Real-World Testing: IPhone 4 Vs. HTC EVO 4G

I've been using an iPhone for three years now, first the original iPhone then the 3G. I like the iPhone a lot -- but I'm not married to it. When I began hearing great things about the Sprint's Android phone, the HTC EVO 4G, I thought hard about switching. And although I eventually decided to upgrade to the iPhone 4, I was curious what I was missing.

By Mitch Wagner
Thu, July 22, 2010

Computerworld — I've been using an iPhone for three years now, first the original iPhone then the 3G. I like the iPhone a lot -- but I'm not married to it. When I began hearing great things about the Sprint's (S) Android phone, the HTC EVO 4G, I thought hard about switching. And although I eventually decided to upgrade to the iPhone 4, I was curious what I was missing.

The good people at Sprint let me borrow an EVO for a few weeks, and I compared it to my personal iPhone 4. I found that there were a lot of factors where one phone excelled over the other -- but that, in the end, it was hard to choose between them.

Slideshow: Google Nexus One vs Apple iPhone 3GS
Slideshow: Smartphone Smackdown: HTC EVO 4G vs. Google Nexus One
Slideshow: Motorola Droid vs. Apple iPhone 3GS

What follows are my observations about how the two phones compared in a variety of aspects. In each case, I've chosen the phone I think is the winner in each category -- when there was a winner.

Note: The EVO I tested ran Android OS 2.1, but the next version of Android, version 2.2 or "Froyo," is due any day now. Froyo is a major upgrade -- but many of the new features are interesting only to developers, and others are already available on the EVO, including wireless tethering and Flash support.

According to all reports, Froyo performs faster than Android 2.1, but even using Android 2.1, I didn't find performance to be a problem.

Style

The iPhone is a sexy little thing -- 4.5 x 2.3 x 0.4 in. and weighing 4.8 oz. But though the phone is small, it feels solid and comfortable in my hand.

The glass-and-stainless-steel case looks great. The glass is a special reinforced kind, called "aluminosilicate." Apple (AAPL) says it's 30 times harder than plastic. It sounds awesome. (I think Doctor Who has aluminosilicate glass in the windows of the TARDIS.)

At 4.8 x 2.6 x 0.5 in. and weighing 6 oz, the EVO is very large for a smartphone, but not freakishly so. It'll fit in your shirt or pants pocket (unless you wear ultratight 70s disco pants). I have small hands and even so, I found the EVO comfortable as well.

Still, I prefer the smaller size and design of the iPhone 4.

Winner: iPhone 4

Display

The iPhone has a gorgeous screen, which Apple calls a "Retina" display. Looking at photos and images on the iPhone 4 is very nearly paper quality.

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Originally published on www.computerworld.com. Click here to read the original story.

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