Sprint EVO 4G Speed: Not Spectacular
By Harry McCracken | Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 11:04 pm
The Wall Street Journal‘s Walt Mossberg has the first review I’ve seen of Sprint’s upcoming EVO 4G, the first phone that does data at 4G speeds. He doesn’t exactly rave about it–while it’s faster than a 3G phone, he didn’t find it as quick as he expected based on Sprint’s claims. And he couldn’t eke a day’s worth of life out of the battery. And he wasn’t able to test one of the phone’s most intriguing features, its two-way video chat.
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May 19th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
The best feature of 4G isn’t really the speed (though it’s nice, and generally faster than 3G), it’s that Sprint isn’t capping monthly usage, and that, for the first time on a CDMA phone, you can talk and use data at the same time.
As for battery-life, I personally haven’t met a smartphone that I can’t kill in a day. However, unlike the iPhone, the battery on the Evo is removable, so you can always carry a spare. As far as I’m concerned, a spare battery is always better than being tethered to a wall for 3 hours while your phone charges.
May 19th, 2011 at 1:06 am
Yes, the spare battery is a strong argument.
May 20th, 2010 at 8:42 am
Its not Apple so of course he does not like it.
May 31st, 2010 at 8:35 am
Mr. Mossberg has no vision. The data plan on the evo is superb. The screen blows an iphone small screen out of the water. In total the specs make it an iphone killer. There are those out there like Mossberg that can’t see anyone wanting more from a phone than what the iphone offers.
June 5th, 2010 at 7:31 am
Doesn’t anybody else have a problem with paying an extra $10 a month for this phone on top of an UNLIMMITED PLAN?
June 7th, 2010 at 8:35 am
I have no problem with the extra $10. It’s still cheaper than ATT. You really want to pay for extra gigabytes?
June 9th, 2010 at 10:19 am
I love how they post such a “grabber subject”.. “Speeds not Spectacular”.. Where they Fabulous? 🙂 I mean really.. Give me a break. What was the method Walt from the Journal used? A download test on a over worked server in the city? What was his criteria? Latency, meg/second, overall file size by download time?
I was a Verizon basically still am but.. Never had issues with the network, but as far as billing goes.. You can keep ’em.. I took a chance switched to Sprint a year ago. Bought the Palm Pre, then Hero for my wife.They have the everything data plan for the family. Basically not nickel and dimming a customer if one month he/she sends more text messages, or calls friends out of network etc.
Sprint is actually listening to the customer and our needs/ wants. They have come up with this compromise. Data plans that fit our devices. I like it no B.S.
With that said I downloaded the speed test.net app for the Hero and Evo. Ran the test on both phones in 3G mode. Imagine that. The Hero actually showed a higher speed. Changed both phones to a different server. This time the EVO had a higher speed. Then went to 4 G. EVO “only” showed
A 2.5 Meg download speed. Now I tethered it to my iPad (yes iPad). It shoes a 6.5 Meg speed. Took it one step further. Downloaded a larger file from Microsoft. Imagine that.. Actual download speed
was 7.1Mbps.. Still connected to the IPad too. I’m also at the outer fringes of the 4G network, but with that said still over populated.
My point finally.. If they will print such meaningless crap with no info to back it up it really paints a poor picture for a great company and product.. Usually editors/ papers have a different agenda that might not be in your best interest. Do yourself a favor and do your own research. If you don’t understand the technology find a nerdy friend. Forgive my grammar too. Did this on the run..
My $.02 worth.. (from my iPad and EVO combination)
July 29th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
> I have no problem with the extra $10.
Yes. The absurd cost of Sprint's data plans is why I'm using my evo as a PDA-only attached to my wireless cable network. $90/month for voice and 3G data is ridiculous: Everything Data at $70 (450 anytime minutes) + $10 (Evo fee) +$10 (taxes/fees) = $90/month. Too much for 3G since I have to pay comcast $42/month for cable Internet. Comcast Internet is suppose to be 6 Mbps, but is really l-2 Mbps based on http://dsl-speedtest.us broadband tests.
Now when Sprint gets off it's @$$ and installs 4G dishes on the cell towers in Boca and Ft. Lauderdale, I'll be willing to pay $90/month for the Everything Data plan as long as I can use my EVO as a wireless router for my PC desktop, laptop, and HTPC at no additional cost. 4GB is suppose to be 3 Mbps sustained, so I'll gladly take that $40 I'm spending on Comcast and add it to my $50 Sprint bill (450 minutes, Talk only) to get $90/month phone and Internet.
The way I see it is that when 4G finally comes to south Florida, we all can replace our Internet land lines with mobile connections just like we replaced our phone land lines with mobile phones. I'm willing to spend $90/month on combined voice and data at 4G speeds, but I'm not willing to spend $90/month for 3G speeds on my phone and another $40/month on land-line Internet for real work. So, Sprint get your sh1t together.
April 6th, 2011 at 2:38 pm
@Dan – regarding: "The way I see it is that when 4G finally comes to south Florida, we all can replace our Internet land lines with mobile connections just like we replaced our phone land lines with mobile phones. I'm willing to spend $90/month on combined voice and data at 4G speeds, but I'm not willing to spend $90/month for 3G speeds on my phone and another $40/month on land-line Internet for real work. So, Sprint get your sh1t together. " …
Has this happened yet? I may be moving down to the area within a couple of months and am just wondering if I'll need to still get Comcast on top of my all data plan. I certainly hope not! Thanks for any info you can post and share.
Bob
– from BOB Revolution
April 19th, 2011 at 8:11 am
yah its slow
April 29th, 2011 at 7:52 pm
Evo is slow and sometimes it froze. Not good to use, how would you the developers make it work?
April 30th, 2011 at 1:30 am
I am a long time Sprint customer so the obvious choice was the HTC Evo 4G. I love this phone, but the learning curve from Blackberry to Android has been enormous. Now that I've gotten more accustomed to this newer technology I feel that I will be a longtime Android customer.
May 5th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
Sprint's EVO 4G phone is much faster than 3g phones. As for the limited battery life, because the battery is easily replaceable, just carry a spare and you're back in business.
May 12th, 2011 at 9:31 am
The truth of the matter is that it doesn't matter how good or bad Sprint's phones/networks are. They're getting killed in the marketing department by Apple and Android. Eventually, Sprint is going to have to just start using Droid software or they'll slowly die.
May 16th, 2011 at 5:08 pm
I wish I'd done some research before I succumbed to the advertising and bought my wife an I Phone, as it appears that, though she loves just about everything about it, having a non removable battery is a real bummer, as she kills the battery everyday. Now I see there are Smartphone alternatives with removable (as in carry a spare) batteries, which would have swayed me I'm sure.
June 21st, 2011 at 6:57 pm
Did you know you can buy a cover for the Iphone, that is actually a spare battery? It does make it a little heavier, but seems to work fine. My wife bought one in an airport (Brookstone – I think) store, and it was under $100
May 19th, 2011 at 12:59 am
Phone with network support 4g this is my dream. With this phone, at any time I can download the video to communicate via Skype!
May 25th, 2011 at 9:26 pm
This EVO 4G seems interesting because of its features. It is a WiMAZ smartphone and has a gigantic touchscreen. I bet it also has good mobile applications. I really want to have a new phone but I am thinking of choosing between this and iPhone4.
May 26th, 2011 at 1:14 pm
I think the "Sprint EVO 4G" is the first 4G phone in the world. It's also have a different battery. So everywhere it is suitable.
May 29th, 2011 at 11:42 pm
So the 4g phone last long regarding battery usage?Compare to Iphone 4 which do you think is the best?
May 30th, 2011 at 1:21 am
Sprint claims customers should experience download speeds that are “10x faster than 3G” and they base that on a download speed comparison of 600 Kbps for 3G and 6 Mbps for their 4G. However, I'll go with iPhone , or Blackberry, it has more battery life than Sprint, the author is right with what he said "he couldn’t eke a day’s worth of life out of the battery"
June 14th, 2011 at 3:23 am
The Sprint EVO 4G had me sold with the removable battery. As @mike Cerm said "I personally haven't met a smartphone that I can't kill in a day." I find this so true and I have had a few smartphone's so you can really get to upset that the EVO doesn't last a full day. I really like the fact it has a front facing camera which would be amazing for skyping. I currently have a blackberry and regret the purchase because the screen is so small and the graphics are not up to par compared to android phone. It definitely makes it difficult to surfing the web.
June 17th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Sophia Anderson commented: "Sprint claims customers should experience download speeds that are “10x faster than 3G” and they base that on a download speed comparison of 600 Kbps for 3G and 6 Mbps for their 4G."
If the 4G get 6 Mbps I am quite impressed. I have been so frustrated with my dsl through my cable network let alone my mobile. I have never understood the division of territories between companies. When I moved to this home I had to leave behind the fastest internet I've ever heard of with Charter to a supposedly 9 Mbps with a local company. I would settle for 6 Mbps from AT&T, but they only offer 1.5 in my neighborhood. So be quite pleased with 6 Mbps for the 4G. Thats quite acceptable to me.
June 19th, 2011 at 7:07 am
I've had the Evo 4G for about 6 months now. I addressed the battery issue by upgrading to the Seido extra life battery. I get about 2.5 days use out of a full charge and that's using the device for surfing and gaming. As for speed, it's seems to be as fast as my friends phones of a variety of brands and carriers.
December 31st, 2011 at 2:14 pm
The extra battery provided with the batter/cover is a bit of a joke with the I Phone, as it's a lot heavier, and the cover doesn't allow you to slip it onto a charging dock easily