Sure we waited more than half a year for the Sprint HTC Mogul to receive the GPS/EVDO Rev A Update, but the extra time is the last thing on our minds with the Official ROM released. While we enjoyed using the unofficial ROM on our HTC Mogul, there is something about an official release that just makes things smoother (especially when it comes to device resets). So we decided to give the GPS a full course test now that Sprint Navigation is fully supported on the HTC Mogul thanks to the latest update compliments of HTC.
Sprint Navigation
Keep in mind that the GPS update for the HTC Mogul enables support for more than the pay-to-use Sprint Navigation Service. Windows Live Search and Google Maps are both fully supported thanks to the latest ROM, but neither service offers the turn-by-turn guided assistance at the quality of the pay service; Sprint Navigation. Until we see some serious updates to both Live Search and Google Maps, Sprint Navigation (powered by TeleNav) will remain a well spent $9.95/month add-on or free if you are currently using Sprint’s Unlimited Plan.
EVDO Rev A
While not everyone is lucky enough to live in Los Angeles where Sprint’s EVDO Rev A network is completely rolled out, we are glad we had the chance to test the speeds. We always use www.dslreports.com/mspeedwhen testing mobile phone Internet speed tests so we preformed the 1MB download test file with our pre-updated HTC Mogul and then followed up with our fully updated HTC Mogul running the Official GPS/EVDO Rev A updated ROM.
Results
HTC Mogul Pre-GPS/EVDO Rev A ROM: max download speed: 1083Kbps (full reception)
HTC Mogul GPS/EVDO Rev A ROM: max download speed 1410Kbps (full reception)
While the impact to the download speed was not life-changing, it is still a significant increase in downlink speeds by an increase of nearly 30%. What impressed us just as much as the increased download speed thanks to EVDO Rev A support was the speed of sending email attachments since we were perfectly fine with existing EVDO Rev 0 speeds.
Final Thoughts
While we wish Google Maps and Live Search offered the robust features of Sprint Navigation, we would not mind spending the extra 10/month to have the full fledged service if we were doing heavy car traveling. We are still not at the point where a mobile phone could replace our in-car navigation system for the majority of people, but the GPS update makes the HTC Mogul a very usable substitute. The EVDO Rev A speed improvements are solid with a significant boost to download speed, but the underlying problem with the HTC Mogul will remain to be the limited Program Memory.
If AT&T did not charge an arm and a leg for their data service I would still recommend the AT&T Tilt to anyone looking for a GPS enabled feature-rich Pocket PC, but Sprint has the edge on pricing. With choices like the Sprint SERO plan and Sprint Unlimited plan for $99/month, the HTC Mogul still represents an attractive option over the Sprint HTC Touch which lacks the physical keyboard. For those of you who still have your HTC Mogul, the update will be a solid ROM to keep you loving your device, but this update will not make or break the buying decision for the masses since it does little to improve upon the critical device limitations.
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