That darn good July 9, 2012

Reviewer:  Dennis Fields "Dennis"  (Detroit MI) -

On the surface, this phone is well worth the price out of the box (as is the case for my wife), but me being the techy I am I couldn't wait to root and install a custom ROM on this phone. I have a 64gb memory card installed, movies, music and comic books (nerd paradise). I am also able to use my IP sniffer, as well as a cadre of networking tools from this phone. I was able to shoot, edit and add music (all on the phone) on video complete with titling sequence. The addition of an HDMI cabling further add value to this device. I know there are those who will compare this to the Samsung Galaxy S3, but if you're going to do that, really do a side by side comparison (or end up paying a restock fee, lol). This phone is great...funny, I haven't even mentioned the phone functions yet. Excellent call quality and this is all still on a 3G network (4G to be installed in 1st/2nd quarter of 2013). Video calling is great with the software correct feature. I LOVE THIS PHONE!!!!

Even Better Than Expected!! June 20, 2012

Reviewer:  Cory A. Kelson "Kelso"  (Compton, il) -

I have had this phone for a little over 2 weeks now and it just keeps impressing me. Im not going to go on and on about every single detail that makes this phone the best out there because everyone else has pretty much done that. Most of the negatives are sprints lack of 4glte. That doesnt effect me. I had the first evo and I never had 4g in my area. Its simple though, do some research before you buy a new phone. If you have a good 4g signal where you use your phone then do not upgrade to a 4glte phone yet because all you will have is 3g until sprint rolls out the new 4g. My ablsoulute favorite thing about this evo is you can actually run live wallpapers, do multiple things and still have decent battery life and the phone will do it all effortlessly without getting real hot and still remains super smooth and fast without a bit of hesitation. The first gen evo was supposed to do all that but was kind of a dissapointment. I was going to wait for the galaxy s3, but once I saw and felt the build quality on this evo lte, I didnt want to wait for the samsung just to find out it looks and feels just as cheap as the galaxy s2. That was my main complaint with the galaxy, it just feels like a toy. Hopefully all the people waiting for the galaxy s3 understand that they will not have 4g either for another 6 months. Every time I pull this phone out to use it, I cant help but just stare at it because it is so bright, crisp and clear. Best phone out right now hands down.

Great Phone!! Love it June 8, 2012

Reviewer:  T. Lebon "Jiggz"  (Shreveport, La) -

This phone is amazing, it has everything you love from the OG Evo and more. one of the most surprising thing that this phone has is the multitasking card layout almost like the WebOS has. Battery life is decent. If your not sure about this phone do yourself a favor and get it.

Really extraordinary..... June 7, 2012

Reviewer:  acstewart04 

Well I had the original evo and I loved it so I couldn't wait to get this one. I was partial to the back of the phone but its cool besides I got a case for it and the phone is thinner than the original. I love this phone and all the features. I love the updated HTC music player it looked like there was more thought put into it it does need a little more tweaking for better navigation but its good. I love how easy it is to go back to recent apps I also love the new camera functions. I also love the skins I hope they add more. Overall it was a well thought out device. ICS and sense work very nicely together. The screen is big, beautiful and vibrant. Oh and the dedicated camera button and kickstand are an awesome plus. The power button is easier to press than on the original. I do dislike the fact that they got rid of the search button and I also wish that merging calls was a little easier but that's an HTC thing not an evo thing and taking screenshots is cool. Btw I don't care if my phone talks back to me google search works great when making notes, sends emails and texts and various other commands.

Don't Wait! Evo 4G to Evo LTE...Just Do It. June 27, 2012

Reviewer:  Dennis Bang "Plastics Doc"  (Santa Monica, CA USA) -

OK this is really easy. If you are ready for an upgrade because you were like me and had an EVO 4G. It is coming on your 24th month or you have waited to see what is next. Which is so cool because you have been drooling to get a new phone. If you are good with Sprint in your area, which is always so important. Do not wait. This phone is such an awesome upgrade. You are waiting for no reason. You have to make the jump sometime. This EVO is everything you wanted the first one to be. No more low memory. I was worried about the battery but this is a totally different league. One bad. This phone is so thin and light that I lose it in my pocket. LOL. It is a no brainer. 3G is quicker and everything seems instantaneous or so much faster than before. I rarely used 4G WiMax on my EVO 4G so no LTE for now is cool. I have been so tempted to go to Verizon, but I like the idea of unlimited data. The phone feels solid and everything is so much better than before. Take the jump. You deserve it.

A worthy successor to the evo lineage June 15, 2012

Reviewer:  Geon 

Before I start the review, I'll say where I'm coming from: My last phone was a Samsung Galaxy S2, before that the original Evo, and a Palm Pre before that.

The very first impression you will get from this phone is the feel and look. It's remarkably light, but stills pulls off that solid feel that you normally attribute to weight. The aluminum bezel around the edge of the phone both feels nice and looks chic. As far as the backing is concerned, the bottom rubbery half feels awesome in your hand but I really can't figure out the need for the glossy slick plastic on the top third. The camera lens is recessed, which is a great feature. The kickstand feels way more solid and functional than the ones on the previous iterations of the Evo.

The phone is a bit large, and I have big hands. It's hard to put into words, but it's just a bit awkward to do some things one handed. Really my biggest problem with the size is the location of the power button on the top, which I'd of preferred to see on the side where the volume buttons are (and see them moved to the other side). You won't be able to press the power button from a typing hand position, which makes it a bit more work to shoot a quick text.

Turn it on, and you will see a *pretty good* screen. In honesty it doesn't hold up to the super amoled I was accustomed to on my S2, but it's definitely a gorgeous display and it'd be hard to call it disappointing.

You will then be greeted with the newest flavor of Sense...which I don't really care for. There is typically this annoying little menu bar that hangs out at the very bottom of the display (right below where your spacebar will be). I won't say I miss the 4 button android layout, as I never used the search button...but losing the menu button for the screen switching button is a real source of annoyance. Apps are way less intuitive and that bar at the bottom of the screen has infuriated me. The lock screen is neat though, although I find myself dragging the app that I currently have open into the ring to quick-open it, which re-opens the app and loses the context.

I'm going to rate the speed and responsiveness as *adequate* for a device of this tier (emphasis on that last part). The device is snappy and responsive, but I do notice a slight amount of lag in scrolling sometimes that I did not see in my year old S2. But I mean, when I say lag I am being extremely picky....everything is picky, and it re-columns text very quickly after a resize (a missing feature from my S2 that I desperately missed).

The camera is superb, and the camera app has a lot of neat features. Only nitpick I have about them is the difficulty to switch between main/front camera. I hear a lot of people displeased that the camera button doesn't launch the camera, but I feel that it would be annoying if it did and you couldn't turn it off...I can see it getting pressed accidentally quite frequently.

The battery life has surprised and pleased me, I have no problem making it through a full day. The radio is great, I get much better service than my S2 or first gen Evo.

SUMMARY
--------
Likes:
- The phone feels great and sturdy, build quality is top notch
- The screen puts holds up great against the best displays out there
- Battery Life and Service are very good
- Great camera loaded with features

Dislikes:
- I am not a fan of the new Sense, nor of the lack of menu button
- Phone might be a bit bigger than necessary and button placement could be more convenient

WORST PHONE EVER June 22, 2012

Reviewer:  T. Prendergast "the other king of media"  (Boston, MA) -

I just upgraded last week from the original Evo 4G and I am very happy so far. ICS is fantastic and is a big step up from Gingerbread (the lock screen, grouping app icons, widget resizing, etc). I don't want to spend too long writing this so I just wanted to point out one thing I absolutely love about this phone compared to the original that nobody has mentioned anywhere I have looked - the kickstand! While the kickstand on the original was good, this one is GREAT! Why? Because it works in 3 different ways - you can lean your phone on it on either side or on the bottom. I was relly disappointed when I originally thought that the connection for the charger was on the side you had to lean it on because you couldn't use the kickstand while charging but then I realized the versatility of the stand! Hopefully this is helpful to others who have yet to realize this as well.

EDIT
I have now had this phone for a few months and it is easily the worst phone I have ever used. Every day I would find a new bug and other bugs would become more and more prevalent. The battery life is brutal because the software is so buggy - sometimes I lose a full charge in under 4 hours without ever using my phone - there is no excuse for that. I have only had it for a few months (HTC Evo 4G LTE) and the software has more bugs every day to the point where I can't stand using it any more. I was told there would be a Jelly Bean upgrade coming but a friend of mine got his 3 weeks ago and I can't wait any more. It would literally take me an hour to list all the bugs but the most annoying problems are:
1. The phone freezes when unlocking more than 50% of the time. I have to hold the power button and reset the phone to get it working again.
2. It sends and receives every text message anywhere between 3 and 6 times. Everyone complains they get my texts multiple times and I get theirs multiple times as well.
3. When I am connected on a call and I try to do something else (look at a contact's phone number or anything else), the screen turns off every time as soon as I touch it. This means my phone is unusable until the person on the other end hangs up. I called a customer service number for another company a few weeks ago and they failed to disconnect me so I had to wait for the battery on the phone to die and charge it again before I could even use it.

Do yourself a favor and avoid this phone.

May all phones be this GREAT March 31, 2013

Reviewer:  Techsnoop 

I am a heavy smartphone user and use my phone for business, games, watching Netflix, and photos and video. My previous phone was the EVO 4G which was great at the time it came out. But, with new technologies, the phone was too slow to keep up. Enter the HTC EVO 4G LTE.
I chose the white version with brushed aluminum trim. This phone is everything I ever hoped for. Besides being beautiful, thin and light, it is super speedy, easy to use and works well in all mediums. My test drive included set up of phone, transfer of contacts, video, still photos while video recording, Skype use, games, downloading apps, battery life, music listening, and managing Facebook and Dropbox accounts on the fly.
My results are;
Transferring contacts and setup - I have never had a phone set up this easily. I signed in to my accounts (Kindle, Kobo, GMail) and they synched instantly. Transferring contacts, pictures and other content was as simple as pairing the 4G LTE with my old phone via bluetooth and Viola! everything transferred. Pictures, music, voice recorded notes, voicemail saved, Everything.
Downloading and installing apps - After signing in to Google Play, I just chose the apps I wanted installed and clicked install. I did not have to wait for one to finish, I selected all I wanted to install and the installation was seamless. The same process worked with my Amazon app store apps. This phone multi-tasks like a dream.
Video and photo - The camera is a make or break deal in my smartphone purchases. If the camera is not great, I won't buy it. The EVO 4G LTE excels in the camera area. The video is crystal clear and easy to use. You can take rapid still shots while in video mode and both the stills and video are crisp. Taking the stills is as simple as lightly touching the on-screen button as fast as you need. I have no use for a digital point and shoot, this phone completely replaces it. If you take a lot of photos with your phone, this is the phone for you.
Skype - Video calling is crisp and clear on this phone. You can see and hear well without stuttering unless you move around a lot.
Games - Angry Birds Star Wars, Bad Piggies and Solitare all played smoothly with no errors and paused when calls came in.
Music - Ah, music. Accessing and playing music is a dream on this phone. The music plays well through the speakers or bluetooth headphones. Beats Audio produces excellent sound and the battery life makes using this as a music player practical.
Facebook and Dropbox integration - The free Dropbox account synchs your photos automatically and is great for backing up your pics. Facebook picks up easily when you sign in and there is now a page manager that lets you post and respond on your business pages.
Battery life - Battery life on the EVO 4G LTE is great. It lasted through an entire day (9 am to midnight) of music listening, phone talk time, Angry Birds and checking FB and GMail. All while connected to my bluetooth headphones. During this test, I ran the music anytime I was not talking or playing games. The only function that uses excessive battery power is video calling. I would say we have a winner.

Just keeps getting better December 12, 2012

Reviewer:  Moni S. "Muzik Lover"  (Tucson, AZ) -

I have been using HTC phones, since the first EVO. Every update brings great improvements over the last. The HTC EVO LTE 4G is no exception.

Pros:
Great feel in your hand. Feels solid and comfortable, not bulky ( and I have little hands).

Fast, very quick and responsive.

Great screen. When I turned the brightness up, couldn't really see much of a difference between by boyfriend's iphone 5. It comes with automatic brightness, which I assume is to save the battery life. Also love the size, my eyes are not what they use to be. I can barely see my daughter's screen on her iphone.

Improved battery life. I can go all day and into the evening. Actually don't put in on charger till I go to bed. My phone usage consists of bluetooth my music in car to and from work. Listen to music at work. Texting quite a bit, checking email, playing wordfued all day and of course a number of calls throughout the day, some longer than others. One thing to note however, some of the assistance apps ( similar to Siri ) tend to shorten the battery life.

Cool little features, like if you are talking and lay phone with screen down it automatically turns on speaker phone, and when you pick it up turns speaker phone off. Of course, the kickstand is back ( I actually use it).

Camera is great, tons of features love the fast shutter so you can pick the best one, especially with people that its hard to catch them smiling. Does the cropping, editing , panoramic, effects, etc.

Beats Audio is kinda of cool. I see it as more of a gimmick though. Some say if you get actual Beats headphones you can hear the difference. No big deal for me sounds fine as it is.

Cons:
Don't have 4G in my area, so that part is kinda of useless to me, unless I'm out of town.

HTC Sense, I personally hate it. The good thing is you can get batter Launchers, like Go Launcher is my favorite.

I've had mine for a few months now and don't really have any major complaints. I got a case, dropped it a few times, no issues. I actually took the screen protector off ( didn't like how it dulled the screen), and have dropped it after that and screen was fine.

I was going to get the galaxy, but I like to do the opposite of what everyone else is. I don't regret my choice.I love it when people ask me, ohh what kinda of phone is that.

Great phone, if you want something different.

Update: I've had the phone for almost 6 months now and I added a extra star. After all my various apps and stuff running, has not crashed, locked up, involuntarily rebooted or slowed down in anyway. I've even dropped quite a few more times, still no screen crack without a screen protector. The best part is my battery life is still really good. Checked it with my boyfriends iphone 5 ( which I consider the iphones to have the best battery life ) and it appeared just as good. I actually do more on my phone daily then he does. Now I did not do a minute by minute comparison, just checked at the beginning of day, and then checked at the end of day between the two phones. So in summary hardware: excellent OS: Jellybean is the best version yet of android, as it should be since it the latest = awesome phone.

Wait to be fair there are a few complaints I have. 1. The volume toggle is in a bad position for me, find myself accidentally bringing it all the way up or down, because that is where I hold the phone 2. I turn the media volume all the way up for the bluetooth in my car. Unfortunately, when I decide to listen to music on phone with my headphones it blows my ears out if I forget to turn it down first. Now I'm not sure if this is something I can set somewhere to change that ( haven't found a setting yet), but if not they really need to make it automatically drop the volume down when headphones are attached. However, both quirks don't change my opinion of phone, can't be perfect.

Convinced this is the best phone on the planet September 18, 2012

Reviewer:  Melissa R. Schumacher 

I was dying to get this phone as soon as I first saw it on sprints website to pre-order it. My previous phone was the original EVO 4g, it was my first android phone and despite a few annoying things it would do I loved it for the year that I had it. So when I read the info about the EVO 4g lte I knew I had to have it. I decided in July that I couldn't wait anymore and took advantage of my early upgrade. As soon as I get my phone home I started customizing it to the way I wanted it, it is very easy to use, I didn't even read the manual. This phone is amazing, I love the big screen (great quality) and the fact that the phone is so light and thin and not bulky like the original EVO. The camera is wonderful which is a relief because I had very bad issues with the camera on 3 different EVO 4g's. The internet works great, and is very fast, I own two expensive computers and the internet on my phone is faster then it is on my computers. The big screen size comes in handy while being on the internet. Texting is very easy and the swype feature on this phone is much better than on the original EVO. I haven't had any problems receiving texts or phone calls and I've never had a problem with dropped calls. This phone has tons of amazing features and apps, and doesn't have a few of the useless apps that the first EVO had. Music sounds great with the beats audio when I listen to it through my bluetooth car stereo. Last but certainly not least the battery life on this phone is outstanding, I usually go about 40 hrs. without having to charge my phone...and I'm on my phone alot. I constantly text, I'm on the internet all the time, play games, listen to music almost every day, talk on the phone, download apps, etc. I couldn't believe how long my battery lasted after I fully charged my phone for the first time. This is the only phone I've ever owned that doesn't need to be charged everyday! The is my favorite phone and I'm convinced it's the best one on the market....don't let the bad reviews change your mind about purchasing it!

Vast improvement. July 8, 2012

Reviewer:  Heather 

I had the original Evo, which I loved, but the battery life quite honestly SUCKED on.

The Evo LTE takes everything that was awesome about the Evo and makes it prettier and more functional. Panoramic shooting mode on the camera? Yes please. Better quality video. Awesome. Prettier and more functional Sense UI? Awesome. Amazing battery life? SWEET!

With this phone I don't have to have an anxiety attack about leaving my charger at home. The battery life is WORLDS better than the original Evo 4G. The camera is fabulous. Lots of built in effects. I like panorama the best. The only thing that sucks is that there's no removable battery, so I'm not quite sure what I'm going to have to do when the phone freezes when it gets older, but I won't worry about that for now. If the battery life sucked on this it would be more of an issue, because obviously an additional/extended battery wouldn't be an option. However, in average use, the life is actually decent, so I don't have any complaints.

The Beats Audio is a cool feature - however it only is effective if you plug something into the headphone jack. Playing music through the phone's external speaker isn't any different than the OG Evo.

I also like how Sprint has kept the bloatware to a minimum on this, and some of it, like Soundhound, is actually useful.

Overall, a fantastic phone...and way better than any iPhone.

Watch the new iPhone be announced with a panorama capable camera, and Apple act like it's the hot new thing. Again, HTC beat you guys.

I see why apple was hating. June 29, 2012

Reviewer:  C. Gautier "C. Gautier"  (WA) -

Only things I don't like about this phone is that the charging port is on the side. I don't like the glossy black back cover. I'd rather rubberized. And no micro hdmi port. I used it a lot for Sunday ticket and NBA league pass. The phone speaker isn't better than the original EVO.

All the camera features are great. The screen is the best I've ever seen. Battery life will suffice. The beats audio makes for great sound with monster headphones. Performance is amazing. Not as much bloatware as in the past.

LOVE IT June 27, 2012

Reviewer:  Yash 

One of the best in the ongoing EVO line. Sleek, fast, and current. I love the big screen and how well it fits in my hands.

apple needs to come out with something spectacular to top the evo lte or samsung galaxy s3 June 18, 2012

Reviewer:  jfranco 

I am not going to go into details repeating what others have stated. This phone has everything I desire in a smartphone. Great radio/phone quality, screen, camera, & HTC sense works extremely well. I often make use of the HTC calendar/agenda widgets. As a professional these tools are very use full for staying organized. The HTC email app is excellent. You can actually get it to push your gmail email if you set it up as Microsoft exchange. Now I can have all my emails from different providers together in one email app with push without the need for a third party mail client from Google's playstore. When I first saw photos of the phone online I thought the design was rather ugly. Seeing and holding the phone in person is a different story. It definitely looks different but I like it. I am very satisfied with the build quality. I can go all day on one charge , sometimes a day and a half depending on usage. I actually found this phone at Walmart a day or two after the phone was released from customs. I was available for $158.00 with a new 2 year agreement. Make no mistake, this is the best android phone available on any carrier. Its only competition is the samsung galaxy s3. I am not concerned with LTE coverage because I have wifi at home and work and in most public places such as malls, restaurants, coffee shops etc provide free wifi. If you live in the Miami, Florida area you will be happy to know the first LTE tower is scheduled to be on by the end of June. If you are a sprint customer this is the phone to get. If sprint has good coverage in your area and you have considered switching carriers and saving on your monthly bill, this is the carrier/phone to get. I can't compare it to the galaxy s3 US version because it is not released yet. I have had this phone for about 2 weeks, and have had no issues. So far my experience has been enjoyable, I am very pleased with this product.

Perfect !! June 13, 2012

Reviewer:  Tod 

I was an owner of the original EVO and until now, none of the NEW phones thrilled me. It seemed like I had to give something up to get things I didn't really need, like 3D video. This phone does everything the original EVO did and then some. Picture quality, just as good, video quality, 1080 capable. 1.5 Ghz Dual core?,, that was a serious step up. More ram ,,,Check, MUCH better battery life, check,, bigger screen check. They really got it right on this one and I would say go for it if your thinking about getting one. Oh yeah,, and I didn't have to call my every Sprint store in the area for 3 weeks to get this one, it is actually available.

HTC EVO 4G LTE June 9, 2012

Reviewer:  Felix M 

This new EVO LTE is an awesome phone. I've been using this phone for two weeks and a day. I was one of the first to receive the phone on my pre-order from Sprint regardless its the same phone here on amazon.

Pros:
-amazing camera indoor and outdoor during daylight(absolutely amazing!!!)(note* during night or lowlight its just like every other smartphone quality, but daytime was amazing!!!!!)
-Battery Life awesome, could actually charge it before I go to sleep and has awesome standby battery time, wake up with easily 95% battery or better.
-Kickstand
-Micro SD Card slot
-Snapdragon S4 Processor very fast and no lag
-Beats by Dr Dre audio
-HTC Sense 4.0 is awesome and no lag and useful apps and great user interface(contacts, calender, weather widget, music app, car dock, and many more...)
-GPS works awesome and instant :)
-Radio Signal has been great and call quality even better!!!!
-Google Wallet(it was weird first time activating its prepaid card, but afterwards and software update it works flawless!!! awesome feature to showoff) & NFC features

Cons
-no 4G LTE available yet(not HTC EVO 4G LTE fault)

**I will update this in the future to see how this phone does and review 4G LTE network on this phone.

Caution phone just dies November 8, 2012

Reviewer:  DBK 

Use caution here. I've had my HTC EVO just 33 days. Today it just simply died. Made a call it had 3/4 charge and 30 minutes later it's just dead. No lights even on the wall charger.

Apparently this is not an uncommon problem. A search on "htc evo lte just died" turns up 310,000 hits. So I'm not alone. This very common problem is also known as the HTC "Black Screen of Death" or the BSOD.

I took it to the Sprint store and they said they didn't know what was wrong. Replacement will cost $38 even though it's still in manufacturers warranty. Sprint does not honor them without purchase of additional 'protection plan'.

Faulty product, poor service.

David Kumhyr
Austin TX

One very pretty step backward July 17, 2012

Reviewer:  goukiman 

I have owned an HTC EVO 4G since it was rolled out, and believe it is the best phone since my old Motorola bag-phone. My EVO fell off the roof of my car at 55 MPH and has been working since with a broken screen, so, when the EVO LTE was released I was excited about getting my upgrade and not using a phone with a shattered screen. I "upgraded" the first week it came out and excitedly took it home, where the honeymoon ended rather abruptly.
Pros:
This is one good looking phone. It feels good in your hand as well. The screen is large enough to be very comfortable, yet small enough to still be for a phone.

This machine is fast. The speedy processor is groovy for popping back and forth amongst apps.

Cons:
The battery life is less than the EVO 4G. Yes, I am a hard-core user and know the tricks. It gets approximately 3 hours less time per day, and I compared them side by side for three days.

The poly-core processor doesn't like many games. They simply crash.

This is a well thought out, serious critical review. Rating against it just because you enjoy your EVO is rude.

Comes with less ram than Verizon phones (not a big deal for me).

The stand requires either fingernails or a tool to flip out. I work in construction, and have minimal fingernails. Any time I wanted to flip the stand out I needed to get a tool to do it.

The charge plug makes it impossible to sit the phone down and watch Netflix, which is the primary reason I purchased my original smart phone. Moving the so the phone cannot be plugged in and used is ridiculious.

IceCream Sandwich interface is cumbersome and unfriendly, easy to fix with aftermarket apps such as GO.

ULTIMATE DOWNFALL: This phone has significantly less signal retrieval capacity than the EVO 4g.
Interface is cumbersome and unfriendly, easy to fix with aftermarket apps such as GO.

Side by side, in and out of the city, this phone has--at best--two less `bars' of signal than the original EVO. When I am in my house it will *not* receive phone calls. The original EVO has no problem with them. The LTE drops calls constantly.
Regardless of how pretty a phone is, and regardless of if it can play snazzy games or not, a phone needs to function as a phone. After over 20 missed calls and an unknown amount of dropped calls, I returned this phone to Sprint. They did offer to set up a `mini-tower' in my house that works of WiFi, however that incurs another monthly charge. We pay an exorbitant amount for our smart phone addiction already; I am unwilling to add to the bill further. I am back to using my EVO 4g, with shattered screen, and gladly receiving phone calls with no issues.

I wish I could rate it one-and-a-half stars, but one star is close enough. Simply not a step in the right direction for HTC.

I put a lot of work into this to make it a legitimate review. Those of you that 'voted' against it, well...you know. You should read this:
[...]

It's a toss up but the "sudden death" manufacturer defect may be enough to stop you from buying September 2, 2012

Reviewer:  Al Gator "Al"  (Anytown, USA) -

Here's the deal. Whether you read the reviews on here or you read the "professional" reviews from people paid to review products for periodicals, etc or the reviews on websites dedicated to such products, you will find that this is a great phone. The fact is that yes, this is a great phone in terms of features, usability, software, physical attributes, etc. I will note that I originally I was disappointed in the lack of a physical battery for two reasons. One, I was used to having to crashes where I would need to shut my phone off by doing a battery pull. This is solved by holding the power button down for ten seconds which simulates the hardware battery pull. Second, I wanted to be able to swap batteries for extended times away from a charging source and in the long run in case the battery needs replacing. For replacement--yes you can actually remove it, but you need special tools and knowledge of what you are doing. For extended times, I purchased the Anker Astro3 SlimTalk [[ASIN:B0054U6CEE Anker ®SlimTalk 3200mAh Backup External Battery Pack and Charger with Embedded Micro-USB and Flashlight for iPhone 4S 4 3GS 3G, iPod; Android Smartphones: HTC Sensation / Samsung Galaxy S3, S2, Samsung Galaxy Series Smartphones / Motorola Droid / LG Opt...]]]. It's relatively small enough that you can hold it against the back of the Evo 4g LTE and it feels like one the older thicker smartphones and isn't terrible. It's also got a built-in microusb cable that snaps out making it easy to charge without extra cables. Not as ideal as an external battery but workable. Other than that, the dedicated camera button was surprisingly a blessing even though I didn't originally care either way. I now really appreciate it.

I'm not going to waste your time rehashing anymore about things you can find in other reviews. The most important thing about a high value purchase is longevity and reliability and I will speak to that. Unfortunately, the Evo 4G LTE suffers from a mysterious sudden death symptom of unknown cause. This means that a decent number of these devices are being sent back for repair simply because one day they completely died without reason, cause, or warning. Not all of them suffer fro this, but enough that I wanted to mention it. Mine unfortunately did have this happen. Calling Sprint is useless as they ask you to do a "battery pull" (Sprint, update your database to indicate that the end-user cannot simply pull the battery out) or try doing a hard reset (which does nothing). No charging light comes on when it's plugged in, no indication of any life whatsoever. It is simply dead.

If you search on the Internet you will find a number of people reporting that the device just dies and won't turn on. If you have the Sprint insurance (which is ridiculously expensive, so find another cheaper insurance plan if you want one) they will charge a flat fee/deductible to "repair" (replace) which is ridiculous for a manufacturer defect. Since this is a Sprint-branded device, I feel that Sprint should service on warranty for manufacturer defects (which is not like insurance, where you accidentally damage it). Unfortunately, they do not. HTC will service it, but state that it could take up to 20 days to repair (replace the motherboard). What they don't state is that it's 20 BUSINESS days OR MORE (to do a simple motherboard swap, really??). Mine died on August 1st. It is now September 2, and I am still waiting for my phone. What's worse is that every Sprint rep I've talked to in the store or on the phone or online admits they have gotten some of these devices back but that there is no known reason or cause for it!!! This means that I could get a phone back that does the SAME thing AGAIN! In fact, an online search will show that this has been the case for a small number of people.

"vs. Samsung Galaxy S3": For what it's worth, I will say that while this phone was away, I tried the Samsung Galaxy S3 out in frustration swearing to steer away from HTC forever (I have been a loyal HTC customer since the days of the original Touch Pro, having owned the TP, TP2, Evo Shift, Evo 3D, and now the Evo 4G LTE). The S3 did not grow on me, and there are a lot of little software or hardware quirks that I found to be too awkward, coming from an HTC platform. For example, the power button is on the side where HTC has volume rockers. The volume rocker is on the opposite side. This was awkward ergonomically (or perhaps partly psychologically) to power the device on and off. The screen-on face recognition "feature" that keeps it on while you are looking at it is not anywhere near perfect and I could not figure out how to keep it on while it was plugged in, meaning that wireless connections were terminated when I did not want them to be. Also, the slick exterior feel was too slippery, causing the device to nearly fly out of my hands on several occasions. The interface was nice and clean and I appreciated the fact that you can rotate through homescreens and end up where you started (why did you remove that carousel HTC? I mean, the carousel animation itself may have been resource-draining, so I get that part, but why can't I swipe from the right-most homescreen to the left-most homescreen? Do they not get along with each other?? This does not compute!!!). However, the overall Sense experience was a little more intuitive than Samsung's IMHO. Also, the hardware home button was a split. I often forgot that it was a hardware button, and found myself waiting for the homescreen not realizing I just simply touched it! However, HTC could learn a little as the menu button is far more useful than a multitasking button. The multitasking could simply be a longpress of the menu button as is the case on the S3. This was a refreshing addition. Oh and I almost forgot.... kickstand! need I say more? :)

Other than that, even with the known defect that could occur again, I suppose I will be glad to have my Evo 4G LTE back and hope I will not run into this situation again. If it happens again though, I'm not so sure I'd stick with HTC.

UPDATE 9/5/2012: Deducting one star. A product's rating should be based not only on the product itself but also on the company's service and ability to stand behind it. After over a month since my phone died, it is STILL in "testing" and has not been shipped back. Here's the part that really sucks about HTC. Their bureaucracy is so bad, that every time I call to get an update, I can never get the same answer and not one person could ever tell me why it was taking so long. In fact, one person admitted they were a call center that was not at the repair facility and they could not contact anyone over there. One person said they two-day ship the phone back, some said it was whenever, some people said the phone was in testing, others were hesitant to admit anything. I asked if there was anyone within the entire company that could actually give me some information about what was happening with my phone. After some time on hold, I was told, "no". They offered to "escalate" my call so that someone else could call me back. Her's the kicker... it would take at least a week and even then, they would not have direct knowledge of what is actually happening to my phone. Really? Then what is the purpose of having this call center that can't actually answer any real question? Shut them down and use the money to pay someone to fix my phone!! It's worse than working for the government (I would know). I feel like asking them if there was a typewritten triplicate form that I could fill out and send via carrier pigeons that would get me a response worth anything! Even if there was, I'm sure the right color forms wouldn't be sent to the right office and help us all if the purple copy office receives the yellow copy by mistake!! This is the kind of bureaucracy at HTC that has helped Samsung become #1. Maybe the quirks of the GS3 are worth it if I never have to deal with HTC technical support again!

Excellent product with greatest Achille's heel March 23, 2013

Reviewer:  Pink Hippo  (Nhawlins, LA, USA) -

This is an excellent phone with great features and functionality. So as long as the phone works, it is a delight to use this phone. However, there is a BIG design flaw that pretty much renders the phone useless - the micro usb port on this phone is used for charging and synching. The battery is not removable. Therefore the ONLY way to charge the battery and keep the phone functional is through this usb port. This is where the problem lies - this usb port is extremely delicate with a track record of falling apart very easily, just through everyday use. once that happens, the port cannot be repaired or replaced. Sprint will ask you to go through insurance to get a replacement phone by paying $150.00 deductible. or if you don't have insurance, you are left with buying a new phone.
This is a well documented issue. Research it before you get enamored by the product specs and spend on the big price tag on this phone.