Quick Look: HTC Hero, Android Champion
1. HTC Hero Design
The Hero As A Phone
Block your ears! The Hero speaker is really quite powerful: 20% volume is enough for normal communication. You’ll also have to get used to the hiss that's hard to ignore once you’ve noticed it. Synchronization of contacts with different mail accounts etc. is very practical, as long as you’re using Gmail and other Google services. Otherwise it’s a lot more complex. Lastly, you’re a bit handicapped by the touch screen as you need to keep your eyes fixed on it when keying a number in.
The Touch range benefited from the nice, light TouchFLO layer with improved easy-of-use and adaptation to Windows Mobile. It therefore seemed a good idea to deal with the Android HTC phones in the same way. This is what the manufacturer has done with the Hero and its very TouchFLO-like “Sense” interface, truly integrated into the OS this time.The HTC Hero will launch in the U.S. on October 11 on Sprint. It will be priced at $180 with a two year service contract. This review refers to the European version of the phone--the U.S. phone is expected to be nearly identical, with the exception of rounded corners, and buttons around the directional pad, rather than above it.
Something of the Blackberry, something of the Touch, something of the Dream
With its teflon anthracite back and brushed aluminum face, the Hero is largely in line with the aesthetic of the second Touch generation. The only exception is the prominent lower area that is reminiscent of the Dream, the first HTC phone based on Android. This, coupled with the teflon back, does wonders for the phone’s multimedia handling, but is perhaps less practical for
making and receiving calls or slipping into your pocket.
The finish is exemplary compared to what we usually see from HTC. The only downside is the screen that, although supposedly coated to resist finger marks, picks up prints all too easily.
The lower part of the façade has six navigation buttons that allow you to move left, right, up, down, receive a call, display the home, menus, hang up, access search and go back. You’ll also find the trackball, so dear to Blackberry users, essential, adapting itself well to Sense and Android.
Users of the older phones in the Touch range will find the Hero familiar. The influence of TouchFLO is clear to see, but goes further than on phones based on Windows Mobile. Integration with the Android interface is very successful and thankfully the cinema décor feel has been avoided. The same goes for the thumbnails that are more numerous and can be further personalised with the help of widgets. The trackball is well adapted to this type of interface and allows easy, precise navigation through the menus, facilitating the original touch interface.
The length of the phone’s start-up time is however a bit painful. At over a minute, it’s in the same unhappy bracket as Toshiba’s TG01.
Well I only skimmed the article because it mostly sucked, but was there any mention of the fact that the Hero is not available anywhere other than Europe, and that Sprint (USA) will be launching it in October but without the chin?
Well I only skimmed the article because it mostly sucked, but was there any mention of the fact that the Hero is not available anywhere other than Europe, and that Sprint (USA) will be launching it in October but without the chin?
Read the first paragraph.
Ah, yes, there it is. I skipped that paragraph. It still didn't really mention the extreme design change, but oh well.
I currently have a craptastic Instinct on sprint and was considering the Pre but maybe I will wait a bit longer and see if how this compares. If not, I may wait for the second iteration of the Pre because I do not like the way the current model handles contacts.
I currently have a craptastic Instinct on sprint and was considering the Pre but maybe I will wait a bit longer and see if how this compares. If not, I may wait for the second iteration of the Pre because I do not like the way the current model handles contacts.
Everyone I know who has the Hero loves it. It is a very good middleground between the Pre's professional direction and the iPhone's casual play time.
I would switch to Sprint in an instant if it had a bit better coverage on the west coast and my work weren't paying for my AT&T service. The Hero is a very solid phone, even though Sprint's chinless model makes it look a bit more generic.
I have a Hero, and I'm very happy with it.
One very important advantage is that Android is a multitasking OS (i.e. apps can run in the background - not only one at a time as on iPhone)
And almost everything can be changed/altered by downloading apps. If you don't like the SMS-application or call-manager or whatever, it can be exchanged by another app developed by someone else. Apple does not allow this.
It can be a bit sluggish sometimes when you've been running a heavy app for a while and exit to home screen again, and that's a consequence of the real multitasking OS, but it's not very bad at all... And well worth the ability to run apps in the background.
I currently have a craptastic Instinct on sprint and was considering the Pre but maybe I will wait a bit longer and see if how this compares. If not, I may wait for the second iteration of the Pre because I do not like the way the current model handles contacts.
well if your waiting for the next incarnation of the pre you should check out the pixie from palm its their next phone with the WebOS. the same as the pre except it has a candybar design instead of the slider design.
I have a Hero, and I'm very happy with it. One very important advantage is that Android is a multitasking OS (i.e. apps can run in the background - not only one at a time as on iPhone)And almost everything can be changed/altered by downloading apps. If you don't like the SMS-application or call-manager or whatever, it can be exchanged by another app developed by someone else. Apple does not allow this. It can be a bit sluggish sometimes when you've been running a heavy app for a while and exit to home screen again, and that's a consequence of the real multitasking OS, but it's not very bad at all... And well worth the ability to run apps in the background.
The iPhone's 3.0 OS can run apps in the background, although running 3.0 on any model other than the 3GS is apperently horrifyingly slow.