[Sprint HTC One (M7)] subhumanderelict:
Please, try to understand the reason WHY they no longer support SV-DO. Using multiple antennae for LTE will increase LTE reception. What’s better, spotty LTE with SV-DO or a solid LTE connection without SV-DO? Assume you're on a fringe LTE area.

Sprint will be done with round 1 of Network Vision by the end, if not the middle, of 2014. They started rolling out LTE in late 2011 and are currently done with just over half of their 39,000 sites. All but roughly 100 (0.25%) of those 39,000 sites will not receive LTE because of licensing agreements or regulatory issues. I’m sorry, but I can’t give you more details than that because I’m getting this information from the Sponsor section of S4GRU.com. As I said above, on 1900MHz alone, LTE will cover 80-90% of the places that you’re getting 3G. As for the places where you can get 3G but no useable speed, you will get useable 3G, but it will unfortunately lack SV-DO. By 2015, Sprint will have 800MHz LTE on about 80% of its 39,000 sites, increasing LTE penetration and covering pretty much everywhere that is now 3G.

Looking solely at a phone’s ability to do simultaneous voice and data, AT&T does have Sprint beat, but honestly, so few people actually use this that it will not be an issue. You seem to be an outlier, wanting to use your phone while tethering. How many of the “mass general customers” tether their phones? Most of the people that you’re talking about don’t even know what “tethering” is. Additionally, voice is being used less and less, which is why so many carriers are practically giving it away. For most people, the few minutes per day that people spend talking on their phones won’t impact their ability to use data because they’ll probably be walking or driving while talking. Once the LTE rollouts are complete, it will be a non-issue because all phones will support SV-LTE.

I can agree with you here to an extent. When I first made the jump from Windows Mobile (not Windows Phone) to back in 2010, I considered both the iPhone and Android. I hated the locked-down philosophy that Apple had both in terms of hardware and software. I very much dislike being denied the ability to expand storage or swap batteries.

The word “elegance” implies tasteful and simple, generally speaking. If HTC were to continue piling on superfluous options, it would be at odds with elegance. I think HTC believes that there are now enough options in the Play store that they can back off and allow people to choose what they want from there. I think that Beautiful Widgets is itself a testament to HTC’s prior genius; those widgets are obviously inspired by Sense. Which widgets are you missing, exactly?

The difference in performance is a little strange, I will grant that. The One’s 3G connection should be at least on par with the original EVO. Personally, I have not noticed any difference, though my one is a clear step up from my EVO LTE.

The One is capable of sending a text while on a call without being connected to LTE, I just did it.

1.) It might be best to search the Play store for the specific widgets that you need.

2.) I’m sorry, but I am unfamiliar with Media Link.

3.) This is a hassle, and loading everything on the phone typically takes time. I just mount it as an external drive and copy/paste, then leave it for the 45 minutes or so that it needs. I’ve never used HTC Sync, but for my photos, I have it set up so that it auto-uploads to Dropbox every time I connect to my Wi-Fi.

4.) This happens to me as well on YouTube, typically on slower connections. I think it has something to do with the buffering and/or compression.

The Photon Q was another phone that supported SV-DO, so all these arguments apply to that phone as well.