Supersonic Phone Dubbed HTC Evo; First 4G In US

 

Sprint dropped a bombshell on day 2 of CTIA event, by unveiling the most powerful Android powered smartphone, the WiMAX-powered EVO 4G. The HTC EVO 4G is extremely similar to the HTC HD2. Both share the same dazzling 4.3-inch touch screen and basic size. The EVO 4G is slightly thicker and has a rounder back. Less metal is used and more plastic is in its place. The HD2 feels of higher quality, but the EVO 4G is not that far off in that respect.

The phone features:

• Android 2.1 on a 1-GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8650 chipset.
• 1GB of built-in memory and 512MB of RAM, which is assisted by a MicroSD slot supporting up to 32GB cards.
• It swaps between EVDO Rev. A, WiMAX and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g on demand.
• The phone is dominated by a 4.3-inch, 800-by-480 65,000-color TFT LCD capacitive touch screen.
• There's an 8-megapixel camera on the back and a 1.3-megapixel unit on the front.
• The camera also records and streams 720p, high-def video, which it can play through an HDMI out port at the bottom. And it even has a kickstand for full enjoyment of the HD video.
• The Evo 4G weighs 170g and measures 120.5 mm by 67 mm by 13 mm.

The form factor of the phone is not what's most impressive on this device. The software really sets it apart. Because it is powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, it absolutely flies. In fact, say it is the fastest Android handset ever. It has the newest version of HTC's Sense UI concept on board, which features a friend stream, improved widgets and other nifty features. Widgets provide easy access to social media content, bookmarks, and other phone resources. You can update your “status” on several social media sites using HTC’s social widget. The EVO is a “with Google” phone and supports Exchange, Gmail, POP, and IMAP email accounts — although you can only have one Exchange account configured to the phone. We prefer having support for multiple Exchange accounts, but for most users this won’t be the end of the world.

The announcement of the EVO, in combination with the recent addition of the Nexus One to their network, also puts Sprint in an unusual position of hardware leadership. In just a few weeks they've gone from a middling smartphone line-up to having arguably the two best Android phones on the market. EVO 4G is expected to hit the market this summer.