HTC’s Evo 4G – lots of power, but it needs more juice

The Evo 4G is touted as the next generation of mobile device, featuring a 1 GHz processor, a huge 4.3” screen, micro HDMI out connection, and most importantly a 4G chip for connecting to Sprint’s next generation WiMax network. In the Android world, there’s always another great phone around the corner, so the Evo faces stiff competition from the Droid Incredible and others, but for now with it’s 4G connection it’s got a bit of a leg up.

Since receiving mine at Google I/O, I’ve had a few weeks to play with my Evo 4G and test out a few of it’s capabilities. The device has a few killer features but it suffers from some pretty shoddy battery life.  That said let’s break the phone down by each of it’s key aspects.

Hardware

The Evo packs a serious punch with that Snapdragon processor that’s become the standard for the top of the line phones. It’s 1 GHz speed keeps the phone running snappy. The screen is really beautiful and such a pleasure to view pictures and watch video on.

On the backside there’s an 8MP camera with a dual LED flash.  It takes great pictures and HD video. Absolutely high quality. On the front side there’s a 1.3MP camera for video chatting and live streaming. Other than the built in Qik app, the only available app that took advantage of the front camera was Fring. I tested video chatting via Skype and got a solid connection over 3G while running the Evo as a mobile hotspot.

I can also vouch for the build quality of the Evo because just over a week ago it joined me for a car wreck that left a truck upside down and the Evo sitting out on the interstate. It suffered some scratches on the surface, but it made it out completely functional as far as I can tell.

Despite numerous searches on Amazon I haven’t been able to get my hands on a micro HDMI cable. As soon as I manage to find one, I will post my thoughts on how that connector works.
The biggest weakness of this phone is it’s battery life. I simply couldn’t get through a day of considerable usage without giving it a charge. And that’s generally without using WiFi or 4G (since I don’t live in an area with WiMax coverage). I don’t even dare try using the mobile hotspot without a power connection because the battery lasts maybe 2 hours.

Software

The Evo features HTC’s custom Sense UI which skins over the whole system. Altogether I much prefer the stock version of Android, but Sense provides some nice eye candy and interesting social integration. You can connect your phone contacts with your Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr contacts and then the People (contacts) app will show you their recent updates. Of course the newest versions of the Twitter and Facebook apps provide you with similar integration.The Sense keyboard is a bit cluttered and in my experience seems to be inaccurate when compared with Android’s built in keyboard. Sense does provide a nice pinch gesture on the home screen that allows you to see all if your home screens in an Exposé like view.

The device features some of the usual Android software like the Android Market, Amazon MP3 Store, Gmail, and more. It also comes with Sprint’s own apps that provide live and on demand TV, NASCAR and NFL coverage, navigation (a little redundant given that Google Maps provides this), and mobile hotspot, which is the killer feature of this phone.

Sprint’s Mobile Hotspot allows you to use your Evo as a WiFi hotspot, giving you several options for encryption. It is a custom Sprint feature and not the new hotspot feature provided by Android 2.2 since this is a 2.1 phone. For the past two weeks I’ve been using the mobile hotspot virtually everywhere I go to give my laptop, iPad, and iPod Touch a solid internet connection.

Several times I’ve put the mobile hotspot through the ringer and it has never failed to impress me.  I used it on the road to stream ESPN Radio to my iPod Touch and listen to a Lakers game without a hiccup. At home I connected my Macbook to the TV and watched a basketball game and Hulu all over the Evo’s hotspot connection.  There was the occasional buffer, but for the most part it was a great experience. This is a killer feature that will become much more prevalent with it’s inclusion in the next version of Android.I suppose it would be silly for me to talk about a phone without mentioning call quality, but that says a lot about where we are in the mobile device market. The Sprint call quality was perfectly fine and exactly what I expected. It doesn’t distinguish itself positively or negatively in this area.

Recap

Sprint calls the Evo the “first of it’s kind” and in a lot of ways it really seems to fit the bill. With its next generation data connection, mobile video chatting, and availability as a hotspot at all times it really is a new class of device. However it’s dismal battery life really puts a damper on all of it’s groundbreaking features, not to mention the fact that Apple has already announced plans to match several of those features in its next iPhone. If you can live with a phone that needs to be charged often, the Evo is the best Android device available. But with Froyo on the horizon it’s edge could be short lived.