Sprint Smartphone Standoff! Nexus S vs. Motorola Atrix vs. HTC EVO 3D

Today, i’ll be comparing the Google Nexus S 4G vs Motorola Atrix 4G vs the HTC EVO 3D. This started out as a Pros and Cons for my own personal reference being that I’m now eligible for my 2 year upgrade pricing on my Sprint line. So take this Pros and Cons list knowing that its my opinion, and subjected to my taste in phones. But I thought you guys might like the spec and feature comparison. Also there has to be a little feature speculation in my comparison because the HTC EVO 3D’s full specs and design haven’t been fully leaked – yet. I’m leaving the newly released Kyocera Echo out of this comparison because I’m looking for a high end device that works great out of the box. The reviews of the Kyocera Echo have really shown that while it has a great design innovation, it has bugs, and is the first of its kind. Android does not run smoothly on all test units, as well as the dual screens “Simul-task” are not supported by most applications. Once you start comparing the Echos 1GHz first generation Snapdragon processor, lack of 4G WiMAX, 3.5″ non SAMOLED / SLCD screens, lack of enabled multitouch in the stock Android browser and Google maps, as well as its 0.68″ / 17.2 mm thickness, made it drop out of this particular running as a premium handset for me. Also, please note that I am an Android user who carries two Smartphones around on me at all times so size does play into this comparison, and with all this said I have included the dimensions and weights of the handsets side by side for easy reference.

Dimensions:

Google Nexus S 4G – 4.88″ x 2.48″ x 0.43″ (123.9 x 63 x 10.88 mm), 4.55 oz (129 g)

Motorola Atrix 4G – 4.64″ x 2.50″ x 0.43″ (117.75 x 63.5 x 10.95 mm), 4.76 oz (135 g)

Google Nexus S 4G

 

Screen: 4.0″ Super AMOLED WVGA 800—480 Contoured Display

Processor & GPU: 1GHz Hummingbird Cortex A8 Single Core

RAM: 512MB

Storage: 16GB Internal, no Micro SD card slot

Dimensions & Weight: 4.88″ x 2.48″ x 0.43″ (123.9 x 63 x 10.88 mm), 4.55 oz (129 g)

Battery Size: 1500 mAh

Connectivity: EVDO, WiMAX, Wifi b/g/n, Bluetooth, NFC, DLNA, VOIP

Camera: 5.0MP Single LED flash autofocus, .3 VGA front facing camera, 720—480 video recordin

Buttons: Capacitive Buttons in odd layout, physical power and volume controls

OS: Stock Android 2.3 Gingerbread no modifications

Motorola Atrix 4G

HTC EVO 3D

PROS

CONS

My thoughts

Once you look over all the Pros and Cons of these three future handsets that are soon to be released by Sprint in the next couple months, you start to notice that my amount of Pros and lack of Cons start to lean in the HTC EVO 3D’s favor with the Motorola Atrix 4G coming in second place. What is funny though is once you put all of this in relative context as being weighed for purchase by a phone reviewer, the amount of Cons and the lack of Pros in the situation of the Google Nexus S 4G starts to take a different shape. The fact that the Nexus S is a true Google branded phone with the potential of being the first one with all the newest versions of Android, makes it, in my books, the best one to get. I can see that the HTC EVO 3D and the Motorola Atrix both have their positives and are VERY tempting.

However, for me, I believe I’ll be picking up a Google Nexus S once it is released and will have to pass on the other offerings. I’d like to be able to experience the newest versions of Android and not have to wait till the companies finally get around to adding their skin on top of the newest release.  The fact that I also have owned a Samsung Galaxy S phone in the past (T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant) and loved it, this also plays into my decision. The only things I didn’t like about the Vibrant were a lack of certain features, namely the lack of a front facing camera, and the old version of Android, at the time it had only Android 2.1.

Note to all buyers there is one annoying issue with Sprint’s 4G service, unlike T-Mobile’s HSPA+ or Verizon’s LTE network you have to toggle the 4G WiMAX antennae on to get 4G speeds. You don’t have to do this on T-Mobile’s network as their HSPA+ antennae is the antennae that is on all the time, yet it does not kill the battery quickly. Verizon’s LTE network has been known to kill the HTC Thunderbolt 4G’s battery excessively fast leading the modding community to find a way to toggle its LTE radio on and off to conserve battery power. So in some ways the Sprint WiMAX based 4G toggle system does have its benefits. But if you were considering the T-Mobile Nexus S vs Sprints Nexus S 4G, just know that is a feature you would not have to deal with on T-Mobile’s unit.

What would you pick if it were you? Did I overlook anything in my analysis of the specs and potential Pros and Cons? Let me know what you think in the comments. Thanks everybody.

[Source: GoAndroid]