Hands-on with the Sprint HTC EVO 3D [with Video!]

While I’m not too big of a fan of this whole glasses-free 3D trend, I am a fan of big ol’ megafast superphones — and, silly 3D screen aside, that’s exactly what the just announced EVO 3D is.

Take a glance at our quick hands-off demo video above, and join us behind the jump for our hands-on impressions and photos.

Impressions:
• That 3D screen? Meh. Admittedly, I’m not a big fan of 3D media in general, but 3D on this screen isn’t particularly great. The “sweet spot” (the viewing angle where the 3D effect works) seems pretty small. I might be crazy, but I remember the sweet spot/overall 3D effect on the Optimus 3D being a bit better than this.
• It feels great in the hand. It’s a hair thinner than the original EVO while being a biiiit taller, which makes it feel just a tad less brick-like.
• The back of the handset has a slight texture to it (see the photo below), which, while subtle, somehow makes the back of the handset feel less cheap in the palm.
• The software on this hardware was super early and thus pretty dang crashtastic — but they’ve still got plenty of time to brush that up before the summer launch.
• When the software is workin’, it’s fast. The video above doesn’t necessarily show this particularly well, but things were smooth as butter in our hands-on time after the fact.
• The build of HTC Sense running here has a few subtle, but welcome, changes over HTC Senses past. There’s a fancy new lock screen that lets you jump straight into a 4 customizable tasks (phone, mail, camera, and messaging, amongst others), and new fullscreen weather animations.
• Sense also features a new, roulette-wheel-esque swipe mechanism on the home screen which lets you zoom past multiple screens with one quick brush of the finger. It’s a bit too sensitive for me (I’d probably turn it off, actually), but I imagine some folks will love it.