Opinions of a former Evo Owner

[Serdna117]

Hey guys, I just wanted to share my experience as someone who has owned both the Evo and Epic phones from sprint. I will try and make this brief as I'm sure I am not the first to do this. First of all they are both just great phones with several similarities.
Notes: I am a gamer and thats what I really look for in my phone. I had my Evo for about 30 days before I returned it and waited for the Epic to come out(I did not know about the epic when I bought the evo).

EVO
Pros-
Loved the big screen which was perfect for Flash video viewing and made gaming easier with touch screen
Sense UI was awesome
Pinch zoom out home screens
Better Virtual Keyboard and Clock Widget
More stylish with the squared off design
HDMI, not used much but nice to have
Music player was nothing short of amazing

Cons-
No gorilla glass means screen protector
GPU was unimpressive delivering low fps on Asphalt
Some live wallpapers significantly slowed down phone performance
Kick stand not perfectly placed = wobbly


EPIC
Pros-
Physical Keyboard is a handy option and good for gaming
Great GPU
Runs quickly
more future proof for gaming
Samsung Video store offers a promising future

Cons-
Switching between physical and touchscreen keyboard takes getting used to
No Sense UI
If a PSX rom didn't work on Evo it still wont work on epic
Higher gaming abilities not fully realized by android app stores games
Slow charging times
Lower MP Camera(yea I know it doesn't mean pictures are gonna be worse)


Final Thoughts: For me this is a very close race between the two phones and really it almost completely comes down to the physical keyboard. Although the stronger cpu and gpu are nice to have theoretically, in reality they don't mean much to me at this point since MOST games can run just as well on the epic as on the evo. All in all the Epic's promise really lies in what it will be able to do in the future while the Evo is more of a here and now phone.

Side Notes: I had to live with a crappy pre-paid phone for a week while waiting for the Epic to come out and had to pay the restocking fee for the evo. If I had to go back and do it all over again I would probably just stick with my evo HOWEVER, I am glad that I have an Epic now.

Hope you guys found this somewhat interesting : )

 

[rahuldang]

i have the evo and the reason I THINK im going to stick with it over the epic is because i was on tmo and tried the vibrant and that thing LAGGED. i mean overrall the phone was fast, but it lagged like no other. and it wasn't just mine because i found out that the phone was just laggy. and the evo, ive had it for 2 weeks now, ive notexperienced any lag whatsoever. plus it got the 2.2 update really fast which i love because hopefully it will get future updates fast as well

 

[jim2point0]

i have the evo and the reason I THINK im going to stick with it over the epic is because i was on tmo and tried the vibrant and that thing LAGGED. i mean overrall the phone was fast, but it lagged like no other. and it wasn't just mine because i found out that the phone was just laggy. and the evo, ive had it for 2 weeks now, ive notexperienced any lag whatsoever. plus it got the 2.2 update really fast which i love because hopefully it will get future updates fast as well

If you did any research you'd find that the epic doesn't have any lag issues. In fact th epic is faster on 2.1 than the evo is with 2.2.

 

[mannyhernz]

htc sense is not really a pro on the evo, nor a con on the epic....sense is really not that great to me..had a TP2, and an EVO both had sense...was not really impressed but it was all i could use for htc...now TW i feel is just the same not that great but i think i can live with it...other than the email not pushing through,the epic is a much faster phone hands down..(so long HTC!)

 

[Damar1979]

True, the epic doesn't lag at all. be it will apps, internet, games, video, no lag whatsoever. at first I had to get used to not using sense, now I don't miss it nearly as much. Epic FTW

 

[Shawn0413]

I have both phones and have to say as a everyday phone,the evo blows the epic out of the water.the call quality on the evo is awesome it is not tinny like the epic,and to me it is much faster when going to dolphin browser,etc.and even though .3 docent sound like that much of a difference in a screen size it truly is.I can't look at a phone with a smaller screen anymore...both are really good phones but for me the evo is simply unbelievable...

 

[Damar1979]

isn't it great that Android also gives you the freedom of choice! glad that you like your phone! personally, like the evo.... love the epic!

 

[daddyd302]

If you did any research you'd find that the epic doesn't have any lag issues. In fact th epic is faster on 2.1 than the evo is with 2.2.

I call BS on this no lag on Epic. Mine lags from time to time and it last anywhere from a few seconds to over 10 seconds, but less then 15 second. I seriously thought my phone froze. It seems to happen at random time. It can be from a live wallpaper, to making a call. I have not run any live wallpaper since then.

It's annoying as hell trying to hit end on a call and the phone lags and I have to sit there and wait for it to respond again. I also get random reboots, so if this keeps happening, I'm taking it back to Best Buy for another. I do believe I have a defected Epic, but I'm still waiting to see if it's still happening.

So far today no lag issues, but who knows. One very odd thing I notice was that while playing music on my Epic, I pulled the headphone jack out and it stopped the music without me having to kill it. I even went into application and made sure it wasn't running anymore, it wasn't.

Then 30 minutes later it started playing the same music I was listening to. It seemed to have continue from the point I pulled the headphones. This is very, very odd.

 

[kristv]

One very odd thing I notice was that while playing music on my Epic, I pulled the headphone jack out and it stopped the music without me having to kill it. I even went into application and made sure it wasn't running anymore, it wasn't.

Then 30 minutes later it started playing the same music I was listening to. It seemed to have continue from the point I pulled the headphones. This is very, very odd.

I find this really cool, actually! Neat features in my opinion. Now, if it just randomly started playing the music again without you selecting it, that IS odd. If not, then I consider those cool features from the music player.

 

[mojomojo]

I use kill apps regularly and that seems to stop any lag.

I call BS on this no lag on Epic. Mine lags from time to time and it last anywhere from a few seconds to over 10 seconds, but less then 15 second. I seriously thought my phone froze. It seems to happen at random time. It can be from a live wallpaper, to making a call. I have not run any live wallpaper since then.

It's annoying as hell trying to hit end on a call and the phone lags and I have to sit there and wait for it to respond again. I also get random reboots, so if this keeps happening, I'm taking it back to Best Buy for another. I do believe I have a defected Epic, but I'm still waiting to see if it's still happening.

So far today no lag issues, but who knows. One very odd thing I notice was that while playing music on my Epic, I pulled the headphone jack out and it stopped the music without me having to kill it. I even went into application and made sure it wasn't running anymore, it wasn't.

Then 30 minutes later it started playing the same music I was listening to. It seemed to have continue from the point I pulled the headphones. This is very, very odd.

 

[damewolf13]

I call BS on this no lag on Epic. Mine lags from time to time and it last anywhere from a few seconds to over 10 seconds, but less then 15 second. I seriously thought my phone froze. It seems to happen at random time. It can be from a live wallpaper, to making a call. I have not run any live wallpaper since then.

It's annoying as hell trying to hit end on a call and the phone lags and I have to sit there and wait for it to respond again. I also get random reboots, so if this keeps happening, I'm taking it back to Best Buy for another. I do believe I have a defected Epic, but I'm still waiting to see if it's still happening.

So far today no lag issues, but who knows. One very odd thing I notice was that while playing music on my Epic, I pulled the headphone jack out and it stopped the music without me having to kill it. I even went into application and made sure it wasn't running anymore, it wasn't.

Then 30 minutes later it started playing the same music I was listening to. It seemed to have continue from the point I pulled the headphones. This is very, very odd.

I have that lag/freeze problem often on my Vibrant, so I can sympathize.

 

[dr g]

Lag issues do exist on the epic. OVERALL its just less mature/polished. Froyo may fix.

 

[aznmode]

I'm currently typing this n the epic. I'm not as fast with hardware kb anymore. Lol. I'm a gamer too and I just had to test out this phone. The screen is great and so is the speed and has a lot of potential when it get 2.2. But my evo does everything fine on it however not as fast or smooth. I can't live without the 4.3 screen which makes a difference for me. Love the kick stand when I'm watching videos. So in the end the evo is my phone for now and with ava roms 6 and netarchy 4.1.9 kernel its as close as I'm gonna get to the epics speed. Games are just as playable. It was fun testing out the epic. I can only see things getting way better. Can't wait for the next 4g phone.

 

[dbpaddler]

do you like the look and feel of the email and messaging apps? Do you like moving mail to folders for organizing or reporting spam? do you like the social integration? Do you like better copy/paste? Do you like some of HTC's widgets? This is Sense. It is not just a launcher. Sense encompasses the whole cleanup HTC does to Android and for the most part they do it nicer than TouchWiz or Blur.

On the Epic...is it nice to have the radio toggles on the notification drop down? Is it nice to be able to dismiss a phone call with a text message? Again, part of TouchWiz.

Sense and TouchWiz both have their pros and cons. I like my Epic, but I hate stock Android's email and messaging. I prefer Sense's for the most part outside of the lack of the integrated inbox. So both companies still don't get email right. It's all about tradeoffs when dealing with a very unfinished OS and the phone manufacturers trying to fill in the gaps and polish it up. No one has perfected it. Maybe Gingerbread will come close. Who knows. But depending on the person the skins can be a pro or con if you actually know what they bring to the table. That's why I'd love to see a list of all the upgrades each brings over stock android.

htc sense is not really a pro on the evo, nor a con on the epic....sense is really not that great to me..had a TP2, and an EVO both had sense...was not really impressed but it was all i could use for htc...now TW i feel is just the same not that great but i think i can live with it...other than the email not pushing through,the epic is a much faster phone hands down..(so long HTC!)

 

[simcha]

I'll come clean right away. I've never owned an Evo. I played with a few at the Sprint Store and I played with one that a friend has. It's a great phone. What really sold me was the Epic's screen and display. I was blown away by the vibrant colors and the amazing contrast. Also I have to admit that I like the style of the Epic over the Evo. To me, the Evo felt like a heavy and clunky device. The Epic in my point of view is light and feels better in my hand with its curved corners. I use both the physical keyboard and the touchscreen depending on what seems more convenient at the time. Someone said that the sound quality on the Epic is tinny when making calls? Sorry, that's just not my experience. I found that the Epic's sound using Sprint service and Google Voice is rich and amazingly clear. My mother noticed the difference on her end when I called her with both. She said that the Epic sounded better when receiving calls. The only thing I'm not wild about is the battery life and the long charging time. To be fair when the Evo first came out I read similar complaints about battery life. I'm wondering what battery life will be like in a couple of weeks on my Epic. Both phones are winners imho. I prefer the Epic. Others prefer the Evo. For once Sprint has two truly amazing phones to choose from.

I've been a Sprint customer for 11 years.

Sent from my Epic.

 

[jim2point0]

Someone said that the sound quality on the Epic is tinny when making calls? Sorry, that's just not my experience. I found that the Epic's sound using Sprint service and Google Voice is rich and amazingly clear. My mother noticed the difference on her end when I called her with both. She said that the Epic sounded better when receiving calls.

I used the EVO for 2 months and YES, I totally agree. Epic call quality is definitely better than my EVO's in my experience.

 

[dbpaddler]

+1. As a phone I like the Epic better...speaker, dialer (dismiss a call with a text...so longed for that feature back).

I used the EVO for 2 months and YES, I totally agree. Epic call quality is definitely better than my EVO's in my experience.