The new iPhone has been officially outed and details of the next phone from Apple have been shared by Steve Jobs at the WWDC. The phone is pretty much the same as the prototype that walked into a bar recently (but failed to walk out). Jobs shared all the details about the iPhone 4, and made a case for this being the best iPhone ever. He’s right about that, but having just purchased the Sprint EVO 4G I am now even happier about my purchase than before the iPhone 4 announcement. Here’s how the two phones stack up against one another.
Hardware
- Thickness: iPhone 9.3 mm; EVO 12.7 mm
- Display size: iPhone 3.5 in.; EVO 4.3 in.
- Display resolution: iPhone 960×640; EVO 800×480
- Rear camera: iPhone 5 MP; EVO 8 MP
- HD video recording: iPhone yes; EVO yes
- HDMI out: iPhone no; EVO yes
- Front camera: iPhone yes; EVO yes
- Kickstand: iPhone no; EVO yes
- Dual microphones (noise cancellation): iPhone yes; EVO no
Software
- OS: iOS 4; Android 2.1 (2.2 promised soon)
- Navigation: iPhone no; EVO yes (two free apps)
- Video chat: iPhone Wi-Fi only; EVO Wi-fi/3G/4G (two apps)
- Multitasking: iPhone limited; EVO full
- Carrier support (U.S.): iPhone AT&T; EVO Sprint
- Mobile broadband support: iPhone 3G; EVO 3G/4G (WiMAX)
- OS updates: iPhone via iTunes; EVO OTA
- Hotspot: iPhone none; EVO mobile hotspot (carrier charge)
- Flash support: iPhone no; EVO Flash lite yes, Flash 10.1 coming
It may seem like I’ve stacked the deck against the iPhone, and perhaps so. I do believe the iPhone 4 is a sweet smartphone, and it has the full Apple ecosystem behind it, which is powerful stuff. I also believe that the Sprint EVO 4G is the most advanced smartphone hardware available — that high-res iPhone screen aside –and it can certainly hold its own in this head-to-head comparison.
Related research on GigaOM Pro (sub req’d): Will Metered Mobile Data Slow the App Market’s Growth?
Check out the rest: GigaOM
Related posts:
June 8th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Its about innovation, not limitation…
June 8th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
“Jobs shared all the details about the iPhone 4, and made a case for this being the best iPhone ever.”
One would hope it is the best iPhone ever, seeing as its newer than existing iPhones… That being the case… Yes, Jobs does need to make a case for it being the best iPhone ever… based on the way Apple constricts their products, they could quite possibly screw it up…
The EVO is a sweet piece of hardware!!
Android ROCKS, thanks GOOGLE!!
June 8th, 2010 at 10:14 pm
Not sure what you’re smokin’ when you say “Sprint EVO 4G is the most advanced smartphone hardware available.”
As far as stacking the deck, how did you miss the battery life comparison where the EVO is bottom of the barrel?
June 8th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
the only problem with the EVO is that nobody besides a handful of geeks wants it. everyone else on the planet wants an iphone.
June 8th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
It’s hilarious that Apple fanboys are attacking you for such a simple story. Both phones are great products and both have their own advantages. It seems like Apple fanboys are threatened that the iPhone has competition. It’s just ridiculous.
June 8th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
@ Robert: Seidio already sells a 1750mAh slim battery that fits the original back. The capacity isn’t much higher than the original 1500mAh and there was that whole thing on Battery Boss about Seidio batteries not living up to their stated capacities, but I bought one for my EVO anyway. I have pictures here: http://www.goodandevo.net/2010/06/quick-look-seidio-1750mah-slim-battery-for-htc-evo-4g.html
Even though you don’t have to prime li-ion batteries, I’m following the outdated instructions on Seidio’s packaging (must be left over from nickel battery days) so my battery results are as “correct” as they can be. Runtime is supposed to improve after 5-6 full charges, so we’ll see. I’m only on my 2nd at the moment and battery life seems about the same with my regular usage. After the battery is “primed,” I’ll run more standardized tests than just my personal usage patterns.
June 8th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
Seidio sells a charger for simultaneous EVO and spare battery charging: http://www.seidioonline.com/product-p/bd3-bcsi3hddn-bk.htm
June 9th, 2010 at 12:33 am
There are 20 battery tips for the EVO here: http://www.goodandevo.net/2010/05/20-tips-to-improve-htc-evo-4g-battery-life.html
With my normal usage, I’m getting about 36 hours on my EVO (and I didn’t even apply all of the tips).
June 9th, 2010 at 12:56 am
OTOH: you want to plug your phone into your TV? WTF? I have a hard enough time understanding why people bitch about the lack of an HDMI out on the iPad; I really can’t see this being a highly-requested option for a phone.
June 9th, 2010 at 1:51 am
I felt the same way you did James. I bought the EVO on launch day and was curious to see how the iPhone 4 would stack up against the EVO. After the keynote, I felt like I had made the right choice with the EVO.
June 9th, 2010 at 2:19 am
Boy, Apple-heads sure do have a thin skin. I’ve looked at the specs before I read this and came with the same conclusion. And it’s not sour grapes for me, because I don’t own an EVO. Yeah, he left out the gyroscope and WiFi on his list, but to most people, those aren’t game changers.
Of course, they are both excellent phones, and which is best for you depends on you use it. If you’re a gamer, iPhone4 is for you, with it’s gyroscope, game app selection and presumably better battery life. If you have a 802.11n router in your house, then you might want to exploit that with the iPhone.
In my case, I am not a gamer, and my router is an old 802.11g. So those features don’t appeal to me (until I upgrade my router anyway). Looking at everything else, I gotta go with EVO. The killer feature that EVO has and iPhone lacks is HDMI output. You’re gonna have a device that records HD, and I can’t plug it into my TV? WTF? Big time Apple-fail in my opinion. And I don’t think too many people are going to bother with video editing on their phone.
And once EVO gets 2.2, it just gets better. Flash is not the buggy resource hog that Apple fanboys keep trying to convince the world that it is. One commenter complained that Flash on the Nexus sucked. I have a Nexus and use Flash all the time. I have no complaints. It has a minimal effect on scrolling, and videos play great. Nice and smooth. If we’re at conference, and everyone is buzzing about a Flash video posted on a blog somewhere, you can borrow my Nexus to watch it, since your iPhone and iPad won’t be able to. Be warned though, I will laugh at you as you do so.
June 9th, 2010 at 3:06 am
I’m doing a full review of the EVO which should address all aspects of the phone. I will also be reporting on the iPhone 4 which I believe will continue to insert Apple’s dominance in the smartphone space. It is another great phone in the Apple line, and will continue to make an impact on everything.
Imagine if the iPad had that Retina Display…
June 9th, 2010 at 3:17 am
Be true to yourself James. I am still thinking you are fanboy actually – but one I respect – even when you drive me crazy with your iPad love
Anyway – my advice is to add the battery life, gyroscope and maybe camera “quality” elements as mentioned above to your list. There is nothing radical there but for the sake of closure they are important. Other than that as you have claimed you simply list specs. And the fanboys are those who can not read an article and handle a different opinion than their own.
Tal
June 9th, 2010 at 4:17 am
James, here are a couple more differences.
FM Radio, iPhone no, EVO yes. Very handy for emergencies caused by weather etc… sure there’s probably an “app for that” but during such an emergency the cellular networks will be overloaded and a good ol’ fashioned FM radio signal has a much better chance of not getting overloaded.
Replaceable battery: iphone no, EVO yes. I must admit there is something comforting in knowing you have an extra fully charged battery squirreled away in your Scott-E-Vest…
Notification LED’s iPhone no, EVO yes. Gosh darn it I gave that up when I got into the iPhone and got re-addicted to having this with the Nexus One. While the EVO doesn’t have it’s big glowing ball, it’s plain ol’ multi color LED takes care of business. I keep my EVO in my left see through interior Scott-E-Vest pocket and being able to flip my vest open to quickly check that LED is handy. Especially when I have to have the phone in dead quiet mode, can’t even tolerate the buzz from the vibrator.
Dedicated user buttons iPhone one, EVO four. Apple philosophically believes that more buttons leads to sloppier UI design. While I can see a certain amount of where they’re coming from on that view I must admit when used properly the extra three buttons allow developers to save screen real estate for presenting me with payload instead of compensating with on screen buttons for the lack of more off screen buttons.
Both phones also have speaker phone but the EVO has a much louder speaker than the iPhone. In fact I’d put it on a par with the dual speakers in the iPad for loudness. Callers report they can’t tell when I switch in and out of speaker phone during a call.
Both phones have an auto-focus primary camera but so far I haven’t heard that the iPhone camera has auto-macro-focus. It is also more probable that two LED’s, as the EVO has, are more likely to be brighter than a single LED as used in the iPhone. But maybe Apple is just skipping the extra LED due to their superior low light sensor.
One possible difference I haven’t been able to confirm yet is whether the iPhone 4 can exploit the iPad’s 10W wall charger. I know my EVO doesn’t. If the iPhone 4 does it would make a significant difference in it’s lack of a replaceable battery by halving the recharge time.
June 9th, 2010 at 4:29 am
NEOTERIX, I’d call an extra wide area radio for WiMAX a significant hardware difference in battery life for the EVO.
That radio pumps energy out with the intent that it be received miles away at a Sprint WiMAX base station. It operates at a higher data rate than the 3G radio in the iPhone which inherently requires it to use more energy as well. In addition the EVO’s CDMA radio has to run simultaneously with the WiMAX radio so it can still make/take voice calls. Whereas an iPhone gets to use it’s 3G radio for both voice and data at the same time. Plus it is early days for the WiMAX radio being used so they’re still finding ways to optimize it’s power usage.
This past Saturday I took my Overdrive into the Sprint store and their technicians installed software that Sprint hasn’t released OTA yet. They then told me I could see an extra half hour of battery life due to better optimization in it’s WiMAX radio.
I look forward to a similar optimization for my EVO.
June 9th, 2010 at 5:01 am
This is definitely a tough crowd, and why I love our readers. I hoped most who follow here would realize this was very tongue-in-cheek, and simply a list of some specs of the phones.
I have been actively called an Apple fanboy, even by some of the commenters in this thread, which I find a bit amusing to tell the truth. As I stated in the post honestly, the iPhone 4 is a sweet smartphone, and has the full might of the Apple ecosystem behind it. Apple will sell millions of these, and rightly so.
I do find it strange that I could be called misinformed by publishing a list of actual specs of any device. I didn’t make the specs up, they are what they are.