Grab a cigar, gang: Sprint's HTC EVO 4G officially has a new sibling. Sprint unveiled the HTC EVO Shift 4G on Tuesday, kickstarting what promises to be a week filled with attention-grabbing Android announcements. The new EVO Shift 4G may share its older brother's name, but it's a drastically different device -- both inside and out. The most basic differences are immediately evident upon seeing the new phone. The HTC EVO Shift is significantly smaller than its supersized predecessor, with a 3.6-inch screen compared to the original EVO's 4.3-inch monster display. The EVO Shift uses that extra room to add a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, something the first EVO does not possess. 9.7 inch google android 2.2 multi-touch capacity screen 8gb gravity sensor apad iphone clone M001 Quad Band Dual Card With WIFI Analog TV Unlocked Cell Phone china electronic wholesale W008 Quad Band Dual Card With Java Bluetooth Unlocked Cell Phone Wifi iPro 9700i Pro Quad Band Dual Cards with Wifi Analog TV Java Leather Cell Phone KA08 Quad Band Dual Card With Bluetooth Unlocked Cell Phone TV F1 Quad Band Dual Cards with Analog TV Java FM QWERTY keyboard Cell Phone(Red) gpad g11 android 2.1 ChangJiang W001 Dual Sim Quad Band Wifi Analogy TV JAVA FM Touch Screen Cell Phone Black hsdpa 1901d wcdma 3g modem ipad china wholesale free shipping f8 tv phone wifi yagi antenna dropshipping 2.4ghz Range Rover car dvd [HL-8725GB] Xperia X10 GSM+EDGE Dual Cards Windows Mobile 6.5 With Wifi GPS Java Capacitive Touch Screen Smart Phone Eken M004 7 inch Wifi Google Android trustfire tr001 gpad g10 A3 Quad Band single Card Android 2.1 Wifi Java FM Touch Screen Smart Cell Phone fujunjie Gpad G12 7 inch Google Android 2.1 Aluminum Shell 1080P 4GB MID Blue Wifi iPro 9700i Pro, 9700i Phone iron samurai watch blue 03-08 Renault Megane ZOHO W52 Quad Band Dual Cards Touch with Wifi Analog TV Java Touch Screen Cell Phone N9 Quad Band Tri sim Cards with FM Bluetooth Cell Phone(Black) That's just the start of the EVO story, though. Check out our comparison chart for a side-by-side glimpse at the two phones' specs, and read on for some more specifics. The best way to sum up the difference between the HTC EVO Shift and the original EVO 4G is that the new model feels more like a productivity-focused device, while the first edition has multimedia powerhouse written all over it. The new EVO isn't necessarily better or worse; it's just a different kind of phone designed for a different kind of user. (Fittingly, as of now, there are no signs of Sprint discontinuing the EVO 4G; the new EVO Shift appears to be more of an addition than a replacement.) Aside from its smaller profile and added physical keyboard, the EVO Shift has a 5MP camera compared to the first EVO's 8MP offering. It lacks a secondary, front-facing camera as well as an HDMI out port. The Shift does, however, record 720p HD-quality video. In terms of under-the-hood power, the EVO Shift has an 800MHz processor -- a number that may initially appear less impressive than the EVO 4G's 1GHz chip. Interestingly, though, some early speed tests performed on the phones show the Shift coming out ahead. Mobile retailer Wirefly ran Quadrant analyses on the two devices and consistently found the EVO Shift receiving higher benchmark scores, with end results around 1477 compared to the EVO 4G's 1232. One burning question: What about Android battery life? The EVO 4G, after all, has taken some heat for its, err, premature depoweration. The EVO Shift's smaller screen should in theory put a lower strain on the phone's power consumption. That said, both devices use the same 1500 mAh battery, and both are listed by Sprint as having about six hours of talk time -- so we'll have to wait and see how the newcomer performs in the wild before making any final judgments. The EVO Shift, by the way, ships with Android 2.2 -- aka Froyo. It's not immediately clear if or when it'll be upgraded to the shiny new Android Gingerbread release, but one would imagine it'd be relatively early in line for the nod. HTC has yet to make any firm upgrade commitments for any of its devices, but based on past trends -- the original EVO was the first carrier-specific device to receive the Android 2.2 upgrade, preceded only by Google's Nexus One -- the original EVO sure seems like a strong contender for a timely Gingerbread rollout, too. The HTC EVO Shift 4G will be available for $149.99 (yep, 50 bucks cheaper than its big bro) starting January 9. It'll be sold through Sprint and also at all Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile locations. JR Raphael is a PCWorld contributing editor and the author of the Android Power blog. You can find him on both Facebook and Twitter.