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HTC Evo Shift 4G (photos)

CNET takes a hands-on look at Sprint's third and most affordable 4G smartphone yet, the HTC Evo Shift 4G.

Bonnie Cha
Bonnie Cha was a former chief correspondent for CNET Crave, covering every kind of tech toy imaginable (with a special obsession for robots and Star Wars-related stuff). When she's not scoping out stories, you can find her checking out live music or surfing in the chilly waters of Northern California.
Bonnie Cha
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HTC Evo Shift 4G

The HTC Evo Shift 4G is Sprint's third 4G smartphone and the most affordable at $149.99 with a two-year contract. The HTC Evo 4G and the Samsung Epic 4G are each $199.99 with contract.
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Features

The Evo Shift lacks some of the higher-end features, such as a front-facing camera, 1GHz processor, and an HDMI port, but it's still a very feature-packed device. Running Android 2.2, the smartphone offers 4G support, mobile hot-spot capabilities, and a 5-megapixel camera.
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Design

At 4.6 inches tall by 2.3 inches wide by 0.6 inch thick and 5.9 ounces, the Evo Shift 4G is more compact than the Samsung Epic 4G. As a result, the Evo Shift also has a smaller display (3.6 inches versus 4 inches).
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Keyboard

The Shift's QWERTY keyboard is comfortable and easy to use. Though the buttons aren't as large as the Epic 4G's, they're a good size and have a decent amount of spacing between them, so mispresses were minimal.
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Left side

On the left side of the phone, there is a volume rocker and Micro-USB port.
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Top view

The top of the device houses the 3.5mm headphone jack and power button.
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Camera

As we noted earlier, the Evo Shift doesn't have a front-facing camera for video calls but it does have a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, 720p video capture, and numerous editing options.
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Picture quality

The camera had some problems with indoor shots, producing a pinkish hue on some images, but fared better on outdoor and nighttime shots.

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