iPhone 4 vs Sprint's HTC EVO 4G

I did also want to comment on the 3G coverage of Sprint Vs. AT&T. Sprint does have a much better coverage area as you can see in this map. Verizon does definitely dominate though, as I'm sure you've seen in their commercials.

http://www.cellularmaps.com/3g_compare.shtml

Jennifer,
I actually tried the Evo 4G for a couple weeks and decided to switch back to iPhone / AT&T. Now that I have the iPhone 4, I can honestly say it is the better phone. I was really tempted by the Evo and the Sprint network. Well the grass isn't always greener. There are tests that show that AT&Ts 3G network is actually FASTER than Sprints 4G network. There may be areas where Sprints 4G works super fast, but from people's experience and even tests online this proves otherwise.

Also, the Evo 4G phone appears really cool at first, but as an iPhone user I quickly figured out how buggy and beta-like Android is. Apps crash constantly - also there is a lack of good apps on Android. Another deal-breaker was the Evo 4G's terrible battery life, which in my opinion requires more of a recall than the iPhone 4's supposed hardware issue with signal.

I will echo a lot of Domilab's pro comments on the Evo. The Evo is huge, it's like the hum-vee of phones. Any phone that comes with a kick-stand is too large in my opinion. Apple really does know what they are doing, and the iPhone just feels right in terms of size for the general population.

Also, FaceTime (video chat) on iPhone 4 just works! No setup required, so simple - the Evo 4G, I could never figure out how to get the thing going, and I gave up on having to sign up for Qik or whatever it's called ... it just never worked and seems more like a pain to even set it up.

I tried the task killer apps on Evo, and they didn't help my horrible battery life. I would see my battery drop substantially after one call, ridiculous.

If you're a mac user, you will love the iPhone. It's that simple.

Watch this speed test video where the iPhone 4's 3G signal blows away the Evo on 4G lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4rJgLB5U8A

Read this thread too: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2495296&tstart=0

Message was edited by: fudgebrown

Message was edited by: fudgebrown

At the moment, I would not go for anything '4G' or 'LTE' the people said as being awesome. Despite the abnormal cost in the iPhone carriers you might develop such as $75 for a 5GB tethering runup on a laptop to iPhone plan plus the phone/text cost, the speeds would be better than the Sprint one and has fewer spotty coverages of the 4G network.

4G/WiMax/LTE are still in trial phases running in very few cities. It has not been made nationwide in all prime cities (ex: Washington, DC - The nation's capitol) and the few that do have it (ex: Richmond VA) has sporatic coverage that wouldn't declare it awesome and dare say it worthy of a $109 ($99+$10 4G) plus tax bill.

"Intelligibly"????

LOL. That's scary.

I tried Evo 4G for exactly 15 min after I activated it from Best Buy. The phone would constantly reboot itself and apps were crashing left and right. Camera app crashed within 5 seconds and Internet app also crashed frequently. Finally, the phone asked me to update the software and it just crashed during the s/w update and got bricked. Totally ridiculous! I am sure I just got unlucky with a bad phone, but I swore never to buy another HTC product ever again. The phone went back to Best Buy the next day.

After returning iPhone 4 for the signal drop issues and 4 stuck pixels, I am excited about the new Samsung Captivate Android phone that is coming to AT&T this Sunday. Hopefully I don't get any dead or stuck pixels on the Super AMOLED display.

This will sell you even more...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4rJgLB5U8A

The web page the person loads in the video contains Flash, iPhone 4 doesn't display flash in Safari (just skips loading it), the EVO 4G does support flash -- that's the speed difference. Also that EVO 4G was running Android 2.1 OS, Android 2.2 OS has significant improvements.

I had an iPhone 4 but screen size, dropped calls, poor reception, and slow surfing -- so went back to iPhone 3G OS4 which crippled the performance of my 3G, waited for Apple to come out with a fix, they didn't and no word that they would come out with a fix. I ordered and waited 3 weeks for an EVO 4G. Got my EVO 4G and the display was bad (random scrolling and typing) -- display was replaced within 10 minutes at a Sprint store (purchased phone from BestBuy) and the EVO 4G has been working exceptionally well ever since.

My wife has a Droid X so I have a very good real world experience with iPhone 3G, iPhone 4 (AT&T), EVO 4G (Sprint), and Droid X (Verizon).

_iPhone 4_

Pros
Display is sharper
Audio quality of music is a better
Integrates with my Mac very well

Cons
Dropped calls
Proximity sensor issue
Inconsistent internet browsing performance
Display is too small
Some worky elements to the interface not fully thought out

_EVO 4G_

Pros
Very fast at everything
3G network is very fast (almost as fast as iPhone 4 on a WiFi setup)
Signal strength is much stronger in same areas over iPhone 4
OS/Interface is more intuitive than iPhone 4 (this was a surprise)
Can print to wifi printer
Can manage files and folders
Updates can be done over 3G, don't need to be connected to a computer
4G performance is amazing but still not fully implement in my area
Battery is removable
Memory MicroSD card is upgradable

Cons
Quality control (bad display)
Unable to mark more than one Email as "read" (have to do one at a time)
Headphone output seems a little too flat
Poor battery life (charge it 2-3 times a day if used a lot)

Application support appears to be about the same in both, but I find more "Free" good applications for Android 2.2. Oddly the EVO 4G has no issues playing m4a (DRM or otherwise) files copied from my Mac. Transfering pictures and music was as easy as drag and drop (includes all album images/tag info).

iPhone 4 is not bad, but it misses the mark in a few key areas. I was expecting the EVO 4G to be confusing and frustrating to use, but it actually turned out to be easier to use than the iPhone 4 (from adding contacts to setting up Email accounts to installing/buying applications).

I don't associate myself with Brand Loyalty so I may return to Apple in the future, but Apple will need to produce a phone and offer a network that can go head to head with the competition. Right now they fall short. Either way, I hope all 3 major carriers are kept on their toes -- it drives innovation and keeps the prices down for consumers.

Rob