IPhone4 vs EVO

[Viva La Grinch]

I am out of contract and am looking for an upgrade. I have been loyal to Sprint, and currently on a 2 person family plan with a 23% work discount. Looking to upgrade to the EVO but hate to pay the additional $10 a month for each line for 4G.

 

As for the IPhone, I have a 15% discount on those lines.

 

So my question is....what model should I buy? I text a few times a day and use my phone on the web occasionally. Between the two people on the account, we probably use the web services a few times a week. Love to game, so the IPhone seems to have the advantage there. Really on the fence here, but need to make a decision by Christmas, so looking for some input on what will be the better deal for me.........

[lcbj68c]

I'm iphone all the way. However, I have the first gen and don't know the jailbreak capabilities of the iphone4. I currently have a prepaid sim in my jailbroken phone. I use it for wifi all over, I buy 1,000 texts whenever I need them (usually once a month) for 9.99 and then I buy 300 minutes for 14.99 and use sparingly. A smartphone, still able to get all of apple's aps, plus cydia's aps all for about $25/mo. Again, I have no idea where iphone4 is with it's abilities to jailbreak and swap sims.

That's not saying you have to jailbreak your phone and use a different sim/carrier. But the advantages to go that route are there. After spending near $100/mo for AT&T's midtier pricing+data packages, I got tired of allocating a good chunk of money there every month. So that was nice.

 

As far as actual phones go, here's a great site http://www.engadget.com/2...hich-one-should-you-get/

[pretendastronaut]

I have an HTC Desire, which I partially got because I didn't want to move to AT&T. I would say that the experience of the iPhone is cleaner than Android based phones, but I still enjoy my HTC. Apple is notorious for how strict they are about what appears in their market and phone, versus the open development for Android, but the difference is very noticeable in the products. There is a lot of junk out there for the Android, and it can cause performance issues on the phone sometimes. Many apps are flooded with reviews of crashing the various phones that Android is used on.

 

If you really think you would like to game on it, I would say iPhone. Currently the Android market doesn't have many great games, and no great exclusives that I'm aware of. The two I've downloaded and enjoyed the most, are originally iPhone games.

 

However, the other deciding factor for me was several of my friends who have the iPhone 4 told me that it is a great device and an awful phone. For them, they didn't really call as much they found anyway because they were so much more connected with it, but they said if I needed to make a lot of calls with it, I may get frustrated. To me that was a big deal too.

[gbpdc]

I have the EVO, it is a great phone and other than the $10 fee, I have no complaints. I use it and it's apps a lot more than I used my old phone.

The iPhone is a great device, but unfortunately it is attached to the AT&T service, which I have never been a fan of, if the forever rumored Verizion iPhone came out the decision would be tougher, but right now IMHO I prefer the EVO hands down

[Viva La Grinch]

For those with the IPhone, if I am just browsing the internet for some scores and email checks, do I need to bump myself up to the bigger data plan or is the cheaper one going to be ok?

[endaround]

Android just got a new OS release so you may want to wait if you go that way. Also look at Windows Phone 7, in many ways it seems to be the best option, especially for gaming or if you are one of the fews with a Zune pass...

[SenatorShriv]

I just switched from a blackberry on US Cellular to the Iphone when I moved up to Alaska. The service range is pretty solid (which is hard to do in Alaska given the mountains and spread out population) and the prices were competitive with the other options that I had. The customer service with AT&T has been a thousand times better than US Cellular. I use the internet A LOT on my phone and I couldn't be happier with that function. I had a little bit of trouble with the aps at first, but it was kind of a unique problem with Itunes. The one thing that i recommend is to get the heavy duty case for it. It makes it a bit bulky but it has already saved the phone several major diggers.

[jason21nl]

I absolutely love my EVO-I switched from AT&T a couple weeks ago and I'm much more happy. I couldn't stand AT&T service. I have never had more drop calls or just flat out no service before.

[LouisEly]

Second the Evo - love it, and never have had a problem with Sprint. I think I have had Sprint for almost 10 years. As for junk apps, I always read the ratings before downloading and that usually tells you how good they will be, and most of the problem with apps are on other Android phones and not the Evo. One technicality, the $10/month is not for 4G - it is for the data usage of this type of phone, regardless of whether it is 3G or 4G. However, I have heard rumblings that AT&T will assess a data surcharge for iPhone users that will make that look cheap. But the 4G... where they have it is awesome. At the UW-UNLV football game I couldn't get any data transfer out at the stadium, so I turned on the 4G and it worked like a charm.

 

As for the iPhone, everyone I talk to who has one says the same thing about it - great device, awful phone. A friend of mine says he has a big issue with transferring calls from one tower to another when he is driving - says it always drops his calls when he has to switch to a different tower. I have a friend who lives in San Francisco, and one weekend during Oyster Festival he had to drop down from the 3G network to the 2G network just to be able to make calls and send texts - that's how jammed the 3G network was. AT&T doesn't have the bandwidth to handle all of the iPhone users.

[miggs721]

Wait for the HTC Knight on January 6!!!!

[strawbossisevil]

I have the Iphone 4 and absolutely love it. The $15 per month data plan will be just fine if you are mostly interested in email, google voice, calendar, maps, sports scores, the occasional google search. That's what I use it for, and I always have tons of data left over at the end of the month.

 

If you want to stream video and audio in your car, such as Pandora/Netflix, you will probably need the higher one. The nice thing with At&t is that they let you switch between the two levels without forcing you to redo your plan. So, if the $15 plan isn't enough, one can move up to the $30. Or if the $30 is too much, one can move down to the $15 plan without changing the contract.

 

As others have pointed out, Apple is more stringent about what they allow on their device, but that also means a smoother and more secure product. After comparing my Iphone with my friends EVO, it is pretty clear that the Iphone is the more solidly built phone, less cheap parts etc. As long as you don't drop it and smash the glass (not a problem for me as I have it in a case), the Iphone is more likely to last for 2+ years. That's just the feeling I got when comparing them side by side. EVO felt like it was more cheaply made.

 

As far as At&t's service. I live just north of Milwaukee, and I've never had a problem with my phone cutting out. I think that is a bigger issue in cities such as New York. Actually, I've been far happier with At&t's service than I was with my previous Sprint phone (although, that was in a different city (Orlando), so I can't speak to Sprint's service here in Milwaukee).

[strawbossisevil]

Also, if you use Google Voice, you don't have to pay for texts. Paying for text messages should be a thing of the past.

[DHonks]

Viva, I am constantly using the internet on the Iphone, and I have yet to go over my date allotment. So I'd go with the lesser amount. If it's a problem, you can always change the following month

[Viva La Grinch]

I am leaning towards the IPhone since it seems with a bare bones family plan for two that I can save $30 a month with an IPhone compared to the EVO's plan. I think I like the EVO better, but $30x12 a year pays for a nice treat for me. Couple of final questions.....first if I just download some games and misc apps do I need the 32gb or is the 16gb just fine? Also, great tip on the google voice app to save on texting fees.....any other must have apps to save money or pure fun?

[strawbossisevil]

I have the 16gb Iphone, and it is just fine. I usually have about a dozen or so games on there at a time. It really depends how much media you want to put on the phone. I have about 6 GB of music and don't need any video media on my phone, so the 16gb was more than enough.

 

That said, some of the new games that are designed for the new high resolution display (such as Infinity Blade), are close to a GB apiece.

[1992casey]

I was going to say that most iPhone apps were rather small in size, but boy, was I wrong. If you're inclined to download these large games, make sure you have enough bandwidth to handle it. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

Can a game be deleted and re-added without having to purchase it again?

[strawbossisevil]

Yes. When you sink your phone to your computer, it backs up of all of your apps. So you can delete/re-add them on your phone whenever you'd like.

[Viva La Grinch]

Well, now I am leaning towards keeping the 23% discount for both lines and doing the EVO. Got the quote back from Sprint and for the two lines with the add on $10 for the EVO and it will be $120 after discount. I guess I can live with that, but now a couple more EVO questions. First, how hard is it to find the white version? Also Radio Shack has them for $150 for upgrades. Can I price match that at Best Buy, and is there anyway I can get out of the activation fees?

[LouisEly]

On a slightly related topic, I received an iPod Touch 8G as a gift from some people I helped with a big project. I already have two mp3 players that I prefer for working out/running (which is the only time I listen to any type of music player - have satellite radio for the car) because they are smaller/lighter/easier to use that hold more than enough music for my taste; I have the HTC Evo for all the mobile apps I need, wireless connectivity, and 4G service; I really don't care for watching TV/movies on a screen that small (and if I did the Evo's screen is larger and it has a kick stand so I don't have to hold it)...

 

...so my question is, is there anything that the iPod Touch has that I don't already have with the Evo and the mp3 players?

 

I'd hate to sell it because it was a gift from great people, but I'd feel worse if they bought it and I never used it.

[Viva La Grinch]

Made the plunge today...in case anybody else is debating this...got this at Best Buy after they price matched Radio Shack for $99 a piece, one black and one white. Now, what apps and games should I be looking at? Also any setup tips with the EVO?

[jason21nl]

I'm addicted to angry birds/angry birds seasons

[LouisEly]

Tips for the Evo:

 

- Make sure you aren't running things in the background that you aren't using, like Wi-Fi or 4G. Only have those turned on when you need them or they will drain your battery quickly.

 

- When you set up your email account, if you access your email on your home computer via Outlook/Thunderbird/etc. make sure to look at the setting "Delete messages on server". If you are like me there are some things you don't want cluttering up your messages on your mobile device but want to keep (messages with links, attachments, etc.). If you have this selected and you delete the message on your phone it will delete it on the server and you won't be able to download it to your computer. Same if you use a web-based email program (Hotmail, etc.) - it will delete on the server and the message will be lost. I deselected this option.

 

- The Facebook app that is pre-installed on the phone may not work right. I had issues with it and installed the version on the app market and it works perfect now.

 

- When using internet, if you do a "clear history" you can still access those pages via the Forward/Back buttons until you power off the phone. You know, in case you are browsing any websites you don't want someone else to see...