VM Evo V 4G Review

[tacticblue]

Purchased a Virgin mobile from Radio Shack and finally got a chance to put it through it's paces.

The Good

It's a great phone, much better than any other VM Android phone to date. Lightweight, powerful, and feature rich -- no question.

The Bad

1) Heat
The phone produces a lot of heat that is even palpable through a third party case.

2) Lost Text Messages
Sent several text messages today and they are still not received by the target phone. Sent a few text messages from a T-mobile phone to the VM Evo and still no messages hours later.

3) Poor Cellular Reception
A couple odd things. I am getting the jumping bars (bars go from no service to 5 bars in seconds). Another issue, while driving around town, most of the ride I had ZERO cellular service when a Triumph and Optimus did have VM service via Sprint.

4) 3G and 4G Issues
Mobile internet varies from 1X to 3G but 4G is non-existent despite the Sprint website map showing 4G service in our area.

5) Phantom Voice mail Indicator
I have a voice mail icon stating that I have an voice mail waiting. However, when you use Visual Voice mail, dial voice mail from the Evo, or dial voice mail from a landline, it states there are NO emails. I have tried pulling the battery but no joy.

I stopped by Radio Shack this afternoon and had Zero bars of service in the store. They told me if I still had problems, I had 30 days to return the phone.

I love the phone but the lack of phone/text/data is a problem which probably has more to due with Sprint/VM than the phone.

 

[Jaxmoto]

As nice as they are at RS, the people there tend not to be any kind of real experts on anything.

I have not had any of the problems you mentioned, although some may be due to the towers in your area.

Sprint seems to show coverage areas based on what they think will be covered, vs. a carrier like T-Mobile that shows tested reception areas (If you look at T-mobile zoomed in it is spotty as hell, so they are accounting for bad spots).

4G on WiMax is also a high frequency signal, it is extremely sensitive to trees, buildings or anything that blocks line of sight. Other carriers use very low frequency 4G, which is why they get better signals through. Basically it works similar to a car stereo... you can here bass from a long way away, or inside buildings when a car goes by, but you never hear the high frequencies. Personally I see WiMax as a gimmick, or extra feature, not as part of the actual service.

Regarding the heat, my own phone has never become hot. It barely gets warm even after I used it for about 3 hours while on the charger. You may have a bum phone.

For your VM notification you may be able to call Virgin and have them reset your voicemail, it is feasible they have something wrong on your account that is sending out the notification. You may also want to try leaving yourself a couple of voicemails, then deleting them.

Getting the jumping bars myself, but it has never been an issue for reception. In fact, the Evo gets 2-3 times the data speeds in the same spots as my Triumph.

Personally I would try a factory reset, if that doesn't do it I would swap the phone if/when they have any in stock.

 

[coco3133]

Purchased a Virgin mobile from Radio Shack and finally got a chance to put it through it's paces.

The Good

It's a great phone, much better than any other VM Android phone to date. Lightweight, powerful, and feature rich -- no question.

The Bad

1) Heat
The phone produces a lot of heat that is even palpable through a third party case.

2) Lost Text Messages
Sent several text messages today and they are still not received by the target phone. Sent a few text messages from a T-mobile phone to the VM Evo and still no messages hours later.

3) Poor Cellular Reception
A couple odd things. I am getting the jumping bars (bars go from no service to 5 bars in seconds). Another issue, while driving around town, most of the ride I had ZERO cellular service when a Triumph and Optimus did have VM service via Sprint.

4) 3G and 4G Issues
Mobile internet varies from 1X to 3G but 4G is non-existent despite the Sprint website map showing 4G service in our area.

5) Phantom Voice mail Indicator
I have a voice mail icon stating that I have an voice mail waiting. However, when you use Visual Voice mail, dial voice mail from the Evo, or dial voice mail from a landline, it states there are NO emails. I have tried pulling the battery but no joy.

I stopped by Radio Shack this afternoon and had Zero bars of service in the store. They told me if I still had problems, I had 30 days to return the phone.

I love the phone but the lack of phone/text/data is a problem which probably has more to due with Sprint/VM than the phone.

Same problems on my triumph minus the 1x 3g....i think it has to do with vm.more then phone

 

[hemplacrosse4]

I voted excellent because of the actual phone itself, now if we are talking about Virgin Mobile service I am having the same exact problems you guys are having. :bawling:

 

[Leslie Ann]

1) Heat
The phone produces a lot of heat that is even palpable through a third party case.

It's a dual 1.2, of course it produces heat. A case not only traps the heat but also absorbs it, holding in longer.

Happens on lots of phones, even Iphones.

2) Lost Text Messages
Sent several text messages today and they are still not received by the target phone. Sent a few text messages from a T-mobile phone to the VM Evo and still no messages hours later.

This is a Virgin issue, not a phone issue.

3) Poor Cellular Reception
A couple odd things. I am getting the jumping bars (bars go from no service to 5 bars in seconds). Another issue, while driving around town, most of the ride I had ZERO cellular service when a Triumph and Optimus did have VM service via Sprint.

This is legitimate...
The reception is a bit less than the OV, but tolerable. Oddly, data speeds are faster though.

4) 3G and 4G Issues
Mobile internet varies from 1X to 3G but 4G is non-existent despite the Sprint website map showing 4G service in our area.

Related to above.

5) Phantom Voice mail Indicator
I have a voice mail icon stating that I have an voice mail waiting. However, when you use Visual Voice mail, dial voice mail from the Evo, or dial voice mail from a landline, it states there are NO emails. I have tried pulling the battery but no joy.

Again, this is a long term Virgin issue.

Usually it clears itself over time.
Sometimes leaving a voicemail, then clearing that will refresh the system and wipe it out. Otherwise, pull the battery for 30 seconds. You may need customer service to reset your account.

 

[aurora40]

For the voicemail icon, try clearing the cache on "phone" or "dialer".

 

[septembersrain]

I think almost 90% of these problems are Virgin Mobile related. I'm experiencing reboots caused by multiple factors like 3G/4G fluctuations and dropped signals.

For a while there it would reboot from being overheated in a case but well... I think this phone looks just fine without a cover anyways. <3

I'm thinking because they rushed the software on these phones, We're likely to have bugs for a bit. They'll eventually send out a bug fix though since so many of us are experiencing this. They've also got some network kinks to work through too.

Either VM or HTC will likely send out an OTA eventually. Too many of us are experiencing this for them to ignore.

I'm just going to hold tight for now..
I positively hate returning stuff anyways.