So, since you're stuck
paying $10 extra per month for "premium data services" (not
that bad of a 4G tax, if you ask us), what wonders await you on the
HTC EVO 4G, fueled by Sprint's next-gen network? Well, if these best-case-scenario tests we just did are any indication: everything you ever dreamed of. Of course, Sprint's WiMAX might end up stumbling up the steps of reality, but there's no denying that this is 21st century technology that's worthy of some of the excitement that's been lavished upon it. We just saw demos of Qik video conferencing, YouTube HQ (output brilliantly over HDMI), simultaneous data and voice usage, and even a straight-up speed test (4Mbps down, 1Mbps up, the latter of which is a hard cap). The phone performed brilliantly in each scenario, but of course that's to be expected when you have a 4G tower in the building. Check out the videos of all this breathless action after the break. Added bonus? All four (totaling about 100MB) were uploaded with our laptop tethered over WiFi to an HTC EVO 4G. Don't be jealous. Okay, be just a little bit jealous.
posted May 12th 2010 8:23PM
@LOVEISPEACE2012EVOLUTION are you kidding me? $80/mo is terrible. I complain that I spend $55 with sprint. My gf spends $35/mo cause she got on sero.
@revaaron
you must not realize verizons and at&t's plans are anywhere from 90 to 130 for the same thing you can get for 80 at sprint.......
This is God's own phone.
Insanely badass device. It's just to bad it only applies to like ten cities in the USA. Even then that's only in the city limits for the most part. Don't expect to get a good WiMax connection unless your within fifty miles of the tower in the city.
Sweet device Sprint, to bad the only the people that would actually buy it are smart enough not to because they know there's no 4G service anywhere near them.
Great phone.
Hate the interface though.
Was this event in New York City? I thought NYC didn't have 4G yet.
@inthesto
They had a Sprint 4G hotspot van outside. They said it's not quite as fast regular WiMAX though.
i just looked at the map on sprint.com and....THERES NO 4G IN NYC??? whaaaat?
@Pipper
This is correct I am using 4g now on my laptop and I get 4 to 5.5 down and 2 to 2.5 up all the time.
So fyi to those that think the $10 dollars is high. Verizon and Att are going to cap and charge tiers for 4g so this is a deal for all you can eat data. And Sprint just set the bar so that other carriers can not go crazy with the 4g add on. You better thank them now.
To whom this may concern:
I am thoroughly frustrated with your Auburn-Opelika, Alabama Tiger-Town store. I have been to this location twice in the last 3 days, per your press release, in order to pre-order the EVO 4G. On the first visit the mobile center associate, although nice young man, was uninformed and told me that I could not order the EVO 4G because it would not be available until next week; even with your existing press release stating otherwise. On the second visit there were four very helpful reps, two of which I know personally, they attempted to accept my pre-order when your Auburn-Opelika, Alabama Tiger-Town store's system prompted them to stop what they were doing with a message from District management. Believe you me, this was a very dejecting feeling. I want to continue to speak highly of your stores and continue patronizing them, but this is a lot to handle. I am a very patient person, I have had my Sprint upgrade since the summer of 2008 because I read the "tea leaves" so to speak and heard the whispers about this phone. I have left my contact information with one of the four young ladies that assisted me, but that does not provide me with a large enough level of comfort when the proper steps are to pay my $50, receive a gift card and be GUARANTEED my EVO 4G when they are delivered to the store. I frequent news and tech sites, I have heard that only fifty phones are allotted to each store; I WILL BE VERY UPSET IF FOR SOME REASON I CANNOT GET ONE OF THESE PHONES, seeing as how the Best Buy associates told me that I was the first, repeat first person to come in and inquire about the EVO 4G at this location. I am one hour and thirty minutes away from Atlanta, GA. a 4G city and want what I have prepared myself, no, put myself in position to get. Your Auburn-Opelika, Alabama Tiger-Town Store is my hurdle, rather it's district management. Please get back to me with something because I know, your associates know and per this email you know I have done my job as a customer. Thank you and I appreciate the opportunity to vent these concerns.
Is this the best phone currently on the market???
Im buying mines as soon as it comes out. Can't wait to trade in my slow Hero
I live in a 4g area and the only service provider whose 3g coverage penetrates my office building is Sprint so looks like I will be switching to Sprint on June 4.
I think I'm correct in saying that this is the first time EVER that USA have a better phone than available in Europe....
....next they'll be getting front-loading washing machines & cars that do more than 20mpg.
@OrsonX
Well that all depends on what you thought about the first Iphone as that phone was released in the states before it was here in Europe.
@hvakrg
An interestin point. The first iPhone did have an OS that surpassed the competition at the time and the touch screen was indeed a revolution (although of course not the first). However, the iPhone was technically inferior to my (crappy) N95, which had WiFi, 3G, 5mp camera, GPS with navigation, FM radio, Ngauge games and a (crappy) dual sliding mechanism to boot!
Although... guess which phone I swapped my N95 for!
Only 4/!Mbit? Tests of Netcoms 4G-network (LTE) in norway shwed 50/10Mbit.
Here in Stockholm, Sweden the 4G network has been up since december. Recent speedtests in Dagens Nyheter (the largest newspaper) shows 25,5 mbit/s down and 5,5 mbit/s up. Close to a base station speeds reached 93 mbit/s down!
Still baffled about how Sprint gets away from calling their WiMAX network 4G. I was at least hoping the techies here at Engadget to be a little critical, but you're all eating it raw. Nothing 4G about WiMAX. WiMAX was and is a dying technology that has gained a little wind and will eventually loose to LTE. Moreover, WiMAX is only a radio technology and not a mobile system in itself, like LTE (including the infrastructure).
The EVO device looks nice in itself. Just runs on a network that will lock you in and that you can't use anywhere else. Don't believe the hype people! You will end up in a blind alley!
@webstarcool
US cellphone users have long been accustomed to this sort of abuse. The simple fact that networks are lagging so much in technology while being oscenely overpriced compared to pretty much any other civilized nation shows that people apparently don't want anything better there.
Europeans constantly drop their jaws when they hear how much americans pay for their cell service
@webstarcool
Really Guys???? I really start to wonder with some of these comments. It has been proven over and over again that Sprint not only has a very fast 3G network, but also one of the most reliable. The one thing they have been missing is the "Iconic" device... Now they have... The EVO (leaving out the 4G on purpose) This phone has the best feature/hardware set out of any phone on the market. You combine that with Sprints proven network and their plans which are the best bang for your buck plans out, bar none and I don't see where there could be anything negative here. The fact that the phone can utilize, where available, the WiMax network is icing on the cake. Where is this blind alley..? WiMax is proven to be faster than anything in the US currently. No other carrier offers it... Seems pretty clear to me..
Summary.... Best Phone, Great 3G Network, Best Price Plans, 4G where available.. Am I missing something?
The extra $10 isn't too bad considering that I'm already on the $69.99 everything plan. I'm just waiting to pick up the phone when in comes out and I'll let them add the extra $10. I had just found out a couple weeks back that my credit union has a 10% discount on Sprint service that I will add on after I get the Evo. It might be a good idea to check with the company you work for or your bank/credit union for potential discounts on the phone service!
The ONLY thing that the EVO could possibly improve on: gaining an optical trackpad. Otherwise, this one nearly beats EVERY smartphone on the market hands down. Apart from the featurephones with 12mp, and some possible upcoming 1.3Ghz Snapdragon windows devices, this thing is THE smartphone destroyer of the decade. (Or at least till mid 2010, lol)
i read somewhere that during the sprint party they had to bring a van with 4g because NY didnt have a 4g tower. How is that "best case scenario?"
Oh, S***
Steve
Sent from my iPhone.
I'm wondering if Sprint will try to block "official" upgrades to Android 2.2 by HTC, as it seems you'd be able to tether/hotspot without the extra fees Sprint wants to charge in order to be able to do that?
Does anyone else find it ironic that a "review" of a phone doesn't even mention call quality?
My Nexus does many things well, but making phone calls is not one of them. The handset speaker and speakerphone speaker suck. It takes forever to dial.
Am I the only one who cares about how well a phone makes a phone call?
Okay, I really like this phone. I had been with Sprint for almost 8 years but when 3GS came out, I got one in June... I (Heart) My 3GS , though, I can really see how a device like the EVO rocks the Smartphone Boat. My jaw dropped when I saw that it had the capability to become a MiNi HotSpot .. I very much dislike the idea of going back to Sprint, OR the idea that a 3G version of this phone wouldn't be awesome.. ((((Does a Speed Test on AT&T 3G Network on Speak Easy SpeedTest App > Just Got 1.6 Down and 640K up < Turned on WiFI > 1.4 down 3.6 up, that seems kinda slow but I digress))))
As soon as I heard HDMI Out, I felt twitterpated, I had to Chillax, I got goose bumps, and two camers? (((Hot Flash, Hot Flash)))
As much as I hate the Cliche, I want to be one of the first to say " For now, the HTC EVO 4G is clearly the iPhone Killer" (Only Comparatively to Anything PRE iPhone 4G as I cannot say the iPhone 4G cannot be killed untill I know more clearly what the specs are) but the HTC EVO Clearly Champions the 3GS, but then again, I won't have a heart attack untill I have this phone physically in my hand.
When is it coming out?
@EddieStarr
June 4th
Any idea bout that.. Lets say u buy one... The phone is locked to sprint right ? Will the upgrade to android 2.2 unlock it for random carriers?
There's 4G in Dallas BITCHES.....!!!!
Feel bad for the rest of the population that doesn't.
I live in Texas, THE KING OF 4G!!!
This is such a geekie phone. Looks like i'll be going with iPhone 4, as it is by far a superior product.
;
Now i must say i dont find this impressive at all, seing as i for atleast a year now, have been getting speeds of 5-6 mbit down/1-2mbit up (actual speeds, max is 7.2mbit) on my 3GS, and thats in real world enviroment, not standing right next to the god damn tower..
So yeah, come again when you have something like 20 mbit or alike..
Well the article did achieve one thing: it made a lot of us that never post a comment post a comment.
I've had an iPhone for 2 years now. After the 1st year, I got the new one (3GS) and gave my old one to my wife. I too experienced the joys of AT&T with dropped calls. I often wondered why they didn't change the "Call failed, call back or cancel" to just automatically recall since it happened so often. Anyway, that and the fact that I "saw" what the new iPhone would look like, I went out and bought an EVO on Friday, 6/4. Since Sprint has a 30 days money back policy if you don't like it, I figured why not try it. Worse thing that could happen is I return and get the new iPhone.
I got a new phone # and set my iPhone to forward all calls to the EVO. I then left the iPhone at home for 3 days while I used the EVO. The battery looked to be bad at first since after a few calls and surfing, it showed only 60%. Obviously I was worried. Well, when I charged it fully Friday night, I used it all day Saturday. Not a single problem with the battery. At the end of the day (around 9pm), I recieved the 15% low battery warning. This is about in line with what I've experienced with the iPhone. Sunday and Monday the pattern was the same, although I purposely didn't charge it Sunday night, and guess what, it was still worked on Monday morning.
I have the 4G turned off, and I only turn Bluetooth on when I get in the car (I did the same for my iPhone because Bluetooth always sucked down power regardless of device). I do keep WiFi on, have not messed with the brightness, and have changed the screen timeout from 1 to 2 minutes.
In short, the battery works about the same as my 3GS iPhone.
The other startling thing I noticed was what happened when I picked up my iPhone to look up something that wasn't transfered. Wow. I don't know how else to say this, but it looked "old". I mean, the screen was so small, made worse by Apple having to have a bar on the top and bottom for icons. And boy, do you get used to the widgets and the full screen calendar.
I think I am not a "fanboy" of any product. This is just my opinion.
BTW, I did get to test the QIK video call with a friend who also got an EVO (who had an iPhone and may get the new iPhone) and it was definately cool! The only thing I didn't like was one of the callers has to hold the "Talk" button, very walkie-talkie. I assume this was for feedback, but it's not optimal.
I so want to like this phone, but i don't. I went to Sprint today and messed with it for like an hour and was not impressed by the software or hardware! The software seems clunky and sore to the eyes. Nothing polished about this OS at all imo. The size is awesome, but feels so cheap! I am glad some people are liking this phone, its just not for me.