Why did you choose the EVO Shift?

JoshUng · Jan 10, 2011

Just wondering what you are looking forward to in the EVO shift? I'm one of those people who look at the upfront cost of the phone as a secondary factor, so the $50 different wouldn't affect me?

Is the keyboard a big draw for you? Or is it more about what this phone isn't as compared to the original EVO (e.g, it isn't huge).

I know the processor is newer, and supposedly faster (much of what I heard is that the new processor is faster, but since the phones are 800MZ on it, instead of 1GZ on the old, they end up running the same).

Just wondering if I'm missing something. I'm indifferent to hard keyboards, so perhaps I'm underestimating its appeal, but for an extra $50 upfront, I'm just wondering what will cause people to get this instead of an original EVO? I wouldn't really call $150 midrange, which I've heard people refer to this phone as (and I wouldn't consider the phone, spec-wise to be midrange either).

avogadro · Jan 10, 2011

What sold me is the size of the phone. The 4.3 inch display of the Evo is brilliant but to me, a little too large to fit comfortably on my persons. The smaller screen but the same resolution 800x480, in theory, will look sharper on the smaller screen. The onscreen keyboard in landscape is large enough to type confortable without many errors. I realized that video chatting with a FFC is not a realistic expectation for me to have with a phone so I did not need that appliance. With the phone being only slightly thicker than my hero, I welcomed the device happily, it fit into my jeans comfortable without the constant nagging and oversized bulge one could expect from an EVO 4g. The benchmark test done by Wirefly, I believe, ran the quadrant test next to the evo and the shift performed higher than it. The Shift has a better GPU and the second gen snapdragon, is a second gen snapdragon for a reason.

DWake014 · Jan 10, 2011

Because I couldn't stand my Moment anymore haha, but the quality felt great, reviews said it blew by the evo, the screen looked better than the evo b/c its the same resolution but a smaller size, and the camera was better as well. And honestly, I have an 8.5" long hand, but the evo still felt quite awkward in my hand, but the shift is perfect. This phone is so quick, I can't imagine how it can get faster haha.

avogadro · Jan 10, 2011

DWake014 said:
Because I couldn't stand my Moment anymore haha, but the quality felt great, reviews said it blew by the evo, the screen looked better than the evo b/c its the same resolution but a smaller size, and the camera was better as well. And honestly, I have an 8.5" long hand, but the evo still felt quite awkward in my hand, but the shift is perfect. This phone is so quick, I can't imagine how it can get faster haha.

Moto's new phones are benchmarked nearly twice as high as the Shift, if you can believe it. Coming in at 2400 or something insane like that.

dex4 · Jan 10, 2011

Overall size of the phone was the biggest factor in my decision.

Speed/processor is the second.

Keyboard would be the third.

JoshUng · Jan 10, 2011

For some reason, I thought the camera was only 5MP on Shift, I see now that its 8.

That all makes sense, when it was announced, a lot of sites brought up the prices difference. I couldn't imagine picking a phone that at first glance seemed inferior to the EVO just because it was $50 less though. I assumed it was mostly size and physical keyboard. I didn't realize the processor difference was that noticeable.

I don't use the FFC on my EVo that much, true. In general, I would want one mostly for future proofing.

avogadro · Jan 10, 2011

JoshUng said:
For some reason, I thought the camera was only 5MP on Shift, I see now that its 8.

That all makes sense, when it was announced, a lot of sites brought up the prices difference. I couldn't imagine picking a phone that at first glance seemed inferior to the EVO just because it was $50 less though. I assumed it was mostly size and physical keyboard. I didn't realize the processor difference was that noticeable.

I don't use the FFC on my EVo that much, true. In general, I would want one mostly for future proofing.

Camera is only 5MP

JoshUng · Jan 10, 2011

avogadro said:
Camera is only 5MP

I'll be damned. I googled it, top result said 8MP, I see your comment, google it again, same result, now it says 5.

Must've misread, or more likely, Google's trying to make me look foolish.

etbrandt · Jan 10, 2011

I was sick of the Hero.

As soon as I saw Sprint wasn't getting a Tegra 2 announced at CES I knew the wait would be too much to handle.

Shift got the nod because of the processor overclock potential and the improved GPU.

avogadro · Jan 10, 2011

JoshUng said:
I'll be damned. I googled it, top result said 8MP, I see your comment, google it again, same result, now it says 5.

Must've misread, or more likely, Google's trying to make me look foolish.

Google is quite capable of doing this, after all, they are taking over the world.

EarlyMon · Jan 10, 2011

Just noting - megapixels don't matter much in a cell phone - it's more the software, the sensor and that little lens.

My wife picked hers out for the above reasons - smaller than an Evo, way less bricky than her Moment, but a big upgrade over what she had. In her case, the extra dough is going towards a bigger SD card (but not right away) and a bigger phone would not be an upgrade for her, no matter the features included. She's pretty much preferring typing on glass now, but noted that was because of the checkerboard layout of her phone - this is far more normal with staggered keys, so she may go back away from glass typing.

(The Moment's keys are staggered, but they're like a checkerboard - the Shift has a more proper qwerty alignment.)

Mrstish79 · Jan 11, 2011

Fast as EVO
Smaller than EVO
Faster than my hero
Just the right size

docss26 · Jan 11, 2011

I had the EVO and since my dad was adding my brother who wanted the evo to the family plan, I decided to make the switch to the smaller phone. The evo was great and all, but it was just too big for my taste. The shift is great, but I dont really have any use for the keyboard. I'm glad I made the switch though.

Zardos · Jan 11, 2011

Got it for the keyboard.

Taking it back because of the screen and Sense.

Pengwinn · Jan 12, 2011

Zardos said:
Got it for the keyboard.

Taking it back because of the screen and Sense.

Not a fan of Sense?

silex · Jan 12, 2011

avogadro said:
What sold me is the size of the phone. The 4.3 inch display of the Evo is brilliant but to me, a little too large to fit comfortably on my persons. The smaller screen but the same resolution 800x480, in theory, will look sharper on the smaller screen. The onscreen keyboard in landscape is large enough to type confortable without many errors. I realized that video chatting with a FFC is not a realistic expectation for me to have with a phone so I did not need that appliance. With the phone being only slightly thicker than my hero, I welcomed the device happily, it fit into my jeans comfortable without the constant nagging and oversized bulge one could expect from an EVO 4g. The benchmark test done by Wirefly, I believe, ran the quadrant test next to the evo and the shift performed higher than it. The Shift has a better GPU and the second gen snapdragon, is a second gen snapdragon for a reason.

I felt kind of opposite. The phone albeit smaller in height and width is still thicker than an Evo by 0.11". With them both weighing about the same, it likes to bulge and sink low in my pocket.

bbong73 · Jan 12, 2011

For me I wanted a keyboard coming from the moment. So logical pick would have been the samsung epic. But I hear they are troubled with the same gps issues or similar to the moment. Samsung epic still doesnt have android 2.2 and probably will never get 2.3 IMO. The shift has 2.2 out of the box, will get 2.3 or maybe even 3.0 instead of 2.3. What else, size was right, evo is too big for me. Dont care for ffc. The shift is wicked fast, glad I got it.

oldpueblo · Jan 16, 2011

SenseUI
Pocket Size
Physical Keyboard
hardware is fast but not at the expense of decent battery life

I have been waiting a long time for that combo.

lordofthereef · Jan 16, 2011

Zardos said:
Got it for the keyboard.

Taking it back because of the screen and Sense.

JMO, but I am sure it is only a matter of time before we get modded ROMs out there (CM is almost guaranteed). If you don't like sense, you won't be forced to use it (for long). What didn't you like about that screen? Size? Quality? If quality, can you expound?

Matty Mo · Jan 16, 2011

Had the Evo, but took it back to get the Epic becuase i love a physical keyboard. Sold the Epic becuase i love Htc more then Samsung. The build feels better. I miss my screen resolution and the samsung ui for some odd reason, i guess i just got use to it...

docss26 · Jan 16, 2011

Matty Mo said:
Had the Evo, but took it back to get the Epic becuase i love a physical keyboard. Sold the Epic becuase i love Htc more then Samsung. The build feels better. I miss my screen resolution and the samsung ui for some odd reason, i guess i just got use to it...

I ditched the evo for the shift. I was contemplating the epic but didn't like the UI. Shouldn't have mattered though cause I used launcher pro anyways. Samsung phones feel really light and cheap imo. I dunno, I'm extremely happy with the shift and all it offers. The only gripes I have about it are the locations of the volume rocker and the charging port.

Matty Mo · Jan 16, 2011

Seems to be the most complained about items of the phone.

but the one thing i hate most about the phone is when you place a case on it and use the keyboard the lights they provide you with for the shift and symbol buttons get covered.

Zardos · Jan 17, 2011

lordofthereef said:
JMO, but I am sure it is only a matter of time before we get modded ROMs out there (CM is almost guaranteed). If you don't like sense, you won't be forced to use it (for long). What didn't you like about that screen? Size? Quality? If quality, can you expound?

I've decided to keep it now! After using it since it came out I got over the screen size feeling a bit small, it feels just right now. My battery life is pretty meh, but I work in a giant metal box with a bad signal, it gets me through the day now, but I pack an extra battery just in case. I'm putting up with Sense.

HTC and keyboard is pure win, this keyboard is seriously one of the best I've used, alot better than the Epic that I had for about a week and took back. The screen just seems a bit washed out sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't. I've started using a pure black background and everything seems to look better for some reason, maybe I'm crazy.

Honestly, I just wish it had a kickstand, that the only real thing I miss from the Evo.

The only other Android phones I would use are on t-Mobile, and T-mobile is terrible where I live, I dream of being able to put a G2 or Nexus One on Sprint though. You can't beat Sprints prices and repair centers.

Androidalltheway · Jan 17, 2011

is it noticably faster then the evo?, as far as screen transitions and selecting apps, the evo sometimes lags a half second

Matty Mo · Jan 17, 2011

The processor is "snappy" i think it has alot more smoothness and faster boot then the evo and the same as the epic.

Why did you choose the EVO Shift?

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