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Evo 4G vs Epic 4G

Which phone would you choose?

  • Epic 4G

    Votes: 203 21.1%
  • Evo 4G

    Votes: 758 78.9%

  • Total voters
    961
2.)gps. I don't neeed pinpoint gps either. I really don't need gps at all. And for when I do, I have an $800 standalone unit that will smoke the socks of any phone gps and in chicago traffic, that's very important.

Err, that is amyth. Most smarphones GPS work properly and "smoke the socks" out of your $800 dedicated GPS device ("standalone" is not the right term since standalone GPS is a mode not a device type). Smartphones advantage is they are a(ssited)GPS and autonomous/standalone GPS, which means smartphones much always hot to warm start, where the typical dedicated GPS only has standalone GPS mode meaning it is more often on cold start. The accuracy on my Epic (with start fix applied) when in GPS is as accurate as any $800 GPS -- and I have had many.

Traffic on most dedicated GPS is conveyed by a digital radio channel which I have found to be less often updated than Google maps traffic.

On top of that your Epic GPS has hundreds of millions of points of interest and updates them and maps daily.


so advantages of smartphone GPS:
1) More accurate more up to date maps (updated for free as well)
2) Faster fixes
3) Hundreds of millions points of interest
4) points of interest more up to date
5) points of interest integrated with google, diplay phone number so you can not just find the CVS, but see its most curren hours of operation -- and call them.
6) traffic equal to or better than dedicated devices
7) often will run multiple software (I just installed navigon on my Epic). I had navigon and tomtom on my WM phones.
8) has secondary location system, "Wireless netorks", which whiles less accurate works deep indoors.

That "blows the socks " off of dedicated GPS units and is why sales of dedicated units has fallen so far so fast and why Garmin, TomTom and Navigon (the top three) are in such deep trouble. The fact is you get a data service with a phone which specifically for location based applications is a perfect storm of utilities.

And the Epic GPS issue isn't precision, it is the Epic sticking without getting a fix. (which users have foudn a workaround for) Sprint has already confrimed this as an issue, they are working on it with samsung. People are seeing precision as an issue because they are mistakenly enabling wireless networks, which has nothing to do with GPS, but which gives you a fix under almost any conditions, albiet less accurate
 
I think dr g was referring to sunglasses being polarized. All my sunglasses are polarized since I spend time around water so there was no difference there while I was using both phones at the beach. I'm not going to change to a different pair of sunglasses to read one screen over the other. Wasn't wearing the glasses when I took the pics and the Evo screen was a bit harder to read than the Epic. Had to do the Castanza squint to get it somewhat readable where my eyes were a bit more relaxed looking at the Epic. I didn't have a polarizing filter on my lens when I took the shots either. No pics of the sky or water so no filter needed.

And you didn't say anything wrong in your second statement. Of course the Evo screen will look as good as any other phone you've had in the past. It's the same screen tech you've had for years. And it gets the same results that have been posted in many reviews over the years in direct sunlight tests which is sub par. It's just the nature of the technology. You mentioned you didn't have anything to compare to which is fine. dr g says he has both and makes many claims but never shows any proof. So outside of my claims, I'll tend to believe the countless others and online reviewers that say differently.

I'm just amazed there have been so many posts about a stupid screen. One's bigger, one's smaller. One has more vibrant colors and better black levels and the other has sharper text and better readability for smaller fonts. The amount of times the average person really needs to see their screen outdoors is probably a small percentage of time and most likely is not factoring into their purchase, though in your case it might be, and you might be surprised if you had the epic outdoors with you.
I'm outdoors allday everyday in sunny socal. Anyone who suggests that the EVO is unreadable in direct sunlight in comparison to any other phone is dangerously close to drinking a certain diet softdrink, or at least koolaid, themselves. I do know that I have a dificult time reading it if I am wearing my polarized sunglasses, I assume that is what Dr G is referring to. If the camera lense is polarized then that will make a difference, however I'd think it would have the same effect on the samoled as well.

I wont say the epic is better or worse, since there are enough reports on what the performance of the samoled screen is, but basically the evo is as good or better performer in direct sunlight than any other phone I've sampled.
 
This was posted by dbpaddler. He has both phones...he knows what he is talking about, and posted evidence to back it up. Evo's screen does not perform better than Epic.
I have both phones and that comparison with black screens is a crock, and a laughable one.
1) Epics auto sensor is set WAY lower in the latest update (due to its battery life problems). If you use that important default, epic is way darker than that screen shot.
2) That is black backround. reading text normally, with white background you can see the real problem -- the Epics contrast is way lower, indeed the Epic has not just a perceptible, but an obviously bluish tint which significantly reduces contrast

there is an number of us who have both who have said and will say that for reading text outdoors Evo is the winner, yet the poster you refer to keeps saying one person says so. as far as I can tell most of who actually have both us say so!

The epic screen has other advantages over Evo's -- but readability in direct sunlight is not one of them
 
1) Max brightness meaning he turned off ambient light sensor and max brightness.
2) Blue tint is a problem found on some (not all) SAMOLED. Read up on it. Yea I have it, but my co-worker doesn't. Contrast is actually better on Epic. The text has to do with sharpness because of the way AMOLED works...

Its just a LCD TFT, right? Then does my experience with HD2 count? It should be VERY similar. And no HD2 didn't win.

The one reason why I kept referring to his post is because he posted pictures. That's evidence to go by. If you really want, I can do a side-by-side picture shot with HD2/Vibrant, but I can already feel it isn't a valid comparison complaints because its not the Evo (though I bet that wouldn't matter if we're just comparing screens here).
 
I think the point most folks are making is that the EVO is useable in sunlight (not that it's better then the EPIC). I'm of the opinion that the EVO's screen is good enough in sunlight that it's not an issue.

Well I had a dfferent experience, I've rooted two evos already and of course I played with them for several hours as I had the phones for the whole day. Outside around mid day on a sunny day the evo screen was pretty much unreadable in direct sunlight with max brightness. Haven't had a chance to test the epic yet but I will test a fascinate when I root that one.

As for my standalone gps, it locks a precise fix in under 3 seconds, and has bluetooth syncing with my phone for handfree usage, and if I got crafty enough data updates intead of using my antennas. Plus the 5" screen don't hurt either. It also reroutes in under a second if I miss a turn, and there's no "turn lag"
 
I'm not sure what you people have been smoking. I cannot see the epic in sunlight AT ALL. No screen additions either. And weight? I don't care what the specs state, the epic definitely feels heavier, and bulkier in person.
I wish my epic actually got more than 2 bars most of the time, can't even stream music without it cutting out when I drive. Add an animated wallpaper, or a fancy music app to that, and the battery is gone in less than 3 hrs. Even tried a replacement as well. Returning my epic for an Evo asap. Maybe, just maybe, I will get 3 bars then. I can only pray.


You know when the epic actually worked? When I was sitting in the sprint store directly under a 4g tower....oh and with wifi.

A real question is will Flash work any smoother when the epic gets 2.2 since it has a faster processor / gpu? Or will it be rubbish with the epic as well?
Tell me "yes, it will be WAYYY better" and I will gladly shut up.


dbpaddler and Iowa, stop worrying about being thanked in a forum and make sure you meet your Quota's at sprint!
We know you need to sell more epics, but I'm sorry they are not that 'epic'. I think you have the wrong phone on your nightstand.
 
I wish I could see my EVO in direct sunlight. I just can't. The specs are right, the EVO is definitely heavier than any phone I've held. Not that it matters. My arms aren't twigs. I can hold a phone. But it's definitely a bulky slab of a phone.

I wish my EVO got more than 2 bars most of the time and didn't sound like people were talking with a penis in their mouth on the other end. But that's what it sounds like. I tried running a live wallpaper on the EVO but the processor was so slow that it couldn't handle screen transitions and an animating wallpapaer at the same time. Oh, and the battery died in 3 hours.

Do you know when my EVO was actually useful?
....
....

Yeah I got nuthin.

Two can play at this game. I also didn't have to create an account to pretend like I actually have a phone that I don't so I can badmouth it for no reason because nobody is going to win an award here for owning a phone.

They're just phones. If you like it, you like it. You'll likely have your reasons. If you have a bad experience.... hey guess what, you can return it for another. These aren't iPhones.
 
Evo All The Way, The Only Thing That Makes Me Kinda' Jealous Is The Super AMOLED. Damn! Why is HTC So Cheap?
Super amoled screen means you cant see it in daylight, HTC decided that bigger screen is better than the crap touch response the epic has also all galaxy s models have gps function problems, Samsung is so bland with their design also, it looks like every other samsung phone
 
The one reason why I kept referring to his post is because he posted pictures. That's evidence to go by. If you really want, I can do a side-by-side picture shot with HD2/Vibrant, but I can already feel it isn't a valid comparison complaints because its not the Evo (though I bet that wouldn't matter if we're just comparing screens here).

I'm sorry but the reason I dismiss the photos outright as proof of unreadability is, aside from the fact that the screen is readable in the photo, it is extremely easy to pick an unflattering angle of incident light with touchphone screens. At certain angles many act like mirrors whether on or off, and especially when comparing an unpolarized screen to a polarized one, it is very easy to take a photo that exaggerates the difference. That said ...

I think the point most folks are making is that the EVO is useable in sunlight (not that it's better then the EPIC). I'm of the opinion that the EVO's screen is good enough in sunlight that it's not an issue.

... this is the fact. I'm not comparing the Evo to the Epic, I'm saying the Evo is readable just fine in sunlight, which it is.

I hope you don't believe everything Dr G says. He also said Evo had the better GPU than Epic in tests in the past.

I did no such thing and would appreciate your not trying to put words in my mouth.

It's the same screen tech you've had for years. And it gets the same results that have been posted in many reviews over the years in direct sunlight tests which is sub par. It's just the nature of the technology.

You could not be more wrong, "normal" TFT LCD technology has changed DRAMATICALLY over the years and continues to do so today -- screens we get in devices today can be markedly superior to screens even one generation prior.

You can go ahead and scratch the fps limit off the list now... OFFICIAL htc update has ended that.

I'm a little flabbergasted at this, I knew HTC was better at supporting their devices than other manufacturers, but this update is completely unexpected and brings a pretty incredible performance boost.
 
Misinformation ftl, the Evo has a GPU, and you would find it as fast or faster in the tests shown. Smoothness is another question but it was not a factor in this comparison.

http://androidforums.com/samsung-epic-4g/176609-epic-4g-vs-iphone-4-vs-droid-2-a.html

"I'm sorry but the reason I dismiss the photos outright as proof of unreadability is, aside from the fact that the screen is readable in the photo, it is extremely easy to pick an unflattering angle of incident light with touchphone screens. At certain angles many act like mirrors whether on or off, and especially when comparing an unpolarized screen to a polarized one, it is very easy to take a photo that exaggerates the difference. That said ..."

Me and my friends did the sunlight test the other day to see which screen was the most visible under the sunlight. I think it was their 2 HTC Touch Pro, HD2, Zune, G1 vs Vibrant screen. I pretty much won outright, that we all agreed on. Worst to best performers were the Zune, followed by the 2 HTC Touch Pro, HD2/G1 (kinda tied, both washed out and was very hard to read), and Vibrant.
 

I did not say what you said I said. You should just stop making crap up.

"I'm sorry but the reason I dismiss the photos outright as proof of unreadability is, aside from the fact that the screen is readable in the photo, it is extremely easy to pick an unflattering angle of incident light with touchphone screens. At certain angles many act like mirrors whether on or off, and especially when comparing an unpolarized screen to a polarized one, it is very easy to take a photo that exaggerates the difference. That said ..."

Me and my friends did the sunlight test the other day to see which screen was the most visible under the sunlight. I think it was their 2 HTC Touch Pro, HD2, Zune, G1 vs Vibrant screen. I pretty much won outright, that we all agreed on. Worst to best performers were the Zune, followed by the 2 HTC Touch Pro, HD2/G1 (kinda tied, both washed out and was very hard to read), and Vibrant.

Thank you for that completely useless piece of information which is not germane to the post you responded to.
 
I would think HD2 screen and Evo screen is *really* similar because...

1) They're both by HTC.
2) Most likely ordered from the same company for both screens because of the screen size but with different connectors to the phone. (HTC don't make their own screens)
3) The screens have the same specs. Down to 65k colors limitation.

Evo:
* Main display: 4.3” WVGA (800
 
I would think HD2 screen and Evo screen is *really* similar.

There's no reason *whatsoever* to think that, given that even the Evo itself has two different known screen types which perform differently. Also, there may be "filter" layers or glass treatments added to any two specific devices, which can COMPLETELY change their sunlight performances (for example the digitizer layer is absolutely, positively different between the two devices).

And we haven't even started talking about the software backlight control, which we know for sure is different.
 
I'm a little flabbergasted at this, I knew HTC was better at supporting their devices than other manufacturers, but this update is completely unexpected and brings a pretty incredible performance boost.
I'm not surprised at all. We have been bitching about it from day 1. Most people that really cared probably rooted their phone and flashed a custom kernel to remove it. I probably had the cap on my phone for a week before I started flashing custom roms\kernels. Unfortunately where it matters for me, removing the cap doesn't help. The GPU is still so weak in the EVO.

And why did the HTC Desire HD get added to the discussion? If you ask me, it is a much better phone than the EVO and worthy of being compared to the Epic. I'd love to get my hands on one just to see if there is any improvement on the washed out screen the EVO has now :( I will forever be spoiled by SAMOLED. Just wish Samsung could make better use of real estate on the front of their phone. They could have went with a larger screen (at the cost of battery life) if they didn't have so much space for their logo.

If the Desire HD had a keyboard, I'd do naughty and unspeakable things to it.
 
I'm not surprised at all. We have been bitching about it from day 1. Most people that really cared probably rooted their phone and flashed a custom kernel to remove it. I probably had the cap on my phone for a week before I started flashing custom roms\kernels.

That makes no sense, sounds like you're posting to hear yourself talk. Get a jab in wherever you can. You are not surprised that the 30 fps cap was lifted because ... everyone who cared about it already lifted it?

Most people that actually seriously use their phones don't mess around with flashing roms, particularly multiple times. Too much downtime, even though Android is better at recovery after a full wipe than most platforms. ROM flashing is the domain of measurebators and as far as I've seen, they do 1/5th what power users do with their stock ROMs.

There remains for practical purposes nothing the Evo is not capable of in the android world, as far as being able to run applications -- yes, including games. No amount of naysaying changes the fact that that puts it above the Epic at this time.

But this was true before the FPS cap was lifted as well, so I didn't figure it was a priority issue. The really surprising thing to me is there were no rumors that this was coming. Froyo was openly announced and the previous OTAs were hinted at when people contacted HTC for support.
 
I'm pleasantly surprised that HTC changed stance and released an FPS fix. They repeatedly said publicly that the cap was a hardware limitation, despite countless videos showing a true improvement. For a company that is touting shit that just works (have you seen all the new Sense marketing speeches?), their stance on FPS was just a total contradiction.

Thanks to users speaking up (and I suspect even the trash-talking in these phone1 vs phone2 threads), HTC swallowed their pride and did the right thing.

Will Evo get the new Sense? I'm not sure, but I'm that much more inclined to think so if HTC voluntarily ate humble pie for the FPS fix, something they could have ignored.
 
The fps cap was a hardware limitation in that the HDMI port could only handle 30fps out (or, technically speaking, the HDTV's could only handle 30fps in). But it was not a limitation of the phone itself. I'm not sure if there was any fps hack that didn't also break HDMI as a result. It appears they figured out how to make the system drop to 30fps when the HDMI cable is plugged in but release the cap when it's not.

Of course, I rooted and installed netarchy the day before this OTA was announced.
 
The fps cap was a hardware limitation in that the HDMI port could only handle 30fps out (or, technically speaking, the HDTV's could only handle 30fps in). But it was not a limitation of the phone itself. I'm not sure if there was any fps hack that didn't also break HDMI as a result. It appears they figured out how to make the system drop to 30fps when the HDMI cable is plugged in but release the cap when it's not.

Of course, I rooted and installed netarchy the day before this OTA was announced.

Initially, HTC quashed hopes of a software fix by saying:
[The framerate cap] is a result of how the device [was] architected in order to support a screen and an HDMI output. This is not something that can be reworked by any sort of software [update].
Later, when xda uncapped the Evo, HTC said:
We have received reports of a software hack claiming to deliver greater than 30 FPS performance on the HTC EVO 4G; however, after investigating the hack, HTC has determined that the perceived frame rate increase was achieved by allowing data throughput to surpass the capability of the display interface
 
Was actually going to take more pics, but the screen on my replacement Epic (first time I've dropped a phone and cracked a screen in 15yrs) is a bit lackluster compared to the original. So I'm hitting up the Sprint store to get it exchanged. It's funny, because I could care less about which phone is better. You use what works for you. I only took pics in the first place to satisfy the people that wanted to know. Didn't use any polarizing filters as so called doctors might suggest and don't have some agenda to disparage any phone (though my replacement epic's screen sucks compared to my first one...grrr.), yet it just gets all defensive because god forbid someone even suggest something on another phone might be better than the Evo? It's just funny.

And for the record, aero, many were saying the Epic's screen looked better in sunlight as well as posting links to side by side reviews that concurred. Then drg chimed in. And then it's been maybe you and one other person. Not even entertaining dopeboy since he can't even tell the difference in weight between the two phones and just sounds like a troll. And dr vocal just drones on with his supposed facts and not once has offered any sort of proof or backup in any way, shape or form. Just that anyone that disagrees with him is wrong, misinformed, and blah blah blah. I put more faith in your opinions than from a user who just sounds like they're suckling on HTC's nipple.
 
I'm pleasantly surprised that HTC changed stance and released an FPS fix. They repeatedly said publicly that the cap was a hardware limitation, despite countless videos showing a true improvement. For a company that is touting shit that just works (have you seen all the new Sense marketing speeches?), their stance on FPS was just a total contradiction.

Thanks to users speaking up (and I suspect even the trash-talking in these phone1 vs phone2 threads), HTC swallowed their pride and did the right thing.

Will Evo get the new Sense? I'm not sure, but I'm that much more inclined to think so if HTC voluntarily ate humble pie for the FPS fix, something they could have ignored.

I too am pleasantly surprised with the update as the FPS cap was really the main reason I rooted in the first place. That said, I am not sure I would describe what HTC has done here as "humble". In fact they were kind of shady with it weren't they? I mean they arrogantly insisted that the FPS cap was mandatory on the phone because of hardware constraints only to do an about face and release an update removing the cap running on the same hardware... oh and it doesn't appear as if they meant to tell anybody as evidenced by the initial lack of information on precisely what the update was doing with regards to the FPS rate.
 
I too am pleasantly surprised with the update as the FPS cap was really the main reason I rooted in the first place. That said, I am not sure I would describe what HTC has done here as "humble". In fact they were kind of shady with it weren't they? I mean they arrogantly insisted that the FPS cap was mandatory on the phone because of hardware constraints only to do an about face and release an update removing the cap running on the same hardware... oh and it doesn't appear as if they meant to tell anybody as evidenced by the initial lack of information on precisely what the update was doing with regards to the FPS rate.

Yeah this was a pretty quiet update. I still think it took some humility on HTC's part to get this update to us. Their behavior before the release was anything but humble, as you say.

Back on topic: Samsung has developed a bad rap for not supporting their devices. Recent evidence seems to indicate they want to change that image, which will be good for the Epic guys, if it's true.

When I owned a blackberry, I didn't give a damn if I would get an update or not. And I didn't care about firmware updates for my cell phones before the BB either.

But part of the allure of Android IS the upgrades and that your phone isn't necessarily frozen in time in terms of its relevance (not to mention having to live with any problems that shipped with the phone). So for my Evo, I look forward to updates and how they improve my phone's performance/productivity. So far I've been very impressed with the frequency and substance of the Sprint/HTC updates.

This level of support is something I would seriously factor in as part of my decision process of choosing my next Android phone.
 
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