EVO still a good phone?

[ITK79]

Is the phone a good phone if you can get over the issue with the LTE connection it is a good phone. However if you are looking for a phone that connects to LTE right away you might want to look at one of the other models out there. I am happy with the rest of the phone. I prefer the image quality both from the camera and the screen over the other phones on Sprint. I haven't had the reload issue since I removed an app that appears to have been incompatible with the phone. The overall performance seems to be on par with other new phones I have messed around with. I also believe that the fit and finish of the phone are superior to most other phones out there. With that stated there are days when the connection issue can start me second guessing all the above items.

 

I never said the phone didn't have issues and I am not trying to defend a flawed device either.This is the third EVO model I have had and it might be the last. If any other company builds a phone that is as of quality without all the bugs in it I might jump ship. For whatever reason HTC hasn't and might not be able to fix it. I am sure anyone that is really unhappy with it will find a way to swap the phone out. I don't think anyone ever will use this phone as an example of Sprint's LTE network since Sprint itself has for the most part shoved it out the back door. I haven't seen any type of advertisement since shortly after July.

 

Sent from my EVO using Forum Runner

[WiWavelength]

I fully understand your fight as you bought the LTE just like I did and it's nature to stand up for someone to stand up for their decisions even if they are wrong.

 

If this is addressing me, let me be clear that I am not defending the EVO LTE. That I own the thing is irrelevant to me. But I am taking you to task for bad science (e.g. poorly representative sample) and for telling others that they are in "denial." Dkoellerwx is on record saying that he "didn't have any problems like that in my area of Kansas City." That is his experience, and no one can effectively refute it.

 

AJ

[tongboy]

The screen is awesome, and blows anything else on Sprint out of the water IMHO. That and it was the first device on Sprint with Qualcomm's new SoC made it a no brainer decision for me.

 

The LTE is a major issue, however I would still buy it again. In Chicago where I live and work, the 3g improvements with NV and wifi at work and home have made it much easier to not notice it as much.

 

That said, they need to fix it!

 

Sent from my EVO LTE

[digiblur]

Removing the LTE issue from the process, yes the EVO LTE is an excellent phone. I find it a little thin and hard to hold on to but that is my preference and I have it in an otterbox and it's now perfect. The processor is very fast for my needs, screen is awesome even outside, and the battery life is downright amazing.

Some people report they have multitasking issues of apps closing or sense closing when they switch between apps. I do run an aftermarket rom where I have removed all the garbage I don't use like spacebook, twitter, etc and this rom claims to have multitasking tweaks. So with that said I have no issues with multitasking. The call quality is very very good and I haven't even been able to use the hd voice yet. I can have my windows down and sunroof open going down the interstate and answer the phone and even hear it. The gps is very responsive and takes only a second or two usually to lock.

 

I am still shocked by this camera and what it can do in low lighting. The video recording is okay. The few times I used it, it sometimes had this weird flexing of the video. Not sure what causes that but it's a phone, I don't expect studio quality video.

 

I haven't used bluetooth or the speakerphone much so I can't speak about those. I only used my bluetooth OBD2 car diag module a couple of times on it.

 

All in all I can really say this phone is down right perfect except for the LTE issue. If the LTE issue was fixed this phone would be perfect. And for my picky techy personality that's really rare.

 

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

 

 

[digiblur]

I used four LTE devices at once in a 100% complete market. The EVO's LTE connectivity issues are real and magnified when used side by side with other LTE devices. And perhaps even magnified further by three other LTE devices side by side at the same exact time.

 

Snippppp....

 

Very well said. Excellent choice of words and very easy to understand. Always wondered if you majored in English writing or something like that.

 

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

[Dkoellerwx]

If this is addressing me, let me be clear that I am not defending the EVO LTE. That I own the thing is irrelevant to me. But I am taking you to task for bad science (e.g. poorly representative sample) and for telling others that they are in "denial." Dkoellerwx is on record saying that he "didn't have any problems like that in my area of Kansas City." That is his experience, and no one can effectively refute it.

 

AJ

 

I'm also not saying there aren't any problems with it. For the first month after the launch in KC, it was very frustrating! It was difficult to connect to LTE in areas where I should have just been connected. A month later, after the build-out had progressed, and the update had come out, the issues went away. Now, it's entirely possible I was just in ideal conditions for the EVO. I was never deep inside of a building, and lived within 1 mile of two upgraded towers, and within 2 miles of 4. So my area was very saturated. And I didn't spend to much time away from that general area. So my experience has not been bad. However, again, I have not been able to compare side-by-side with the GS3. So my experience is not entirely complete either.

 

Now that I'm no longer in an LTE market, it is still a great phone.

 

Even if it turns out that there is an irreversible problem with the EVO LTE, I probably won't be switching to a different phone. It works well enough for me, and I really prefer Sense over other skins, or a Nexus, as well as the screen and camera.

[ITK79]

This type of attitude is why we have the exact problem with the phone today. Blaming the network. I could care less if the market is 100% or not. I didn't go to 100% of the market. I was in several areas that were right next to the tower, I threw out the "gapped" areas. The EVO LTE failed miserably.

 

So let's fast forward here... let's take the Baton Rouge area, most of the area has some very poor tower spacing, I won't get into why, but it's the way it is and Sprint accepts that. Let's just say for some reason, Sprint did 100% test market and rolled out Baton Rouge 100% blowing and going with NV. How well do you think the EVO LTE would work in this area? PCMag sends over their crew to test and compare the AT&T LTE, VZW LTE, and Sprint LTE networks. They just so happen to get an EVO LTE. The review for Sprint's brand new $$$$ network would go over like a turd in a punch bowl. All because of some software issue that HTC & Sprint were in denial to fix.

 

I fully understand your fight as you bought the LTE just like I did and it's nature to stand up for someone to stand up for their decisions even if they are wrong. I will man up and admit I am a complete fool for not waiting a month or two for the S3 to come out and make my decision between the two.

 

The fact that I have the phone has little to do with me commenting on the issue. The fact that because phone xyz connected to the network before the EVO has little to do with the comment. If the phone connects and stays connected is what is important to me. The phone in fact will connect and function on the network so it does in fact do what it supposed to. Not 100% to my liking but very few things in life do.

It might be good to know for others that there could be issues in Baton Rouge because of how the network has poor spacing. You can't guarantee that in an area like Houston will have the same issues you will have once the network is finished, Because at current there is no area that is 100% and not still having towers upgraded. Even Waco still has towers that need to be upgraded to fill in its network.

I don't regret my decision to buy the Evo I still think it is a better phone overall than anything out there. And I am sure that if anyone were ever compare devices by network the top choices would be the GS3 or the iphone regardless of market.

 

Please don't get me wrong there is an issue and I will agree that it is a huge handicap for the phone. The fact is it will connect in good coverage and in the fringe it will drive you up the wall. It has failed to meet expectations on this matter.

[leerage]

No. When at the time I went to Waco, the only report I had seen regarding that option was that someone with a GS3 said they had to do a factory reset afterward, so I didn't dare try it with any devices. The first time I saw someone report good success with doing that was approximately two weeks ago. And it may have been you.

 

Robert

I haven't had any adverse side effects from doing so. Only downside is when going out of LTE you are left on 1X. I was doing some comparisons while up in Manhattan KS the other weekend. I was up in the northwest part of Manhattan where there aren't any towers upgraded near by. On my standard setting, I was not able to connect to LTE... even with powercycling. Once I switch the mode (I used *#*#4636#*#* but ##DATA# can be used as well) I was instantly connected to LTE and was moving about. It was a weak LTE signal, anywhere from -110 to -120, but I was able to do speedtests with a week signal (6.5down 1.5up). I mapped this out on sensorly as well.

[tongboy]

No. When at the time I went to Waco, the only report I had seen regarding that option was that someone with a GS3 said they had to do a factory reset afterward, so I didn't dare try it with any devices. The first time I saw someone report good success with doing that was approximately two weeks ago. And it may have been you.Robert

 

The only setting I have found with a evo lte that I had to do a factory reset on was in *#*#4636#*#* and from the phone information screen, going into the menu and then changing the radio bands. If you select a radio band your phone will not scan outside that band until you do a factory reset. I found that out the hard way.

 

Has anyone else found others that weren't obvious

[digiblur]

 

Please don't get me wrong there is an issue and I will agree that it is a huge handicap for the phone. The fact is it will connect in good coverage and in the fringe it will drive you up the wall. It has failed to meet expectations on this matter.

 

I noticed issues where it was not a fringe area and the Evo would not connect without my cycling the radio. The S3 would connect on its own. There were two of us with EVOs and one with an S3. Over those days on our various locations in the city both of us would ask the S3 user if there was LTE here or not instead of doing the Evo dance. I didn't really believe the reports were as bad as people made them to be until I dealt with it first hand.

 

Regardless, I probably won't have this phone anyways by December.. My area's schedule has slipped or maybe skipped anyways so it might be a while for LTE. Just trying to do my part to help the many others who will have this phone for a while.

 

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

 

 

[Secretaznman46]

I personally love the specs of the phone, great build quality, awesome screen, great cam. It just has horrible radios. 3g, 4g doesnt matter. My wifes iPhone 4s always gets better mobile speed tests than mine in the same location. The 4g thing is quite annoying as well. It takes so long to pick up sometimes that if you dont stay one in place for more than 10 minutes it will not connect to 4g. I wouldn't buy this phone again if I had a second chance. Hopefully I can get half of what it is worth when the next nexus device comes out and I won't buy an HTC ever again.

[KaoMinerva]

I'll go spam the htc Facebook.

[Toomuchgame441]

Yea I went ahead and registered just for this topic, the LTE issues on my Evo are highly annoying. I live in the ATL market where I actually get a good number of spots of LTE coverage which I enjoyed with my Galaxy Nexus. When I got my Evo the LTE issues were evident right off the back. Wasn't seeing the 4G alpha tag in places I know I had coverage previously. I went in purchasing the Evo (on eBay because I'm not daring to renew my contract with Sprint until I know they have a solid network) knowing the LTe issues exist.

 

But being the impulsive person I am I have already purchased an S3 on eBay that should ship soon. I REALLY love the Evo but its becoming clearer that it was built with issues off the back. Issues with connectivity that I'VE seen are with it dropping out of a cellular connection altogether at times. I will more than likely sell my GNex and maybe hold on to my Evo while using the S3 as my main device. If Htc/Sprint release an update to fix the connectivity issues I'd gladly revert back to the Evo (even if a jelly bean release isn't super near, yes... I love the Evo that much). I just want better connectivity.

[Paynefanbro]

I've never had a problem with my EVO.

[usguyver]

 

I noticed issues where it was not a fringe area and the Evo would not connect without my cycling the radio. The S3 would connect on its own. There were two of us with EVOs and one with an S3. Over those days on our various locations in the city both of us would ask the S3 user if there was LTE here or not instead of doing the Evo dance. I didn't really believe the reports were as bad as people made them to be until I dealt with it first hand.

 

Regardless, I probably won't have this phone anyways by December.. My area's schedule has slipped or maybe skipped anyways so it might be a while for LTE. Just trying to do my part to help the many others who will have this phone for a while.

 

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

I have change the lte scan timer from 30 to 5 and My evo conets automatic

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[Toomuchgame441]

 

I have change the lte scan timer from 30 to 5 and My evo conets automatic

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

Where is it that u change this setting?

[usguyver]

 

Where is it that u change this setting?

Well you need your MSL and in the dail pad put in ##3282# ans then edit then put in your MSLyou can get that from sprint if you call that what I did abs then you go to lte record and then change the lte scan to 5

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[Fifth313ment]

I have spent the last few hours trying to root my EVO LTE on the newest software. I just want to remove some backend Sprint software that can take control of my phone and that runs all the time plus get rid of a few other persistent apps. I couldn't believe what I found? The HTC EVO 4G LTE has no method for ROOT on the newest software without notifying HTC and voiding your warranty? The OG EVO is the ultimate dev phone and the newest is the worst? I've seen ZTE & Huawei phones with better support?! Man this phone really opened my eyes and I'll be going with Samsung next time. I have a mint condition EVO LTE with a screen protector and Seidio case on 24-7 with holster for trade or sale for a SGS3?!

 

I simply want to root to remove the backend software Sprint puts on to snoop on my phone and a few other apps that run 24-7 and I can't without deleting everything or installing a new ROM? I had been waiting to root till the Jelly Bean update came out so I figured I would do it now as I don't know if and when HTC will ever release the JB update. I wanted to remove some bloat and then be able to upgrade to the Jelly Bean update without issue but from everything I've read every method requires S-OFF and that requires notifying HTC. Great job HTC!

[themuffinman]

I have spent the last few hours trying to root my EVO LTE on the newest software. I just want to remove some backend Sprint software that can take control of my phone and that runs all the time plus get rid of a few other persistent apps. I couldn't believe what I found? The HTC EVO 4G LTE has no method for ROOT on the newest software without notifying HTC and voiding your warranty? The OG EVO is the ultimate dev phone and the newest is the worst? I've seen ZTE & Huawei phones with better support?! Man this phone really opened my eyes and I'll be going with Samsung next time. I have a mint condition EVO LTE with a screen protector and Seidio case on 24-7 with holster for trade or sale for a SGS3?!

 

I simply want to root to remove the backend software Sprint puts on to snoop on my phone and a few other apps that run 24-7 and I can't without deleting everything or installing a new ROM? I had been waiting to root till the Jelly Bean update came out so I figured I would do it now as I don't know if and when HTC will ever release the JB update. I wanted to remove some bloat and then be able to upgrade to the Jelly Bean update without issue but from everything I've read every method requires S-OFF and that requires notifying HTC. Great job HTC!

 

What requires s-off? As of right now there isn't anything an s-off phone can do that an s-on can't, sure there may be a few steps that might be a little different but the results will still be the same. If you want to root the phone then just root the phone.

[Fifth313ment]

What requires s-off? As of right now there isn't anything an s-off phone can do that an s-on can't, sure there may be a few steps that might be a little different but the results will still be the same. If you want to root the phone then just root the phone.

Please show me how? I've spent hours combing through their data and if you have the new software and hboot you can't root without getting s-off first. Unless you can point me to an answer? I'd be happy and thank you if you can!? It's not like I came here and didn't check up. I don't want s-off as I just want to remove bloatware, remoteware. Edited November 7, 2012 by Fifth313ment

[pyroscott]

First off, S-OFF is the term given to completely unlocking the device without using the HTC developer website and thus not notifying HTC that you have voided your warranty. S-OFF was only able to be done when the initial software was released on the phone. HTC fixed the exploit in an OTA so that users would have to use the HTC method.

 

Secondly, S-OFF and the HTC unlock method unlock the bootloader, which doesn't sound like what you are trying to accomplish. Root is something completely different. You must be rooted to unlock the bootloader, but you don't need to be unlocked to root.

 

Thirdly, the very first root thread I read on XDA has the following quote:

This root method will ONLY work on software version 1.22.651.1 and older, if you have 1.22.651.3, please be patient devs are working on it!!!

http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=1671577

If you have 1.22.651.3, you will have to wait for a little bit until the developers crack the newest OTA.

[themuffinman]

Please show me how? I've spent hours combing through their data and if you have the new software and hboot you can't root without getting s-off first. Unless you can point me to an answer? I'd be happy and thank you if you can!? It's not like I came here and didn't check up. I don't want s-off as I just want to remove bloatware, remoteware.

 

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1690919

 

Read this thread, no cares about the htc unlock method. If you want to root then just root it, just make sure you read very carefully.

[koiulpoi]

The HTC EVO 4G LTE has no method for ROOT on the newest software without notifying HTC and voiding your warranty?

Tell me, when exactly are you going to use this "HTC Warranty"? If you're paying for Sprint's Total Equipment Protection (you know, the $11/month one), you're covered. Seriously. Sprint's warranty will cover you even if you've voided the HTC one a thousand times over.

 

The only reason you should care about the HTC Warranty is if you aren't paying for ANY kind of protection plan, and something goes wrong in the first year. Because HTC has a 1-year warranty. And rooting voids that warranty anyways, so... I don't see the problem. At all!

 

Honestly, props to HTC for unlocking the bootloader at all. I for one am a fan of Sprint's policies in this regard. We don't see this on VZW.

[Fifth313ment]

First off, S-OFF is the term given to completely unlocking the device without using the HTC developer website and thus not notifying HTC that you have voided your warranty. S-OFF was only able to be done when the initial software was released on the phone. HTC fixed the exploit in an OTA so that users would have to use the HTC method.

 

Secondly, S-OFF and the HTC unlock method unlock the bootloader, which doesn't sound like what you are trying to accomplish. Root is something completely different. You must be rooted to unlock the bootloader, but you don't need to be unlocked to root.

 

Thirdly, the very first root thread I read on XDA has the following quote:

 

http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=1671577

If you have 1.22.651.3, you will have to wait for a little bit until the developers crack the newest OTA.

http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=1690919

 

Read this thread, no cares about the htc unlock method. If you want to root then just root it, just make sure you read very carefully.

You guys just proved my point for me. I know what root is as I've done it to a million phones. And I know what S-OFF to unlock the bootloader. Currently there is no way to root the phone without S-OFF ing it or notifying HTC. Exactly what I said in my first post. And I'm not paying $11 per month for protection that I have to pay $150 if my phone breaks. So, no, I have no protection other than the HTC warranty. The EVO LTE blows. There is such a small dev community compared to the OG EVO and rooting is impossible without S-OFF. I don't want to S-OFF as I simply want to root until the JellyBean update comes and then I want to accept that without any issues or worries. S-OFF means you can't update your radios or accept updates without annoyances.

[themuffinman]

 

You guys just proved my point for me. I know what root is as I've done it to a million phones. And I know what S-OFF to unlock the bootloader. Currently there is no way to root the phone without S-OFF ing it or notifying HTC. Exactly what I said in my first post. And I'm not paying $11 per month for protection that I have to pay $150 if my phone breaks. So, no, I have no protection other than the HTC warranty. The EVO LTE blows. There is such a small dev community compared to the OG EVO and rooting is impossible without S-OFF. I don't want to S-OFF as I simply want to root until the JellyBean update comes and then I want to accept that without any issues or worries. S-OFF means you can't update your radios or accept updates without annoyances.

 

Go get an s3 or a note 2,that should solve all your problems.