Post Review Slams EVO4G, Compares INC

[Groucho]

Wow. I was really surprised that Rob Pegarora the Consumer Techie at the Washington Post buried the EVO4G. His INC review a month ago was a Rave which also surprised me as he is usually hyper critical. Mostly he decried the battery life which he said did not match the claim and was much worse than the INC. He of course blasted Sprints coverage in the DC Metro which is true, said the claimed download speeds were not attainable and not much better than the INC. No optical or track ball makes web site navigation difficult (funny, I never use mine) but like the kick stand. Spent half the review warning users about the "real" monthly costs Sprint will charge to enjoy the full features of the phone.

First mostly bad review I have seen, but this guy has no ties to any manufacturers or carriers and the Post, if nothing else, has journalistic integrity when it comes to interaction with commercial entities.

 

[doctorg23]

Pretty surprising. People I know with the Evo love it so far.

 

[howarmat]

i am interested in seeing INC owners that have had the phone since launch compare the 2 phones. to me i cant see it being hugely better if at all over the INC unless you want the bigger screen. I know i dont.

 

[Groucho]

Pretty surprising. People I know with the Evo love it so far.

I am sure, just like the first couple of days after INC release it was a "love fest". The fact of the matter is the expectations grow after the initial thrill of the "new car smell" starts to wear off. The reality is that for the vast majority both the INC and EVO will be the most advanced phones they have ever used and they will be happy because they will never push the phone to its limits. They are also not on this or any other forum unless they have a problem and then the huge majority will still simply go back to the store or call support for help. They will do a factory re-set or actually learn how to do something and they will go along their merry way making their calls, reading their email and sending a billion texts. They will install apps that do shopping lists, keep checkbooks and play games. They will be happy campers who will do it all over again when they have another upgrade. AC regulars on the other hand do push their devices for the sake of pushing them and we know just enough or too much to wonder why it isn't always the way it should be. We do more than "normal tasks". We find apps that will improve performance or drool at the thought of ROOT and what the phone will really do then. That's called being a "hobbyist" and there isn't anything wrong with it you just have to consider the source.

 

[Groucho]

i am interested in seeing INC owners that have had the phone since launch compare the 2 phones. to me i cant see it being hugely better if at all over the INC unless you want the bigger screen. I know i dont.

Couldn't agree more. As you well know once the Storm 1 got to 5.0 (4.8 really) all but the hardcore haters were relatively satisfied. The 2 was an improvement but I do not think it made all that much difference to Storm 1 owners who were had stuck it out. You can answer that better than I because I passed on the 2 because i just couldn't deal with the internet speed or lack there of anymore. After experiencing Android and the INC I can't see ever going back to BB but who knows RIM could surprise everyone with a new OS.

It will be interesting to check out the EVO forum once the new users settle in.

 

[Cory Streater]

I have both devices. The downsides of the EVO vs. the Incredible IMHO:

* Resolution makes the screen look less crisp & thing look stretched compared to the Incredible.
* Speed - the Incredible is much faster due to it's processor not being underclocked.
* Size - there's a tradeoff here: the big screen is nice to look at and obviously provides a great amount of real estate for web pages and other apps, but the Incredible is a lot more pocket and hand friendly. The EVO is just huge, but that's one of it's "features". It looks a little silly walking in public texting on this thing. I feel like people are staring at me haha.
* The Incredible has a built in 8GB storage card in addition to the SD card slot.
* The WiFi radio doesn't pick up a very good signal compared to the Incredible. They probably underpowered it to save on battery life.

Other than those things, it's the same phone. The reviewer above probably had the 4G radio turned on the entire time. I chewed up my battery in less than 3 hours by leaving this & the GPS radio on. Service on Sprint has improved and is actually better than Verizon here in Seattle, in my testing of dBm across different areas of the city. My friend and I ate out this morning in downtown Seattle. His iPhone had no service, the Incredible was reading -91, and the EVO was reading -85. That was only one of several tests we did. They (Sprint) also appear to have fixed their text messaging issues.

Bottom line: if you have an Incredible, don't feel bad that you don't have an EVO. If you have an EVO you should be ecstatic as well. They are both great, but I do wish they hadn't underclocked it. I can see why they did though. Remember how much complaining us Incredible owners did when we realized battery life was subpar? One of the few choices HTC had was to underclock the EVO if they wanted to avoid a similar protests.

 

[doctorg23]

Great summary Cory.

 

[tourboy]

Very interesting; wonder how the EVO4 will compare with the Droid Xtreme (Shadow)?

I have both devices. The downsides of the EVO vs. the Incredible IMHO:

* Resolution makes the screen look less crisp & thing look stretched compared to the Incredible.
* Speed - the Incredible is much faster due to it's processor not being underclocked.
* Size - there's a tradeoff here: the big screen is nice to look at and obviously provides a great amount of real estate for web pages and other apps, but the Incredible is a lot more pocket and hand friendly. The EVO is just huge, but that's one of it's "features". It looks a little silly walking in public texting on this thing. I feel like people are staring at me haha.
* The Incredible has a built in 8GB storage card in addition to the SD card slot.
* The WiFi radio doesn't pick up a very good signal compared to the Incredible. They probably underpowered it to save on battery life.

Other than those things, it's the same phone. The reviewer above probably had the 4G radio turned on the entire time. I chewed up my battery in less than 3 hours by leaving this & the GPS radio on. Service on Sprint has improved and is actually better than Verizon here in Seattle, in my testing of dBm across different areas of the city. My friend and I ate out this morning in downtown Seattle. His iPhone had no service, the Incredible was reading -91, and the EVO was reading -85. That was only one of several tests we did. They (Sprint) also appear to have fixed their text messaging issues.

Bottom line: if you have an Incredible, don't feel bad that you don't have an EVO. If you have an EVO you should be ecstatic as well. They are both great, but I do wish they hadn't underclocked it. I can see why they did though. Remember how much complaining us Incredible owners did when we realized battery life was subpar? One of the few choices HTC had was to underclock the EVO if they wanted to avoid a similar protests.

 

[Cory Streater]

Here's a size comparison. I don't think the pictures do either justice in regards to their respective sizes.

 

[howarmat]

I think Cory illustrated the exact points of why i dont like the EVO. HTC kinda messed up with the phone IMO. it really has a ton of potentional but they slacked off almost with the key aspects of the diffferences in the 2 phones

 

[tourboy]

So will the Droid Xtreme be about the same size as the EVO4?

I think Cory illustrated the exact points of why i dont like the EVO. HTC kinda messed up with the phone IMO. it really has a ton of potentional but they slacked off almost with the key aspects of the diffferences in the 2 phones

 

[wesrodz]

I played with one yesterday, and while I *liked* it, I wasn't all that impressed. I thought the screen wasn't as sharp as the Incredible, and the colors were waaay washed out...not because it wasn't an AMOLED screen, but because I think the quality was just inferior. I compared it to a blackberry and an iPod Touch, and the screen colors just suck.

Cons:

• It felt slightly slower than the Inc.
• Inferior screen colors. I found it to be too blue. Almost as if it's calibrated to native Adobe RGB.
• The volume buttons are on the wrong side of the phone!
• The power sleep/wake button is laughably small.
• No trackpad! I actually use mine.

Pros:

• It didn't feel huge.
• Kickstand!!!
• The battery door felt of higher quality than the Inc.
• Portrait keyboard is MUCH easier to type on. I find myself continuously tapping the . key instead of spacebar on my Incredible. my.sentences.look.like.this.
• Good sound quality.
• Virtual shutter button. Please port this over to the Incredible!

 

[StayFly]

I'm glad i stayed with verizon they have always been good to me and their even giving me the extended battery for free when it comes out from htc. I almost felt like i was missing something when i decided not to get the evo but after cory's comparison I'm good with my decision.

 

[drewsg]

I have both devices. The downsides of the EVO vs. the Incredible IMHO:

* Resolution makes the screen look less crisp & thing look stretched compared to the Incredible.
* Speed - the Incredible is much faster due to it's processor not being underclocked.
* Size - there's a tradeoff here: the big screen is nice to look at and obviously provides a great amount of real estate for web pages and other apps, but the Incredible is a lot more pocket and hand friendly. The EVO is just huge, but that's one of it's "features". It looks a little silly walking in public texting on this thing. I feel like people are staring at me haha.
* The Incredible has a built in 8GB storage card in addition to the SD card slot.
* The WiFi radio doesn't pick up a very good signal compared to the Incredible. They probably underpowered it to save on battery life.

Other than those things, it's the same phone. The reviewer above probably had the 4G radio turned on the entire time. I chewed up my battery in less than 3 hours by leaving this & the GPS radio on. Service on Sprint has improved and is actually better than Verizon here in Seattle, in my testing of dBm across different areas of the city. My friend and I ate out this morning in downtown Seattle. His iPhone had no service, the Incredible was reading -91, and the EVO was reading -85. That was only one of several tests we did. They (Sprint) also appear to have fixed their text messaging issues.

Bottom line: if you have an Incredible, don't feel bad that you don't have an EVO. If you have an EVO you should be ecstatic as well. They are both great, but I do wish they hadn't underclocked it. I can see why they did though. Remember how much complaining us Incredible owners did when we realized battery life was subpar? One of the few choices HTC had was to underclock the EVO if they wanted to avoid a similar protests.

What are your sources that say the EVO is underclocked? I thought it was the Incredible that was down clocked to 768Mhz?

 

[kareden]

I almost succumbed to phone envy, but between the Post review and the nickel & diming both Sprint & AT &T are doing on data, I am happy just being " incredible."

IMHO, it's not the specs of the Evo 4g or the iPhone 4 that cause irresistible phone lust; it's the rumored upcoming Droid Scorpion...

 

[vdelvec]

I use the optical trackpad on my INC all the time for cutting and pasting text. It works wonders. The EVO looks nice but the (lack of a) trackpad is actually a dealbreaker for me. That and there's no 4G coverage in New York or Long Island just yet.

So I returned my EVO 4G and I'm happy with my Inc.

 

[Cory Streater]

What are your sources that say the EVO is underclocked? I thought it was the Incredible that was down clocked to 768Mhz?

Actually I was going off of what another Android user had told me, but I just downloaded the Device Information App in the Market and both the EVO and the Incredible are running at 998 MhZ according to that program. So I apologize for my first post above.

 

[tourboy]

So how does the Incredible stack up against the Droid Xtreme (Shadow)? Any of the same issues as the EVO4?

 

[jason821]

I'm glad I didn't get the evo. I checked it out at sprint yesterday and noticed lots of lag. It is far from incredible. I just hope Verizon gets something with a screen that size. only thing I really liked about it.

 

[trock70]

I am sure, just like the first couple of days after INC release it was a "love fest". The fact of the matter is the expectations grow after the initial thrill of the "new car smell" starts to wear off. The reality is that for the vast majority both the INC and EVO will be the most advanced phones they have ever used and they will be happy because they will never push the phone to its limits. They are also not on this or any other forum unless they have a problem and then the huge majority will still simply go back to the store or call support for help. They will do a factory re-set or actually learn how to do something and they will go along their merry way making their calls, reading their email and sending a billion texts. They will install apps that do shopping lists, keep checkbooks and play games. They will be happy campers who will do it all over again when they have another upgrade. AC regulars on the other hand do push their devices for the sake of pushing them and we know just enough or too much to wonder why it isn't always the way it should be. We do more than "normal tasks". We find apps that will improve performance or drool at the thought of ROOT and what the phone will really do then. That's called being a "hobbyist" and there isn't anything wrong with it you just have to consider the source.

Dude, couldn't have said it better myself. Right on!