Htc evo v 4g owners commends and opinions

[edplayer]

Most of the time it is the Anaheim/Fullerton area.

Thanks! My friend (who is considering this phone) lives in that area.

[agianne]

Has anyone gone past the 2.5GB soft cap yet? I'm curious if Virgin is going to enforce it on 4G as well.. pretty sure they will but am hoping for more than just speculation!

Per the Terms and Conditions, the cap applies to your total data usage - 3G and 4G combined must be less than 2.5GB or you get speed throttled.

However, people have been reporting that the cap/throttling mechanism for 3G is busted right now - even after consuming much more than 2.5GB of data, they are still at full speed on 3G and 4G. This is making it impossible to know what will happen on 4G if you go over since the whole system is goofed up. (People are also reporting that the online VM USA account page that shows your data usage is showing wrong info like "0 MB used" or bizarro usage like "-646,578 MB used". Clearly something ain't right.)

Although it hasn't been proven by anyone, some think that because the 4G service is provided by Clearwire, there is no mechanism in place to measure and/or throttle down 4G data. If that's true, then you'll be able to go nuts on 4G until the mechanisms necessary to throttle 4G are put into place, assuming that they'll even go to the trouble.

Sorry, but at this point the only answers that people can really give you are speculative. If/when the 3G data cap starts working again, we'll be able to see what happens to 4G speeds when you consume more than 2.5GB of data (3G, 4G or a combo).

[BadCredit1]

So, is this phone worth the $300?

I really want it, but after buying the Triumph for $300 when it came out(and being fully disappointed), I'm very hesitant to dish out that much.

Pros and Cons compared to other phones?

Sent from my LG-VM696 using HowardForums

[twelfth]

So, is this phone worth the $300?

I really want it, but after buying the Triumph for $300 when it came out(and being fully disappointed), I'm very hesitant to dish out that much.

Even with the occasional activation and radio issues you may (or may not) run into... and even despite being a year old... The EVO 3D is one of the best all around phones on the market. Great screen (qHD resolution), great processor and GPU... plays games like World of Goo (fairly complex physics wise) without even the slightest hint of lag.

Well worth the $300. To put it into perspective, I got one of the HP Touchpads for $99. And felt ripped off. I love my EVO.

The EVO doesn't generally have the hardware issues that plagued the Triumph... though there will be defects in every model ever made and people who complain will always be heard above those who have no issues and say nothing.

If you felt bitten because of the Triumph, the Evo is enough to give one hope again. I don't blame you for being twice shy, however.

EVO 3D: Dualcore and 1.2Ghz, still beefy by today's standards, Adreno 220 GPU is DECENT (It outperforms the Tegra 2) and can actually handle 1080p video files, 1GB of Ram, 1.1GB for app storage (4GB "Rom"), takes 32GB MicroSD cards, decent battery life if you're vigilant about toggling stuff you don't use like GPS... I get about 18 (worst case) to 32 (best case) hours of battery life. It varies depending on my daily usage. My long term average is 24 to 28 hours. Signal reception is about on par, a bit better than the Optimus Slider. Camera is average, but not bad. You just need good lighting. The 3D picture quality is actually quite nice. Gimmicky but still well executed. Micro USB supports HDMI out via a MHL adapter. 4G speeds are worth the extra cost (if you're on a grandfathered plan) if you're in a coverage area. I frequently get about 5Mbps in a fairly saturated market.

It generally is a fantastic phone, even if it were still an aging contract carrier exclusive model.

Camera: Slightly muted colors, great with super bright lighting though details will be soft-ish. I inadvertently got a multiple layered 3D image when taking a picture of my friends. The focus of the shot was one layer, someone who almost walked into the shot was another, friends behind the people in the center was another layer... and the background was another layer behind that. The trick? Poor lighting conditions and having flash in the shot aimed at the middle layer. The darker any successive layer is, the better the 3D effect is. I'd attach, but unless you have an HTC EVO 3D to view it on, kinda pointless.

Call quality: Better than most. I can still hear some slight buzzing/crackling deep in the background but it's not enough to affect what I hear. It sounds good.

My biggest complaints: MicroSD slot requires taking the battery out. Camera app has no way to disable sounds short of Root and modifying the APK. It can take a while to reconnect to 4G whenever it drops out or you enable it. Power and Volume buttons are a bit soft. Try not to push 'em too hard though. Dual 5MP camera sensors cannot be used to combine a 2D shot into a larger image. Since there's enough of a non-overlap area between the FOV of the two sensors, I'm surprised they never tried to expand on the 5MP for 2D shots. Panorama, even.

Sense is annoying if you're the type to tinker, but not a dealbreaker in any way. Some people are obsessive about having as close to stock ICS as possible. I don't find it to be that big of a deal. Everything can be worked around. I like the lockscreen features in Sense, though. I use Zeam Launcher because it's dead simple and incredibly fast/lightweight.

Capacitance of the screen and buttons are *OVERLY SENSITIVE*. I can register presses on the buttons at the bottom without even touching the glass. But that's only when I hover. So you'll have to adjust your handling to only get close to the screen when you're ready to press.

Activation issue is an easy workaround. Just don't turn on the phone until you're ready to activate and have already completed the phone swap... and the phone you are swapping from must be completely disabled (battery pulled) before you turn the Evo on for the first time.

Radio resource shortage issue is still being investigated. I think it's linked to Wifi and general coverage/signal quality of the area you're in. It's annoying but it's not the end of the world. Toggling Airplane mode helps most people who run into this more often.

All in all. Worth $300. Even better if find coupons and/or discounts for it. It's a great phone but no phone is without its flaws or issues. To put it into perspective, I wouldn't even consider the Triumph to be worth $50, even if you got a working model that wasn't plagued with the issues that most had.

[doboy007]

Radio resource shortage issue is still being investigated. I think it's linked to Wifi and general coverage/signal quality of the area you're in. It's annoying but it's not the end of the world. Toggling Airplane mode helps most people who run into this more often.

I just ran into this issue and it's very annoying since you can't receive text or PHONE calls. I resolved it by turning off WiFi, but it's a serious issue if you can't receive since you get no indication that something is wrong with the phone.

[cellphone-guy]

Wirelessly posted (Opera/9.80 (Android; Opera Mini/7.0.29952/28.1914; U; en) Presto/2.8.119 Version/11.10)

wow.. I'm glad I returned the phone and stuck with the Triumph.

[doboy007]

Wirelessly posted (Opera/9.80 (Android; Opera Mini/7.0.29952/28.1914; U; en) Presto/2.8.119 Version/11.10)

wow.. I'm glad I returned the phone and stuck with the Triumph.

Don't get me started on THAT thing.

[BadCredit1]

Even with the occasional activation and radio issues you may (or may not) run into... and even despite being a year old... The EVO 3D is one of the best all around phones on the market.

All in all. Worth $300. Even better if find coupons and/or discounts for it. It's a great phone but no phone is without its flaws or issues. To put it into perspective, I wouldn't even consider the Triumph to be worth $50, even if you got a working model that wasn't plagued with the issues that most had.

Thanks for taking the time to write all that. It was very helpful.

I'm using the Optimus Elite now, and I definitely like it and have no complaints, but I'd much rather a bigger screen, front facing camera, and all the other things that are better about the Evo than the Elite.

Google Wallet is fun, but like the Evo's 3D camera, I consider Google Wallet just a novelty.



Sent from my LG-VM696 using HowardForums

[mfrerkes]

I just ran into this issue and it's very annoying since you can't receive text or PHONE calls. I resolved it by turning off WiFi, but it's a serious issue if you can't receive since you get no indication that something is wrong with the phone.

Once again, VM releases a phone with decent hardware (just like the Triumph had at the time of its release) but screws it up with functionality-killing software glitches.

The Evo is a good phone on its own merits. If it was with a carrier that had concern for quality, or least competent people manning the customer service center, then it would be a great deal at $35/month. I'm really starting to wonder if Virgin Mobile is trying to see how much they can get away with. Some folks will pay bottom-dollar prices for crap data service and glitchy software. The question is at what point does $35/month cease to be bottom-dollar when weighed against the problems created by such disregard for the customer.

I think VM is straddling that line a little too closely these days.

[twelfth]

I think VM is straddling that line a little too closely these days.

It's hard for me to say since I almost never make calls... and I can easily keep an eye on text outages by using data (or my computer) to check my Google Voice inbox. MAYBE 1 in 100 calls will end up as a voicemail with no incoming call notification or ring. My phone, for the lack of better ways to say it, is my internet and computer away from home. There is very little that I can't get done with just texting.

I'm starting to wonder if more of the issues that we run into with Virgin is due to its legacy provisioning as a contracted carrier rather than a Sprint service. There are people who claim when Virgin has issues, they have different results (better signal, etc) with a Boost phone.

[mfrerkes]

I'm starting to wonder if more of the issues that we run into with Virgin is due to its legacy provisioning as a contracted carrier rather than a Sprint service. There are people who claim when Virgin has issues, they have different results (better signal, etc) with a Boost phone.

I don't think signal strength would be affected by provisioning. Either you get a decent signal, or you don't. That factor is typically determined by how weak/strong the radio is in a given device. The Triumph had a weak radio, and it would've been equally weak if it was a Boost-branded handset instead.

I believe VM is all about cutting corners. Whether it's with customer service, data reliability, or the actual handset...VM is scaling everything back to reduce overhead. That's fine to a point. After all, some folks are only paying $25/month for an Android device with "technically" unlimited data usage. You have to expect VM is going to reduce the quality level of service in order to make a profit on such low revenue streams.

The problem is when reducing service levels to the point of being functionally useless no longer justifies paying for said service. At a bare minimum, people need a phone that can send/receive texts and voice calls. For the first time ever, I'm beginning to wonder if VM can deliver on even those fundamental expectations.

[jeffmd]

Uhm, never had an issue with Basic service so far. What exactly makes you think this?

[mfrerkes]

Uhm, never had an issue with Basic service so far. What exactly makes you think this?

Quite a few people (including myself) have been reporting issues with texts not being sent due to a recurring error message or incoming phone calls going directly voice mail for no apparent reason. Also, I've had difficulty placing outgoing calls from semi-frequently, as have others on this forum.

Making calls and sending texts are very basic services, even on a $20 feature phone. Whether it's a software issue on the phone or a capacity issue on the network, Virgin Mobile is causing some frustrating experiences for their customers.

Read the thread about a $650 VM iPhone that is getting .1 Mbps down in San Diego. Who can blame people for feeling a little bit taken?

[jeffmd]

uhmmm.. I haven't seen any post in these forums indicating any such thing is happening. Internet may be slow for some towers but no on is having issues making phone calls and I havn't seen any missing text in a long while.

[Falcon61]

Hey guys! It has been almost a month, and I must tell you I love the Evo 3d. Sure i would rather have the Galaxie S3 but just cannot afford it. I have not had any issues. Phone calls and messages, no problem. Sure the 4g can be spotty but the 3g has been just fine. I purchased an extended battery with door online from Wireless Emporium, (2300 amps) made the phone thicker but now phone power last all day and plus!!
Screen is really great and plays movies and videos like a mini lcd tv especially with the MX player which is a free download from google Play. I advice anyone not to hesitate to buy this great phone!