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Hands-on with the Sprint HTC EVO Shift 4G Android smartphone

Sprint and HTC decided to follow up the successful HTC EVO 4G with a smaller, cheaper model that sports a physical QWERTY keyboard. Unfortunately, the keyboard is not good enough to take on the Samsung Epic 4G on Sprint.
By Matthew Miller, Contributing Writer
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Sprint and HTC decided to follow up the successful HTC EVO 4G with a smaller, cheaper model that sports a physical QWERTY keyboard. Unfortunately, the keyboard is not good enough to take on the Samsung Epic 4G on Sprint.

Make sure to check out all of my hands-on impressions and experiences with the HTC EVO Shift 4G on theZDNet Smartphones and Cell Phones blog.

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The EVO Shift 4G supports Sprint's 4G WiMAX network and the ability to serve as a WiFi hotspot for other devices.

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The typical four touch sensitive areas found on nearly all Android devices are flush with the front display panel.

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The upper front handset speaker has a nice border and is quite large.

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The back is all soft touch material and the entire back pops off to reveal the battery and microSD card slot.  The microSD card slot is under the battery too.

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A single LED flash, 5 megapixel camera, and mono speaker are found on the back.

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The volume button and microUSB port are found on the left side.

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The power button and 3.5mm headset jack are found on the top. Notice the curves on the back that help give the device a better feel in your hand?

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The device is not huge and even with the QWERTY keyboard revealed it fits well in my hand.

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Here you can see the left side and the offset letters and FN key.

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The directional pad in the lower right is horrible with no tactile feedback for the down direction while being a bit slick and rather unusable.

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The four row QWERTY keyboard has good spacing and material on the keys.

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The display looks good with 800x480 pixels in a rather small 3.6 inch size.

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