HTC Evo 3D, Teacher's Pet

As 3d movies are taking over theaters worldwide and even in living rooms, the trend is hitting handheld too. Here comes into play HTC 3d, of course, every geek’s delight.

 The best part about this rice burner is that, besides the stereoscopic screen and the two cameras, it is a monster smartphone, featuring a dual core CPU, loads of RAM and high end connectivity. So, even if 3d is not your main obsession, HTC 3d remains a player in the droid market, a true heavy weight actually.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM and dual/tri-band 3G support
• 14.4 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
• 4.3" 16M-color stereoscopic capacitive LCD touchscreen of qHD resolution (540 x 960); Gorilla glass
• Android OS v2.3 Gingerbread with HTC Sense 3.0
• 1.2 GHz dual Scorpion CPUs, Adreno 220 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8260 chipset
• 1 GB of RAM and 1 GB of storage for apps
• Dual 5MP autofocus camera with LED flash, massively comfortable shutter key; face detection and geotagging
• 720p video recording @ 30fps in both 2D and 3D mode
• Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
• GPS with A-GPS
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• microSD slot up to 32GB (8GB card included)
• Accelerometer, proximity sensor and auto-brightness sensor
• Front facing camera with video calls
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v3.0
• MHL TV-out (requires MHL-to-HDMI adapter)
• Smart dialing, voice dialing
• DivX/XviD video support
• HTC Locations app
• HTCSense.com integration
• HTC Portable Hotspot
• Ultra-fast boot times (if you don’t remove battery)
• Office document editor


For full specs, visit the official webpage.


The package contains:


• HTC EVO 3D
• 8GB microSD card preloaded
• microUSB cable
• Wall Charger
• Get Started Guide
• Terms & Conditions of Services

HTC 3d is a high end phone and  at 126 x 65 x 12.1 mm, the 3D smartphone is the thickest of all dual-core smartphones currently on the market. The 170 grams of weight are quite a load to be honest.
So what can we say about yet another top-shelf Android powered HTC phone? Constructed out of plastic, specifically, its soft touch matte rear employs a rigid pattern that provides an adequate grip when held. All in all, it’s an undeniably distinguishable EVO device.
Let’s take a look at HTC EVO 3D’s key feature, the stereoscopic LCD screen of  HD resolution (960 x 560 pixels)  :  you get the glasses-free stereoscopic effect using the parallax-barrier technology. That’s an extra screen layer that makes sure each eye sees a different set of pixels, giving a sense of depth.
In terms of 2d, which will take about 90% of time for a normal user, things are looking very good too, EVO 3D has a large and bright high-res screen, The qHD resolution and the ample 4.3” diagonal certainly give it an advantage over competitors.
Above the display, we’re presented with the light & proximity sensors, wide looking earpiece grill, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, and LED light indicator that’s placed towards the right side of the earpiece.

Peeking over on the left edge of the phone, the only thing there is the micro USB port that’s used for charging and data purposes.
Finally, we find the pair of 5 megapixel camera lenses at the back, with the dual-LED flash in between. The loudspeaker grill is here too, placed on the frame around all that photo equipment.
Below the back cover you find the hot-swappable microSD card slot, the SIM compartment and the 1730 mAh Li-Ion battery that HTC claim should last for up to 420 hours of stand-by or up to 9 hours and 20 minutes of talk time.
Bottom line,  this smartphone has  an excellent build quality.

HTC EVO 3D features an equipped 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8660 processor with 1GB of RAM and an Adreno 220 GPU. Naturally, the higher than normal RAM amount is needed for the various 3D capabilities of the handset – thus, keeping things consistent in speed without sacrificing performance. And in all honesty, the handset executes effortlessly with little issues regarding responsiveness and speed.
In terms of OS, it comes with Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread and the latest version 3.0 of the HTC Sense UI.
The HTC EVO 3D has both Smart Dialing and Voice dialing and the phone book  is deeply integrated with social networking. The phone held on to signal just fine and we had no  issues with the EVO 3D.

HTC EVO 3D supports multi-touch and you can take full advantage of it while browsing your images.
With the video player, you can enjoy 3d content. You can play the videos you’ve taken and watch stereoscopic movies in DivX and XviD, the player does OK in general but  only go as high as 720p resolution.

The music player is ok, looks and handles nice, it offers SRS and equalizer settings. The HTC EVO 3D is also equipped with an FM radio, which has a pretty simple interface. In terms of audio quality, the device performs decent event if not spectacular.
In terms of 3d imaging, which is the name of the game, HTC EVO 3D has not one, but two 5MP snappers on its back that are capable of capturing 2D photos in full 2560х1920 resolution and stereoscopic 3D images at up to 2MP, featuring  face detection and geotagging. Touch focus is enabled too, but you’ll hardly need it.

As for video recording, The HTC EVO 3D captures videos up to 720p resolution in 2D and 3D.
The HTC EVO 3D boasts a complete set of connectivity options. There’s quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and blazing fast dual-band 3G (or tri-band 3G, depending on region). The speeds go up to 14.4Mbps downlink and 5.76Mbps uplink.

The local wireless connectivity has Wi-Fi b/g/n complete with Wi-Fi hotspot functionality. Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP (but not High Speed).
Full DLNA support is enabled via the Connected media app. It handles all sorts of DLNA connections. The "microUSB port"  is actually an MHL port. If you plug a MHL dongle in it, you can output HD video over a standard HDMI connection.

Surfing the interwebz is  powered by the latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread web browser, plenty of processing power and a large, high resolution screen, in other words, all the right ingredients.
For business users, the Polaris app has support for viewing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, including the Office 2007 versions and it can create Office 2003 Word and Excel documents but not 2007 docs. A cool feature, you can edit existing Office 2007 docs.

There is also a PDF viewer to handle PDF files. The device has a built-in GPS receiver, with Google Maps  as standard application and features voice guided navigation.

Final words, HTC Evo 3d offers a solid smartphone experience, its key feature is  that it strives to do it all and we are pleased to report that for the most part it delivers.

 You can have it right away on a monthly contract here.

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3D Battle: LG Optimus 3D P920 Vs HTC Evo 3D

LG Optimus 3D P920 deals

If you're a fan of 3D then you're in luck because we're now going to compare the first two Android glasses-free 3D phones to enter the market. So get ready to find for a mind blowing experience, as we put the LG Optimus 3D P920 and the HTC Evo 3D in a battle to the death for the glory of being crowned king of 3D!

The 3D Effect

First of all, for those of you interested in how the 3D effect is created, you're not going to get much of an explanation here. Basically though when the 3D effect is in operation the screen is creating two images, directing one to each of your eyes. These two different images are combined in your brain to create a 3D image, the way it does with the images presented to it from your eyes in real life.

This has a few consequences. One is that the resolution of the screen is effectively cut in half any time the 3D effect is in use. It also means that it takes more processing power and it is going to drain the battery more quickly. Lastly, it means that you have to hold the phone at just the right angle to be able to make out the 3D effect, and that is a relatively narrow zone that you have to get to. These are issues with both of the phones under consideration.

Enough of the technical stuff though, let's get to the fun stuff! So what's on offer with these phones?

Well you might be a little bit disappointed to find out that not everything on the phone is in 3D. The menus, for instance, are still in 2D. Both phones come with dedicated features to use the 3D in though, games and videos mainly. And even though the HTC Evo came out later than the LG Optimus 3D, it is actually the LG phone which has the better effect. It can only be viewed in portrait mode but since, as we mentioned, it is only videos and games for the most part that use the effect anyway that's not a huge drawback. And it turns out that the 3D effect is simply more pronounced on the LG device. It's still decent on the HTC Evo, but we preferred the LG offering in that regard.

HTC Evo 3D contract deals

There is a problem in that there isn't a lot of 3D content available though. Other than what comes with the phone, YouTube will be the main port of call for other 3D videos. Although you can also create your own 3D content as well.

You'll notice, when you get the phone, that there are actually two cameras on the back. That's because, as we said, for the 3D effect to be created you actually need two images, one for each eye. So when you take a 3D photo or film in 3D, both cameras will be recording images at the same time, but from slightly different angles which is what produces the 3D effect.

Both phones also have a HDMI port so that you can watch your 3D videos directly on your television (so long as you have a 3D television of course) or if your TV supports DNLA technology then you can stream it wirelessly from your phone. Or of course you can upload your videos to YouTube, expanding the amount of content available for everyone.

Other Features

The 3D aspect is just one feature of each of the phones of course, how do the rest of them stand up? Well, as you would expect, with the HTC Evo coming out later, it does have better specs. For instance it has a 1.2GHz processor, to the LG Optimus 3D's 1GHz. It also comes equipped with the later version of Android, 2.3 Gingerbread, rather than the Froyo version which the LG comes with. The HTC Sense user interface is also generally accepted as one of the best additions to the Android OS.

Both phones are bulky, due to the 3D technology in use. The LG Optimus 3D comes in at 168g, while the HTC is a touch heavier even at 170g. They're also very cruel on their batteries, another consequence of using 3D. You'd be lucky to get a whole day out of either of them if you're using 3D very much. In this regard as well though, the LG is slightly superior because you have the option of turning off the 3D if you want to conserve battery, which isn't possible with the HTC Evo.

If you want to compare the two further for yourself, you can find the specs on the LG website and HTC website respectively.

Summary

Both the LG Optimus 3D and the HTC Evo are decent Android phones, although neither would probably be worth considering if you're not interested in the 3D aspect since that does make them rather bulky and power thirsty. If you are looking for a 3D phone, they're both worth considering but we'd probably have to crown the LG Optimus 3D king on the basis of the 3D effect alone. But then again, taking the 3D out of the equation the HTC is probably the better bet so it's hard to say.

If you're going to make a decision based on price though, check out the best LG Optimus 3DP920 monthly contract deals and HTC Evo deals available on the web.

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