Thoughts on the Evo from an 8330 user
 

I've had my new Evo since Friday morning. So far my experience is about 75% positive. I'm glad I upgraded, but I'm praying there are either secret ways of doing things on this phone, or that apps are available to address my biggest frustrations.

Good:

FAR better browser. To the extent that I actually choose to browse on the Evo sometimes as opposed to my PC. I would never have done that on my Curve. I used the Curve's browser only in a pinch.

FAR better selection of apps. I didn't think I'd care about this at all, but then I started thumbing through the catalog. Not only are there more apps, but you can generally choose how your data is being delivered to you - app, widget, etc.

More personalization available for the phone. All kinds of eye candy going on. I'm a sucker for graphics, and am really enjoying the freedom.

So far, I can do most things faster/better once I've actually figured out how to do them.

No more Blackberry thumb. :-)

Bad:

Battery lasts about half as long. No matter what I enable/disable, this seems to be the case. I got about a day and a half per full charge on the 8330 (regular battery). I'm charging the phone during my evening commute now.

Can't do anything one-handed anymore. I think some men with larger hands could manage it, but I can't. That's a pain when you're a busy mom with multiple kiddos.

No personalized LED notifications - REALLY miss these in my cube farm. I can get any other type of notification I want, but no LED choices other than on and off.

Vibrate not as strong - I can't always feel it through my purse. My whole desk would shake when my 8330 went off.

No BBM. :-(

Keyboard takes some getting used to.

Also, some really basic things are completely non-intuitive. For example: app switching. Took me forever and forum search to figure out that if you hold down the home key for several seconds, you can see your 6 most recently accessed apps. There have been several little things like this that drove me mad until I figured them out... not cons as much as passing annoyances.

Anyone else get an Evo recently?

Mine is at home waiting. Thanks for this review. I am coming from an 8330 as well.

I messed around with the Nexus One and the Droid Eris for a little while so I knew of the holding the Home button for task switcher.

I am still concerned about the battery life. I am going to miss the LED notifications as well as the homescreen shortcuts. Typing will take getting used to as well. Overall, I am excited about it.

This may come in handy if you haven't already seen it.

HTC EVO 4G Tips and Tricks | Android Phone Fans

Does the EVO sync with Outlook? I know the Moto 'Droid did not, but I thought HTC had an app to connect/sync with Outlook.

It does have ActiveSync support. There is also the TouchDown App. I haven't used the app yet.


Here's more on the app: http://www.androidtapp.com/exchange-by-touchdown/

I got my EVO on Friday... So far I am really liking it... Like you said the battery is it's biggest downfall... I am using the Seido 1750mah battery and it lasts a little longer than the stock one..

The browser does in fact ROCK! Email is pretty solid as well.. The keyboard does take some getting use to and the camera on it is awesome... Qik rocks as well....

I only have 3G and so far I am getting decent speeds from speedtest.net.... The screen is awesome and I absolutely love the widgets.... The HTC news widget is awesome and SportsTap rocks!!!!!

FriendStream is OK I guess if you are into that sort of thing... My major annoyance was the push top button and swipe to unlock (same as my hate for the droid) but there is an app called no lock that works great... Now from the lock screen I simply hit the volume rocker and the device unlocks without the need for the top button or the swipe...

I have my email hosted by 1&1 so I don't have Exchange to worry about. Just need to be able to sync contacts with Outlook off a PC. I use Google Calendar sync for calendar and have multiple email accounts using POP and IMAP coming to my BB.

If it can do that, I am interested. Also need Verizon as Sprint doesn't cut it in all the places I go.

Sprint roams on Verizon for free.

I would recommend taking a look at the Droid Incredible. It's on Verizon and is a close competitor to the EVO. It is also made by HTC, running the same OS.

Wirelessly posted (Tour)

All the email. Pop and imap works very well. Google syncing also works great. HTC does have software to sync with outlook. The incredible is nice or if you want to wait the scorpion should be a sweet device. Just not sure when its arriving.

Yes it can do all that... And like posted above, Sprint roams on Verizon... Now I am not sure that's a great idea because Sprints unlimited data is for Sprints network only so if you roam, you pay....

The HTC Inc on Verizon is pretty similar, just a smaller screen and a few minor things here and there.....

Thanks

I got my EVO yesterday and I am pretty impressed so far. As stated above, the browser is amazing. Pages load extremely fast. I haven't tested 4G too much as I have had it turned off most of the day yesterday. Turned it on this morning and verified I do get 4G but didn't have enough time to do any testing.

I haven't been without my BlackBerry long enough to miss anything yet, however, I will have a work BlackBerry so I am hoping that helps.

Let me know how that goes. I'm curious. Cincinnati is due to get 4G sometime this year, per Sprint, but I haven't been able to pick it up anywhere yet. I've been told they announce it only after they're done with every tower, and that I may be able to get a signal sooner if I'm looking for it.

I do like how the EVO (Android OS) incorporates the double space as a period and a space just like the BlackBerry OS.

I tested 4G briefly yesterday. The speeds when browsing or downloading apps is considerably faster as expected.

Something I miss from the BlackBerry is how easy it was to make exceptions for certain contacts, including calls, SMS, email, etc.

I found a work around in Android for SMS with the app Handcent SMS. Works pretty well with customizing different notifications for each contact. Still looking into email exceptions.

I am currently testing this solution for the battery issue. I'll report back if it made any difference.

You rooted your device?

Mine is rooted and I have no problems whatsoever... I really didn't like HTC Sense UI anyway and enjoy the stock Android UI better...

I did. I used unrEVOked. Just a couple of clicks, no custom ROMs required.

Just did that and it was extremely easy and painless.