Sprint makes EVO Shift 4G official; available January 9th for $149.99

By on Jan 4, 2011 at 9:25 AM
Breaking January 4, 2011

Rejoice QWERTY fans! Sprint has just made HTC’s EVO Shift 4G official and the company’s 16th 4G capable device. The Shift, which will be available on January 9th for $149.99, will pack a 3.7-inch display, full QWERTY keyboard, 5 megapixel camera with 720p video recording, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPS, hotspot capabilities, and Android 2.2. The price mentioned above reflects a $100 mail-in rebate and all purchasers will be subject to the $10 monthly tariff imposed on all Sprint 4G smartphone owners. Hit the jump for the full press release.

We’re hearing that pre-orders will start at Best Buy Mobile this Friday, January 7th, with Reward Zone members getting pre-order availability one day earlier: Thursday, January 6th.

Sprint’s 4G Leadership Extends into 2011 with Introduction of Second Generation of Industry-Leading 4G-Capable Devices

HTC EVO Shift 4G with slide-out QWERTY available exclusively from Sprint on Jan. 9 for $149.99

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–As the first national wireless carrier to launch 4G in 2008, Sprint (NYSE:S) wrapped up 2010 with a lead in 4G wireless device innovations. Further extending that lead, the company today introduced the upcoming availability of two products in Sprint’s second generation of 4G-capable devices: HTC EVO Shift™ 4G and MiFi® 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot by Novatel Wireless. With these two devices, Sprint has now introduced 17 4G-capable devices for consumers and business, including three phones, a 4G netbook and notebook from Dell, numerous USB modem options, and several mobile hotspots and routers.

“Our proven leadership as a 4G pioneer has allowed our customers to enjoy 4G from Sprint first, and these new products exemplify Sprint’s commitment to put industry-leading performance and capabilities in the hands of our customers.”
“Sprint will continue to set the bar for feature-rich and customer-friendly 4G devices into 2011,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO. “Our proven leadership as a 4G pioneer has allowed our customers to enjoy 4G from Sprint first, and these new products exemplify Sprint’s commitment to put industry-leading performance and capabilities in the hands of our customers.”

A Feature-Rich 4G Phone with QWERTY

As the 16th 4G-capable device from Sprint, HTC EVO Shift follows in the footsteps of the award-winning HTC EVO™ 4G, bringing customers an attractive, compact design and an impressive list of features with the addition of a sliding QWERTY keyboard. Beyond the highly acclaimed HTC Sense user experience, HTC EVO Shift also boasts the power of 4G, Android 2.2™, a 5MP camera, 720p HD camcorder and a 3.6-inch capacitive touchscreen display with pinch-to-zoom capability.

Additional key features include:

  • HD Video Recording
  • Wi-Fi®
  • Sprint Mobile Hotspot (supporting up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices)
  • Android Market™ with access to more than 100,000 apps
  • Messaging – Personal and business e-mail, IM and text messaging
  • Social Networking Integration – Facebook®, Twitter™, Flickr® and more
  • Visual Voicemail
  • Google™ Mobile Services, including YouTube™, Gmail™, Google Talk™, Google Voice™ and Google Maps™
  • GPS Navigation
  • Stereo Bluetooth® wireless technology
  • microSD slot (supporting up to 32GB memory card)

The Web browser on HTC EVO Shift is optimized for convenient mobile use and a full Internet experience with functions like pinch-to-zoom and automatically reflowing text. Adobe Flash technology ensures that rich Internet content, such as embedded video and animation, are displayed the way they are meant to be seen. The slide-out QWERTY keyboard makes staying in touch with friends and family through messaging and social networking quick and easy.Priced at the lowest cost at launch for any current 4G phone, HTC EVO Shift will be just $149.99 (excluding taxes) after a $100 mail-in rebate and activation on a new two-year service agreement (or eligible upgrade), and activation on a data plan with the required $10 Premium Data Add-On. It will be available in all Sprint retail channels, including http://www.sprint.com and 1-800-Sprint, on Jan. 9. For more information, visit http://www.sprint.com/shift.

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  • http://twitter.com/RockNStuff Manuel Contreras

    No front facing camera = fail.

    • Jlwaller224

      It has a front facing camera

      • Anonymous

        (Since I can’t reply to your reply to me…)

        Excuse my apparent blindness, but where do you see a front facing camera in the specs? I don’t see them here or on the Sprint site. I’m not saying it’s not there, but I can’t find it…

  • Anonymous

    Sounds good for the price.

  • Anonymous

    I don’t think they will sell a lot of these. While there is a section of people who want a HTC keyboard, they aren’t willing to give up all the other specs of the EVO. ESPECIALLY while paying the $10 fee. If I’m going to pay the extra fee, you better believe that I will do so with the best phone available and this is absolutely not it, despite coming out 6 months later.

  • Norm

    While that looks like a copy off of my VZW HTC DROID INCREDIBLE with Google I think its great for the CONSUMER as it offers more CHOICE and COMPETTION which is what DROID DOES.

    • Anonymous

      I really don’t get what you’re on most of the time. If anything this is a “COPY” of the EVO look. You’re trolling is embarrassing for other Android fans. Your network fanboyism is getting irritating with calling products made by the SAME company “copies” and inferior to other products from the same company.

      I know, feeding the troll, etc…

      • Norm’s Therapist

        100% agreed. It’s like this dick blanket sits on this site for extended periods of time and waits for posts where he can put his vzw boner on display. He most likely works for VZW. It’s the culture their to brainwash their employees to be smug and arrogant. Which translates through to how VZW operates anyway. He’ll be working at Cricket in a year… He’s on here promoting his agenda (the one that was given to him;sheep) and his manager is busy interviewing people who will inevitabley take his job from him. Employee turn over 80%+ lol

        Call me an insider.

  • Anonymous

    P.S. Why force users to have QIK if there isn’t a camera to make full use of it? Smartphone bloatware is out of control.

    • Norm

      Its there for added CHOICE and COMPETITION which is good for the consumer. Unlike with iphone forcing you to use facetime to do all video chatting.

      • Mike

        Well…didn’t Skype just come out with an update to the iPhone app that lets you do video calling using the Front Facing Camera on the iPhone 4? Just saying….

      • Anonymous

        Don’t bother with him. He and Goofan are a couple of trolls…they say the same things over/over…

      • Anonymous

        I think you missed that there is no front facing camera, so it is not needed period. Making it mandatory and impossible to remove is not choice, especially when memory on the phone is limited. If Sprint wants to put on bloatware fine, but at least let us remove it so that we have REAL choice and can download whatever apps we want.

      • Jlwaller224

        There IS a front facing camera

      • Anonymous

        Regardless, they’ve updated the picture here and it no longer has qik on the screen, nor does it on the sprint website so maybe they aren’t forcing it on users which is good for those who buy the phone. I’ll stick with my EVO though (and just keep disabling qik on start up).

  • Anonymous

    #correction it’s a 3.6inch screen guys not 3.7 (its in the Press Release). But I the phone actually looks pretty nice, If the keyboard is anything like the TouchPro 2 keyboard it could be a winner. Not sure why not FFC? But I would love to get my hands on it to check it out… even though I’m not much of an external KB fan…

  • Anonymous

    Same 800 MHz processor as G2? Hopefully the battery life will be decent.

    • Anonymous

      If it’s the same 1500MAH battery HTC has been using for ages… then I doubt it …

      • http://twitter.com/derekduncan Derek Duncan

        battery life will be better because it’s the same battery, but more efficient cpu, smaller screen. It might not be loads better, but it will be better. Count on it.

  • DroidDoesGood

    Notice how the announcement obscures the use of Android? I think it is actually going to be a Windows Mobile Phone, or even more likely, the first iOS phone that’s not an Apple.

  • Bob

    Is it skinny/less cumbersome than the Droid/Droid 2? Love the QWERTY, don’t like the weight, thickness of the devices.

  • Bringit

    whaaaaa whaaa BGR you blow you ONLY post about big bro Apple and the iPhone whaaaaa whaaaaa whaaa I will never post here again you should change the name from BGR to ONLY APPLE whaaaaa whaaaaa whaaa.

    Oh wait.

    This is another post about an Android phone.

  • Larry39208

    I’m sure a lot of folks will not like the color. Personally, I like it! I think it’s very sharp looking.

  • Norm’s Shrink

    @ Assimilate in regards to Norm

    100% agreed. It’s like this dick blanket sits on this site for extended periods of time and waits for posts where he can put his vzw boner on display. He most likely works for VZW. It’s the culture their to brainwash their employees to be smug and arrogant. Which translates through to how VZW operates anyway. He’ll be working at Cricket in a year… He’s on here promoting his agenda (the one that was given to him;sheep) and his manager is busy interviewing people who will inevitabley take his job from him. Employee turn over 80%+ lol

    Call me an insider.

  • Anonymous

    It has HTC Sense, which means it’ll be 6-12 months before it sees Android 2.3. Pass.

    • Anonymous

      When did the HTC EVO (w/Sense) get 2.2? And when did the Motorola Droid X? And when did Samsung Galaxy phones? Right….

  • DroidDoesGood

    I’m pretty sure this is Steve Job’s foray into putting the iOS onto other companies’ hardware.

  • Krodami

    I love HTC and I love my EVO, but to call a 3.6in, 5mp, 800mhz device an EVO is sickening. They are degrading the EVO name with this mediocre “smart phone”. To call this phone an EVO is misleading and anyone who buys it hoping to get the same awesomeness from it that the True EVO is, will be surely disappointed.

    • Anonymous

      I was wondering why EVO would be anywhere in the name as well considering nothing about the Shift is similar to it except that it’s an android based HTC. I’m assuming that, yes, they are riding the EVO fame coattails and are trying to manipulate users (ones who don’t pay attention to the specs) into thinking it really is the EVO with a keyboard, and yet, somehow cheaper…

    • Mjktechgeek

      This is already tested to be faster than the EVO, better battery life, 2GB of onboard storage as opposed to the 512MB on the EVO, possibly a newer version of Sense and hopefully a louder headset jack. It is suppose to have Gorilla Glass and be a brighter LCD. It certainly doesn’t surpass the EVO for overall features, but Video Chat doesn’t work well anyway and the 8MP camera on the EVO isn’t that great either. If someone wants a hard keyboard, a faster processor, more app storage, better screen, 4G, Hotspot, and a smaller size then this phone might do well. I have an EVO, but have found it to run much slower since the latest update. I will get the Shift to try it out. I wouldn’t mind having a smaller phone, love the large screen on the EVO, but I have an IPAD and would rather have the pocketability of the Shift. We will all know much more once the Shift reviews start leaking after Sunday.

      • Anonymous

        Where did you see that it tested faster (than a NEW EVO)? I’m not saying you’re lying, I’m genuinely interested in seeing the comparison (I’ve read it uses the newer sense which may have to do with its speed).

        The battery is obvious considering the smaller screen and 800mhz processor. Most people have complained that the EVO screen is TOO bright, so I’m not sure why HTC would want to make it brighter. As for the Gorilla Glass, there are still people who claim the EVO has it, but since neither Sprint or HTC advertise it on either, I’m going to assume neither have it, but who knows.

        As for memory, they both have 512mb RAM, while the Shift has 2GB ROM, and the EVO has 1GB ROM. So it is a def. win for the Shift and will drive EVO owners crazy, but not as drastic as you make it seem.

        That said, you’re right, there are some people who will want it. There are plenty of people who can’t stand the size of the EVO and Epic (I myself have a love hate with them, as I hate the size, but I feel constrained when I user smaller phones now), and this will suit them. If I were them, I’d wait for something smaller with better specs though, because I feel like this is going to be “old” really quickly, but that’s just me.

  • http://twitter.com/cefranco2 Carlos Franco

    soo. what happened to the 4.3 inch screen??? Wasnt that the big selling point of the EVO line?

  • DataSponge

    OMG whats with all the Dumb fanboy comments talking about the Evo…
    HELLOO.. We all know this is no the EVO!. DUH
    We don’t need useless comments from people who don’t use real keyboards :p
    For real people who use real keyboard this will be perfect as the keyboard is designed to type even faster than previous HTC keyboards,
    As it retains a the true button spacing while having the keys more asily accessable for 2 thumb typing than B4.
    Those who like to feel their way around the buttons instead of looking and typing at a dumb screen (Evo users) will be happy with it’s tactile response..
    Normal people who like to put their phone in their pants pocket without it looking like a boner willl rejoice at its slim proportions compare to the geeky over-sized Evo..
    So those of you Evo users need to just shut up and stop feeling threatened and jealouseover this new better unit. bla bla.
    Now go in your corner and keep playin with your out-dated huge clumsy faded screen slow grandpa Evo…

  • DataSponge

    Hey dudes just kiddn, no hard feelings,
    I was just doin a reverse Troll rant,
    didnt mean 2 scare or piss of, just get topic on track.
    awe all know it’s screen is dissapointingly small, and no webcam,
    but all else is very nice for the price :p

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