Longer usable life? EVO4G or Droid Incredible

[Cam501]

I'm going to be switching either to Sprint with an EVO 4G or to Verizon with a Droid Incredible within the next few days. For a variety of reasons I can't wait on or afford the new phones about to be released (i.e. Thunderbolt etc). My current phone is dying fast (goes through batteries fast and the screen is going). Which of these two phones will have a longer usable lifespan? Currently I'm in an area that does not have 4G yet. I can find both phones at a reasonable price, and though I can't afford the next generation of phones coming out, I want to get the most for my money so that i'm not buying something completely obsolete.

 

[novox77]

I own an Evo while a coworker has the Incredible. You know, battery life is going to depend a lot more on your individual usage. For example, I told this guy I had my phone rooted and configured so that I can get 2 full days without charging under moderate use. His jaw dropped. He never gets more than a day.

But then we talked about our usage, and we found out that I get about 50 emails a day via exchange. He gets about 300. I'm on voice calls about 2 hours a day. He's talking about 3-4 hours. He was unrooted.

So I had him root, configure it as ideally as possible. Battery life improved for him but still not better than mine. It's not really saying which phone has better battery life; I'm sure if I owned the Incredible, I could get it to go 2 days before a charge.

Personally, I like the size of my Evo. It's a much larger phone than the Incredible, so that's something to consider. Stock Evo battery is 1500mAh. Stock Incredible battery is 1300mAh. Smaller screen means less consumption, therefore smaller capacity battery.

Not sure what Verizon's plans look like, but I like Sprint's. The base plan is a net $80/mo. You get unlimited data, unlimited SMS, and free mobile-to-mobile minutes (no minutes used when calling a cell number, or when a cell calls you). Been with Sprint since 1999. Great coverage, dropped calls are very rare.

 

[Medion]

Depends on what you consider to be usable. Are we talking how long until the phone physically dies (as in your current case), or how long until the device is no longer supported?

In terms of hardware, they have similar build quality, though some feel the Evo is slightly ahead. LCDs have a longer life than AMOLED, which is now irrelevant since if you buy an Incredible today, it will be an SLCD. I would think physical life should be similar between the two.

As for how long they will be supported, there's three main factors involved.

1. How long HTC makes ROMs for the platform (which includes both phones and the original desire). Looks like they're porting 2.3/2.4 to it based on a recent leak/rumor, so software life in that regard seems good.

2. The carriers' feelings on it. Sprint STILL features the EVO as a key phone, so they want to support it. Verizon is clearly getting ready to phase out the Incredible. This is one in favor of the Evo.

3. Sales. The Evo has been disclosed as selling more then 3.5 million phones. The Incredible doesn't have released sales figures, but it has been confirmed as less than the Evo. Fewer sales leads to earlier termination of support. This is another point in the Evo's favor.

 

[Guamguy]

For battery life, check which carrier has the stronger signal or the most bars in your area. When confronted with a weaker signal, phones tend to boost power to the transmissions which in turn causes depletion of power. If you put the same phone in a place where you got four bars, and the same phone in an area with one bar, the phone with one bar is going to deplete power faster than with four bars even just doing nothing.

And besides, with more bars, you also get faster data transmissions and that's not bad too

 

[Mac_Leod]

3. Sales. The Evo has been disclosed as selling more then 3.5 million phones. The Incredible doesn't have released sales figures, but it has been confirmed as less than the Evo. Fewer sales leads to earlier termination of support. This is another point in the Evo's favor.

The Incredible was plauged by shortages due to the AMOLED screen, though, so that might be a reason why the Evo sold more.

I'm kind of biased towards the Incredible since I own it, but both phones are very good.

Both phones are also supported by the dev community, so if you're into rooting, you'll have quite a bit of longevity.

 

[BORIStheBLADE]

I Agree with a lot that has been said about battery and signal strength.

I own a Incredible and will throw in my two cents.. I am on my third Incredible. The reason I'm on my third one is because the speaker used for speaker phone and ringer keeps blowing. I don't even have the ringer up all the way. After the first phone was replaced I searched and found that this is/was a pretty big issue with others. I don't know if the new one I received last week is updated so it doesn't blow, but I'm pretty bummed out about it. I have never had a phone with the same recurring problem like this. Other than that I love the phone.

So what I'm getting at is see which one has the least amount of issues too.

 

[sitlet]

Strictly comparing the two phone's specs, the evo comes with a 1500mah battery, and the Inc a 1300mah battery. However, the evo's bigger screen will use more battery, so i would have to say, going by the specs, they should be about the same.

 

[Guamguy]

The Incredible was plauged by shortages due to the AMOLED screen, though, so that might be a reason why the Evo sold more.

I'm kind of biased towards the Incredible since I own it, but both phones are very good.

Both phones are also supported by the dev community, so if you're into rooting, you'll have quite a bit of longevity.

The EVO also had shortages for roughly the same period as the Droid Incredible was. The DINC shifted to SLCD sometime late summer.

The Droid Incredible has a lot more competition on the same network than the EVO did. The Droid X ultimately became the numer one Android phone sold in the US, followed by the EVO. Number three is another Verizon stablemate, the Droid 2.

 

[Guamguy]

I Agree with a lot that has been said about battery and signal strength.

I own a Incredible and will throw in my two cents.. I am on my third Incredible. The reason I'm on my third one is because the speaker used for speaker phone and ringer keeps blowing. I don't even have the ringer up all the way. After the first phone was replaced I searched and found that this is/was a pretty big issue with others. I don't know if the new one I received last week is updated so it doesn't blow, but I'm pretty bummed out about it. I have never had a phone with the same recurring problem like this. Other than that I love the phone.

So what I'm getting at is see which one has the least amount of issues too.

I got a Droid Incredible since last August and I never encountered this. My ringer is set up all the way too.

 

[Deleted User]

I had an iPhone2 and 3G and a HERO and I own an EVO and battery life was nominal on all of them with the level of data I pipe through. The newer processors are supposed to manage that better. If you use a lot of data you can simply expect to see battery loss. Look at th specs from the iphone 2G to 3G and the data consumption dropped significantly. Keep a charger at every station ..ie home, in the car, and at work. Otherwise buy spare batteries no matter what you choose.

 

[BORIStheBLADE]

I got a Droid Incredible since last August and I never encountered this. My ringer is set up all the way too.

I wish I was as lucky as you.