HTC Hero Review - HTC Hero

Editor Rating: 4.3

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Styling:  4 

Ease of Use:  4 

Battery Life:  4 

Voice Quality:  4 

Quality/Durability:  5 

Display:  5 

Overview

What's good: Killer virtual keyboard; Sense UI is inviting and full of wow; gorgeous 3.2", 320 X 480 display with oleophobic coating; design is sophisticated but makes a statement; 3.5mm headphone jack; 5MP cam; Teflon on select colors; Hero represents a new day for Android.

What's bad: You need to go without the Sense extras for a snappy experience; my browsing experience on EDGE was very slow (issue for running on unsupported carriers); video camera isn't even worth using; some people hate the chin and asymmetrical button layout.

Introduction

As the first OEM to sell a phone running Android, HTC holds a unique position in the Android market. They are well aware of the operating system's strengths and weaknesses, technical ins and outs, and surely what the public has adored and despised in previous implementations.

Much as they have done with the unappetising surface of Windows Mobile, HTC remedied the blandness of the vanilla Android home screen by way of a new experience and (as much as I hate to say this) a philosophy, called Sense.

The most readily apparent aspect of Sense is the user interface, which is actually still called TouchFLO - as it has been on the company's WinMo devices. This may change, but you can test it at the time of this writing by installing a home replacement such as aHome or dxTop. After install, hit the home button and you'll find that the Rosie UI (as it was termed in early leaks) has now been branded TouchFLO.

Sense also integrates Android devices with the user's online life; pulling friend's images from Facebook and allowing the aggregation of multiple data streams under one contact. For example, Jim may send you two emails from two different accounts. They may even be sent to two different accounts that you have set up on your Sense-equipped phone. When you look at Jim's contact entry, you'll see two or more new messages: the two emails, and his latest Tweet or Facebook update. Pretty cool stuff. (cont.)

Design & Features

In terms of beauty and style, HTC has a reputation for bold and sleek design. The Hero is no exception. However, as HTC's CIO admits, the Hero aesthetic is polarizing. People love it or hate it. There isn't much of a grey area. This is largely due to the phone's prominent chin, which juts out from the body of the device at a fifteen-degree trajectory.

If you ask me - and you are if you're reading this - the chin just fits. It feels and looks natural when held against the face, and there's something about it that gives Hero an air of future-retro chic. Yes, that is a real phrase. I just used it. The dark black/brown model I was sent is gorgeous.

In order to maintain sharp lines and a smooth surface, a sparse control layout leaves the phone without a dedicated camera button. In fact, beside the face control buttons; send, end, back, search, home, menu and trackball (action), the only hardware control element on the phone is the subdued volume rocker.

The lack of a camera button was not much of an issue for me until I tried to take a one-handed shot of myself and my wife. Those are always awkward, but trying to hit that scrolling action button and keep two heads in frame with no preview while ensuring the phone's safety is no easy task. This turned out to be less of an issue than I originally thought it would be, because I didn't have much use for the camera. I would count on Hero for shooting sights on vacation, but not for a birthday in a bar.

You'll get great, even stunning, still shots in bright light. But without a flash, dim situations are grim. And the camcorder is just plain bad. I'm hoping an update will resolve the horrible maximum resolution of 352 x 288 for video. Seriously, that department is hurting. I can optimistically report that the positive side to having a mediocre camera is that I'm not draining the battery unnecessarily.

Other aspects of Hero are just what they should be. You get a 3.5mm headphone jack, a sweet virtual keyboard (which is, to me, the greatest concern for a touch screen without a hardware QWERTY), a lovely interface, useful and beautiful widgets, and a bold body. What am I missing here? Ah, yes. The processor. (See next section)

Usability & Performance

I think I'm the only reviewer who doesn't have a serious gripe with Hero's 288 RAM, 512 ROM, and 528 MHz processor. I've seen a video where one reviewer loaded up some power-hungry widgets on Hero and then complained that the G1, running no widgets, is faster. I admit that the lovingly designed widgets are tempting, but their simultaneous availability does not mean they all must be run at once.

If you push Hero with widgets and background apps (which I admit, Sense is begging you to do), you're going to experience lag. I ran it very lean. This means that I missed out on some of the features that are achieving so much buzz for the device. In the near future, I think you will be able to run your Twitter widget and app, music player, and browse a website with Flash on an HTC Sense device - getting in return a snappy response. But right now, it's not happening. That may appear to be the phone HTC is selling, but it's not the phone you're buying. Caviat emptor. What's the Latin phrase for, "But it still kicks ass?"

HTC would have to be out of their collective mind to *not* push the widgets in terms of PR, but in a way I think this has set people up with unreasonable expectations - like they can run all of the widgets at the same time while going about their business of making phone calls and surfing the web. Many reviewers have been dissatisfied with a less-than-stellar experience rather than pleased by the wide variety of new functionalities HTC has bestowed on Android. They praise the battery and curse the processor. I, however, found the processor sufficient and the battery lacking - despite my minimal use of add-ons.

I personally like to keep my phone running light - using only what I need, which isn't much: phone, texts, maps, and a little bit of social app interaction. In turn, I had a very pleasant experience with Hero. When I put the words Hero and experience together in the same sentence, the first thing that pops into my mind is that fantastic keyboard. I would love to see it for sale in the Market.

Conclusion

I am as excited about the Hero as I was about the G1 at launch. I think this phone represents something big. I think it signals a sea change in the way people use their phones, and a major bump for the Android's profile in the eyes of the average consumer. But I went into my time with Hero recognizing that early adopters pay a price for the opportunity to taste features before they hit the mainstream. I didn't expect to run all of those lovely widgets at once without a slow, so I wasn't disappointed.

I also give this glowing review as an Android enthusiast counting on HTC to optimize the Hero ROM and extend battery life. All of us reviewers are talking and writing about an early preview, after all. We were told that Hero would hit the States by the end of the 2009. A push-back or two would not surprize me. So when you search for a Hero review and find results unfavorable to the Hero team, remember that the phone that the reviewer held is not the same one you'll eventually find in an American store. I have no stake in seeing HTC succeed. I just think think (and hope) they're being underestimated at this early stage in the life of a ground-breaking device.