Photo: Sprint
We've gotten our hands on a press sample of Sprint’s HTC Evo 4G, the world’s first phone to run on an ultra-fast 4G network—and we’re generally impressed. And that’s in spite of not being able yet to test the phone on that new network.
Sprint’s 4G network is in only a few dozen markets, not including New York, so it’ll be later this week, after a road trip to Philadelphia, before I can provide first impressions of just how fast the Evo is when running on a 4G signal. Even then, I won’t be able to report on such highly anticipated features of the phone as video chat and Hotspot, since those will launch closer to the Evo's official June 4 launch date.
Fortunately, there’s plenty to be impressed with on the phone, regardless of its network. Here’s a quick rundown of some highlights, based on tests on a 3G network:
Fast, fast, fast. I didn't have a stopwatch on me, but the Snapdragon-powered Evo's is easily one of the fastest phones I've ever handled, independent of its network. Moving between apps is almost instantaneous. And running a multitude of apps didn't seem to slow the phone down perceptibly.
Video streaming. The Evo supports Flash Lite 4, the mobile version of the Flash video format that’s everywhere on the Web. So unlike many other smart phones, including (controversially) Apple’s iPhone, you can view many Web videos via the phone's browser instead of having to launch a separate app for the Web site. While that’s convenient, videos didn’t look any better or load faster than via apps. Also, not every Flash video could be played via the Evo’s browser. I couldn’t play some videos on Youtube (I got a "Not available on Mobile" message), including one for Salt-N-Pepa's Shoop. Nor could I get the phone to work at all on Hulu, a popular site that serves up a potpourri of TV shows and movies.
Display. Once you've read text on the Evo's gargantuan 4.3-in. WVGA (800x480) screen, it almost spoils it for any other phone's display. The tiniest text appears quite sharp, and, given all that extra screen, you don't have to zoom in on pages as much you do on phones with smaller screens. The Evo display does appear slightly brighter than the one on the HTC HD2, another high-scoring phone in our Ratings of smart phones, available to subscribers, that also has a 4.3-in display. However, Evo's screen was still a bit of a challenge to see in daylight.
More to come.
—Mike Gikas
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