The Sprint HTC EVO 4G Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 28, 2010 6:04 PM ESTTask Switching - The Android Way
Android is, at least by today’s definition, a multitasking smartphone OS. Unless you force an app closed (or run out of memory) everything you open on the phone remains resident in memory until you restart the phone.
Switching between apps on Android is done very well. Just hold down the home button and you’ll see a window of the 6 most recently used apps. Tap the app you want to switch to and boom, you’re there. This process ends up being faster than on an iPhone because there’s no double tapping of any physical buttons before selecting your app; just press once and hold, then press one more time. It’s nice and quick.
Unfortunately there’s no way to close an app from the task switcher although there are many options in the Android market if you want something a bit more robust. Taskpanel for example is a task manager app that you can configure to kill all non-whitelisted background apps each time your phone is put to sleep. Ah the joys of Android.
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flurrball - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link
Thanks for the review Anand!You've convinced me to at least wait and see what the Droid X will offer to compete with the other smartphones. I'm really looking to get off the Apple/AT&T rapetrain, but not eager to sign a two-year contract and be unhappy again.
Can't wait for your Droid X review!!
Sf ted - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link
Anand, great review as always. You're a master of the details. I do have a suggestion that could change your mind about loving this device. The recent update increased my battery life an order of magnitude, elimanated the unsensitive Pp touchscreen and now reacts to my slightest of touches. You might have a much better experience after the update. Cheers! TedShadowmaster625 - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link
Does anyone make an oversized battery that adds an extra 10-20 Wh?Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link
You mean this thing can not play an Xvid encoded avi file out of the box? 512x288 and 576x320 are my most common resolutions.Screammit - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - link
the default android video player will not take Xvid, but there are a number of apps hitting the market that likely do/will. RockPlayerBase is one that comes to mindtotenkopf - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link
In the dimensional comparison table please take all inch measurements to the hundredths place (evo is 4.80", iphone is 4.54", etc.) and keep the trailing zeros in this case. It's just the right thing to do... and because when my instructor said 10 years ago in highschool that someday I would use this knowledge, I'm pretty sure that today is the very day she was referring to... how fortuitous.echtogammut - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link
I have been using the phone for about a week now and have found the battery life to be less than my old iPhone, but not a real issue. So far with fairly heavy usage, web (no 4g), regular GPS lookup and moderate phone usage (I run my own business), it takes nearly 2 days for it to completely discharge. One thing to note, I charged my phone for 8 hours after getting it, totally discharged it and repeated this processes twice. I always charged my iPhone at night and I plan on doing the same with this phone, so like I said battery isn't an issue for me.Trebus - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link
Nice review, as usual.But please learn how multitasking works on Android, this seems to be problem of many reviewers on the internet :-)
If you long press the Home button, it is not task manager, there are simply 6 last used apps. Some of this apps may not be running at the moment.
For start I can recommend this article about Android multitasking:
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2010/04/mul...
austonia - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link
I believe Premium Data gives you true unlimited data on 3G and 4G, although unlimited 3G is an unadvertised feature. I'm guessing they don't want a flood of extreme bandwidth hogs.http://community.sprint.com/baw/thread/33866?tstar...
I'm past 5GB this month on 3G and it doesn't show any additional charges at sprint.com where i can see a near-real time summary of my bill. I download 6GB over 3G in one night (200-300 KB/s) so it would be easy to crack 100GB/mo if motivated.
Tempted to see just how far I can push it. ;)
Adul - Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - link
I long since had my EVO 4g Root and running one of the many custom roms for it (DC3.2.0). I notice considerly improved battery life and put it to the test with a mix of browsing, installing apps, loading a new rom, and phone calls. Had it off that charger from work at around 4:30, drive to a friends house with wardrive running in the background. Got there and showed a few things on the phone that they did not have on his EVO. Left around 10 PM and made it home near 11. I have about 10% battery life left.Plus there was an update pushed and pulled out yesterday that address some battery life issues which is partially to blame on HTC background tasks.