HTC Evo 3D

It seems like there are a bazillion Android phones on the market, which means any phone with a brand new feature seems like a colossal improvement.

The latest of these big steps forward was the 'glasses-free' 3D screen on the LG Optimus 3D. Now splashing down is HTC's Evo 3D, with 3D features intended to be less alarming those on the Optimus 3D.

We've got a cheeky little video of the HTC Evo 3D if you want to see the phone in action ahead of our full and in-depth review:

In fact, at first glance, you might mistake the Evo 3D for any other slightly chunkier Android phone with a bright screen and HTC's Sense user interface.

The problem is that the Android line-up has recently moved on to greener pastures, with the super-thin and light Samsung Galaxy S2 widely considered the best Android phone ever made, and our phone pick of the year thus far. That leaves the Evo 3D in a quandary.

The 3D features are remarkably entertaining, especially for a full-length Hollywood feature film in 3D, yet the overall design aesthetic is so early 2011.

As it stands, the phone definitely feels a little chunky – and outdated. It measures 126.1mm x 65.4mm x 11.3mm, which is just a hair thinner than theLG Optimus 3D (11.9mm), but not even in the same league as theSamsung Galaxy S2's 8.5mm. The HTC Evo 3D also feels a bit hefty, with a weight of 170 grams – two grams heavier than the Optimus 3D.

In display terms, the Evo comes out on top, though, with a 4.3-inch screen running at 540x960, surpassing the Optimus 3D's 800x480.

With a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, the Evo 3D is also the faster of the two models. LG makes a big deal of the tri-dual technology on the Optimus 3D, since it uses RAM on the TI OMAP processor and Infineon chipset at the same time.

But, having run tests on both models, the Evo 3D proved to be faster for most activities – especially 3D gaming.

In terms of hardware design, the Evo 3D closely matches the HTC Sensation, except that the front layout is a bit different. Each has the same four buttons – Home, Menu, Back, and Search, but on closer inspection, you'll see the Evo 3D has a large switch on the lower right side for changing the display to work in 2D or 3D.

Essentially, the stereoscopic technology works the same as a home 3D TV in that, in a game or movie, there are actually two images being presented at the same time – one image being perceived by each of your eyes.

Both Samsung and Nokia had 3D phones in Europe several years ago, but they didn't use such sharp, vibrant and massive screens (for mobile phones).

Otherwise, the Evo 3D has standard ports for microUSB (on the left), a large shutter release button for the camera (on the right), and the power and 3.5mm headphone jack up top.

You remove the case to access the innards by creaking the slot on the bottom. On the back, there is a gold-rimmed camera staring at you: a blazing oval that protrudes slightly with two camera lenses for recording 3D photos and movies.

The overall impression here is that the extra 54g of weight compared to theSamsung Galaxy S2 could be a death knell. The main reason to carry this phone around is for the 3D features, so we'll make sure we take a good, hard look at that feature.

Oddly, the HTC Evo 3D does not make as much fanfare about the 3D features as the LG Optimus 3D. There is no dedicated 3D interface (on the Optimus it is called 3D Space) and the Evo 3D doesn't even group 3D apps together.

This could be because HTC rushed the production a bit, and maybe there is a software update waiting in the wings. A more likely guess is that HTC wants the phone to stand on its own and made the 3D features a bit more secondary. It is not a 3D phone, it is a 2D phone that also does 3D.

That means the HTC Sense interface is intact. You can flip easily between the well-design widgets on the home screens, accessing weather and the social networking streams of friends and mild acquaintances, staring at their visage in 2D only.

Full Spesification's For HTC Evo 3D

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 900 / 2100 or HSDPA 850 / 2100
		HSDPA 900 / 1700 / 2100
	SIM	Mini-SIM
	Announced	2011, Q1
	Status	Available. Released 2011, July

BODY	Dimensions	126 x 65 x 12.1 mm (4.96 x 2.56 x 0.48 in)
	Weight	170 g (6.00 oz)

DISPLAY	Type	3D LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	540 x 960 pixels, 4.3 inches (~256 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
	Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass
		- HTC Sense UI

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration, MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes
		- SRS virtual surround sound (via wired headphones)

MEMORY	Card slot	microSD, up to 32 GB
	Internal	1 GB storage, 1 GB RAM

DATA	GPRS	Up to 114 kbps
	EDGE	Up to 560 kbps
	Speed	HSDPA, 14.4 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	Yes, v3.0 with A2DP, EDR
	USB	Yes, microUSB v2.0 (MHL)

CAMERA	Primary	5 MP, 2560х1920 pixels, autofocus, dual-LED flash,check quality
	Features	Stereoscopic photos (2 MP only) & videos; geo-tagging
	Video	Yes, 720p@30fps (2D), 720p@30fps (3D), check quality
	Secondary	Yes, 1.3 MP

FEATURES	OS	Android OS, v2.3 (Gingerbread), upgradable to v4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
	Chipset	Qualcomm MSM8660
	CPU	Dual-core 1.2 GHz
	GPU	Adreno 220
	Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
	Browser	HTML
	Radio	Stereo FM radio with RDS
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support
	Java	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
	Colors	Black
		- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - TV-out (via MHL A/V link) - Google Search, Maps, Gmail - YouTube, Google Talk, Picasa - MP3/AAC+/WAV/WMA player - MP4/Xvid/H.263/H.264/WMV player - Facebook, Flickr, Twitter applications - Organizer - Document viewer/editor - Voice memo/dial/commands - Predictive text input

BATTERY		Li-Ion 1730 mAh battery
	Stand-by	Up to 358 h (2G) / Up to 420 h (3G)
	Talk time	Up to 9 h 20 min (2G) / Up to 7 h 45 min (3G)

MISC	SAR US	0.89 W/kg (head)     1.05 W/kg (body)
	Price group

TESTS	Display	Contrast ratio: 761:1 (nominal)
	Loudspeaker	Voice 65dB / Noise 64dB / Ring 75dB
	Audio quality	Noise -84.0dB / Crosstalk -73.1dB
	Camera	Photo / Video