Review: HTC Evo 4G LTE

Is an HTC One X by any other name just as sweet? In the case of the Evo 4G LTE, a slightly reconfigured sibling of the One X, no, not quite. But almost.

The One X is our current pick as the best overall Android phone on the market right now. And HTC's Evo 4G LTE is essentially the same phone as the One X, as far as the guts and the display. But the two phones are not equals.

The styling and materials differ, but the biggest disparity is invisible: the Evo's 4G LTE status. Sprint's 4G LTE network isn't up and running anywhere other than a handful of test markets, namely Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and San Antonio. For now, that means the new 4G Evo is essentially a 3G phone outside of six cities. While Sprint's 3G network offers great service and the phone never felt slow, the Evo 4G LTE doesn't yet live up to the 4G LTE part of its name. This issue will change over time, but today, it's a strike against Sprint's new Evo.

The new 4G Evo is essentially a 3G phone outside of six cities.The differences on the outside are more obvious. The Evo 4G LTE is a handsome handset, but it has a more pedestrian feel than the sleek One X. It measures 0.35 inches thick and weighs 4.7 ounces. The bottom two-thirds of the new Evo are covered in an attractive matte-black aluminum that houses an etched-in HTC logo, a mono speaker and a dark grey Sprint logo. Above that is a shiny black piece of plastic, which is removable and hides a microSD card slot for expanded storage. As is the style with just about all of HTC's marquee phones, the camera sits at the center-top beside a single-LED flash.

The camera is ringed in anodized red aluminum, a choice matched by the red band of aluminum that breaks up the two blacked-out portions of the handset's rear. Inside of this red horizontal stripe is a kickstand – a design trademark of the Evo series. The red stripe across the black back looks menacing, something that both Batman and Bane would appreciate.

The kickstand is a thoughtful touch, and is easy to pop out when wanted. The addition makes watching video or perusing through photos snapped on the Evo nice and easy whenever you set the phone on a desk or a table. There's also a dedicated camera button on the new Evo (finally, something not shared with the One X).

And while we're on the subject of photos and videos, let's get into the Evo's camera and display. Both are fantastic, and both offer some of the best equipment seen on just about any smartphone out there. The camera is the same 8-megapixel shooter with an f/2.0 lens and LED flash found on both the HTC's One S and the One X. This camera setup is the best on Android. It's not quite as nice as the camera on the iPhone 4S, but this is one of the best cameras on an Android device.

Photos are detailed and beautiful, and a bit on the cool side. The phone snaps photos really quickly (the shutter is almost too fast), thanks to Ice Cream Sandwich's ability to capture images nearly instantaneously. HTC's ImageSense camera includes an HDR mode for amped up color, a burst-shot mode for taking multiple photos in speedy succession, a handy panorama feature, a low-light mode and a macro setting for taking close-up shots. The photos of video (the Evo can shoot up to 1080p moving pictures) taken with the Evo look splendid on the phone's 4.7-inch displa – a 1280×720 IPS LCD touchscreen covered in Corning's scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass.

The Evo eschews the curved-edge display that's currently in fashion, instead going with a hard-edged bezel. The Evo's touchscreen is placed inside this matte-black aluminum bezel with a thin rubber gusset sitting between the glass and metal. The result is a noticeable edge and hardness that you'll run into when swiping and touching the Evo's display.

The viewing angles are some of the best I've seen on any smartphone, with bright and accurate color reproduction. Everything looks good on the new Evo – websites, apps, games, video, photos. There are no jagged edges on app icons and no discernible pixels to be seen, thanks to the display's high density of 316 pixels per inch.

While it isn't the best Android overall, the Evo 4G LTE is the best Google-powered smartphone currently available for Sprint.HTC is offering some of the best best displays on smartphones nowadays, with a screen that bests even the fantastic display found on Samsung's Galaxy S III. The Evo 4G LTE's display quality sits at the top of the heap, next to the One X and the iPhone 4 and 4S's Retina displays.

The guts of the new Evo – a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage – are the same as the One S and One X, and like those phones, this one is wicked fast. Also like its HTC siblings, I regularly experienced a full day of use on one charge of the battery. Yes, you'll have to charge up your handset at bedtime, but getting through the day shouldn't be a problem unless you're constantly shooting photos and video.

The overall software experience is another plus. HTC's Sense 4 skin is the easiest to use and most attractive alternative to stock Android (Ice Cream Sandwich and soon Jelly Bean) as Google built it. Of course, you could always load stock Android if you want.

I have one gripe, and it's an issue I've got with all new HTC phones: The camera bezel rises up from the back of the phone. If you lay the phone down on its back on any flat surface, the bezel and the lens are exposed to scratches and scrapes. The handset is sold on a 2-year contract, but it will likely take less time than that for the camera to become too scuffed up to use. Making the camera sit flush with the handset, or even sunken a bit, would alleviate this. But HTC's persistent design choice of protruding cameras remains a downside.

With a design that's less exciting or thoughtful as the One X, and with a 4G LTE radio that connects to a network that hasn't yet officially launched, the Evo 4G LTE fails to capture the Android crown. But while it isn't the best Android overall, the Evo 4G LTE is certainly the best Google-powered smartphone available for Sprint.

WIRED Black aluminum and plastic, with red anodized highlights producing a distinctively menacing looking phone. One of the best displays and cameras found in smartphones. Beastly power and speed. HTC Sense 4 isn't as good as stock Android, but it's the best alternative. Who doesn't love kickstands?

TIRED It's called the Evo 4G LTE, but Sprint's 4G LTE network hasn't launched yet. The protruding camera is begging to get scuffed and scratched over the life of a 2-year contract. The One X is a better-looking phone.