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Although we didn't experience any problems with call quality and reception, we also didn't see WiMAX perform significantly better than HSPA+ on other carriers -- at least not in San Francisco where it's often difficult to find a strong signal. WiMAX works best outdoors (since 2.5GHz radio waves are more sensitive to obstacles and interference) and locking onto a signal usually requires staying stationary for a minute. We noticed this with the EVO 4G and the Epic 4G last year, but without other "4G" technologies to compare WiMAX to, we simply accepted the status quo. Things are different now that HSPA+ and LTE are viable alternatives -- WiMAX is suddenly less compelling. Power efficiency is another concern. As more carriers deploy HSPA+ and LTE networks, chip manufacturers are more likely to integrate those radios at the SoC level, while WiMAX continues to require a separate radio.
Which brings us to battery life, or the lack thereof. After topping off the EVO 3D, it only took 14 hours and 44 minutes to drain the beefy 1730mAh battery down to 7%. We barely used the handset during that time -- we made a 15-minute call and slept 6 hours. The rest of it was spent taking a half-dozen pictures, and occasionally checking three email accounts plus one Twitter account with all the radios enabled (save for Bluetooth). This is particularly surprising when you consider the Sensation's stellar battery life. 3D photography is particularly taxing on the battery. We saw the charge level drop from full to 60% in about an hour and a half during which we snapped about 80 photos and captured four short videos (about half of this content was in 3D). So, whatever you do, be prepared to bring a charger along with that EVO 3D.
One thing is clear. It's hard to escape the gaze of those red-rimmed cyborg eyes the moment you see them. It's like catching a glance of the Terminator, but knowing you'll live. Yes, Skynet is watching you in three dee now. Indeed, everyone immediately notices the twin 5 megapixel autofocus cameras and dual LED flash, and it's no surprise -- stereoscopic imaging is the EVO 3D's raison d'être. Unfortunately, it's also the source of many compromises, and not just for 3D. Both cameras share what appears to be a decent quality 5 megapixel sensor with better than average low-light performance and low noise. The limiting factor here is the optics -- not the autofocus lenses per se, but the panel protecting the camera pod. We're still not sure if it's made of glass or optical grade plastic, but it causes noticeable halos in the periphery of images containing bright light. While color balance is generally accurate, light metering is hit and miss. For some reason, the issue is exacerbated when snapping 2D pictures. Only the left camera (when facing the screen) is used for 2D shots, and scenes with a wide dynamic range are often over- or under-exposed. Unlike the EVO 4G, there's no spot, center, or average setting to control how light is metered.
Macro photography, while possible in 3D, produces results which are impossible to display properly because the two cameras are too far apart (3.25cm to be exact) when capturing closeups. Another limitation of 3D is that the cameras are disabled if the phone is not held in the horizontal position and in the landscape orientation. You can't gather creative stereoscopic images which, when viewed, would be the equivalent of holding your head sideways. And if you're an astronaut (or other space faring creature), you'll likely run into trouble when taking pictures with the EVO 3D in zero gravity -- you've been warned. Strangely, while both cameras feature 5 megapixel sensors, 3D photos consist of a pair of 2 megapixel widescreen stills (that's 1920x1080 pixels each). Also, zooming is not supported when capturing 3D content. Finally, forget shooting in 3D when the battery charge drops below 15%: it's simply disabled. Of course, none of these limitations apply in 2D and images are captured at full resolution (2560 x 1920 pixels). As you'll notice in our sample gallery, the resulting pictures are adequate but don't show any improvements over HTC's existing 5 megapixel devices when it comes to 2D imaging performance. If anything, quality suffers from the poor optics and exposure problems.
3D images can be saved in either MPO or JPS formats, the latter being easier to view and edit since it basically places the left and right pictures side-by-side into a single JPEG file containing additional metadata. Video is captured smoothly in HD at 720p and 30fps, then encoded using standard H264 -- there's no 1080p support for 2D, despite what's listed in the specs. When recording in 3D the left and right frames are combined and squeezed into 1280x720 pixels by a software process not unlike the anamorphic technique used to fit widescreen content onto 35mm film. The net result is that each original frame is stored using only 640x720 pixels, effectively halving the resolution of the final video. Touch-to-focus plus initial autofocus are available when recording video, and the audio is captured in stereo. In terms of camera interface, there's a silver 2D / 3D sliding switch that selects the shooting mode and a large dedicated 2-stage machined aluminum shutter key that's one of the best we've ever used on any handset -- it provides the right amount of tactile feedback and stiffness without blurring shots. Kudos to HTC for nailing something that should be standard on all phones. The rest of the UI is identical to what we saw on the Sensation. It's pretty intuitive and includes touch-to-focus, face detection and color effects.
Sadly, whether monitoring the live view in 3D or watching stereoscopic content, the EVO 3D's qHD touchscreen is a mixed bag. In addition to washing out in direct sunlight, many people have problems seeing the 3D effect on the display even after being coached to slowly pan sideways until the 3D photos or videos "pop" into place. To make matters worse, the 3D effect looks blurry at the left and right edges of the screen, and pinch-to-zoom switches the display back to 2D. MPO files and 3D videos were handled properly by the Sharp 3D TV we tried, but none of our 3D content worked on the Nintendo 3DS. We were able to convert the original JPS files into the anaglyph images shown in our sample gallery by using a simple 3-step Photoshop process. We were also able to upload and watch 3D videos on YouTube by tweaking a few simple settings to generate anaglyph videos. Old-school red / cyan 3D glasses are required to view this type of content. But ultimately, while 3D is fun and whimsical, we can't help but think it's just a gimmick. As it is today, the EVO 3D's dual cameras suffer from too many compromises that affect the quality of both 2D and 3D imaging.
Which brings us to battery life, or the lack thereof. After topping off the EVO 3D, it only took 14 hours and 44 minutes to drain the beefy 1730mAh battery down to 7%. We barely used the handset during that time -- we made a 15-minute call and slept 6 hours. The rest of it was spent taking a half-dozen pictures, and occasionally checking three email accounts plus one Twitter account with all the radios enabled (save for Bluetooth). This is particularly surprising when you consider the Sensation's stellar battery life. 3D photography is particularly taxing on the battery. We saw the charge level drop from full to 60% in about an hour and a half during which we snapped about 80 photos and captured four short videos (about half of this content was in 3D). So, whatever you do, be prepared to bring a charger along with that EVO 3D.
One thing is clear. It's hard to escape the gaze of those red-rimmed cyborg eyes the moment you see them. It's like catching a glance of the Terminator, but knowing you'll live. Yes, Skynet is watching you in three dee now. Indeed, everyone immediately notices the twin 5 megapixel autofocus cameras and dual LED flash, and it's no surprise -- stereoscopic imaging is the EVO 3D's raison d'être. Unfortunately, it's also the source of many compromises, and not just for 3D. Both cameras share what appears to be a decent quality 5 megapixel sensor with better than average low-light performance and low noise. The limiting factor here is the optics -- not the autofocus lenses per se, but the panel protecting the camera pod. We're still not sure if it's made of glass or optical grade plastic, but it causes noticeable halos in the periphery of images containing bright light. While color balance is generally accurate, light metering is hit and miss. For some reason, the issue is exacerbated when snapping 2D pictures. Only the left camera (when facing the screen) is used for 2D shots, and scenes with a wide dynamic range are often over- or under-exposed. Unlike the EVO 4G, there's no spot, center, or average setting to control how light is metered.
Macro photography, while possible in 3D, produces results which are impossible to display properly because the two cameras are too far apart (3.25cm to be exact) when capturing closeups. Another limitation of 3D is that the cameras are disabled if the phone is not held in the horizontal position and in the landscape orientation. You can't gather creative stereoscopic images which, when viewed, would be the equivalent of holding your head sideways. And if you're an astronaut (or other space faring creature), you'll likely run into trouble when taking pictures with the EVO 3D in zero gravity -- you've been warned. Strangely, while both cameras feature 5 megapixel sensors, 3D photos consist of a pair of 2 megapixel widescreen stills (that's 1920x1080 pixels each). Also, zooming is not supported when capturing 3D content. Finally, forget shooting in 3D when the battery charge drops below 15%: it's simply disabled. Of course, none of these limitations apply in 2D and images are captured at full resolution (2560 x 1920 pixels). As you'll notice in our sample gallery, the resulting pictures are adequate but don't show any improvements over HTC's existing 5 megapixel devices when it comes to 2D imaging performance. If anything, quality suffers from the poor optics and exposure problems.
3D images can be saved in either MPO or JPS formats, the latter being easier to view and edit since it basically places the left and right pictures side-by-side into a single JPEG file containing additional metadata. Video is captured smoothly in HD at 720p and 30fps, then encoded using standard H264 -- there's no 1080p support for 2D, despite what's listed in the specs. When recording in 3D the left and right frames are combined and squeezed into 1280x720 pixels by a software process not unlike the anamorphic technique used to fit widescreen content onto 35mm film. The net result is that each original frame is stored using only 640x720 pixels, effectively halving the resolution of the final video. Touch-to-focus plus initial autofocus are available when recording video, and the audio is captured in stereo. In terms of camera interface, there's a silver 2D / 3D sliding switch that selects the shooting mode and a large dedicated 2-stage machined aluminum shutter key that's one of the best we've ever used on any handset -- it provides the right amount of tactile feedback and stiffness without blurring shots. Kudos to HTC for nailing something that should be standard on all phones. The rest of the UI is identical to what we saw on the Sensation. It's pretty intuitive and includes touch-to-focus, face detection and color effects.
Sadly, whether monitoring the live view in 3D or watching stereoscopic content, the EVO 3D's qHD touchscreen is a mixed bag. In addition to washing out in direct sunlight, many people have problems seeing the 3D effect on the display even after being coached to slowly pan sideways until the 3D photos or videos "pop" into place. To make matters worse, the 3D effect looks blurry at the left and right edges of the screen, and pinch-to-zoom switches the display back to 2D. MPO files and 3D videos were handled properly by the Sharp 3D TV we tried, but none of our 3D content worked on the Nintendo 3DS. We were able to convert the original JPS files into the anaglyph images shown in our sample gallery by using a simple 3-step Photoshop process. We were also able to upload and watch 3D videos on YouTube by tweaking a few simple settings to generate anaglyph videos. Old-school red / cyan 3D glasses are required to view this type of content. But ultimately, while 3D is fun and whimsical, we can't help but think it's just a gimmick. As it is today, the EVO 3D's dual cameras suffer from too many compromises that affect the quality of both 2D and 3D imaging.
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