EVO 4G

Alright.

I waited for it for months.

I've had it for a weekend.

I'm up in the air.

While this is the most hyped phone that I've ever seen (maybe even deservedly so), there are still some areas where this android uberphone falls short.

Hits:

1. Hardware - This phone is so ridiculously spec'd, I'm not even going to go into it. Spec check here.

2. Screen - relatively speaking, this is a great screen. Like going from CRT to LCD. I hope the rumors of screen glass separation aren't true.

3. HTC's "leap" feature. I can think of a few things that I miss on an Android phone coming from WebOS on a Pre, but "leap" is pretty cool.

4. Android - This OS is young but hungry. It's got fantastic potential to be a serious rival to the control freaks in Cuppertino.

5. Google Apps - Shopper, Sky, Maps, Voice.... nuff said.

Misses:

1. Battery life - If this were a car - think of it like a Ferrari 430 Scuderia. Gorgeous, but thirsty.

2. Android - Missing some of the polish of Apple's OS and WebOS.

3. Some HTC and/or Android apps - Definitely some crapware. LinkeIN is a prime example. Yes it's a beta. But users can't even log in to the beta on the EVO.

4. Flash lite - not even going to comment. At some point Android will offer full flash support. Just not yet :-(

OK, the hardware is great. I mean please, my phone has a kickstand. Does yours?

And Android is a great jumping point for a phone OS. Their app store is much richer that the measly 2500 or so apps on WebOS. And the Google apps have much better integration (like Google Voice).

But there is just no mistaking that the Android UI is not as polished as some others like iphone and WebOS. That's why I'm on the fence. I miss things like Synergy, swipe to delete, video trimming, the cards, and WebOS notifications.

I also miss a few apps like LinkedIN (the beta sucks on Android - at least for the EVO), FlightTracker (free), and PocketMirror for Outlook.

Yes - FlightTracker is paid, PocketMirror could easily be replaced by Mark Sync (or HTC sync if you don't mine not getting task and to-do lists), and there is a LinkedIn app in progress.

I miss that the messaging app doesn't offer the option to message from within your IM accounts like webOS. But Meebo handles that pretty well.

Basically the difference between my Pre and the EVO is UI polish. There's no dout that hardware wise, the EVO is twice the phone that the Pre is. And while the app store doesn't quite match the quantity and overall quality associated with the Apple app store, there's no reason that this relatively new OS couldn't catch up.

I know I keep harping on webOS, but they were pretty polished out of the gate as far as the user experience was concerned. HTC skinned Android with Sense, so they also need to shoulder some of this burden, but Google does as well. I have zero doubt that Android will get there with the polish, and that at some point they will tighten the reigns on the app submissions, bringing up the overall quality of the apps for the platform.

Sprint and HTC have put together a great looking and sexy piece of hardware, now Sprint really needs to get that 4G network rolled out to more that the 23 current markets so that I can video chat with my friends!

Disclaimer:

On a phone this beastly, a weekend is by no means enough time to get acquainted with all of the functionality. I've been following @androidtips and @androidapostle on twitter to help familiarize myself with all Android has to offer. As I get further in, I will post and update with more info. If you would like to follow me, follow @shmilsky.