Android Phones
HTC Hero tested, dissected…accepted?
July 20, 2009 | by Andrew Kameka
HTC
A few websites recently had the chance to play with review units of the HTC Hero, and the impressions differed slightly as one might expect. While Tech Radar was inclined to analyze the Hero in relation to the iPhone, Mobile Crunch made only the bare minimum iComparisons, and PhoneDog focused deeply on the Hero’s communication functions. Here are some highlights that you, the everyday Android junky, can draw from the recent reviews of the HTC Hero and it’s eye-popping Sense UI.
Communication is key, and also strong
Behold this video illustrating the power of texting, e-mail, Twitter, and notifications in the HTC Hero Sense UI. Messaging has been taken to the home screen level and is available in a completely revamped method compared to what we’ve seen on the G1/Magic. (video courtesy of PhoneDog)
Design is peculiar but not really that bad
The chin exists. Get over it. As someone who railed against it when I first got my G1 on Wednesday, I’d completely forgotten it was even there by Friday. According to Mobile Crunch, HTC placed the chin on the Hero because of design more than function. However, it does function for toughening up the phone incase its dropped, making it fit naturally in the hand, and isn’t noticeable when placed in the pocket. Leave Leno alone.
Image & video quality is comparable to the G1/HTC Magic
Though the Hero sports a 5 megapixel camera, image quality isn’t all that much better than what you’ve already seen in your G1. The same truth in digital cameras holds true in phone cameras: more MP’s doesn’t always equal more quality in the photo. The sample shots and videos taken by Tech Radar and Mobile Crunch revealed a decent camera similar/slightly better than previous 3.2 megapixel cameras in other Android phones. If you’re looking for some super-high-quality-top-of-the-line lens, it’s not there, but it’s a serviceable effort.
The Hero widgets lack Superhero speed
Both TechRadar and Mobile Crunch reported that there was a bit of lag in the Hero’s widget display and general usage. As wonderful as the home screen content may appear, some of that buzz is taken away when considering that the 528 MHZ Qualcomm MSM 7200A chip and 256MB RAM don’t let things run as smoothly as one would hope. On the bright side of things, Mobile Crunch reports that Android APPS run smoothly. TechRadar even said its original experience with the Hero was far worse and there has been much improvement in its recent hands-on testing. That means the extra time HTC has until the device is released in Europe (or a firmware update that may follow) might show even further improvement.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of some very thorough reviews of the HTC Hero (aka G2 Touch on T-Mobile UK). Visit Tech Radar for more information about its impressions from the Hero and then visit Mobile Crunch for the same, which includes a number of photos and videos highlighting other aspects of the phone.
I do not see any issue with the chin like you, and I do not even notice it on my G1 anymore. In fact when playing 3d games such as doom on it i find the chin makes the phone sit more comfortably in my hand.
I've had this phone for 24hours now, been using it extensively. I don't think I can live with the lag, its pretty bad. If you are coming from a 3GS forget it… you will be extremely disappointed with the performance, but delighted with the freedom. What are phone manufacturers playing at. Apple, got the performance but fail to deliver as far as freedom is concerned, HTC Hero gives you the freedom but fail on performance. I just want a phone I can do what I want, multi-task, etc and for it to run well. Is it too much to ask? Only phone I foresee meeting this criteria in the near future is the Sony Ericsson X3 aka Rachael. I am really bummed, I had such high expectations of the Hero….
lee Root your htc hero and download an overclocking program makes it run just as fast as the iphone 3gs with ZERO lag. i did it yesterday and the phone is awesome now.
Hi do you know whats the upper boundary of MHZ to overclock? I don't want to burn it
i dont get why so many sites are saying that the hero is slow with lag?? i found mine to be great and then i rooted it and over clocked it and now it's SUPER fast with ZERO lag, i had an iphone and think that the HERO is much better. again rooted and over clocked it's like grease lightning. i am not techy but found easy directions on how to root the phone on overclokr.com and it took 5 mins. easy and again with the overclocking programs works great.
best phone on the market, forget the iphone 3gs.
I am a heavy phone user and have had my Sprint hero for a week. I’ve loaded about 40 apps, have done the 3 extra screens tweak, and it did get laggy. The difference is you can fix it. Load a taskkiller, root, and overclock; bammm. Fast as shit. Any phone will slow down under heavy use, only android can be fully tweaked to meet your needs.