What potential downfalls could the Evo face?

[SprintFun]

As much as I'm looking forward to the Evo and fully immersed in being brainwashed that it will be the greatest phone ever, at some point you need to be realistic with your expectations. Here are my concerns:

• 4G/3G won't be able to seamlessly transition. What I mean by this is that if your 4G signal is weak/non-existant, you'll have to manually make the switch to 3G coverage
• 4G in general - this will be the first ever 4G phone in the USA, the first 4G phone for Sprint, etc...I think you realistically have to expect there to be some issues with signal quality, coverage, etc.
• Battery Life - Maybe not a big issue for me because I usually keep my phones on charges all the time, but it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out. Such a glorious device is going to suck down the battery I'd assume.
• Will the processor be underclocked? The Incredible looks like its being handcuffed to 667MHz, which isn't uncommon, but I feel a 1GHz processor should work at 1GHz, or at least not 66% of its capacity. I'm sure it will still be fast, but I digress.
• The screen being a TFT LCD could be a potential issue, and that it's only listed as producing 65K colors...which seems like a lot but vastly inferior to an AMOLED. Of course I think I still prefer it over an AMOLED, but that's a personal choice.
• Will it be "too big"? For some people I think they'll decide the device is too large or too heavy for comfortable use.

Feel free to add more.

 

[THEFORCE]

as far as 4g, u know they have constantly been testing it and if they are right about it being in the works for 2 years, i believe it should be close to bug free. sprint is advertising it as 1ghz on the site so i believe they will keep it where it is. and i don think it will be too big because it is slightly larger the the iPhone.

 

[drksilenc]

1 is a software issue and can be resolved later if not before release
2 of course there isnt a big wimax network yet but its growing fast
3 expect the same life as most smartphones aka 3-4 hours of talk
4 no it wont and the incredible isnt underclocked ither
5 its a good thing that they went with the tft its a proven tech that works well where as there have been issues with amoled
6 its not much bigger than the n1 the iphone or the incredible even though the screen is bigger

 

[Lovingthesonic]

I remember seeing a cita video where someone asked if the phone was running at 1ghz fully. they said yes

 

[Jceinc]

Galaxy S
Sprints piss poor marketing
New iPhone released before EVO

 

[momoceio]

I know the HD2 is a WinMo phone...but the battery life of the HD2 seems very good.

This site is claiming they got 52 hours out of a charge.
HTC HD2 battery test ready, not bad at all

Similar claim here:
HTC HD2 Battery Test

So, I'm actually looking for increased battery performance with it running Android.

 

[Bill]

The Incredible looks like its being handcuffed to 667MHz, which isn't uncommon, but I feel a 1GHz processor should work at 1GHz, or at least not 66% of its capacity. I'm sure it will still be fast, but I digr

It has been confirmed that the Incredible runs at 1GHz

Bill

 

[Eguy]

I know the HD2 is a WinMo phone...but the battery life of the HD2 seems very good.

This site is claiming they got 52 hours out of a charge.
HTC HD2 battery test ready, not bad at all

Similar claim here:
HTC HD2 Battery Test

So, I'm actually looking for increased battery performance with it running Android.

Battery life will be LESS on the EVO due to the way CDMA radios kill battery life. I think the EVO should make it through the way.

 

[reallynotnick]

All the sore arms Sprint employees will have the day after launch from all the high fives they will be getting.

 

[legacy]

I know the HD2 is a WinMo phone...but the battery life of the HD2 seems very good.

This site is claiming they got 52 hours out of a charge.
HTC HD2 battery test ready, not bad at all

Similar claim here:
HTC HD2 Battery Test

So, I'm actually looking for increased battery performance with it running Android.

Not a good comparison for the following reasons:

1. It's on a different (less power hungry) network.
2. The Evo's battery is larger

Maybe these two things will offset, but considering the 4.3" screen and a 1GHz processor, I'm not expecting any miracle battery life.

My concerns for the phone:

1. Switching from 4G to 3G. In the video I saw, you had to switch on 4G with an app. I'm hoping that this requirement was only in the pre-production phones and the issue will be solved with software. Seamless switching would be really nice.

2. Android updates. I'm expecting that the N1 will still get updates first (since it's Google's baby), but I'm hoping we receive updates shortly thereafter.

3. Pricing. We still don't know anything but rumors about how much the phone will cost, and if plan pricing will be the same.

 

[effluent]

A lot of folks will balk at the size, such as women with small hands. I have handled an HD2 and like the size but a friend thought it was too big. And I know a girl who picked an Eris over a Droid due to size.

 

[hchristians]

All the sore arms Sprint employees will have the day after launch from all the high fives they will be getting.

i LOLed

 

[mrk]

1. Switching from 4G to 3G. In the video I saw, you had to switch on 4G with an app. I'm hoping that this requirement was only in the pre-production phones and the issue will be solved with software. Seamless switching would be really nice.

That was only a toggle--if you leave the toggle on, the phone will use 4G when a signal is available, and 3G when it's not. If you toggle it off, it will just use 3G.

 

[legacy]

That was only a toggle--if you leave the toggle on, the phone will use 4G when a signal is available, and 3G when it's not. If you toggle it off, it will just use 3G.

You're right. I went back yesterday and watched that video, but was too lazy to go back and mention that.

I just hope it's seamless switching from 4G to 3G. And that 4G becomes so widespread soon that I won't need to worry about it. If I had more money and time, I'd look into setting up a vehicle as a 4G "tower".

 

[neodorian]

• 4G/3G won't be able to seamlessly transition. What I mean by this is that if your 4G signal is weak/non-existant, you'll have to manually make the switch to 3G coverage

This is my big one. I have Wimax in my city and I have used it on my laptop before. It is pretty awesome but every now and then you hit a block with weak coverage and it would be better to just automatically bump down to EVDO in those situations. If I have to toggle 4G off and on the way I do WiFi or Bluetooth, etc. on my Pre or laptop, I will be annoyed.

The way it switches from Ev/1x/Roaming/etc. now is great. I'm sure it took a little while to get that worked out. I hope for Sprint's sake that they have this worked out at release or soon after. I would love to just have it switch from 4g/Ev/1x as it is available.

 

[mrk]

You're right. I went back yesterday and watched that video, but was too lazy to go back and mention that.

Phew; I'm glad that I didn't misunderstand. That would suck if it didn't work as it does:

neodorian: It will be interesting to see how that works out. Hopefully something is done for optimal user pleasure. Being new to android, I don't know if this is possible, but could someone implement a scheme whereby you would only switch to 4G if the signal were higher than some floor value?

 

[MauiDude]

Signal connectivity is a Main concern. I've never really had good strong 3G so 4G...?

Battery life is a biggy too. It should at least go a waking day in my book. BTW. I've never had a smartphone that could go the minimal waking day. Like 8am to 12midnight or something. All of my phones have been WinMo so...that may be a factor there.

 

[momoceio]

Not a good comparison for the following reasons:

1. It's on a different (less power hungry) network.
2. The Evo's battery is larger

Maybe these two things will offset, but considering the 4.3" screen and a 1GHz processor, I'm not expecting any miracle battery life.

My concerns for the phone:

1. Switching from 4G to 3G. In the video I saw, you had to switch on 4G with an app. I'm hoping that this requirement was only in the pre-production phones and the issue will be solved with software. Seamless switching would be really nice.

2. Android updates. I'm expecting that the N1 will still get updates first (since it's Google's baby), but I'm hoping we receive updates shortly thereafter.

3. Pricing. We still don't know anything but rumors about how much the phone will cost, and if plan pricing will be the same.

Ok, CDMA is a little more power hungry but the battery is larger. Both phones have the same processor and chipsets that consume the same amount. They also both have 4.3" screens...so I really don't think it'll be that different.

 

[RTan]

If you use the camera/recorder, the battery life will drain really fast due to the size of the screen. The camera drains more than WiFi or 4G.

 

[TheBlackPrince]

Hopefully it'll get update shortly after the Nexus One gets it's updates.

The only really downfall I can see is if Sprint can't get the 4G network rolled out fast enough. Then it'll just be an Evo 3G...

 

[tokuzumi]

How does the overdrive switch from 4G to 3G? What about the USB 4G/3G device? Is there a noticeable lag when switching data connections? I would assume the Evo would function in the same way, or possibly a little better.

 

[dbpaddler]

fyi...data cards will not automatically switch between 3g and 4g. It's manual. Handshaking does not exist. Will be an extreme annoyance on a phone especially when you're in a 4g area that has a lot of dead spots.