Evo 4G vs Epic 4G

[jim2point0]

That makes no sense, sounds like you're posting to hear yourself talk. Get a jab in wherever you can. You are not surprised that the 30 fps cap was lifted because ... everyone who cared about it already lifted it?

Most people that actually seriously use their phones don't mess around with flashing roms, particularly multiple times. Too much downtime, even though Android is better at recovery after a full wipe than most platforms. ROM flashing is the domain of measurebators and as far as I've seen, they do 1/5th what power users do with their stock ROMs.

There remains for practical purposes nothing the Evo is not capable of in the android world, as far as being able to run applications -- yes, including games. No amount of naysaying changes the fact that that puts it above the Epic at this time.

But this was true before the FPS cap was lifted as well, so I didn't figure it was a priority issue. The really surprising thing to me is there were no rumors that this was coming. Froyo was openly announced and the previous OTAs were hinted at when people contacted HTC for support.

No, I didn't say that HTC removed the cap because users removed it themselves. I'm saying HTC removed the cap because customers complained, and HTC listens to their customers. While it is true that they once said it couldn't be done, that statement was proofed false when the dev community did it themselves.

The EVO has had tons of updates already, and will continue to get more udpdates. Fact of the matter, is, this FPS unlock doesn't "put it ahead" of the Epic as far as performance is concerned. It just means that in 2D applications, it can perform AS WELL as the Epic... but definitely not better. In 3D applications, you're lucky to even hit the 30 FPS cap.... let alone 20-25. Try recording 720p video at night or in low-light settings. Post the video online for us to see. But don't butthurt when it only records at 10-15 FPS max.

It sounds like you are the one that posts to hear himself talk... and hear himself flame other users for no reason.

 

[R1_Rydah]

we can go back and forth about technical specs all day... but as for public opinion the evo is the clear winner... I went searching for a Evo yesterday for my better half, and nobody had them at all 5 locations we went to, but they all had Epics... I finally snagged one by doubling back to a RS that was expecting a shipment later in the evening... I asked the salesmen how well was the Epic selling, and he said "not well, everybody wants the evo" he did state that he thinks Sprint made a mistake by pricing the Epic $50 higher than the Evo... I suspect we will see a price drop for the Epic real soon...

 

[takirb]

I just want to add, as an Evo owner, mine isn't very "readable" in sunlight by any means. It's "manageable", but not easy and isn't a pleasant experience. In direct sunlight, my Evo browsing time is a minimum due to poor visibility. I'm only 31, no glasses or sight problems. It's most definitely the screen and not user error at all, whatever anyone wants to think. I'm also an Evo enthusiast, it's the best phn i've owned so far and IMO it's the best one available, but i'm not going to sugarcoat the facts about it's direct sunlight readability - it does diminish (how much is up to the opinion of the user).

Don't get me wrong, it's not a deal breaker, and can be read when needed, but it's nothing i'd be able to watch a movie on or view for an extended amount of time in direct sunlight. It's actually the worst phn i've ever owned in this category.

 

[hydralisk]

Don't get me wrong, it's not a deal breaker, and can be read when needed, but it's nothing i'd be able to watch a movie on or view for an extended amount of time in direct sunlight. It's actually the worst phn i've ever owned in this category.

I agree with you. I also feel like both devices are incredibly difficult to view in direct sunlight. If one is better than the other, it's not by much. Neither of them provide a pleasant experience in this regard. It's still a strain on the eyes. I can read text just fine, but it's difficult to see images or movies clearly. Running at 100% brightness is such a strain on the battery, so.... I avoid direct sunlight like a vampire as far as my phone is concerned.

 

[dr g]

And for the record, aero, many were saying the Epic's screen looked better in sunlight as well as posting links to side by side reviews that concurred. Then drg chimed in. And then it's been maybe you and one other person. Not even entertaining dopeboy since he can't even tell the difference in weight between the two phones and just sounds like a troll. And dr vocal just drones on with his supposed facts and not once has offered any sort of proof or backup in any way, shape or form. Just that anyone that disagrees with him is wrong, misinformed, and blah blah blah. I put more faith in your opinions than from a user who just sounds like they're suckling on HTC's nipple.

Whew, you done beating that strawman yet? The Epic in comparison to the Evo is not relevant to the posts by myself you refer to. Just in case I haven't made that clear what, three times by now.

No, I didn't say that HTC removed the cap because users removed it themselves. I'm saying HTC removed the cap because customers complained, and HTC listens to their customers. While it is true that they once said it couldn't be done, that statement was proofed false when the dev community did it themselves.

This was 1) not what you posted and 2) not one of the more common complaints users had.

The EVO has had tons of updates already, and will continue to get more udpdates. Fact of the matter, is, this FPS unlock doesn't "put it ahead" of the Epic as far as performance is concerned.

No one said that but you. Once again, posting just to post.

 

[dr g]

I just want to add, as an Evo owner, mine isn't very "readable" in sunlight by any means. It's "manageable", but not easy and isn't a pleasant experience. In direct sunlight, my Evo browsing time is a minimum due to poor visibility. I'm only 31, no glasses or sight problems. It's most definitely the screen and not user error at all, whatever anyone wants to think. I'm also an Evo enthusiast, it's the best phn i've owned so far and IMO it's the best one available, but i'm not going to sugarcoat the facts about it's direct sunlight readability - it does diminish (how much is up to the opinion of the user).

Don't get me wrong, it's not a deal breaker, and can be read when needed, but it's nothing i'd be able to watch a movie on or view for an extended amount of time in direct sunlight. It's actually the worst phn i've ever owned in this category.

What is your backlight setting? What phones are you comparing it to?
What is your hardware revision -- do you know whether you have an Epson or Novatek screen?

I agree with you. I also feel like both devices are incredibly difficult to view in direct sunlight. If one is better than the other, it's not by much. Neither of them provide a pleasant experience in this regard. It's still a strain on the eyes. I can read text just fine, but it's difficult to see images or movies clearly. Running at 100% brightness is such a strain on the battery, so.... I avoid direct sunlight like a vampire as far as my phone is concerned.

If you are finding both devices hard to read in sunlight, you are definitely doin' something wrong...

 

[novox77]

If you are finding both devices hard to read in sunlight, you are definitely doin' something wrong...

No, the problem here is: readability in sunlight is highly subjective, and last I checked, there's no IEEE standard governing how readability in sunlight should be quantified.

So when someone says "the Evo is really hard to read in sunlight," it's not something that you or anyone else can dispute. So, no, that poster is not doing anything wrong. For him/her, it sucks to deal with either phone under bright sunlight.

the rest of this post isn't directed at you personally:

Since this thread is about Evo vs. Epic, we should be debating which screen is more readable. And if you believe one is better than the other, you should personally post some pictures as proof (thanks to dbpaddler for posting several). If you haven't tested both phones in the sun, don't bother posting. Without first-hand experience, you're just spouting the typical fanboy lines.

Some people like myself just want to see proof and less fanboy trash-talking.

 

[takirb]

What is your backlight setting? What phones are you comparing it to?
What is your hardware revision -- do you know whether you have an Epson or Novatek screen?

Brightness is about at about a 1/4th, isn't justified to up the brightness 24/7 just for "direct sunlight" readability. Any other time my brightness level isn't an issue, so viewing my screen in direct sunlight shouldn't be a "brightness level" concern. My Evo is a HW rev 3, and i'm not sure which screen i have (never knew how to tell). But as for the phns i've owned/used - my prev phn was an LG Triton (not a big player in the market), BB's, iPhones, and even an Audiovox something or other flip/cam phn.

 

[jroc]

I wanna chime in here about the pics dbpaddler posted...

Amoled, Super Amoled has better viewing angles than LCD. When tilting the current phones with LCD screens off center, it gets washed out. Maybe that also plays a factor in Amoled, Super Amoled being better when looked at in the sun.

I found out about the viewing angles when there was a debate about Amoled vs. LCD about a month ago. Someone posted a pic of a guy in a black shirt with a black background on 2 phones. In his pic, it looked washed out on the LCD phone. But, when I downloaded the pic and looked at it on my X, it looked as good as that Amoled screen he posted. When I tilted the phone....washed out.

 

[dr g]

No, the problem here is: readability in sunlight is highly subjective, and last I checked, there's no IEEE standard governing how readability in sunlight should be quantified.

So when someone says "the Evo is really hard to read in sunlight," it's not something that you or anyone else can dispute. So, no, that poster is not doing anything wrong. For him/her, it sucks to deal with either phone under bright sunlight.

At small orders of magnitude you're right, but we're talking about large orders here, people claiming out and out unreadability are quite simply wrong. Case in point, the person a few posts up who reported large order issues.

Since this thread is about Evo vs. Epic, we should be debating which screen is more readable. And if you believe one is better than the other, you should personally post some pictures as proof (thanks to dbpaddler for posting several). If you haven't tested both phones in the sun, don't bother posting. Without first-hand experience, you're just spouting the typical fanboy lines.

Some people like myself just want to see proof and less fanboy trash-talking.

I own both and have used both in the sun, and have reported my results several times. Photos as I have mentioned are useless because angle makes so much difference in all phones. The problematic thing is the photos and fanboy talking are coming from the same people. You need to look past that and see the substance.

Brightness is about at about a 1/4th, isn't justified to up the brightness 24/7 just for "direct sunlight" readability. Any other time my brightness level isn't an issue, so viewing my screen in direct sunlight shouldn't be a "brightness level" concern. My Evo is a HW rev 3, and i'm not sure which screen i have (never knew how to tell). But as for the phns i've owned/used - my prev phn was an LG Triton (not a big player in the market), BB's, iPhones, and even an Audiovox something or other flip/cam phn.

25% backlight is insufficient for good sunlight readability in almost any device, it is perplexing you would admit that yet claim there is no user error. This is definitely user error. Luckily, the backlight auto-adjust works splendidly on the Evo, try it sometime.

Amoled, Super Amoled has better viewing angles than LCD. When tilting the current phones with LCD screens off center, it gets washed out. Maybe that also plays a factor in Amoled, Super Amoled being better when looked at in the sun.

In this specific case, the screen polarization makes a large difference. Possibly the largest difference.

 

[novox77]

I own both and have used both in the sun, and have reported my results several times. Photos as I have mentioned are useless because angle makes so much difference in all phones. The problematic thing is the photos and fanboy talking are coming from the same people. You need to look past that and see the substance.

I agree that angles make a lot of difference, but if you are methodical with your photos, you can make your point much more convincingly. All it takes is for one person to make a convincing photo/videoshoot to silence all the BS about polarization, angles, etc.

For example, check out this video comparing the Galaxy S to the X10 and Desire:

YouTube - Galaxy S vs X10 vs Desire in direct sunlight

If you can actually sit through all 6 minutes of it, you will see that the Galaxy S has the least glare from all angles, but there were times where it was definitely not the most readable. Someone should make something like this with the Epic and the Evo. Even if the video shows that it depends on the angle, at least we all know that there's not much difference between the screens. Otherwise, there should be a clear, undisputed winner.

This being Evo vs. Epic, I'd like to see less time arguing about whether the Evo (or other device) is readable or not, and more time debating which of these screens is more readable in sunlight.

 

[dbpaddler]

Does it really matter? How much time does one spend out in the sun doing anything intensive on their phone. I happened to be at the shore when I got the epic so I hda both phones with me. But outside of getting the mlb app up and running I pretty much wasn't using the phone out in the sun. You could probably say most are using their phone in the sun less than 10% of the total time they're using their phone. So is it really a deciding factoring in choosing a phone? Probably not.

 

[takirb]

25% backlight is insufficient for good sunlight readability in almost any device, it is perplexing you would admit that yet claim there is no user error. This is definitely user error. Luckily, the backlight auto-adjust works splendidly on the Evo, try it sometime.

I had it set to auto before but changed it as a battery-life tweak (i believe auto is how it's set as default). The sunlight issue was present prior to changing the brightness level. If it wasn't an issue, there wouldn't have been numerous complaints from users regarding this screen readability in sunlight. If it wasn't an issue, this discussion in this thread wouldn't have even came up in the passed umpteen pages. I still don't feel i should make the screen super-bright 24/7 just for better sunlight visibility. As i said, compared to previous phns i've owned, the Evo is the worst at this hands down. None of my other phns had an extremely high brightness level either, didn't have a need to.

As for this thread, i have no first-hand way to compare whether the Evo or Epic is better screen-wise or performance. But stating that poor visibility in sunlight on all Evos for all users is simple user error is just incorrect. It's all subject to opinion honestly, but you're the first person i've seen claim yours is great in sunlight.

**edit** wth, i'm not doing anything else productive with my time, i'll go ahead and jack the screen brightness up to 100% tomorrow and test it out on break. Who knows, Froyo may control my battery better allowing me to keep the brightness unreasonably high with no ill effects. I'm open to it

 

[malibu23]

cant believe this is 17 pages...smh...

 

[jroc]

^lol.....I usually just lurked in here but since I saw it was still active I figured I'd throw my .2 in...

takrib, my Droid 1 and X, both with LCD screens, look alot better outside when the brightness is at 100%. Dont know how much it'll help u since I dont have an EVO but it should help. I just use a brightness widget to go from whatever % I'm at to 100%.

 

[IOWA]

we can go back and forth about technical specs all day... but as for public opinion the evo is the clear winner... I went searching for a Evo yesterday for my better half, and nobody had them at all 5 locations we went to, but they all had Epics... I finally snagged one by doubling back to a RS that was expecting a shipment later in the evening... I asked the salesmen how well was the Epic selling, and he said "not well, everybody wants the evo" he did state that he thinks Sprint made a mistake by pricing the Epic $50 higher than the Evo... I suspect we will see a price drop for the Epic real soon...

Since when does popularity decide which phone is better than another? If that was the case Nokia must be the best phone in the world then!

 

[Bnice]

/\ Ever since the iphone came to life.lol, imo if the epic had a more clean and professional look like the htc desire z, things might be different, but to me it look child like not to mention it has a slight bulk to it.

 

[fireboltr]

I choose EVO...
I had the EVO since launch and the EPIC since launch, both are "good" phones.
I chose EVO over EPIC due to the EPIC'S crappy build, major software bugs, and hardware glitches.
I am not a casual user at all, I average 5gb per month of data (no not torrents).

1) The build, slider was getting worse and worse (just as bad as the PRE *duck*)
2) Huge bugs in the software on the phone (not with android) i.e. memory management problems/leaks, transmitter control issues, T.W.S. issues
3) Hardware glitches included transmitter lock-ups, gps BLOWS, slow as hell data speeds (3g, 4g, wifi), weak transmitter compared to other "smart" phones.

As far as the screen goes yes it was pretty I will give it that...but when compared to an actuall NTSC standard calibrated source it was SEVERELY over saturated/dark.

just my 2 cents EPIC went back EVO is back up.

 

[vud911]

Since when does popularity decide which phone is better than another? If that was the case Nokia must be the best phone in the world then!

So true...iPhone/Nokia phones would win hands down.

 

[dbpaddler]

If the Epic were like the Z it would already be dated: slow with a smaller tft screen? No thanks. The only thing going for the desire z is the nice keyboard. It is not a high end android phone. and for a slider, the Epic is far from bulky and is lighter than the Evo with nicer corners so it sits nicer in the pocket. And not professional? Gloss black up front. Soft touch black in the rear with a thin curvy chrome bezel to separate the two halves. Black is just so child like

/\ Ever since the iphone came to life.lol, imo if the epic had a more clean and professional look like the htc desire z, things might be different, but to me it look child like not to mention it has a slight bulk to it.

 

[Pbaff]

I looked at an Epic when I was buying my Evo and I still went with the Evo. Then again, I dislike slide out keyboards.

 

[hydralisk]

If the Epic were like the Z it would already be dated: slow with a smaller tft screen?

I believe the Desire Z has the newer line of Qualcomm processors. Even at 800 mhz, it is supposed to be faster than a 1 Ghz snapdragon. It's similar to comparing a corei7 with 4 cores to a core2quad with 4 cores at the same speed. The corei7 is 30% faster. It also has the new adreno 205 GPU which smokes anything HTC has out so far. In that regard, it will actually be one of the fastest phones when it comes to handling graphics intensive applications like Google Earth or high-end games. So... it's not a slow phone. But I agree that the screen is too small for me.

I also agree that the Epic has a very attractive look and feel to it... but the looseness of the screen does make it feel less like a high end product. Such a shame, since I paid full price for it

Now to contribute something useful to the discussion:
http://www.droiddog.com/android-blog/2010/09/epic-vs-evo-hardware-interface/

There is a rundown of some of the hardware and software found in both the EVO and Epic. You can take their opinions with a grain of salt and just check it out if you dont know much about either phone yet.

 

[harukasan73]

I have the evo, and my husband picked up the epic.... We have both decided that the evo is much better. The epic does have a keyboard and a nice screen, and we were both running them stock, when we noticed a few things. His battery runs out much quicker than mine (with all the same things running), I have more options on my evo (to prevent it from using up extra battery power). His epic kept going in and out of service, while mine stayed in service. His GPS sucks (cant read the towers as well), mine works wonderfully. I like his camera's features, but I still prefer my camera over his. The main problems with the epic were the battery, and the GPS.... He is actually thinking about returning it and getting the evo, but he doesnt like the EVO's keyboard. Granted he did get a larger SD card with his, but I can always upgrade on my own. He may root it, and see if it helps with his issues before returning it. Overall I think I made the better choice, lol

 

[vud911]

I believe the Desire Z has the newer line of Qualcomm processors. Even at 800 mhz, it is supposed to be faster than a 1 Ghz snapdragon. It's similar to comparing a corei7 with 4 cores to a core2quad with 4 cores at the same speed. The corei7 is 30% faster. It also has the new adreno 205 GPU which smokes anything HTC has out so far. In that regard, it will actually be one of the fastest phones when it comes to handling graphics intensive applications like Google Earth or high-end games. So... it's not a slow phone. But I agree that the screen is too small for me.

I also agree that the Epic has a very attractive look and feel to it... but the looseness of the screen does make it feel less like a high end product. Such a shame, since I paid full price for it

Now to contribute something useful to the discussion:
Epic vs. EVO: hardware, interface | DroidDog Android Blog

There is a rundown of some of the hardware and software found in both the EVO and Epic. You can take their opinions with a grain of salt and just check it out if you dont know much about either phone yet.

That Desire Z sounds a whole lot like the HTC Vision -- really good!

But I don't think it'll beat out Galaxy S though. Adreno 205 is supposed to have similar power to the Galaxy S GPU.

 

[hydralisk]

But I don't think it'll beat out Galaxy S though. Adreno 205 is supposed to have similar power to the Galaxy S GPU.

The Adreno 205 is quoted to be able to process ~41 million triangles per second, where as the PowerVR SGX540 (in galaxy S phones) can process ~90 million. So.... they're not similar at all