In a nutshell: The HTC Hero is a very polished touchscreen smartphone, running Google's Android operating system. HTC have raised their game for the Hero, with a new user interface making it a comfortable yet powerful platform for mobile communication. It's a very powerful phone and the only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is because it's missing video calling and an FM radio.
Review: August 2009.
The HTC Hero is the third "Google phone" running the Android operating system, and these Android phones just keep getting better! The Hero uses very similar hardware to the HTC Magic, but there are a number of distinct improvements. The device has been restyled, giving it a much more polished look and feel. It feels nice in the hand, with the trackball and buttons angled forward and easy for the thumb to use. The Hero is the same size as the Magic, but is slightly heavier and incorporates a higher capacity battery, giving longer standby and talk times. It also has an improved 5 megapixel camera.
T-Mobile have released the Hero as the T-Mobile Touch G2, but it is basically the same phone.
The user interface has also been improved for the Hero, and this is the first phone to feature HTC Sense, a concept based around personalisation, communication and a third ingredient that HTC mysteriously refer to as "discover the unexpected." The personalisation manifests itself through customisable widgets that can be placed on the home screen. These give you easy access to the features that you use regularly, and you can change the size and design of the widgets to suit your taste. You can also create multiple profiles, so that your work, weekend and holiday profiles match the functionality that you need in each situation. Another new feature called Footprints lets you create virtual "postcards" related to a specific place, so that you can identify it by its GPS co-ordinates and then associate pictures, video and notes with that Footprint. There's no rocket science here, but it does lead to a very pleasant user environment that is highly tailored to your personal needs and interests.
The second part of HTC Sense is all about communication, and this is of course what a modern mobile phone should have at its heart. As well as the basics of making calls and sending texts, the Hero is a good platform for emailing, and is also intended for the Facebook age, with easy access to social networking and photo sharing sites. The third aspect of HTC Sense is called "discover the unexpected" and, we think, is supposed to be about connections between data. Not quite sure about this one, to be honest - if anyone understands the concept, please post below!
The touch based user interface certainly works well, and confirms Android as a solid platform for modern mobile communications. Whether you are phoning, messaging, browsing the web or taking photos you'll find the Hero a nice handset to use, and a pleasant overall experience. There's been some talk about lag in the Hero UI. We'd like to dispel this, as we didn't experience any lag that could be considered annoying, although to be fair it's not as responsive as the iPhone or the Samsung Jet. The screen is a good size, at 3.2 inches, and has a high resolution of 480x320 pixels (the same as the iPhone), but it's not as good as some other phones for outdoor use. Android also seems to be a robust operating system in our experience, outperforming Symbian in this respect, and on a par with Apple's OS X system when it comes to choice of apps. The Android Market is shaping up very nicely in fact, and you'll find a wealth of third party tools available for download.
The 5 megapixel camera is an improvement over the 3 megapixel one on the HTC Magic, and it can take high quality photos in good lighting conditions, with autofocus to ensure sharpness. But indoors it's another matter, with no flash on the camera, and to be honest it's below average when compared with similarly priced smartphones (but still as good as the iPhone!) And it's a mystery why there's no video calling option in any of the Android phones so far.
The Hero is outstanding when it comes to connectivity, as it has the lot - Bluetooth 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate, mini-USB 2.0, Wi-Fi and a 3.5mm audio jack (so you can plug in any standard fit headset, hooray!) It also supports fast 3G data transfer with HSDPA giving download speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps. Quadband GSM lets you use the phone worldwide too.
Battery life, for a smartphone, is above average, maybe even good!
Overall, this is our favourite Android phone so far, although it's not such a big step up from the HTC Magic. The benefits of the Hero, compared with other smartphones, are the user interface, Android Market apps, and the overall polished nature of the operating system. There are nice touches such as the GPS with Google maps and digital compass, and the 3.5mm headphone jack. Aspects of the phone that are not so hot are the lacklustre camera and the lack of video calling and FM radio - features that have been standard on smartphones for years. It's disappointing that a brand new phone with an advanced new operating system should miss out basic and obvious features. But hey, that's what the iPhone did and it didn't stop it becoming a runaway success, so what do we know about it anyway?
We so wanted to give this phone 5 stars, but we just can't justify it. But still, a very polished phone, and so close to being perfect!
The new HTC Desire fills the few gaps in the Hero's armoury, and is absolutely a 5 star phone.
Features of the HTC Hero include:
5 megapixel camera with autofocus
Video recording
Display: TFT, 320 x 480 pixels (3.2 inches) with auto-rotate
GPS receiver with Google Maps and digital compass
Music player (MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA formats)
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email
Ringtones: MP3 ringtones
Internet: GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA (7.2 Mbps)
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate, mini-USB 2.0, Wi-Fi, 3.5mm audio jack
Memory: 288 MB RAM plus microSD memory card
Vibration alert
Quadband GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) plus HSDPA/WCDMA (900/2100 MHz)
Size: 112 x 56 x 14 mm
Weight: 135g
Talktime: 420 - 470 minutes
Battery standby: 440 - 750 hours
