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My Evo Review

shadrap said:
Ok guys I have a little more info on the phone. I have got Swype up and running. It runs great, but with the keyboard being so big and responsive. I just don't know if it's faster anymore.

For the gamers. I have NES and SNES Roms running. This is the best I have seen on a phone. The games are very playable.

I have handbraked videos on the phone and they are great to watch. I have been using the standard iPhone setting.
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Thanks for the review updates! But can you tell me how and where did you add swype...I'm on a moment and my biggest corcern is not getting swype on the EVO, and now that you have confirmed I'm pretty excited! I understand the keyboards are larger now, but you will still have to individually type each word and I prefer to slide every word...;) Thanks
 
I used the one that is available for the incredible. It works flawlessly. Search swype on the EVO forum, someone posted the apk.
 
A lot of folks from the Raleigh area... (east Raleigh, work in Cary). I can't wait for this phone... thank you for the great review, it sounds like everything I'm hoping it will be. Sprint and Clear both say they have full coverage of where I work and live, so hopefully 4G works out, and if not, I'll be just fine w/ their 3G (which is great in this area.)
 
Great news about game emulators playing well!

Can you confirm that the EVO has 360mb of app storage out of the box? After subtracting for the OS and stock apps, this still seems about 200mb short for a 1gb rom.

I am also accounting for format space, since 1gb rom does not equal 1gb of actual storage.
 
thezlog said:
Shadrap, have you seen the screen on the HTC Incredible? I've been trying to find some one who can give me a comparison. The Incredible screen fits it's name, and I'm hoping the EVO has a great screen on it too. If the screen is washed out or less then stellar I might jump ship to the Incredible :\ Dunno.
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If you don't want a washed out screen, I suggest you steer clear of the Incredible. If the AMOLED screen on the Incredible is anything like the Moment's, I can't honestly say I would reccomend anyone to get it. AMOLED screens are beautiful and crisp INDOORS, but in sunlight, they are downright awful. I had a really hard time being able to read or type anything when outside.
 
prettyb said:
If you don't want a washed out screen, I suggest you steer clear of the Incredible. If the AMOLED screen on the Incredible is anything like the Moment's, I can't honestly say I would reccomend anyone to get it. AMOLED screens are beautiful and crisp INDOORS, but in sunlight, they are downright awful. I had a really hard time being able to read or type anything when outside.
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I have the Inc and it does not have a washed out screen by any stretch. Very sharp in fact, but not as sharp or crisp as the Moto Droid, which I also had for a few weeks. Still, the extra battery life and better contrast is a fair trade and videos / pictures actually look better on the Inc than the Moto Droid. Very small text is where you notice the AMOLED tech. Not as crisp IMO.

Incredible has strong points: Hot swappable microsd, over twice the app storage and 6.6gb built media space.

EVO has the super sweet 4.3" LCD.

thezlog,

Please also consider 3G coverage in the area you live and travel the most. In KY, Sprint coverage is about the same as Tmo, which I was with for eight years (mainly 2G, some Edge and a few cities with 3G). I bailed to Verizon and they have 3G everywhere I have been to. Test Sprint out first to see if you get the same 3G coverage. If so, great!

Both phones have their strengths, but in spite of the 4.3" on the EVO (man it is sweet), I would still get the Incredible if both were on the same carrier. I like the size (big enough, with a silicon case on it), the extra app space and ability to hot swap microsd cards. To me, this trumps the bigger screen, but just as many or more would prefer the bigger screen instead.

It is all good :)
 
rushmore said:
Great news about game emulators playing well!

Can you confirm that the EVO has 360mb of app storage out of the box? After subtracting for the OS and stock apps, this still seems about 200mb short for a 1gb rom.

I am also accounting for format space, since 1gb rom does not equal 1gb of actual storage.
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Correct, I just subtracted my installed apps and I am left with around 360mb. Not sure where the rest is going.
 
rushmore said:
I have the Inc and it does not have a washed out screen by any stretch. Very sharp in fact, but not as sharp or crisp as the Moto Droid, which I also had for a few weeks. Still, the extra battery life and better contrast is a fair trade and videos / pictures actually look better on the Inc than the Moto Droid. Very small text is where you notice the AMOLED tech. Not as crisp IMO.
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That's great! Maybe Samsung's iteration was just horrible, which is more than likely the case. I have never been a big fan of Samsung phones. =\
 
rushmore said:
Incredible has strong points: Hot swappable microsd, over twice the app storage and 6.6gb built media space.
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Correct me if I'm mistaken, but the EVO has 1gb of ROM, which is more than the Incredible.

You can only install apps on the ROM, so the Incredible's 8GB storage cannot be used, even if its internal.

This is probably one of my biggest pet peeve about the Android OS. It needs to be non discriminate when it comes to storage. If I put a 32gb card in it, I should be able to put apps on it.

Phones should do away with internal storage completey and use microSD's. Then have those microSD's recognizable by all apps and media.
 
rushmore said:
I have the Inc and it does not have a washed out screen by any stretch. Very sharp in fact, but not as sharp or crisp as the Moto Droid, which I also had for a few weeks.
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The reference was to using the Inc. outdoors. It's truly horrid in sunlight.
 
MrX8503 said:
This is probably one of my biggest pet peeve about the Android OS. It needs to be non discriminate when it comes to storage. If I put a 32gb card in it, I should be able to put apps on it.
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But it's not a permanent drawback. Just wait a little while... Froyo's on the verge of being released, which will address this.
 
Bek said:
But it's not a permanent drawback. Just wait a little while... Froyo's on the verge of being released, which will address this.
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Waiting sucks, especially when you can get an alternative phone that I won't speak about now, where you can install your apps on your main storage.

I've read up on Froyo, and I'm not so sure if its going to fix this problem. Hopefully Google comes through for us.
 
shadrap said:
I live in Greensboro. One of the oldest 4G markets, yesterday I drove the 85 corridor Greensboro to Raleigh and back. The 4G is not what I thought it would be. The signal goes up and down and the speed can change dramatically. 3G is much more stable with good constant speed.

I do not see the $10 fee sticking around for long, but will see.
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I just called sprint because i live in michigan and we won't have 4g for another year and asked if they would waive the $10 fee. The guy stated the fee is not for the 4g service, but it's for the excessive use of data that they are expecting with this new phone. Also he would not waive the fee.. (This was the retentions department)

Great review btw.. I can't wait for next friday!!!! 9am Radio shack i'll be there
 
dcdttu said:
I must agree with the review. Phone is awesome and I am getting it, but 4G seems to be severely lacking. I live in Austin, TX and most places that say they have 4G coverage on Clear's site do in fact not with this phone. Even areas where Clear says 'best coverage' there was no usable signal indoors and barely any outside.

Why they would want to ruin their reputation by releasing a '4G' phone when 4G sucks is beyond me. I'm all for Sprint pushing the envelope, but their 4G doesn't seem to be ready.
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What 3G speeds do you get? Thanks!
 
MrX8503 said:
Waiting sucks, especially when you can get an alternative phone that I won't speak about now, where you can install your apps on your main storage.

I've read up on Froyo, and I'm not so sure if its going to fix this problem. Hopefully Google comes through for us.
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That really is a deal breaker, I'm an app-aholic (have over 300 on my iPhone). Also, what about music and video ? Can that be saved to the memory card ?
 
scott99 said:
That really is a deal breaker, I'm an app-aholic (have over 300 on my iPhone). Also, what about music and video ? Can that be saved to the memory card ?
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At this moment the EVO 4G can only store 1GB of apps. Everything else you have to store on the microSD card, this includes music and video.

Its just the apps that are restricting. Froyo may or may not fix this problem.
 
scott99 said:
That really is a deal breaker, I'm an app-aholic (have over 300 on my iPhone). Also, what about music and video ? Can that be saved to the memory card ?
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From what I've read, the apps take up very little space, so it might not have to be a dealbreaker for you. I don't know if it will hold 300 apps though. How do you even USE 300 apps? LOL
 
hopalee said:
From what I've read, the apps take up very little space, so it might not have to be a dealbreaker for you. I don't know if it will hold 300 apps though. How do you even USE 300 apps? LOL
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I have over a gig of iPod touch apps, but this may be due to the fact that the Apple App store having more serious games.

Google should lift this app storage restriction though because Android Apps aren't gonna stay small forever.
 
I have 21 apps on AppBrain already, and it takes up 21MB of space. Seems like Android uses much less memory for app storage, partially due to not being any huuuuge games to download like on the iPhone.

Edit: And FroYo definitely includes the ability to store apps on the microSD card.
 
So you have 21 apps abd there like 1mb a piece. I have over 50 apps saved on app brain but I'm not getting them all and some do the same thing I just need to decide what to get. But once I read that when you get the phone after all the sprint crap on there it only has like 3 or 400 mb left I was kinfd of worried. Someone did say it will hold alot of apps cause there small so that's good to know.

SprintFun said:
I have 21 apps on AppBrain already, and it takes up 21MB of space. Seems like Android uses much less memory for app storage, partially due to not being any huuuuge games to download like on the iPhone.

Edit: And FroYo definitely includes the ability to store apps on the microSD card.
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MrX8503 said:
At this moment the EVO 4G can only store 1GB of apps. Everything else you have to store on the microSD card, this includes music and video.

Its just the apps that are restricting. Froyo may or may not fix this problem.
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That would be cool if correct, but EVO only has 360mb of free storage for apps (out of the box). 1gb rom minus format space, OS and stock apps should be about 550mb of free storage, but out of the box, EVO only has 360mb of free space for apps.

Incredible actually has two memory storage areas:

1. 512mb rom. Though half of EVO, the rom on Inc is only used for the OS and stock apps. No third party apps are isntalled on this, so upgrades will not impact space for thrid party apps.

2. 748mb allocated of the 8gb of flash. This is why there is ony 6.6gb free with the built in storage for media- 748mb was allocated for third party app installation.

My Incredible had 748mb free for app storage. As of right now, I have 334mb of apps installed (over 100 apps) and still have 414mb free.

Incredible has over twice the free app space as a result (748/360= 2.08), but later in the year (I hope not too long), Sense users should have the 2.2 update and the apps in the market all updated to handle the apps2sd option. Nexus users are discovering that apps2sd needs to be part of a revision of the app before it will work.

BTW, the apps2sd should help the market out in regards to app sales and that means more commercial apps and games ;)
 
shadrap said:
Correct, I just subtracted my installed apps and I am left with around 360mb. Not sure where the rest is going.
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So if I understand you correctly, the stock apps can be uninstalled?


Also, just a general question here as I am a Droid virgin, does installing & uninstalling tons of apps leave artifacts in the OS ala Windows registry?
 
hopalee said:
From what I've read, the apps take up very little space, so it might not have to be a dealbreaker for you. I don't know if it will hold 300 apps though. How do you even USE 300 apps? LOL
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I probably use 20-25 religiously on a daily basis. The rest I use when I feel like it. I have a 16gig iPhone 3G, and have 307 apps with 307mb left (probably could get like 300 Android apps with that, lol). I also have 1193 songs, and 112 photos.
 
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