Archive for September, 2010

HTC Evo vs iPhone 4 Review

by Nate Ritter on 9/23/2010 in Gadgets, Techie with 25 Comments

Earlier this year the iPhone 4 and the HTC Evo came out in full force.  Being an Apple fan (not a fan-boy though), I’ve enjoyed the improvements that I’ve seen on the iPhone.  But, there are some major benefits to going with an HTC Evo if you haven’t sold your soul yet.  Here’s the breakdown as I, your humble technology gadget reviewer, see it.

iPhone 4

HTC Evo

iPhone 4 Specs Review

iPhone 4 Physical Dimensions

  • Height: 4.5 inches (115.2 mm)
  • Width: 2.31 inches (58.6 mm)
  • Depth: 0.37 inch (9.3 mm)
  • Weight: 4.8 ounces (137 grams)
  • Screen Size: 3.5 inches diagonal (88.9 mm)

HTC Evo Specs Review

HTC Evo Physical Dimensions

  • Height: 4.8 inches (121.9 mm)
  • Width: 2.6 inches (66.0 mm)
  • Depth: 0.5 inches (12.7 mm)
  • Weight: 6 ounces (170 grams)
  • Screen Size: 4.3 inches diagonal (109.2 mm)
The Evo wins hands down in this category. The only way the iPhone would win in this one is if you don’t want to carry around a 6 ounce gadget. Being that it’s only 1.2 ounces more than the iPhone, if you care that much about weight in your pocket, drop a few keys off your keychain and call it a wash.

Results: Evo wins

iPhone 4 Power Review

iPhone 4 Power Specs

  • Processor: ARM Cortex-A8 Apple A4
  • Memory: 512MB
  • Graphics: (960-by-480) PowerVR SGX535 GPU (326 pixels per inch)
  • Storage: 16GB or 32GB
  • Battery: audio: 40 hrs
    video: 10 hrs
    Talk over 3G: 7 hrs
    Browsing over 3G: 6 hrs
    Browsing over Wi-Fi: 10 hrs
    Standby: 300 hrs

HTC Evo Power Review

HTC Evo Power Specs

  • Processor: 1 GHz Qualcomm QSD8650 (Snapdragon)
  • Memory: 512MB
  • Graphics: (480-by-800) TFT LCD (216 pixels per inch)
  • Storage: 8GB standard microSD card, upgradable to 32GB
  • Battery: audio: 18 hrs
    video: 6 hrs
    Talk over 3G: 5.5 hrs
    Browsing over 3G: n/a
    Browsing over Wi-Fi: n/a
    Standby: 146 hrs
In this race, I’m torn. There are big benefits to be had with removable microSD cards (even though it only comes with 8GB standard, which is way way too low) and the award-winning Snapdragon processor. But the practicality of it is that the battery life on the Evo is horrible. It’s so bad, that even attempting to find these specifications took some work because HTC didn’t release them and doesn’t talk about them when they market the phone. It’s very unfortunate for practical use. Throw the great screen resolution on with the iPhone and we’ve got a winner.

Results: iPhone 4 wins

iPhone 4 Cool Features Review

iPhone 4 Cool Features Specs

  • Camera(s): 5.0 megapixel rear-facing with 720p HD video at 30 fps and LED flash and an 0.3 megapixel front-facing one which takes 480p video at 30 fps
  • Input: Multi-touch touchscreen display
    Dual microphone
    3-axis accelerometer
    Digital compass
    Proximity sensor
    Ambient light sensor
  • OS and apps: Apple iOS 4.0, about 185,000 apps at the time of this writing

Buy now from Best Buy

Buy the iPhone 4 now from Best Buy!

HTC Evo Cool Features Review

HTC Evo Cool Features Specs

  • Camera(s): 8 megapixel rear-facing with 720p HD video at 30 fps (which someone hacked to go up to 60 fps) and dual LED flash and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing one which takes video at 30 fps
  • Input: Multi-touch touchscreen display
    Dual microphone
    3-axis accelerometer
    Digital compass
    Proximity sensor
    Ambient light sensor
  • OS and apps: Android, about 80,000 apps at the time of this writing

Buy now from Best Buy

Buy the HTC Evo now from Best Buy!

In this one, it’s really a comparison between the number of apps in the store vs the camera. My vote goes to the camera because with more than 80k apps in either app store, I can just about guarantee that any app I want probably exists. So, hurrah for 8 megapixel cameras. That’s more than some slightly aged point and shoot digital cameras still on the market.

Results: HTC Evo wins

Final Results of this Review

In the end, the big kickers of practicality are the things which end up frustrating users the most. The largest glaring mistake HTC made in this phone was the lack of battery power. We might be able to blame the super-powerful Snapdragon processor for that, but regardless, when you can’t go a full day without a charge, it’ll start getting on anyone’s nerves.

The other features of the Evo far outshine the iPhone 4, so if you’ve got a plug at your cubicle or you can plug into your car regularly, the Evo would win. If you travel at all though, you might just stick with the iPhone and enjoy that super-high resolution screen.

For my money, because of my lifestyle, I’m going to stick to my iPhone 2G and save my money for the next gadget that has the best of both worlds in about 6 months.

What did you think of this iPhone 4 vs HTC Evo review? Love it? Hate it? Tell me in the comments, but be civil please. :)

Oh, and if you’d like to formally vote on which is better, you could win an iPhone 4. Enjoy.

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