Sprint 4G Phone Hits New Speeds, but Battery Lags
On Thursday, August 26, 2010
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The major wireless phone companies have begun building out the next generation of cellular phone systems, called 4G, or fourth-generation, networks. These networks are designed t
o offer much faster data speeds than the current speediest networks, which are called 3G.
Sprint is leading this race. Its 4G network already is available in 32 cities, and the company plans to add at least 14 more by year end WSJ's Personal Technology columnist Walt Mossberg tests Sprint's HTC EVO 4G -- the first phone in the U.S. that works on the new, faster 4G network. He says while the phon
e is noticeably faster on the 4G network, it does have its downsides.
Now, Sprint is preparing to release the first 4G-capable phone in the U.S. on June 4. I've been testing it for about a week in two cities: Baltimore, where Sprint has fully rolled out 4G, and Washington, D.C., where it is in the process of doing so.This new phone, which
also works on Sprint's 3G network, is called the EVO 4G. It runs Google's Android operating system and is built by HTC, based in Taiwan. It will cost $200 after a $100 mail-in rebate, with a two-year contract. Monthly fees will start at $80 for unlimited data and text messages, 450
talk minutes, and free calls to any mobile phone on any network. That's a $10 hike from Sprint's comparable plan for 3G phones.
The HTC EVO 4G, when used on Sprint's 4G network, offers the highest consistent downstream data speeds I have ever seen on a cellular network. It also has a number of other strong features: a front-facing camera for video chatting, and the ability to serve as a Wi-Fi hotspot (for an extra fee of $30 a month) that can simultaneously connect up to eight laptops or other devices to the Internet.
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