Sprint's EVO 4G

[Dizik]

Good choice on the EVO Buy, only thing it sounds like it needs is battery life.

I can easily go a full day without recharging. I just made sure to not have Twitter and Facebook constantly searching for updates, paired with disabling GPS, Wi-Fi, and other location services when they're not needed. It does wonders.

[Welch]

Sounds like the same thing I did with my Back flip, I get maybe 3 days unplugged from the wall with a few calls and maybe 10 minutes of games/surfing.. not too bad.

[Kevin]

There's an OTA software update out today. It worked fine for me, although some people have reported that it bricks their phones. Apparently after the update is finished, they got a second update notification and installing that bricks the phone. So be careful.

I haven't had much time to play with it, but it definitely solved some non-grounded touchscreen issues. Looks like the battery performance has changed, we'll see if it was for the better.

[Dizik]

I've also heard that some of the users that had phones bricked by the update were, in fact, doing so on a rooted phone. I have no idea if that is just FUD, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if it were true. In my opinion, you have to be very careful where you get your custom firmware from. Since you really have no idea what those guys are doing, unless you're a programmer, you're doing nothing but taking the word an anonymous person on the internet that it won't do anything malicious/stupid/etc.

In related news, the update didn't brick my phone and I have noticed that the grounding issue has been solved. Though I can't imagine for the life of my how a grounding problem can be remedied via software update. I've also heard through the grapevine that the update unlocked 802.11n, though I can't confirm that as I'm still rocking my WRT54GS (DD-WRT in the house!). If anybody has an N router, can you please test this?

[Dizik]

FYI, the official OTA Android 2.2 (FROYO) update was sent out today. If your phone hasn't already notified you, be sure to manually check for updates.

[Dizik]

It looks like the *#*#4636#*#* service menu, used to disable searching for a GSM signal, is no longer available after the update. Hopefully FROYO's improved the battery usage to where the service menu trick is no longer required.

[Dizik]

Though it doesn't appear to be a feature in 2.2, but my battery life has drastically increased since applying the update. On 2.1, my phone would usually have 25% or less of a charge every day, requiring me to recharge it. Since applying 2.2, I went over 35 hours without requiring a recharge, and I didn't change my usage at all.

[Heiwashin]

That's nice. I sure wish my phone would get 2.2 . One of the things you're stuck accepting with android phones is that eventually they may stop updating your phones software when newer ones come out, and mine is in the list of "will not go higher than 2.1".

[Welch]

Ehhh, thats the case with all phones really...... Apple won't keep releasing major updates for the Iphone 3GS when the Iphone 4 is out, that was the major update. I'm not even sure the Iphone has MAJOR OS upgrades similar to the Android, they are kind of the "You get what you buy" phones, and nothing really changes on them. Then again, like I said before thats just how it is with all of the phones. Some of the software features require new hardware.. so it all comes down to what hardware your phone has and whether the manufacturer wants to spend time working on that phone's updates. Its a damn good reason to have a flagship Android phone, you better your chances of continual updates.

BTW..... Anyone seen the power different from 1.5 or 1.6 to a 2.0/2.1? I'm curious to see the difference once I upgrade..... anyone here with Cliq that recently updates have any insight?

[Dizik]

Swype is awesome.