Evo getting bad reviews so far?

[travisr528]

Amen to that.. And you get 4g in Austin. I am buying it in 3G New Orleans that will likely still be 3g until 2012 when the world ends haha

I would have bought this phone 4G or not to be honest. I have dedicated too much time drooling over this phone not to get itl LOL

 

[Bnice]

"Data speeds i got in my tests weren’t spectacular, or anywhere close to the typical maximum sprint claims, even in baltimore, where the company’s 4g network is mature. And, when using 4g, the evo’s battery runs down alarmingly fast. In my tests, it didn’t last through a full day with 4g turned on. The carrier, in fact, is thinking of advising users to turn off the 4g network access when they don’t think they need it, to save battery life. This undercuts the whole idea of faster cellular speeds."

Article:
sprint 4g phone hits new speeds, but battery lags | walt mossberg | personal technology | allthingsd

So I guess the hype is over - are you guys switching to Verizon now that the luster is gone and the phone isn't living up to it's name? It was also reviewed to be slower than the Incredible.

Well Mr Mossberg is Steve Job buddy and if you ever read his reviews if its not a apple product don't expect anything positive.

 

[sikclown]

The other thing to remember about reviews are that they are that one persons opinion. Complain about the keyboard... that is fine I have a Hero and I love the keyboard so the EVO keyboard will be even better for me. So on and so forth... Like I for one am not an iPhone fan. I think it is a revolutionary product and the phone all try to beat but it just isn't for me. So if I reviewed the iPhone in this example it would be biased because I don't like it and would never buy it. I think it would be interesting for all the reviewers to state what their phone of preference is so that we the reader have a better view of where they are coming from.

 

[evotitans]

I take reviews as a grain of salt....it doesnt matter who it is, it will be a biased opinion.

For one, if the reviewer doesnt like Android, they wont like the phone for that. Some need physical keyboards, so add that in too. It is all personal opinion.

And as far as battery goes, its a smartphone, one that is unparraled right now...so a days use is expected(If you thought it would last longer, you were mistaken). Plus all these reviewers had to test the hotspot....so naturally they should have expected the battery to run down.

If it lasts for about 12 hours on 4G, that sounds great to me.

 

[sikclown]

I take reviews as a grain of salt....it doesnt matter who it is, it will be a biased opinion.

For one, if the reviewer doesnt like Android, they wont like the phone for that. Some need physical keyboards, so add that in too. It is all personal opinion.

And as far as battery goes, its a smartphone, one that is unparraled right now...so a days use is expected(If you thought it would last longer, you were mistaken). Plus all these reviewers had to test the hotspot....so naturally they should have expected the battery to run down.

If it lasts for about 12 hours on 4G, that sounds great to me.

Yup.. I really don't get what people expect out of batteries. I can understand if you are only getting like 3 hours out of it but a full day with a device that does all of this, to me, is amazing. Hell for me if I get through my 9 hour work day I am ok

 

[JustFrozen]

No gadget is going to be perfect. We knew there were some not-so-great things about the design going into this (like the sd card slot placement), and we're learning some new not-so-great things about the device such as the light leakage; however, hearing that all the long list of features work great is awesome. It's a huge relief knowing the camera isn't crap, doesn't have shutter lag, etc and the same thing can be said for everything else this beast is packing. It seems the tech blogs love the device, so I wouldn't say it's getting bad reviews at all

 

[eieio]

"Data speeds i got in my tests weren

 

[Synthetickiller]

You're always going to get some reviews that are bad despite a product being excellent. Cellular service can be hit or miss and one person in New York saying Sprints service is bad does not mean the same service is poor in Chicago, Houston, San Diego, etc....

 

[d33170]

The most important review to me is myself. Like everyone says, it will be a biased opinion. And plus if you don't like the phone, just return it. You’ll have 30 days to decide. But I’m quite confident to say very little would want to return this bad boy.

 

[BetterMost]

narrow ass screen that reminds me of a king size snickers bar, pointless optical joystick, no thanks.

and it'll be at least as fast as the incredible, and faster on 4G. take that to the bank.

Yep, I agree.

 

[rushmore]

I'm not buying the phone for 4G anyways (Since there isn't 4G in my area, and isn't listed to be in my area this year).

I'm buying the phone for everything else!

Then expect to pay a $10 premium for 4G anyways. Not being smart about it, just pointing out that all EVO buyers must pay a $10 premium for 4G, though a small fraction will be able to use it every day. I guess Sprint went to the liberal school of wealth redistribution

A common theme of most reviews so far, for which $10 more a month must be paid:

4G isn't ready for America. The network only covers a few dozen cities; I had to travel 100 miles from my house to use it. In Philadelphia's city center, I had periodic 4G dropouts, and Sprint execs have publicly disparaged the quality of Clearwire's WiMAX buildout here. I've had very inconsistent experiences in other cities, as well. In Las Vegas, for instance, I've seen speeds of 8 megabits down in a residential part of town, but no coverage in major Strip hotels.

As a result, the device is not really $200 unless you can use 4G. If not, you are really paying $440 for the device over two years, considering no 4G for that period of time.

 

[evotitans]

Yup.. I really don't get what people expect out of batteries. I can understand if you are only getting like 3 hours out of it but a full day with a device that does all of this, to me, is amazing. Hell for me if I get through my 9 hour work day I am ok

Thats all i really need is for it to get thru the work day.....and even with that, I have a USB cable for charging with my laptop here any way, so its not an issue.

Until they change technology for batteries, we will not be having smartphones that will last days with no charge and heavy use.

 

[bunnymud]

Move along folks....just a hit and run

 

[steveholtam]

Walt Mossberg is known to be in Apple's back-pocket, so if the device does not have a picture of an apple on it, he will not like it. The guy is a joke. Apple always gives him first review options on all their new phones, so he dares not do any harm to his buddy Steve Jobs by recommending another device.

 

[clambert1273]

Then expect to pay a $10 premium for 4G anyways. Not being smart about it, just pointing out that all EVO buyers must pay a $10 premium for 4G, though a small fraction will be able to use it every day. I guess Sprint went to the liberal school of wealth redistribution

A common theme of most reviews so far, for which $10 more a month must be paid:

4G isn't ready for America. The network only covers a few dozen cities; I had to travel 100 miles from my house to use it. In Philadelphia's city center, I had periodic 4G dropouts, and Sprint execs have publicly disparaged the quality of Clearwire's WiMAX buildout here. I've had very inconsistent experiences in other cities, as well. In Las Vegas, for instance, I've seen speeds of 8 megabits down in a residential part of town, but no coverage in major Strip hotels.

As a result, the device is not really $200 unless you can use 4G. If not, you are really paying $440 for the device over two years, considering no 4G for that period of time.

that line of thinking would work IF you were paying the $10.00 for 4G which is not... that has been run through the mill...

 

[BoScO999]

I don't care about the review's. I am buying the phone regardless.

Couldn't agree more, user experience will always be different for everyone, it all boils down to how we individually use the phone.

 

[pelebkf]

I normally trust c-nets reviews and the only major negatives were:
1. The 4g network (which is new and growing and will get better in the future)
2. The 10.00 fee (which is a negative). I sure hope that Dan reads this review and reconsiders on the fee.

 

[reallynotnick]

I normally trust c-nets reviews and the only major negatives were:
1. The 4g network (which is new and growing and will get better in the future)
2. The 10.00 fee (which is a negative). I sure hope that Dan reads this review and reconsiders on the fee.

This seems to be the two big complaints, which actually don't work together well. If I am going to be paying more money I sure as hell would hope 4G would be stellar but it just seems pretty lack luster as building penetration isn't all that great.

I'm still a little hesitant to buy because of this, if they dropped the $10 fee I would buy one in a heart beat.

 

[RiverOfIce]

about this.
HTC EVO 4G (Sprint) - Full Review - Reviews by PC Magazine

Quote:
Originally Posted by pcmag
The EVO is a 4G phone, but it can't (yet) make phone calls over 4G. Call quality on this phone with Sprint's 3G CDMA network isn't that great, either. The sharp top edge of the phone wasn't very comfortable against my ear, and calls sounded rough and harsh as well. It's loud, but not clear. The speakerphone is loud but sound is somewhat thready and hollow.


Pcmag reviews mentions call quality.

Let me take care of that right now.

Voice calls are possible over 3g, video chat is possible over 4g.

Any review that says that something is thready and hollow is trolling.

Thready sounding thin, weak, or reedy.

Hollow as if resounding in a hollow place.

Sound of a hollow place is one that is loud, sharp, reverberant, and open.

So the sound of the phone was thin, weak, reedy, loud, sharp, reverberant and open. Troll.

 

[twospirits]

I can see it already. There are some very defensive, upset, and irate VZW/Incredible owners. Defensive about how the Incredible compares, upset that they still have to live with less phone for the $, and irate that they're going to be paying a lot more for data on their network and device.

I'm all for people liking and speaking about the merits of what they have, but I don't see why there's any logical argument behind what clearly is a better phone.

Only way to actually settle this would be to ask Peter Chou which phone and which phone + network is better. He can't reply publicly for business reasons, but I bet if he had to own one we all know which one it would be!

lol True. Besides that, what phone did they give out in the Google I/O today, was it the Incredible or the Droid, or the Nexus 1 or the EVO.
<que jeopardy music now>

<stop jeopardy music now>

yes it was the EVO 4G. If Google feels it was the best phone to give out in the conference, what does that tell ya. So whatever that Incredible owner writer feels like writing, the fats are the facts. The EVO is a much better phone even without 4G. Super with 2.2 Froyo and pardon the pun but Incredibly super with 4G.

As for the hotspot, you hit it spot on. Whether I will be using the EVO 4G hotspot in the car while driving or stationary, I will most likely have it plugged in. Otherwise it will be foolish to think the battery will last long.

Bottom line is, I as an individual with be getting the EVO. We ahve 30 days to try it out, if it does not live up to expectations then i get my money back. But i am not going to listen to a writer that is bias from the get go.

TS

 

[Sherman901]

Looks at thread starter's device and read that is says Incredible. Go away troll.

Android users cannibalizing each other... what the hell? Who cares which device people are using....

 

[ZombieRace]

Can't we all just get along?

 

[jamor]

I like HTC and Android and Google so I would be very happy if the Evo turned out to be a fantastic device - and that is my hope. That would just mean more promise for future HTC devices on both Sprint and Verizon which is good for all consumers. I leave T-Mobile out of it because they don't deserve mention. I've had them in 2 states and it's garbage.

I suppose the size factor is a moot point because that is very subjective. Some people have purses and stuff so they can have a huge phone to carry around.

It just seems like Sprint jumped the gun - based on reviews the battery just cannot handle the spotty 4g yet. The fact that they are charging you $10 when it's barely anywhere yet is absurd and also negates the 'savings' from avoiding Verizon. Hopefully in a year the battery industry will catchup to cell phone technology so that we can use these speeds efficiently as every carrier will have 4g in 2011 which isn't far away. It's going to take a long time to build more 4g towers so the 3g/4g toggle will be inevitable for most.

It's also disappointing to hear that after the 720p hype, it's not glowing.

720p recording has already been tested on the evo and the quality is somewhat poor due to very high compression rate used.

Anyways, I look forward to your personal reviews and hopefully the battery life due to 4g (3g toggle) issue and 720p recording will be better than recent reviews.

 

[mobilemaniac]

Wow. People still listen to Walt Mossberg? I'll wait for the Walt Mosspuppet review. It will be less comical:

Walt Mosspuppet: Tech News and Opinion

 

[misterzeno]

Still pickin it up June 4th, I could care less if the phone transformed into a decepticon and assaulted a reviewer.