HTC EVO 3D Review

Hardware & Design

The EVO 3D shares some design cues from its predecessor the EVO 4G. There is a 4.3 inch display with higher resolutions at qHD and stereoscopic 3D which basically means glasses free viewing. The front facing camera is the same at 1.3 megapixels and the touch sensitive menu keys are also exactly the same. The sides have your volume buttons, micro USB, 3.5 mm headphone jack , power button 2D/3D camera mode switch and camera button. The back had a rigid plastic finish and no longer has a kickstand.

The main camera is downgrade in the megapixel to 5 but they are dual 5 megapixel cameras with 720 video  2D and 3D video. The video quality in 2D or 3D is alright for the most part. It’s not quality that is going to blow you away but gets the job done. 3D video effects really depends on what you are recording for how well it looks. For still images the quality is ok  in both 2D and 3D.

3D Video

2D Video

Inside you have a 1.2 Ghz dual core processor, 4 GB of internal memory with a pre-installed 8 GB SD card, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 1730 mAH battery and 4G WiMax data speeds. Great improvements from the original while keep for the most part the same design minute the kickstand.

Software & Usability

Android 2.3 with Sense UI 3.0 is the software that runs the EVO 3D. The new version of Sense UI shows great improvements. Graphics are greatly improved with cool effects especially with weather. The lock screen has 4 shortcut icons that you can customize. You drag the icon down to the ring and the phone will unlock directly to that application a very useful quick feature to make the lock screen more interactive. Pulling the ring up to open the phone you will see the familiar Sense UI look and feel with 7 desktops and if you scroll fast enough you will get a cool 3D effect to it. The overall speed of the user interface feels faster and snappier. There isn’t too much preloaded software to Sprint stuff and some 3D games and movie trailers which most of this stuff can be uninstalled if desired. HTC has included the Watch app where you can rent or buy full length movies, trailers and TV shows download right in the app.

View 3D content is a  mixed bag. You will need to find the right angle and the right content to get the full 3D effect. I seem to remember back at our first hands on at CTIA 2011 that the 3D effects were more profound and the OS was 3D. Maybe they changed the screen from what we saw before but the 3D is just not as good as when I first saw it.

Battery life is better than the original EVO 4G by a lot. For moderate users you will be able to get though a full day without needed a charge but heavy users will look to charge at least one time during the day. Call quality is good as test calls were clear on both ends.

Overall

This is an excellent upgrade from the original EVO 4G. The 3D is more of a gimmick that benefit. its nice that its there but it doesn’t add or take away anything from the phone. The improvements to the screen, software and battery life make the EVO 3D a worthy upgrade the best android phone now on Sprint and one of the best smartphones in the market.