HTC EVO 4G LTE Hits Sprint on May 18 for $199

CTIA has been somewhat of a slow show for phone announcements, but HTC spiced it up a bit with the announcement that the EVO 4G LTE will hit stores May 18. The phone, available on Sprint and costing $199, has a 4.7-inch Super LCD display, a high-end 8-megapixel camera with ImageSense (HTC’s camera interface) and runs the Android 4.0 interface with HTC’s Sense 4.0.

The EVO 4G is very similar to the HTC One X on AT&T, but it has some features that make it unique from its sibling phone. The EVO 4G LTE will be the first phone on a U.S. carrier with HD Voice. Sprint’s demo of HD Voice at the EVO 4G LTE’s launch in New York City showed how it significantly decreases background noise.

This is made possible by a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 chip. The MSM8960 uses dual-microphone noise suppression and earpiece active noise cancellation. It also relies on Sprint to finish its upgrades to its 3G network. Additionally, HD Voice will only work if both people on a call are using an HD Voice-supported smartphone on an HD Voice-supported network.

Sprint also gave an overview of its Network Vision plan for rolling out an LTE network at CTIA in New Orleans. The company said it is on track to release 15 LTE devices, most of them handsets, by the end of this year.

PCWorld is getting a review unit of the EVO 4G LTE later today so stay tuned for our first impressions and a full rated review coming soon.