Back in March, Sprint and HTC sent out invitations to a joint event planned for this afternoon. While they offered little hint about what the topic of discussion may be, the timing of the event fueled rumors that we would learn about HTC One-series hardware with support for Sprint’s upcoming LTE network. Some of the details to arrive since then have been off, including guesses at the phone’s name, but Sprint and HTC are now finally clearing the air and making everything official, announcing the HTC EVO 4G LTE.

Earlier today, we got a look at some pics of the phone all decked-out for Sprint, featuring bold red accents and a flip-out kickstand. Sure enough, that’s exactly how we’ll see the EVO 4G LTE arrive from Sprint, and HTC is understandably excited about the phone’s design. We’ll hand it to them; in a world of cookie-cutter black slate smartphones, a little bit of color goes a long way towards helping a phone stand out.

While the One-series hardware seemed likely, we weren’t 100% convinced about the phone being announced today supporting LTE. As such, we didn’t know if there was a chance we might see some quad-core action at Sprint, but today’s revelation makes it clear that we’ll be looking at One XL hardware with its Snapadragon S4 processor; given its exceptional performance, those dual cores should be more than enough.

The EVO 4G LTE will introduce the US to its first smartphone supporting HD Voice, which should bring with it some greatly increased voice call clarity.

Pre-orders of the HTC EVO 4G LTE will open on May 7, with a retail launch sometime before the end of the quarter. Sprint will sell the smartphone for just about $200 on-contract.

Check back soon for our hands-on coverage of the EVO 4G LTE at Sprint and HTC’s event.

Source: Sprint