Root to EVO or not to EVO....

[paully]

i realize that coming here to ask this is like asking Stalin's opinion of Communism, perhaps more appropriately like asking Linus Torvalds' opinion of Linux, but anyhoo...

My wife has left it in my hands to select her next phone. We're due for an upgrade w/ Sprint and it will either be the EVO 4G or the Nexus S 4G. I'm frankly pretty stuck on the decision.

She's been using a Sprint Hero for a year. She hated it w/ the stock 1.6 then 2.1 sense roms. The Hero has a 512Mhz processor, and that rom setup lends to laggy response. She loved the phone after I put aosp's (a hoss of a developer for the Hero) vanilla Froyo ROM, oc'd and such, on it. This just shows that performance is much more important than Sense. I've heard enough of the EVO dev community to believe finding some good vanilla flavored gingerbread is possible.

So it's all about the hardware.

EVO seems to win on:

screen size (but has less fewer colors/contrast, not so important though)
has SD card (although 16GB internal on the nexus S is prolly plenty)
FM Radio, how does this treat you guys?
8Mpixel, w/ 720P recording (vs 5Mpixel, although with stock vs stock camera software, the Nexus S wins for point/shoot action) how's the camera treat you guys? Or is everyone using Vignette or something?
HDMI out, how's this treat you guys? the FullHDMI app seems pretty sweet

I realize the list of Nexus S attributes below is not as 'meaty' as what's listed above, but what i'm really hoping to learn from you is:
do the above handful of attributes perform well enough to truely tip the scales? or are they great on paper and coulda been better?

[nexus S 4G wins on:
- size and weight, still having a 4'' screen with the before mentioned colors/contrast;
- NFC, not that anyone's really using it yet;
- direct updates from Google, the nexus 1 got GB in a month or two (i believe) after Nexus S deployment, you'll get official GB after four to six months of Nexus S deployment (right?), which is still pretty damn good.
- just playing around w/ the two side/side at Best Buy, the NexusS was a little more silky smooth and prompt, no lag.
- Nexus S is damn sexy
]

 

[SiGuy11]

Although I love my evo I'd probably say go with the nexus. Its vanilla, is snappy, its first to get updates. I'd also wait a day or 2 after launch before picking it up because samsung is known to have silly issues like gps. If they haven't got it figured out yet Evo 4 sure.

 

[the CP]

I own an Evo and have played with the NS numerous times. I thought about this myself, but looked at storage space and opted to keep my Evo. Sure, I only have an 8gb card in my Evo, but I can remove that 8gb at will and use it for other things, or pop it directly in to my computer if I don't have my USB cable handy. Plus, I can upgrade beyond 16gb if I want. Don't need it, but the option's there and I like options.

Camera comparison: Should be null, as real digital cameras are so inexpensive right now, and no phone will come close.
Screen size: Personal preference. I think the Evo is nice, but sometimes it's just to much to handle and I miss the size of my Hero (but not the [lack of] performance)
FM radio has never been used because I hate all of my local terrestrial radio stations with one exception. Besides, with Pandora not requiring headphones be plugged in to use as an antenna, why use FM?
Software: This doesn't matter to me, since I prefer to run CM7 with Launcher Pro Plus over either stock interface (vanilla GB or sense Froyo) as it's more customizable than either, and to me, being able to do things my way is a big selling point.

I assume since you posted in the "All Things Root" forum that you're open to rooting.

 

[Mr. Ed]

If I were making a decision with no contract obligation I would most likely jump ship...go to Verizon and purchase the thunderbolt. I am a few weeks behind and though I could be mistaken the nexus s will be a Samsung phone. I despise Samsung and have nothing but issues with their products. Not to mention the fact that sprint has moved forward with "plan b" lte and wimax may soon be a thing of the past....with that being a possibility I wouldn't invest in anything wimax (sadly I own a wimax laptop and the evo)

 

[Granite1]

I'd wait a little while for the next evo. 3D or whatever it's gonna be called. Dual core processor, plus tons of ram and internal space. Almost like a mini laptop.

I'm glad I got my evo no doubt, and I've had nothing but problems with Samsung crap. Their tv's are second to none but their phones are poop. Just my two cents...

Get what tickles your fancy, ultimately it's gonna be what makes you happy.

 

[Evo 5oh]

Just wait for the 3D

 

[geewhiz]

i want your avatar in 3D

+1

 

[paully]

We're on the employee friends/family plan through a buddy. With the discounted rates, we won't be switching carriers. On Sprint, if you're upgrading from the Hero, the EVO 4G, the Nexus S 4G or the EVO 3D are the places to go.

I am waiting for the 3D. (at least to check it out, i want the hardware, but am rather skeptical of the 3Dness)

But she's not into it at all. Being quite happy the Hero, it was tough to talk her into spending the 200 bones on an upgrade. My thinking is, once she gets an android device running on 1GHz, she won't look back.

Neither phone will go a day before rooting happens. Even if one loves the stock rom, the battery savings and performance benefits of setcpu (once setup w/ all the over/under clocking profiles) is too hard to pass. But i am always willing to try a "better" rom.

 

[paully]

if im going to be completely honest i would get the Nexus S 4g if i had to pick today. the EVO is a killer phone and compared spec wise to the nexus they run neck and neck. but if you look at the future of the two phones, the nexus is a dev phone so there will be a lot of support for it for a long time, its stock, and its "new" to the market so it will have a longer life of support as well. the EVO is coming up on its year anniversary meaning it is going to be replaced, meaning direct support is soon to slow down and come to a stop. the graphics on the hummingbird CPU are much better than a snapdragon. the screen is brilliant, and i like the design of the nexus S (body style wise) a little more than the EVO

now those are the reasons why i would buy a nexus if i was in the market for a new phone right now.

another thing you will be happy to hear, 4g is going live in Norman... they have been testing it the past few weeks and i've been picking up on my EVO most places i go around town. so be sure to be checking for that when your wife gets her new phone cause she will love it... i did a speed test on campus and got 8mbps down and 1.3mbps up.

we're in the neighborhood just south and west of the the flood/robinson intersection. have you tried the 4G action over there?

 

[paully]

here is where you can see the coverage... looks like your neighborhood might not be under the blanket yet but its pretty close, take a look at CLEAR | 4G WiMAX Internet Coverage Map with Service Area. and just zoom in on Norman and let it refresh with the coverage overlay

yeah, i'd seen that. been hoping that there's some error to that map, cause my house is right in the middle of that bare area east of Berry. :\

one rumor i've read in a thread somewhere is that Clear is slamming up a single tower in it's expansion towns, so they don't loose their license for the area. But they don't have the funds to extend that local coverage any further than that at this time. i haven't investigated this any further myself, other than asking the Best Buy dude. He said that a single tower has the capability to handle all traffic in the area. But i may still be screwed if signal doesn't hit my house.

 

[RetiredFinally]

I have had my EVO since the day after it was released, have rooted and unrooted several times and love the speed and versatility. I am currently using Evervolv ROM that is GB and amazed at how fast it is. It is ASOP based but with fancy widgets or beautiful widgets you get the sense effect. I think the Evo 3D will become Sprint flagship phone but there will be support, developers for years for Evo.

 

[CarrieK]

I've had my EVO since August and am still smitten with it. I do have an upgrade I'll be able to use and am leaning toward the 3D not because of the 3D but the rest of the specs. Yet, because I love my EVO so much I hate to give it up! Great situation to be in, though. Usually I'm like the people in the Best Buy commercial whose electronics are obsolete the second I walk out of the store with them!

 

[youdoofus]

if you were asking this hypothetical 4 mos ago, the answer would be a unanimous "to evo" but as it sits right now, there are many new devices about to drop that will trump it, so i say not to evo atm.

 

[evomattnc]

if you were asking this hypothetical 4 mos ago, the answer would be a unanimous "to evo" but as it sits right now, there are many new devices about to drop that will trump it, so i say not to evo atm.

Yes doofus however the choice was between evo and nexus s...I personally loathe samsung...

 

[youdoofus]

Yes doofus however the choice was between evo and nexus s...I personally loathe samsung...

or hold off a lil bit and deal with your current phone (if thats possible) and see whats about to drop...

 

[Granite1]

A hero rooted isn't that bad of a device. I used my Hero with AOSP GB, and it was awesome! Now the wife is using it with Liquid Sense and she loves it. Before the hero she had a samsung slider phone, the instant I offered her the Hero, she smashed the Samsung with a hammer! Literally!!

It seems, to me of course, that Motorola, HTC and LG make pretty good devices. I will stick with these until Samsung proves me wrong.

 

[9to5cynic]

Not sure if this issue was just with me or my phone, or even my headphones at the time, but I have never had good luck with the FM radio. The one time I got it to work it was filled with static and not very many of the local channels came in. I was just testing it, because the local radios play crap here.

Still, the evo is a great phone, thought the nexus is looking nice... I'm not sure what I'd do in your situation. I've never had a samsung phone, but a LOT of people have problems with them (as seen in this tread). Of course, you could always wait a bit and see what the new wave of technology brings.

 

[paully]

well.........

the EVO has been purchased and should arrive tomorrow.

while i'll still be rocking my GB'd Hero until later this year, i'll be trolling these forums 'til her phone is appropriately altered.

thanks to everyone for the input.

so...
it looks like unrEVOked the root method of choice around here. right? (just checkin that the stickies aren't a little outdated)

you fellows using the FullHDMI kernal? does that help with the app's performance? i think the HDMI out is a feature we'll use a bit.

i think we'll start with OC'd stock for the ROM for a bit. there's certainly a shite load of options around here. she doesn't really care, as long as the phone is snappy and i can improve batt life as much as possible, she'll be happy.

 

[evomattnc]

well.........

the EVO has been purchased and should arrive tomorrow.

while i'll still be rocking my GB'd Hero until later this year, i'll be trolling these forums 'til her phone is appropriately altered.

thanks to everyone for the input.

so...
it looks like unrEVOked the root method of choice around here. right? (just checkin that the stickies aren't a little outdated)

you fellows using the FullHDMI kernal? does that help with the app's performance? i think the HDMI out is a feature we'll use a bit.

i think we'll start with OC'd stock for the ROM for a bit. there's certainly a shite load of options around here. she doesn't really care, as long as the phone is snappy and i can improve batt life as much as possible, she'll be happy.

Well overclocking aint gonna help the battery life .

Yeah that sticky is up to date, matlock is good about that. Unrevoked still works on all hboots. may have a hiccup with new hdw versions like having to run more than once but it will work. One thing it doesnt mention is that most people need to install htc sync and let it load the drivers then uninstall sync and leave the drivers before running unrevoked. Solves a lot of peoples problems.

You likely know you'll need a custom kernel to overclock, though you can underclock the stock one by disabling perflock in set cpu...you may know all this, just sayin...