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[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Comparing the new iPhone, Droid Incredible and EVO 4G[/FONT]
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BY MARK W. SMITH
FREE PRESS WEB EDITOR[/FONT]
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With the release of the Apple iPhone 4, the nation's top three wireless carriers are locked in a battle for smartphone supremacy.[/FONT]
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AT&T has the all-new iPhone 4, Verizon has the sleek HTC Droid Incredible and Sprint has the feature-packed HTC EVO 4G.[/FONT]
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How do they stack up?[/FONT]
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[SIZE=+2]Displays[/SIZE][/FONT]
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The Incredible features a high-contrast, super-vibrant OLED display; the EVO goes for broke with a huge 4.3-inch screen; and the iPhone brings us something new with its retina display with tiny pixels.[/FONT]
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It's a classic battle, quality versus quantity, but the iPhone's retina display really is a stunner and wins this category.[/FONT]
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The EVO display, sharp as it is, overtaxes the battery.[/FONT]
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[SIZE=+2]But how does it feel?[/SIZE][/FONT]
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No phone feels as comfortable in the hand as the Incredible. Its narrow and thin build with sculpted plastic back give it a natural feel.[/FONT]
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The iPhone 4 is even thinner, but the new metal trim and squared glass edges can make the phone uncomfortable. This is easily alleviated with the addition of Apple's Bumper case -- a $29 add-on.[/FONT]
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The EVO's biggest strength, its monster screen, is also its biggest hindrance. I never felt comfortable using the EVO. It felt like some kind of big accessory.[/FONT]
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[SIZE=+2]Software[/SIZE][/FONT]
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The Incredible and EVO both run on Google's Android 2.1 operating system and also feature HTC Sense, which adds widgets and seven customizable panes to the home screen. The iPhone runs Apple's iOS 4, a minor upgrade to the phone's long-standing user interface.[/FONT]
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Because the iPhone features one-button navigation, controls are often on the lower part of the screen, eating up valuable real estate.[/FONT]
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[SIZE=+2]Cameras[/SIZE][/FONT]
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The iPhone 4's 5-megapixel still camera was far superior to the 8-megapixels on the Android phones.
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• MORE: See test images from the 3 phones[/FONT]
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It's important to look at more than just the resolution, as both Android cameras performed poorly in low light.[/FONT]
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In every scenario the iPhone 4's camera won out. The EVO, the overall worst performer, took unusually poor photos in low light.[/FONT]
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[SIZE=+2]Video calling[/SIZE][/FONT]
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While the EVO also offers a front-facing camera that can be used for video calls, Apple has created a simple means -- FaceTime -- for connecting iPhone 4 users for video calls while on a Wi-Fi network. There's no app to download, no service to sign up for. It just works. For free.[/FONT]
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[SIZE=+2]Battery life[/SIZE][/FONT]
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The EVO was always the first of these three to die out, often hours before the Incredible or iPhone 4.[/FONT]
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At one point, an error message caused by a changed password forced the EVO to continually try -- and fail -- to sync, prompting for an immediate fix. Just an hour or so later, by the time I grabbed the EVO from my bag, it was warm and the battery almost completely drained.[/FONT]
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[SIZE=+2]The verdict[/SIZE][/FONT]
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For now, the iPhone 4 regains the throne among smartphones, supplanting the Incredible.[/FONT]
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With its impossibly fine retina display and the debut of FaceTime, the iPhone is, once again, the one to beat.[/FONT]
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MARK W. SMITH writes the Browser blog for freep.com. Contact him at 313-223-4424 or msmith@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @markdubya.[/FONT]
