Can HTC EVO Design 4G Outclass Samsung Galaxy S2?

HTC EVO family legacy was continued by Sprint with the addition of HTC EVO Design 4G, the first EVO family member touting World Phone capabilities. But the phone faces immense pressure from Samsung Galaxy S2, which is considered to be the best Android smartphone yet.

HTC EVO Design 4G boasts many of the must-have features of its predecessors, including Sprint 4G and a large touchscreen display of 4 inches while sporting a slim, pocket-friendly aluminum unibody design at an easily affordable price.

EVO Design 4G, which runs on the Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS and sports HTC Sense UI, is powered by a 1.2GHz single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S2 MSM7630 processor with 768MB RAM. It also has a 5 megapixel LED flash camera with 720p HD video capture and a 1.3 megapixel camera for video chat. The phone has a 4GB ROM and an 8GB microSD card that is included in the package, which can be expanded up to 32GB.

Meanwhile, Samsung Galaxy S2 received overwhelming responses from around the world. Galaxy S2, which runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS and sports Samsung's TouchWiz UI, comes in three variants, on AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint, whose version is called Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch. All versions of the Galaxy S2 will get 4G treatment, offering data speed up to four times faster than Apple Inc.'s iPhone 4.

Galaxy S2 comes with an 8 megapixel camera with flash and can record HD video in 1080p offering the richest video content on a smartphone. The phone also has the front-facing 2 megapixel camera for video chat.

Here is a comparison between HTC EVO Design 4G and Samsung Galaxy S2:

Display: Both the T-Mobile and Sprint versions of Galaxy S2 have 4.52-inch display screen whereas AT&T version retains 4.3-inch screen of original Galaxy S2 version sold worldwide. Galaxy S2 Epic Touch 4G comes with 4.52-inch (about 206 ppi pixel density) 800 x 480 pixels Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touchscreen display. All the variants of Galaxy S2 has Corning Gorilla Glass display protection. On the other hand, EVO Design 4G sports a 4-inch LCD capacitive touch-screen with 960 x 540 pixels qHD resolution and about 275 ppi pixels density.

Size: EVO Design 4G comes with 4.8 x 2.40 x 0.5 inches dimension and weighs 5.22 ounces. In comparison, Samsung Epic 4G Touch on Sprint comes with a 5.11 x 2.74 x 0.38 inches dimension and weighs 4.6 ounces while the T-Mobile version has 5.11 x 2.71 x 0.37 inches dimension and weighs 4.77 ounces. As the AT&T version retains 4.3-inch display, it features 4.96 x 2.60 x 0.35 inches dimension and weighs 4.3 ounces.

Processor: EVO Design 4G packs a 1.2GHz single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S2 MSM7630 processor with 768MB RAM. On the other hand, the Sprint and AT&T variant of Galaxy S2 is powered by a dual-core 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 Mali-400MP GPU Orion chipset while the T-Mobile variant is powered by a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm APQ8060 processor.

Camera: All the variants of Samsung Galaxy S2 sport a rear-facing 8 megapixel LED flash camera with 1080p HD video capture capability and a 2 megapixel camera for video chat. But the HTC phone has a 5 megapixel LED flash camera with 720p HD video capture and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing one for video calling.

Camera Features: EVO Design 4G has geo-tagging, and auto-focus. On the other hand, the variants of Galaxy S2 has geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization, TV-out only via adaptor, and Picasa image uploading.

3G/4G: EVO Design 4G comes with Sprint's Rev. A up to 3.1 Mbps, HSDPA, and HSUPA. In comparison, the T-Mobile Galaxy S2 version has HSDPA 42 Mbps support while the AT&T version has HSDPA 21 Mbps support, and both the variants have HSUPA 5.76 Mbps. And Epic 4G Touch has Rev. A up to 3.1 Mbps.

Operating System: Both the smartphones have the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system with the promise of an upgrade to Google Inc.'s latest smartphone OS, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Android Head of Engineering Mike Claren announced the new OS - Ice Cream Sandwich - as Google's most ambitious release to date.

User Interface: EVO Design 4G uses HTC Sense 3.0 version user interface while the variants of Galaxy S2 uses Samsung's TouchWiz 4.0 version user interface.

WLAN/Bluetooth/USB: EVO Design 4G has Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, WiMAX 802.16 e, Wi-Fi hotspot, DLNA, Bluetooth 3.0 version with A2DP, and microUSB 2.0 versions. On the other hand, all the variants of Galaxy S2 have Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot, NFC, Bluetooth 3.0 version with A2DP and HS, microUSB 2.0 version (MHL), and USB-On-the-go.

Storage: EVO Design 4G has a 4GB ROM and an additional 8GB microSD card included in the package, which can be expanded up to 32GB. On the other hand, the T-Mobile and AT&T variant of Galaxy S2 boasts of 16/32 GB internal storage and via a microSD card slot it can expand up to 32 GB. But Sprint's Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch comes with 16GB internal storage with expandable microSD card storage.

Battery: Samsung Epic Touch 4G has Li-Ion 1800 mAh battery support, which will offer more than 10 hours of talk time while AT&T versions retain Li-Ion 1650 mAh battery found in original Galaxy S2. The T-Mobile variant of Galaxy S2 has Li-Ion 1850 mAh battery support. Meanwhile, EVO Design 4G comes with a standard Li-ion 1520 mAh battery that gives up to 6 hours of talk time.

Pricing: EVO Design 4G is priced at $99.99 with a two-year Sprint contract and it is available for $39.99 at Amazon.com. Galaxy S2, when compared, is priced at $199.99 with a two-year contract on Sprint while the T-Mobile variant is priced at $229.99. The AT&T variant of Galaxy S2 is priced at $149.99 with a two-year contract.

Additional Features: All the variants of Galaxy S2 has accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass sensors, Assisted GPS, Adobe Flash, active noise cancellation with dedicated mic, TV-out (via MHL A/V link), SNS integration, MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player, MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player, Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, and Picasa integration

EVO Design 4G, when compared, has accelerometer, proximity, compass sensors, SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM, stereo FM radio with RDS, assisted GPS, Java MIDP emulator, SNS integration, Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Google Talk, Picasa integration, MP3/AAC+/WAV player, and MP4/H.263/H.264 player.

Editors' Rating: HTC EVO Design 4G scored 4 out of 5 stars in PCMag and CNET editors' rating. All the variants of Galaxy S2 scored 4 stars in CNET. The T-Mobile and AT&T variants of Galaxy S2 scored 4.5 out of 5 stars in PCMag while Sprint's Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch managed to score 4 stars.