HTC EVO 4G's graphics capped at 30FPS?
By Ross Miller 
posted June 10th 2010 9:57PM
posted June 10th 2010 9:57PM
Reports are flying in from across the internet -- and by that we mean the xda-developers and Google Code forums -- that the EVO 4G might have something of a framerate issue. It seems that the device is "locked in" at 30 frames per second both in 2D (Canvas) and 3D (openGL) modes, while anecdotally, a phone like the Hero hits 54fps on average and has "smoother scrolling" in the menus. This apparently is visible both with the standard Sense UI installed and with the Froyo preview build, although in the latter case the Nexus One bootup video is 60fps before halving upon reaching the home screen. So, wherein lies the culprit? For Google's part, Android framework engineer "Romain Guy" responded to one thread reasserting the platform team's "target was, is and will be 60fps." We can't imagine it's related to the hardware given the EVO's impressive specs. Some fingers, ergo, are being pointed towards firmware. This wouldn't be the first time HTC's handsets have come under scrutiny for troubling graphical performance -- 2008 was not the company's finest year in that department. Whatever the reason is, we just want a quick resolve -- after all, it's just not fair when our Hero-carrying buddies are scoring better benchmarks.
It's still smooth as butter
@tklr08 30FPS is smooth as butter? HA!
@Fragmented
WIMAX == can surf web and talk on the phone at the same time.
@Fragmented , if you are on a 4G zone (as I am), you can talk and use data at the same time, so... your archaic comment... is archaic
@Fragmented check out this video, it's just for you http://www.mediafire.com/?dwnqz2yzw2i
@Fragmented I wish this talking point would die. I can't think of too many occasions I had to talk and look surf simultaneously, and the times when I did, I was near WiFi. Not a deal breaker.
@tklr08 30FPS on a screen of this size really isn't bad. The frame transitions are definitely less noticeable on your tiny phone compared to the same FPS on your monitor.
It might have been capped at 30FPS for battery life reasons actually since needlessly running everything at insane FPS might be kind of battery draining.
@Nerdtalker All the movies you see in theaters are played at 24 fps. So unless you're criticizing every movie for looking "stuttery" as well, 30 fps is absolutely fine.
@tekdemon if its for battery life reasons, id say they failed lol.
@BSprague .. Not for games it isn't.
Seriously go tell ANY gamer that "30fps is enough" and any more is a waste. They will laugh so hard they will probably have a heart attack.
@BSprague Oh hell not this again. MOTION BLUR. I shall say no more.
@Fragmented must u troll every android post, move out your mothers basement find a dirlfriend and get a life. Seriously we dont bug you in your stupid window mobile post.
ps. yes we know your account 5
@ig88b i have a 3gs here in japan on softbank 3g network and i can talk and access a data connection same time too
@tklr08
Hmm my comment went elsewhere... But anyhoo go star the article on Google Code so this gets more attention (http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/list?num=100&start=100)
@tklr08
I don't agree, and I also think it sucks that the EVO 4g is limited to 65k colors as well...HTC Fails for that and the graphics framerate imho. They have always had problems in these areas...I would have thought that it would have gotten better as technology advanced, but I guess not.
@tklr08
I played with this at the store today....def feels a little laggy to me.
@tklr08
Ermmmmm.... so why underclock it?
@Mikeh41 I played with it against a Nexus 1 and I really couldn't tell the difference. My friend just switched from a Nexus 1 and he said his Nexus 1 felt like a kids toy after using his EVO. Just wait for an update to fix this. Then haters/Apple fanboys will find something else to critic
@topheriffic I must say, I have, say for example someone asks me what time a movie we are going to see is at. On my iPhone I can simply minimize my phone and check the movies app; say you're tethering and you get a call midway through a large download, you'll have to restart the whole thing. It's definitely annoying but not a deal breaker for most.
@Fragmented
you getting a girl = 0% chance
@Fragmented
you getting a girl without paying for it = 0%
@ig88b
WIMAX = available in
@Jean Marc I think you are being far too optimistic on that out look :)
@Fragmented You can't surf and talk at the same time on the iPhone either... well, not for long anyway :)
I'd rather have WiMax zones for super highspeed wireless internet + reliable phone convo than a phone that can only make calls in "no-dropped-calls" zones while being on the internet.
@fragmented you must not have an EVO my battery never dies but I must charge my phone every night which does suck though
@Fragmented
Do you still use the Nokia 1100? Or do you just never talk to anybody?
@Fragmented I wish I could go a week but honestly charging it when I go to bed doesn't bother me. just curious what phone do u have
@Fragmented 5% of people have AT&T 3g.
See what I did there?
Please stop making up percentages.
@fragmented I have to be honest charging ny phone while I sleep. Just curious what phone do you have that last so long maybe I should switch.
@John Locke
"I love these comments - so many "well, it doesn't bother me at all..."
"I think it's ok to have 30fps, why go any faster?"
"it's not androids fault but HTC since google is in beta anyway"
"I don't know why people are complaining but the iPhone sucks because it doesn't have a removable battery"
"My droid is great 60fps and your evo 4G sucks"
"I'm sure they will fix this because I just think it will be"
"People don't care about fps since no one can tell the difference"
"It won't matter, my EVO 4G has 4.3" LCD with 65,000 colors only. And 30fps is more than enough""
I love 'em too! Reminds me of the many times that the older iPhones were found to be flawed in some way. lol
You find em on both sides. Eh, what can you do?
Good news is, it's near impossible to hardware cap to 30 frames per second. It's literally all just the software, which can be fixed.
Secondly, I have an iPod Touch for time-wasting apps/gaming/ media. This bug doesn't apply to me. Huzzah!
@john locke go away no one cares bout your iPhone I don't troll your stupid Apple post stop coming to all the Droid post and spamming us with your icrap
@taligent Ask any gamer, any real gamer, 30 Fps is 30 FPS no matter what.
-Vin Diseal.
@John Locke
Really? "Enjoy the f**k" out of your phone? Isn't sex with your phone stooping a bit low? I'm pretty sure there's an ap for that...
@tklr08 Still pretty smooth to me, too. I didn't know this should be an issue us fanboys should go to war with each other about...
Then again, before I got my EVO, I was on a Touch Pro 2, which lagged to no end.
@chicago mafia
You don't understand the mindset of a fanboy. Any flaw, no matter how small, in the competing product acts as an Achilles heel, bringing the product to its knees, despite the fact that it's an awesome product otherwise.
@Jean Marc
My Evo died after using it for 8 hours with 4 of those hours having it charged in my car. Maybe it was just me but that Evo had the worst battery life of any phone I have ever owned (including the iPhone 3GS). And thats with the 4G turned off. I returned the phone today
@DougB541 I'm sure you also know that a lot of PS3 and X-Box 360 games run at 30 FPS. You won't hear many console gamers complain about that, now do you? IMO 30 FPS is fine although I'd prefer something a little higher as well.
Don't get me wrong though, I currently don't even have a smartphone and I prefer my gaming on a PC instead of a console.
@Gofrogs lol just going my your comment history i honestly doubt it you seem just like a spammer
@taligent
I'm a gamer and 30 FPS is enough, I'd rather run it in full HD than get 60 frames.
@tklr08
The reason why I love android is you are not limited to the hardware. You don't want a 4.3" screen if it caps you at 30fps, get an Incredible. You want better battery life, android has a phone for that too. You want a keyboard, android has that covered. Whether your a LCD or AMOLED fan, android has a phone for you. I'm loving this 4.3" screen. Gaming wasn't all that fun on a 3.5" screen with half the resolution, even at 60fps.
@topheriffic
If it did not happen with the iPhone and AT&T and it happened with all the other carriers, I am sure you would be the first to bag on the iPhone because it could not use voice and data at the same time.
@tklr08 this is just like the screen resolution article. I've never known how many fps my phones are running at. And it seems pointless to know it. Don't tvs run at 30fps? Don't video games run at 30 fps? I know Call of duty goes at 60, but I don't plan on playing mw2 on a 3.5 inch screen
@taligent Agree with you. But if EVO is still smooth it's still great.
@taligent
alot of the console games are capped, or were capped at 30fps at one point.
im talking about the 360 and such.
if your a pc gamer, then sure, 30fps is a joke for most of us, but you're playing minesweeper and little arcadey 2d, with some low res 3d shooters.
i don't think the 30fps cap is going to affect the phones at all.
@tklr08 I'll show you some good butter...
@BrianH You're right, but a lot of people like to complain for the sake of complaining.
The higher FPS is great for fast moving activities such as games because the object pixels will appear to move "smoother", but then again we're talking about a phone. Get real people, it's a PHONE! Buffering and interpolating that many frames sucks up power and processing time (especially if it's Flash!). Sometimes it feels like people want every thing under the sky despite the fact that it would reduce their battery life to crap. Believe it or not, there are engineers and software developers that worry about power consumption. Instead of bashing the EVO, maybe we should take it as a design feature.
To put it this way, people would rather have an oil spill once in a while rather than build fuel efficient cars with low RPMs. You don't need a Hemi to go grocery shopping or 4-wheel drive to drop the kids at soccer. The same philosophy applies to phones.
@looselycoupled
Los Angeles, and i am loving the speeds
EVO IS STILLL WAY BETTER THAN iPhone 4.
@Juggernaut408
Yes, way better at being capped by firmware. Evo FTW ;)
@Juggernaut408
Scotty, beam this troll back to youtube comments.