Sprint was the first major U.S. carrier to deliver a "4G" handset -- 2010's HTC EVO. It ran on Sprint's WiMax network, an infrastructure that Sprint will soon ditch in favor of the faster speeds of LTE, now championed by Verizon and AT&T.
The EVO's had a few successors over the years, but now it's getting its turn at the LTE game as Sprint rolls out its own network. It's called the EVO 4G LTE, and it'll be available for $200 on pre-order beginning May 7th.
The HTC EVO 4G LTE runs Android 4.0 (a.k.a. Ice Cream Sandwich) and is skinned with HTC Sense 4.0. On the front it's got a 4.5-inch super LCD high-resolution display and a 1.3-megapixel camera. On back, an 8-megapixel camera and a kickstand. And while you're kickin' back watching some video on that extra-large display, built-in Beats Audio ensures the bass is pumped up to the max.
Inside, it sports a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor and a beefy 2000mAh battery. It has 16GB of memory, expandable up to 32 GB via microSD.
Sprint is the only carrier that currently supports Google Wallet, so fans (and potential fans) of the payment platform will be happy to know the EVO 4G LTE comes with NFC and Google Wallet built in.
The announcement of HTC's latest comes shortly after people first started getting their hands on the HTC One X smartphone, and in fact, the EVO 4G LTE shares a number of visual similarities with the One X. Gizmodo points out a few differences between the two high-end handsets in their hands-on, though: The One X's polycarbonate frame is replaced by anodized aluminum in the EVO. It's got a kickstand that can be popped out from the rear of the device to sit at three different angles. And the phone has a physical camera shutter button.
