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HTC EVO 4G LTE (Evo One)
9.0
final rating

reviewed on
this review has been viewed 301 times

Criteria Comments Rating
  • Reception and call quality Other than a couple hiccups I have had no issues with connecting to the network or dropping voice or data calls once connected. good
  • Display Makes me wonder how screens can get better than this... great!
  • Battery life Much better than the OG EVO and the other variants. I have Wifi and GPS, constantly on, with social media and exchange email on push. Can get full day in easy. good
  • Camera awesomeness is what comes to mind. the trigger function and "select best pic" feature make this stand out from the rest of on boards cameras currently out there great!
  • Ease of use Other than HTC hiding some of the power options (looking at you "kill data connection when screen off" function) this is a normal HTC easy as pie to figure out. good
  • Design and form factor To me this is better than an iPhone due to the screen size, better than the other One variants due to the SD slot. Light and durable. great!
  • Portability (size / weight) Almost to light! fell out of the pocket of some gyms shorts and I did didn't notice tell it hit the ground. Sits well in hand, but could be hard for small hands good
  • Media support Functions as would be expected in this arena. Processor kicks butt on video and gaming, putting that screen to good use. Beats audio is slightly better in sound so-so
  • Durability Already dropped it numerous times with little wear to show. The aluminum backing is solid, only the plastic NFC cover has shown major scratches good
  • Ecosystem (apps, accessories, etc.) It lives on the android platform so it has, in my opinion, the best app land available. Accessories wise, i would prefer a wider range of cases to choose from. great!
Detailed review
I can only say that I hope that soon the one reason that should hold this phone out of your purchasing decisions will soon be remedied, at least in some markets.

That reason is of course the current state of Sprints network. It is mostly horrid everywhere you can access it. In most locations 3g speeds aren't what a person 5 years ago would have accepted as 3G.

But, Sprint is working on their new Network Vision - a plan to rip and replace their current archaic infrastructure with new age multi-modal equipment that will give consumers LTE access along with upgrades in 3G services.

Once this network is complete, I cannot imagine a better phone being available. This device feels like what a smartphone should feel like to me:
  • Light but sturdy - many drops already and no functionality defects incurred as a result. Screen is still scratch free
  • Processing power that creates little to no lag in application changes, video and gaming (NBA JAM on it is amazingly crisp in visual and functional aspects)
  • The size is at the limit of what I want for a device that I also sometimes hold to my ear. When using only one hand I have to make a bit more effort than I like to reach the menu soft button when it is in the upper right of the portrait orientation (Dolphin has it at the bottom, why can't you Chrome?) Any bigger and you might as well just use a tablet.
  • Bloatware was thankfully minimal.
  • Rooting, with the HTCdev site, was easy and should still allow for OTA updates that don't require a wipe (you hear that, Jelly Bean?)
  • The camera is amazing, with the trigger function taking up to 99 consecutive photos when the button is held down. I used this feature at a fireworks display last night. Wow.
  • The allotment of internal storage to 16 GB is good, along with the SD slot that may or may not support up to 64 GB cards.
  • The Beats Audio function seems to make the sound only a fraction better, more of an increase in volume than in real clarity, but this is on the internal speaker and non Beats earbuds, so maybe if you paired the phone with Beats gear it would be more effective.
For my money this phone is worth buying now, without any LTE or 3G upgrades in place, due to what is packed into it. Don't discount the device based on the network in which it lives, it couldn't choose it's home...