HTC Evo 3D Review

The HTC Evo 3D separates itself from the rest of the smartphone pack by including two 5MP rear cameras to produce stereoscopic 3D images and videos. Like the high-end LED TVs we’ve seen lately, the 3D rendering is either regarded as a gimmick or the next big thing in entertainment. Check out our full review of the HTC Evo 3D after the jump.

The Evo 3D has the genetic make-up of the Desire HD and the specs of the Sensation, down to the 256 pixel density of the screen. At 12.1mm thick, the handset feels a bit stubby compared to most other HTC smartphones in its league.

What’s a bit of an eye-sore, and depending on how you look at it, is that large circular aluminum camera shutter button on the side.

The power button is placed on the top right corner of the unit along with the 3.5mm audio port. Beside that is a dedicated microphone which is used for active noise cancellation. The micro-USB port is on the left side and the volume control is on the right.

The large camera button is on the right side along with a slider control for the 2D/3D image capture. The back panel is covered in a somewhat soft rubbery material in a fourth matte finish and three-fourths diagonal stripes.

The two cameras are found in the middle, about an inch apart from each other, with the dual-LED flash sandwiched in the center.

There’s a thick, red band that wraps the camera around where the speaker grills are also found.

Up at the front is the large 4.3-nch display with a resolution of 540×960 pixels giving it a nice 256ppi screen density — not at the top of the food chain but close.

At the bottom corner is the touch panel for the usual Android menu — Home, Settings, Back and Search. I would have preferred the physical ones but these will do.

Much like the other smartphones that came out from HTC, the display on the Evo 3D is stunning. It’s very similar to the ones we saw in the Desire S and the Sensation.

The 540×960 resolution is just right for a 4.3-inch screen and I have no qualms in saying HTC makes the nicest displays on a smartphone line-up (they have a few misses as well but in general, most of their handsets have gorgeous display screens).

Of course, that glossy display is no match against direct sunlight and the bright outdoors but that’s already expected of any display screens nowadays.

The HTC Evo 3D runs Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread out of the box. You also get the very nice and fluid HTC Sens 3.0 UI that’s built by HTC on top of the mobile OS. It’s got a really nice and smooth animation and transition effects that make the user experience more enjoyable.

You have 7 home screens you can customize with Android widgets and those beautiful HTC widgets, plus a few dozen more shortcuts and live screens.

And since this is an Android device, you have access to Android Market with hundreds of thousands of apps and games at your disposal.

The EVO 3D’s processor and RAM combo provides top-notch performance although we’re still disappointed that HTC would not allocate more internal storage to its handsets. This unit only has 1GB but you can expand it to 32GB via the microSD card slot.

HTC Evo 3D X515m:
4.3″ 3D Super-LCD display @ 960×540 pixels (256ppi)
1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8660
Adreno 220 chip
1GB RAM
1GB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD
Dual 5MP autofocus camera with LED flash
720p 3D video recording
1.3MP front camera for video calls
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, WiFi hotspot
HSDPA 14.4Mbps; HSUPA 5.76Mbps
TV-out (via MHL A/V link)
Bluetooth 3.0
GPS w/ aGPS
1730mAh Li-Ion
HTC Sense UI 3.0
Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread

Quadrant Standard scores goes up to 1983 which is pretty good and very close to the scores of the HTC Sensation.

Web browsing is fairly fast and smooth with the built-in browser (though you can download your own from the Market) and has support for Flash. Multi-touch gestures worked pretty well on web pages, photos and documents.

Audio quality is nice and crisp although I feel it’s not loud enough — probably because the speakers were placed at the back. Watching videos is equally nice both in native 2D and in 3D (more on this later).

The 3D stereoscopic cameras on the HTC Evo 3D is its main selling point. That, plus the ability to play 3D videos, photos and games on the device itself. It uses the same technology as most of those 3D LED TVs you see in the market today. That means you can watch them using those cheap 3D glasses you wear in the movie theaters (or you can make one of your own with colored plastic; specifically, using the blue and red ones). For the most part though, you can easily get the perception of depth and the 3D effect with the naked eye.

You can take photos and videos in either 2D mode or 3D mode (controlled by the slider/switch beside the camera shutter button). Maximum resolution for 2D photos is 5MP and 720p for regular videos. In 3D mode, the resolution goes down to just 2MP for stills but still 720p for videos.

Here are sample photos taken with the HTC Evo 3D.

Photo quality ranges from good to great, depending on the ambient conditions and the amount of light. The camera doesn’t hold well on low-light environments (this is where noise and pixelation is more prominent).

I’ve uploaded a sample 3D video on YouTube. You will need to wear 3D glasses to appreciate this: http://youtu.be/hGvCsffkT48?hd=1 (Don’t forget to tick the 720p video playback mode to see the highest resolution).

As for apps and games, there are actually a number of 3D stereoscopic games available in the Android Market. The more popular ones are from Gameloft which includes Spider Man 3D, Assassin’s Creed 3D, Asphalt 3D and GT Racing 3D to name a few.

Battery life is something we all wish were better on Android handsets such as the Evo 3D. Even if HTC bumped the rating to 1730mAh, I still find the whole system very power-hungry, especially when connected to 3G internet. As such, I’m already happy if the handset can last the entire day without re-charging. By now, we’re all used to that routine with our smartphones, right?

Even without the 3D features, the HTC Evo 3D can stand on its own two feet. It may not be the sexiest or the slimmest smartphone around but its got a good, solid design and construction, an impressive set of hardware configuration and a good pair of eyes (I mean, cameras).

The 3D features might seem gimmicky to others but that’s a feature you can easily ignore and find good use in the proper place and time.

For a street price of just Php21,600USD 368INR 31,203EUR 351CNY 2,681, the HTC Evo 3D makes for an interesting handset — a rare bree if I may add, considering this is one of only two models available in the local market that offers that fancy 3D effect.

Disclosure: Widget City provided us with this review unit of the HTC Evo 3D. You can check out their online store here. Widget City is also an advertiser on this blog.