HTC EVO Shift 4G ReviewHTC EVO Shift 4G Review SummaryHTC EVO Shift 4G Hardware

The HTC EVO Shift 4G measures 2.3 inches wide, 4.6 inches tall, and 0.6 inch thick. While smaller than the HTC Evo and the Samsung Epic 4G, it’s more comfortable to hold. Its soft-touch finish and aluminum accents give it a premium feel, and the overall built quality is good.


The HTC EVO Shift 4G has a 800×480-pixel resolution, 3.6-inch display, which is slightly smaller than the Epic 4G and EVO 4G, but produce bright and sharp images. While smartphone viewing angle isn’t much of an issue for most people, reviewer from Laptop Magazine noted that the picture looks washed out from the sides, indicating bad horizontal viewing angle.

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One of the main feature that differenciate HTC EVO Shift 4G from the EVO 4G is that the Shift 4G comes with a slide out QWERTY keyboard, which the main benefit is to enable users to see more content on the screen while typing. The keyboard is comfortable to use as there’s plenty of space between the keys, and the buttons provide nice, tactile feedback. It’s also nicely backlit.


There’s a 5MP camera that takes decent quality picture and 720p video, but front-facing camera isn’t available on this android phone.


A few other limitation for the EVO Shift 4G includes the lack of HDMI port, and kickstand that the Evo have.


On the memory front, the Shift 4G ships with a 2GB microSD card, but you can expand that capacity to 32GB. Unfortunately, the microSD card slot which hide behind the battery can’t be easily accessed without first removing the battery.

HTC EVO Shift 4G Software

The Evo Shift 4G running Android 2.2 (Froyo) with HTC Sense are responsive and attractive. Besides HTC’s usual array of widgets and apps, Sprint bundles a bunch of useful apps including Amazon Kindle, QuickOffice, Nascar, Sprint Football Live, Sprint TV, and TeleNav GPS navigator. All the usual Google services such as Gmail, Maps, Search, Talk, YouTube, etc. are included as well. Of course there are still 200,000 over third-party apps that users can access through Android Market.

HTC EVO Shift 4G Performance

Voice quality of the HTC Evo Shift 4G is good overall. Reviewers reported good sound quality with very little background noise or voice distortion in their tests. Speakerphone quality was OK too.


System performance is reported to be responsive. The 800 MHz Qualcomm MSM7630 CPU combines with 521MB RAM and Android 2.2 to deliver a reasonably speedy experience. Apps launched almost immediately; and no significant delay when switching between tasks.

HTC EVO Shift 4G Battery Life

Battery life of the EVO Shift 4G is better than the Evo 4G. Its 1500mAh battery supports 6.5 hours of continuous talk time on a single charge. In another battery test that involve continuous web surfing over 3G, this Android smartphone lasted 6 hours and 51 minutes.

Conclusion

The HTC EVO Shift 4G is a solid Android smartphone. It’s overall performance, battery life, hardware and software design are mostly good. Although it lacks a front-facing camera and HDMI output, it’s also cheaper than other 4G phones like Samsung Epic 4G and Evo 4G. For $149, the Shift 4G is a solid pick for what you’re paying.

HTC EVO Shift 4G User ReviewsHTC EVO Shift 4G Expert ReviewsBonnie Cha from CNet says:Given Rating: For those who crave a physical keyboard, the HTC Evo Shift 4G is a solid choice with a more wallet-friendly price than its 4G competitors, and it doesn’t sacrifice too many features.
Jamie Lendino from PC Mag says:Given Rating: The HTC EVO Shift 4G is a powerful, less costly alternative to the EVO 4G on Sprint, and gives hardware keyboard fans another choice besides the Samsung Epic 4G.
Mark Spoonauer from Laptop Magazine says:Given Rating: For $149, the Shift 4G is a reasonably priced 4G smart phone that gives Sprint customers a physical keyboard option. Plus, it’s more affordable than the Samsung Epic 4G and Evo 4G, both of which are $199. We prefer the keyboard and the brighter and bigger Super AMOLED display on the Epic 4G, but the Shift 4G lasts more than an hour longer on a charge. Overall, the Shift 4G is a solid pick for what you’re paying. It offers faster web speeds than the T-Mobile G2 and Motorola Droid 2 and a good typing experience.
Reviewer from Phone Arena says:Given Rating: Looking at its $149.99 on-contract price, there is no arguing that the HTC EVO Shift 4G is a respectable Android smartphone based on its overall performance, but there is this nagging feeling pulsating in the back of our minds about it. Specifically, it plays in direct contention with the HTC EVO 4G and Samsung Epic 4G (both priced at $199.99 now) – which is primarily due to its 4G WiMAX connectivity. However, when you factor in that you’re paying an extra premium for its data plan, it begins to look sour for the HTC EVO Shift 4G since it lacks some extras such as a front facing camera for video chat functionality. And when you compare it to its most direct competitor, the Samsung Epic 4G, the $50 price difference is substantial as the Epic 4G just offers more value and features with its pricing. In the end, the HTC EVO Shift 4G is a good handset, but if it were priced more competitively, it could potentially garner some additional attention.
Scott Lowe from IGN says:Given Rating: Overall, I’d say the HTC Evo Shift 4G for Sprint is a decent solution with a few notable flaws. I don’t foresee it being someone’s first pick in smartphone hardware, but for those just browsing for a limited frills slider, it’ll suffice.
Lisa Gade from Mobile Tech Review says:Given Rating: Despite our many niggles and complaints, the HTC EVO Shift 4G is a solid midrange to better than midrange Android QWERTY smartphone. HTC Sense software is excellent, Android OS 2.2 Froyo is fast and fairly recent even if it’s not the latest and call quality is very good. We’ve based our star rating on an EVO Shift 4G with working 3G data– should our problems with extremely slow 3G data turn out to be widespread, we’d take at least a star away and decline to recommend the phone.
Quentyn Kennemer from Phandroid says:The original EVO 4G made itself out to be a media lover’s dream, but the lack of an HDMI-out port, a kickstand, and the change to a smaller screen make the EVO Shift 4G more of a business-centric device than anything. I was disappointed with the lack of a front-facing camera, and a little surprised to see it gone as it was one of Sprint’s biggest selling points on the original EVO.


Although I’m a big fan of keyboards, I wasn’t a big fan of the Shift’s keyboard, but it’s all about options – you could just go with the EVO 4G if it doesn’t appeal to you. But the on-screen keyboard is still a breeze to use even on the smaller display, so I can’t imagine the typing experience would deter anyone either way. If the keyboard is that important to you, you’ll want to give Samsung’s Epic 4G a shot.


This phone is going to be for the folks who can’t get behind having a 4.3-inch beast sitting in their front pockets, and if they don’t care about a few of the bells and whistles missing from the original EVO 4G, then they won’t be disappointed – solid hardware comes together with proven software to make a pleasant experience for anyone needing a new smartphone.
Mike Perlman from Info Sync says:Well, the wait for a new EVO phone is over, and it was worth it. The HTC EVO Shift 4G for Sprint is a definite winner. It’s as quick as most of the top speed demons in the smartphone circuit, thanks to its second-generation Snapdragon chipset and Android 2.2. The EVO Shift 4G also proves its versatility with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and access to plenty of applications like Quickoffice, HTC Mail, the Android Market, and a robust Google Suite.


The HTC EVO 4G may not have the front facing camera, HDMI terminal, or giant screen found on its bigger brother, the HTC EVO 4G, but it was built for the avid messager and social feed fiend. Consider the HTC EVO Shift 4G to be the subdued version of the 4G phone that started it all. Compared to its competitors, the HTC EVO Shift 4G is one of the top contenders, so be sure to check it out before you settle on a Samsung Epic 4G or branch out to another carrier for the Motorola Droid 2 or T-Mobile G2.
Julie Bart from Hot Hardware says:Sprint’s phone lineup of smartphones is not nearly as impressive as most of its competitors (it hasn’t even announced an intention to carry a Windows Phone 7 phone, for instance, and there’s obviously no iPhone either). And although Sprint has a selection of Android phones, if you want 4G you currently have three choices, and of these only two currently run Android 2.2, with the other requiring a software upgrade (and the risks of quirky side-effects that an upgrade entails).


On the other hand, users of Sprint’s network don’t have the same complaints about call quality, dropped calls, and coverage areas as users of AT&T.


While the HTC EVO Shift 4G doesn’t have all the features of the highest end smartphones, what it does, it does well. And we found its compromises to be a fair trade. Instead of a front-facing camera, it offers a slimmer form more comfortable when using it as a phone. Instead of a higher-end camera and HDMI slot, it offers a slide-out keyboard, which provides more viewable area onscreen in many situations and choices of how to input text. Instead of an included 8GB microSD, it offers a lower price and a bit more ROM storage.


We found the phone so responsive and easy to use however, be it surfing, texting, playing games or talking, that the Evo Shift’s compromises felt less significant.
Eric M. Zeman from Phone Scoop says:The EVO Shift 4G offers great software in a so-so wrapper. Personally, I don’t like the weight, thickness, nor keyboard action of the EVO Shift 4G. They’re just not as good as some of the EVO Shift 4G’s competitors. However, if those items aren’t as important as simply having a physical keyboard at all, then it’s a wash.


The Sense user interface continues to be easy to navigate and is highly customizable. HTC allows users to adjust nearly every feature, screen or parameter of the EVO Shift 4G in at least some small way. Sense is speedy, doesn’t hesitate, and offers solid camera and music software, in addition to its improved messaging and social powers. The camera takes good pictures for this class of devices, and the music player is slightly better than what stock Android offers.


If you’re in the market for an Android phone that has WiMax and a keyboard, the EVO Shift 4G is one of the only options out there. Sure, it doesn’t have quite the same sex appeal as the current crop of flagship Android devices, but not every smartphone can be a Ferrari. Some have to be Fords.
HTC EVO Shift 4G VideosHTC EVO Shift 4G SpecificationWeight5.85 ouncesScreen Size3.6-inchResolution480 x 800CPU800MHz Qualcomm MSM7630RAM512 MBInternal Storage2 GBExternal StorageSupports up to 32GB microSD card, 2 GB pre-installedBattery Life6 hours talk timeFront CameraNoRear Camera5MPBluetooth2.1+EDROperating SystemAndroid 2.2 (Froyo)

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