HTC Evo 3D review

LG won the race to put out the first 3D smartphone, with its Optimus 3D boasting twin cameras and an auto-stereoscopic screen, but industry giant HTC isn’t far behind. The HTC Evo 3D is a similar proposition, but with a few key differences.

The first is its camera controls. Like the LG, it has two cameras on a raised panel on the rear, here boasting two 5-megapixel sensors separated by a twin-LED flash. The difference is that HTC has placed a physical switch on the right side for flicking quickly between 2D and 3D mode, next to a proper two-phase shutter button. A small silver circle, it lets you push halfway to focus just like a normal camera, and is a vast improvement on touching the screen to prepare a shot.

We took a variety of test photos and videos in both 2D and 3D, and there are big differences between the two. In 2D mode you get the full 5-megapixel resolution of one of the two lenses, compared to at best 2-megapixel stills or 720p video in 3D mode. At first glance it looks like there’s no HDMI output, but it’s actually combined with the USB connector (it’s called Mobile High-Definition Link, or HML); with the right third-party cable you can output video up to 1080p onto a bigger screen.

What doesn’t change across 2D and 3D is the poor quality. Our outdoor test photos showed significant striping in solid areas of colour, and some of the compression artefacts are quite nasty. Low-light performance was average, and filming video in our podcast studio saw the white balance lurching up and down in horrible steps, with glitches momentarily appearing at some points.

That’s disappointing given the 3D is the primary reason to buy this phone, and that’s compounded further by the lacklustre screen. Much like the HTC Sensation, upon which this phone is based, the Evo 3D boasts a 4.3in screen with a high 540 x 960 resolution. That makes for a pleasant improvement in sharpness over the standard 480 x 800 screens of most modern phones, and the general appearance of icons and menus can’t be faulted.

We measured its maximum brightness at 433cd/m[sup]2[/sup], not iPhone 4 levels but very good nonetheless. But that’s let down somewhat by a contrast ratio of 535:1, and some very muted colour reproduction. There’s no real punch to anything, leaving images looking washed out and lifeless. It isn’t the worst we’ve seen by any stretch, but it doesn’t come close to the vibrancy of an iPhone 4 or Samsung Galaxy S II.

Visuals aside, the Evo 3D’s hardware is impressive. We’ve already touched on the excellent camera controls, and the rest of the case feels solid and durable, albeit chunky around the back where the dual cameras sit. Our only major physical gripe is the squishy and thin power button, which we had to poke with a fingernail to ensure proper contact.

Inside is the common dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm processor, along with an Adreno 220 graphics chip and 1GB of RAM. Performance was perfectly good, although not quite up there with the best: it completed the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark in 6.5 seconds, loaded the BBC homepage in six seconds, and scored 1,784 in the Quadrant test.

Where the LG Optimus 3D fell down was in its battery life, so we were keen to see if that was a unique problem for that phone or a more general issue with the demands of 3D. After our 24-hour test – in which we play a podcast for an hour, make a 30-minute phone call, lock the screen on for an hour and then leave the phone syncing email over 3G – the HTC Evo 3D had just ticked down from 50% to 40% left. That’s a huge step up from the disastrous LG, and only a little way behind the best phones these days.

So battery life isn’t a big problem, but even if you can look past the poor camera and the muted screen, the HTC Evo 3D must answer a similar question to the LG Optimus 3D: how many people want a 3D phone? Although taking photos and seeing them come to life has a certain charm, it isn’t a good enough reason to put up with lesser performance in other, more important areas. The HTC is a more attractive proposition than the LG on the whole, but it has major flaws, so until someone adds 3D to a phone that also ticks all the other boxes, it’s going to remain one for the novelty box.

Related Posts

Samsung Galaxy S7 Review: A Great Phone in its Day, but Don’t Buy One Private Internet Access Review Pluto TV Review—Is It Worth It? ExpressVPN Review – Unbiased and Tested In-House “Your Payment Requires Additional Review” in Zelle – What Does it Mean? CyberGhost Review How to Allow Camera Access on Snapchat How to Save Videos in SnapChat