• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

EVO Design vs Samsung S2

kevincott

Android Expert
Jul 12, 2011
1,263
293
Chicago, IL
I am finally getting serious about upgrading my Prevail and I see that the EVO Design (Boost) can be bought right now for $230.

Obvious differences memory and single core processor aside, what are any shortcomings of the Design? I see talk about battery life, is that better under custom ROMs?

Would it be worth getting an EVO Design for $150 less after taxes or should I wait for the S2?
 
I'm not sure where you're getting your numbers but last I heard the S2 was going to be 370 and the Design is 300. I could be wrong, but if I'm not I'd probably just wait for the S2. If you do, buy it ASAP because it might be getting yanked from the market due to the Samsung vs Apple patent beef.

edit to add: I guess maybe you're looking at ebay or something like that?
 
Upvote 0
I'm not sure where you're getting your numbers but last I heard the S2 was going to be 370 and the Design is 300. I could be wrong, but if I'm not I'd probably just wait for the S2. If you do, buy it ASAP because it might be getting yanked from the market due to the Samsung vs Apple patent beef.

edit to add: I guess maybe you're looking at ebay or something like that?

Radioshack has the EVO Design at $229 (stores like Best Buy will pricematch) until 01 Sept; $140 plus tax is over $150 savings vs an S2.
 
Upvote 0
Well it's hard to say since I've never owned an s2. I have owned a lot of androids and the evo is good. It has a solid feel to it. Battery life is meh but is better with custom roms. I'd imagine the Dev community is bigger with the s2. But that's a pretty good price for an evo. I just don't like sense and the battery cover is a bit flimsy for me but otherwise it's a solid phone
 
  • Like
Reactions: kevincott
Upvote 0
Just got my s2 not to long ago, I do miss the HTC sense, but I love how easy it is to take the battery off unlike the HTC which its a job. I like the charging port is at the bottom, the s2 has a better picture and the cameras pictures are noticeable better. The bigger screen is nice. If you can afford the difference, get it youll be very happy with it ..
 
  • Like
Reactions: soyyo150
Upvote 0
Single core vs dual core? There should be no comparison the EVO is great phone for low end but one it is old and slow compared to newer platforms can not compete with the sgs2 or even the sgs3

I dont really notice any lag on mine even for games I play (Ok i dont play fancy games) But all my apps play smooth and load fast I dont see any reason to have dual core if it may hurt battery life. Im not saying the SGS2 isnt alot better just I dont see that much need for upgraded as everything I do seams to be fast. I know other people may want 8 core and 2TB of space but it really depends on how you will use your phone for what you need.
 
Upvote 0
The design is a very good phone but so was the house phones of the 60s. The galaxy is way ahead of the little evo. You will see a lag when resetting screens.

What do you mean by resetting screens?
I do notice lag going to the Recent apps screen. I think mostly because they feel they need to have animation for everything.

Actually I still have one of those 60's style rotor phone, their awesome! Could have a nuke go off and it would still work doesn't need power at the house, rings really loud, and so much more durable then any 2 or 3 phones put to gather from the made in china age.

That said I can totally seeing upgrading the EvoD for a bigger screen, more on device space, brighter screen, and better camera. And The ability to have a large battery. I wont get another Smartphone if I cant get a extra large size battery. Stupid how manufacturers want thin and light when really heavy (quality feeling) and more battery is much better idea.
 
Upvote 0
I ordered the S2 when it first came out, played with it for two days and returned it. I bought the Evo Design 4G from Radio Shack and had the two to compare to for a day. The only thing that stood out for me on the S2 was the haptic feedback. It was way better, it just felt "right", the feedback on the Evo was just a vibration.

Ultimately it was the size of the phone that made me return it. Maybe it's because I have small hands, but I just didn't feel comfortable holding the phone.
 
Upvote 0
Samsung all the way...trust me...you won't regret it. I have owned Evo Design...Oh man it is lagging....may be because of single core running on ICS. My Samsung transform ultra has same cpu as evo design; but it ran like a dual core device. I just retire the evo design and go back to TU. I will wait for Samsung galaxy s II to come down the price; then I will jump in for one. Although evo design never crash on me; but it makes me uncomfortable to use because of lagging in some application especially in browser.
 
Upvote 0
Samsung all the way...trust me...you won't regret it. I have owned Evo Design...Oh man it is lagging....may be because of single core running on ICS. My Samsung transform ultra has same cpu as evo design; but it ran like a dual core device. I just retire the evo design and go back to TU. I will wait for Samsung galaxy s II to come down the price; then I will jump in for one. Although evo design never crash on me; but it makes me uncomfortable to use because of lagging in some application especially in browser.


Another stupid design from HTC for the battery. Why the hell they design their battery installed in the slot with a cover. Design like this, there will be no super extented battery like 3500mah available for it. Samsung is awesome design because its battery slot is open....No wonder Samsung is number one killing Nokia...

Another thing, HTC evo design has bad quality call; that is another reason that I go back to my samsung transform ultra.
 
Upvote 0
the S2 has a plastic outer casing around the screen so there is a much higher likelyhood of the touch screen shattering or getting cracks as a result of a accidental drop.

My HTC Design is a tank. I've dropped it twice back when I used to work at Wal-Mart and this was on hard concrete from over 5 feet with the second drop caused the battery to fall out. But put it back together and rebooted and it just shrugged it off. :D

Oh and I did not and still don't have any case protector or screen protector on this phone and only scratch on it after all this time is a hairline scratch at the very top that you would actually have to angle to the phone in a bright light just to see it. :D

The HTC Design has an aluminum or some other type of metal as the frame holding the phone together and the screen area is also held in place by the metalic part of the frame. So of coarse, the HTC will be much more sturdy. :D

Also, after going to my sister's piano recital, I used both my mom's S2 and my phone to record the event on video. The first thing I noticed is that the S2 has white balance issues and appears to have a smaller field of view and is also grainy despite recording at the max resolution of 1080p that it advertised in the specs. Perhaps it's Samsung's crappy camera app that might be at fault for it. (since both were on default auto settings in terms of auto focus and white balance/scene type)

My Design's video only goes to 1280x720, but it has a much easier time coping with fluorescent lighting and isn't grainy at all. :D

However the only con I've noticed with the Design is that it's got a terrible antenna design. Why the hell is half the antenna placed into the battery door? The result is sh**y 4G reception. :(
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones