First Impressions

[unplugged1]

I'm not trolling...

Your first few posts may not have qualified, but after six posts? Yes, you now fit the designation of a troll.

To claim you are not a verifiable Evo fan is somewhat comic given that your name and phone clearly identify you as such.

If you have disagreements with the massive amount of independent reviews that disagree with your opinion, fine; state your disagreement and then be gone. But to continually propound your view in the face of contrary fact is simply to be trolling the forum.

 

[uminchu]

I would disagree about your camera assessment though, not so much in comparison, more in terms of what constitutes image quality. At 4x6, I agree, the difference between 5 or 8 MP is irrelevant. But it starts to matter in a hurry if you need to crop and/or enlarge. More than that, the software, low light noise, the lens, and the protection of the lens also come into play. For important pics, cell phone cameras are a bad choice in general, always go with a camera designed to be a camera, and I would not choose a phone based on its camera. That said, sometimes all you have on hand is your phone, and regardless of total pixels, not all cell phone cameras are created equal. Admittedly a small point, maybe not important at all to some (or most).

 

[Drop Knowledge]

In my opinion, these phones aren't even comparable, but everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion. Maybe his testing has indeed shown better signal for the 3D, but I've also seen users on these forums say that they've seen the 3D get better reception one place, and the MoPho/ET4G w/ better signal somewhere else. Maybe this is the case for the area(s) in which he's tested the devices.

 

[Lefort1]

From an unbiased perspective who owns neither. I've watched, tested, all 3 of Sprint's latest phones (Evo3D, MoPho, Epic Touch).

And IMO the Epic Touch outclasses all of them. My significant other who's not a phone geek (owns an iphone) and whom I've tried to convert to Android commented on the Epic Touch as "being the first android phone she would even consider buying."

Dolphin browser or not, the Evo 3D still doesn't match the browsing experience of the epic touch (especially when flash in loaded).

Honestly the only thing holding me back from jumping into the Epic Touch is the Nexus Prime.

 

[BenChase7]

...And the Epic 4G Touch

That is the impression I got as well. I thought I heard both the EVO 3D and the Epic Touch were capable of the new frequency(s) (ESMR) involved with the Network Vision upgrade. Can you (or anyone) help me find proof of this? Thanks!

 

[Sammael]

The EVO 3D is not "my" phone. Since I work for Sprint I get to try out a lot of phones.

@Sammael, the browser is really a lame comparison as any knowledgeable user won't be using the stock browser anyways. With Dolphin the EVO 3D loads pages just as quickly as the SGS2. Also the camera is not any better. They seem to be about the same in image quality. The EVO 3D did not sacrifice image quality for 3D. The human eye will not be able to distinguish any difference in resolution between 8MP and 5MP. The color, lighting, focus, etc are what matters and they seem to be about equal.

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on these points. I have never seen a head to head dolphin browser speed test between the two devices, just comparing the stock browers, and there samsung did a much better job optimizing speed, coupled with a faster chip inside. It stands to reason that even given equal browser optimizations, the gs2 variants will load things faster, especially content like flash which are a bit more delayed. If you want something more scientific the benchmarks have been done hundreds of times, and the gsII variants are precisely in a "different class."

Not htc's fault there, samsung makes their own chips which just happen to be the fastest on the market now, same deal with having first dibs on the samoled screens, but it is a reality. And for all we know the top chip maker could easily change in the coming year with next gen quad core phones that are open to all device makers.


But let's say with proper software its so close to the point of irrelevance, you still have the camera choices. I think it was a bad move to go the 3d route, the lower quality 5 MP camera in the evo 3d are not as good as the 8MP camera in the gs2 variants, and its not just about MP, but that does help a bit.

Same thing with video, the 1080p video on the gs2 variants looks pretty good and seems to be recorded towards the higher bitrate scale for 1080p.

This was the better design decision, this is a subjective value judgment, I prefer the decision to do the core things better (i.e. better still/video quality) vs split resources to field gimmicks and lower the overall quality in the process.

It's like buying cheaper pc speakers, I'd much rather pay 100 dollars for a pair of 2.0 speakers with no subwoofer than spend that 100 on a 2.1 system, at that price point the money will be split between 3 pieces of equipment instead of 2, and the average quality per component suffers as a result in general.

 

[unplugged1]

That is the impression I got as well. I thought I heard both the EVO 3D and the Epic Touch were capable of the new frequency(s) (ESMR) involved with the Network Vision upgrade. Can you (or anyone) help me find proof of this? Thanks!

Here is a brief answer. Yes, the E4GT does support rev.B -

Sprint Vision Network Enhancements: EvDO Rev B, 1X Advanced, Much Faster 3G Speeds On The Way – GizmoFusion

I also did find an initial disagreement on xda-developers about whether the Evo3D shared the same capability as the Epic 4G Touch, but it was apparently agreed that the Evo3D could also do the Network Vision upgrade, as well as the E4GT.

network vision multimode aka evdo rev b from sprint - Page 3 - xda-developers

As quoted on from Tech 7 on this thread: "Epic touch and evo 3d are more advanced, so they will hit 19 mps on 3g." (With generous grammatical improvements added for clarity.)

The entire discussion, which is educational and interesting (at least for me!) can be found here:

network vision multimode aka evdo rev b from sprint - xda-developers

Another poster noted: "I have found that Samsung also is providing the infrastructure for Sprints back hauling of the 1x do Advanced.....which makes me want to get the Epic Touch.....now my situation is the MOPHO that has such great wireless reception for an uncertain wireless antenna in the Epic Touch, an my 30 days end Saturday!. My thinking is with Samsung doing the back haul the Epic "should" work just fine in the wireless reception with its on back hauling equipment.....no?"

But most of the argument centered on whether the Evo3D had the ability. The ET4G was assumed to have the ability to work with the Sprint Vision Upgrade.

 

[BenChase7]

^
Nice work... Thank you!

 

[lynn125]

Played with Photon & Epic. Love to larger size, screen, and light weight on the epic, but I REALLY liked the way the photon can be hooked to a monitor with the adapter. Very impressive. It may push me to the photon side. Any thoughts about this feature which I am told is not available on the Epic.

 

[simcha]

I'm just clearing something up. In earlier posts people are saying that the Photon isn't EVDO Rev B compatible. It is. You can read about it in a thread I created here with links for more information if you want it:

http://androidforums.com/motorola-photon-4g/416536-photon-evdo-rev-b-compatible.html

 

[Sycobob]

Played with Photon & Epic. Love to larger size, screen, and light weight on the epic, but I REALLY liked the way the photon can be hooked to a monitor with the adapter. Very impressive. It may push me to the photon side. Any thoughts about this feature which I am told is not available on the Epic.

You just need an adapter: For only $11.90 each when QTY 50+ purchased - Micro USB to HDMI MHL Adapter - Black | MHL Adapters

 

[Damar1979]

the funny thing, with the htc evo 3d, I was complaining about how it overheated, and that the screen turns gray in daylight. with the photon, I complained about random reboots, sleep of death, and how the music app stalled depending on the signal the phone had. I have yet to find a complaint about the epic touch. Loving it!!

 

[apinkel]

Just a point of clarification... SMR is a frequency range currently used by sprint's iDen push-to-talk network. This network will be transitioning off of the 800mhz smr frequency to the 1900mhz CDMA frequency.

Last I heard sprint had not formally announced what the SMR 800mhz frequency will be used for when the iden transition is complete.

There's a bunch of stuff wrapped up under the network vision stuff (1x advanced, moving iDen to CDMA frequencies, consolidating tower hardware, building out the backhaul, etc.) so it's difficult to keep straight what is all going on.

Honestly I don't know which features of network vision the SGS2 supports. My hope is that it supports 1x advanced (which according to qualcomm specs should allow simultaneous talk and data SVDO) as well as Rev B (faster 3G speeds). It may support CDMA push-to-talk... although that's not a feature I really care much about.

Edit: Corrected SMR frequency info.

 

[So-Low Da Don]

Just a point of clarification... SMR is a frequency range currently used by sprint's iDen push-to-talk network. This network will be transitioning off of the 900mhz smr frequency to the 1900mhz CDMA frequency.

Last I heard sprint had not formally announced what the SMR 900mhz frequency will be used for when the iden transition is complete. I haven't checked all the low level specs but I don't believe the Evo 3D or the SGS2 have 900mhz radios in them.

There's a bunch of stuff wrapped up under the network vision stuff (1x advanced, moving iDen to CDMA frequencies, consolidating tower hardware, building out the backhaul, etc.) so it's difficult to keep straight what is all going on.

Honestly I don't know which features of network vision the SGS2 supports. My hope is that it supports 1x advanced (which according to qualcomm specs should allow simultaneous talk and data) as well as Rev B (faster 3G speeds). It may support CDMA push-to-talk... although that's not a feature I really care much about.

Isn't it 800mhz instead of 900? Because the EVO 3D and the SGS2 have 800mhz frequencies. And I heard somewhere that the SGS2 did support 1x advanced, I'll look for a link.

 

[apinkel]

You are correct. iDen is in the 800 mhz range. My bad.

Verizon also uses 800mhz range and most sprint phones support 800mhz for roaming on verizon's towers.

So now the question is if that same 800mhz CDMA radio used for accessing Verizon towers can serve double duty as the radio for whatever sprint decides to use the SMR frequencies for.

 

[Sycobob]

I thought Sprint was dropping push to talk altogether?

 

[apinkel]

No, they are moving push to talk (marketing term is Direct Connect) to CDMA.
Sprint Newsroom | Sprint Direct Connect FAQ

They just released their first CDMA push to talk phones:
Sprint launches first CDMA push-to-talk phones | Dialed In - CNET Blogs

 

[Sycobob]

Gotcha. So my impression at this point is that when they finish these network changes it should expand coverage and improve reception right? While I can live with my current coverage, it's slow and I'm roaming pretty much everywhere on campus.

 

[apinkel]

Yes, the 1x Advanced and the Evdo Rev B enhancements are supposed to help improve coverage. How much that translates into real world improvements remains to be seen.

 

[Kori_Tamashii]

I was reluctant to leave HTC phones... but I just couldn't pass up on the specs for this thing... Still getting used to it, but man, I am in LOVE with this phone.

I'm coming from an Evo Shift, so the size difference is huge, but I have big hands and I'm learning fast how to properly handle this beast. Loooooove it.

 

[Tommydaniel]

I'm not trolling, just providing my "First Impressions" of the phone as this thread is titled. The EVO 3D is not "my" phone. Since I work for Sprint I get to try out a lot of phones.

@Sammael, the browser is really a lame comparison as any knowledgeable user won't be using the stock browser anyways. With Dolphin the EVO 3D loads pages just as quickly as the SGS2. Also the camera is not any better. They seem to be about the same in image quality. The EVO 3D did not sacrifice image quality for 3D. The human eye will not be able to distinguish any difference in resolution between 8MP and 5MP. The color, lighting, focus, etc are what matters and they seem to be about equal.

A sunset taken with the Evo 3D...

And a sunset taken with the Epic Touch...

It's pretty clear which one is the hands down winner as far as image quality. You can even look through both galleries on Engadget and see the Epic Touch trumps the 3D every single picture.

 

[So-Low Da Don]

Gotcha. So my impression at this point is that when they finish these network changes it should expand coverage and improve reception right? While I can live with my current coverage, it's slow and I'm roaming pretty much everywhere on campus.

Here's a video that explains it a bit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?nomobile=1&v=Zp_jpIdr_uw

 

[unplugged1]

Here's a video that explains it a bit:

Introduction to Sprint Network Vision - YouTube

I looked at this video yesterday, and this morning an interesting thing occurred that may address the part of the video that states new devices will be able to select the strongest signal and use that.

I keep my 4G signal off unless there is a reason to use it. This morning, I went to get on some website, and I noticed that my 4G had turned on. Now how did that happen? I also noticed that it immediately went to sleep (Zzz) when it finished loading the web page. Has anyone else had the 4G turn on automatically?

 

[Tommydaniel]

I looked at this video yesterday, and this morning an interesting thing occurred that may address the part of the video that states new devices will be able to select the strongest signal and use that.

I keep my 4G signal off unless there is a reason to use it. This morning, I went to get on some website, and I noticed that my 4G had turned on. Now how did that happen? I also noticed that it immediately went to sleep (Zzz) when it finished loading the web page. Has anyone else had the 4G turn on automatically?

Mine actually did that just the other day. I was so confused.

 

[unplugged1]

Mine actually did that just the other day. I was so confused.

WTF? Was my reaction. How does it know there's a 4G, if the 4G radio isn't turned on? So now the video makes sense as to the phone doing the selecting.

BTW, my battery life on the E4GT thrashes my old Evo4G. I can actually make it through a day of moderate usage. Maybe all this inter connectivity works on our phones NOW and it increases battery life.

(For the first time, naming it the NOW Network actually makes sense.)