After much discussion with my peers, I had come to the conclusion that the problems people were seeing with the HTC EVO 4G’s screen were nothing more than a select few, Twitter savvy folk stirring up trouble on the Interwebs. Sure enough… I was wrong.
You see, the day I got my first EVO, I was in complete awe. The screen was unlike anything I had seen before. Even next to an AMOLED equipped phone, I was impressed. Then came the moment when my heart was broken–my EVO had a dead pixel. Not to fear, I thought to myself. I shall call Sprint and swap it out for another.
And so I did. Sprint was extremely helpful and understanding on each and every call I made to them. Once the EVO was finally back in stock, I ordered a replacement and patiently awaited its arrival. Sure enough, on my birthday, my 2nd EVO would grace me with its presence. I was overjoyed! I quickly opened the box, turned on the phone, examined the pixels on the magnificently white boot screen, and noticed it was clear. “Perfect,” I said, as a sign of relief exited my upper extremities.
But then it happened. The EVO had finished booting up and had presented its homescreen. I squinted, checked the brightness settings, then ran to grab my first EVO. The screen on my replacement device may have been pixel complete, but the colors seemed dark, dingy, and overall, unappealing. I didn’t get the same feeling that my original EVO gave me when turning on its gorgeous 4.3″ TFT display. This new EVO was no suitable replacement.
Just to be the tech savvy nerd that I am, I decided to also check out the screens infamous grounding issue. Sure enough, my replacement EVO had that problem as well. I was shocked! Not only did the screen look like it belonged on a sub $200 smartphone, but unless it was on a sturdy surface, it wouldn’t respond properly to touch. This is totally unacceptable for a top-of-the line device.
I will continue pursuing the acquisition of my perfect EVO, as I am still within my 30 days of purchase. But if I had to pick between an EVO with a vibrant screen containing a single dead pixel and an EVO with a dingy and malfunctioning touchscreen, I’m sure I’d take the former.
Below is a video comparing my two EVOs and the issues that the new one has. Keep in mind that both devices were set on auto-brightness for the video. I apologize for the shakiness, as I still don’t have a tripod to use for proper video recording (ordering one soon). Obviously, the color differences are better seen in person, but this should give you some idea as to how different the two screens look. I’m not even sure which device is the model Sprint and HTC intended to release. All I know is that the screen on my first EVO seems much more impressive. Anyone out there wanna weigh in on the EVO’s screen woes? We’d love to hear from you.