HTC Evo 4g LTE Review and Extrapolation

I have owned the HTC Evo 4g LTE (henceforth known as EVO LTE) for nearly six months. In this period of time, I have used its capabilities in every imaginable way. I have not rooted it, however, and am speaking to consumers that are looking to purchase a quality Android-based Smartphone.

I will be reviewing it from the angles of usability, aesthetic design, ergonomics, power and battery, perks, potential, and lastly, a section for its flaws. By the end of this article, you will know what an EVO LTE is and why you should or should not buy one.

But, before I get started on dissecting the phone, I should be clear on how I use my own EVO LTE. I discarded the HTC Sense UI that originally came with it and opted for the Go Launcher EX due to reasons I will detail below. I use Hancent SMS for messaging, and 99% of the apps I use are ones that are not preloaded onto the phone that you would be receiving from your carrier. I have clear reasons for this, and you'll find out why.

I also add in user-friendliness to this category. How easy is it to use? Very, that's the simple answer. Even my mother who has a terrible time understanding even the most basic of computerized instruments was able to place calls, text, and check her email without much difficulty.

The phone does come pre-loaded with native Google (and Sprint) apps that allow you to do all the basic function that a phone should be able to. And in that respect, it is amazingly sleek in its execution of the basic and fundamental aspects of what a cell phone must do. You won't have to search endlessly for the ability to call someone, or spend time waiting for the messaging app to load either. It's a powerful phone and the quickness that is displayed at every turn when using the device is proof enough of that fact.

There's always a BUT, however. The usability is marred by certain....glitches that seem to be innate in both HTC Sense and in the Android framework itself. I'll go into detail what these are and how I worked around them in the Flaws section near the bottom.

It looks pretty, at least from my subjective point of view, but many complaints I have heart are how the glossy surface on the top half of the back plate collects fingerprints like mad. This is something I have absolutely no care about, but I note it for you...fingerprint enthusiasts.

The best part about this phone's Aesthetic Design is its 4.7 inch screen fit into a smaller phone frame. Why is it this important? Well, you have a big, beautiful screen, but also can hold it in one hand. Text with one hand, too. Some women may not be able to, though, but for the most part, I see that as a perk.

The typical Home, Back, and Menu touch-sensitive regions line the bottom quadrant of the front side and do exactly what they are meant to. The touch capabilities of this phone are absolutely superb. You don't have to angrily press something two or three times to get it to recognize your input.

Another added benefit to the design is the kickstand on the backside, colored red in-line with the beats audio addition. The kickstand is ideal for watching movies or while doing yoga, or a multitude of other times. It's not just some useless appendage like an appendix.

The only flaw to speak of, is the finger-print attracting surface on the backside, which I deem to be negligible.

How does it feel? It feels great. It fits in one hand or two perfectly. It's like it was meant to be there all along. That's how it should feel. The weight of the device is minimal, as well, even with its rather large battery, so there are absolutely no complaints in this department.

I put these two concepts together because they are directly related. This phone has the power to play any game on the Google Play market, and the CPU and RAM to run any number of tasks it needs to at any time. Everything is quick, sharp, and without stuttering. But, there are some flaws that I will address in the flaws section.

It has a dual-core 1.5 gigahertz processor and one gigabyte of RAM, which on paper is spectacular. In practice, daily users will never tap this sort of power out of it in their daily tasks. Better to have too much than not enough, though.

But, with all this power, how does the battery hold up? Amazing. Simply amazing. 2000 MAh lithium ion battery that seems to last forever. I have run Pandora radio on 3g for an entire day while surfing the web and messaging people constantly and the device made it admirably all the way through the day. Under moderate user, you'll likely only see the battery dip to 66% after a day of use. That's unheard of for smart phones.

There are a few flaws with the battery situation, however. For later.

Beats audio is a very nice addition, as whenever you have headphones attached, it automatically turns on its Beats audio equalizer and you get rich, deep bass and clear crisp treble. The kickstand has already been mentioned, but I haven't yet mentioned the beautiful screen.

It's an LCD, which means it sucks battery like a fiend, but boy is it gorgeous. It's like staring into a pile of diamonds. I have to turn down the brightness just to avoid going blind (I kid, I kid.) Overall, a fantastic screen.

Modability

I won't make this its own overall section because most people won't care to do this, but it can be modded in many ways. Being an Android phone, one could potentially root it and put a different operating system on it. I, myself, enjoy the Android atmosphere and the user interface of Go Launcher EX. Go Launcher allows you to make the interface whatever you want it to be. There can be no icons and just widgets, or no widgets and just icons. No dock bar, or status bar, or notifications, well you get the point. The phone now becomes as pliable as clay. There are plenty of other apps that make the phone into different beasts, but I won't get into all that.

There is no such thing as a perfect device, but I love my EVO LTE regardless. Here are some of the flaws I've run into, in no particular order.

-The LCD screen at max brightness will eat your battery alive, so it is recommended to turn down the brightness, or at least put it on auto-brightness so that it conserves it whenever it can.

-The native messages app has a nasty habit of dumping all my messages and actually no longer functions, so I've had to switch to several other texting apps just to be able to send messages (mighty text is an app that has saved my life numerous times, though)

-The phone, like all androids, resets itself whenever it encounters an error. It's much like Windows in that respect. It encounters an error, and bombs. It's done. You'll have to wait a few seconds (luckily only a few seconds) for it to restart, but when you're in the middle of an important phone call and it crashes, yeah, that's annoying

-The native UI HTC Sense bombed quite often, and forced me to switch to Go Launcher EX (which is superior anyways). I've no idea why it kept bombing, but it did.

-If I missed a flaw, it's because it's not important. Little things happen, and on a platform like Android, they're bound to happen

-It's not more awesome! Okay that's not a flaw, but sometimes I get greedy and wish it was even more awesome

The HTC Evo 4g LTE is a powerful device that can do everything you could ever want, but suffers from a few minor glitches that are thankfully easy to work around. It is a beautiful device, both inside and out, and will serve you admirably. I hope this article has been helpful!