Those mad tinkerers at iFixit have torn apart the drool-worthy EVO 4G for Sprint (NYSE: S) and, while there’s nothing shocking about what’s inside, it’s good to know what you’re getting.
A few of the interesting takeaways are:
* Removing the glass is not terribly difficult. This is great news for those unfortunate enough to drop their shiny phone and crack the glass.
* Like most reasonable phones, changing the Evo’s battery is a snap. All you have to do is remove the back cover and unplug the battery.
* The 3.7 V, 1500 mAh rechargeable Li-ion battery contains 23% more capacity than an iPhone 3GS, 15% more than a Droid Incredible, and 7% more than a Nexus One.
* Look out! There’s a liquid damage indicator on the battery’s top edge — a first that we’ve seen. Of course, you can just replace the battery if you douse the EVO in water. There are other liquid damage indicators on the phone, however, so you can’t fool the manufacturer that easily.
During the Google I/O conference a few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to snag an EVO and it was perfect timing because my Droid met an untimely end. I’ve been playing with it for a while now and will give you my initial impressions but be on the lookout for a thorough review shortly.
The screen is obviously the star of the show here, as the 4.3-inch display is massive and gorgeous. Browsing is a dream on this bigger screen and I’ve probably watched more videos with the EVO 4G in a week than I did in six months with the Droid. It’s responsive to touch but I find HTC’s keyboard to be quite ugly. It definitely works but it’s not a pretty sight.
Like the Droid Incredible on Verizon (NYSE: VZ), the EVO 4G uses HTC’s Sense UI and rocks a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor. These two make actions silky smooth on the device and the custom UI layer adds visual panache without sacrificing performance. Sprint’s 4G isn’t lit up in my neck of the woods, so I didn’t get a chance to test one of the coolest features on this smartphone, sadly.
Unfortunately, the battery life on this thing is absolute garbage. The EVO 4G can barely get through 9 hours near my desk without dying and this is with very light usage. I can’t rely on it for a full day (or even a 9-5 day) on a single charge and that could be a deal breaker. One thing’s for sure: the EVO 4G is a great smartphone but be sure to invest in extra chargers.
