Calling out CNET's Prizefight results...

[Kedar]

Okay... I hate CNET's prizefight, and for good reason. They'll take some vague scores with a vague

Before
Iphone 3gs was the best until N1/Incredible came by.
Then the Evo went against the Incredible.
All was good except the end... where they gave the Evo a 3.3 to CALL QUALITY.
WTF?

They claimed that battery is also factored into the score. Yup, they just changed how they did that...

YouTube - Prizefight: HTC Droid Incredible vs. HTC Evo 4G

What they're going to do...
So now they included battery results in the Call Quality score.
So guess what... they're going to give it to the Iphone by .1 (like they always do).
Then when the Droid X goes against the Iphone... they'll probably get the same score, but give it to the iphone because it won more rounds, just like the 3gs vs. droid.



So yeah, the iphone call quality score changed every time...
... and this time they're including battery results as well into call quality?
It's not that I'm ashamed of the Evo battery... I get 10-16 hours normally and with this rom I get it through more than one day.
It's just most people still think the battery sucks because of so many bad reports (*COUGH* techcrunch *COUGH*) going around.

I just hate it when regular consumers are told something and think it... like the Evo has a bad battery when in reality that's not true.

 

[IIAspire]

I was thinking the same thing when i watched this review. Why would they bundle call quality with battery life together?

 

[scott_0]

it is what is, who cares the iphone will win because its the iphone and the droid x will win when launches because well its from big red, Sprint is like the red headed step child no matter what phone is representing them

 

[chaosrecords]

I wouldnt worry about it.

Cnet reviews are about as subjective as Nintendo Power lol...


Common sense will tell anyone, if you want the best phone with the best features and the biggest screen its going to consume more battery life.

I came from a palm pre. So to me the EVO is actually a blessing I get better battery life than i do my Pre after a year of keeping it on a 5v umbilical cord

 

[Kedar]

I wouldnt worry about it.

Cnet reviews are about as subjective as Nintendo Power lol...


Common sense will tell anyone, if you want the best phone with the best features and the biggest screen its going to consume more battery life.

I came from a palm pre. So to me the EVO is actually a blessing I get better battery life than i do my Pre after a year of keeping it on a 5v umbilical cord

Yeah, the Evo is a blessing to me when it comes to battery life.
11 hours right now and around 20% with heavy usage/brightness at 50%/ROM installed.... so that's REALLY good.
If I did anything like that on the Pre... I would have to charge it every couple hours... it was horribad.



And nah... CNET is actually on good terms with Sprint. They said the Evo had no dropped calls, while ATT and Verizon got dropped calls on their tests.

 

[wase4711]

once you have actually bought a phone, why would you even care what a reviewer thinks???
you make your own opinion about the phone once you own it, dont you?

 

[Robbie317]

once you have actually bought a phone, why would you even care what a reviewer thinks???
you make your own opinion about the phone once you own it, dont you?

Exactly... Plus if you own a phone, signed a contract and don't return the phone after your 30 days your (most people at least) not going to be very objective on the subject.

There are certain articles and reviews out there that are fully tilted towards a certain device or OS. They will go above and beyond to tilt a certain feature towards their favorite. I find most of these reviews amusing in a way. Almost every review I read from an iPhone user would complain about the $10 EVO tax as a deal breaker... not to mention that even WITH the $10 EVO tax the plans come up $10 a month cheaper vs an iPhone plan. But they found an excuse why they will stick with what they truly love.

Even with the EVO I have read articles that talk about how "Oh, the EVO has HDMI out." So far I have yet to find a reason to plug my EVO up to my TV so the HDMI out was neither a deal breaker or maker for me.

Sprint has pushed HARD on the 4G, yet they only cover about 10% of the US population with 4G (Should get a lot bigger once NYC and L.A. launch)

At the end of the day I love my EVO. it has some quirks with it and Android is not fully polished yet (I came from the iPhone OS and I wouldn't go back) I loved the fell and balance of the Nexus One better than with the EVO and even though the Droid Incredible is basically a Nexus One it didn't have the same feel the N1 had. Overall for what you get from the EVO and Sprint the EVO is about the best deal on the planet right now. Samsung Galaxy S Pro looks promising but I am no fan of slide out keyboards (thus the reason I passed on the Moment and Pre)

 

[IIAspire]

we all know who the real winners are.

 

[jhamilton3#CB]

CNET simply as a lot of annoying reviewers.. which is why I don't watch their videos.

 

[hampstenj]

exactly JHamilton24 the only CNET program I watch is Buzz out loud, which ever since Tom Merritt left to join the other team over at twit I haven't even watched that as much. their reviews, for the MOST part if it doesn't have a half eaten fruit on the back "hint hint" it isn't good.

 

[Darth Mo]

My biggest pet peeve is when reviewers don't take the time to learn a device but feel they're qualified to review something.

Like the knucklehead that didn't take 30 seconds to learn the Evo is slide down to unlock. You can't walk up to a smartphone and expect it to work like the one you use every day and give it a negative for it when it's operator error.

Review on the ability for a device to perform, not on your ignorance when it comes to operating it.

 

[Beezzy]

Who cares what Cnet rates it. Do you like your phone? Then eff what some people in Cali say about the phone. The only review that should matter is yours.

 

[jnadelman]

Wait a second. Didn't the Incredible exactly tie the iPhone 3Gs in the last prize fight? If it did, and the Evo just beat the incredible doesn't the Evo beat the iPhone?

 

[bluger]

I don't have an opinion on Cnet's review, or their consistency in applying criteria. I will say, however, that the battery life on the Evo is a problem. I do think that the issue is real and users have a right to complain.
1) Many people are getting reasonable life from their phone by making changes in settings and OS. This is great. But, these solutions require an unrealistic amount of savvy for MOST consumers. HTC/Sprint aren't selling the phones to us tech enthusiasts at the expense of the majority. If you have to either root your phone or conduct research and know about settings to get reasonable battery life from your device, your product has issues. My parents would never be able to use an EVO because to them it's not a computer or a toy, it's something they want to work out of the box.
2) Even with changes (including changing how often you use the phone), getting a day out of a phone is barely reasonable. While it's true that most of us lead lives that give us plenty of opportunities to plug in and charge during the day, people have come to expect more. I think we are setting the bar very low by accepting 13 hours of moderate use to be reasonable. What happens when the batteries are more than 30 days old? This will get worse. At least, unlike apple, we can be trusted to change our own batteries.

Finally, I am NOT comparing my EVO to the iPhone. I think the device is AMAZING for those of us who care about open source, TRUE ownership, and understanding technology. But, we aren't where Sprint/HTC are going to make most of their money. Here's hoping that things get better with FROYO and other developments. Either way, I'm sticking with my EVO and I love it.