from upgrading my 3 year old iPhone for the iPhone 4.
    Better processor, so hopefully smoother experience(especially after 2.2).

    Would like to see your review of it.
  • bigdeal101 - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    Annand,

    Is it possible to do a Clear 4G review or Sprint non phone review. I have been considering getting 4G but for Broadband only. I would be especially interested in home vs. mobile option with respect to signal strength and usability. Also, if there are any antennas out there for 4G do they help much. Not everone is an internet phone warrior but they do use the internet with laptops in mobile situations.

    Thanks from a 13 year fan. (I read your site when you were in High School as well as Sharky and the original Toms Hardware. Still also visit Kyle's Hard OCP. )
  • ergo98 - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    "Unfortunately there’s no way to close an app from the task switcher although there are many options in the Android market if you want something a bit more robust."

    This isn't some grievous oversight. Most task killers do far more harm than good.

    Apps in the background seldom consume anything more than RAM. The RAM they do consume is automatically freed the moment any other application requires it. The app is essentially "freeze-dried" to a minimalist bag of state, restored when you go back to it.

    I am a little disappointed seeing this continued ignorance about Android, most especially on AnandTech. Sure there are people who'll tell you how great life is with a task killer, just as there are also people who will swear by their Q-Bracelet's magical curative powers. Eschew task killers and embrace the platform as it was actually intended -- it isn't Windows.

    The only real caveat to this is services -- services do consume resources in the background, however by and large the only services in Android apps are actually critically necessary, such as background music playing or downloading. Services very seldom need to be managed in any form beyond the app GUI.
  • strikeback03 - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    And there are plenty of users who believe the default settings allow suspended programs to hang around for too long, esp. on Sense devices.

    http://www.androidcentral.com/fine-tuning-minfree-...
  • Impulses - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    Meh, you'll find a never-ending discussion on the subject if you look around... But there's also plenty of OTHER things you can do to conserve battery life. The stock sync settings for FB/News/whatever accounts are a little too aggressive if you ask me, that's the obvious place to start. Alternate launchers are said to help as well, I haven't really compared battery life w/ADW vs Sense...

    Personally Sense's launcher's UI seems silly to me, why do I need a permanent button on my home screen to just add more app shortcuts and widgets? And why is the phone button so large? Wasted space... That being said, a lot of the other Sense add-ons are very welcome (like the contact linking across accounts, which can be done manually, thankfully). Luckily you can dump the launcher and keep the rest.

    Aaand that's pretty much what Android's all about, choice. Some of the custom ROMs out there do wonders for battery life as well, alto that goes well beyond the scope of a product review (as anything that requires rooting/jailbreaking does). But switching launchers or simply tweaking stock settings should be in the discussion at some point imo. It's a degree of customization that you don't (easily) get w/other phones/OS.
  • flurrball - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    Thanks for the review Anand!

    You've convinced me to at least wait and see what the Droid X will offer to compete with the other smartphones. I'm really looking to get off the Apple/AT&T rapetrain, but not eager to sign a two-year contract and be unhappy again.

    Can't wait for your Droid X review!!
  • Sf ted - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    Anand, great review as always. You're a master of the details. I do have a suggestion that could change your mind about loving this device. The recent update increased my battery life an order of magnitude, elimanated the unsensitive Pp touchscreen and now reacts to my slightest of touches. You might have a much better experience after the update. Cheers! Ted
  • Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    Does anyone make an oversized battery that adds an extra 10-20 Wh?
  • Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    You mean this thing can not play an Xvid encoded avi file out of the box? 512x288 and 576x320 are my most common resolutions.
  • Screammit - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - link

    the default android video player will not take Xvid, but there are a number of apps hitting the market that likely do/will. RockPlayerBase is one that comes to mind
  • totenkopf - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    In the dimensional comparison table please take all inch measurements to the hundredths place (evo is 4.80", iphone is 4.54", etc.) and keep the trailing zeros in this case. It's just the right thing to do... and because when my instructor said 10 years ago in highschool that someday I would use this knowledge, I'm pretty sure that today is the very day she was referring to... how fortuitous.
  • echtogammut - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    I have been using the phone for about a week now and have found the battery life to be less than my old iPhone, but not a real issue. So far with fairly heavy usage, web (no 4g), regular GPS lookup and moderate phone usage (I run my own business), it takes nearly 2 days for it to completely discharge. One thing to note, I charged my phone for 8 hours after getting it, totally discharged it and repeated this processes twice. I always charged my iPhone at night and I plan on doing the same with this phone, so like I said battery isn't an issue for me.
  • Trebus - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    Nice review, as usual.
    But please learn how multitasking works on Android, this seems to be problem of many reviewers on the internet :-)
    If you long press the Home button, it is not task manager, there are simply 6 last used apps. Some of this apps may not be running at the moment.
    For start I can recommend this article about Android multitasking:
    http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/04/mul...
  • austonia - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    I believe Premium Data gives you true unlimited data on 3G and 4G, although unlimited 3G is an unadvertised feature. I'm guessing they don't want a flood of extreme bandwidth hogs.

    http://community.sprint.com/baw/thread/33866?tstar...

    I'm past 5GB this month on 3G and it doesn't show any additional charges at sprint.com where i can see a near-real time summary of my bill. I download 6GB over 3G in one night (200-300 KB/s) so it would be easy to crack 100GB/mo if motivated.

    Tempted to see just how far I can push it. ;)
  • Adul - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    I long since had my EVO 4g Root and running one of the many custom roms for it (DC3.2.0). I notice considerly improved battery life and put it to the test with a mix of browsing, installing apps, loading a new rom, and phone calls. Had it off that charger from work at around 4:30, drive to a friends house with wardrive running in the background. Got there and showed a few things on the phone that they did not have on his EVO. Left around 10 PM and made it home near 11. I have about 10% battery life left.

    Plus there was an update pushed and pulled out yesterday that address some battery life issues which is partially to blame on HTC background tasks.
  • Adul - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    Any another thing.,,
    EVO owners I suggest you try the swype KB.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnQts9NUnL4&fea...
  • alainiala - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    While I agree that 99% of the time, Sprint's apps are beyond useless, I have found Sprint TV to be fantastic during this World Cup season. I can catch games over 3G or 4G while away from home. In fact, I watched USA vs Ghana from a coffee shop over 4G and the experience was fantastic. Smooth playback with only a very occasional hiccup that would clear itself up after a second. Now that both of the teams I've been rooting for have been eliminated, Sprint TV will go back to being useless.
  • Zebo - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    Great review Anand. Good things come to those who wait, right...:P

    Evo is a non starter for me since I spend at hours on the phone each day and in the field and battery life kills it in addition to poor screen outside.

    Looking forward to iPhone review on battery life and outdoor capability.:)
  • sapient2k7 - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link

    One thing not mentioned in the article while comparing plans is the fact that Sprint Navigation is also free on EVO with the plan. Sprint family plans are also much cheaper than any other carrier.

    Personally I like the sprint apps, Sprint TV, Sprint navigation and the Nascar app are great. On an EVO Sprint TV looks great much better than my PRE. However, I am waiting for the next version of Palm PRE before making a jump :).
  • docmilo - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - link

    I'm dealing with the issue of Evo on Sprint's poor coverage and finding a phone the wife likes as much as the Evo. Motorola's version of the 4.3 inch screen the Droid X is out on July 15th. Any info out there on this device? I would prefer to stay with Verizon. The Droid X doesn't have the front camera and the fancy kick stand my wife really likes.

    We took the Evo on a trip to Leavenworth a few weeks back and rarely got signal. Yesterday we were off to the Seattle Aquarium and I popped out the Evo, turned on Sprint Navigation and if I didn't know where we were, we would have been lost. Sprint Navigation was off a couple of blocks.
  • adam7425 - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - link

    You(and others, including Engadget) have described Sprint's $69.99 plan as just giving you 450 minutes and unlimited messaging/data. A little more clarification would go a long way. The 'Everything Data - with ANY Mobile, Anytime' plan gives you Unlimited talk to any cellphone on any network. The 450 minutes only apply to landlines. For some people thats all the unlimited they need. I myself have months where I don't use a single one of those minutes.
  • adam7425 - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - link

    You should point out that sprints 450 minutes are for landlines only. Any cellphone to cellphone is unlimited.
  • sssbbb - Thursday, July 1, 2010 - link

    on Performance page: "Zotac XBOX HD-ID11" -> "Zotac ZBOX HD-ID11"
  • steeda1974 - Thursday, July 1, 2010 - link

    I personally own this phone. After around 10 days, the battery life got extremely better. Has anyone else experienced this? It went from around 4 hrs max with everything running. I would highly suggest to turn GPS, 4G, and WiFi off when your on the move or at work. This has increased my battery life to around 12-18 hrs. And to anyone that says they need to have 4G on to watch flawless TV, who the heck watches TV on a 4-5in screen for more than 30 minutes at a time? I would just go upstair or downstairs and watch it on a Flat Screen TV instead of this smaill screen. If I'm wrong then I apologize but I think everyone is with me on that one. As far as the UI being a little shaky, who really cares, its hardly noticeable and its just a phone that is mearly played with for over 10 secs at a time. The phone is the best thing that I have personally come across in 2-3 yrs. For all that get this phone, immediately save contacts to google account as soon as you get it. This is the only way to get back your contacts from Sprint at this moment.
  • steeda1974 - Thursday, July 1, 2010 - link

    I personally own this phone. After around 10 days, battery life got much better. I would suggest turning off WiFi, bluetooth, GPS, and 4G when on the run. GPS will automatically turn on if you use navigation. UI is smooth, I do not notice any lagging at any given time. I'm sure if you pay attention all day long, you would find a problem or lagging at times. But its not that big of a deal compared to all other phones at the moment. Its been the best thing to come along in around 2-3 yrs. I love it!! Plus if your using it as a mobile hot spot, dont you think you would plug it into a USB connection from the device that you are using and turn 4G on? Just me personal opinion though.
  • thesafetyisoff - Thursday, July 1, 2010 - link

    This article needs to be re-written after the system fix for the Evo that occurred yesterday. The over-the-air system update released on June 30, 2010 fixes the battery life issue. Really.

    After buying my Evo, I initially had the same problem with battery life: Even using task killer aps, the phone would drain at least 15-20% of battery power EVERY HOUR. I'd plug it in overnight and it was half dead by the time I got to my office, completely dead by lunch time. I had to get an extra charging cable for the car and the office, and it would still run out of juice if I had to be in a meeting for an extended time. And forget about airline trips entirely. To make matters worse, my phone started hanging up and spontaneously rebooting, so I couldn't even use it when it had battery life. I was about to return it when I heard that a system upgrade was pending.

    The update fixed EVERYTHING. No hang-ups, no reboots, and a full charge went over 14 hours with moderate use. I don't know why htc initially shipped the phones without this fix, but the problem is now gone.

    Long live the Evo - on a single charge!
  • worldbfree4me - Thursday, July 1, 2010 - link

    Great to see a non-biased and impartial article! However, I do wonder that if this review would have been done post Sprint update, would the results have been slightly better with regards to the battery test. Battery life for me personally has not been a problem for me due to me having a charger at the Office, in the Car, at Home and a Battery pack that is used when traveling that can power 2 USB devices. Also, it is a well known fact that the Stock Android UI weighs less than the HTC Sense UI. This could be why the N1 is consistently faster then the Incredible and the EVO. I suspect FROZEN YOGURT aka 2.2 should close this gap somewhat. Overall, I feel that each of the aforementioned phones is very close in terms of overall performance.
  • rf40928 - Friday, July 2, 2010 - link

    Maybe the review for the iPhone 4 wasn't complete yet..
    but its funny how the Iphone 4 review that Anand did proves
    Iphone 4 on a "slower" 3g network is consistantly faster then the Droid on a 4G network when it comes to the web .. I guess 4G's Peak performance is theoretically better.. but are Sprints 4G average 4g Speed numbers better then ATT's avg 3g speeds??

    it would seem not..
  • topgun966 - Saturday, July 3, 2010 - link

    I noticed you said that there is a 5gb cap on 3g. That's incorrect with the Evo. Evo plan has a $10 premium which nulls that cap. The Evo is true unlimited both 3g and 4g. Great review otherwise.
  • OzzieGT - Friday, July 9, 2010 - link

    Thanks for the honest and detailed review. It's because of this review I feel better about waiting for the Samsung Epic. A little smaller, also a good screen and the Swype keyboard are making for a very interesting package...
  • VIDYA - Monday, July 12, 2010 - link

    Samsung and nokia will remain in the future with the mature platforms and technology while the USA based companies will be eager to run and fall down before learning to walk or simply take stride....... 4G by HTC and SPRINT is a joke or a watered down format war.
  • Announcer - Saturday, October 9, 2010 - link

    My business partner and I travel between Dallas/Fort Worth and the SF bay area. I have the Sprint HTC Evo and he had the At&t Iphone 4g, The Evo 4G blows away the Iphone in the Dallas metroplex area and holds its own in the SF bay area. When I am in the Dallas tethered to my Evo with my laptop I get 6 Mbps and just surfing with the Evo everything loads faster than the Iphone on At&t. Sprint 4G rules! I did have At&t a few years ago and the customer service was horrific. I got a sprint air card and was grandfathered in on the unlimited usage. I did have a At&T HTC Tilt phone and tethered it to my laptop. The speeds on At&t were abysmal then I got the sprint aircard and went from 400kbps with At&t to 1700 kbps with sprint. Needless to say my partner paid off his At&t contract, sold his Iphone and now has a Sprint Evo 4G.

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