Sprint's HTC EVO 4G LTE may be the best phone yet for voice callers. That's because it will be the first U.S. phone to support "HD Voice," a higher-quality encoder for phone calls.
As Americans have moved to texting and emailing on their phones, voice calls haven't always been phone manufacturers' and carriers' first priority. There are companies doing innovative things with voice, such as Audience with its noise-cancelling, sound-clarifying voice technology in phones like the Samsung Galaxy Note. But in general, carriers try to cram voice calls into very skinny pipes, which reduce call quality.
HD Voice uses a system called "EVRC-NW" which offers a little more breathing room for voice calls. It's like streaming a video over DSL rather than dialup - everything will be clearer.
EVRC-NW doesn't take up more room on the network than the previous EVRC codec did, Sprint's Craig Sparks said. It uses more advanced compression - like switching from MPEG2 to MPEG4, for instance.
I tried the new voice system at Sprint's event. It did a much better job cancelling loud music in the background than the previous voice codec, and it offered up a much more well-rounded voice sound. It's a significant upgrade that's going to make calls clearer.
The HTC EVO 4G LTE will further enhance voice calls by using a Qualcomm-provided, dual-microphone noise cancellation system, Sprint product chief Farid Adib said.
Verizon Wireless was the first U.S. carrier to discuss HD Voice, but that move is on hold waiting for another technology called VoLTE (Voice Over LTE) which would switch voice calls from the older 3G network to Verizon's new 4G LTE network.
Sprint, on the other hand, is going ahead by enhancing its older network. HD Voice is part of Sprint's Network Vision network upgrade, which involves moving the company's CDMA network to a new technology called 1X Advanced.
Developed by Qualcomm, 1X Advanced supercharges the most basic, 2G part of Sprint's network, which happens to be the part that handles the voice calls. According to Qualcomm, 1X Advanced lets a cell site handle up to four times the number of voice callers it currently does, and lets cell sites extend voice coverage 70 percent wider than on previous 1X technology.
That's going to let Sprint cover more ground and offer better indoor coverage with fewer cell sites. And it's going to let the EVO 4G LTE, hopefully, deliver clearer calls than other phones. Other HD Voice phones will come, too, Adib said; this is just the first one.
Unfortunately, Adib didn't give any hard-and-fast timelines for when you'll see HD Voice in your area. Sprint's Network Vision brings more than just HD Voice - it will also bring LTE. But Sprint has stayed vague about its LTE markets and geographic Network Vision upgrades for 2012.
Although Network Vision, LTE and 1X-Advanced will start appearing on Sprint's network in "mid-2012," Sparks said that the final missing pieces to enable HD Voice will appear in "late 2012" through 2013.
An independent website, Sprint 4G Network Rollout Updates, gives details on 14 "first round markets" and 27 "second round markets" for Network Vision. Sprint has not confirmed most of the material on that site.