Talk me into an EVO 4G LTE...

[acran]

...and out of an iPhone 5.

I've been an Android user for the past two years thanks to my old school EVO 4G, and for the most part I've been pretty happy with it. Sure, the battery life leaves a lot to be desired, and sure, the random crashes and hiccups are irritating, and fine, it can't photograph/film its way out of a paper bag, but overall it's been a solid device.

Well, long story short, my contract is up and now I find myself at a crossroads of sorts. In spite of the dinky screen and walled garden ecosystem, which chafe my sensibilities a bit, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't look on enviously at my wife's 4S and its stellar (relatively speaking) battery life, excellent camera and rock-solid stable OS. Yes, my trump card was always that I had a bigger screen and WiMax, but now that playing field is being leveled -- somewhat -- with the introduction of a 4" screen (still not huge, but an improvement nonetheless) and LTE (if and when it ever makes its way to the NYC area), so those are two less excuses I have for not making the switch.

Anyway, I've spent a lot of time in the Sprint store across the street from my office playing with the 4G LTE (I've got no love for the SIII, in case anyone's curious), and so far it seems right up my alley. The screen is great, the OS (ICS with a pared down Sense overlay) seems speedy and the camera is finally good enough that I can leave my point-and-shoot at home. Still, after perusing these forums, I'm reading a lot of the same old/same old with respect to crashes, connectivity issues, dropped calls, etc., which is making me wonder whether or not I should give up my freedom (I really do like that I can simply plug my phone into any computer and start dragging and dropping to my heart's content) for stability.

So, with that in mind, lay it on me, folks.

Regards,
Adam

 

[rsk2mc]

If you have never played with jelly bean you don't know what smooth is. That will be the staple os for Android. The first stock os to be smoother than ios. I love the evo, I also have s3. If you want solid phone and build quality this is the right phone.

Sent from the blob fish (if you don't know what a blobfish is, Google it)

 

[SpencerHTC]

I haven't experienced any major issues with my Evo LTE. Sure, there are very minuscule hiccups here and there, but the phone, for me at least, is very stable and reliable. Don't listen to some of the things people say on here because they might not be credible. As far as connectivity goes, I get decent 3g coverage (But no LTE) and decent speeds (About 1 Mbps) iOS, in my opinion, is starting to get redundant, stale, and overall just boring. I like the freedom that Android offers, as opposed to Apple, just as you said with being able to connect to any computer and just drag and drop the files which you want into your phone. The hardware on this phone is second to none. I have dropped mine numerous times, and there are still no major scratches or dents on my phone. But hey, even if you do manage to break a part of your phone from a drop (For example, the plastic back) there is a site in which you could just order the new piece and snap it back on. Now for the only downside: Sense is somewhat bloated in terms of memory usage. I get, at most, about 450 MB's of memory free. The rest is being used by Sense. This impacted multitasking in the past. However, since the new Sense 4.1 update, I have had no issues with multitasking at all. Overall, this is a great phone and definitely better than the iPhone 5 because of its speed, screen size, screen quality, hardware, and Android 4.0.4 (Soon to be 4.1, Jelly Bean

 

[acran]

So far, so good...

It's nice to hear that JB is looking good, however it's my understanding that we won't be seeing that on the 4G LTE until December/January at the earliest. Even so, it sounds like ICS + Sense 4.1 is no slouch.

Regards,
Adam

PS - Yes, I know what a blob fish is (my kids watch Octonauts ;-) )

 

[zmann]

So far, so good...

It's nice to hear that JB is looking good, however it's my understanding that we won't be seeing that on the 4G LTE until December/January at the earliest. Even so, it sounds like ICS + Sense 4.1 is no slouch.

Regards,
Adam

PS - Yes, I know what a blob fish is (my kids watch Octonauts ;-) )

That's just someone opinion based on what was said about the one x on another carrier,,, it very well could be sooner,,, no one knows. Sprint wants all their phones operating the same os now and they just gave the nexus jellybean so in MY opinion jellybean for the evo 4g is not far away.

EVO-LUTION 4G LTE

 

[crxssi]

The Evo LTE is better, in specs (and I believe in practice), in every area compared to not only the iphone 4s but even the iphone 5. It just blows away the Evo 4G completely in EVERY respect- especially battery life and stability.

It shouldn't be hard to convince you. Ask yourself this- if you can get a phone that meets or exceeds every aspect of the "iphone", then exactly what about any iphone would make you hesitate purchasing an Evo LTE?

 

[cuffs50]

Ahhh I can't wait for jb! Played with it on the nexus 7 and it rocks. And to stay on task you should definitely get the evo. Stay away from the istink. Trust me you'll get bored very fast.

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

 

[Cyrene]

Widgets.

Sent from my EVO LTE using Tapatalk 2

 

[SpencerHTC]

I get well over 18 hours with about half of that on WiFi.

 

[rpmorri#CB]

I came from an OG Evo myself. The iPhone5 is really not that impressive. You won't have LTE on either phone until December, so that's a wash. Battery life on the 4G LTE doesn't even compare to the OG Evo; the LTE's is miles ahead. Add to that the more open environment, the ability to root and do (at least) most, if not all, by now that you can do on the OG Evo...why bother with the iPhone again?

 

[igobytony]

It really is an amazing phone. I upgraded from my OG EVO a couple weeks ago and haven't looked back. I was a little scared due to reading things about cellular connectivity, but after updating all the software and a prl update I've had no real trouble. It does seem a bit weaker than the old EVO radio, but i haven't dropped calls or lost connection yet.

Like seriously, if you liked the original you will love this. The phone is super fast, stable (I've had exactly zero reboots or shutdowns), and has a gorgeous screen and amazing camera. I am sure you'll be more than happy with it!

Sent from my V55 using Android Central Forums

 

[acromack]

Widgets.

The best argument. Widgets have such potential, and they're so easily built into android. Plus, jelly bean is so smooth, easily on par with ios. CM10 runs beautifully on this phone until an official version comes out. I'll say that sense leaves some to be desired, but I left it for CM10 solely for notification drawer widget buttons.

 

[houstonwino]

The Evo LTE is better, in specs (and I believe in practice), in every area compared to not only the iphone 4s but even the iphone 5. It just blows away the Evo 4G completely in EVERY respect- especially battery life and stability.

It shouldn't be hard to convince you. Ask yourself this- if you can get a phone that meets or exceeds every aspect of the "iphone", then exactly what about any iphone would make you hesitate purchasing an Evo LTE?

Exactly! How this is even being asked by someone who claims to have tried both phones is almost mind-boggling. I took my son shopping for a new phone a few weeks back and to compare screens I laid my Evo next to the SIII and the kid busted out laughing. I was about to ask what was so funny until I realized that the phone on the other side of mine was the "mighty" iPhone, looking boxy and thick yet tiny and completely outdated. This is like asking to be convinced to buy a high-powered top-of-the-line sports car because Mom's old Buick has always been such a chick-magnet for you. I apologize because this is going to come off as meaner than I intend, but if you have to be convinced, you should stick to the Buick.

 

[BlackHawkA4]

Exactly! How this is even being asked by someone who claims to have tried both phones is almost mind-boggling. I took my son shopping for a new phone a few weeks back and to compare screens I laid my Evo next to the SIII and the kid busted out laughing. I was about to ask what was so funny until I realized that the phone on the other side of mine was the "mighty" iPhone, looking boxy and thick yet tiny and completely outdated. This is like asking to be convinced to buy a high-powered top-of-the-line sports car because Mom's old Buick has always been such a chick-magnet for you. I apologize because this is going to come off as meaner than I intend, but if you have to be convinced, you should stick to the Buick.

I still don't known why they got rid of Pontiac and kept Buick.

Yea. That's right. That has nothing to do with the op. But that should be the topic of this post. If you need convincing from the iPhone you should just get the iPhone and stop thinking for yourself and join the zombies.

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

 

[elfuego]

I love the evo 4g lte. No remorse here. Virtually no issues. Battery lasts up to a day and a half with low usage, and 18 hours or so on a busy day. I burn DVD's with handbrake all the time and just drag and drop the movies in to the phone connected to my pc. 4g is a little spotty for me in ATL, but when it's on, it's awesome. 3G is sufficient for most things anyway. (even streaming google music)

 

[acran]

I suppose I deserve some of the vitriol given that I'm asking this question in an Android forum, though no doubt had I asked the same question in an Apple forum, the responses would be even more combative (those guys are nuts).

In any case, I'm definitely leaning towards sticking with the HTC -- widgets are a powerful inducement -- though I can't help but give points to iOS for its stability and thoroughly vetted app catalog. Even so, that screen is just so damn small -- even with the half-an-inch bump --and for someone who does a lot of surfing, this needs to be taken into consideration.

So, thanks for the input thus far, and if anyone else has anything more to add, I'm all ears (specifically, I need to be reassured that ICS + Sense 4.1 addresses some, if not all of the crashes and lock ups that plague my current EVO (GB + Sense 3.0).

Regards,
Adam

 

[bas.androiddev]

If you boil down all the b.s., there really are only two variables that should help you make your decision:

1) Are you heavily invested in either iOS apps or Android apps? It's hard to switch to another platform if you've paid for and used a lot of apps over the years. It sound like you have the old Evo, so you might have a few android apps.

2) Sprint. Sprint may just rock in your area, or they may have serious problems. I dont know how to answer this one, in my area they have been abysmal up until recently, now it's like I have my old Evo back and I'm happy again.

 

[top magoo]

i moved from the og evo about 6 weeks ago and do not regret one second. the main reason the iphone "just works", is because it's for lazy/uninformed users who will not perform routine "maintenance" on their equipment. i have found that a weekly update/check of profile and prl, cleaning out excessive sms messages, clearing cache, etc keeps my androids rocking. my daughters have androids and aren't as responsible about clearing space and updating have more problems, but a quick "tune-up" generally fixes their problems right up. it depends on how much maintaining you want to do on your equipment.

it also depends on what quality of apps are installed on the phone as well. the apple store's apps may have a better vetting process, but if you find a well written app, android will handle it superbly. i'd be willing to bet that ~70% of the folks on here bashing the evo lte have some poorly written apps that are causing issues.

as far as speed, battery life, camera functionality... i cannot give enough props to the engineers in turning a good phone (og evo) into a super phone...

 

[ChaosMarine03]

I came from the og evo aswell and this phone is everything the evo was lacking. Rock solid hardware, relatively stable os, nice camera, it even has a micro SD slot. With the last update you can change the funtiom of the multitasking button which solved my last annoyance of this phone. I do recommend a new launcher such as nova launcher though.

 

[bas.androiddev]

I do recommend a new launcher such as nova launcher though.

Agreed. While personally I'm using the Sense UI and dont really feel the need to switch, I'm grateful for the choice to be able to switch, unlike other OS's.