How would you change HTC's EVO 4G?
It may be America's first 4G smartphone, but if we had to guess, we'd surmise that not everyone sees it as perfect. Even if we (almost) did. HTC's EVO 4G was (and still is) a showstopper of epic proportions, boasting one of the largest screens in the smartphone universe and offering blistering speed under the hood. But with phone innovation happening faster than anyone could've ever imagined just a few years ago, we're sure that some ideas have been planted in your head since its launch earlier in the year. For those who've been toying with this here phone, we're keenly interested in learning how you'd change things if given the chance. Would you offer a 3G-only version for those uninterested in paying that extra $10 / month surcharge? Would you be a lot more satisfied with Android 2.2 loaded on? Toss it over to another carrier? Go on and get vocal in comments below, cool?
























• Froyo (moot point since it's coming soon)
• Sense can be turned off easily so I'd prefer to keep it on the device
• Recess the camera
• Make the SD card accessible without taking the battery off (not a dealbreaker since I've never even had to take it out)
The phone that could have been. Let me start by saying NO ONE has gotten it right when it comes to building the "perfect" phone. Merge the EVO with the Galaxy S and you would be very very close.
1) It should have been faster.
2) It should have had a better GPU.
3) The screen should have been better with higher resolution (Super AMOLED)
4) It should have had better power management or a larger battery.
5) Camera lens should be recessed or protected.
6) It should have come with headphones like the Galaxy S (ones that they recommend to make the FM radio work the best).
7) It should have had at least 16GB of internal memory PLUS the sd card support.
If I had to narrow it down to just two things; battery life and faster processing (especially graphics, which are pathetic for a device like this).
@wbpo5l Froyo will make it faster.
@wbpo5l And a Pony!
Battery life and processing power are contradictory design goals.
kill sense ui. It makes the whole user experience feel as if it is lacking. not to mention how large the buttons are, what a waste of screen real estate. oh and that battery problem. get crackin htc.
1. Fix FPS Cap on screen
2. Make HDMI Out for entire display, not just certain apps
3. Make the flash camera useful
4. Do something about the horrible FM radio reception
5. FFS, do something about the crappy battery life. 2 days of moderate use without turning off all of the cool features would be nice.
6. Include screen protector and silicon case with phone.
Everything about the phone exceeded my expectations but i think its only weakness is the battery life. I can make it thru a full work day but that's on light/moderate use. But with everything this phone can do I don't wanna use it lightly I wanna use the hell outta it lol so yea that's the only thing I'd change (and of course 2.2, but that's on the way shortly)
1) More battery life. (at least 2x what it is now would be a good start)
2) An IR light for using it like a remote.
3) FPS over 30
4) General Android UI improvements (this might still happen)
5) Available accessories such as docking stations and car cradles, and if they can accommodate the thin hug-case I put on it then that would be great too.
@Bgrngod You can get an EVO dock on eBay for cheap.
Increase screen resolution and extend battery life. It's uses up its charge too quickly!
I want the EVO to grant me three wishes:
1) Infinite monetary income. (you know how tricky those genies are if you aren't specific)
2) The ability to immediately seduce a female by snapping my fingers and pointing at her.
3) Infinite stamina for relations with the women retrieved via wish #2, after I've totally spammed it to hell.
-No sense
-Physical keyboard (well, at least the Epic will have that)
-Optical trackpad! This is the only Android phone I know of without a trackpad/trackball. What's the dealio?
The battery life is the worst of any smartphone I've ever owned. Makes me envy my gf who charges her iPhone every 3 days. I charge my Evo twice a day...
Nothing can be changed here. I've tried over years 5 HTC smart phones and returned 4 of them back to T-mobile. Last one i've tried and returned was EVO. I decided to keep one of them only because it was free and i expected kids will brake it anyway.
OK, back to our sheeps, i.e. EVOs:
1) If they don't fix devastating 4G battery drainage the phone needs a recall.
2) The HD Video has horrible almost Charlie Chaplin's age fps around 20, and even worse then in movies of 1920th, slow, unacceptable adjustment to brightness change (literally like 3-5 fps !) with too high compression.
If magically EVO would change as we want it it will be Sammy Vibrant.
@S4E
Hey, its software that drains the battery while running 4G, not hardware you jackass.
Improved battery
Cheaper
And avalible in the uk! (if not already)
I would like it to run WP7 and be on Verizon.
MAKE IT VERIZON! I AM SOLDDDDDDD!
CAMERA LENS SHATTERS IN PROTECTIVE CASES!!!!!!!
Give me a trackball, Super LCD, better battery life and uncapped fps and better graphics performance.
1. 3x Current Battery Life, I've to charge my phone at least twice a day.
2. Remove ALL Sprint bloatwares
3. Froyo
4. Super AMOLED with 1920x1080 res (this is probably not gonna happen anytime soon...but still)
I would have incorporated two features of the Galaxy S. The DLNA protocol for sharing video and use of Super AMOLED screen. Droid 2.2 would have also been nice. I know the industry is part knowledge part profit but the $30 add on for shared WiFi is bad taste considering it should have been free in A2.2. Love the EVO anyways.
1. Get rid of the touch-sensitive buttons, they are too easily pressed and gets annoying!
2. Get rid of all the bloatware!! If I owned Sprint, I would focus on creating the fastest, cleanest, most bloatware free build of Android. While all the other companies are adding bloatware to differentiate, Sprint can differentiate by having the cleanest, purest, fastest build of Android ever!
3. Move the 2 flash LEDs to the top-right and bottom-right corners of the back of the phone. Most people take photos holding their phones in landscape mode and separating the LEDs helps to make the lighting softer.
4. Move the kickstand to the center of the phone.
5. Remove 2 multi-point detection limitation in the kernel. I rooted my phone, now I have 5 pt detection.
6. Remove 30fps cap on the screen. I rooted mine and I'm getting 55fps now. If HTC had to do this to enable HDMI output, then make it cap it to 30fps automatically when HDMI output is being used.
7. % Battery display next to the battery icon.
8. Move the speaker vent to where it is in the HTC Incredible. The Evo's audio volume isn't as loud when it's lying on its back.
9. 2GB onboard memory
10. The HTC People Widget is broken. Every time I assign an image to a contact from my gallery, it...at some point (when I switch batteries?)...reverts back to the image that is used by Exchange. Please fix this.
11. Upgrade to super-AMOLED display! :D
12. Add Swype keyboard!
13. Make the back cover easier to remove/put back on (take a hint from the Samsung Captivate!)
14. Backlit CMOS camera sensor!
15. Allow users to select compression rate for 720p video recording the way users can select the compression rate for JPG images!
16. 9 Windows panes (or desktops, whatever you call them) instead of 7. When I pinch the homescreen, I see a grid of 2x3x2 screens, upgrade that to 3x3x3 screens!
17. Use true h.264 codec in video recording AND allow user to select the compression level like we can in the camera mode! Even the slowest Class 2 SDHC cards are capable of 16mbps, why are the videos recording at such a crappy bitrate right now???
Battery Tips
Menu - Settings - Brightness - Sound & Display - Brightness "Set Brightness to about 30%" or automatic if you prefer that
Menu - Settings - Brightness - Sound & Display - Screen timeout "Set to 1 minute"
Menu - Settings - Wireless & Networks "GPS, 4G, HOTSPOT, & 3G TURN TO OFF" Turn on when needed
(I keep my 3G on but it does increase battery life even more when off. They make a widget for this.)
Open Settings / Accounts and Sync / Uncheck Auto Sync, this will take care of the following:
Menu - Settings - Accounts & Sync (Turn off what you don't use)
Weather is on but set to download every 3 hours (" Uncheck Sync Box")
News is off " Uncheck Sync Box"
Stocks is off " Uncheck Sync Box"
Google is off " Uncheck Sync Box"
Open Mail App - Menu - Settings - Set download frequency to "Once a day" Set peak time and off peak time to "Once a day" If needed more change it to that. You can always check it manually.
Open Fring App - Make sure you are signed out and logged off when closing. Also go to Menu/Settings, and uncheck Automatic Startup.
Open Sprint Zone App - Menu - Settings - Set Update Frequency "Use once a week or once a month"
Open News App - Menu - Settings - Set Update schedule to "Manual"
Open Stocks App - Menu - Settings - "Uncheck Auto-sync data box"
Open Talk App - Menu - Settings - "Uncheck Automatically sign in box" and make sure you sign out. Do not back out, SIGN OUT
Go into Sprint Zone app - menu - settings - Set update frequency - set to once a month
Certain widgets like Friendstream/Facebook will drain the battery. Why? Because those widgets pull information from the internet via their respective apps. I don't use Facebook or Friendstream but set the apps to download based on how often you check those apps or you check the widgets. Widgets that do not download information from the internet are fine. If Friendstream/Facebook has to download information every hour, your battery life will be crap just like if your email app is set to download every hour.
FYI: Wifi uses less battery thank 3G and 4G. Also, 4G is power hungry but Sprint is going to tweak the software so 4G doesn't require as much battery.
@Slick1020
Tweak 4G to use less battery? Where'd you hear this?
@jawman
HTC sent an email to someone on sprinters.com saying there wil be a software update to address the 4G battery draining. Sprint issued an update which corrected excessive battery draining by Android. Now its up to the customer to set their phone up for usage. People have apps running on their phone they never use. But they don't know how to open the app and change the setting for the app. This is what people are crying about in regard to battery woes. I guess Android needs to send out a guide on how to adjust settings in apps because some people are clueless. I had a sprint touch and I wished I had the ability to turn off 3G because the phone would last for days with that option. Well I have that option with my EVO. I like cutting 3G on when I need it and off when I don't. It's like leaving lights on in your house which will increase your electric bill. If you leave 3G on when you are not using it, 3G will drain some battery.
@Slick1020 Need to get Advanced Task Killer, works great...
1. REMOVE THE 30 FPS CAP!!!!!
2. REMOVE THE 30 FPS CAP!!!!!
3. Ability to remove the bloatware apps (Sprint Nascar, Amazon mp3, etc.)
4. Ability to remove sense and run vanilla Android.
5. Release an update for FroYo.
ship with an app that generates slick1020 quotes
Oh and turn Bluetooth off when not in use.
Oh and you should set your brightness to a percentage not to automatic. The sensor runs off of the battery in automatic mode.
How is people complaining about the battery when my dell laptop can run 2hrs and 20mins off of a single charge. But I can use the internet on my EVO via WiFi and get 6 hours of use with a 1750mah battery. When I say 6 hours of use I'm saying I'm on the internet only and doing nothing else. Otherwise, with my settings my phone depending upon use will last 3-4 days. 4 days if the phone was just sitting with minimum use. Please tell me the iPhone can beat that?
@Slick1020
The iPhone can beat that.
@Christopher02 New 2.2 Froyo gives me like 10 to 12 hours of play etc... Cool! Also, iPhone sucks! Every iPhone user I show my EVO to wants an Android device...
I would actually have 4G in my area, especially when I have to pay extra $10 to have (well not have) 4G....
1) Make the case "sexier" maybe but some metal around it, make it feel like something that can withstand a fall, maybe not metal, maybe some metalized plastic or another quality of plastic. Never mind the weight, those of us old enough to remember the Star Tac know this is not at all a "heavy" device.
2) Make the screen A LOT more resistant to impact. HTC! This is a mobile phone. It WILL fall, learn a little from Motorola who has been making phones since the very beginning, a phone should withstand 3 feet free fall to the asphalt at walking speed, with little more than a a couple of scratches.
3) Remove all the redneck crap from Sprint Nascar, it IS MY PHONE!! I paid for it, and good money, so no I don't want Sprint Zone, or Sprint Navigation (we have Google Navigator, which is eos superior and requires no registration, I don't Sprint Football and I certainly do not want NASCAR). But all that junk in some middle range dumb phone that appeals to bubba and his tailgate party friends.
4) I want a true car dock made specifically for this phone.
5) I want the home screen to adapt to the horizontal position. This thing has a kickstand, so in my desk, it stays most of the time on its one leg, but I have to flip my head to see the time?
How is that for utterly stupid?
6) Battery life.... Again, I don't care if it weights a couple of grams more, I want it to last at least, at least 12 hours. This phone as a business tool would be phenomenal if it didn't have to be plugged into a power source 8 hours a day.