SpecEagle review · HTC

HTC EVO 4G review: The first 4G (WiMAX) phone in the US, with a kickstand and HDMI-out.

SpecEagle Editorial·Jun 2010·$500
Overall
46/100
Class rank
#10 of 13
Tier
Flagship
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

America's first 4G phone.

The HTC EVO 4G was a US milestone — the first 4G (WiMAX) smartphone on Sprint, with a big screen, kickstand and HDMI-out. WiMAX battery drain and patchy coverage were the costs, but it marked the start of the 4G era for American consumers.

01Display

58/100

58/100 is one of the weaker display results among flagship phones of 2010 — 11 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

TypeTFT LCD
Size4.3 inches
Resolution800 × 480 px (WVGA)

02Camera

54/100

54/100 is one of the weaker camera results among flagship phones of 2010 — 9 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

Main8 MP, autofocus, dual-LED
Video720p
Front1.3 MP

03Performance

52/100

52/100 is one of the weaker performance results among flagship phones of 2010 — 10 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

ChipsetSnapdragon QSD8650 1 GHz
RAM512 MB
Storage1 GB · microSD

04Battery

48/100

48/100 is one of the weaker battery results among flagship phones of 2010 — 12 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

Capacity1,500 mAh (removable)
Standby~ 146 hours

05Build

62/100

62/100 trails the 68-point cohort average for flagship phones of 2010.

06Value

56/100

56/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2010.

What works
  • First 4G phone in the US (Sprint WiMAX).
  • Big 4.3" screen, kickstand, HDMI-out.
  • Front camera for video calls.
  • microSD + jack.
What doesn't
  • WiMAX drained the battery fast.
  • Heavy 170 g.
  • WVGA resolution.
  • WiMAX coverage was spotty.

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 13-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .