HTC EVO 4G LTE Vs. iPhone 4S: Which Has Better Specs & Features?

The HTC EVO 4G LTE, unveiled at a preview event Wednesday night, is being touted as a new Android competitor to the Apple iPhone 4S.

This offers an occasion to weigh both smartphones' specs and features, even though the HTC phone's release date has not arrived yet.

The initial impression users will take away when holding the phone for the first time is that is quite massive, unlike the compact iPhone. Users who refuse anything but a smaller, sleeker phone can pretty much stop reading now and grab an Apple iPhone 4S.

Everyone else, however, will be impressed to learn that the HTC EVO 4G LTE has a 4.7-inch, 1280x720 super LCD screen, while the iPhone 4s has a 3.5-inch screen, but they weigh in at 4.7 and 4.9 ounces, respectively.

In other words, you get a much larger screen on the HTC EVO 4G LTE, but you actually save weight. But the phone, at 5.3x2.7x0.35, is much larger than the iPhone 4S, which comes in at 4.5x2.3x0.37.

The differences go far beyond outward appearance and weight, however. First and foremost, in the plus column for the HTC EVO 4G LTE is the fact that it is equipped for 4G LTE, which no Apple phone has been made to handle so far.

Both phones have top-notch 8-megapixel rear-facing cameras, while the iPhone 4s has a VGA front-facing camera and the upcoming HTC EVO model has a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. Both video cameras run at 1080p.

The apps on the iPhone are its most-touted feature but the Android Market (now called Google Play) now has 450,000 apps, compared with the Apple App Store's 500,000. And Android devices now even have access to the beloved Instagram app, at long last.

The iPhone 4s runs iOS 5.1, while the HTC EVO 4G LTE runs the fully customizable Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, and the former does not have NFC, though the latter does. Battery life is better on the HTC phone, which will be equipped with a 2000mAH unit, while the iPhone 4s only has a 1400mAH battery (though the larger screen may cause the battery to drain just as fast or even faster on the HTC EVO 4G LTE.)

And, finally, the price point. The HTC EVO 4G LTE only comes in a 16 GB model, though more can be added via microSD, and it costs $199.99. The Apple iPhone 4s 16 GB edition comes in at the same cost, $199.99, though the 32 GB version is $299.99 and the 64 GB model is $399.99.