One major perk I've noticed this phone vs the original EVO -- I have noticed an incredible improvement in the 4G radio penetrating buildings.
I work on a large corporate campus that was build back pre-WWII. The buildings all have thick concrete walls, and I was *NEVER* able to get a sliver of a connection on 4G with the original EVO. 3G was spotty.
On the EVO 3D, I'm experiencing an instant connection to 4G. Speeds are very respectable, ~9000kbps down/1500kbps up. Is it possible they recently implemented tower upgrades? Maybe. I'm thinking it is the phone though. Anybody else notice 4G range and penetration improvements?
Did u apply the ota? I haven't yet and my signal is worse with both 3g and 4G but I'm waiting to do the ota until the problems are fixed
Yeah I applied the OTA. Did not test it prior to the update.
I'm hoping there was a radio update in that cuz I Might have a bad 3vo
I think it is much better, too. I got nothing with my 4G yesterday but in the same location is got a good signal and great speeds and this is in a hospital, too. Yes I applied the OTA.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
The 4G signal is definitely better than the Evo 4G. I was able to pull a Fair signal with the 3D vs Poor to no signal in my house on the Evo 4G. I did not take the OTA.
I think i have a bad 3vo...even after the update my signal is consistently worse than my EVO 4G on both 3g and 4G
odd. i did not apply the ota, and do not have nearly as good of signal as the evo had. i'm now considering the ota..
Ok I found something that concerns me. I had my phone sitting in a chair and it had a signal of -81dbm and when I picked it up it changed to -93dbm
That's normal...
Sent from my PC36100
My EVO 4G held -86dbm constantly when I held it in this spot of my house
The 3D has WAYYY better radio performance and speeds vs the OG Evo.
jbermi said:
I think it is much better, too. I got nothing with my 4G yesterday but in the same location is got a good signal and great speeds and this is in a hospital, too. Yes I applied the OTA.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to get ~5mb down / 1up on the evo..
the evo 3d gets 8mb down / 1.4up (from my house)
-m
THEGAMEPLAY94 said:
Ok I found something that concerns me. I had my phone sitting in a chair and it had a signal of -81dbm and when I picked it up it changed to -93dbm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your body works like an antenna
Great news guys, I was disappointed when I heard it had the same 4g chip as the evo, but i guess htc did some antenna work.
mmoser7 said:
One major perk I've noticed this phone vs the original EVO -- I have noticed an incredible improvement in the 4G radio penetrating buildings.
I work on a large corporate campus that was build back pre-WWII. The buildings all have thick concrete walls, and I was *NEVER* able to get a sliver of a connection on 4G with the original EVO. 3G was spotty.
On the EVO 3D, I'm experiencing an instant connection to 4G. Speeds are very respectable, ~9000kbps down/1500kbps up. Is it possible they recently implemented tower upgrades? Maybe. I'm thinking it is the phone though. Anybody else notice 4G range and penetration improvements?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The radio inside the phone has nothing to do with how well the WiMax signal penetrates buildings, walls, etc. HTC used the same WiMax chip as the original Evo. They might have placed it in a better location in the phone or have updated the radio firmware so it might be able to find and hold on to a weaker signal, but that's it.
I guess if 3G speeds somehow slightly improved after TeamWin got WiMax working for AOSP (separate radio), than anything's possible.
Anyone else have any 4g speeds or signal/performance comments? I know 4g here in chicago really sucks with my OG evo, 3mbps down is usually about it
Related
I have seen in reviews about reception on the 3d. Can anyone with one reply with how the reception really is in day to day use
Thanks
Epic-ly wanting a new phone
grimduk said:
I have seen in reviews about reception on the 3d. Can anyone with one reply with how the reception really is in day to day use
Thanks
Epic-ly wanting a new phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My data speeds are better and Call quality is good.
DDiaz007 said:
My data speeds are better and Call quality is good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 same experience
On my EVO 4G in my condo it always showed 5-6 bars With the 3d its currently showing 3-4 bars. Haven't noticed any difference in call quality though, and I talked to a few folks the other night that said it sounded clearer then my old phone.
howie411 said:
On my EVO 4G in my condo it always showed 5-6 bars With the 3d its currently showing 3-4 bars. Haven't noticed any difference in call quality though, and I talked to a few folks the other night that said it sounded clearer then my old phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm noticing less bars as well
Well, I live in Alaska and there isn't a single Sprint store in the state... Even though they have coverage here, you can't even order a device here (normally, but I'm awesome and I can lol).
My EVO usually got 1-2 bars, around my house/work areas, more if I went into a downtown area with more Verizon coverage. My 3D gets 3-4 bars now in my house, and my bandwith test is increased by about 20% from the tests I've done so far.
TL;DR version:
I get much better signal, and better up/down speeds where I live.
This guy tested his e3d vs his e4g side by side. Seems like the e3d had a slight edge.
http://androidforums.com/htc-evo-3d/360306-signal-strength-analysis-evo-3d-evo-4g.html
ballr4lyf said:
This guy tested his e3d vs his e4g side by side. Seems like the e3d had a slight edge.
http://androidforums.com/htc-evo-3d/360306-signal-strength-analysis-evo-3d-evo-4g.html
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Click to collapse
Can't dispute hard facts... thanks for the link. I think it was engadget that said signal was weak, but I am too lazy to search it out.
shortbus182 said:
Can't dispute hard facts... thanks for the link. I think it was engadget that said signal was weak, but I am too lazy to search it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Engadget also assumed that with the two phones being made by HTC and on Sprint that the bars corresponded to the actual same strength.
donatom3 said:
Engadget also assumed that with the two phones being made by HTC and on Sprint that the bars corresponded to the actual same strength.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My thoughts exactly.
Sent From My HTC Evo 4G Using Tapatalk On The Now Network From Sprint.
Its a world better than the NS4G
3g is horrible even after applying the fix listed in another thread.
Phone signal strength consistently is 1/2 that of my EVO....now, I haven't lost any calls BUT I am also not able to make calls in areas which had less than stellar signals where my wifes EVO will still make the call with no issue and show 2 bars while the 3D shows absolutely none.
jfenton57 said:
3g is horrible even after applying the fix listed in another thread.
Phone signal strength consistently is 1/2 that of my EVO....now, I haven't lost any calls BUT I am also not able to make calls in areas which had less than stellar signals where my wifes EVO will still make the call with no issue and show 2 bars while the 3D shows absolutely none.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't gotten the 3d yet, but I have seen this problem with my Evo 4g. Try to update your PRL, then update your Profile (In that order). See if that helps.
I'm getting almost the same bars as in my 4G or maybe 1 bar less, but I definitely think that call quality and data speeds (at least for me) are way better than my 4G. And also another thing I noticed is that I get better WiFi reception, now I get full bars in my house in places that my 4G use to get 1 to no bars!
Yeah yeah, its a shooter,we call it 3VO and I'm not afraid to use it...
I live in a fringe area where I always got either zero or 1 bar with the Evo 4G, but even with zero bars I could always hold a call, probably because these phones freely roam on Verizon towers too. Now with the 3D, I have to be honest: I think my Evo 4G was slightly better with reception just because I notice the 3D switching back and forth between Sprint and Verizon towers more often (roaming notification goes off more). If I had to quantify it, I'd say my old Evo 4G got maybe 10% to 15% better signal. But I expect that to improve via updates so I'm not too worried about it, especially since, well... it still works.
For the few who report "horrible" reception: do you keep your roaming enabled? You should: roaming within the U.S. only means you'll roam on Verizon towers which means we get the best of both worlds. The only place we can "roam" in the U.S. is Verizon towers and we roam them for free (both voice and 3G data). So leave roaming on!
Mike
Is it better in this area than the Sensation, I haven't heard any reports of death grip for it?
I use my Evo's at the fringe area of sprint's network. Yesterday I had the 3D and the 4G ( within a couple of min of each other) try to sync friend stream. The original Evo 4G did it with no problem. I ended up having to allow data roaming on the 3D so it could access the "ether".
BTW the wife's evo shift had 3G so wtf 3D ?
I'm wondering it this is a singular experience or the radio needs a tuning upgrade? Probably another point for having an unlocked boot loader. Hey if sprint pays the roaming ....
willy900wonka said:
I use my Evo's at the fringe area of sprint's network. Yesterday I had the 3D and the 4G ( within a couple of min of each other) try to sync friend stream. The original Evo 4G did it with no problem. I ended up having to allow data roaming on the 3D so it could access the "ether".
BTW the wife's evo shift had 3G so wtf 3D ?
I'm wondering it this is a singular experience or the radio needs a tuning upgrade? Probably another point for having an unlocked boot loader. Hey if sprint pays the roaming ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm noticing reduced 2G and 3G reception too...judging by the Sense "bars" at home I'm in a kinda fringe area....and on the 4G I would get 3...sometimes 4, more often 2 bars. On the 3D I get 0 to 2 bars, most often 1.
Though perhaps they changed those bars to reflect 3G instead of 2G....I know the 2G coverage around here better than 3G by a small bit. As far as usability/performance I have noticed no difference....except at work in the bathroom, noticeably lower speeds/threshold for roaming...potential deal breaker
But I imagine a radio update would be able to address this, perhaps it already has been...I'm not applying any OTA for now though.
But, yeah, slightly weaker 3G performance....but I can live with it.
It gets me thinking though, if we can't get this thing unlocked in the 30-day window and I take it back and wait for the SGS2, which will likely have the usual lackluster Samsung radios....will that be roughly the same as this? Cuz i can live with that, or will it be worse? Cuz I couldn't deal with reception less than this...not even by a hair, I'm already on cusp.....but, if it is the same or better then I have no concerns....
I've been trying to get this problem noticed by the community here but i think there may have been a bad batch of phones. I'll try to get mine replaced
Edit: download open signal on both devices and compare the dbm level on both phones
I live less than 10 miles from the Sprint headquarters and can't get 4G connection in my neighborhood. I certainly didn't expect this to be what all the hype was about.
willy900wonka said:
I use my Evo's at the fringe area of sprint's network. Yesterday I had the 3D and the 4G ( within a couple of min of each other) try to sync friend stream. The original Evo 4G did it with no problem. I ended up having to allow data roaming on the 3D so it could access the "ether".
BTW the wife's evo shift had 3G so wtf 3D ?
I'm wondering it this is a singular experience or the radio needs a tuning upgrade? Probably another point for having an unlocked boot loader. Hey if sprint pays the roaming ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to need an Airave, then I moved. I had full bars in my home on my EVO 4G and my wife did also on her Palm Pre. I called Sprint and told them I no longer needed the Access Point and to send a return kit. I picked the EVO 3D up two days later, and I now need to keep the Airave. My wife still enjoys full bars on the EVO I gave her, but I get 1 bar consistently, at home.
I also used to get 5 bars in my office with my EVO, I get 2 if I'm lucky with the 3D. Between the ****ty reception and the lag, its probably going back before the 30 days are up. I love the hell out of the phone otherwise, but it lags too much. Poor reception, though, thats a deal breaker for me.
I have both phones and I can tell you I get much better reception with the 3D than I do with the evo. On 4G I get 1 bar with the evo and 2 bars with the 3D. Im also noticing that on the 3D 4G stays on all the time on my evo it would switch drop the 4G connection all the time and I had to disable/enable 4G in order for it to connect again.
I've been noticing a LOT of roaming happening on my 3d lately, in comparison to my OG evo, it's a lot worse. Otherwise, I have an airrave at home, I wanna get something like that for work. I guess you have to make a tradeoff somewhere, amazing battery life with ****ty reception, or decent reception with horrible battery life. I take the 1st one.
Plus I'm finally finding 4g in my area
Noticing a lot of roaming on my 3D as well. Never saw it on my Evo.
I may be, at a cross roads in some twenty days.
At least Sprint will be able to verify my issue, since roaming is probably logged.
I'm currently eligibility for upgrade
Oh ya finally after two year O EVO. I wish to get this wonderful EVO 4g LTE but no coverage LTE
So now I don't want to go down from 4g Wimax to 3g hmmmmm coz I live in San Francisco. We don't have sprint LTE this year. I think my decided to wait at list until my upgrade is expire.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
Wimax sucked anyways, Im in STL and it was one of the first in the country, and it was GREAT the first couple months.... then it became worse than 3g.
Its expected that the San Francisco area will have LTE within the next 6 months as it, parts of New York, Florida, and a couple other states are listed for Round 2 of the LTE rollout, which is expected to be completed before the end of 2012. Sprint's LTE network is currently being installed in the Los Angeles area by Alcatel Lucent.
The 4g was never an issue with me. I've had 4g since almost day 1. The only time I use it is for downloading large files. I can probably count on all my fingers and toes how many times that has happened. My 3g speeds are good; usually around 1-1.2 mb/s, and that is usually plenty fast.
Or I use wifi when available. Until they figure out a way to keep it from killing your battery, I probably won't use it very often.
If their work continues the way it is and on schedule I should have LTE by the end of the year..But personally I dont mind if I have to wait..Im in my truck 10 hours a day with a verizon 3G/4G LTE Hot Spot for work for my laptop and wifi needs.
Pre-ordered and waiting for release.
Phones to awesome to not get. Lte or no lte. In due time we shall have lte
Sent from my Transformer
I'm leaving unlimited Verizon LTE for Sprint 3G.
LTE will come in about 6 months, I think I can manage.
NCRoadster said:
I'm leaving unlimited Verizon LTE for Sprint 3G.
LTE will come in about 6 months, I think I can manage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same exact thing here.
Sent from my cm_tenderloin using Tapatalk 2
We never had wimax in Reno, so the 4g on my Evo 4g was pretty useless to me. With Sprint who knows if we will see lte before my new Evo 4g lte is up for upgrade.
When I got my og evo on release day the nice folks at the Sprint store said we would get 4g by the end of the year. So I am pretty skeptical whenever I here we will get something from Sprint.
I use my connection at home for my phone. My job takes me all over the state, so 3g is what I get most of the time for gps navigation. If LTE will be as fast as they say, I might just use it for internet at home. I live in Kansas City with a 4g tower 1/4 mile away. I get full bars 4g currently.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2
kmyerslp said:
I use my connection at home for my phone. My job takes me all over the state, so 3g is what I get most of the time for gps navigation. If LTE will be as fast as they say, I might just use it for internet at home. I live in Kansas City with a 4g tower 1/4 mile away. I get full bars 4g currently.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure kc is already up and running with LTE
sent from my shooter 4g
at home wifi.
3g when out and about.
never did use 4g much even though i had a tower around the corner. had to keep the phone plugged in or else batt would die. 4g tethering worked well when i had no internet, but dropped alot. Returned to 3g on my tethering occasions.
4g uses up too much battery to leave on and expect a signal around town, when the towers were rare.
hopefully i can leave LTE on and be accustomed to/get used to using instead of 3g.
TorxT3D said:
at home wifi.
3g when out and about.
never did use 4g much even though i had a tower around the corner. had to keep the phone plugged in or else batt would die. 4g tethering worked well when i had no internet, but dropped alot. Returned to 3g on my tethering occasions.
4g uses up too much battery to leave on and expect a signal around town, when the towers were rare.
hopefully i can leave LTE on and be accustomed to/get used to using instead of 3g.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in the same boat, I used Wimax maybe once a month, just because if I actually had to download a large file, that's all I could do. The battery would be dead within an hour, hour and a half tops. The battery life with the lte chip being integrated is supposed to be phenomenal compared to what we we used to.
Luckily I live in one of the first wave cities, so I expect LTE to be available in some areas already as towers are already up in some areas once the phone comes out if not by the following month once they officially go live. I honestly just like most never really used 4g on my evos however the way it was implemented was flawed by default. radio on a different chip and not enough coverage so constant losing signal and swiching left battery life to be desirable. I expect with LTE it'll be different once the ball gets rolling. The radio is on the same dye as the soc so better battery by default. Sprint will have better LTE coverage than wimax so again that will help with battery life as you won't have to keep switching between the two. If you read the manual unlike verizon sprint has a toggle to disable LTE and only use evdo. I'm sure this will help people who don't live in LTE markets as well as those of us who want to get a little extra juice out of it. Based on the reviews of the AT&T One X though, battery life even with LTE on should still be pretty good.
I live in Miami and the LTE is very spotty, I don't have it at home; only used it to download big files anyways so I'm not worried about it. In the end it's a premium fee for a monster smartphone, very worth it. I would be really happy to get LTE, though, since my wifi at home is total crap :/ and it's not going to be as much of a battery hog as it was on the OG evo.
Root: Android unlimited
Most of you guys don't care about 4g.
But that's not a true, unless your smart phone using only in and out calls.
If using internet and WiFi tether you need a 4g to browser speed downloading, gaming etc... I'm not talking in your f*** home or work place only. You know how crappy is sprint 3g or tell me you are ambitious for new smart phone instead of what can make it a difference?
For me nothing this phone with out 4g lte .
Coz I use a lot internet and WiFi tether that's why I bought smart phone with gps capability, 8mp camera and so on
Please don't laying me Sprint 3g good enough.
I can say congrats for who has 4g lte by next month or early July.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
evobb10 said:
Most of you guys don't care about 4g.
But that's not a true, unless your smart phone using only in and out calls.
If using internet and WiFi tether you need a 4g to browser speed downloading, gaming etc... I'm not talking in your f*** home or work place only. You know how crappy is sprint 3g or tell me you are ambitious for new smart phone instead of what can make it a difference?
For me nothing this phone with out 4g lte .
Coz I use a lot internet and WiFi tether that's why I bought smart phone with gps capability, 8mp camera and so on
Please don't laying me Sprint 3g good enough.
I can say congrats for who has 4g lte by next month or early July.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's the key there - for you. Many people will be ecstatic to have a phone with a bigger, more beautiful screen, more responsiveness, a way better camera, stock ICS, Sense 4.0 (maybe), better WiFi speeds (n capabilities), NFC capabilities, Google Wallet, the ability to take pictures while shooting movies, a nicer kickstand, a thinner profile (and lighter), better sound quality, a dedicated camera button, and better battery life (due to stock ICS, and efficient processor).
If none of those things are worth anything to you, I'd say you're in the minority here. I'll enjoy the heck out of this phone until LTE and HD voice arrive. Have fun with your phone.
evobb10 said:
Most of you guys don't care about 4g.
But that's not a true, unless your smart phone using only in and out calls.
If using internet and WiFi tether you need a 4g to browser speed downloading, gaming etc... I'm not talking in your f*** home or work place only. You know how crappy is sprint 3g or tell me you are ambitious for new smart phone instead of what can make it a difference?
For me nothing this phone with out 4g lte .
Coz I use a lot internet and WiFi tether that's why I bought smart phone with gps capability, 8mp camera and so on
Please don't laying me Sprint 3g good enough.
I can say congrats for who has 4g lte by next month or early July.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You seem upset you wanted one bad huh?
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2
I'm in the Austin, TX market and already Waco (part of the Austin market for Sprint purposes) has 4G LTE working...people posting 21Meg download speeds already. They are supposed to have the rest of the Austin market done by July (don't remember where I read it, but it makes sense).
Clear rolled out the WiMax 4G, but SPRINT is rolling this out, and they know they have to get it right because they are in stiff competition with Verizon and AT&T. Houston and Dallas are other Texas markets that will be in first wave, though I'm not sure if they are already up and running. I got my pre-order in today and I'm eager to get my hands on it.
And while many people do use the 4G, if you're in a building all day and not out on the roads, you probably didn't get much signal anyhow. With LTE, in-building signal is supposed to be much better, so when you're not able to get on WiFi, it will be nice. Can't wait!
Where are you finding this info? Let me know if you find stuff about the austin rollout. gonna be hard to give up full signal wimax at work for too long...
AustinQuattro said:
I'm in the Austin, TX market and already Waco (part of the Austin market for Sprint purposes) has 4G LTE working...people posting 21Meg download speeds already. They are supposed to have the rest of the Austin market done by July (don't remember where I read it, but it makes sense).
Clear rolled out the WiMax 4G, but SPRINT is rolling this out, and they know they have to get it right because they are in stiff competition with Verizon and AT&T. Houston and Dallas are other Texas markets that will be in first wave, though I'm not sure if they are already up and running. I got my pre-order in today and I'm eager to get my hands on it.
And while many people do use the 4G, if you're in a building all day and not out on the roads, you probably didn't get much signal anyhow. With LTE, in-building signal is supposed to be much better, so when you're not able to get on WiFi, it will be nice. Can't wait!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to have original EVO and went to Epic Touch (Sammy SGII) and was really disappointed with the Samsung signal quality compared to EVO. Especially when in a weak signal, EVO 3G data would work fine but SGII sometimes would not work at all if signal is weak in same spot.
Have tested it many times. EVO was OK with 3G data if barely a signal, SGII would be hit and miss in same spot.
For those who switched from Epic Touch, how does new EVO perform with weak 3G signal? I'd think with the Qualcomm chipset, EVO should do much better than ET/SGII.
Samsungs are notorious for horrible radios.
They can suffer from something called LOS. Loss of Service. Where you basically lose all connection altogether until you reboot.
In fact my sisters galaxy s2 isn't even 3 months old and its been to samsung twice.
and is currently sitting with them waiting on backordered parts.
You won't (well probably won't) experience that issue with any other device maker.
As far as i know it exists on all the current samsungs though, gs2 and nexus alike. probably the gs3 as well.
xenokc said:
I used to have original EVO and went to Epic Touch (Sammy SGII) and was really disappointed with the Samsung signal quality compared to EVO. Especially when in a weak signal, EVO 3G data would work fine but SGII sometimes would not work at all if signal is weak in same spot.
Have tested it many times. EVO was OK with 3G data if barely a signal, SGII would be hit and miss in same spot.
For those who switched from Epic Touch, how does new EVO perform with weak 3G signal? I'd think with the Qualcomm chipset, EVO should do much better than ET/SGII.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Considering Qualcomm invented EVDO (Sprint's 3G) and the chipset with integrated EVDO modem, it would surprise me if the signal is weaker.
That said, the device is thinner -- flimsier antenna?
Some reviewers, however, are quick to point out that 3G strength is increased compared to the 3D, if that means anything to you:
I've already mentioned that connectivity on the EVO 4G LTE is awesome in general; it usually picks up a stronger signal than my EVO 3D on both the cellular network or any surrounding WiFi networks. Additionally, mobile data speeds are consistently 300-500kbps faster on the EVO 4G LTE than on the EVO 3D, even when the devices are side-by-side.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
curiousGeorge said:
Considering Qualcomm invented EVDO (Sprint's 3G) and the chipset with integrated EVDO modem, it would surprise me if the signal is weaker.
That said, the device is thinner -- flimsier antenna?
Some reviewers, however, are quick to point out that 3G strength is increased compared to the 3D, if that means anything to you:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Signal should not be as good as the EVO 3D...S4GRU article on the FCC doc released for the device explained it...its not a big difference nor something you will notice much i think, but its there according to the FCC testing done...
Am thinking about the evo 4g lte because I've read excellent reviews about the call quality. I already know I won't be getting lte in my area for a long time. Are the 3g speeds actually worse on this model as compared with other Sprint models ? (some reviews have claimed this)
My 3g is slow enough as it is on my HTC Touch (can live with it though), but won't be able to accept anything slower.
i have kno problems with this phone.. its perfect for me im just bored with it... i need a new phone every 6 months i think!!! lol..
I'm hoping the following review is incorrect:
The ugly:
This is where the phone starts to fall apart for me. The network capabilities are awful. They are a clear downgrade from my Evo 4g. I live in Kansas City, and my old Evo 4g had both excellent 3g coverage, and excellent WiMax coverage. Ping times were the only problem I had with WiMax (typically in the 200-300 range), but I typically got 3-7Mbps down and ~1Mbps up with very reliable coverage, especially in my home. Outside of WiMax range, I reliably got 3g coverage that pulled ~1-2Mbps down and up. This is what I would expect, given that I am in Sprint's home market.
I upgraded to the Evo 4g LTE after hearing that LTE was officially "live" in Kansas City. Unfortunately the news that I missed was that by "live", they really mean "about 30% live". There is little to no actual LTE coverage in the city. At my apartment, where WiMax was previously very strong, I can only connect to LTE rarely, and when I do the signal is so weak that my connection times out regularly. Watching antenna strength, the LTE connection sits around -115 to -120dBm (in non-technical terms, that is just a hair above zero bars). I actually disabled the LTE antenna on my phone because it is disruptive FAR more often than it is useful.
"So what", you might say. "Just use 3g". I would agree with you. 3g should be able to get me by in the next few months while Sprint continues their LTE rollout, hopefully with an antenna near my home. Unfortunately the phone's 3g antenna is also highly problematic. 3g signal pickup is weaker than my old Evo 4g, and speeds are considerably worse than my previous phone. Pings usually sit around 200, which is acceptable, but I almost never get above 0.5Mbps down, or up. Additionally (and even more importantly), the phone has a habit of dropping the 3g signal. I tether often, and when I do I tend to lose 3g every few minutes. This is in close proximity to a 3g tower, and with a strong signal (4-5 bars, in the -70 to -80dBm range). The phone will just inexplicably lose 3g connectivity. Google around a bit and find out: this is a known problem that many people are dealing with, and HTC/Sprint have acknowledged the issue and are trying to rectify it. Problem is, it isn't fixed. I truly hope that in the near future an OTA update will fix the problems... after all, I'm basically stuck with this phone for the next 23 months. The network issues are bad enough that I really do miss my old Evo 4g, and I'm very tempted to reactivate it.
Conclusion: at the end of the day, the Evo 4g LTE is a phone, and as such I think the network issues are a pretty big deal. If you are on WiFi constantly, then they won't be an issue for you, but if you're dependent upon Sprint's network in any way, be very careful... this phone has some major baggage.
Update 9/25/2012: A couple OTA updates later, and it is still in pretty bad shape. I am very used to 500ms+ ping now, and 0.1Mbps download/upload speeds. 4g coverage is still nonexistant. According to xda and s4gru, this problem is SPECIFIC TO THE EVO 4g LTE. As in an iPhone 5 and SGIII will both connect just fine to 4g, but an Evo in the same room will not.
Try this neat trick: Go to craigslist and search for Evo 4g LTE. See how many nearly new Evos are being sold for less than half the price of a new one? That speaks more volumes than my review does
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http://wireless.amazon.com/customerreviews/B007ZUN6GS/ref=cr_detail_histogram_top
These post really make me scratch my head...In Memphis LTE is only a month old and only in the northern parts of the city...constant 15mbs+ and elsewhere 4g isnt on yet 3G is maxed out....I never have any problems maintaining a over decent connection on 3G.....it's just odd how much I hear how crappy the ELTE is.....Is it really a bad phone and I'm just in a city where Sprint has it act together or are some of you vice-versa??
jauger said:
These post really make me scratch my head...In Memphis LTE is only a month old and only in the northern parts of the city...constant 15mbs+ and elsewhere 4g isnt on yet 3G is maxed out....I never have any problems maintaining a over decent connection on 3G.....it's just odd how much I hear how crappy the ELTE is.....Is it really a bad phone and I'm just in a city where Sprint has it act together or are some of you vice-versa??
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I sure would like to know before I upgrade to this device.
TravisBean said:
Am thinking about the evo 4g lte because I've read excellent reviews about the call quality. I already know I won't be getting lte in my area for a long time. Are the 3g speeds actually worse on this model as compared with other Sprint models ? (some reviews have claimed this)
My 3g is slow enough as it is on my HTC Touch (can live with it though), but won't be able to accept anything slower.
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My 3g has been much better than my old HTC Hero and better than my Dad's og Evo(not to mention my mom's Samsung Nexus S, My brothers' Samsung, Motorola, and my sister's iCrap 4s).
As long as you stick to stock based roms, you'll be fine. HTC has some great tweaks that cm10 and aosp roms don't have that seem to boost bandwidth and 3g speeds.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Test it out. Set a timer for 13 days just to be sure.. Thats why carriers give you the 14 day trial period to make sure your happy before being stuck 2 more years with them.
I for one am happy with my EVO LTE. I also have a GS3 and from time to time go back and forth.
I had a chance to spend about 3 minutes with this device today at the Sprint store. Love at first sight. I can't put into words how elegantly this phone felt in my hand.
Didn't have time to check out the 3g connectivity, but call quality did seem above average for a Sprint phone.
Can you download a larger format dial pad for this phone (that works properly) ?
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I'm in Boston mass 4g is 27-34 mgb and 3g is about 3-5 on my lte no issues
pbedard said:
I'm in Boston mass 4g is 27-34 mgb and 3g is about 3-5 on my lte no issues
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Are you saying you're getting 3-5 Mbps download speeds while connected to 3G?
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2