The first 4G phone in the United States finally has some competition. On August 31, Samsung’s Epic 4G arrives on Sprint, ending the EVO 4G’s nearly three-month run as the big man on campus. But is it actually a better choice? We stacked both superphones side by side to see which rules the 4G airwaves.
Processor
Winner: Samsung Epic 4G
When it comes to power, neither phone is a slouch, but minor differences do manifest a marked gap between them. Samsung uses a 1GHz Hummingbird chip that shares a bloodline with the one used in the iPhone 4, while the EVO 4G uses a 1GHz Snapdragon processor. Which wins out when hummingbirds and dragons go to battle? The runty little bird powering the Epic. Check out AndroidCentral’s benchmark of the EVO 4G and Samsung Captivate (which has almost identical specs to the Epic 4G, but comes on AT&T) side by side. It averaged 55.1 fps to 42.9 fps in a gaming test, and turned in higher scores in the Neocore processing benchmark, as well.
Display
Winner: HTC EVO 4G
What might be the greyest area in our comparison comes down to a matter of preference. With a 4.3-inch LCD screen, the HTC EVO 4G has both immense size and sunlight-resistance in its favor. With a 4.0-inch OLED screen, the Samsung Epic 4G looks like a glittering gem beside its super-sized HTC counterpart… but fades to a dingy bluish gray the moment you bring it out into the sun. Resolution on both models is an identical 800 x 480. While movie fans might prefer the Epic’s brilliant color, we’re awarding this one to the EVO 4G based on practicality.
Camera
Winner: HTC EVO 4G
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Resolution does not make a camera. But in this case, the 8-megapixel camera in the EVO 4G really is a better shot than the 5-megapixel camera in the Epic 4G. Our test shots showed the Epic returning overly dark outdoor shots in comparison to the EVO 4G, even though they come closer to parity indoors. Small a difference as it makes, the EVO 4G also has a two LEDs for its flash, while the Epic gets only one.
Videoconferencing
Winner: HTC EVO 4G
Besides opening the door for faster Web surfing and services, the 4G connectivity has made it possible to make face-to-face videoconference calls without Wi-Fi. Both the EVO 4G and Epic 4G offer front-facing cameras to make it possible, but the EVO 4G once again outstacks the Epic 4G on resolution, offering 1.3 megapixels to its 0.3 megapixels (VGA). That said, it doesn’t pose much of a practical difference, considering bandwidth requirements will crush video quality down to a blotchy mess anyway. We’ll hand this one to HTC for the tech specs – with a bright red asterisk that resolution matters even less than normal here.
Battery Life
Winner: Draw
The EVO 4G taught us that you don’t go fast without burning a little gas to do it. The phone quickly earned a reputation for dismal battery life with heavy 4G use, and not surprisingly, HTC never posted official estimates for it. Funny thing: Neither has Samsung for the Epic 4G. While the manufacturers grin and shrug rather than delivering “official” battery estimates, our unscientific testing yielded about six hours of on and off use on the EVO 4G, and the Epic 4G performed very similarly. No surprise, considering they both use 1500 mAh batteries. Chalk this one up to a draw.
EVO FTW!
Im the cousin and can someone tell her my epic is much better please!!!!!!
I have the Evo and my cousin has the Epic we are debating in who's is better?! Can someone tell me which one is better?.. or are they the same?
After much debate I bought the epic and LOVE it! It is the best phone. The advantages of the epic are insurmountable. The phone is fast, easy to use, high tech, multifunctional and so much more. One of the many advantages of the epic over the iPhone is the ability to take out the battery and also upgrade memory without having to buy a whole new phone. I also like that there are not as many regulations with the android market as the app market. The epic is the end all, be all of all phones, mp3s, iPods and iPhones!
My boyfriend and I got one of each: he got the Epic and I got the Evo. We're going to try them out for a month and if one of us prefers the other, we'll go back to Sprint to change one out and pay the cheap restocking fee. After a couple weeks of use, we both love our phones and neither of us want to switch them so far.
Coming from the blackberry world, I had some reservations about not getting a phone with a keyboard, but I honestly don't miss it at all. I think the Epic's slide-out keyboard is the biggest deciding factor for choosing between the EVO and the Epic. I've gotten used to the EVO's touch-screen keyboard. There are plenty of different text input methods on both phones: Swype, Touch Input, and Speech with voice recognition. The only benefit I can think of for having a physical keyboard is it's possibly easier to play some games (because it looks like a PSP with the keyboard extended).
The Epic does have nice deeper, richer colors, and very dark blacks, but it also has a negative that I don't like: the whites are have a blue-ish tint. Therefore it's a tradeoff. Both phones looked the same outside in bright sunlight, so I would disregard people's comments that the Epic is worse outdoors.
They both have a way to connect to an HDTV: The EVO uses an HDMI cable and the Epic uses DNLA. I guess that comparison doesn't matter much to most people. How often am I really going to be hooking up my phone to a TV?
I like that Samsung Epic gives you a 16 GB memory card vs the 8 GB card on the EVO. The battery life on the EVO sucks, I run out on my way home from work with very light usage. My boyfriend's Epic lasts all day. I had to buy an extended 3500 battery and I love it. It sticks out a bit, but it's not annoying at all. I think it's easier to hold and it now lasts all day without a problem.
Lastly, there are some differences in the customized GUI of their Android operating systems. There several some minor differences, but the biggest one is the way they each display their apps list. The EVO has one long page of apps that you scroll down through to see them all. The Epic has pages of apps that you side-swipe to get through each page. I prefer the way the Epic displays the apps because I think it's easier to get to the one you want. I don't like scrolling through a very long list of apps on the EVO. I often miss the one I'm looking for and have to scroll back. The Epic way is very similar to the iPhone app display.
To summarize this discussion, both phones are very similar and I don't think either my boyfriend or I would swap out our phones for the other after our one-month trial period. If you need a physical keyboard, go with the Epic. If you don't, then go with the EVO. Either way, they are both awesome smart phones!
I had the evo, exchanged it for the epic, after less than a week I ran back to get my evo before they shipped it back, imo the epic screen is too bright and it does look like a toy, maybe good if you play lots of video games. My evo takes better pics and I love the widescreen display while viewing them, epic just did not compare and the keyboard is just too bulky, I thought the evo was to large but its actually alot sleeker than the epic, if im gonna have a big phone id rather have it for the screen not the keyboard, im getting used to the touch texting and its actually not bad.
Does anyone know what a prioe comment is about when they said the gaming (because of the epics screen) was so much greater on the epic?
Does Evo have Swype? If it does then I'm deffinatly getting it! Please reply to osman.noor95@gmail.com
I read an earlier comment to look on you tube.
Dear whoever wrote this review! I would like to tell you that you must be on some type of DRUGS! Because the Evo screen produces 65 thousand colors; while the Epic produces 16 millions. If you don't know the difference between that please don't write reviews! The battery life on the Epic lasts twice as long. Anyway, this is a very subjective review. You are most likely being paid by HTC. Because by pure specs the Epic is hands down the better of the 2 phones.
Im not putting a positive nor negative comment. More than less, your looking for a phone that suits you. So instead of asking which is better, think of what you need. While they both have highlights and lowlights, make comparisons to that of which you are looking for. Me, i personally prefer the Evo over the Epic sheerly because performance and visuals. But my opinion might end in a different field than yours. So, for the final time, make decisions on what you need, not what others need.
EVo is the man, simple but with one "leg". Epic is the women beause she hes more colors and opnes her up.. Dude, by Epic
its upgrade time i presently have a bberry 8350 . i like to play gadgets are great, games too im a 47 yr old kid but still a man with a construction business that needs to contact people on either email, fbook ,text or whatever is out there oh yeah telephone! im driving myself crazy with all these comparisons and replies screen quality is a plus.
llikethem both
are the apps the same on both phones? When it comes to apps and widgets for the phones which one is better?
The phones have same apps but different interfaces games play a bit smoother on the epic