(Picture of my first iPhone after it's disastrous fight with my Evo. (aka it fell from several feet))
Continued today is my coverage of the Evo 4G. Previously I covered the hardware and now it's time to talk about Sprint's network that carries my data bits to and fro, including 4G.
Sprint
In about 2003, I switched to Cingular from Nextel (who is ironically now Sprint). I made this switch for the greater selection of new phones and the ability to import foreign phones which are far more advanced. I did this for several years, basking in the glory of having too-good-for-the-US hardware in my hand.
Then the iPhone came out. It changed the world of cell phones and mobile computing. After many long discussions with my close friend, we came to the conclusion that the iPhone was the best phone you could buy. So I used that for 2 years, and during this time I personally found that our conclusion was horribly wrong.
The iPhone is a great piece of technology, a mini-computer that raised the bar for Human-Computer interactions for all devices, changed the world's perspective on what a smartphone is. Yet ultimately, it's a terrible phone. Whether this is AT&Ts or Apple's fault, I don't care...when I had that phone, in this city, I could hardly ever make a call from my house, at work, and on the train. When it did connect, I swear to whatever god it dropped my calls at least 50% of the time.
Three weeks in, the Evo on Sprint's network continues to surprise me. Every time I hit the "Call" button, the phone instantly responds with a slight buzz indicating the call is connected and ringing...what a novelty! On top of that, I get signal everywhere I've been and I've yet to wait for network bars to fill up to make a call. Sprint's 3G network in Chicago is great and I'm taking full advantage of it.
However, I am slightly worried about rural coverage. I've heard reports that Sprint may be very solid in urban areas but once you leave them, the name of the game is Roaming. In late July, I'll be taking a trip to the middle-of-nowhere Michigan, and I'll get my first real chance to test this out.
As for the Chicago suburbs, 3G held strong. I took an hour-long drive out there this past weekend, from my garage in the city to the Grayslake area, a route that I was used to experience frequent signal drops. But feeling confident with Sprint, I fired up Pandora, plugged the Evo into the AUX jack of my other favorite possession:
In the two hours of driving, I felt like I was in the future. I bypassed the archaic FM tuner and instead floated digital bits of music to my phone, through my car, and into my ears, uninterrupted, for the entire trip to and fro. I know Pandora streaming over cell networks has been around for a while...but for some reason this felt totally new and exciting. With this new found confidence and reassurance of the music not cutting out, I find myself using this setup more and more. It's awesome.
4G
Here in Chicago, we're one of the lucky cities to be blanketed in succulent 4G coverage. As one of my friends put it, it's like having a "mobile land line" to the interwebs, just like being plugged in at home. It's that fast. Game changing fast. When I load a website, the mobile version pops in like it was stored on the phone. I'll try to hunt down the button to load the full version site and in the matter of 3-4 seconds the entire site is loaded. Each map tile loads almost instantly and makes scrolling around to find a route a pleasant experience. "Sexy..." as another friend put it while browsing satellite imagery of Chicago. For those who care, average speeds are 2 to 3.5 mb/s down and 1mb up (which is capped by Sprint), with response times around 50-100ms.
Battery life while using 4G takes a hit. So I toggle it on only when needed, which takes about 10-15 seconds for the Evo to connect to the fat data pipe and away I go.
As for obtaining and maintaining a 4G signal, it's hit or miss. When I do need it, I can connect about 75% of the time. Not having 4G a quarter of the time kinda sucks... kinda. I still always have 3G, which works in a pinch. I think it comes down to perception. If in 2 years from now, when other 4G networks are out there and running strong, and I still can only connect 75% of the time, I'll be pissed. But for now, it's a luxury and one that I'm happy to enjoy when I can get it.
Even if you're not in a 4G zone, Sprint says they'll be covering significantly more parts of the US by the year's end. Specifically, New York, LA, and San Fran will have it by the end of this Summer (2010).
Next up, the 3rd and final chapter: Software.
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