Sprint has announced the HTC Evo 4G LTE is coming to the network May 18 for $199 on a two-year contract. Sprint also offers the iPhone 4S - Apple's flagship device - while Microsoft's Nokia Lumia 900 is now available on AT&T. So with eight days to go before the Evo 4G LTE launches, it's time to see how the three devices compare.

Measurements

The Evo 4G uses a black anodized aluminum body with glossy plastic and a silver trim. It measures 5.31x2.72 inches, measuring 0.32 inches thick and weighing 4.73 ounces. By comparison, the iPhone 4S measures 4.5x2.31 inches and is 0.37 inches thick. The 4S is a touch heavier than the 4G - 4.9 ounces.

The LTE version of the Lumia 900 measures 5.0x2.7 inches, is 0.45 inches thick and weighs 0.35 pounds.

The 4G has a 4.7-inch Super LCD screen with a 1280x720 display. CNET says the screen is bright with vivid colors, while viewing angles are wide. The 4S uses the Retina display with a 960x640 resolution on a 3.5-inch display. The Lumia 900 display measures 4.3 inches, and is an AMOLED screen with an 800x480 resolution. That's the weakest screen of the three.

Hardware

The Evo uses a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front, has three capacitive buttons - for home, search and recent applications - and includes a 3.5mm headphone jack. The right-hand side hosts the volume and camera buttons. On the back is an 8-megapixel camera with LED flash above the microSD card slot. A red stripe on the back of the phone covers the kickstand.

Apple's iPhone 4S uses a VGA camera on the front, and doesn't use capacitive buttons - the only button is the physical home button which returns users to the home screen. It also includes a 3.5mm headphone jack, and the volume button on the front which doubles up as the camera's shutter button. The rear camera is 8 megapixels with LED flash. There's no kickstand or microSD card expansion in iPhones, though 16, 32 and 64GB versions are available.

The front camera of the Nokia Lumia 900 is a single megapixel and can record video at 30 frames per second; the rear camera is 8 megapixels, with dual LED flash and a 720p resolution. Windows Phone devices include three capacitive buttons: the Windows Key - the home button equivalent, Bing search and the return button. 16GB of internal storage is available, with no support for expansion.

Operating system

The Evo 4G LTE runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with Sense 4, the latest version of HTC's long-running skin. HTC aimed to streamline Sense, after previous versions were criticised for becoming too flashy and power hungry. The OS allows seven screens for customisation, allowing users to add widgets and arrange icons. Four icons run across the bottom of the screen for easy access, which can also be switched out for others.

Android also has the advantage of integration with Google services such as Gmail and has access to Google Play - the rebranded Android Market - which offers over 500,000 titles. NFC support includes Google Wallet, allowing payments to be made through the phone.

iOS 5 runs on the iPhone 4S, Apple's latest version of the operating system which was launched October 12 in 2011. The update was a major update for iOS: it brought a revamped notification system - largely replacing pop-ups with a window pane that can be dragged down from the status bar, as in Android - and iCloud, Apple's cross-device cloud storage service that allows content to be shared simultaneously. The BlackBerry Messenger competitor, iMessage, brought free messaging to iOS users.

Nokia's Lumia 900 runs Windows Phone 7.5. The update brought over 500 features to Windows Phones, including a task switcher that's reminiscent of the webOS cards interface, a music player that supports playlists customization from the device and Twitter and LinkedIn integration.

Performance

Inside the Evo 4G is a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 chip - the same as the HTC One X's -, while the Lumia 900 runs a 1.4GHz Snapdragon processor. The iPhone 4S runs on dual-core 800MHz A5 processor, though iPhones are known for being highly optimized.

Sprint's LTE network isn't running currently, though the company is planning to introduce it in 2012. The Lumia 900 is on AT&T's LTE network, while the iPhone 4S supports 3G. CNET says in its reviews of the HTC Evo 4G LTE speeds were respectable. However, the Web site noticed LTE speeds outclass 3G: the One X showed a download speed of 16.6Mbps while the upload speed was 7.53Mbps.

Conclusion

The HTC Evo 4G LTE for Sprint is certainly a competitive device, but doesn't offer 4G LTE on Sprint (for now). The Lumia 900 offers LTE connectivity for the lower price of $99 on a two-year contract, compared to $199, and outside of these phones the Galaxy Nexus offers a stock Ice Cream Sandwich experience.

The Lumia 900 is performing well in terms of sales on AT&T, and the Windows Phone "Mango" update, expected during 2012, will likely represent another significant update. Similarly, iOS 6 is expected to be announced at WWDC, which runs from June 11-15. It would be incredibly surprising if the 4S didn't support iOS 6. The 4S is also available on Sprint now.

(reported by Jonathan Charles, edited by Dave Clark)