Database Users

Someone convince me not to get the Epic and stick with the EVO

I am thinking about switching teams to the Epic from the EVO. I love the development on the EVO, Cyanogen is just amazing. It's so lite and fast I love it.
The Epic calls because of features like S-AMOLED, physical keyboard!!!!, similar size, 45nm hummingbird and better battery life have me itching for this phone. The only think that would keep me in the EVO camp is that there is an uncertain path for development.
I have heard that in the past Samsung did not release open source drivers for their phones, but that in the case of the Galaxy S the drivers are out there(at least the international version)
What do people think? Will we see development for this phone? Cyanogen? What would you do?

I wouldn't mind the epic once it was able to be rooted and get that horrible launcher the heck off there.
I actually don't like physical keyboard...feels too much like a prepaid texter phone I guess =x just a matter of taste.
I'm absolutely satisfied with the EVO even if I do wish I could change several things about it. For me, I wouldn't change because I would have to pay full price, if I had an upgrade then maybe. I would possibly change to a phone that would get Android updates faster because as we know with the Hero/2.1 debacle, Sense UI makes things rough and even when the hero did get 2.1 ...it was a dumbed down version. I seriously hope our EVOs get better treatment.
Ultimately, I guess you have to maybe play with one and see how it feels to you.

One word...Samsung. Maybe Samsung will finally redeem themselves to me with this phone, but they have always given their phones poor support after release and in general been really crappy for hardcore enthusiasts. If this phone develops a large user development crowd, you will be safer. Either way your going to have monster hardware, what will the community and the support after the sale be like?

Have you tried swype? If not try it first and give it a few weeks to get used to it.
After using it I feel it makes physical keyboards obsolete.

Wasn't this topic beat to death like last week when someone was crying about leaving for an iphone?
Wrong word choice and misspelling courtesy of swype.

Slide-out hardware keyboards are crap in my experience. I will take Swype ANY DAY.
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Sent from my HTC EVO 4G using Tapatalk Pro.

who would ever want a physical keyboard again when we have Swype? no way you can type faster on a physical not to mention the extra bulk. with the evo's big screen there is no longer need for a physical keyboard - and this comes from someone who loved the tp2 keyboard.

herbthehammer said:
Wasn't this topic beat to death like last week when someone was crying about leaving for an iphone?
Wrong word choice and misspelling courtesy of swype.
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I was thinking the same thing. Just didn't want to say it and get the whole "don't be so mean" response
Sorry OP, but I wouldn't touch a phone with a physical keyboard anymore. No need when you have a freaking 4.3 inch screen

Get a second battery,u should get about 8 hours from each at the least. i get at least 10 hours. 1500mhz batteries just arent enough for a 4.3 inch android phone.blame htc for givin us this battery dont blame the phone plz. right now im on 7 hours and 40 minutes with 50% battery left

b1indsided said:
Get a second battery,u should get about 8 hours from each at the least. i get at least 10 hours. 1500mhz batteries just arent enough for a 4.3 inch android phone.blame htc for givin us this battery dont blame the phone plz
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The Droid X apparently has much better battery life than the Evo, and it has a 4.3 display. Then again, that might be due to its 45nm processor vs the 65nm found on the Evo.

and ive been using a live wallpaper this whole time

See
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

b1indsided said:
See
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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don't use your phone much as a phone eh?

The things I wouldn't want to give up on the Evo are:
The extra .3" of screen size -- it doesn't sound like much, but when you see the two side by side, the Evo screen isn't a little bigger, it's just flat out bigger.
I like Sense, and the home screen and app screen layouts are more my style.
The GPS on the Galaxy phones are reportedly poor. They lock on fewer satellites than the Evo does and are slow to do so.
I had a slider on the TP2, and I rarely used it. The keyboard on the 4.3" screen makes a physical keyboard only helpful in specific situations, and even RDP is fully functional and usable even without a physical keyboard. So I'd rather not have it and save on the bulk.
I also have zero interest in 3d gaming on the phone, so the 3d capabilities of the Hummingbird hold little interest for me. YMMV.

not today been sittin at home just texting mostly and some pandora and a homerun challenge orcourse and a few auto syncs

It really is up to you. Both are great phones. Personally I would go with the Evo. I wouldn't mind having the Samsung either though.
AFAIK all the Galaxy phones have been rooted no? Rooting the Epic shouldn't be much harder. Since the Evo has had such good development and a little experience with WiMax, should be easy to port over that development.

I am mulling over the same decision right now...
The big drawback for me is the display on the Epic... while it is true it is S-AMOLED and should provide more vibrant colors and such, the display itself is subject to burn in (not as much as AMOLED but still there) and the tech they use in the display makes it like half the effective resolution of what it really is... I can't remember the name of it right now... Its somewhere on the forums. I have seen a Galaxy S screen next to my Evo and its vibrant and bright but my Evo (Epson panel) is easier to see outdoors and text is much crisper on it.
Second, its a Samsung. I have never liked a single Samsung product I've tried from their TVs to their cell phones. While I would like to have a physical keyboard, the lack of support Samsung gives to their products sucks.
Third, yes the hummingbird and SGX540 absolutely spank everything else on the market right now... but dual-core snapdragons are coming and so is Tegra2. I would rather wait and see what happens than just jump from a phone that's working perfectly fine to another one with better specs... Only to kick myself in the balls come Christmas time.
Lastly, Sprint chopped the 16GB of storage to 2GB in their version which kills a main selling point for me. Internal storage tends to be much faster than a microSD card of ANY size.

The cyanogenmod will never be on the Galaxy S.
The Galaxy S will never be as snappy as the Evo.
And yes the hummingbird processor is much better than snapdragon and yes it does do graphics much better, but I'm running PSX4Droid right now FF7 maxed out what else more do you want from a phone lol...
Have fun supporting PS2 graphics...too bad nobody is developing anything and good luck when the phone comes out rooting / flashing custom roms.
But hey the phone is great you wouldn't be wrong getting it either but currently the evo looks better.

amirborna said:
The cyanogenmod will never be on the Galaxy S.
The Galaxy S will never be as snappy as the Evo.
And yes the hummingbird processor is much better than snapdragon and yes it does do graphics much better, but I'm running PSX4Droid right now FF7 maxed out what else more do you want from a phone lol...
Have fun supporting PS2 graphics...too bad nobody is developing anything and good luck when the phone comes out rooting / flashing custom roms.
But hey the phone is great you wouldn't be wrong getting it either but currently the evo looks better.
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When did Cyanogen say he won't release for the Galaxy S? Its a HUGE market base for Android since EVERY carrier will have a variant...
EDIT: Looking at the various Galaxy forums it looks like a community FroYo isn't going to be easy since the hardware info won't even boot in the emulator... Guess you're right.
But one more reason to get the Epic - it supports a crap ton of codecs out of the box and won't require most video files to be converted unlike the Evo.

Samsung is notorious for not supporting their devices after launch. Just look at Behold II users, Samsung promised 2.0/2.1 on video, then later pulled the video to remove any evidence of them saying that.
It's a great phone, just don't expect it to be supported down the road.

[Q] EVO to Epic

I have been an EVO user since the day it came out and today I was offered a trade for the Epic. I was wondering what some of the other EVO to Epic users thoughts were? Its mainly the processor and keyboard that are drawing me into doing this trade, what are some of the other benefits of the Epic?
Thanks

The biggest thing to me was the screen. My gf has an evo and it's a great phone. I would have bought it if it was in stock, but then the epic was on the roadmap so i decided to try it. I really like it. I have some issues with the back button like others, but not a big deal. I also have had battery concerns, but i've been making it for around 15 hours on average and that's using the phone, not just letting it idle. The screen difference in the evo vs epic is like my old rear projector tv vs the best lcd tv on the market. This screen makes everything look so good. I still am amazed everytime i turn it on.

Both are excellent phones. My EVO is rooted with a custom 2.2 ROM and I still feel like my Epic with 2.1 is faster overall. I think once 2.2 is released for the Epic, there will be no comparison.
As stated above, you cannot compare the two displays. Every time I look at my EVO after using my Epic, I am dissatisfied with the display. Regardless of the fact that the EVO's screen is a hair bigger, the quality of the Epic's display is NIGHT & DAY better.
I do prefer HTC’s Sense to Samsung’s TW, but that is a small detail to me.
I will say that I seem to have an overall better 3g data experience with my EVO. As of the last few days, they seem to be dead even as far as 3g is concerned, but when I first got the Epic, it was definitely slower in the bandwidth department.
Battery life for me is slightly better on the Epic and when you consider that I use it a lot more than I did the EVO, it’s actually a lot better.
Overall I can say with certainty that I prefer my Epic over my EVO.

I was using a rooted EVO and the epic feels faster at stock than my evo ever has. Anyway, the screen is a lot better, the crappy viewing angles on the evo always bothered me. The keyboard is really nice for emulators and other games, although it takes a little getting used to. Th battery life on the evo is better as of now, but as a long time evo user I can say the epic at launc has far better battery life than the evo did, its taken a lot of updates to get the evo where it is now.
Basically the evo is only better in two ways right now, battery life and GPS performance, and I expect both of those to get better on the epic, and when the epic gets froyo there won't be much comparison. The evo was nice but it is wa outcassed by the epic imo.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

rtmski said:
I have been an EVO user since the day it came out and today I was offered a trade for the Epic. I was wondering what some of the other EVO to Epic users thoughts were? Its mainly the processor and keyboard that are drawing me into doing this trade, what are some of the other benefits of the Epic?
Thanks
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You really gotta try it out first. Biggest thing for me is the Camera is way better on the Epic. Panoramic pictures are very neat you have to try it.
I have both the Evo and Epic, and they are both great, the Evo has so much more hacking done to it then the Epic, but i'm sure that will change soon.
I didn't really like the Epic at first, I missed my evo the first two days I turned on the Epic.. I thought i'd fire the Evo back up... but the Epic has really Grown on me. I found a battery tweak that gives me better battery life then the EVO. I'm not looking back.

Like everyone else, I too believe the Epic to be a much faster device overall. Of course, you listed that as a pro as well as the screen.
So beyond that, the camera is also much better. I've been seeing photos of higher quality overall. My EVO photos come out over saturated and the detail isn't as good. However, I find that my EVO performs better indoors as far as sharpness is concerned.
The Epic is also able to play 720p MKV\divx files out of the box without converting them. This is great for me, as I hate having to convert movies for the EVO. They look absolutely gorgeous on the Epic's 4" Super AMOLED screen. The EVO's GPU can not handle high quality movies.
Gaming is a much more enjoyable experience on the Epic. 3D games and graphically intense apps will run at a much higher framerate on the Epic. The EVO's GPU is NOT futureproof at all, as it uses the same processor that HTC has been putting in phones since the Nexus One. If you're concerned at all about 3D games coming out in the future, you're better off with an Epic.
The keyboard also makes for a pretty great gaming experience. Be advised that it is NOT as fast as swype when it comes to texting and emails. The keyboard is spaced kinda oddly which makes typing a bit difficult. But overall I like it. I use it all the time. Also, if your screen is off, you can turn it on AND unlock the phone by opening the keyboard. This saves you from trying to hit that button and then swyping to unlock
I find that voice quality is also better on the Epic. I used to complain about this on the EVO. I had trouble hearing people. However, people also complain that the Epic picks up a lot of background noise. I dont use my phone much when driving but I imagine it would be annoying.
The Epic connects to 4G much faster, and I'm getting better speeds. However, the 3G connection is shoddy at best. You won't see ANYONE praising the Epic's 3G speeds over the EVO.
For me there isn't much to consider. I never use my EVO anymore because there is nothing it can do that my Epic can't... but there is plenty my Epic can do that my EVO can not. But the things that the Epic can do aren't a priority for everyone.
One last thing to consider. HTC has done a great job at getting out updates and fixes for the EVO. Samsung hasn't really done jack for any version of the Galaxy S phones out... including fixing the GPS and 3G issues on the Epic. 2.2 is probably a long ways away... but honestly, I don't think we need it. I only want 2.2 because it apparently fixes the headphone jack for the dock.

Thanks everyone this has helped me confirm my decision to go through with the trade and will be a proud Epic owner by 6 tonight.

Up for upgrade. Epic or Evo

I am up for an upgrade in a week and have been weighing my options for a while and am currently leaning towards the Epic, but was hoping to get some insight from the Epic community and hopefully some people that have used both phones. My main concern with the Epic is that of Sammy and their history of not supporting hardware. I still have a bad taste in my mouth over the Instinct(great hardware, terrible software and support). I don't care that much about the home screen part of either or the mail app as I will be using GMail and LauncherPro. One question I have is how many serious and talented linux devs are there that work on the Epic? I know most of the Hero devs went to the Evo. I currently have a Hero running CM6. I like some parts of Sense, but it's performance was a major turn-off and was what made me turn to ASOP. As far as the keyboard goes, I am undecided on whether I will actually like/use it or not. The only thing I see myself using it for is gaming emulators. Another concern is I have heard something about GPS issues, have they been fixed or acknowledged? I am open to input and am truly on the border here. Also, has a root been found for the epic yet? This is a big one for me so that I can at least remove the sprint crapware.

I would say go for the evo. Not long ago I was in the same boat a you. I did a ton off research, and played with both phones extensively. I chose the evo, and it its the most amazing phone I've ever seen. Now that htc uncapped the fps, there is really no problems. The epic is great, but imo the evo is better.
Sent from my Htc Evo

I own both. I prefer the Epic for the keyboard. However, I dislike its screen for late night bed surfing lol. All AMOLEDs are way too bright in the dark.
Couple other noticeable things for me:
Screen: Epic for brightness/colors, however EVO has better responsiveness (assuming hardware/software issue for Epic)
Screen FPS: Epic, but they just released official fix for EVO
Text input: Epic since it has hardware keyboard in addition to touch
Battery life: EVO hands down, my Epic seems to die too fast and I never used any type of battery saving application on EVO
Power button location: Blows on Epic, why did they put it on the side??
Phone Size: Epic is lighter and smaller
ROM Development: EVO because its a HTC device, but I hope this changes soon

And I'd go with the Epic. I got my girlfriend her first smartphone 3 months ago and got her the Evo. Played with it for a few weeks and definitely liked the phone. Then I came up for an upgrade and I had the same decision to make. I ended up chosing the Epic as it seems it is a fewer months older and has a few slight upgrades over the Evo, but not much.
The Epic screen is ridiculously amazing. They do NOT compare. I love having a hard keyboard, and I text a lot more because of it. It's been two phones and about 3 years since I had a keyboard, but I picked it right up and my fingers flew.
Touchwiz is very nice, but I got rid of it after a few days, well actually the 3rd day once I rooted. I did the same with Sense on my Hero, like it, but I rather go completely customizable with a custom launcher.
Another great thing about the Epic is the notificatoin settings bar. You can adjust a few settings like wifi, 4g, bluetooth, brightness and airplane mode all from the pull down bar. And it even works without Touchwiz, which was a surprise to me. This feature alone gives me a big vote for epic over evo.
It seems the Epic's cpu runs a little faster/more efficientyly than the Evo's. The battery life on both is about what you can expect, if you use it a lot, plan on charging it during the day. Are you into rooting and getting the most out of your phone? Then you can get extensively better battery duration.
Right now, there isn't a lot of extra stuff you can do on a rooted Epic, but the phone's only been out a few weeks and the Evo has a jumpstart on developmental stuff. Also, the Evo is already on 2.2 where the Epic is still on 2.1, although rumors have it getting 2.2 in the next month.
Gps issue is definitely a problem on the Epic. I use my GPS about 5 times a day as I travel to different sites for my job. There is a delay in getting a good lock, but there should be a fix for this soon, and it's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. I usually get a lock within a minute. But I'll be happy when I get that instantaneous lock again.
One thing the Evo definitely has on the Epic is a bit bigger screen, .3", and HDMI out. That function is disabled on the Epic for some reason. I've heard a few reasons, but who knows. I use the DLNA option instead as my TV is new enough to support it.
I came from 3 generations of HTC phones before this, so it was hard for me to leave HTC. In the end, either way you're getting an awesome phone. so good luck with this decision!

epic camera owns the evo. period

I own both and would say EVO hands down. I thought the physical keyboard would be for me as that was the hardest to get used to on my EVO but after using both extensively I'd get the EVO. Where a few people like being able to adjust wifi/bluetooth and whatnot from the upper status pulldown, on the EVO it's a widget called "Power Control". To me this gives the same ease. Having both the EVO and the EPIC side by side I wouldn't say the EPIC screen blows away the EVO. Colors seem more blue on the EPIC and amoled is nice but I'd take my EVO any day for the .3 larger screen + it doesn't look bad at all.
Now if you're HEAVY into games and that's the main purpose for your phone then I'd recommend you get the EPIC. GPS isn't as big of an issue as people make it out to be BUT that being said there's been a few times when I needed it *now* and was waiting for about 3-5 minutes which I am sorry is NOT cool. The EVO locks on almost instantly, and most places I have tried indoor as well (obviously in a concrete office building it's not going to work... but at home in my bedroom it works fine).
I would suggest that you go to a Sprint store and really play with both for ~20 minutes each...
'tuna

monadzback said:
epic camera owns the evo. period
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Not true
Sent from my HTC EVO using XDA App

basically epic if u like physical kbs or evo if not

sling said:
Not true
Sent from my HTC EVO using XDA App
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Yes it is.

Having owned, and done extensive reviews and research on both I can conclude that the Epic's camera is much better than the Evos. The saturation, contrast, and white balance are all superior. Not to mention the video camera is only bested by the iPhone4.

I owned the Evo b4 the Epic. I liked the Evo, because the development for the device is amazing. The kickstand on the Evo is also great and comes in handy. Now that the 30fps caps is removed, it is even a greater phone.
I chose the Epic for a smaller form factor in phone size. I had to use two hands to use the Evo and my fingers would not reach across the screen without touching my skin. The Evo camera is not as good as the Epic, 23 fps vs 29/30fps at a constant rate. I like have an option of a physical keyboard to use only *if* I am typing a long email, playing a emulator or just getting tired of using the on screen keyboard. The AMOLED screen pwns the LCD screen and the Epics GPU is amazing, I run everything smoothly on my Epic.
In my opinion they are both great phones, but if you prefer a bigger form factor and a great development scene go for the Evo. If you prefer a great overall device that has everything built in for a phone then choose the Epic.

sling said:
Not true
Sent from my HTC EVO using XDA App
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Yes it is.
http://www.droiddog.com/android-blog/2010/09/epic-vs-evo-the-cameras/
The EVO can't shoot HD video in low light situations. It goes at around 10-15 FPS. It's blurrier during the day. It over saturates the colors. The 8MP on the camera is totally pointless because the quality of the camera doesn't measure up.
My Epic takes much better pictures than my EVO. But regardless... there are far MORE IMPORTANT reasons to get a phone.

drewX2 said:
I own both. I prefer the Epic for the keyboard. However, I dislike its screen for late night bed surfing lol. All AMOLEDs are way too bright in the dark.
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lol I agree! I own both also and the super AMOLED is way too bright even at its lowest setting. I do love both devices equally though
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

monadzback said:
epic camera owns the evo. period
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Have you owned both? Care to give any reasons/data explaining why?
hydralisk said:
Yes it is.
http://www.droiddog.com/android-blog/2010/09/epic-vs-evo-the-cameras/
The EVO can't shoot HD video in low light situations. It goes at around 10-15 FPS. It's blurrier during the day. It over saturates the colors. The 8MP on the camera is totally pointless because the quality of the camera doesn't measure up.
My Epic takes much better pictures than my EVO. But regardless... there are far MORE IMPORTANT reasons to get a phone.
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Apparently you haven't used cm6 on the EVO. IT does wonders for the camera and does things that no other camera app does as of yet; touch to focus while in camcorder mode....I get 24ish fps in 720p in low light with cm6.
Look, I own both, they both have their pros/cons but NEVER ever would I say one owns the other. It almost like Mac vs. PC they both do some things well....and others not so well.

Epic, is my vote, root is already out. Out of the box, epic is so much better. I still have my evo, but I never pick it up.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

My pick is the Evo. I got the Epic at launch, but it never felt right for me. I was also annoyed at the current bugs, which I can confirm it has. I just didn't have faith in Samsung to come out with a fix for them all, especially in my 30 window.
I returned it for the Evo and was amazed how much more I liked the Evo. Just feels like the better phone imo. Battery life is much better on the Evo than the Epic for me too.
Good luck.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Either one you pick you wil be happy. I ended up going with the epic for the better screen, better processor and gpu and the keyboard. Even though im starting to use the screen keyboard alot more now that i installed the droid x keyboard.. i take the train to work everyday so i watch movies and play games on a daily basis.. and despite the screen size disadvantage the epic has.. movies look so much better.. and believe me i've tried both
Sent from my Epic 4g using Tapatalk Pro

jok3sta said:
Either one you pick you wil be happy.
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Agreed! They are both good machines(?), err phones. As I said in an earlier post, it'd be stupid to not go to Sprint and really play with both for like 10-20 minutes each. Download quadrant, neocore, your favorite app(s), etc., etc. and run it all on both and make an informed decision. Most Sprint employees (around were I live) recommend the EVO, that said, don't let a sales person sway you one way or another.

spiicytuna said:
Agreed! They are both good machines(?), err phones. As I said in an earlier post, it'd be stupid to not go to Sprint and really play with both for like 10-20 minutes each. Download quadrant, neocore, your favorite app(s), etc., etc. and run it all on both and make an informed decision. Most Sprint employees (around were I live) recommend the EVO, that said, don't let a sales person sway you one way or another.
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I plan on it. I have been to best buy twice, but for some reason in their great wisdom they only have mockups so you cant play around with them. I am going to buy it at best buy so I get my reward points and better returns.

I have both, bought Evo, really liked it, but when the Epic came out, tried it, loved it, gave Evo to hubby.
Handsize and feel is important to me, the Epic fits hand better, buttons are in more convenient place for one hand usage, Love Swype, love screen, rooted but staying with Touchwiz because its so smooth (and waiting for 2.2
before I mess with other roms). The pics are awesome, as are some of the apps, especially Google Sky. It actually runs a little faster than Evo in opening apps.
Now hubby loves Evo, bigger feel in hands, screen, but to me, colors look more washed out. However, he is color blind so can tell no difference.
I came from rooted Hero, so like Touchwiz better than Sense. Its a comfort zone, they are both great, play with them, if we didn't have two to chose from, everyone would like the one choice they have.
P.S. My only wish would be no keyboard on Epic and thinner, never use it with large on screen keyboards and Swype.

Can't decide between HTC Evo and Samsung Epic?

Well, good news guys. I am starting as a cell phone tech repair at a local store here and can't seem to decide between a HTC Evo 4G or Samsung Epic 4G. They both look awesome.
I am also with T-Mobile with the HD2 and love HTC products but the Samsung Epic looks tempting. I feel so indecisive now.
Any help here?

I feel your pain. Before Access released the new version of Graffiti that works perfectly on the Epic, I was literally within hours... maybe a day or two... of taking my Epic back and exchanging it for an Evo. It's amazing how being totally handicapped at text-input colors (darkens?) your view of pretty much everything else about the phone.
I'm still not thrilled with the Epic's jiggly-ness, but I have hope that Seidio (or maybe Otterbox) will eventually release a case that lets you latch the halves together (or clamp on a semi-temporary exoskeleton that achieves the same purpose).
The single worst problem I found with the Evo is its usb port. HTC cut corners and didn't attach it properly, so the solder connections (surface-mount, no less) end up bearing 100% of the stress and strain from attaching and removing the cable, and eventually fail. Technically, that's something I could probably fix myself if it happened (I have a hot air rework tool, solder paste, tubes of flux, tweezers, and the other usual supplies needed for homebrew surface-mount soldering), but I know *exactly* how it can fail, and it bothers me that HTC could have possibly done something that stupid. That's not the kind of mistake an engineer makes... that's the kind of screwup that happens when HTC management decides to cut corners anyway after their engineers throw a fit and threaten to quit over it.
Also, I've spent the past week lurking on the Evo development boards, and got the worst sense of deja-vu when I saw that HTC still releases useless kernel source that's unbuildable, with proprietary binaries compiled straight into it (in total violation of the GPL, not to mention common sense and human decency) so that it's nearly impossible to take an old kernel and use it as the basis of a newer one (without breaking every single binary driver in the process). Samsung might have sinned mightily and royally screwed up the GPS, but at least they had the decency to treat the kernel with respect & dignity, and implement everything that's not open-source as proper loadable kernel modules. It might be the only thing they've done right, but it's a really big, really important thing that NEEDS to be right
Both the Epic and Evo have criminally-undersized batteries, and battery life that totally sucks. The main difference is that there are multiple extended battery choices for the Evo available today, and zero extended battery choices for the Epic today (though there will probably be just as many Epic choices as Evo choices by Christmas... maybe more, since only the extended battery's back cover would be unique to the Epic, and the batteries themselves are common to the entire Galaxy S family).
Out of the box, the Evo feels a lot better in your hand. I bought the Epic originally because I wanted the keyboard, but I personally think the Epic's keyboard sucks to the point of being unusable because they made the keys too big and too flat. Had they made the keys smaller (keeping the same pitch), or made them taller and more rounded (like the Sidekick's keyboard), it would have been awesome. Thus, I'm now officially in the "I want a case with exoskeleton or latch so I can just secure the keyboard shut and forget it exists... at least, until I'm in a mood to slap on a GameGripper and play videogames with it" camp. It's a shame, because it COULD have been a really awesome keyboard if Samsung hadn't ruined it for the sake of aesthetics.
I'm a little nervous about the Epic's AMOLED screen, because I found out that they suffer from an effect that has similar appearance to burn-in. Apparently, the blue elements have a half-life of ~7,000 bright hours before they dim noticeably. The result is that if you display static bright blue content for extended periods of time, it will look like old-school yellow burn-in when white is displayed (the blue will dim, causing the brighter red and green to give the pixel a yellowish cast). LCDs can develop persistent images, but it's a temporary effect due to static electricity that dissipates over time. With AMOLED and blue-fade, by the time you see it happen, it's too late -- the panel's ruined forever.
I'll admit I've slightly warmed up to Touchwiz... especially once I replaced the homescreen with ADW, and figured out how to make the app drawer scroll vertically (god, the horizontal scrolling drove me *insane* for a couple of days). Samsung's "Phone" app is definitely prettier than HTC's was on the Hero (I've never actually used an Evo to make a call), and "Weather and Toggle Widget" (or whatever it's name is) gave me enough SenseUI look and feel to keep me happy without it.
There's still a tiny chance something will motivate me to switch to Evo before my 30 days are up in 2 weeks, but for now, I'm back to being content with my Epic.

Well, I had both the Evo and now the Epic and while the Evo was "okay," I love the Epic. Returning the Evo was the best thing I ever did. The main issues I had with the Evo where the physical size (Epic is thicker, but less surface area) and the battery. My Epic can last a full day with moderate to heavy use on a single charge. The Evo, with light use, needed to be charged about half way through the day. That is with all the usual tweaks, etc. Also, the Evo with the brightness turned down (to save battery) was almost useless, but the Epic on its lowest brightness setting is brighter than the Evo on about 50% brightness. Finally, even though Swype is cool, it is nice to have the keyboard if you do any kind of long typing or typing of words that are not in the dictionary. True, you can always add them, but if you ever do any kind of work where you type in commands, (terminal, etc) then you can do it much easier with a real keyboard.
Anyway, those are my two cents. On a 1-10 scale I would give the Evo a rating of 6 and the Epic a rating of 8.

Greetings! I have both an Epic and an Evo, both rooted, both used extensively for work. The Epic I use mainly for wireless tethering of a work issued laptop, the Epic I use primarily for fielding calls and email.
I like the ability to use a hard keyboard with the Epic but as a former blackberry owner for YEARS I still believe the best hard keyboards to exist are ones engineered by RIM. It's too bad Samsung didn't tap into RIM engineering when constructing the feel and heft of their physical keyboard.
I wasn't a huge fan of Sense before getting an Evo but it's incredibly easy to use and easy on the eyes (mine, anyways) It seems that the email functions on the Evo are easier to utilize than the ones on the Epic but again a matter of personal preference.
I've re-rooted both phones in the last week (accidentally deleted g-talk off of Evo then turned right around and bricked my Epic!) and both phones are running much smoother since doing so. I noticed my Evo was getting really sluggish as time wore on (rooted it right after I got it in July) and the Epic was displaying warning signs of brick-ville prior to it actually bricking. I've benchmarked both units and without a doubt the Epic is MUCH faster than the Evo.
I've noticed subtleties between both phones since using them so much:
SCREENS/VIBRANCY: Epic colors seem more washed out. Evo's are clearer. Evo screen reacts so much easier to the touch....I have to press buttons more than once often to get Epic touch to register....
BATTERY LIFE: Face it, phones like this suck mega power. Multiple batteries and chargers for both are a must. Since I travel between multiple offices, I have a cache of chargers/batteries at all locations along with techie travel items I never leave home without. Tip: for a quick boost to get you at least one hour of extra time on your phone grab one of those keyring battery boosters Sprint sells....they're cheap and come as advertised (****WARNING DO NOT CHARGE YOUR PHONE WITH THE BOOSTER WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY CHARGING THE BOOSTER FROM AN ELECTRICAL SOURCE -SPRINT ADVERTISES THIS IS POSSIBLE BUT... YOU CAN START A FIRE*****) Hopefully my Travelers agent isn't on this forum !
SOUND: Epic seems to produce better sound at higher levels. Epic's speakers seem to have a weird screeching to them at top volume.
I don't know how much this has helped you, but the bottom line here is: if you are a physical keyboard person go for the Epic. If a larger screen floats your boat get the Evo. I'm fortunate to have been able to get both for professional reasons and have learned to love the differences that both provide.
Finally, here are two programs I highly recommend:
EPIC: noLED. Terrific app. Don't need root for it. Also works on Evo but designed for phones lacking a LED.
EVO: LEDHack. Ditto. You will need root. Not applicable for Epic.

All you really have to think about is "Do I want a pure touch screen? or do I want a qwerty keyboard as well as a touch screen?", "Do I want HTC Sense, or TouchWiz?", "Do I want a kickstand?", lol.
But for a more in-depth look, I made a comparison of the tech specs and I gathered the information from Wikipedia as well as google.
Here is my post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=7788180#post7788180
Also. Playing Emulator games on the Epic is far more easier than it will be on the EVO. Due to the Epic having a physical keyboard so you can actually have buttons to press instread of tapping the touch screen. There are even keyboard covers that people have made in the shape of controllers to make the gameplay easier.
However. EVO has more developers than the Epic does for now. We only have about 4 roms and they're nothing really special. Pretty much stock roms with OC'ed kernals with a developer idea behind it. We don't even have a OTA rom developer yet. I still wish I knew how to do this stuff lol.

it's mostly personal preference, but I find the epic to be much nicer than the Evo. The keyboard is a much nicer addition for typing. Virtual keyboards just leave me wanting that tactile feel again. The epic is bigger, but also has a much nicer display and the battery life is longer. I also love the small things like the microusb port on the top, and the power button on the side. These help when I'm using it in the car.
As far as ROMs. The EVO has much more development, but I haven't really longed to change anything on the stock epic (except maybe the bloatware). It's nice and fast and TW is clean. SenseUI always bogged my Evo and made it clunky. The only time I had a smooth ROM was in CM6.So far on the Epic, I don't think I'll need to change anything until I upgrade to 2.2

Also, the Hummingbird processor feels faster than the Snapdragon QSD8650 in the EVO. The extra GPU power really makes a difference. That's why I switched.

I could never decide between the two really, there is just a list of pro's and con's for both of them!
So I got an Evo for my second line. (Girlfriend uses it).
I swore to myself that I would never get a Samsung phone. After I switched away from my Motorolla razr many years ago to the HTC Touch, I fell in love with the quality of their phones.
The Epic just makes the Evo seem so outdated. The only thing going for the Evo is the development community, accessories, and support. And of course the build quality of the phone is just PERFECT.
Unfortunately, I grew tired of Sense UI over a year ago, and much prefer the AOSP UI. I can say, side by side, the Epic just rips the Evo apart in terms of fluidness, performance, and raw GPU power... That, and the screen looks a million times better, and FEELS better too!
I like them both though! =)

one thing to also consider since you are currently a t-mobile customer, the G2 from HTC is out.

I think all of these "Epic or Evo" posts are kind of strange, honestly. The two phones fill different niches. I agree with the poster that said it really comes down to keyboard vs. no keyboard and touchwiz vs. sense. Everything else is relatively minor, and something you will easily get used to (or not even realize the difference).
For me, a better question would be something like Epic or G2, or Epic or Droid 2. It's really not that hard to switch carriers (in fact I did it to buy the Epic), and unless you're very close to the beginning of your present contract - in which case you can't upgrade yet anyway - the ETF probably won't be that much, if anything. I got out of my contract with AT&T after 18 months and they didn't charge me any ETF - though that may be because I still have a second line with my wife's iPhone on it.
I just feel like phones with or without keyboards are a completely different experience. (I had an iPhone for a *day*, and it felt like walking around on one leg to me. So I returned it. And now I'm very happy with my Epic.)
If I didn't need a keyboard, I wouldn't consider the Epic, because the keyboard just adds extra bulk and another failure point - actually several more failure points. Instead, I'd then be comparing the Evo to another Galaxy S phone on another carrier. There's usually no reason to restrict yourself to one carrier. Even if you are going to be charged an ETF, you can usually find a deal on any phone that will more than pay for it (vs. the normal subsidized price of the phone).

badasscat said:
I think all of these "Epic or Evo" posts are kind of strange, honestly. The two phones fill different niches. I agree with the poster that said it really comes down to keyboard vs. no keyboard and touchwiz vs. sense. Everything else is relatively minor, and something you will easily get used to (or not even realize the difference).
For me, a better question would be something like Epic or G2, or Epic or Droid 2. It's really not that hard to switch carriers (in fact I did it to buy the Epic), and unless you're very close to the beginning of your present contract - in which case you can't upgrade yet anyway - the ETF probably won't be that much, if anything. I got out of my contract with AT&T after 18 months and they didn't charge me any ETF - though that may be because I still have a second line with my wife's iPhone on it.
I just feel like phones with or without keyboards are a completely different experience. (I had an iPhone for a *day*, and it felt like walking around on one leg to me. So I returned it. And now I'm very happy with my Epic.)
If I didn't need a keyboard, I wouldn't consider the Epic, because the keyboard just adds extra bulk and another failure point - actually several more failure points. Instead, I'd then be comparing the Evo to another Galaxy S phone on another carrier. There's usually no reason to restrict yourself to one carrier. Even if you are going to be charged an ETF, you can usually find a deal on any phone that will more than pay for it (vs. the normal subsidized price of the phone).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are coming from other carriers, then switching carrier might be a good idea.
But for Sprint customers (especially SERO), switching is usually costly. And unfortunately, at this moment, there are only 2 premium phones that we can choose from.

acegolfer said:
If you are coming from other carriers, then switching carrier might be a good idea.
But for Sprint customers (especially SERO), switching is usually costly. And unfortunately, at this moment, there are only 2 premium phones that we can choose from.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
People without SERO really dont get us sero users.
Even at 50 a month (with my 5pm nights and weekend perk) I will NEVER leave this plan.

the ones we got are evo epic pre transform to a lesser extent hero moment and even lesser extent the i1 and intercept
verizon att and tmo are lucky they have much more

My dad has the evo, I have the epic.
Grab a halloween wallpaper with lots of pumpkins on it. Then compare the screens. I couldn't believe the difference. The epic hands down has darker blacks and more vivid colors. Totally worth it.
Also a few co workers this week complimented the screen.

acegolfer said:
If you are coming from other carriers, then switching carrier might be a good idea.
But for Sprint customers (especially SERO), switching is usually costly. And unfortunately, at this moment, there are only 2 premium phones that we can choose from.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The OP is coming from T-Mobile. So there's no real reason he should only be looking at the Evo and Epic, and not much reason he'd have to compare only those phones to each other.

Coin Slot said:
one thing to also consider since you are currently a t-mobile customer, the G2 from HTC is out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 On this.. Amazing Device.. Dumb Fast.. Dumb Fast..

actually i am not leaving T-Mobile but adding Sprint as my second line. So in two months i will have a final decision.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

New Phone, Evo or Epic

Hey guys coming from and incredible and I love it but I have to switch to sprint and would like some input on these two phones. I know the general info so I was more looking for developer style info such as roms and speed with said roms and just general developer support.
Here is what I have so far.
Epic
Faster
Better Screen
Gorilla Glass
Better GPU
Same battery life
Slide out keyboard.
Bigger SD card included with phone. 16 vs 8
Evo
Bigger screen
Stand
HDMI out
Better Developer Support?
More Rom's
Better 3G 4G performance along with wifi hotspot active connections.
What am I missing for some reason I feel like I should go Evo even though its dated, the slide out keyboard isn't a must for me but I feel like it would be nice.

I hate the amoled screens personally. Looks to oversaturated imo. I don't like slide out keyboards either. Not saying the epic isn't a good phone as I've never owned one, but I wouldn't trade my evo for one. So my vote would be the evo.

Thanks I am kind of thinking the same thing the HTC phones are great and I have had really good luck with my incredible with roms. Does the TouchWiz samsung thing good or how does it compare to Sense?

I own and evo and my friend has the epic which I rooted and setup...... go with the EVO. It's simply better and the community support on XDA as least is better for the Evo.

Evo, but you wouldn't consider the Shift? Shift would be a better bet than the Epic. Slightly smaller screen, people are saying the keyboard is better though. Know you said that wasn't necessarily a deal breaker but worth a mention.
SWYPED via SUPASONIC

Htc thuderbolt
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

I thought about the thunderbolt but its got no support we don't know if its rootable yet do we? I don't mind going with Verizon but I hear you can use verizon towers with sprint and its less money and has 4g.

I just switched from epic to evo and here's my deciding factors...
The slide keyboard makes the phone feel cheap overall. Others say its a general Samsung thing with cheap feeling phones but I prefer the weight and solidity of the evo. And I don't use the keyboard but for emulator gaming.
My eyes seem to take a liking to the evo screen more than samoled.
And the development seems to be way ahead of epic,granted time on market...

like someone already said, the shift seems like a good compromise of the two. i know it has an 800mhz processor as opposed the the 1ghz that the epic and evo both have. But its the same processor as the T-mobile G-2 and it is just as fast as my evo.

The Evo. I switched to the Epic a couple months ago from the Evo. I realized it was a bad choice in about 2 days. The keyboard on the phone won't get all the input that you type in. And I type fast, so this annoyed me greatly. Though, the camera on the Epic was better than the Evo's. But still, Evo > Epic. The Samsung UI is also kind of crappy. I love sense so much more, that is why I had to switch back to the Evo.

Ok well it seems like the epic is out as most people think other phones are better or suggest other phones all together.

Seagrizzly said:
Hey guys coming from and incredible and I love it but I have to switch to sprint and would like some input on these two phones. I know the general info so I was more looking for developer style info such as roms and speed with said roms and just general developer support.
Here is what I have so far.
Epic
Faster
Better Screen
Gorilla Glass
Better GPU
Same battery life
Slide out keyboard.
Bigger SD card included with phone. 16 vs 8
Evo
Bigger screen
Stand
HDMI out
Better Developer Support?
More Rom's
Better 3G 4G performance along with wifi hotspot active connections.
What am I missing for some reason I feel like I should go Evo even though its dated, the slide out keyboard isn't a must for me but I feel like it would be nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what kinda of phone are you on now?? I know one could wait forever just waiting for the lastest and greatest are always around the corner. But seeing the phones coming out of CES now sprint should have some details about their next flagship phone for this summer at CTIA it might be just worth waiting

I have the incredible now and to tell you the truth it works great, just need a phone for private use and want to go with Sprint I won't be able to make it to the summer and really don't do much with my phone but email and some utilities like wifi stuff work typing things.

Evo all the way!!!!

Evo, the wife got an Epic even after I kept tellin her to get the Evo. More for the keyboard. Touchwiz sucks, can't believe it didn't even have a flip album like sense. Little things like that you take for granted. Hated how the keyboard would always slighty open while holding it with one hand. And to me the camera didn't work that well. She ended up gettin the Evo and me one to for Xmas Sprint employee.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I have both, got my Evo on launch day, got my Epic a month or so ago. Needless to say I am using my Evo again. Epic is a great phone and a great performer but I enjoy the Evo more personally. You really need to use both and see which sticks out for you but I would go with the Evo....in fact, I did.

Definitely go evo. Much much better dev support and more importantly much better support from htc as opposed to the no updates from samsung.

EVO.. is best choice.. for me.
you ask in an evo subforum... get X answer
you ask in the epic subforum... get Y answer
this may not be a good way for you to help you make this choice.
it can all boil down to ...
HTC vs Samsung
htc wins .. silently brilliant

I was in the same boat ...
EVO has better build quality, better design, no extra free space on top or bottom of the screen, better screen (IMHO) .... Feels premium device. Oh yes huge development support here at XDA.
EPIC has better GPU, Keyboard (which I don't care for, may be big deal for you), SAMOLED (which I think isn't suitable for browsing and reading).
I am VERY happy with my EVO. Get an EVO root, Flash ROM, throw a speedy Kernel in and You won't look at the EPIC again.
Just wanted to put my two cents in.

I was in the same boat as the OP not too long ago.
From a performance perspective, I expected similar results from both, even though epic has the faster processor (how much faster...?). The previous phone also had a keyboard that went mostly unused 95% of the time. Software wise I expected both to be similar as both are based on the same OS.
I later found out the evo does indeed have much better development support at this time. Epic being a newer product is still catching up I suspect.
But overall, 2 reasons why I went with the evo
1) larger screen
2) price - got this for $110 OTD during the holiday promotions.
And actually, #2 was really the final deciding factor.