So I picked up this little gem about a month ago after getting fed up with AT&T. I originally had an iPhone 3G, which I found to be a great phone aside from the disadvantages of being on the AT&T network. When release day came for the Evo, (June 4th), I was a bit worried that since I did not pre-order, I may not be able to find out. I called every Radioshack and Bestbuy within 30 miles or so of my house. I managed to find a Radioshack that had 1 left due to a pre-order customer canceling. I quickly drove down to the store to pickup my new toy. Due to the Sprint activation network being overloaded, I sat there for about 2.5 hours waiting for my phone to get activated. I didn’t mind too much, other than the fact I was going to be late to a meeting at work (whoops!).

The wait was worth it!

The Evo is a beast of a device, both in size and specs. The 4.3-inch 800×480 screen is nothing short of amazing. No other device available in North America has an 8-megapixel camera that shoots 720p video and a forward facing camera for video chat. The EVO 4G is a well-oiled machine thanks to the 1GHz Snapdragon processor. And let’s not forget about the kickstand or 4G WiMax support, as well as wireless hotspot functionality. Bottom line: It has everything you need.

One downside that I’ve noticed so far is the device ships with Android 2.1 rather than the latest Android 2.2 that contains many updates including:

• Automatic application updating
• OTA app downloads
• Remote wipe for enterprise
• iTunes sync
• Native hotspot support (There is Sprint Hotspot, though)
• Support for Flash 10.1
• App storage on a microSD card

Fortunately for us, it has already been stated by Sprint that the Evo will be getting an update to android 2.2 in the near future.

From my experience and day to day usage, the device is quite capable of handling anything that you would expect from a smartphone. I believe the initial scare of the battery issues may have been due to specific apps that people are running, because I honestly do not have any problems with my Evo lasting throughout the day assuming I am not running on 4G, watching movies, or using the GPS the entire time.

The 8-megapixel camera is decent for a cell phone, though it seems to struggle in low light situations. The 720p camcorder also suffers from the same issue, but is fine for just tooling around taking short videos and snapshots here and there.

The 4G wimax access is pretty nice if you’re in an area that supports it. Fortunately Atlanta is one of the first markets to have it, so it works pretty well in the city. Unfortunately I live a ways outside the city and struggle to get a connection at home, not really a big deal considering I have Wifi here.

The HUGE selling point for me was the Sprint plans that are paired with it. Sprint offers the most affordable voice/text/data packages of any carrier currently. You can get 450 voice, unlimited text/data, unlimited mobile to mobile (any carrier!), and unlimited nights/weekends for just $70/month. Unfortunately they also tack on an extra $10/month fee specific to the Evo, which is rather annoying to say the least. Do not let the 450 minutes a month scare you, remember that only applies to landlines! In this day and age, most of us make 90% or more of our calls to cell phones anyways.

I have not had a chance to test the mobile hotspot feature yet. Sprint is charging an extra $30/month for it, and to be honest, I completely understand why they would do this. Unfortunately for them, I cant afford it, and I can just root my phone to get the same functionality for free.

In conclusion, this is a great phone. If you’re on the wall on whether or not to pick one up, I urge you to give it a shot. Sprint offers a 30 day money back guarantee to try it out, so you really have nothing to lose.