Sprint's HTC EVO 3D hands-on!
Sprint just announced the HTC EVO 3D, its latest 4G WiMAX smartphone with a 3D-spin, and we had some time to sit down to check out the device first-hand. In one word: Amazing. The EVO 3D's 4.3-inch 3D display is incredible to look at while displaying 3D images and video.
Context & Ripple Effects
The March 6 rumor that Sprint would use its lengthy CTIA press slot to announce the Nexus S 4G, EVO 3D, and EVO View tablet has now produced its first concrete artifact: a hands-on of the EVO 3D ahead of the official show floor. BGR's verdict — "amazing," with the 4.3-inch 3D display called out specifically — gives Sprint its headline device for the show.
The stakes for Sprint are real: the original EVO was its breakout 4G WiMAX flagship, but the carrier had to walk back its own overstated EVO launch-day sales claims in 2010, so proving demand this time matters. Meanwhile HTC's pipeline is splitting by carrier, with a mysterious EVO-style device already rumored for Verizon — meaning the EVO brand is no longer exclusively Sprint's differentiator.
First-order effects
- Sprint walks into CTIA 2011 with a tangible glasses-free 3D flagship rather than vaporware, giving its 4G WiMAX network a marquee device to sell against Verizon's LTE lineup.
- HTC extends the EVO franchise into 3D capture and playback, betting that differentiated displays — not just spec bumps — will move units at the high end.
Second-order effects
- Verizon, already linked to an EVO-class HTC device in its system, faces pressure to counter with its own display or camera differentiation rather than competing on 4G speed alone.
- Rival carriers' Android flagships now compete partly on gimmick-tier hardware features like 3D screens, pushing suppliers toward dual-lens camera modules and autostereoscopic panels.
Third-order effects
- If carrier-exclusive flagship hardware keeps driving US Android competition, handset makers end up fragmenting their lineups per network — more SKUs, shorter shelf lives, and differentiation increasingly decided by display and camera novelty.
- The pattern points toward 3D content availability becoming the gating factor: a glasses-free screen without a native 3D content pipeline risks repeating the fate of earlier 3D TV pushes.
The trend: US Android competition in 2011 is shifting from raw 4G speed claims to carrier-exclusive hardware novelties like glasses-free 3D displays, as Sprint and Verizon trade flagship blows through shared OEM partner HTC.