HTC EVO Design 4G

“The HTC EVO Design 4G is a great affordable smartphone for Sprint. At $99.99 with a two-year contract, it's the second 4G smartphone on Sprint to launch for less than $100, though some older 4G phones now cost less than $100 up front. But the EVO Design is a significant step up from most of those phones—it's one of the best 4G smartphones you can buy on Sprint, and the price is just a bonus.”

“Lacking super premium specs like a dual-core processor, a qHD or HD display, and 8-megapixel camera, you might be tempted to think of the HTC Evo Design 4G as an attempt to dumb down a proven phone to sell at a lower price point. Make no mistake: this is an excellent smartphone, especially for the price. The Evo design 4G is generously endowed with a winning combination of speed, style, wicked-smart software, and a great camera that takes excellent shots. The fact that HTC can package all this software and hardware power into a stylish presentation and sell it for just about $100 makes it a fantastic value.”

“The HTC EVO Design 4G isn’t a premium phone, but it sure acts and feels like one a lot of the time. The build is simply one of the best on the market, with a gorgeous display to compliment the clean lines. Performance is fluid, connectivity options are plentiful and battery life was solid. The camera could be better and callers weren’t thrilled with the microphone pickup, so there is some room for improvement. Still, as a “budget” 4G device a $99 EVO Design 4G is a steal even when you don’t consider that the Samsung Conquer is the competition. In fact, it’s really just a dual core processor and a slight bump in memory away from being one of the finer devices available.”

“At a steep $299, the HTC Evo Design 4G is certainly the most expensive smartphone currently in Boost Mobile's lineup. I consider it expensive even given that its price doesn't tie you to a lengthy service contract. Also, just because the phone costs a pretty penny doesn't automatically mean it's the best Boost device money can buy. While I like its premium metal feel, this phone is thick and heavy. Its slow performance is underwhelming, too, and puts a tired face on its fancy Android Ice Cream Sandwich software. That calls into question the usefulness of ICS since I'd rather have pep than a modest software bump. Perhaps the smoothness of Android Jelly Bean would have made the Evo Design more compelling. Additionally the Evo Design's camera is sluggish especially when stacked up against more recent handsets such as HTC's own Evo 4G LTE. A more prudent move would be to scoop up the $129.99 Samsung Galaxy Prevail, which, while not ultrathin and lacking Android 4.0, is much cheaper.”