EVO Shift 4G first review!

[Droid-One]

those of you who have an Evo with custom ROMs or not-- can you make it through the day (average usage with Sense enabled) without having to charge at work/car mid-day? to me that is the deal breaker between the Evo and the Shift. while it would be easy for me to charge my phone mid-day at work-- id hate to be watching my battery bar on the wknds when im out and about all day/night. the screen size and thiness is great on the Evo- but its not worth it in my book if the battery performance cant keep up.

I get good battery life with my Evo. I am on myn's rom 2.2 and running a Netarchy kernel and I can easily make it through the day. It took a while to find the right kernel, pri, and rom to get these results. I used to be able to see my battery drop and now that doesn't happen. It goes down but nowwhere near what it was stock. Oh and I am using Setcpu overclocked to 1.113mhz and custom profiles. Works great.

I have a question for people getting 4g with the Shift. Are the speeds good. I get 10mb down here in my apartment and wondering about the new radio in the shift. If people are getting better coverage, this may help with 4g speeds to

 

[edgemaster191]

Been looking at the shift and have a few questions


My EVO has constantly been struggling to get more than 5 hours charge with heavy texting and moderate internet use. For those with the Shift just how much better is the battery life so far??

Also I have seen conflicting reports everywhere so I figure for those with the phone how much memory does it have???

Does the phone have 2GB internal memory in addition to the SD memory card or does the phone have 2GB memory total??

Like for example the EVO has a 1GB ROM with an 8GB SD card

Is the Shift a 2GB ROM + SD Card or is it 1GB ROM + 2GB SD card??

Another question is how does the keyboard feel???

I know that both reviewers have said it feels smooth and good but from all the pictures online it looks like cheap and flimsy plastic.

This was the reason I passed on the Epic4g and got an Evo instead. I really wanted the Epic but the phone felt like plastic everytime I went to use the keyboard and felt like it would break.

Does the Shift have a solid build quality to it where it doesnt feel like it will break easily ???


Thanks in advance if any of my questions can be answered. I understand that the phone hasnt been out for a while so it may be hard to answer them.

after only have the phone for about 9 hours, i have to say build quality is decent so far, no play in the slider at all, and is stiff when it's open (no sloppy up and down movement like the epic)

the keys are a little stiff (could just be me, first keyboard iv'e used since my Pre) but not terrible by any stretch.

i would also like to know how the screen is built, is it gorilla glass or something similar? either way it's getting a zagg protector as soon as i get time to buy one.

i would like some clarification on the internal storage as well, phone only had 370mb free out of the box, seems low for 2gb of storage.

i don't think anyone can give an accurate description of battery life quite yet, these batteries usually take a few days to get broken in, and of course being a new toy we tend to play with them a lot more

tomorrow should be a normal day for me, so i can have a better idea of how the battery is going to be but again, probably won't see it's true potential for 5 or 6 days.

 

[StAlphonso]

yea cant comment on battery life yet...keyboard imo feels great...build quality is excellent and does not feel cheap at all like the epic...it is a solid phone...some of the keys seem more backlit than others though for some reason but every key can still be seen so its not really a big deal at all...still wondering if its just my phone or anyone elses too(?).....4g speeds seem to be great, significantly faster than 3g, but ill know more after i do some speed tests...not sure about gorillia glass or anything but the touchscreen is nice and responsive and everything moves so fast (especially coming from a hero...its like going from a pinto to a ferrari!)....ill have an updated review in a few days after i play with it more, figure out the kinda battery life im getting and what little quirks seem to pop up....of course by then well prob have root and testing will have to start all over again ;p

 

[Phone#IM]

Thanks to both you guys for answering my questions

Phone sounds good and ill have to try it out tomorrow but it is looking like a definite go.

 

[edgemaster191]

those of you with an Evo and a Shift...what do you think of the displays? i'm watching video's side by side and can't decide.

they both look great!

the Evo is a little brighter but i can't decide if the Shift has better color...

no complaints with either of them, just wondering what you guys are seeing?

 

[bavery]

Absolutely loving my new Evo Shift! Yeah, there's a few oddities here & there like the placement of the volume control buttons or the microUSB port, but I haven't found anything to really dislike about this phone so far myself. Coming from my rooted 2.2 Hero, this thing absolutely flies! Also, I'm among those that thought the original Evo seemed a bit on the large side, so the size of the Shift feels just right to me.

Regarding not being able to use the enter key to click links within the browser, I think this might be more to do with the behavior of the particular browser itself rather than with the design of the phone. In Opera Mini, the enter key works just like you would expect to allow you to click on a highlighted link, however the D-pad behaves differently than in the stock browser. I love how in the stock browser it functions more like a tab key, allowing you to quickly jump through all the links on a page. In Opera Mini, it just moves the hand cursor around the screen. The way I see it, since a D-pad isn't a standard feature on every Android phone I'm guessing that might have something to do with why the behavior in different browsers isn't standardized either. You would think they would have caught the lack of enter-key function for the stock browser though at least.

Oh, and this is kind of dumb but I absolutely LOVE the proximity/light sensor feature and how it automatically turns the display back on when you pull the phone away from your ear so you can use the key pad. I know this isn't anything new for some of you, but for those of us upgrading from a Hero or other older android phone, this is truly REVOLUTIONARY. I can't count the number of times I have fumbled around with my Hero, trying to get the screen to turn back on in order to navigate through some automated voice prompt system.

 

[Krgdesigns]

I picked up 2 of these last night at Best Buy and so far so good, I had an Evo before and the size was an issue for me and no physical keyboard, but I'm coming from blackberries for 10 years. I like the feel of this phone and it feels nice and solid, the colors are great on the screen and it seems to be fast. The great thing when I walked into best buy because of this forum I knew more then they did and actually was a great experience because I controlled it. And just a tip for anyone that wants to buy from best buy they price match and I did my homework and Target.com has the Shift for $119, so yeah not only did I get it before actual release date but got it for less. Thanks for your help on here and hope this helps some of you as well

 

[krazyfiend]

And just a tip for anyone that wants to buy from best buy they price match and I did my homework and Target.com has the Shift for $119, so yeah not only did I get it before actual release date but got it for less. Thanks for your help on here and hope this helps some of you as well

Maybe I'm overlooking the obvious, but where on Target.com are you seeing that particular listing? Thanks!

Or do you mean 'Wirefly' ?

 

[guitark8]

Target mobile:

HTC EVO Shift 4G for Sprint - Target Mobile

however, i just called best buy to see if they'd match it, but they said only if target has them "in stock." which they don't, because they say sprint phones are only sold online. not sure how krgdesigns got BB to match -- kudos!

 

[Krgdesigns]

Go to target.com then electronics, then mobile phones, then choose to go to their mobile site, then choose phones with contract, then enter your zip code when it asks and then click Sprint then the shift will be one of the options. Hope this helps, I had to walk best buy through this too

 

[Krgdesigns]

Target mobile:

HTC EVO Shift 4G for Sprint - Target Mobile

however, i just called best buy to see if they'd match it, but they said only if target has them "in stock." which they don't, because they say sprint phones are only sold online. not sure how krgdesigns got BB to match -- kudos!

I think it helped that the BB I went to was really clueliss about this phone and I caught them off guard but I think if you talked to a manager at BB they would still probably price match it. Just go when they are about to close and they just want to make the sale and get you out LOL. I hope other people can get the deal thats why I posted is to help others

 

[cafe_civet]

Does the Evo Shift have a notification light? If it does, is it just another two color led or does it offer some flexibility?

I swear, a customizable notification light is the biggest thing I miss about the Blackberry....ok, and the sweet keyboard.

 

[ECHO-313]

Does the Evo Shift have a notification light? If it does, is it just another two color led or does it offer some flexibility?

+1 on this. I really need a notification light. If it's customizable thats a bonus.

 

[StAlphonso]

it does have one but im pretty sure its only a 2 color led

 

[cafe_civet]

it does have one but im pretty sure its only a 2 color led

Hey, it's not like any Android phone has done better (that I know of). Thanks for the confirmation! I'm swapping in my Evo for this on Sunday. The Evo is great, but I seriously miss my keyboard, especially for shortcuts. Love the choice of Android!

 

[reverepats]

ehy im glad to hear everyone is really liking it. I just got back from radio shack and they had a unit and it wasnt turned on....WOW what a difference from my EVO. i have huge hands so im not so sure about this one. i just got my EVO for retail price about 2 weeks ago so i have some time to figure out what i wanna do.....but...enoy everyone...keep this thread going so i can check back and see what new stuff your guys notice

 

[art v]

I'm thinking about returning the Optimus for this.

Can the Shift do wireless access point for free with any of market application?

 

[qfnol31]

I went in yesterday and traded in my old Hero to get the Evo Shift at Radio Shack. So far I have been very impressed! Great improvement from my old Hero (not rooted). What I have noticed so far:

1: The build quality seems about as good as the Hero. While I had my Hero I never had on a screen protector and eventually ditched my case (but left on the tail that came with the case). I dropped and flung the phone multiple times onto very hard surfaces and it stayed in great shape. I hope not to drop this phone, but I feel it could probably take a few hits and I won't have to worry.

2: The screen quality is a wonderful improvement over the Hero. While the viewing angles aren't great (it gets washed out easily when the phone is at an angle), the colors are much richer and brighter, and of course the screen resolution is tremendously better. The screen is very responsive (sometimes overly so, where I can select something without touching the screen directly). I haven't had the phone in the sun yet, but it's been plenty bright so far.

3: HTC Sense has definitely improved over what we had on the Hero. I've been playing with the new features (most of which you are probably familiar with). Unfortunately I haven't been able to get the extra HTC widgets I had on the Hero, particularly the Batter Indicator widget. I relied heavily on it to have an exact percentage and trusted that it wouldn't hurt my battery life at all (I'm not sure about Market alternatives and would love a good suggestion).

4: The processor is incredibly fast. I wondered about it when I read it was only 800 MHz, but I have had no troubles at all. It feels 2-3 times as fast as my old Hero. Also, even though my 3G reception reads as though it's less than the Hero, I have been getting much faster download speeds. I used to use Opera Mini and (mostly because of Froyo) I can load pages on the main browser just as fast, and I have Flash running.

5: The keyboard on here feels good. It would probably help if the keys were a little rounded, but I haven't had any trouble. I have had the issue of bumping the volume button when I close the keyboard, but I've learned how to work around it. I personally like the stiffness of moving the keyboard in and out, but it may not be for everyone.

6: Battery life on here almost rivals my Hero (with 4G turned off anyways). I live just outside 4G coverage right now (but am supposed to get it next month) and have stuck with 3G for now (though I have seen speeds up to 1774 kbps) and so that may skew my battery life some. After a day of moderate to heavy use I am down to about 40% battery life. This is at least as good as I would have had on my Hero at this point, but I suspect some of that is because Froyo handles idle programs better than Eclair. I have my apps updating much more often than I did with my Hero to test out the battery life and have had no troubles so far.

So these are my first impressions after a little more than a day with the device. I am very happy with it and am glad I waited for an HTC android phone with keyboard.

 

[qfnol31]

I forgot 7: Pre-installed apps. The phone definitely has some pre-installed apps thanks to Sprint, but first it is all Google (no Bing, which shouldn't surprise anyone). It's mostly the same stuff that's been there before (Amazon, NASCAR, Quickoffice, Sprint TV, Sprint Zone). Of course you can't get rid of them, but at least the phone has more available memory than the Hero!

 

[gabe2gg]

how is the battery life guys?