HTC Evo 3D – Hands-On Review + vs. Galaxy S II
I might be a little late to the party, but I managed to get my hands on a Rogers HTC Evo 3D.
I’m coming from a Galaxy S II Unlocked from Bell, so this will also be a small comparison as well.
Physical Design.
The physical size of the unit nearly matches the HTC Sensation, it’s more narrow than other 4.3″ Screen devices. One thing that caught my attention right away, this phone is one heavy unit. Sitting at 170g compared to Galaxy S II’s weight sitting at 116g.
Like any other newer android phone on the market right now, it comes standard with its cameras on the back, MicroUSB on the left side, 1.3MP front camera and most notably, its dedicated camera button on the right side. This is my first phone ever to have its own dedicated camera button, so this was a nice surprise when I first started using it. The button launches the camera and offers a two stage pressure for focus, then to snap the picture.
Software and UI.
Everyone knows HTC’s legendary Sense design, the market is full of imitators to prove that. Obviously the HTC Evo 3D comes with their latest HTC Sense 3.0 built in, with simulated 3D effects to bring that extra wow factor. HTC Sense of course brings a load of widgets, pretty much anything you could ever want in terms of normal phone operation such as; Bookmarks, Mail, Calendar, Twitter, FackBook Friend Stream, various power management toggles, and of course that iconic HTC Clock. HTC Sense also delivers all the stuff some users don’t want in terms of bloatware, such as; Peep(Twitter) Twitter, Spiderman3D Demo, Cyberon Voice Commander, Flicker, My shelf, ect. On top of all the bloat, of course Rogers in turn has to pump their garbage as well and they didn’t hold back.
In all honesty, if I was not able to root it as I did, I don’t know if I’d be willing to deal with this much bloat.
Camera Quality.
One of the biggest questions I have been asked on Google+ since I picked up this HTC Evo 3D was, “Is the 3D just a gimmick?”. The answer to that question is very hard to answer, as it will vary from person to person.
On a personal level, I found the 3D camera to be a fun toy, but not to practical in an everyday setting. The 3D screen on the other hand was very nice to have, as I browsed around YouTube’s 3D videos and some people put together some really nice videos, really putting the 3D to very good use.
In terms of camera quality, it takes some pretty nice pictures with its 5MP dual cameras and LEDs, but the smooth motions when moving the camera is slightly sluggish compared to the Galaxy S II’s nearly flawless motion for screen movements. As mentioned earlier, the dedicated camera button really adds to the convenience of taking pictures. HTC has implemented their own screenshot function as well, by holding the Power button, then pressing the home button, you will hear a shutter sound, thus your screenshot is born. Very handy and something that has been long overdue.
Battery Life:
HTC Evo 3D comes with a 1730 mAh Li-Ion battery. Using the Evo 3D as such with all the bloat does take its toll on the battery, on medium to heavy use I had killed my battery before the end of the night.
After Rooting and cutting all the bloat away, I noticed a great improvement in performance and battery life which is to be expected. As I write this right now (8:45PM), I’m sitting at 30% and I have been making my phone jump through hoops, which I would consider medium to heavy use.
- 3H 17M Screen On
- 12H Cell standby
- 6H 15M Wifi On
- CPU 1H Keep awake, 46M CPU Total
- Plus some extra little stuff.
HTC Evo 3D vs. Galaxy S II
Now here is where I get down to the hard part, is the Evo 3D better than the Galaxy S II?
These two phones nearly match each other when it comes down to the specs, but have their minor differences. To pick a clear winner with these two phones is no easy task, so what I have decided to due is just break it down and go feature by feature.
HTC Evo 3D & Galaxy S II Specs:
- CPU: Both units are packed with 1.2Ghz dual core processors
- RAM: Both units come with 1GB Ram
- Screen Size: Both are equipped with 4.3″
- Screen: GS2 Has their Super AMOLED, Evo uses its 3D QHD Screen
- Camera: GS2 has a 8MP Camera, Evo has 5MP dual 3D cameras
- Storage: GS2: 12GB usable data internal, Evo: 8GB MicroSD (Both expandable to 32GB, +12GB for GS2)
- Battery: GS2: 1650 mAh Evo: 1730 mAh
- 3G/4G speeds: GS2: 21 Mbps, Evo: 14.4 Mbps
Physical Design: Galaxy S II is very light and made me feel I was going to break it, where HTC’s Evo 3D feels more reliable. HTC’s Evo 3D offers the dedicated Camera button as well as a LED light, Galaxy S II does not and I found it very limited in physical features. For these reasons I give the Edge to HTC’s Evo 3D
UI: When it comes to UI, I will HTC’s Sense over Samsung’s Touchwiz any day. For this reason I give the Edge to HTC’s Evo 3D
Battery: Before Root. Galaxy S II takes the cake. After root and cutting bloat, I would label these two phones pretty even.
Camera: HTC Offers the 3D Cameras at 5MP, Galaxy S II Offers the single 2D Camera at 8MP. HTC’s Evo 3D takes 3D pictures and video, but for moving pictures and video, HTC’s Camera is sluggish when panning from side to side. Galaxy S II’s Camera staying nearly perfect and crisp when panning and takes incredible pictures. For this reason I give the edge to Galaxy S II
Raw Power and Performance: As listed above, both phones nearly match each other in specs. When it comes down to using these phones to their full potential, I find the Galaxy S II can perform slightly faster with a more snappy interface. The difference in performance is extremely minor, but I have to give the edge to Galaxy S II.
Once again, these are based on my personal experience. Other users may experience these two phones differently and have other opinion.
Want to get additional information, or chat with Tom Gray? You can find him on his Google+ page.
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