Looking for suggestions on what Sprint Android phone to buy?

[Fregger]

Hello World.

I am looking to buy a phone for my current carrier, Sprint, and I cannot decide between a few phones.

In my humble opinion, 3D in technology has always been a joke, and the HTC EVO 3D is no exception. So after doing research, I have my choice down to the Motorola Photon 4G, HTC Evo 4G/Evo, Google Nexus, and the Epic/ Epic 2 thats coming out (unless anybody has suggestions for a good Android phone for Sprint). My plan is to keep the phone with factory settings for a few months to get a full comprehensive understanding of the phone, then rooting it for full control (I read this is the best way to go about it instead of rooting it right off of the bat).

I would have just gone with the HTC Evo, as I like the look and feel of the phone as far as hardware. But the default software/OS it ships with looks like utter JUNK. My girlfriend recently got a Droid 2 under Verizon, and I think it has a much better, aesthetically pleasing feel as far as the UI. However, I understand that after rooting, I can put a different ROM on the phone to run in place of the default. After looking at the phones Cyanogen supports, I started to become hesitant on getting a Motorola Photon, because I don't want to get a phone that lacks support for things I may want to do in the future.

tl;dr/Generally: I am asking what Android phone under the Sprint carrier you all would recommend I buy. I am rather tech savvy and want a phone that will keep me happy long term. Thank you all in advance for your help.

 

[chanchan05]

The UI is easily replaced if that's your only problem with the Evo. You can get free launchers off the market. These launchers basically are your UI apps. For example, the default launcher on HTC is called Sense. You can just get Go Launcher EX or LauncherPro from the market and set it as default, you now have a brand new UI.

 

[Guamguy]

Exactly as the first suggestion made.

But if you like your GF's Droid interface (I am actually surprised that you did), you will like the Motorola Photon 4G interface even more.

A UI is like an app, and there are UI launchers in the Android Market that replace the main UI. One I would recommend is the Go Launcher EX. There are also apps that replace the lockscreen too, although I would consider the lockscreen the best part of the Sense 3.0 UI right now.

 

[Fregger]

Thank you for the replies. Its not that I liked the UI, its just that I liked it more in comparison. And thanks for the information on how easy it is to change the interface. I guess my preferred phone just depends on what size/hardware specs I prefer?

I guess I was initially wondering if the community largely preferred one phone over the others for reasons I may not have foreseen before the purchase.

 

[Saltine713]

The 3D makes me sick. I didn't like the EVO at all. Right now, it is still a gimmick until it is perfected.

 

[Sycobob]

I just bought a Photon and think it's a fantastic phone. I'm trading it in for the SGS2 next week though. It was the phone I wanted originally. Only con to the Photon is mediocre battery life. I'm still tinkering with things, but I'm barely scraping a full day out of it with minimal use.

 

[chanchan05]

The 3D makes me sick. I didn't like the EVO at all. Right now, it is still a gimmick until it is perfected.

Its not the 3D that makes the Evo 3D good. You can even disable the 3D if you dont want it. Its an excellent phone overall, and leaves the Evo in the dust in terms of performance as well:

Evo vs Evo 3D

TFT capacitive touch screen 65k colors vs LCD capacitive touch screen 16million colors
480x800pixels 4.3inch screen vs 540x960pixels 4.3inch screen
512mb RAM vs 1gb RAM
8mp camers vs dual 5mp camera (since you'll not be using 3D, Evo wins here)
1Ghz Scorpion processor vs 1.2Ghz dual core processor
Adreno 200GPU vs Adreno 220GPU
1500mah battery vs 1750mah battery (longer talk and standby times quoted for 3D as well


Basically the Evo 3D is better in every important category except for 2D imaging.

 

[Fregger]

Its not the 3D that makes the Evo 3D good. You can even disable the 3D if you dont want it. Its an excellent phone overall, and leaves the Evo in the dust in terms of performance as well:

Evo vs Evo 3D

TFT capacitive touch screen 65k colors vs LCD capacitive touch screen 16million colors
480x800pixels 4.3inch screen vs 540x960pixels 4.3inch screen
512mb RAM vs 1gb RAM
8mp camers vs dual 5mp camera (since you'll not be using 3D, Evo wins here)
1Ghz Scorpion processor vs 1.2Ghz dual core processor
Adreno 200GPU vs Adreno 220GPU
1500mah battery vs 1750mah battery (longer talk and standby times quoted for 3D as well


Basically the Evo 3D is better in every important category except for 2D imaging.

Thanks for the detailed specs. If I go with the EVO, it'll be the 3D. My choice is down to that or the Photon

 

[So-Low Da Don]

The Samsung Epic 4G Touch (Galaxy S2) is coming out September 16th and will be the most powerful phone on Sprint.

Pros
-4.52 in. Super Amoled Plus display which is arguably the best display on the market and saves more energy than LCD screens. (The phone's size is barely noticeably bigger than the EVO 3D)
-Thinnest Phone on Sprint: 9.59 mm vs 12.05 mm (EVO 3D)
-1.2 GHz Samsung Exynos Processor w/ Mali-400 GPU (The most powerful chipset in any phone to date)
-1800 mAh battery
-8mp Cam w/ 2mp FF Cam; Shoots High Profile 1080p HD Video (Arguably the best phone camera on the market)
-Supports High profile MP4, MLK, DivX, Xvid, etc. video playback formats (Samsung phones are the only phones that support Divx and Xvid)
-TouchWiz 4.0 UI, with more functions than any other UI, including Motion Features

Cons
-Samsung's support has lacked on the previous SGS but from the SGS2 forums I've read through, they have been getting a lot of support for this phone.
-No Kickstand (Not that important but kinda handy)
-WVGA Resolution (800x480) vs. qHD resolution (960x540) on EVO 3D and Photon, but the Super Amoled Plus display more than makes up for this

Here's Part 1 of the Wirefly Review:
Samsung Epic 4G Touch Review - Part 1 - YouTube

A Hands-On video that shows the Motion Features (Skip to 1:35):
Sprint Samsung Galaxy S II Epic Touch 4G Hands-On - YouTube

 

[So-Low Da Don]

Evo vs Evo 3D

8mp camers vs dual 5mp camera (since you'll not be using 3D, Evo wins here)

Basically the Evo 3D is better in every important category except for 2D imaging.

The EVO 3D takes WAAAAY better 2D pictures than the original EVO. Just because the EVO 4G has 8mp camera doesn't make it better than the 5mp camera on the 3VO. The EVO 4G's camera is shit and the 3VO's camera is actually pretty good. Don't judge image quality by how many mp's it has, that's ignorant.

 

[evolution3d]

The EVO 3D takes WAAAAY better 2D pictures than the original EVO. Just because the EVO 4G has 8mp camera doesn't make it better than the 5mp camera on the 3VO. The EVO 4G's camera is shit and the 3VO's camera is actually pretty good. Don't judge image quality by how many mp's it has, that's ignorant.

^^
This. Color and lighting definitely come out better on the EVO 3D in 2D. The difference between 5MP and 8MP will be negligible unless you zoom way in on the picture.