Evo 4G vs Epic 4G

[AndroidSPCS]

This is my take on Evo vs Epic after using both extensively for a few weeks. Both are still stock, but are recently rooted. Overall I prefer the Evo, and if I could only keep one phone - it would be the Evo hands down:

Epic:

1) STILL no Froyo. It's October, come on Samsung!! This is remniscent of the Moment...

2) applying the latest DI18 updated resulted in hours / days of frustration & wasted time. I got a mysterious BML error when trying to update from the stock DI07 OS. I even wiped the phone, full factory reset, and it still errored out. I tried updating from the SD card instead of OTA, and still no go. Finally I downloaded the entire DI18 ROM (~200MB) from xda and flashed the phone to bring it up to date.

On the Evo the OTA update was a simple one click, one minute affair, compared to the terrible Epic update experience.

3) GPS sucks. We all know this. Evo's GPS just works, and works damn well.

4) Samsung removed several stock Android widgets. There is no default Android calendar widget!! This was on the Moment, and I use it quite a bit. Why Touchwiz / Samsung removes it is beyond me!!!

5) screen is a bit loose from keyboard, slides a bit. I guess it's better than the alternative, where it's too tight, and will scratch the keyboard (see other thread in Epic forum).

6) I seem to encounter issues every now and then, trying to download / install apps from the market. It will hang, as if I never tried to download. Only when I turn the wifi on the phone, will the download occur. This has happened several times now that it can become predictable.

7) lack of custom ROMs. EVO has many many ROMs.

8) Samsung calendar is a bit hockey. When you add a new item, it does not go on your Google calendar by default. You have to carefully select the Google calendar option or it will just be a local item on your phone. Stupid!! I use calendar all the time and this is lame.

9) The phone frequently goes in and out of 3G, along with the associated annoying chime. The Samsung Moment did this a lot too, so this is not a surprise (just like the GPS).

10) Epic doesn't have a stock voice recorder. I have to download one from the Market. Not a huge deal, but one of those tiny little annoyances.

Things that could be issues on the Evo:

1) possible charging port issue that others are reporting. I have not had issues yet.

2) Sense calendar doesn't let you edit directly like stock calendar, you have to long press calendar items in list view to edit it. Very unintuitive. Why manufactures screw with the stock calendar is beyond me. At least not as annoying as the Epic calendar.

3) no default notes app. Epic has a really nice notes app, even if it doesn't sync online. Android should have a standard notes app! HTC does offer a Notes widget you can download however, I have not tried. A minor annoyance.

4) no Swype. Ironically the Epic with a slide out keyboard has a nice Swype app. I'm using Slide It on the Evo for now though...hope it won't expire.

Both phones are huge leaps forward to the Moment (I got less than a year ago), so it may sounds like there are a lot of complaints, but in reality I am happy as a kid in a candy shop every time I use these phones. Having both and alternating between them is awesome.

 

[wodin]

I was at the Sprint store today getting my EVO replaced. While waiting I had a chance to play with and compare the EVO and the Epic. The larger screen won hands down.

 

[IOWA]

I was at the Sprint store today getting my EVO replaced. While waiting I had a chance to play with and compare the EVO and the Epic. The larger screen won hands down.

Does anyone see the Irony in him having to get his EVO replaced while he's knocking a different phone?

 

[jrstinkfish]

Not really -- he isn't knocking the phone or commenting on the durability, he's saying he prefers a larger screen. Any other phone he'd pick up at the Sprint store would lose that battle as well.

 

[IOWA]

Not really -- he isn't knocking the phone or commenting on the durability, he's saying he prefers a larger screen. Any other phone he'd pick up at the Sprint store would lose that battle as well.

.3''... woooo!

 

[dbpaddler]

What features?

day after day after day though, the EVO is a much more solid handset with more features overall. plus it h as HTC as its parent. if the epic were released first with the evo to follow a couple months later, i would wait on the sidelines for the evo..

lets not forget the i500 and a few of their winMob phones. Their latter winmob phones were nice...Omnia Pro and Epix. And those are just from a year or so ago where many (not you per say) seem to go on and on about a history of bad quality. And the Hero? really? Screen issues and a bad paint job. Not one of ours in the company had silver paint left on the Send/End buttons after four months or so.

i know HTCs quality having had 5 of their devices (mogul, diamond, pro1, pro2, hero). the old school i330 and i300 samsung handsets were great devices and were the last samsung handsets i liked.

 

[sweetneas]

I love my EVO. It is the first time I have owned a phone and not wanted another one a month later.

 

[RickJ]

.3''... woooo!

Glad we share the same excitement! definite woooo on that .3" dif!


Jim2point0's pic

As far as irony, dont see any in the earlier post, as the Evo can be replaced.

What is ironic is that Epic owners have no assurances that they can return/replace once their 30 days are up for its issues. Most, at least the ones who care, are pinning their hopes on Samsung supporting..... At least with HTC we have reason to expect decent support.

I wanted an Epic to replace a Hero, but no point in doing that now, might as well wait for the next latest and greatest.

 

[dbpaddler]

And all I see now after having both phones since their respective launch is the better colors in google. I liked the big screen but having the less washed out color after using the epic for a bit has won me over.

I don't see the worry about update assurances. I look at one off phones like the behold II and Moment as just that. Stop gap appetizers to get through to the main course. History prior to them shows good reiability as their winmob phones from 08 and 09 have a good track record. Even their winmob phones got the 6.5 update when other companies have long turned their backs. The Hero and Eris aren't receiving updates any more either. They'd rather see you go sanyo or lg for a hero replacement at the moment (no pun int).

We've had two updates so far and a lot of signs point to froyo being right around the corner. Even on 2.1 it's as snappy or more so than the evo so the enjoyment of the device wasn't hindered like the fps cap seemed to affect the smoothness of the evo. after having the epic for almost a month and a half now, I confidently handed over my evo to another rep who doesn't mind onscreen typing.

And fears of replacement after 30 days? Did I miss the lack of a one year warranty somewhere? I love how some owners just have to put down the other phone and can't accept both are quality phones that appeal to slightly different audiences.

I don't see anything latest and greatest from htc. Even the Pro 7 is sporting the same basic specs as the Evo. With a launch around March, I can't see an android phone with latest and greatest coming that would make me want to hold on to the hero. The evo or epic are no brainers unless a 3.5 or 3.6" screen is your limit for overall size.

 

[vud911]

Good news is the final build of Froyo open source code for Galaxy S been released by Samsung, so we're getting Froyo for sure. Now it is the matter of waiting for the people over at xda to do their stuff.

Go to http://opensource.samsung.com/ and search for "i9000" at the time of this posting it was still up, though strangely I found reports of it being pulled.

 

[dbpaddler]

I haven't felt the need to root the epic yet. I have an overdrive and the hotspot was the only compelling thing for me when I rooted the evo. I'm content to wait for the official release.

 

[wodin]

Does anyone see the Irony in him having to get his EVO replaced while he's knocking a different phone?

No.

 

[IOWA]

Glad we share the same excitement! definite woooo on that .3" dif!


Jim2point0's pic

As far as irony, dont see any in the earlier post, as the Evo can be replaced.

What is ironic is that Epic owners have no assurances that they can return/replace once their 30 days are up for its issues. Most, at least the ones who care, are pinning their hopes on Samsung supporting..... At least with HTC we have reason to expect decent support.

I wanted an Epic to replace a Hero, but no point in doing that now, might as well wait for the next latest and greatest.

You mean like HTC's excellent support on the Hero?

I'm not taking sides here, but let's all be VERY real about this. People are constantly praising HTC for this "support" when they've made plenty of misteps of their own. Quite a few of their WinMo phones went neglected as well. So in reality, despite what you guys feel, neither company is better than the other on an overall perspective.

 

[AndroidSPCS]

Both phones are great, users of both phones are going to be very satisfied, for the most part.

 

[dbpaddler]

It's just tough to get some on here to realize that.

Both phones are great, users of both phones are going to be very satisfied, for the most part.

 

[pastafarian]

i know HTCs quality having had 5 of their devices (mogul, diamond, pro1, pro2, hero). the old school i330 and i300 samsung handsets were great devices and were the last samsung handsets i liked.

I had the Mogul (5), TP1 (5) along with the 6700 (3). Screen, bt and charging port failures were the main issues. And speaking off support? Wasn't it great when HTC totally ignored the Mogiuls white spot problem that affected a huge number of phones, before telling us to live with it? To their credit, they did eventually fix the TP's keyboard...after 3 swap outs for me. These were some of the reasons I bought a Moment. Unfortunately, the grass wasn't greener...as usual. I guess quality is a matter of perception.

 

[dbpaddler]

In this day and age, the grass is rarely greener. Just a different shade of green. It's funny, one of the zdnet bloggers went as far to say that WP7 phones were going to be of higher quality than android phones due to the standardization Microsoft has set forth. So that would come across as HTC and Samsung are going to build their wp7 phones to higher standards than their android counterparts. Now that would be interesting to see, and I'm sure cause a bit of commotion if it ended up being remotely true. Gotta love the things bloggers say to get a click.

 

[RickJ]

You mean like HTC's excellent support on the Hero?

I'm not taking sides here, but let's all be VERY real about this. People are constantly praising HTC for this "support" when they've made plenty of misteps of their own. Quite a few of their WinMo phones went neglected as well. So in reality, despite what you guys feel, neither company is better than the other on an overall perspective.

I have a hero still (actually two), plus an evo. The hero went through 3 iterations of android, 1.5,1.6 and 2.1, plus whatever other MR's were released. It was only 2.1 that left the phone in a pain in the ass state (dialer lag). I chalk it up to to tough luck nearing eol and thats not even considering what rooting does for the device. Thats a pretty respectable amount of support.

I'm by no means brand loyal, nor do I put HTC on a pedestal, however what HTC has shown me is that they do support recent devices pretty well. I can only read others complaints on samsungs support to draw conclusions. I concede that I have no experience with htc's winmo phones so I may be missing a significant part of the puzzle here.

If you discount preferences for screen size and physical keyboard/slider or not then the Epic is supposed to be the hands down best android phone. This hasnt been the case. For every advantage the Epic has the Evo has another advantage, some in crucial areas that minimize or overcome any distinct Epic advantage. The icing on the cake is that it is being reported that Froyo isnt helping performance with hummingbird devices. That is according to benchmarks for whatever thats worth. It remains to be seen what actually plays out for the Epic.

Its a shame really but it seems to me that samsung has made a hole a bit harder to get out of that htc has. I buy my devices expecting that other devices released at a later point are going to be better performers and will be in line to get it if at all possible. Accordingly no butt hurting here should the Epic be better than the Evo. For all the features the Epic has, there is no way that I can see it as being the current top offering. At best these two are on par, but honestly radio performance and gps problems, with no real assurances of fixes are huge drawbacks that have made me stay away.

 

[RickJ]

Both phones are great, users of both phones are going to be very satisfied, for the most part.

Being that you own both devices, I couldnt argue this viewpoint. The real question is, had you known then what you know today, would you have still purchased the Epic, or perhaps waited either for fixes or the next offering?

*** +1 for the post count I guess, lol. Just read your post at the top of the page.

 

[dbpaddler]

RickJ.....

1. The Hero never went to 1.6. It went from 1.5 to 2.1 like the Moment and Eris did. By the time they were released, 2.1 was already given to the mfgs and they opted to bypass 1.6 to go straight to 2.1. I also owned the Hero as well as the Moment (both from launch day like below).

2. I've owned the Evo and Epic both from launch day. My Evo just went to another sales rep. I'm sticking with the Epic. Have zero regrets about getting it from day one and looking forward to seeing it get even faster and smoother with 2.1. Seeing the latest three Android phones from Sprint, I can't imagine when the next premium phone will be coming unless it's from Palm or the HTC Pro 7. And the Pro 7 isn't even a 4g phone. With the ability to upgrade phones every year (and of course sell your old one to offset the cost of the new), playing the waiting game is usually fruitless, especially with the way technology leapfrogging.

 

[RickJ]

RickJ.....

1. The Hero never went to 1.6. It went from 1.5 to 2.1 like the Moment and Eris did. By the time they were released, 2.1 was already given to the mfgs and they opted to bypass 1.6 to go straight to 2.1. I also owned the Hero as well as the Moment (both from launch day like below).

2. I've owned the Evo and Epic both from launch day. My Evo just went to another sales rep. I'm sticking with the Epic. Have zero regrets about getting it from day one and looking forward to seeing it get even faster and smoother with 2.1. Seeing the latest three Android phones from Sprint, I can't imagine when the next premium phone will be coming unless it's from Palm or the HTC Pro 7. And the Pro 7 isn't even a 4g phone. With the ability to upgrade phones every year (and of course sell your old one to offset the cost of the new), playing the waiting game is usually fruitless, especially with the way technology leapfrogging.

Guess I dont need tell you, but your absolutely right, they did skip 1.6, oops. I think thats the second time I relayed that misconception.

I wholeheartedly understand anyones preference of Epic over Evo or vice versa. Whats an issue for some may not be for others. I personally really want/need good gps and reception so any potential issues with these will make me steer clear of that device.

Just for reference I took this snap a couple of weekends ago with Earth. I routinely use it to find trails and things that arent otherwise visible. In this case I sent the pic to another group that was comming in early AM in order to locate where we were at. Not that it was really neccessary at the time, but it was cool to be able to do.

I was on the fringe of cell coverage as it was, so if my gps was funky and/or my device didnt get as good reception this wouldnt have been possible.

 

[dbpaddler]

From the threads I've read, the gps issues on the epic were more of a lack of ability to dump the cache and allow it to get a fix where restarting the phone would clear it. And there was a workaround fix for it before the update actually fixed it. I read quite a few posts where people recorded really accurate results on footprints which is a lot better than testing nav since it just needs to get close enough in nav to snap it to a street. It's been awhile since I've perused them, so I could be wrong.

 

[RickJ]

Aero1 and Boomerbubba have done quite a bit of investigative work into the gps issues and they report multiple problems, way more information than I can retain or impart here.

The cold start workaround only addresses the cached stale ephemeris/almanac and doesnt do anything to help the bad snrs. That workaround also only works while there is a data connection and even that falls back to how well the radios perform as far as reception. Absent one a reboot will clear the data however it will take between 5-14 minutes to download the ephemeris and almanac from the sats before the gps will function again.

Yep, a few have posted mytracks accurately tracking them, however just as many or more report missing sections of tracking and/or offset tracking by significant distances. As far as nav is concerned with snap to street many report it works just fine while others report that it doesnt keep up with them and will have already passed a turn before nav indicates to make that turn.

Either way, workaround or not, unless there is a fix for those issues it precludes the ability to just pick up the device and use it as it was intended. For those that dont use nav or gps (seen plenty of those posts, ie. Ive got a garmin or tom-tom for that, etc.) it wont weigh heavily against the epic.

 

[PoundSand]

Just for reference I took this snap a couple of weekends ago with Earth.
...
I was on the fringe of cell coverage as it was, so if my gps was funky and/or my device didnt get as good reception this wouldnt have been possible.

hehe... that's a horrible example.
1- you don't have a great gps lock there- the evo does seem to lock better than the epic, but it can get a mediocre lock like that outdoors, clear sky, no problemo. ;D
2- 3 bars ain't fringe cell coverage.


fwiw, i've got both a epic (came from palm pre) and a evo (came from htc hero) in front of me.

 

[dbpaddler]

And froyo begins for galaxy S. Let's see where the Epic stands in the rollout sequence.