By The HTC Evo 3D is America’s first 3D smartphone and is only available to those lucky customers on Sprint’s network. Boasting dual-cameras on its rear, it can not only take 3D photos and video but also display them on its glasses-free 3D display. The Evo 4G is barely a year old and there are a ton of other great HTC devices on just about every network under the sun. So, is the Evo 3D really that much a jump over the competition in terms of build quality, software and hardware? Well, we hope to answer all those questions in this review and hopefully we’ll find out if this phone is the right upgrade for you.
Hardware Review
All around, I was very impressed by the build quality of the device. HTC definitely knows the definition of “high-end” and there’s no denying that you really feel like you’re holding $600 worth of technology. HTC decided to trade that horrible cheap plastic trim from the first Evo, for a more durable aluminum (no more cracks, screen separation or marring). This gives the phone an all around more solid and premium feel to it. Physical rocker buttons along the side click nicely and there’s no escaping that big, silver “Frankenstein” shutter button for snapping pics.
On the inside you have Qualcomm’s newest 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor. Although the OS still doesn’t allow it to fire on all 2 cylinders, the speed improvements when opening apps (and even how warm the phone gets) is apparent over the OG Evo. HTC advertises 4GB’s of internal memory, though only 1GB of that is actually usable for installing apps. This will most likely raise a few eyebrows. Sneaky. Along the left side of the phone you will find the standard micro USB port that doubles as a micro HDMI output for displaying 3D content or playing 3D games on a 3D enabled television. It’s actually pretty impressive if you ever have the opportunity to see it in action.
What could easily be seen as the main attraction on the phone is its 4.3-inch (long and narrow) 960×540 qHD 3D display. One thing I found that was left out of every review I’ve read/watched is the fact that the SLCD display isn’t as bright or vivid as the Sensation and nowhere near as vibrant as the SLCD on the Thunderbolt. Viewing angles are pretty bad and colors wash out quick when tilting the phone in any angle. This is likely due in part to the 3D display being used seeing how the HTC Sensation didn’t suffer from the same issues. Still, the high resolution display is a big leap over the original Evo 4G and because of the higher DPI, there is more content displayed on the screen (my favorite part about qHD resolution).
The dual 5MP 3D cameras are hard to miss and protrude from the back of the device making them easy targets for scratches, especially when laying the phone down. The glaring omission of last generation’s kickstand definitely stings especially when laying the phone down on a hard surface. A 3rd party case is almost mandatory for anyone looking to protect their double cameras and HTC conveniently makes their own case complete with beefy kickstand. Soft touch and textured battery cover make the phone easy to grip but the aluminum trim around the camera hole actually bends and warps when trying to remove the impossibly difficult battery cover. Bad planning by HTC on that one.
The noise cancelling microphone on the device is a nice touch and call quality seems to be generally clearer and more crisp than the Evo 4G although the speaker on the back is so quiet it practically renders the speaker phone useless. HTC included an 8GB Class 4 micro SD card with the device and although I applaud HTC for making it 100 times more accessible than last years model, you still have to remove the battery to access it. Kind of a bummer but really, how often do you need to take out the SD card?
3D Review
Love it or hate, gimmick or not, the 3D capabilities of the Evo 3D are definitely the phone’s biggest selling point. While they don’t make the phone, it can more or less be seen as the icing on the cake. I will admit, viewing angles are pretty narrow when viewing 3D content but that’s the price you pay for glasses free 3D. Protip: The 3D alignment can be adjusted to suit your angle which is a big help for those having trouble getting their eyes to cross correctly. Yes, the 3D display will make some people feel ill but I remember the same thing being said when video-games began hitting 30fps back in the day. My eyes adjusted fine to the 3D display but it might have something to do with the fact that I’ve always been pretty good with those Magic Eye books as a kid. Don’t forget, if you’re not feeling the 3D functions, simply switch to 2D mode. Problem solved. One thing that can’t be argued is the fact the 3D display is a huge conversation piece, pulling people in and letting first timers experience the joys of Android and beauty of HTC Sense.
Software Review
Sense 3.o completely rocks my socks. Everything from DLNA, Media Sharing, Scenes, Skins, Widgets, Camera app — totally outdoes stock, boring, vanilla Android in terms of functionality, beauty and ease of use. Surprisingly, the one part about Sense I didn’t like was the launcher. I found that it wasn’t as smooth as some reviewers will have you believe and I want to say it’s locked at around 30fps or so. As for me, I’d happily take the old fashioned, non-carousel Sense 2.1 launcher any day. The reason I suspect there is a frame rate cap on this new launcher (like the original Evo) is because the Adreno GPU should easily make that thing fly well above 60fps. Can you tell I’m upset about this? Let’s hope HTC will fix this in future updates.
Because of Sense 3.0, the camera software is probably the most robust I’ve seen on a smartphone to date. Besides the 3D function, the Camera app provides TONS of real-time and post effects for hiptsers, teenage girls and wanna be photographers to play around with. The Gallery app even comes trim feature allowing you to do some light video editing and is something Android has been lacking for awhile now.
The phone also comes pre-installed with Swype and while some will consider this a good thing, it actually means you can’t uninstall the app and/or install the newer and improved Swype Beta’s currently released by the developer. A lot of reviewers missed this but HTC has also upgraded their keyboard software, Touch Input, doing away with those annoying arrow keys and adding their new Swype-like, Trace Input as an alternate method of entering text (you can enable it in the keyboard settings).
As always, Sprint throws on their typical Sprint apps like Nascar and Mobile Wallet but don’t freak — As it stands, Sprint is the only carrier that will allow you to uninstall these apps from your device. However, there are still some apps that come pre-loaded like Swype and the Spiderman demo that cannot be uninstalled (might be time for root).
One thing I was incredibly disappointed to see was the lack of HTC’s Flashlight app! The reason I’m so upset is because this was probably one of the most used apps on my original Evo for navigating the dark (I’m nocturnal) and looking for lost keys. Oddly enough, the Sensation has the app pre-installed. Thankfully, I’ve been informed that the app is finally available from the HTC Hub app on your phone (sign up required) so all will be right with the world again. Oh- if you don’t feel like signing up for HTC Hub I’ve gone ahead and provided a download for the app here:
Download HTC Flashlight App here
I can’t possibly close my software review without mentioning the bootloader (for all you Android modders out there). Yes, the bootloader is encrypted and completely locked. Yes, HTC said they would provide an update to unlock it. Yes, HTC recently gave a rough September launch date for the OTA. HTC would also like you to know that the update needs to be fully tested and cleared with Sprint before we’ll see a rollout so if you’re not the patient type, and flashing ROMs is an absolute must for you — this might no be the phone for you. Although, I’m usually the first person to run out and root my phone as soon as an exploit is found, I have felt no rush to do so with this device and I’m currently enjoying it in all of its encrypted, unrooted glory.
Multimedia Review
When it comes to gaming, the included Spiderman 3D demo plays nice and smooth thanks to Qualcomm’s powerful Adreno 220 GPU and still runs great even when outputting to an HD television in 720p. Also, unlike Tegra 2 devices, 720p HD Flash movies and videos play silky smooth in the the browser with no frame dropping. If you try to go higher to 1080p, it will cause extreme frame skipping but really, there’s no reason to go that high when the phone wont even output in 1080p. Also nice is the fact that any 3D movies you can find around the net (don’t ask, don’t tell) are fully compatible with the phone. So no matter where you download them, you wont have a problem getting them to display properly on the phone’s 3D display.
Camera Review
Camera sensor seems like the standard HTC fare. Which means if you’ve ever owned an HTC phone, you probably know it’s not so hot. HTC has never been known for their high-end camera sensors and while the quality isn’t too much better than what you will find on say, the Evo 4G, the low lag when snapping pics was very nice. The dual-cameras on the back are capable of snapping pics at up to 5MP and video resolution maxes out at 720p. Pictures came out clear and crisp and although I’m not a professional photographer, I was more than pleased with their quality. It’s only when in low light or using the LED flash that things become a little more inconsistent. Weird green hue, overexposed/underexposed were all common. I found that the camera on the HTC Thunderbolt took much better, near flawless, nighttime shots even with LED flash. Let’s hope the camera software will be improved in upcoming OTA updates from HTC.
I was actually pretty impressed with the 1.3MP front facing camera unlike the near useless front facing camera of yester-year’s model. Not sure if it’s the software or a better camera sensor but taking self portraits or pictures with friends has never clearer or been easier thanks to a real shutter button. Believe it or not, I even used the included “Mirror” app to cut my own hair (I swear, it’s true). Here’s a front facing camera sample (don’t mind the ugly guy).
Video recording in 720p both looked good and sounded even better. The sensor adjusted adequately to low-light indoor shots but I did notice a dip in the frame rate. Bright, outdoor shots always look good on any camera so of course I didn’t have any problems there. I did see some artifacting in the shadows that bothered me but overall was pleased (especially when compared to the terrible video/sound quality on the Evo 4G). Nice to see that HTC also included stereo recording which is always a plus. I’ve included some test photo’s and video samples for you to take a look at and judge for yourself.
Wildcards: Battery Life, Call Quality, Quadrant
Don’t get it twisted. Battery life will never be the same for any two people. This is largely due to the amount of apps a person can have synching on their phone, how many times they’re refreshing Facebook, if they’re using the camera a lot and most importantly, signal strength. I did find that battery life is better than on the original Evo but not by much. It could definitely be better but that depends on who you talk to. Some days I get 4 hours, others I’m getting 13 without rhyme or reason. I’ll never understand why smartphones get thinner and thinner every year, yet battery sizes/life remain the same.
As I mentioned before, I did notice that call quality was noticeably better than on the Evo 4G, thanks in part to better/louder earpiece and noise cancelling microphone. I have read of some Evo 3D users from our forums who were unhappy with the clarity and managed a quick hack to help fix the “problem” although I haven’t tried it myself.
I’ve never been one for Linpack and Quadrant scores. They never represent any true sense of speed for the end user but for all you Quadpack junkies out there, here are some numbers for you:
- Quadrant- 1972
- Linpack (multi-thread)- 46.567, 3.73 sec, 3.24 norm res
- Neocore- 58.6fps
- Smartbench 2011- 2250, 1666 games
- NenaMark1- 44.0fps
- Angry Birds- Over 9,000!!!
The Verdict
Overall, I can honestly say that I am completely pleased and 100% satisfied with the Evo 3D. I’ve been using my device almost non-stop for the past 3 weeks and as it stands, there are no glaring problems with the phone that can’t be fixed by a simple over-the-air update from HTC. Is the phone perfect? Not by a long shot (failed the Walk on Water test). Still, even with the phone’s shortcomings, it’s a solid, premium smartphone at a great price. The HTC Sense experience did nothing but add the phone and improve the user experience. At the end of the day, the only thing I asked for from HTC was a true upgrade from the Evo 4G and for me, this phone met all those expectations and more.
Don’t forget to visit our Android Forums and chat up the phone in the Evo 3D forum. I can tell you right now, there are some great posts, comparisons and all around technical talk regarding this device and they are a HUGE resource. Great for noobies and veterans. Check it out!
Angry Birds- Over 9,000!!!
+1
9000 is usually a really bad score in angry birds, around a million would have been good! PLAY MORE ! ;)
You wouldn’t happen to work for Rovio, would ya? =p
GPU acceleration for the UI is not implemented on Android versions below 3.0, so your justification for the supposed 30fps cap on the launcher is false. Still, it was a pretty good review. I find it hard to believe that Sense is better than stock, but I haven’t used 3.0 yet so I’ll reserve my judgment.
I’ve seen (and used) launchers in the Market that are Open GL stuff and those move buttery smooth at 60fps. The Sense launcher should too.
And from what I remember reading, Android 3.0 allows devs to allow a simple line of code to implement GPU acceleration in their apps.
Yep I think the comment line in the mainfest is
hardwareacceleration=true
I struggle with words like that too. “More narrow” is equal to “narrower” or words with “-er” at the end. Might help. :P
Good tip! Ha! :D
“HTC conveniently makes their own case complete with beefy kickstand”
I don’t think it is available yet…
“Sprint is the only carrier that will allow you to uninstall these apps from your device.”
umm… not really.. it just lets you remove it from the app list, but the apps are still there on the phone.
“I was incredibly disappointed to see was the lack of HTC’s Flashlight app!”
It is available from the HTC hub now
The case is available from Sprint. I actually already ordered one! $30 =)
And I uninstalled Nascar and it’s nowhere to be found on my phone..?
It’s on HTC Hub now? FINALLY :D
Regarding the uninstall, this is what I was referring to…
http://www.goodandevo.net/2011/06/uninstalled-bloatware-on-htc-evo-3d-hidden-not-removed.html?cid=6a00d83451c9ec69e201543352f860970c
About the case, the only one I saw on sprint’s site that has a kickstand is a body glove… did you get the case from a sprint store? Is it HTC branded? And does it replace the stock back cover? (hopefully it doesn’t go over it like an otterbox case does).
How is the stand’s orientation? Is the charging port on the top? Or can we not charge when it is on the stand?
Thanks :)
Hmmmm.. that sounds iffy and would need more research and or a clarification from HTC on the app thing. There is 4GB of internal storage but only 1GB for installing your own apps. Maybe once you uninstall, they move from the 1GB to the 3GB space? Not sure…
The case goes over the battery cover. Standard case. Yes, HTC branded. Stands orientation places the charging port at the bottom (should be able to stand in portrait mode as well) And I ordered the case from Sprint telesales. Should be getting it sometime next week :D
I am not certain about this, but I believe the bloatware is on the 3GB part already (it doesn’t really take away from the 1GB). So, that’s why when you ‘uninstall’ the bloat, it doesn’t make any difference to your available storage from the 1GB.
Thanks for the info on the case. If it is going over the battery cover, I might just leave it naked (well, with the phantomskinz screen protector on it) – or get the otterbox. If they had build a replacement battery cover with a built in stand, at least it wouldn’t add any bulk to the phone (which already feels a little bulkier than the EVO 4G)
Having said that, I do like the EVO 3D… yesterday, I turned on my EVO 4G to pull some files from it and the difference in performance and difference in screen resolution is surprising! I don’t want to move back to the EVO 4G (I was keeping it around as a backup device, but I might just sell it now!) lol!
Thanks for the review
Will we be seeing a review on the kickstand case from HTC? If you have any extras sent to you, can you hook me up? :] I’ll trade you for the Seidio Platinum case I have (black).
I guess I’m confused… Chris had indicated that he was able to order his HTC branded kickstand case from sprint telesales… but when I called them up, they said that HTC has decided to not make/sell this case… I Emailed HTC and got the same response!
Chris, did you receive the one you ordered? Or did they cancel your order?
I judge people depending on what kind of blizzard they eat. What kind is that?
…..turtle pecan cluster? >.<
Hmm. Not the best, but okay. Gotta go with Cookie Jar, or Brownie Batter! :D
I just really like nuts O_o
Oh- Brownie Batter is my 2nd choice! :D
They’re all good choices. I own some Dairy Queen restaurants and read phandroid religiously. Thanks for the Blizzard love in the review, perhaps it should be a new theme ;-)
I’ll try to include a sample shot inside of DQ for every phone I review ;D
heath bar blizzard
The galaxy s2 still has sex with the evo3d withought consent
Yup, too bad there’s no telling if/when it will be available in the states. I blame Apple
*sigh* So true =(
Don’t despair, leaked photos of the Sprint Within GS2 appeared this afternoon!! (Ref TIMN and Phandroid)
Sprint. Eww
I never understood how people say one phone is better than the other when you don’t even have it in your hand to know. Just talking I guess?
you know… Samsung fans keep talking about this galaxy s2 being better than the EVO 3D. Do you have one?
I really feel like HTC failed with the evo 3D. I agree with the stuoid carasale homescreen. Seems like everything about this phone seems gimmicky…..
Yeah, I didn’t like the carousel homescreen, but props to HTC on just about everything else. The phone is pretty awesome and nothing I saw was “gimicky,” only “premium.” Great, solid phone.
You have either not used the phone or you’re a fanboy of a different manufacturer. HTC had their work cut out for them to improve on the OG EVO, well they passed with flying colors. While some consider the 3D a gimmick, it in no way takes away from the phone. You could own the phone for 2 years and never look at anything 3D.
So basically its like an EVO 4G with a better screen, processor, more internal storage and a better UI.
Great review Chris!
Nailed it. And thank you =)
I have 3 people at work who own this phone. It’s not gimmicky in the least. If anything, from the reviews on the 3D, I was expecting very little. I was pleasantly surprised at how great the 3D looked. Sure, my Epic has blacker blacks, but overall, the 3D is a GREAT phone! Very fast, pretty decent battery life, and a nice screen. It’s white is whiter than my Epic, and it screams!
Everything like what?
Bought a otterbox commuter case. Fixes the irritation of the camera button on your hand while typing. It also makes the lenses inside the case, away from getting scratches. and the flashlight app is in the HTC hub as a free download. The only thing that would be a gimmick would be the 3d. And like the reviewer said it icing on the cake. I found myself watching YouTube videos that are in 3d. Other then that It’s an EVO 4g with dual core and with the new sense, hell better then touchwiz. I love my 3d more then my epic.
…and for everyone else that doesn’t mind the thickness, the otterbox defender case is great! i wonder how many of these people who says that the phone is a failure that actually have the phone, or at least gave it about a week or two to play with?
Defender cases are HUGE! I find a slim TPU case and screen protector offer great protection at a fraction of the thickness. =)
that, they are…LOL! i didn’t have a choice…i bought my phone from radioshack and they didn’t have a case that has the holster with it except the defender. i’m contemplating whether to get the extended battery and holster from seidio, but radioshack gave me a good tip regarding the batteries and cases (hint: do it every 3 months) so i’m not sure whether to go buy them or not.
The “barely there” cases are really nice for those that want some form of protection for their phone, but not a lot of bulk.
Great review! Although not great enough for me to purchase one, I’ll wait and see how the SGS2 fares.
btw, isn’t it time to move out of the parents house. Trust me, (from an old bastard to a young buck) it’s better to be broke and in your own pad, than have some coin in your pocket but living with mom & pops. Just sayin…
thanks again
LOL!!!!!!! How do you know this isn’t MY house o_O
You the man than! lol
have you noticed any app compatibility problems moving up from the 4G? And is the camera good enough to take photo’s of documents like my 4G?
As far as I’ve seen, everything works perfect. Only problem were some apps not scaling full screen (due to the higher resolution screen). Other than that… no real problems =)
Mike, I continue to be blown away by the document (or whiteboard) capturing I can do with Scan2PDF Mobile. I try to keep naive about digital imagery, but I know I take pictures, turn them into PDF’s, and then I look at them at insane zoom levels in one of my PDF viewing programs. I bought it for my original Droid and it also now works well on my EVO 3D. I assume it is still being sold.
I’ll check it out, someone else recommended camscanner. Right now, I just take pictures and use quickpic to sore them into folders, and that works great for my job, along with noteeverything
Chris you sold me. I’m glad you took the time to use this thing for three weeks and report on that experience rather than just simple first impressions. I’m going to be buying one tonight. Thanks!
Glad I could help, Matthew! :)
What’s up with only having 1GB of space to load apps??? That doesn’t seem right? Chris: Did anyone give you feedback re this?
@Psylocke0834 That’s easy to answer, probably none. It’s the same every time a new top of the charts Android phone comes out. For some reason people feel the need to bash phones they’ve never used or are from a different manufacturer than what they’re using. I guess they just try to justify their purchase.
Yeah, people are weird like that. There is no “Jesus Phone.” All of them have their strengths and weaknesses. I can appreciate a good phone no matter the manufacturer or if it’s on the same carrier as me.
Too bad not everyone is like that.
you said it all! :)
Very fair review. You hit the highs and the lows… I think I might hold out for the Photon though!
Yeah, I’ve been wanting a Tegra 2 device for what seems like forever now. Definitely will check it out and if I like it, I just might switch =)
What’s the walk on water test?
Own it. Love it !
I had this phone since day one. I upgraded from the Evo. HTC did well with the upgrade. But I have had several problems since I purchased this phone. One is the phone often reboots on its own, maybe happens once every other day on average. One other big issue is that it sometimes says that I’m roaming when I’m in my home, going from one part of the house to the other. It goes into roam a lot. These are two of the most common problems I have. Hopefully they will be fixed with and update. However I called HTC. They told me to take the phone back to were I got it and exchange it. They said they have been having issues with the device. The 3d pics are really amazing. The pic quality is really good. Better than the first evo. The battery life is extremely better. But I did experience a problem with the battery draining in and hr traveling from 1 hr from city to city. I think this could have been caused by the phone and the weather and city app updating from city to city. I had to turn of data or the mobile network to get it to stop and turned it back on after I returned home. So once they find a fix for these issue this phone will be extremely hard to beat.
wish sprint had good service around here, always wanted a evo
GREAT REVIEW…It was a very nice video also but I must cover some of the HIDDEN GEMS of this device that NOBODY MENTIONS…First and formost the overall technology in this device is crazy Kool holding off on the 3D tech for a moment let’s discuss the inner settings within the pull down shade. It was great for HTC to provide major convenience for all evo 3D users because every aspect of the device can be accessed using that pull down menu “No more searching through endless menus to get to where you need to be. The 1st best aspect of this devices lies in settings then sd card & phone storage then right at “make more room is where all the MAGIC STARTS”. You can move EVERY APPLICATION TO SD CARD and I do mean every app Facebook,Twitter,gmail,qik, as well as the sprint applications all can be placed on the card. If you install 16gb card you are home free because you can leave all of the internal space free for whatever you like something that does not exist on other android devices and trust me that’s very important. Secondly the power management battery application is top notch in my book meaning you have a built in native task killer that kills all applications that you don’t want open as well as a power saver mode that if set at 30% will give you an overall additional 4hrs plus of battery life. Another hidden jewel is the clear cache option on all applications that exist in that area is also something cutting edge because now you don’t have to clear the cache on every application one by one like on the EVO 4G. My battery life is 16 to 22hrs daily and regardless of battery life being subjective at best battery life will always be determined by your daily usage which in my world changes every day. Just knowing you can leave out the house without the charging plug or extra battery is so much of a plus in my world I’m extremely GIDDY. The platform is android that belongs to all of us but one thing holds true as we continue on our daily android journey “NO ANDROID DEVICE IS THE SAME” with so many devices they will never perform or work equally. I can go on and on but i will stop right here because I know the Evo 3D is the best device on the market period. And knowing that I can use my evo UNLIMITED EVERYDAY and recieve the same bill monthly unless I download apps and Bill them to my monthly bill I can only say what more can anyone really want in this world of changing technology. On Sprint the EVO 3D is the flagship device that will always be every year like clock work. The EVO BRAND is truly exceptional this is definitely NO THUNDERBOLT OR EVO 4G they threw away the mold on this one.
“You can move EVERY APPLICATION TO SD CARD” No you can’t moron. Try moving a widget app to the SD card and see what happens. It won’t be usable. Also, there are regular market apps that don’t have apps2sd support, lending further credence to that fact that not “every” application can be put on the SD card. It also doesn’t move the entire application, just the bulkiest part of it that isn’t needed as often. And this (apps2sd) has been in existence since Froyo 2.2. It’s nothing new. I can even do it on my 2.2.2 Samsung Moment. So much for it “does not exist on other android devices”. All Android phones 2.2 or higher can do it, provided the app supports it. Since you seem to know absolutely nothing about Android, I’ll give you a little tip: it’s pretty much been proven that task killers on 2.2 or above are pretty much pointless and could do more harm than good, even “native” killers (it’s another HTC add-on, not “native”). Go back to reading your user manual (if you can read that is) because it seems you truly know nothing of Android.
2 words: Paragraph breaks.
I had issues with the headphones jack. (I like streaming music via pandora, rhapsody and now spotify. Not to mention talking hands free) When I would plug it into my car’s auxiliary I would have all sorts of trouble. The voice dialer would start calling people, the music on the sense audio player would start playing and skipping around and freeze up on me. Started getting glitchy as well. Mixed with weight, poor battery life and not having the full Android experience I took it back on day 21 in exchange for the Nexus S.
About Battery Life –
I had an htc sensation and got really bad battery life on the stock 1500 mah battery from htc. I bought a really cheaper Anker 1900 mah on ebay and to my surprise I get about 26-32hrs (100% to 2%) with light use. Since Sensation can use the 1700 mah battery from EVO 3D, I’m pretty sure EVO 3D can use the cheap anker 1900 mah battery from ebay.
Second as great as it is, turn off WIMAX, thats one of the biggest battery drains on Sprint 4G phones (just like the LTE radio is a huge power drain on Verizon 4G phones ie Thunderbolt). I think there’s an app from the market that lets you switch this on and off. The WIMAX radio is a big drain for a couple of reasons 1) its not integrated into the Snapdragon SOC, its a separate chip 2) WIMAX uses 2100mhz spectrum (which is higher frequency and hence low building penetrance) so when you’re inside you get a weaker WIMAX signal (less bars) and so in order to maintain a strong connection the phone sends more juice to the WIMAX antennae to keep the connection alive.
Third there might be some settings you can mess with in the secret *#*#4636#*#* menu on android phones. Might wanna search XDA about it, but in general PRL (preferred roaming list) are the battery savings options because the phone will use a predefined set of towers to connect to the network instead of constantly hunting for whatever towers give it the strongest signals, the downside is you won’t get the absolute best download speeds, especially when driving or moving out of range of one tower to another.
Fourth – take a look at your battery usage stats in the About Phone screen. If your phone is 100% awake either you’re using it constantly (screen uses 98% of battery) – if this is the case you should play angry birds with the USB plugged in; or you have a program that won’t let the phone go to sleep. Certain programs like autosync twitter/friend feeds and phone automation software (like Tasker, Automate It!) constantly check the state of the phone for triggers – these won’t let the phone go to sleep.
Once we get custom roms which can remove bloat and run stock android and we can clear battery stats (needs root) you should be getting excellent battery life, and that’s not very far off.