Not bad considering all phones suck right now. December 14, 2011

Reviewer:  DAG 

I've had this phone since about the time it came out. It has had hardware problems - like strange black lines while viewing 3d images, and the camera producing a totally screwed up image (many horizontal bars of noise lines)... it goes through bouts of turning itself off repeatedly... and like all smartphones the battery doesn't last for long if you do things like... use it. If you dare to use 4G then say goodbye to the juice - using 4G will drain the battery even faster than it charges (off a computer).

Also, like all phones, the phone carrier (Sprint) destroys the operating system before it gets to the customers hands -> chock full of bloatware (and probably spyware) that you cannot uninstall without rooting (hacking) your phone.

As for the phone's "real" purpose, phone calls, I'd say it works well - no complaints in that department actually!

All in all I'd say it's not bad considering most phones suck - and the large high-resolution bright screen is great. I would recommend the phone - but beware, you may have to suffer through some of what I mentioned above.

upsides outway the down July 24, 2011

Reviewer:  Lance W. Hokanson  (ISSAQUAH, WA, US) -

I bought this phone for its lightning fast dual core processing speed and much better and more vivid display (vs evo 4g). At 1.2ghz the processors are 2x 1.2ghz(not 2x .6ghz = 1.2ghz) and there is a gigantic difference in performance. If your considering other phones dont.( unless you can wait for new releases)

The only downside is the external speaker. Its borderline unusable for an alarm, speaker phone, or app with warnings or voice commands (like a nav app). A large oversite.
To use it as an alarm you have to lay it on its face so the external speaker faces up or else forget about it.

Initially I was not interested with the 3D functionality but since I have been impressed with the quality and depth of it. Especially when it isolates sun flare and includes it in the picture.

I cant bring myself to deduct a star for the speaker due to its awesome processing performance.

I previously owned the epic 4g and have seen many side by side performance comparisons with the htc 4G.

That said theres always new phones coming out every few months. Probably ones with similar performance and a useable external speaker.

The external speaker on my sons htc shift is excellent. What happened???? Why not put that one in this phone?

Quick Review (Upgrading from EVO 4G) July 19, 2011

Reviewer:  Josh 

Pros:
*qHD Display (Resolution: 960x540) - Easily one of my favorite improvements. The original Evo 4G, like most smartphones, has a 800x480 resolution which is good, but on a 4"+ screen, the extra pixels are noticeable by making text and images clearer/smoother and making web browsing more usable.

*Dual core 1.2Ghz snapdragon - Although dual core is the new standard for smartphones, many people say it's useless because apps aren't optimized for it. However, I disagree because 1.) I immediately noticed that the Evo 3D was more snappy and responsive than my Evo 4G and more similar to the quickness found on iPhones (I had even replaced Sense with stock Android on the Evo 4G to make it as fast as possible, but the 3D was still more responsive), 2.) dual core *should* lead to slightly better battery life, and I'll take some improvement over no improvement, and 3.) apps will definitely be optimized to take advantage of dual core in the future, so it's nice to know my phone will be future-proof. Also, you will definitely notice improved gaming performance if coming from the Evo 4G.

*HTC hardware quality - I believe HTC has some of the best designed phones, and the Evo 3D is no exception. Although I admire the thinness of Samsung devices, they always feel cheap and too light in the hand. HTC devices could be a bit thinner, but I like the heft they have too them and my friends with Samsung Galaxy S's agree.

*Battery life - Based on the reviews I read prior to purchasing, I expected the 3D to be equal to the 4G in battery life. However, I have noticed much better battery life on my 3D. It could easily last 24hrs on low-average use (1-2 hours of gaming, some phone calls, web browsing) and over 8 hours on moderate use (2-3 hours of gaming, some phone calls, web browsing). Personally, 8-10 hours is all I need as I tend charge my phone every night because I prefer to have at least 40% battery at all times. The improved battery life is likely from a slightly bigger battery and the dual core processor.

*Camera (2D) - The dedicated camera button is a HUGE plus for stability, especially when you'd rather use the higher quality rear camera for self portraits. As for quality, I haven't noticed a huge improvement from the Evo 4G in stills, but the video quality is better with less stuttering and much quicker lighting transition when moving the view from a shady scene to a sunny scene.

*Sense 3.0 - The newest version of sense is quicker, looks nice, and has a phone tracking utility at HTCsense.com

*4G - 4G is definitely a plus if it's available in your area, but if it's not, I wouldn't consider it a con when reviewing the phone. It's especially useful for tethering.

Cons
*Camera (2D) - Compared to Evo 4G, the quality is about the same, although the Evo 3D has slightly clearer/detailed pictures. However, when compared to other manufacturers (specifically Samsung's Galaxy SII (1080p) and Apple's iPhone 4 (720p)), both of the Evos are subpar. Both are capable of 720p video, which is plenty in my opinion, but the actual camera sensors aren't as good which is why the contrast and detail in pictures and video is noticeably worse than on the SGII and IP4. The cameras are still great, especially considering they're smartphone cameras, but HTC could've had a phone with basically zero faults if they didn't cheap out on the camera.

*Width - Although it's not too thick, 8-10mm thickness would've been better than 12.1mm.

3D Features
*I wasn't sure whether to categorize the 3D features as a pro or con because it just depends on the person. I've heard people say they love it while others never use it. Personally, I don't care for the 3D features and don't use the 3D camera much, but I'm all for having the option of using it. Plus, I must admit that the 3D effect in games is actually enjoyable (particularly Spiderman and Asphalt 6). The only negative is that I would've much rather had an excellent quality 2D camera than a good quality 2D/3D camera.

Overall, I love this phone. It's easily the best phone on Sprint at the moment, and I would choose it over ANY Android phone on ANY carrier except for maybe the Galaxy SII, but that's not in the U.S yet so it's not an option.

Awesomeness in my hand July 8, 2011

Reviewer:  Wurms  (California) -

Let me start by saying that this is my first Android phone. Im coming from an LG Dare from Verizon. So for me, everything is awesome and fast. I can browse the net with lightning quick speed. Any app i've tossed at it loads fast and runs great. I watch Netflix anywhere I want!!! Call quality is good, but not great. Sometimes people sound a bit "tinny". The speaker on the phone is not that great either. I cant really comment on reception because I switched from Verizon to Sprint. But my Evo does have hard times getting reception in places my Verizon phone did not. Cant fault the phone though, cause Im sure its the carrier. No major reception problems though, so that makes me happy.

Anyways, music sounds horrible. I know its a phone, but my 3 year old LG Dare sounded better playing tunes. The 5megapixel camera is actually quite good if you know what your doing. There is 100,200,400,800 ISO. As well as White Balance, Face Detection, and even has a Self Timer. I took some clear pictures in an indoor low light environment and it came out practically grain-free.

The 3D: I happen to like the 3D. I wouldnt buy the phone just because of the 3D, but it is a cool feature to have and lots of fun to mess around with. In the next two years it will be a standard feature like the touchscreen is nowadays, so you mine as well get use to it. Ive messed around with the Nintendo 3DS, and the EVO 3D is better. The "sweetspot" of 3D seems bigger than Nintendos, meaning you have more wiggle room to see the 3D effect and less blur. I watched the Green Hornet in 3D with no problems at all and was actually impressed by the 3D effect. Works really well. Dont take 3D to mean things flying off the screen. The 3D here is all depth, meaning it seems to be going in the phone and beyond. Some things might appear just peaking outside the screen, but for the most part, its all about the depth. Best part of 3D is taking pictures of family and friends. Adds something NEW to regular photos. Dont try taking action shot in 3D. The target needs to be still. If you want movement in 3D, switch to the camcorder mode and shoot 3D video.

Overall I really love the phone. I knocked a star off cause I have to charge it every night. I knew this buying the phone, so Im not too upset. But if I forget to charge it one night, Im screwed. Also, Im not a fan of the design. The camera lens' stick way out, and one of the lens is placed in the middle of the phone so your hand/fingers are always touching it which equals fingerprints! Theres also no plugs/covers for the usb port, headphone port, etc. THe phone is in my pocket and lint and dust etc get into those ports. Be nice if they have a plug/cover for the open ports. My LG Dare did :) Small gripes, but they are there.

The best phone out right now, Period! July 1, 2011

Reviewer:  big4x4 

DO NOT put any faith into the so called "professional reviews!". They are just plain wrong! I can only fathom that all of their issues were fixed with subsequent firmware updates, OR they have some sort of an agenda due to political affiliations.

This is the BEST phone on Sprint right now, and in my opinion on the market. BLAZING fast speed, higher quality speaker than OG Evo 4g, Nicer screen, Camera is noticeably better once you adjust settings properly, video is about 3x better and smoother. 3D is AMAZING, and is NOT a gimmick in my opinion. Try watching Go Pro HD 2011 highlights in 3d on Youtube, INCREDIBLE! Everyone is impressed with the 3d videos and photos this thing is capable of! Battery Life is WAY better than original Evo, which I have owned for over a year. As good as the last Evo was, this one is an upgrade in every sense of the word.

Do yourself a favor and get the best phone out on the market right now, and tell those jaded reviewers to SHOVE it!

best android phone so far June 30, 2011

Reviewer:  htc3voXW 

Return Nexus S phone with weak signal problem, and exchanged for evo 3D.
Good:
1) very strong WIFI signal compare to nexus S, nexus S has one bar, this one has 4 bar.
2) a little improve of 3G and voice signal over nexus. 1 bar improve.
3) integrate all contact from different source, match function, nexus don't have
4) 3D camera is great, but you need to look at right angle and distance, and your eye should try to focus behind the screen to get best result.
5) Mp3 playblack quality is super. muchbetter than nexus s
6) much faster of course for dual core

bad:
1) battery is an issue, seem improving after first 3 day use
2) system crashed 2 times, have to take out battery to reboot
3) reboot takes2-3 minutes, not like other people say 20second
4) no rooting availabel now, cannot use hotshpot for free like nexus.
5) FM radio quality is poor, not useful and have to plug a wired heaphone, not working with bluetooth headphone.

Best in class Android phone...until the next one June 27, 2011

Reviewer:  K 

Looks like every other HTC android phone on the market....which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But, we've all seen enough of these so I'll point out things that I found remarkable.

1. Phone is technically narrower and taller than the original EVO 4G but not by much. Still, it feels much better in the hand and much more comfortable to hold...I guess those millimeters add up.

2. My unit had a little white light peeking through the glass towards the bottom of the screen by the buttons. Since the light was only at the bottom and not uniform around the screen, I think this is a build quality issue, not an intended design or feature. I found it distracting...but I got over it.

3. HTC Sense was always my favorite UI customization...the new 3.0 is even better. Sense 3.0 easily makes HTC the best android phone maker. There is now a companion website where you can register your Sense device and ring a phone remotely, track its location, remotely wipe it etc. Pretty cool.

4. 3D works. It's cool. And it's a gimmick that gets old quick. It's not worth getting the phone for the 3D but it is fun...I found myself liking it much more than I expected.

5. The screen, I want to say because of the 3D display, looks cloudy when there are smudges on it. All touch screen phones get fingerprints on them...it's the price of entry I suppose....but this one is actually hard to see and very tough to clean because of the 3D. In daylight, with the fingerprints, the screen is useless....I could barely tell it's even on!. This is probably the biggest flaw of this phone.

6. The prominent metal camera button is nice. I wish more phones had a camera button like this one.

7. Battery life is better than average...and much better than the original Evo 4G. I am a heavy user....with all radios on and non-stop phone and data use, I got about 4 hours of use on one charge. With 4G or WiFi turned off and "average" voice/data use, I could go a whole day...a little longer with BOTH 4G and WiFi off.

8. I'm returning it. Mostly because of the display. My next phone will be the Moto Photon because it has just about the same specs without the 3D, GSM for overseas travel and better camera....plus the new MotoBLUR is supposed to be much more like Sense.

9. I wish HTC would make a top of the line phone like this with a physical keyboard so I can finally kick my crackberry habit.

10. Rating it 4 stars....the phone is easily the king of the hill for the moment. Taking away 1 star for the display...almost tempted to take away more but the rest of the phone really is that good where less than 4 stars would be a little harsh.

Evo 3D June 26, 2011

Reviewer:  W. Goodwin "Goodwince"  (San Diego) -

Recently bought this phone and so far impressed. Really good work by HTC, the phone screams compared to its predecessor. HTC's updates to the UI are the vast improvement, my downloaded widgets for controls have almost been made obsolete. HTC added a new feature to the pull down menu to where you can quickly cut off things like WIFI, Mobile Network, Blue Tooth, etc. Not to mention a recent apps added to the top of the pull down menu. No more having to hold the home button. From the lock screen you can also choose four applications that you can jump right to.

They modified the stock keyboard removing the arrows at the bottom, and made the ability to move the cursor on words quite a bit more precise. This was my only gripe with the Evo 4G was coming from an iPhone I had a bit more of a challenge typing. Now I feel like the Evo 3D has surpassed every piece of advantage I felt the iPhone had.

Thank you HTC and keep up the good work.

P.S. I'm digging that you can move different screens around like you can apps on the dashboard. Just zoom out by pressing home twice or pinching from the home screen. Hold on a particular dashboard and you can move them around.

engadget and bgr reviews were inaccurate and irresponsible June 28, 2011

Reviewer:  dpeagle 

the early reviews of this phone were very mixed. camera, battery, 3d performance and build quality ratings were mixed while processor performance was praised and call quality was universally rated from average to poor. i will say, the battery life isn't great and the signal strength shown is below average (although in 5 days i have not had a dropped call), the phone otherwise is a total blast. great build quality, blazing fast and sense 3 is amazing. call quality is as good or better then any phone i have ever used. at this moment in time this is the best phone available on this network. potential customers should have no fears. prepare to be amazed.

A Marvel of a Phone! June 26, 2011

Reviewer:  Lou Z "loupz"  (New York) -

I am blown away by this phone. Without getting into all of the details that others already covered, I want to touch on a just a few features.

First, sound quality of the media player surprised me. I used it to drive my Sennheiser HD600 headphones and immediately heard subtle detail and smooth sound in my music that I had not expected from a phone - not that I expected much given past experiences, but none the less, it was a pleasant surprise that the sound quality was enjoyable. Since I would like to add a lot of musich to my phone - I have one request for phone manufacturers - could you add a second micro SD slot so instead of replacing the generous 8GB card that came with my hone with another, I could just add a card for even more storage. The increase in price for card capacity is not linear so two smaller cards would be much more cost effective.

I like the latest version of HTC Sense very much and the speed of the phone and fluidity of the transition from screen to screen to app is amazing - thanks I am sure to the dual core processor. I can also get to the screen or application that I want much quicker than with earlier Android phones.

The 3D is a very cool feature after you get used to it (you need to find the right angle and the right distance from your eyes), but for those who do not care for the 3D, the phone is spectacular whether or not you ever use this feature. Either way, you can still take quality photos and shoot HD video in 2D as well and the shutter button is perfect. Next to the shutter is a toggle switch that allows you switch between 2D and 3D easily.

The screen is beautiful, the size is perfect, battery has been fine, etc. I am glad Sprint did not raise the price of this phone and has decided to remain competetive. Sprint service has been great and I could not get anything close to this phone and service plan for the price with another major carrier. In short, I love this phone!

great phone! June 25, 2011

Reviewer:  Melikey  (Ypsilanti, MI United States) -

A disclaimer,
I can't really tell where the android 2.3 begins and the HTC sense software ends so this review isn't for Android 2.3 or HTC sense individually but for the overall phone. Also, I upgraded my phone from a dinosaur android, the samsung moment, so this review won't be helpful if you want to hear about evo vs. 3d evo.

Pros:
There are tons, let's start this a different way.

Cons:
-I dislike the placement of the power button on the top of the phone. I am a woman with average sized hands and i can not reach the power button with my pointer finger while palming the phone. This turns a simple operation of checking to see the time to a two hand operation where i have to balance the phone in one and and press the power button with another. A better place for that button is the side of the phone where you can push the button while holding with one hand.
- The 3d is not impressive at all.

I thought long and hard to come up with those two!

Ok, now that I've gotten that out of the way, the good stuff!

Pros:
-This is absolutely the most crisp, clear screen that I have ever seen on any phone. The colors just pop and the resolution is amazing. The only thing i really can compare it to is the screen on the apple Ipad2. It's just plain brilliant and amazing.
-The phone takes beautiful pictures and video. Very clear images.
-The screen rotates so that landscape viewing works on either side (there's no "right" side).
-The widgets are really impressive on this phone. The 7 different desktops (or scenes as I like to call them) can't be beat. One of my screens is the music player, which stays active and allows you to pause or skip phones without unlocking the phone, this was a pretty cool feature. Another scene is the weather which is animated showing the weather conditions. I also have the bookshelf widget which i am using only cause it looks so darn pretty, and many more. I spent like the past 24 hours just playing with my new space.
-No noticeable lag in swiping or keying on the keyboard. easy to type and i only miss my physical keyboard a teeny bit.

I could go on, I really do love this phone.

The battery seems decent. I watched half of the green hornet, and played with my phone about 5 hours straight on wifi, playing with new app games, etc, and completely drained it. but it seems to be holding up well under normal use. we'll see.

Not Worth the Money November 25, 2012

Reviewer:  Mike 

The phone functions as a phone BUT ever feature they add seems to be followed with a bug. The 3D itself adds nothing to the phone is rarely used. From my research and understanding the music player and youtube along with many other features on the phone bug up and start to open up random programs and get in the way, it will freeze up and shut down and sometimes the touch screen will lock up and require you to have to restart the phone or find some other way to un-freeze the phone. If you REALLY want to try the 3D, be my guest but it is NOT worth the money.

Battery life is AWFUL May 10, 2012

Reviewer:  Ledjar 

I've had this phone for about 7 months now and i'm coutin the days until my plan lets me upgrade (2 years from when i bought it).

Overall the android os and the phone itself is pretty good. Its a solid feeling phone with a nice screen. Its a bit on the large side of have in your pocket and its a bit heavy, but these are acceptable because of how large the screen is. The screen is relatively high rez unless you see it next to a retna display, then it looks like garbage.

The biggest problem with this phone is it is ALWAYS dead. plan on having a charger with you at all times cause this phone loves to die. I honestly think it can only idle for 12 hours, if you use it all during those 12 hours i'd expect only 8 hours out of the phone. Who needs features when you can't even turn the thing on.

overall, i'd say DO NOT BUY

One of the worst phones I've owned March 27, 2012

Reviewer:  Nick K6 

As a previous Iphone & Evo 4G user this new 3D is a horrible phone. It is fast, but that doesn't make up for ite functioning so poorly. The screen rarely works properly and I find myself restarting it frequently. I am going to switch back to my 4g Evo as that was the best phone I've owned in my 15 years of cell phones. Evo 3D = Fail

Crappiest phone ever!!!!! March 8, 2012

Reviewer:  Iloveshopping.  (Long Island, NY.) -

I bought this about four months ago and hate it!!! It constantly freezes - as in all day long. If it's not freezing then it's going nuts - going from huge print to small print and letters cone up that I haven't even typed. It's like it's possessed. Want to return it and never see it again.

Good when it works. Horrible HTC customer service. January 18, 2012

Reviewer:  Christopher Meyer 

My wife and I both got these phones when we switched to Sprint. We previously had Iphones on the ATT network. I have never had a phone with such poor support. Both of these phones now have the same hardware issue. This issue can also be found by searching google or youtube, so it is obviously fairly common. It also seems that HTC has had this issue with other EVO models.

The issue is that the touch screen stops responding properly. At first this can be fixed by removing the battery and putting it back in. The real issue is that as time goes on the problem gets worse. Eventually part or all of the touchscreen stops working entirely.

The first major issue is that they make you pay for shipping to send the phone in. This wouldn't have been so bad but HTC basically told me not to send the phone back until the problem occurs constantly. They stated they if they power the phone on and it has no issues apperant that they will charge me diagnostics plus return shipping and there is no appeal process.

My phone has finally reached the point where the upper part of the touch screen won't recognize input, but my wife's phone will sometimes only work for an hour but sometimes will works for as long as a day.

Considering at the time we got these they were the top of the line phone that was offered on Sprint I feel we have been treated very poorly by both Sprint and HTC. I have left my frustrations with Sprint out of this review and targeted the hardware, but I will say that I am very sorry to have left ATT. It was more expensive but it was faster, more reliable and they provided a far better customer experience.

As a contrast, I had an issue with my iphone. Apple payed for overnight shipping from me to them, diagnosed the issue the next day and overnighted it back. This was all at no cost to me. HTC makes you pay for shipping to them. States that the repair will take 10 to 12 buisness days and will only pay return shipping if the can replicate the error otherwise you pay return shipping plus diagnostic costs.

Here is an example off of youtube [...]

At first its great but then.... November 29, 2011

Reviewer:  Cody 

I hate to say it. But. At first this phone was probably one of the best I have ever used. The 3D was awesome and worked perfect. But as you add stuff to the phone and customize it the phone quality drops. It freezes literally every 10 seconds the screen becomes unresponsive and the games go extremely slow. It sucks. The updates fix it for about 10 minutes then it drops back down to crap. It is completely terrible. So do not waste your money. Get the iphone or the Windows 7 phone

Disappointed in this 3D paper weight November 19, 2011

Reviewer:  Jeff  (EDWARDS, IL, United States) -

This phone was expensive at $199. The camera is too slow. Autofocus results is fuzzy pictures with poor color (bright autumn pictures looked grey and dull). A 4G signal is rarely available even in Chicagoland but you pay a premium for it regardless. Local tech support sucks. All they know how to do is wipe your phone and all your apps with it. Calls are dropped when driving south on Hwy 55. I love 3D but found I mainly used it to show off the phone which means it's a gimmick and not wroth the weight. I'll be getting an iPhone4S next and try iOs vs Android and AT&T instead of Sprint.

HORRIBLE BATTERY LIFE September 11, 2011

Reviewer:  B1969FL 

I would suggest turning off the 4G to save power. THe battery life is less than 24 hours. The phone itself is great with lots of functions and great look. But it bothers me way to much on battery life and recharging time as well. I measured it. Disconnected from Charging at 8 am and by 2 pm phone was dead with 5 phone calls and about 1.5 hours on web. Took 4G off and change refresh emails from 5 min to 30 min and got pass 9pm before it went dead, with same amount of use.

BEST SMARTPHONE ON ANY CARRIER!!! July 18, 2011

Reviewer:  Thomas Andrejko "BOWHUNTER"  (SCRANTON,PA) -

I love this phone!! i wasnt going to get it at first. I could have had it early being sprint premeier, but i wanted to read all the reviews before i made the jump. also i wasnt due for a full discount seeing that i bought my hero couple months after it came out, and sprint changed there policy on new upgrades.luckily sprint allowed me to get this phone for full discount 6 months early. I have checked out all the high-end phones on every big 3 carrier for months now. and the first time i played around with this phone i was blown away!! first off the specs are amazing, dual-core 1.2ghz snapdragon, 4.3in qhd screen, gryoscope, proxmity sensor, adreno 220 gpu. ect. ect.. the phone flies!! sense 3.0 is a big step up, and i love it! plain android is so boring i love htc and sense!! the camera while only being 5megapixel blows my heros camera(also 5) out of the water. and the 3d, which i was not sure at all about, boy am i surprised how much i like the 3d part. green hornet in 3d is very very cool. its an extra that really seprates itself from every other phone. even if you dont like 3d at all or you feel its a fad or a gimmick, it is really wicked to be able to watch 3d or take pics for those extra wow moments!! and with this phone there are alot. android is to me the best o.s. also dont worry about some reviews like engadget that havent rated this phone as high as some. they are rushed to get reviews on the net and never really take time to appreciate a phone like this. as each day passes im really loving this phone more and more. the bulid quality is very good. the voice quality is also top notch. i have compared the evo 3d to my last 2 sprint phones for voice and signal quality, and it holds calls where my hero would drop them. and it is on par with my moto renegade flip phone for signal which was one of the better sprint phones for reception. bottom line Get The Evo 3D!