The Sprint HTC EVO 4G Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 28, 2010 6:04 PM ESTThe Best Smartphone for Video Playback
I’m always surprised when I see someone watching a movie on an iPhone. The screen seems too small and you have to either hold the phone or hunch over it to watch. On top of that you need to transcode your content into an iPhone friendly format to get it to work.
While you still need to do the latter to watch videos on the EVO 4G, the screen and the kickstand make it a much better experience. The display is great for watching movies or TV show. It’s large enough that you can actually get into whatever you’re watching without squinting to see what’s going on. The contrast ratio of the EVO’s display comes in handy here more than anywhere else.
The kickstand is perfect for propping the EVO 4G on a desk or a tray table in a plane. The combination of the two really make this the ideal movie playback platform. Better than any other smartphone I’ve used. While no Apple, Google or Palm phone made me want to transcode my movie library, the EVO 4G does.
The phone supports .mp4 files with stereo audio. You need to stick to simple profile H.264 for encoding and lower bitrates. I found that ~800Kbps was a great balance of file size and image quality.
The biggest problem with video playback on the EVO is simply battery life. On a single charge in airplane mode I could only get 3 hours and 38 minutes out of the device. Granted I had the brightness all the way up but you're simply not going to be able to watch more than two movies on the EVO 4G. It's comparable to a laptop in that sense but unlike your laptop, walking around with a dead phone tends to be even more inconvenient. At least if people are trying to get ahold of you. Thankfully the EVO does have a removable battery, so just plan on carrying at least one spare.
To get videos onto the phone just connect it via USB to your computer and copy the files over. The Videos app will find the movies on the drive regardless of folder, you can just stick them in the root of the microSD card.
The app only works in landscape mode and isn’t heavy on controls. You can pause, scrub and stretch your content to fit the odd aspect ratio display. The Videos app also lets you view videos taken with the EVO’s camera and browse photos on Flickr/Facebook. Duplication of features is prevalent throughout HTC’s Sense enabled version of Android.
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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 availableDeusfaux - 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?