We sat down for a few moments of quiet introspection today with Sprint's recently-announced 3G / 4G MiFi, and while it's definitely a touch thicker and heavier than the 3G-only model it replaces, we're pretty sure the more luxurious look makes up for it. Okay, correction -- the appearance of a device that you don't ever look at or interact with other than to turn it on is kind of irrelevant, but regardless, it's a surprisingly nice-looking little device. We especially liked the E Ink status indicators above the power button (what can we say, we're always suckers for a creative E Ink application) and the front-loading microSD slot is a new feature -- GSM versions of the original MiFi always had this, but it's new on the CDMA side.
On a related note, we've learned that the Overdrive -- Sprint's first 3G / 4G mobile hotspot -- has been discontinued, so the MiFi will be your only option by the time it launches next month. Considering the Overdrive was plagued from the start by high run temperatures and long boot times, we'd say that's a good thing: when we turned the MiFi on, it finished booting within about 15 seconds and stayed cool to the touch, though we'd need to punish it for a few hours before making a call on whether it'll actually burn our pockets with regular use. Stay tuned for a full review as soon as we can score a unit!
Sprint 3G / 4G MiFi hands-on
