Evo 4G vs Epic 4G

Seems people are often confusing perception with actual quality. A devices weight has absolutely nothing to do with durability or how well the device works. There seems to be a lot of emphasis on weight, which is completely useless for durability comparisons. Hardware wise, Samsung has some of the most durable equipment on the market, and you really can't say the same about that with HTC. I've had 3 HTC Models fall apart on me, and no Samsungs, just for personal experience there.

UI - This is all really subjective, and for me, and many others, is completely moot, as I will be replacing touchwiz with my launcher of choice, LauncherPro Plus.

Software - Neither HTC or Samsung are known for rock solid software.

Speed - This hands down goes to the EPIC. I mean, the EPIC Hummingbird is just plain old faster(at same clock speeds) than any Snapdragon device in existence, period. This is irrefutable, for now.

SAMOLED vs LCD - SAMOLED Hands down. Being in the graphics industry myself, and having to do Pantone PMS color matching and other things, I get genuinely tell you the SAMOLED reproduces brighter, more vibrant, and closer matching colors than even the iP4's "retina" display. You really need to have an eye for colors and color matching to make a comparison like this.

Radios - This is where Samsung gets a little flaky. I'll need a little more hands on time once I obtain my own Epic 4G to make a comparison with a friends eVo using db comparisons, and not bars.

IOWA said:

Seems people are often confusing perception with actual quality. A devices weight has absolutely nothing to do with durability or how well the device works. There seems to be a lot of emphasis on weight, which is completely useless for durability comparisons. Hardware wise, Samsung has some of the most durable equipment on the market, and you really can't say the same about that with HTC. I've had 3 HTC Models fall apart on me, and no Samsungs, just for personal experience there.

UI - This is all really subjective, and for me, and many others, is completely moot, as I will be replacing touchwiz with my launcher of choice, LauncherPro Plus.

Software - Neither HTC or Samsung are known for rock solid software.

Speed - This hands down goes to the EPIC. I mean, the EPIC Hummingbird is just plain old faster(at same clock speeds) than any Snapdragon device in existence, period. This is irrefutable, for now.

SAMOLED vs LCD - SAMOLED Hands down. Being in the graphics industry myself, and having to do Pantone PMS color matching and other things, I get genuinely tell you the SAMOLED reproduces brighter, more vibrant, and closer matching colors than even the iP4's "retina" display. You really need to have an eye for colors and color matching to make a comparison like this.

Radios - This is where Samsung gets a little flaky. I'll need a little more hands on time once I obtain my own Epic 4G to make a comparison with a friends eVo using db comparisons, and not bars.

Click to expand...

Speed? What does the Epic actually do faster? It doesn't open web pages faster even In lower quality, it doesn't get faster internet, the capacitive buttons are far slower and it certainly doesn't lock gps as fast or better. So what trivial tasks does the epic do minutely faster that you are refering to because in my book the major stuff it loses.
Oh yeah and you can't use the app drawer faster either because they made it like the iPhone, one page at a time.

I don't want to hear supposed to based on specs, let's hear something quantifiable that can make up for all the places it falls short on speed.

And touchwiz is garbage, anyone who says otherwise is in denial. If it were the other way around and the EVO had touchwiz and the epic sense you would say the epic won hands down.

Quantifiable uh...have both run Google Earth. There will be a difference.

dbpaddler said:

Gotta love the two minute demo opinions (not to mention the OBVIOUS bias) on a phone that's been abused by everybody and their brother walking in the store...

Click to expand...

Im not sure if this was at all directed towards me among others, but Ill respond anyway. I apologize if my previous post was short, I just didnt want to go into long detail.

I was in the store at opening bell on release day and was the first person to have access to the Epic out of the box. I will admit that I only messed around with it for about 10 minutes, but I used it hand in hand with my Evo. I didnt find it to be as poor a build as others have reviewed, however I didnt find any obvious advantage over the EVO.

All in all seemed like a great phone, just not one that at that time tempted me out of my EVO. I hope I dont come off as an EVO fanboy, as I spent hours prior to my EVO purchase looking at video/blog reviews of both phones, and made sure to wait until within my 30 day return policy of the EVO to buy so that I could decide on the EPIC if I preferred it.

I would believe your comment wasnt really directed at me, I just couldnt let it go with out a small response.

EarlyMon said:

Just a thought - the issues on both phones are interesting enough without name-calling.

Click to expand...

Reminder!

Feel free to debate the topic and about the phones (but do so POLITELY)!!!



Back on topic.... my wife has an Evo. I've played with the Epic for a bit. There are DISADVANTAGES to both phones; there are also ADVANTAGES to both phones.

Personally, I think I'll be getting the Epic. If I hate it, I've got 30 days to exchange it

my only point in the "validity" of opinions is people who have owned a device for awhile, are used to it, have personalized it to their liking and so forth. They then walk into a store and pick up a new device and play for five minutes and then use words like crap, garbage, cheap and other grade school jargon to give an opinion. If that sounds like your post (generally speaking) then yes, I mean you.

Build quality is described as garbage because it is light, but the phone is no less flexible than the Evo which is only one piece and heavier. The Epic has more torsion rigidity than the Evo actually. There's obviously more, but when you have a favorite device you're used to and like, it's quite obvious a quick play with a new device you're approaching with skepticism is going to provide a negative opinion. Combine that with the tone and verbiage of those opinions and it's hard to take them seriously. Of course this is an Evo forum, and I don't expect much more from the Evo owners posting. It's fine to like one over the other, but the way you go about making a point does lend credibility to the point being made. "Epic sucks. Evo ftw" type statements are just dumb.

And in talking Sense and TouchWiz, even Iowa's statement, while well written with good points, even reduces these overlays to just a launcher when both go deeper to improve the functionality of stock android. So listening to the Sense/TouchWiz arguments really make zero sense (no pun intended) because nobody seems to get past the fact it's more than a launcher. Nobody covers the extra functionality, and I'd actually like to see lists of what the two do bring to the table outside of the launcher which both don't hold a candle to the 3rd party options.

I also own an Evo, and I like it a lot. I've owned it since day one. It does everything very well and a ton better than the Hero and Moment. The big screen is definitely enticing. But I'm a hard keyboard person and that's just how it is. I have zero loyalty to any phone, manufacturer or OS. I don't develop loyalty to any of them. I just like what works for me. I'm lucky enough to be able to own a bunch of phones and compare them as I manage our sprint account for work and have to field all the problems, questions and such. So I get to do more than just the 5 minute once over in the store. Owning and using both phones off and on is probably why I go out of my way to post in these comparison threads and try (not always succeed) to sound objective to both sides.

Someone also mentioned speed and web pages. Last I checked, navigating through the OS, opening and loading apps, switching between apps, start up time, game play and so forth are also areas where speed matters. Those areas are where the Epic seems to excel. It might be slight, but it's noticeable. It just seems to have a little more zip during general use.

Excellent and well-made points, dbpaddler. Good read.

thanks, and sorry for rambling on so much. I tend to do it quite a bit when up on the soapbox

Maybe I just don't understand why a s-amoled screen is better because I can't see it. I just sold my Samsung captivate on at&t. After spending 5 days with it it seemed to be more pixely. I had a harder time reading small text and had to zoom in unlike on my Evo. I also found it to be 'too bright.' Anyone else feel the same way?

geek_riot said:

Maybe I just don't understand why a s-amoled screen is better because I can't see it. I just sold my Samsung captivate on at&t. After spending 5 days with it it seemed to be more pixely. I had a harder time reading small text and had to zoom in unlike on my Evo. I also found it to be 'too bright.' Anyone else feel the same way?

Click to expand...

It all comes to preferences. My wife the screen on her Evo.... I prefer the screen of the Epic.

I hate potatoes, she loves potatoes.... Same concept.

preference is one thing. outdoors it's no contest. I posted pics of the evo and epic side by side, same info on the screen. One with full brightness and one with auto brightness. The Evo screen was unreadable. Looked like someone whitewashed the whole thing. Anything of color looked like a pastel. The Epic was fairly easy to read and I was able to download an MLB app and get it up and running to listen to the phillies game while at the beach. I wouldn't have been able to do that on the evo. It was actually nice being able to use the phone well while in the bright sunlight. But that's just one aspect to it and might not be a big deal with some. We have used our regular screened phones outdoors long before SAMOLED came around.

For me, the only time I can see pixels is if I have it close enough to my face it makes my eyes hurt. I just get lost in the depth of the blacks and richness of color so maybe I overlook some of the drawbacks people have mentioned.

One thing I don't like on the Epic is Touch Wiz infects the status bar and other areas giving icons this odd colored background. Looks cartoonish like their icon treatment in the TouchWiz launcher. It just doesn't look clean, but I guess it gives it more "pop". I've got enough pop on screen. Would be nice if it were a little more professional looking. Another plus on the Sense side there.

I've had my EVO for a month now, and my wife just got her Epic a couple of days ago. It probably comes down to familiarity, but I prefer my EVO. Her screen looks AMAZING compared to mine, but I can't get around in TouchWiz nearly as easily. I wouldn't trade mine in for an Epic (and she probably would have gotten an EVO instead if she could have found one prior to the Epic launch!).

CrashGordon said:

I've had my EVO for a month now, and my wife just got her Epic a couple of days ago. It probably comes down to familiarity, but I prefer my EVO. Her screen looks AMAZING compared to mine, but I can't get around in TouchWiz nearly as easily. I wouldn't trade mine in for an Epic (and she probably would have gotten an EVO instead if she could have found one prior to the Epic launch!).

Click to expand...

I agree TouchWiz isn't my thing, but with either Epic or Evo I'd use LP Plus, so it's a wash for me.

How does getting around in TouchWiz differ from getting around in Sense?

CrashGordon said:

but I can't get around in TouchWiz nearly as easily.

Click to expand...

I think that person meant ease of use.

I was just curious. Outside of a few modified apps and a couple of widgets it's still android. Thought he might have some specific differences for some compare and contrast.

Phone Dog bumped the Evo and made the Epic the new champ

Epic 4G takes top spot in PhoneDog's Best Smartphones rankings

dbpaddler said:

I was just curious. Outside of a few modified apps and a couple of widgets it's still android. Thought he might have some specific differences for some compare and contrast.

Click to expand...

TouchWiz just seems a little clunkier. Maybe it's just the look, but I'd swear it doesn't act as fluid. Again, I'm not sure if that's just because I'm more familiar with Sense or if there's something more to it (a lot of reviews state the same thing). And I really like the Sense widgets a lot better--they seem to be a little more refined.

By the way, my wife's Epic does have a little insensitivity on the back arrow button. I know others are complaining about this as well with one or more of the android buttons. She's considering a return and this is a replacement phone after her first one had no function on the home button.

One thing I've realized with the bottom buttons, is that you have to press it precisely on the button. It helps to set the functions so that the backlights for the buttons match the lighting of the screen timewise.

CrashGordon said:

TouchWiz just seems a little clunkier. Maybe it's just the look, but I'd swear it doesn't act as fluid. Again, I'm not sure if that's just because I'm more familiar with Sense or if there's something more to it (a lot of reviews state the same thing). And I really like the Sense widgets a lot better--they seem to be a little more refined.

By the way, my wife's Epic does have a little insensitivity on the back arrow button. I know others are complaining about this as well with one or more of the android buttons. She's considering a return and this is a replacement phone after her first one had no function on the home button.

Click to expand...

It is clunkier. That's why you replace it with things like ADWlauncher/Launcher Pro. Then it'll be smooth sailing. Things like Sense can be replace as well...to be a very similar experience.

Got a chance to play with the epic at a srpint store today....ran FPS2D and Quadrant....It scored about a 900 in quadrant but was averaging about 56FPS....and see how the EPIC is a 2.1 Device with no JIT Compiler that Quadrant score isnt really accurate..Besides performance i like the Chick-let style keyboard and the screen quality but i would still choose my EVO if i had a choice today.....

Phone itself felt a little flimpsy i dont know whether its because it was over handled at the sprint store or what but it didnt feel solid in the hand

To me it all comes down to whether you want a keyboard or not

I for one have an Evo and the reason I'd pick the Evo over the Epic is because of the development following for HTC devices is much greater than that of Samsung devices... Example, go look at the developer threads on XDA and compare the activity.

Next, I'd like to say HTC Sense UI is hands down better than other companies UI overlay... It's waaay me than just a launcher. ADW/Launcher Pro doesn't do things like integrate your FB contacts and albums or improve the copy & paste ability.

Hardware wise, I too feel like the Epic feels kinda cheap (reminds me of the Palm pre build), keyboard feels nice tho. The screen when I looked at it in the store, I expected more of a wow experience based on how the people say it's so great, but honestly not wow'd. I'll admit the colors looked pretty good however I watched a youtube video and thief colors looked over saturated to me (maybe it was the lighting?)...

One Beast said:

Got a chance to play with the epic at a srpint store today....ran FPS2D and Quadrant....It scored about a 900 in quadrant but was averaging about 56FPS....and see how the EPIC is a 2.1 Device with no JIT Compiler that Quadrant score isnt really accurate..Besides performance i like the Chick-let style keyboard and the screen quality but i would still choose my EVO if i had a choice today.....

Phone itself felt a little flimpsy i dont know whether its because it was over handled at the sprint store or what but it didnt feel solid in the hand

To me it all comes down to whether you want a keyboard or not

Click to expand...

I thought the same yesterday when I played with one at the Sprint store for the first time...I think it's the fact that we have 3000mAh batteries adding solid bulk and weight My phone feels like a tank lol.

That's why I constantly tell people Wiz and Sense are more than a launcher. Sense is the cleanest and most integrated UI enhancement, though I don't understand why they had to drop the integrated inbox from their email app. Why take away good features of stock android. Though I'm looking forward to seeing Gingerbread debut. The revamped UI should give the Sense, Wiz and Blur a run for their money, and I hope the cast off from Palm can inject some webOS polish to it as well. The current crop of phones in general are finally strong enough to hopefully stick around for a bit unlike their predecessors.

Developer support is nice, and Samsung won't lack in it, but for many hardware still comes down as a major factor in their choice often outweighing some features and often bringing about some compromises. Only so many people will root, load roms and such. The masses don't.

steb0ne said:

I for one have an Evo and the reason I'd pick the Evo over the Epic is because of the development following for HTC devices is much greater than that of Samsung devices... Example, go look at the developer threads on XDA and compare the activity.

Next, I'd like to say HTC Sense UI is hands down better than other companies UI overlay... It's waaay me than just a launcher. ADW/Launcher Pro doesn't do things like integrate your FB contacts and albums or improve the copy & paste ability.

Click to expand...

dbpaddler said:

Developer support is nice, and Samsung won't lack in it, but for many hardware still comes down as a major factor in their choice often outweighing some features and often bringing about some compromises. Only so many people will root, load roms and such. The masses don't.

Click to expand...

I'm not too confident in Samsung after their Moment and Behold support..