Samsung Epic or Evo SHIFT? Which is worth the money?

[Xelestial]

Hi Epic owners. I was wondering if you could help me make a big decision for me. You probably get this all the time, but I was wondering if you could help me make the decision between the Epic and EVO Shift. I will probably also be posting this in the EVO Shift forums.

I have, for the past week, researched both, played with them, etc, and I can honestly say, price aside (there is a $100 difference for my account), I am already learning toward the Epic. However, I am worried that the Epic has a lot of issues, and I want a reliable phone. I'm pretty tech savvy I suppose, and I have a little experience with Android, but I don't want to be fighting with my Epic. I have seen a lot of threads where people say they are on their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Epics. This worries me, but I know a lot of the info is outdated since the Epic only just got Froyo.

A two year commitment and 424.00 is huge, so I was wondering if anyone could give me any insight on if this will be a solid phone and worth the money and time, from a users point of view. I really love the Epic, but I don't want long term issues for all that money and time. I made a mistake with my last phone and that's why I'm upgrading it at the one year mark, and I don't want to do that again. Would appreciate any help, thanks.

My worries/cons about the Epic:

-Samsung's lack of support
-GPS issues
-Major bugs
-Size
-Issues with Froyo
-Quality as far as keyboard lasting.
-Difference between EVO Shift and Epic not big enough to justify $100 difference.

 

[Travenport]

From someone who has had both I can give you an honest opinion.

I chose to stay with the epic mostly because of the beautiful AMOLED screen and the spring loaded keyboard. The shift was nice as most HTC phones are but it felt really fragile. The keyboard would would sometimes open up halfway while it was in my pocket, and the actual keys on the keyboard felt kind of weird (sort of felt like craters as opposed to actual keys).

As for all of the issues you are worried about, those were an easy fix for me by rooting the phone and flashing a custom ROM. I was worried about it voiding the warranty at first, but there is mod out that lets you root back to stock. Ive already tried it just to make sure and it works. With my rooted epic, GPS locks in about 2 seconds, bugs with the phone have been fixed and I am getting more battery life out of it.

If you plan to root, I would say get the epic. The beautiful screen, solid keyboard, and developer support makes me not regret the switch i made.

If you dont want to root the shift is probably what you are going to want to go with, because like you stated above: the GPS sucks, samsung support sucks, there are a few bugs you will have to deal with.

As far as solidity and not having to replace the phone. In my opinion the Epic feels more solid physically and internally, i think the froyo kernel plays more nicely than the previous versions.

 

[cds0699]

The above poster made a very good post. I have never really had any major problems from my Epic (lucky I guess), and I really enjoy the phone. I have rooted mine, and am running a custom ROM... and the performance I'm getting is pretty good as a whole. The phone is a little thicker than others on the market, but its not that bad, and it still easily fits in my pocket with and without a case. My GPS locks quickly (matter of seconds, although I haven't timed it, its still a pretty quick lock).

 

[baygolf]

I have had tried both phones and the two things that made me stay with the Epic was front facing cmaera and five row keyboard. The world is moving to video conf'ng and w/ only rear camera the Shift will not make it.

 

[AndroidSPCS]

Epic by far. The Evo Shift is nice, but not comparable to the Epic or Evo imho.

 

[faith1310]

I have the epic and i am on my second one so many problems how do i root it? if you do not mind telling me how do not know to much about that rooting business

 

[cds0699]

I have the epic and i am on my second one so many problems how do i root it? if you do not mind telling me how do not know to much about that rooting business

Hi there, you might want to take a look at this thread in the "Epic 4G all things root" section (its one of the stickies). This thread has many how to videos specifically for the Epic 4G (I also have a link in my sig).

Here is a video specifically for how to root using "one click root version 3.0.2.5" and its pretty easy to follow

YouTube - ‪How To root your Samsung Epic w/ one click root CWM 3.0.2.5‬‏

This is a direct link to qbking77/Tschofield7 youtube channel which also contains the videos, and a few more he's added recently.

YouTube - ‪qbking77's Channel‬‏

 

[sethman88]

I really thing the epic is a better phone, I have had mine about 3 weeks and so far (knocking on wood) no problems, I havent rooted mine but am looking into that, but I also run multiple emulators to play older nintendo and gameboy games and they work perfectly just as if I am 10 years younger again, my cousin has the shift, and she doesnt really like it from what she has told me she says it lags and freezes up a lot

 

[rounsy222]

I have an epic(rooted) and both my wife and step-daughter have the shift(stock) . I can give you my perspective on the differences. The screen and keyboard is the biggest physical difference. I am on my 3rd epic, my first 2 were within the first week of owning and first month of realease. 1st one on the first day just turned off and never came back on, second one i had horrible battery issues caused by ciq in the software and that one went directly to samsung. When they are that new, the first 30 days of release, they wont repair them, just replace with new. My 3rd one has been trouble free. Both my wife and step-daughter are on their 2nd, both have had issues with the volume keys and my wife is about ready to get her third. My wife has told me on more than one occasion that she wishes she would have gotten the epic instead. I have played with hers a bit and it really isn't as refined as the epic imho. Its not a bad phone but the epic is better all around.

 

[dbpaddler]

Owned both. Kept the epic nd gave shift to another rep.

Larger nicer screen
5 row keyboard
Cursor keys over th d-pad
Same weight and overall thickness as the Shift.

Shift isn't bad by any means. I'm just more productive with the epic as i work lot in DTG.

On the negative side, I'm on the latest gb leak with the ef10 modem and my gps works like a charm for about a half hour then drops out and won't come back unless I restart the phone. It screwed me on my trip to NY this weekend. Had about 8 turning options and I couldn't figure out the right one. Ended up back on the tpk and almost missed my race as I was running a bit behind as it was.

 

[Poweranimals]

Epic by far. The Evo Shift is nice, but not comparable to the Epic or Evo imho.

Wait. I thought the EVO Shift was just the EVO with a keyboard.

 

[dbpaddler]

The Shift has an 800mhz 2nd gen snapdragon vs the Evo with a 1ghz 1st gen snapdragon. Fairly minor difference there. Other than that, the Shift lacks a front facing camera, 4g, and I believe micro-HDMI.

 

[Poweranimals]

That's weird. I wonder why the downgrade.

 

[dbpaddler]

Shrug. I don't know why they didn't go with the design of the Arrive and the much nicer keyboard, cursor keys and tilting screen.

 

[cds0699]

The Shift has an 800mhz 2nd gen snapdragon vs the Evo with a 1ghz 1st gen snapdragon. Fairly minor difference there. Other than that, the Shift lacks a front facing camera, 4g, and I believe micro-HDMI.

Just one correction... Shift is a 4G phone.

HTC EVO Shift? 4G at Sprint

 

[dbpaddler]

My bad. I actually knew that (having owned the dumb thing). Guess I was on a roll...

 

[tylerdurdin]

My bad. I actually knew that (having owned the dumb thing). Guess I was on a roll...

You also new that Samsung has a A8 cortex Hummingbird processor

 

[dbpaddler]

Yes, I did no that

Speaking of which, I'm playing with a Sidekick 4g. Didn't realize it has the guts of an Epic. Wish it had the screen of one too, but the phone actually isn't half bad. Still painful thinking about switching to Tmob with no 4" slider to replace the Epic. slider

You also new that Samsung has a A8 cortex Hummingbird processor