Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE unboxing and initial hands on review

The 3rd generation of the EVO will arrive on Sprint on May 18th for $199. Original EVO owners have been waiting for a reason to finally upgrade after last year’s flop, the EVO 3D. The EVO 4G LTE is a variant of the HTC One X, which is the best Android phone available now. Sprint worked with HTC to give this phone a more “EVO” look, which seems to be a love or hate it feeling with original EVO owners. The wanted to give customers a micro SD slot (not on the global version) for expanded storage, and with that came a shiny slide-out cover on the top back that just doesn’t look right because  the bottom half is anodized aluminum.  For whatever reason HTC didn’t feel they could go with the anodized aluminum on the top cover. I’m no phone designer, but did it have to be so shiny? This is my only complaint, but if I’m a Sprint customer, I can look past it because this is the best phone, and the next one down isn’t in the same “zip code.”

Other differences from the global HTC is a bigger battery at 2000 mAh, a dedicated camera shutter button, LTE compatibility, HD Voice, and the EVO signature kickstand that fits beautifully in its place. The final difference from the global version is the processor. Like the AT&T version of the One X, the EVO 4G LTE gets the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor clocked at 1.5 GHz. Again this is for LTE compatibility since the NVIDIA Tegra 3 isn’t compatible.

Speaking of LTE, it hasn’t launched yet, but should sometime in June. The first six markets include Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and San Antonio. It’s a little bit of a Debbie Downer that LTE isn’t available now, but if you consider most consumers will be signing up for 2 years, LTE should hopefully be in major areas by then.

The full specs include a 4.7-inch (1280 x 720) Super LCD 2 display, a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, micro SD slot for up to an additional 32GB of storage, 8MP camera rear camera with ImageSense, 1.3MP front-facing camera, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, WiFi, HDMI through MHL port, mirco USB, Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich, and Sense 4.0.

We will do a full review, but for now checkout the initial hands on.