Stop right there. There
isn't a phone that has similar specs to the Evo. Put aside the screen size, the larger battery, the dual cameras, the 1GB ROM and 8GB internal storage, the rumored Froyo debut, and the built-in wifi hotspot ... no phone --
repeat, NO PHONE -- can compete with 4G. Its like ...
a whole other G added to 3G.
If you're in a 4G city and you pass on the Evo, then I have no sympathy for you and your impending buyer's remorse.
I was drooling over the EVO, but I came up with a few issues:
1. The front facing camera is reserved for future use right now - no telling when video calling will be enabled and whether or not it will strictly require 4G. (On a side note, this is the intention of Verizon's deal with Skype such that LTE will enable video calling and I think you'll see their LTE phones starting to include front facing cameras.)
2. I live in the suburbs of a city that has 4G - Baltimore. But that's just it, it's mostly in the city and the immediate surrounding area which isn't that useful to me, especially since the better residential areas are a bit further away from the city with a few exceptions. It's not available where I live. It is where I work which would be a plus.
3. Putting 2 in perspective, the wireless hotspot feature isn't free, but even if you pony up, it's a beneficial feature for 4G, again which isn't avaialable everywhere. I'm not spending a lot of time in Philly or Baltimore, and if you travel, you have a high probability of the hotspot feature being relegated to 3G (or worse?). Uh, can't I do that with Verizon?
4. Supposedly Verizon will get a version of the EVO down the road (early next year?) which piques my interest with LTE about to be turned on in 25-30 markets. The EVO with superior coverage would be awesome. Let's face it, Verizon's 4G will expand far faster than Sprint's so a Verizon version of the EVO would be a better 2 year investment, even a year later than Sprint's. This, of course, assumes no larger disparity in pricing comes with 4G.
I do like the idea of the larger screen. I'm not sure I'm ready to part with the optical trackpad, though I've never used an Android phone so we'll have to see how useful it really is for me. I absolutely love the idea of mini-HDMI on a phone. It's about the only thing that makes me jealous of Sprint customers with the EVO. I'll be more than happy with the Incredible and Verizon's coverage, and I'll use my annual upgrade if something worthy with 4G comes along in the next 12 months for Verizon.
