I have the original EVO 4G, and while it's a nice phone we all know how well the 4G worked out. So one of the major selling points was mostly a useless extra. Unless Sprint announces 4G in my area in a decent amount of time I'm not sure I'll stick with them, even though this seems like a nice replacement for my EVO.
About the only benefit in the forseable future will be if you can roam onto Verizon as part of the "unlimited" plan like you can on 3G now.
Sprint is committed to completing their LTE rollout by the end of 2013, so unless you're in a hard to reach area then you should have access before your contract is over, even if you buy on day one. As far as the original EVO 4G, I still have a soft spot for it, WiMax or no, because they were willing to take a risk and see where it got them. And it was a good phone for the time.
LTE "before contract is over" ha. big selling point there. reminders of all the while having to pay the $10 4G tax every month when there was no 4G. def gonna take the wait and see approach this time.
Same boat as you. I love my original EVO to this day. It's been an immensely capable phone. I am in a current WiMAX area, but I'm not sure if I want to stick with them for another two years if my area doesn't get LTE until more than half way through my contract. Their network is usually serviceable but sometimes the 3G is unbearable. I'm considering getting the One X on AT&T, or waiting for the Galaxy S III.
Why? SLCD isn't inherently inferior in any form except for black levels... And most subjective opinions seem to indicate this display is better than the Galaxy Nexus' own. I'll reserve final judgement until Anandtech's in-depth analysis, but I don't expect the screen to be disappointing in any way. Samsung tends to ship their AMOLED equipped phones with terribly uncalibrated colors anyway...
Frankly, the new EVO's specs make it sound like a near perfect device... Only way it could be any better is if it was a world phone and the battery was removable, but it has a bunch of improvements over the One X while retaining the same dimensions. MicroSD, kickstand, covers button, larger battery... I'm very surprised all that + LTE didn't lead to a chunkier phone (guess we have Krait to thank for that).
Going with a mix of plastic and aluminum construction probably left just a bit more internal room than the One X's polycarb unibody (which I assume is thicker than aluminum).
Meant camera button, not covers button... I'm surprised that didn't get more press btw... I believe I read on an Engadget article that it even lets you bring up the camera while the phone is locked, much like WP7 devices (and unlike the EVO 3D and it's much advertised dual stage camera button).
Have any Android phones ever had a camera button with that ability? I guess it's less noteworthy now that even stock ICS has a lockscreen camera shortcut, but it still seems really neat.
..not that bad, really :) For all of amoled's positive press, I bet 8 out of 10 unprejudiced viewers will pick the substantially brighter, more colorful SLCD screens, even against non-pentile amoled (which aren't available in HD res yet).
All the ones I've seen are oversaturated and have too high of a color temperature, i.e. too blue. Less hassle of making everything dark to conserve battery too.
Stop making so many phones. Jesus christ. Put the docking connector on this, the EVO 4G LTE, and get rid of the One X. This is better, as it is has: microSD port, larger battery, Krait, and even a kickstand.
Will this phone or others powered by the S4 chip be compatible with Canadian LTE networks? The Rezound was a Verizon only phone, yet it is now known to work on every network, same idea with the Amaze 4G, does this next generation of SoC also include capabilities not openly advertised?
The only LTE network it probably does not like is the Australian LTE. The Krait is going to be the king of cellphone chips for 2012 until possibly the end of 2013. It seems to be sipping very little power due to its power management cores in the chip. A sure winner for smartphones and tablets alike. I would like to see it scale to 2.6Ghz.
I'm all for slim phones, but I can't ever imagine buying one where I can't replace the battery. I would gladly trade a slightly thicker phone for the ability to change/replace the battery.
Agreed. I bought spare batteries for my EVO 4G and although I rarely have the need, it's nice to be able to swap out and be charged up and ready to go. Also, I prefer the SD card to be safely stowed away inside the phone, although ideally not to the point the battery has to be removed to get to it, but I realize that might be asking too much. Also, why do phone manufacturer's keep thinking that the side of the phone is a good location for the charging port??
TBH, I don't know if I'll ever buy another HTC phone again after my experiences with the Hero and the EVO 4G. This company has shown very clearly that they couldn't care less about the consumer post-purchase, and they don't stand behind their products and ditch support for them very quickly, so they can create and sell 20 new models.
I know you're not going to get any concept of its battery life in a limited hands-on session, but I'm curious how good/bad it will be with this phone. I gave up on my EVO 4G because of its absolutely awful battery life -- even with the 4G radio always off. That seems to be a recurring problem with Android phones; as much as I love them in theory, I need a phone that can last a whole day without having to top off the battery.
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dagamer34 - Wednesday, April 4, 2012 - link
Sprint will be launching it's LTE network within 6 weeks in Houston. Link: http://blog.chron.com/techblog/2012/04/sprint-will...RaistlinZ - Wednesday, April 4, 2012 - link
Any word on stock RAM, battery size, SD slot, etc? I was waiting for the One XL, but might go with this if it's a better option.shabby - Wednesday, April 4, 2012 - link
1gb ram, 2000mah battery, 16gb onboard + sdslotRaistlinZ - Wednesday, April 4, 2012 - link
Sweet. This will likely be my next phone then. :)apinkel - Wednesday, April 4, 2012 - link
Same here... specs are better than I expected. I prefer the looks of the One X/S phones... but not enough that it will prevent me from getting this.djc208 - Wednesday, April 4, 2012 - link
I have the original EVO 4G, and while it's a nice phone we all know how well the 4G worked out. So one of the major selling points was mostly a useless extra. Unless Sprint announces 4G in my area in a decent amount of time I'm not sure I'll stick with them, even though this seems like a nice replacement for my EVO.About the only benefit in the forseable future will be if you can roam onto Verizon as part of the "unlimited" plan like you can on 3G now.
JasonInofuentes - Wednesday, April 4, 2012 - link
Sprint is committed to completing their LTE rollout by the end of 2013, so unless you're in a hard to reach area then you should have access before your contract is over, even if you buy on day one. As far as the original EVO 4G, I still have a soft spot for it, WiMax or no, because they were willing to take a risk and see where it got them. And it was a good phone for the time.darckhart - Thursday, April 5, 2012 - link
LTE "before contract is over" ha. big selling point there. reminders of all the while having to pay the $10 4G tax every month when there was no 4G. def gonna take the wait and see approach this time.antef - Thursday, April 5, 2012 - link
Same boat as you. I love my original EVO to this day. It's been an immensely capable phone. I am in a current WiMAX area, but I'm not sure if I want to stick with them for another two years if my area doesn't get LTE until more than half way through my contract. Their network is usually serviceable but sometimes the 3G is unbearable. I'm considering getting the One X on AT&T, or waiting for the Galaxy S III.jigglywiggly - Wednesday, April 4, 2012 - link
no amoled is ; /Impulses - Thursday, April 5, 2012 - link
Why? SLCD isn't inherently inferior in any form except for black levels... And most subjective opinions seem to indicate this display is better than the Galaxy Nexus' own. I'll reserve final judgement until Anandtech's in-depth analysis, but I don't expect the screen to be disappointing in any way. Samsung tends to ship their AMOLED equipped phones with terribly uncalibrated colors anyway...Frankly, the new EVO's specs make it sound like a near perfect device... Only way it could be any better is if it was a world phone and the battery was removable, but it has a bunch of improvements over the One X while retaining the same dimensions. MicroSD, kickstand, covers button, larger battery... I'm very surprised all that + LTE didn't lead to a chunkier phone (guess we have Krait to thank for that).
Going with a mix of plastic and aluminum construction probably left just a bit more internal room than the One X's polycarb unibody (which I assume is thicker than aluminum).
Impulses - Thursday, April 5, 2012 - link
Meant camera button, not covers button... I'm surprised that didn't get more press btw... I believe I read on an Engadget article that it even lets you bring up the camera while the phone is locked, much like WP7 devices (and unlike the EVO 3D and it's much advertised dual stage camera button).Have any Android phones ever had a camera button with that ability? I guess it's less noteworthy now that even stock ICS has a lockscreen camera shortcut, but it still seems really neat.
Beerfloat - Thursday, April 5, 2012 - link
..not that bad, really :)For all of amoled's positive press, I bet 8 out of 10 unprejudiced viewers will pick the substantially brighter, more colorful SLCD screens, even against non-pentile amoled (which aren't available in HD res yet).
Reikon - Thursday, April 5, 2012 - link
No AMOLED is :)All the ones I've seen are oversaturated and have too high of a color temperature, i.e. too blue. Less hassle of making everything dark to conserve battery too.
piroroadkill - Thursday, April 5, 2012 - link
Stop making so many phones. Jesus christ. Put the docking connector on this, the EVO 4G LTE, and get rid of the One X. This is better, as it is has: microSD port, larger battery, Krait, and even a kickstand.ggg777 - Thursday, April 5, 2012 - link
Will this phone or others powered by the S4 chip be compatible with Canadian LTE networks? The Rezound was a Verizon only phone, yet it is now known to work on every network, same idea with the Amaze 4G, does this next generation of SoC also include capabilities not openly advertised?fteoath64 - Thursday, April 5, 2012 - link
The only LTE network it probably does not like is the Australian LTE. The Krait is going to be the king of cellphone chips for 2012 until possibly the end of 2013. It seems to be sipping very little power due to its power management cores in the chip. A sure winner for smartphones and tablets alike. I would like to see it scale to 2.6Ghz.NeoteriX - Thursday, April 5, 2012 - link
So is the camera button single stage or dual stage?Impulses - Thursday, April 5, 2012 - link
Dual according to engadget.s1175290 - Thursday, April 5, 2012 - link
They had me until:"The battery is inaccessible"
I'm all for slim phones, but I can't ever imagine buying one where I can't replace the battery. I would gladly trade a slightly thicker phone for the ability to change/replace the battery.
vertigo_2_20 - Thursday, April 19, 2012 - link
Agreed. I bought spare batteries for my EVO 4G and although I rarely have the need, it's nice to be able to swap out and be charged up and ready to go. Also, I prefer the SD card to be safely stowed away inside the phone, although ideally not to the point the battery has to be removed to get to it, but I realize that might be asking too much. Also, why do phone manufacturer's keep thinking that the side of the phone is a good location for the charging port??TBH, I don't know if I'll ever buy another HTC phone again after my experiences with the Hero and the EVO 4G. This company has shown very clearly that they couldn't care less about the consumer post-purchase, and they don't stand behind their products and ditch support for them very quickly, so they can create and sell 20 new models.
ChoadNamath - Thursday, April 12, 2012 - link
I know you're not going to get any concept of its battery life in a limited hands-on session, but I'm curious how good/bad it will be with this phone. I gave up on my EVO 4G because of its absolutely awful battery life -- even with the 4G radio always off. That seems to be a recurring problem with Android phones; as much as I love them in theory, I need a phone that can last a whole day without having to top off the battery.