After months and months of speculations, Samsung has finally unveiled its new flagship model - the Galaxy S3. But, release date is still a few weeks away. The device will hit UK market by the end of May, while the U.S. variant will debut latter in June.

On the other hand, HTC is releasing EVO 4G LTE on Sprint network May 18. Giving an advantage over HTC's flagship smartphone - One X, EVO 4G LTE offers expandable memory option and a bigger battery, while other specs are same.

EVO 4G LTE is basically for Sprint customers only, while Galaxy S3 is a global quad-core powered smartphone. However, the U.S. version will power dual-core processor only, due to 4G LTE restrictions. Undoubtedly, Samsung Galaxy S3 will be high on sales due to global availability. But, Sprint users are eager to know that how the new HTC smartphone can fare against Galaxy S3. To answer their question, here is the detailed review of the two high-end smartphones.

Design and Display

Starting off with HTC EVO 4G LTE, it features 4.7-inch Super IPS LCD2 display with 720p resolution. The dimensions of phone are 134.8 x 68.9 x 8.9 mm and it weight 134 g. A big advantage EVO's design is kickstand that is placed in the middle at the back. It does not possess the "One" moniker, but it gives the premium feel of a flagship device.

On the other hand, Galaxy S3 sports a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED display (not Super AMOLED Plus) with 720p resolution. The screen size makes it the second biggest smartphone, next to Samsung's own Galaxy Note. Reportedly, the display is Pentile Matrix based, instead of a non-Pentile matrix display. The dimensions of phone are 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm and it weights 133 g. Galaxy S3 is available in two colors - white and blue (black not available at the time).

Samsung Galaxy S3 is good to look at, but EVO 4G LTE has a nice premium design and slightly better display. But Galaxy S3 is thinner and lighter than HTC's bet. We call it a draw here.

Processor and Memory

HTC EVO 4G LTE features dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait processor. It has 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Of course, you can insert a microSD card to pour in up to 32GB of additional storage. HTC also offers 25GB of Dropbox storage free of cost for two years.

Samsung Galaxy S3 powers a quad-core 1.4 GHz Exynos processor. But the U.S. variant is speculated with a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor. It has 1 GB of RAM and comes in three models with 16/32/64GB of internal storage. As a memory add-on, it supports microSD card up to 64GB. Taking advantage over HTC, Galaxy S3 users will get 50GB of free Dropbox storage.

Sorry, HTC you cannot defeat Galaxy S3 in this department. Galaxy S3 is the winner in this round.

Connectivity

As the name suggest, HTC EVO 4G LTE is a LTE-enabled smartphone. It supports HD voice. But there is one problem: Sprint's LTE network is not operational yet. Other connectivity features include Bluetooth v3.0, microUSB v2.0, NFC, GPS, and Wi-Fi with DLNA sharing and hotspot functionality.

U.S. variant of Galaxy S3 is also 4G LTE-enabled. You will find the regular connectivity feature in it too. But Samsung has developed a better way of utilizing NFC chips. Other than mobile payment, you can send data at high speeds (over 5MB per second) via Near Field Communication. However, the option is only functional between two Galaxy S3 smartphones only.

Both the phones fare almost equal in this department too.

User Interface

HTC EVO 4G LTE runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with Sense UI 4.0 overlay. For superior audio experience, the phone is loaded up with Beats Audio. The cutting-edge software is as powerful as phone's hardware.

Galaxy S3 also runs Android 4.0 ICS, but with TouchWiz 4.0 skin. TouchWiz UI is not as awesome as HTC Sense UI, but Samsung is doing everything to change the fact this time. Some cool features of Galaxy S3's UI include Pop-up Play, S Voice, S Beam and Smart Stay. However, we are waiting for the device to release in the market, so that we can get hold on the device and deliver a better overview of these new features.

Galaxy S3 has a little advantage in this section.

Camera

Thanks to the latest HTC ImageSense technology, the 8-megapixel camera can take excellent quality pictures with low shutter lags. Users can record HD videos and take still shots at the same time. EVO 4G LTE also packs a secondary 1.3-megapixel camera for self-portrait and video calling.

Samsung Galaxy S3 is also loaded with similar camera tech. The 8-megapixel camera gives nearly zero shutter lag. A new shooting mode - Burst Mode - has been added to camera UI of Galaxy S3, which can up to 20 continuous shots with zero shutter lag speed. Out of these 20 pictures, the best shot is selected and saved in the memory. Even in normal mode, Galaxy S3's camera captures 3 pictures per second.

It is again a draw in camera department too.

Battery

EVO 4G LTE packs a 2000 mAh battery, while Galaxy S3 packs 2100 mAh. However, the battery performance of both these devices is unknown yet.

Conclusion

HTC EVO 4G LTE lined up against Galaxy S3 is one of the biggest matchups of smartphone world. Competition is getting tougher day-by-day and we are happy to see that the level of smartphones is just getting incredible. EVO 4G LTE offers HD Voice that allows users to place calls with clear, crisp and natural sound exchange. However, Galaxy S3 has advantages of its own. Samsungs offers S Voice that can do anything Apple Siri does on iPhone 4S. Smart Stay is another innovative software feature of Galaxy S3 that aims to enhance user interaction experience by using front-facing camera to read facial gestures and adjust the screen settings as necessary to tweak user experience.

EVO 4G LTE is an excellent smartphone with killer looks but Galaxy S3 is the one that brings software innovation to Android smartphones, taking the game to the next level. Hence, it turns out to be a winner in this smartphone battle.

(reported by Johnny Wills, edited by Surojit Chatterjee)