Something about these reviews that driving me crazy

[tmaxey1]

I am not a person that needs a phone to have all amazing reviews to buy it. I understand the position of a reviewer is to both bring up positives and negatives about a product.
What i have a problem with is the lack of positives and strong emphasis on the negatives on the EVO. I dont understand the bias with this phone. Sure it's not perfect. But it seems like most reviewers finish their reviews with ....I'd wait to buy it until the 4g coverage is better and the battery life is better or sprint doesnt charge the $10 data fee....
How can this phone be superior in almost every way to the Incredible and equal in the areas that its not superior in yet that phone was released with such strong great reviews? I dont get the Bias here.
The EVO has the option to be a great 3g phone plus let many of us use 4g (and that many more by end of year). But for reviewers to say they wouldnt hold off on buying it due to lack of 4g just doesnt add up. Why would they not buy it based on it being a 3g phone. Because of the measly $10. Yet the iphone charged a $30 data plan and a $15 sms plan to so many people who only have Edge (2G). Yet i cant remember any reviews that said they wouldnt buy the iPhone because most of America doesnt have 3G with AT&T. Yet spring charges $10 more (which is still cheaper than iPhone) and now people would hold off recommending the phone. Verizon is more expensive with the Incredible and reviewers give great reviews of it. With the Incredible you cant even see the screen at all during the day outside. Why is this not a bigger problem that an added feature like 4G's lack of ceverage maps?

This has me annoyed. I think its a disservice to Sprint to have these reviews. This phone should be the phone that moves them closer to where they need to be. Instead the reviewers are making this phone a luck warm intro.

 

[Sassy_Lina]

I feel you. My only concession is that Sprint might have shot it's own self in the foot by hyping the 4G aspect of the phone and by not incorporating the $10 fee into new EVO only rate plans. The lack of 4G markets in addition to the $10 add on is a tough pill to swallow for some. Not me though. I'm interested to see the general publics response because that'll be the deciding factor. Reviews are somewhat irrelevant to the average consumer if the product is appealing enough.

 

[BetterMost]

Sprint was stupid with that $10 4G service charge. What they should have done was wait 90 days after launch then implement it. They could have used the excuse Oh so many people are using it to tether with we now have to put a surcharge on the service yadda yadda yadda. This way at least at launch they would not have had the extra charge in place and it wouldn't be such an issue. Once the phone has been out a few months and they put it in place it would not have been such a big media deal. Stupid marketing on Sprints part.

 

[marctronixx]

its the reviewers job to find everything wrong with a device (no matter what it is) and speak about it. those issues (lack of 4g, 10 bux extra) is not the phones fault. the phone is ready. sprint wanted to get out the gate with 4g and to get ahead of the iphony. they have enough 4g markets to get the phone out. they have spent millions on 4g and their investors are ready to see a ROI. in the end this phone will be great for sprint.. it should increase ARPU and probably you will see less churn due to it...

 

[marctronixx]

it would have been foolish for sprint to use such a weak excuse.. they would alienate their customers even more if they did a bait and switch.

look, it costs money to deploy this phone and to build out 4g. sprint is a company that wants to make a profit for its stock holders. fees are necessary. this economy is bad, profits are down across the board. you cant expect sprint to foot the bill for everything... they have to pass some cost to the consumer.. its just how business is done. some complain about the fee, others dont see it as a hindrance. its also no need to complain about it as it wont do much good. this 4g is new technology.. as it matures sprint will be able to pass some savings on to us.. remember with vision was born? a lot of folks were upset they had to change plans, pay extra for this and that. etc.. then it became not so much of a big deal... this too shall pass...

Sprint was stupid with that $10 4G service charge... Stupid marketing on Sprints part.

 

[Jordus]

because tech bloggers are like most journalists and think they are "too cool for school"

They feel better about themselves if they can find something to crap on about the best spec'd cell phone ever made.

 

[esone1ll]

It's funny; I found that a lot of the reviews were overly positive, without pointing out the low points clearly enough. Engadget, Wirefly (a retailer, I know), Gizmodo. They all seem to fawn over the phone.

I do think PCMag's reviews were overly negative, though. I don't think I'll read their site again.

 

[Rizop]

Definitely agree with you guys about the reviews. I've got a google I/O evo, and have had alot of time to play with the Incredible; these two phones are almost identical in terms of performance; with the evo having more features, and the incredible being a tiny bit less laggy/stutter free(this could be due to software or my included class 2 sd card, not sure). The evo does seem like its being judged on its 4g capability pretty heavily; Sprint was promoting this feature like crazy, and the review vultures have lambasted the evo pretty badly for this I wish most of them would admit that the EVO is pretty much the best phone in general right now, 4g or not

 

[evotitans]

Im not seeing the negatives as truly bad.

All of the reviews I read were basically trying to put a "spin" on the negatives for the EVO....but most of the negatives are found in all smartphones. Battery life being the hugest issue.

And most try to throw out the $10 extra charge....but that is for now uncapped Data, which if everything is right you will use more with the EVO. So it is not just in due to 4G. By the way, if you think that is bad, go look at the Kin for Verizon and its Mandatory $30 charge for Data....how does $10 look now for a far better phone?

All the reviews around were trying hard to point of the negatives, but also had to mention all of its great points....depending on personal preference, the EVO will be at the least the Top 2 smartphone in the US market.

 

[CTMaineah]

It's driving me crazy that people keep saying its a 4G $10 charge...its NOT! its because this phone is expected to use ALOT of data, 3G and 4G. If your going to complain about it, do it about the right thing. Plus, with any hopes the $10 will go towards getting 4G in more places.

 

[phantomevo77]

Think about it though. If Sprint waited to charge the $10 for 4G, how many of you would be pissed? You signed a contract to pay, example, $70 a month, then 4G hits your area and you couldn't be able to use it, Sprint makes you sign another 2 year contract to have the 4G. Then again Sprint can just make it an additional add-on if you want 4G, but the phone was made for 4G so Sprint is going to charge for the 4G no matter what it seems like.

Honestly, I'm not mad at all Sprint is doing the $10 for 4G even though its not everywhere, I'll wait, because the wait will be worth it and I'll enjoy every second of my 4G whether its on 3G network or the 4G network.

Sprint has to pay for doing this upgrade to 4G at some point right?

 

[dequardo]

Sprint was stupid with that $10 4G service charge. What they should have done was wait 90 days after launch then implement it. They could have used the excuse Oh so many people are using it to tether with we now have to put a surcharge on the service yadda yadda yadda. This way at least at launch they would not have had the extra charge in place and it wouldn't be such an issue. Once the phone has been out a few months and they put it in place it would not have been such a big media deal. Stupid marketing on Sprints part.

amen to that

 

[dequardo]

It's driving me crazy that people keep saying its a 4G $10 charge...its NOT! its because this phone is expected to use ALOT of data, 3G and 4G. If your going to complain about it, do it about the right thing. Plus, with any hopes the $10 will go towards getting 4G in more places.

sorry. B.S. to me. How many people got cut-off or charged extra past 5GB? Thank you!

 

[dequardo]

People here are the ones with a bias. They are inclined to worship a device they've not yet seen or touched based on specs, hearsay or hype. A precious few have the device and have had it for less than a week.

Independent reviewers have (or should have) zero bias and can report on their findings. That's their job. So, they report a pretty good HW, UI, etc. experience with major concerns about battery life, poor 4G performance (where available) and spotty video. Plus the incredibly poor decision to dump a $10 monthly tax on the thing. Facts folks, facts.

Keep in mind, this is the first 4G phone. How many other initial such handsets have been successful?

 

[Rigmaster]

I've never seen reviewers comment about plan pricing on a device before, but Sprint led them that way by introducing it as a Evo-specific fee. I've said all-along, they should have said this is the required plan/pricing for dual 4G/3G devices because we're treating them like they can perform which is the combined features of a wireless data device/card and a smartphone. And then they should have said we're not disabling or hampering the device in any way regarding which network it chooses but simply charging for what we know it can.

That's probably not much better, but at least then it would be easier to separate the cost of the plan from the phone.

There will be other 4G/3G phones on Sprint so I just don't see how they could take this approach unless they plan to drop or raise the price with future introductions.

 

[ruger]

I think that this phone has been hyped so much since CTIA that reviewers are genuinely surprised that they find something they don't like about it. They expect it to be the perfect phone and best ever released. Because of that, they harp on something that they might not notice, or would put up with on a lesser phone.

The EVO is already a victim of its (perhaps) success.

 

[Bek]

You know, opening up this thread, I half expected a jealous rant, ripping on all of us who have already gotten our Evo's!

 

[evotitans]

I think that this phone has been hyped so much since CTIA that reviewers are genuinely surprised that they find something they don't like about it. They expect it to be the perfect phone and best ever released. Because of that, they harp on something that they might not notice, or would put up with on a lesser phone.

The EVO is already a victim of its (perhaps) success.

Actually I think reviewers are actually believing the hype....and thats why they are trying to find the little things that might not be an issue to consumers...so it can stick out.

They talking about the pricing plan...which is a moot point if they mention after it that Sprint is still cheaper, and for some of us(Yes I know, not everyone) its cheaper and we get 4G speeds.

Forgot to say....that in the end, I think the EVO is setting a new standard as far as smartphones go.

 

[mhaner]

It seems to me that most "mobile phone experts" fall into 2 basic camps, either Iphone worshiper or Verizon worshiper. This phone is neither so many of the reviewers are immediately biased against it.

 

[Jordus]

You also need to remember that journalists, especially bloggers, are people who arent good at the topics they cover. If they were, they'd be doing the actual work and not pretending to know about it through articles.

I think its exceptionally bad in tech blogs, because being an IT consultant I can debunk a large portion of what I see written. It's a shame, really.


EDIT: I should say, those journalists/bloggers that do it solely for a living. People working on the real stuff and blogging on the side as a hobby generally are far more knowledgeable

 

[SprintFun]

My biggest irritation is that the reviewers forget that its still the best 3G phone on the market, and still one of, if not the cheapest too. 4G is the cherry on top to me.

 

[dxCoqui]

It's driving me crazy that people keep saying its a 4G $10 charge...its NOT! its because this phone is expected to use ALOT of data, 3G and 4G. If your going to complain about it, do it about the right thing. Plus, with any hopes the $10 will go towards getting 4G in more places.

The problem is that they should call it what it is then. They say it's because they are expecting the user to eat more data. What if they don't, that is why it should be optional. If I do pass the cap then charge me a ton for it until I learn not to go over or pay the $10 ahead of time...

 

[esone1ll]

My biggest irritation is that the reviewers forget that its still the best 3G phone on the market, and still one of, if not the cheapest too. 4G is the cherry on top to me.

I agree, completely. With 4G off, the EVO is better than a DROID Incredible, and $10 cheaper per month, and it allows for more voice calls (to other mobile phones).

 

[evotitans]

It seems to me that most "mobile phone experts" fall into 2 basic camps, either Iphone worshiper or Verizon worshiper. This phone is neither so many of the reviewers are immediately biased against it.

I highly agree with that.

For the first time, reviewers have a phone in their hand that is not an iPhone...and if they do like Android, its not on the Verizon network.

Seems like they are not used to reviewing a phone for Sprint, that as of right now...IMO in certain ways, is better than what they are used to.

I think most reviewers are generally shocked by the EVO....and are secretly loving it too.

 

[mrmojoz]

Had this been an Apple product, with less functionality and a higher price included, it would be hailed as the greatest thing ever. Sad sad world.