Need some unbiased responses on Evo 4G and next phone!

[shaned197]

I have recently graduated from college and am starting work within the next week. I have had my HTC diamond on Sprint since the phone arrived. I have done the modding/hacking/rom changing as well as finding applications and manually installing multiple keyboards/addons. Lets just say, I was obsessed with altering my phone.

Within the last year or so, I have just been frustrated with windows mobile and looking to upgrade to the latest and greatest, however am unsure of what direction to go. I am in no means a fanboy of any OS, just want to hear why or why not you would choose the phone/carrier listed below!

My diamond has recently stopped accepting charge, so I am using my brothers phone to charge my battery then place it into mine... very annoying. Therefore, it is time to buy a new phone!

I have been highly anticipating the EVO 4g and staying with my parents on their sprint plan. However, am unsure of how the Android OS operates and how much modding and other tweaks will be needed. To be honest, I'm tired of the tweaking and want something that just works. I spoke to many about their DROID on verizon, yet they still use other iphones and "like" their phone, but do not love it. I will also not be in a 4g network area!

Therefore, I was thinking about switching to at&t and purchasing an iphone. I have an ipod touch and have absolutely no complaints with how it works. Love the apps, keyboard is responsive, everything just works the way it is suppose to. I argued for many years against my iphone lover friends that my tweaking and modding made my phone superior to theirs. However, the only benefits I had were having android ports and tethering options. Everything else on my diamond is subpar. So should I wait and see what the next iphone has and how it operates? The only worry about the iphone is I feel the interface becomes mundane and the cost of at&ts plan.

Lastly, I was thinking about blackberries. I am heavy into texting and writing emails. I absolutely love the keyboard on the Bold and would be able to stay on Sprint. I also love the battery life, which is a HUGE advantage above all phones previously mentioned. However, I am afraid I will miss out on the web browsing experience and game/entertainment aspect.

Note: My main features required by a phone are: Texting, Facebook, Emails, Internet, Maps/directions, and entertainment (games)

For those of you who have tried many of these, what do you recommend? Any suggestions will be helpful and sorry if its in the wrong thread and sorry for being so lengthy!!

[Meanee]

If you want entertainment, don't look at blackberries. Very bland, mean texting/emailing machine. Games are very limited.

This brings your choice down to iPhone and Evo (or another Android phone). In my opinion, iPhone is more of a gaming machine that happens to make calls. Android is a smartphone that happens to play games.

If you want "out of the box" experience, and don't mind staying within pre-programmed environment, iPhone is for you.

If you want something that is solid but still customizable, pick Android. Some people need to tweak few things on it before they get it up to their liking. Some don't.

In terms of entertainment, Apple leads the pack. But Android market is growing at insane speeds. I would be surprised if it won't be neck to neck with iPhone within a year from now. Games on iPhone are a bit more refined, but Android is getting there too.

In short, iPhone is a fully mature platform that does not have room to grow. Features added to it are more of a "catch up" features as of late. Android, however, does not have the "golden bird cage" feeling that I usually get from Apple products, has room to grow, and large community behind it.

My personal suggestion, get Android device. I am biased against Apple.

Disclaimer: I own iPod Touch, do some work for friends on their iPhones and own a MacBook. My exposure to Android was only from XDANDROID project and getting my hands on Hero in Sprint store.

[mnjparks]

Originally Posted by shaned197

I have recently graduated from college and am starting work within the next week. I have had my HTC diamond on Sprint since the phone arrived. I have done the modding/hacking/rom changing as well as finding applications and manually installing multiple keyboards/addons. Lets just say, I was obsessed with altering my phone.

Within the last year or so, I have just been frustrated with windows mobile and looking to upgrade to the latest and greatest, however am unsure of what direction to go. I am in no means a fanboy of any OS, just want to hear why or why not you would choose the phone/carrier listed below!

My diamond has recently stopped accepting charge, so I am using my brothers phone to charge my battery then place it into mine... very annoying. Therefore, it is time to buy a new phone!

I have been highly anticipating the EVO 4g and staying with my parents on their sprint plan. However, am unsure of how the Android OS operates and how much modding and other tweaks will be needed. To be honest, I'm tired of the tweaking and want something that just works. I spoke to many about their DROID on verizon, yet they still use other iphones and "like" their phone, but do not love it. I will also not be in a 4g network area!

Therefore, I was thinking about switching to at&t and purchasing an iphone. I have an ipod touch and have absolutely no complaints with how it works. Love the apps, keyboard is responsive, everything just works the way it is suppose to. I argued for many years against my iphone lover friends that my tweaking and modding made my phone superior to theirs. However, the only benefits I had were having android ports and tethering options. Everything else on my diamond is subpar. So should I wait and see what the next iphone has and how it operates? The only worry about the iphone is I feel the interface becomes mundane and the cost of at&ts plan.

Lastly, I was thinking about blackberries. I am heavy into texting and writing emails. I absolutely love the keyboard on the Bold and would be able to stay on Sprint. I also love the battery life, which is a HUGE advantage above all phones previously mentioned. However, I am afraid I will miss out on the web browsing experience and game/entertainment aspect.

Note: My main features required by a phone are: Texting, Facebook, Emails, Internet, Maps/directions, and entertainment (games)

For those of you who have tried many of these, what do you recommend? Any suggestions will be helpful and sorry if its in the wrong thread and sorry for being so lengthy!!

Trust me
1. As far as appearance you will turn alot more heads w the evo. An iphone or ipod sitting next to an evo looks insignificant and old school. It is the first phone that I have seen that does that.
2. Functionality wise, The processor on the evo makes the phone super fast and responsive so you dont have worry about the quick intuitiveness of the iphone surpassing your evo. Side by side loading you-tube the evo in my experience runs circles around the iphone(actually an ipod). Removable battery and internal storage, widgets, toggles and the ability to change your home screens to personalize your needs seems huge to me. front facing camera will open the door for developers to make some insane apps on a device like this.
3. Apps seem like the only thing iphone has more of, but Android has over 50,000 I believe and alot of good stuff.
4. You can get insurance on the Evo.
5. Plans are cheaper and more comprehensive on the Evo.
6. The Evo is open source. so you dont have to jailbreak it. Even though I did root my hero and had fun doing it.
7. HTC in my experience makes really good radios or whatever which gives you really good signal.

8. Battery life seems very good on the Evo, but if its not good enough for you you can purchase a higher capacity battery say 1800mah and swap it out keeping the same back cover and not adding any bulk to the device.
9. The ability to use 4g when it comes to your area or if you are traveling through an area w it and not have to buy another device to take advantage of it.

10. Video Conferencing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now this is comparing to the iphone 3gs and only my opinion, so take what you will from me. I dont know if the new iphone is going to be much different but from what i hear other than the screen resolution and a few minor things its pretty close to the same.

[shaned197]

I greatly appreciate both of your responses! I guess I don't want to be kicking myself when I buy the Evo and the Iphone takes off running. However, I do agree with Apple making very few minor adjustments and playing "catch up" with multitasking, higher resolution, and possible a front facing camera.

Hopefully others can chime in with more influential information! I should probably bring this same question to an Iphone forum and a BB forum to see what arguments they have against the Evo!

[mnjparks]

Here is a link to phone arenas recent review, and remember they are known for loving everything iphone.
I think they gave it a 9.5 out of 10

http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/HTC-...ew-r_2450.html

[sikclown]

Originally Posted by shaned197

I greatly appreciate both of your responses! I guess I don't want to be kicking myself when I buy the Evo and the Iphone takes off running. However, I do agree with Apple making very few minor adjustments and playing "catch up" with multitasking, higher resolution, and possible a front facing camera.

Hopefully others can chime in with more influential information! I should probably bring this same question to an Iphone forum and a BB forum to see what arguments they have against the Evo!

Get the EVO.... You have 30 days to decide.... If you don't like Android and the EVO after 30 days my guess is you never will... Having said that I too came from Win Mobile (Nextel i930, Palm Treo 700 wx, HTC Mogul, TouchPro, TouchPro 2) and did my fair share of modding. As you said I also got sick of how anemic WinMo could get and seeing all the latest and greatest around me so I got a Hero and I have never regretted it. I have never even rooted it or run another rom on it and I still love it. Any problems I may have had with it, lag being the biggest, are being fixed in the EVO. So Android got me and I am never looking back. Going back to the 30 days... If after thirty you don't like it... Return it and go to AT&T... The new iPhone will be out by then. But judging from your past you are gonna love the Evo and Android

[orangekid]

Originally Posted by mnjparks

Trust me
1. As far as appearance you will turn alot more heads w the evo. An iphone or ipod sitting next to an evo looks insignificant and old school. It is the first phone that I have seen that does that.

I dunno man, I like the new iPhone HD look more.

Originally Posted by mnjparks

2. Functionality wise, The processor on the evo makes the phone super fast and responsive so you dont have worry about the quick intuitiveness of the iphone surpassing your evo. Side by side loading you-tube the evo in my experience runs circles around the iphone(actually an ipod). Removable battery and internal storage, widgets, toggles and the ability to change your home screens to personalize your needs seems huge to me. front facing camera will open the door for developers to make some insane apps on a device like this.

the new iPhone HD coming out in a week or so has a faster processor than the Evo, with a more efficient battery usage and 3X GPU (faster, better graphics)

Originally Posted by mnjparks

3. Apps seem like the only thing iphone has more of, but Android has over 50,000 I believe and alot of good stuff.

agreed, but iPhone still blows android out of the water. Android IS catching up big though. Widgets are also a plus.

Originally Posted by mnjparks

4. You can get insurance on the Evo.

very good point, iPhone is not insured.

Originally Posted by mnjparks

5. Plans are cheaper and more comprehensive on the Evo.

agreed to a point. If you unlock your iPhone, you can get the same plan Sprint offers on T-Mobile for $20 a month cheaper. ATT pretty much plunders you price-wise though.

Originally Posted by mnjparks

6. The Evo is open source. so you dont have to jailbreak it. Even though I did root my hero and had fun doing it.

a lot of people root their androids, I did within the first week of getting my mytouch and the nexus one runs better rooted. Jailbreaking an iPhone takes about 30 seconds and is virtually impossible to brick, allowing you to change the UI and do a lot of really neat stuff.

Originally Posted by mnjparks

7. HTC in my experience makes really good radios or whatever which gives you really good signal.

agreed on some phones, not on others.

Originally Posted by mnjparks

8. Battery life seems very good on the Evo, but if its not good enough for you you can purchase a higher capacity battery say 1800mah and swap it out keeping the same back cover and not adding any bulk to the device.

+1 @ removable battery.

Originally Posted by mnjparks

9. The ability to use 4g when it comes to your area or if you are traveling through an area w it and not have to buy another device to take advantage of it.

it won't be there for a while probably,

Originally Posted by mnjparks

10. Video Conferencing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

iPhone HD has video conferencing, front facing camera, skype 2 over 3G support, etc...

Originally Posted by mnjparks

Now this is comparing to the iphone 3gs and only my opinion, so take what you will from me. I dont know if the new iphone is going to be much different but from what i hear other than the screen resolution and a few minor things its pretty close to the same.

no it is a MAJOR upgrade. A4 processor runs faster than the evo, higher screen resolution than the Evo (960x640), much better graphics GPU, not so big/bulky (either a plus or a minus, I love my HD2 4.3" screen).

I too am sick of winmo, and am actually considering getting an Evo too, but I want to wait at least a week for the official release of the iPhone HD to see ALL of the specs/perks, and see if the rumors of a CDMA version are true or fake.

This site in general leans pro-android and anti-iPhone. Personally I like both devices a lot and will have an iPhone AND an Android device. I have owned android, iPhone, and winmo and have done extensive modding, tweaking, cooking, flashing, etc.. of all devices.

IMO Android is slightly better due to the ability to change the UI more with widgets, live wallpapers, adding keyboards easily and more significant OS upgrades (although OS4 is pretty big).

But imo you can't go wrong with the new iPhone either, it looks to be an awesome device and DOES have some perks over the Evo.

I wouldn't even consider winmo at this point anymore.

I'm not trying to turn anyone to the Dark iSide here, just to clarify some things and inform you on the actual comparison

Steve doesn't give me any kickbacks

[clockcycle]

@shaned197

If it is an Iphone you are looking at, you could borrow a friends or play with theirs once in a while to see how you like it.

Personally I enjoy having the option of customizing my phone, but I have also been quite happy just leaving the phone as it came (Touch Pro 2).

I know lots of people that have the Moment, Hero and Droid that know absolutely nothing about modding and enjoy their phone as it, perhaps just adding apps from the marketplace, wallpapers, ringtones and customizing their desktops.

Android, just like the commercial says, there is no limit to what it can do, when there is no limit to what it can get... That is directed towards apple's lock down on iphone apps.

Both phones are capable of tons of things. One thing for sure tho, is that iphone will never have Adobe Flash capabilities.

Now as far as switching to AT&T, you will be paying a premium to use the iphone on their service. You could wait until Verizon and or Sprint get the iphone next year..

-CC

[orangekid]

Originally Posted by clockcycle

@shaned197

If it is an Iphone you are looking at, you could borrow a friends or play with theirs once in a while to see how you like it.

Personally I enjoy having the option of customizing my phone, but I have also been quite happy just leaving the phone as it came (Touch Pro 2).

I know lots of people that have the Moment, Hero and Droid that know absolutely nothing about modding and enjoy their phone as it, perhaps just adding apps from the marketplace, wallpapers, ringtones and customizing their desktops.

Android, just like the commercial says, there is no limit to what it can do, when there is no limit to what it can get... That is directed towards apple's lock down on iphone apps.

Both phones are capable of tons of things. One thing for sure tho, is that iphone will never have Adobe Flash capabilities.

Now as far as switching to AT&T, you will be paying a premium to use the iphone on their service. You could wait until Verizon and or Sprint get the iphone next year..

-CC

keep in mind you CAN customize your iPhone if you know how.

Also keep in mind that flash is highly overrated and html5 is the new thing anyways.

Also iPhone does have flash support, and it will only get better as more 3rd party devs continue to improve Apple's products.

A lot of people are going to tell you that the iPhone can't do this or that, when it usually can if you just know how.

It's the same as when android first came out and people were going off about how WM could do so much more, but now it's so obvious that WM has been outmoded by both apple and google.

if you want to know if the iPhone OR android can/can't do something, ask or look up in their respective forums, and I would honestly wait till BOTH devices are out (not fair to compare the Evo to the 3GS...) and test them in store and remember that you can infinitely MOD both devices.

Also keep in mind that android has been fully ported to the iPhone 2G and 3G, and I have no doubt a full port is coming to the HD/4G (both linux based). So keep in mind you can probably be able to dual-boot BOTH OS's from one device, something an android phone could never do (since iPhone OS is not open source)

[WarChild]

Originally Posted by orangekid

keep in mind you CAN customize your iPhone if you know how.

Also keep in mind that flash is highly overrated and html5 is the new thing anyways.

Also iPhone does have flash support, and it will only get better as more 3rd party devs continue to improve Apple's products.

A lot of people are going to tell you that the iPhone can't do this or that, when it usually can if you just know how.

It's the same as when android first came out and people were going off about how WM could do so much more, but now it's so obvious that WM has been outmoded by both apple and google.

if you want to know if the iPhone OR android can/can't do something, ask or look up in their respective forums, and I would honestly wait till BOTH devices are out (not fair to compare the Evo to the 3GS...) and test them in store and remember that you can infinitely MOD both devices.

Also keep in mind that android has been fully ported to the iPhone 2G and 3G, and I have no doubt a full port is coming to the HD/4G (both linux based). So keep in mind you can probably be able to dual-boot BOTH OS's from one device, something an android phone could never do (since iPhone OS is not open source)

I dont have an iphone but I hacked my itouch and now I can do almost anything I want to it. Im still getting the evo mind you but then again Im on Sprint.




CW