[EVO 4G General] dhinez:
This is for those that bought their HTC EVOs on launch day. Give reviews of the store you purchased from. Also give us your review of the phone itself.

Store Review

I purchased my EVO from a Corporate Sprint store in Sumter, SC. I arrived at 6:10-6:15am to find I was the first to arrive. Around 7am the sales rep took note of who were the first to arrive to serve those people first. As the Sprint employees arrived they all greeted the customers as they went inside. Around 7:45am the doors opened and I was the first customer to be served. The sales rep was prompt yet polite. He was generous enough to provide me with prices for the accessories. I purchased a gel cover and screen protector. I was out the door in about 15 minutes if that. He even offered donuts to those that were waiting in line. My overall score for this store is 10.

Phone Review

Coming from the HTC Hero, this phone is amazing. Compared to the Hero it's a runaway freight train.

Platform

The phone uses the full version of Android 2.1 w/ HTC Sense unlike the Hero which utilizes a striped version of 2.1 w/ HTC Sense. The platform is very smooth and stable even with Sense UI. I believe it has to be 1 GHz processor helping it out. The live wallpaper is a touch of elegance. It's a little disappointing that they didn't change the standard lock screen.

Processor

The apps open a lot faster and are a lot more stable. Very minimal lag but compared to the Hero it simply feels like there isn't. The browser opens quicker and pages load fast. The most complained problem of the Hero was the landscape keyboard lag. On the EVO, it feels like it disappears. The keyboard seems smooth and responsive even with haptic feedback on. The phone dailer is even smooth. The Hero also had/has bad ringer lag. I tested this on the EVO and amazingly it rang on the first ring. Downloading apps and music even watching SprintTV is amazing. I don't have 4G in my area yet and it's still unknown. I just know with 3G service this phone does things my Hero has never done.

Camera/Video

The camera is simple yet nice. This thing takes great pictures. The flash adds extra value to this phone. I have yet taken video with it but I've heard that it takes great videos too.

Screen

The screen is nice and big. It's amoled screen is nice and bright inside. In direct sunlight, the screen is hard to see but it's visible. The big 4.3" screen shows video extremely clear. The extra space allows navigating on the screen easy. It also allows texting quick and accurate. Texting on the screen is easy in both landscape and portrait mode. I did most of my texting in portrait mode on my Hero due to the terrible lag in landscape.

Hardware

What can I say, this phone is huge compared to most phones on the market. It fills my 12 year old daughter's entire hand. It has a sturdy and well built feel to it. It has a 1.3mp camera on the front and 8mp camera on the back. The kickstand is a nice touch if you are a video watcher. The construction of the EVO is of metal and heavy duty plastic. It has a 1500 maH battery which is red along with the entire back. Underneath it comes preloaded with an 8 gb sd card which upgradeable to 32 gb. Overall the EVO feels like it will last a long time as long as it is well kept.

Sound

The EVO is loud. Listening to music and movies is nice and clear. The ringer is loud enough to be heard across the room. The sound quality of calls is good too.

Battery

As we know, the Hero had poor battery life on launch date. With the update to 2.1, The battery life has improved drastically. On the EVO, the battery life tends to drain quickly with heavy usage. Even with the same battery as the Hero, the EVO just has too small of a battery. The phone has a lot going on at one time including live wallpaper for those that have that turned on. Maybe in future updates including Android 2.2, the EVO will be able to manage power more efficiently. We'll just have to wait and see.

Overall the phone is worth every bit of money that you will/have invested in. This is only a review from the few hours of me playing with the phone. Looking forward to see what everyone has to say. I give this phone a 10 of 10 compared to my Hero.