HTC Hero (CDMA)
Average Ratings
Good but not great.
First, I really like android. The operating system is great, I love the apps and HTC's build. Here is the problem: the keyboard is very hard to type on quickly without making mistakes. The battery life really stinks and the reception is not as good as my previous Sprint phones. That being said, I will keep the phone because I like the form factor and build quality..I can always buy an extended battery.
Pros
Form factor
great screen
build quality
lots of free apps
spell check
great speaker phone
really good voice quality
Cons
keyboard
can't transfer data via bluetooth
limited bluetooth compatibility with other devises
must unmount the micro sd card before removal (no hot swap)
can't run apps from the sd card (really)
not great reception
amazing!
i was fortunate enough to get this phone through best buy on the 9th as a reward zone member. i came from a blackberry curve and simply put, this phone is incredible! everything about this phone is great, from the build quality (doesn't feel cheap) to the apps. there are so many in the android market that anyone can find what they need for just about anything. the only downside is the battery life, but as stated before, thats just what happens when you need to power and sweet phone. i will wait and see what the moment has to offer, but i highly doubt that i will give this phone up for anything in the near future. i love this phone and you should too =)
Bye Bye Hero... Welcome Home Pre...
Being a former iPhone 3g user, I was excited about jumping ship and surf the Android wave. The Sprint HTC Hero seemed to be the perfect phone to challenge Apple's superphone. Android's 1.5 cupcake OS teamed with HTC's Sense UI with its 7 customizable pages provides an iPhone like experience but with the wonderful twist of having PC like widgets.
During the 1st week the phone was fairly snappy and call quality was good despite poor signal strength. Shortly after that the phone began to bog down to a near halt when I began adding app short cuts and widgets. Using the calling favorites widget was a nightmare because the the lag. I ended up tapping 2 to 3 times which would result in caller hang ups. Browsing the internet and Youtube videos were slow even with good signal.
After 30 days of progressively getting worst. I decided to try out the Palm Pre... Boy, what a difference! The Pre and WebOS with the new 1.3.1 update is an excellent phone and an elegant operating system. It is really fun to use and made me Glad I left the iPhone. I ended up selling the Hero on eBay...
Pros:
Screen is very nice and clear.
Form factor fits nicely in hand.
Call voice quality can be very good on Sprint.
Micro SD card
Android OS if with better processor.
Cons:
Lag Laggy Lag (Horrible)
Processor is under-powered
email application's are poor
Screen is still a smudge magnet
despite claims of being resistant.
To many gaps where dust can get in.
Creeky and flimsy soft buttons cover.
Over and Out...
Awesome Phone
HTC Hero, had to choose between the moment and the hero. HTC so far has not let me down, so I chose the virtual over the slide out keyboard. Once the phone figured out my kind of texting and touch sense...I can honestly say I text and type faster on my hero than the moment. Unless your a female who wears fake nails all the time, the screen does not respond to long nails. Forgot what a stylus is for since switching to this phone made so faster and easier to learn. Awesome Awesome Awesome!!!
Sending it Back .. I miss my Palm Pre!
I thought this was going to be the phone for me, after reading the positive reviews here and ignoring the bad ones, I still wanted it.
Now, I can't wait to return it and get back to my Palm Pre. My issues were mainly connection to internet and email apps.
Internet connection issues. Can never stay connected to a WiFi, loses Mobile Internet when it loses WiFi. Exchange sync has constantly has issues, it works, but not very well. Set POP3 email to check for mail every 5 minutes and it will for a little and then go hours without checking again.
PROS:
- Solid Construction
- Nice GUI
- Plenty of Apps
- Memory card
- Great voice quality
- Videos!
CONS:
- Staying connected to WiFi
- Exchange sync not very reliable
- POP3 mail check not reliable
- Alarm clock not reliable
- Android Version 1.5 (while 1.6 and 2.0 is on other phones)
- Not as responsive as Pre
- Roller ball useless and in the way.
- Camera.. you better have a steady hand to take a clear picture.
I use this for business and so far, this phone has let me down retrieving emails on a timely manner and even made me an hour late for work! (don't rely on the alarm clock function)
I want my Pre!!! Check that.. it's already in route :)
Hope you have better luck than I did!
HTC/Sprint, Are you kidding me?
I had this phone for 3 days. Texting was a nightmare(and I am a very savvy texter), battery life would never last me a day(and yes I closed out every application, dimmed the screen brightness,no bluetooth, or wifi) and 3g reception was absolutly horrible. Sprint, how can T-mobile have full 3g reception at my house, and you're newest PDA phone be roaming at my house? Even after Sprint swapped out the phone, I still experienced the same problem. I'm sorry to say but enjoyed this phone better when it was off. 2 thumbs down
Too Many Strikes
While I agree with almost all of the positive comments posted about the HERO, here is why I will probably return the phone to Sprint.
1. No Voice Dialing via Blue-tooth Headset. I am sorry but this is a must. The Android Voice Dialing is sketchy at best anyway, but to remain safe and legal while driving I must be able to instruct my phone who to call using my headset. Not a new technology and should be there.
2. No Programmable Hard Buttons. Yes the Hero screen is customizable but there is no tactile feedback. Many reasons why tactile feedback is a good feature.
3. Difficult to Record Memos. This is mainly due to the lack of a programmable hard button. Even so Android application tries too hard with a sound meter and extra buttons. I just want to record while pressing a button and have the recording stop when said button is released. I make between 15 and 45 recording a day while in the car or in an office or restaurant. I record everything from client meeting notes to grocery lists to reminders.
4. No Windows 7 Support. Even my four year old printer has a Win7 driver. Why can't HTC write a driver? There is no excuse for this. Windows 7 was not a surprise and the cost to develop and test a driver is minimal compared to the rest of what it takes to get a phone to market. Anyway no Win7 driver, no syncing contacts and appointments. Very painful!
5. True GPS Mapping to be determined. Sprint hosed me on my Palm Treo 800w. Originally designed with True GPS, Sprint disabled it to force the use of their Navigation. This means that when you leave the Sprint network you fall off the map and into a dragon's mouth. No one at Sprint would or could tell me if the Hero's GPS suffered a similar fate. Will know this Christmas when I drive the back roads of Nevada where only UFOs and Brothels dare to go.
I love the phone and the apps but I use my phone in my work world and it's just as important a tool as my PC and NetBook.
May be stuck with the Treo 800w for awhile longer.
day 1
So here's day 1 with this luscious little apparatus... so far I am still gettin surprised every few minutes with all the things this lil guy is capable of... it beats the hell outta my treo 800w and my touch pro already! I fear the battery will be a nuisance but that's not anything new on these things... anywho, ill deliver a follow-up real soon as this is my first Android device... the learning curve has not been hard... and I'm usin the device to write this review, beeteedubs... ;)
Perfect phone for me (Atleast till the Hero 2)
-Previous phone: iPhone 3G, AT&T, 15 months.
-Hardware feels way more solid than the Pre.
-Daily use the Hero consists of running pandora in the background while going on the internet or checking email. I hated how the iphone couldn't do this.
-I see almost no lag after I tweaked it, I did not root.
-To fix sluggishness, I have a task manager that auto-kills apps in 5,10,or 15 min to free up space.
-Enable "Animation" in the display settings. Makes the transition looks smoother and thus look less sluggish.
-View programs and bookmarks in list mode. Much smoother scrolling & less sluggishness.
-You tube looks good when you click menu, then high quality video.
-NFL Live & Sprint TV work well with a good connection. Sometimes buggy but no complaints.
-I was worried about the 16 bit screen, but I don't notice the difference from my old 3G Iphone. Look up jkontherun.com, he is a Pre owner, about to switch to Hero, filmed a video comparison.
-The keyboard is usable(8.5 of 10), not as good as the iphone(9.0 of 10). Reason: the Hero has a smaller screen then the iPhone. I couldn't use the Pre's keyboard, way to small for my big hands.
- Battery is consistent with iPhone if you have data on all day. I work for a living, so I turn data off at work, but I still can receive calls and texts. Turning data off vastly improves the battery, It will last 1.5 days or more in my experience. I only need data when I'm using the phone, not in standby.
- If you use this phone primarily for email, get a blackberry instead. You will just barely last the day if you check 20+ times a day.
- I'm worried about how HTC will update the HERO. The iphone and Pre are consistently being updated. We will see since they only just released it. I'm getting a new phone in a year anyway (I'm a phone geek), so it will not matter to me.
If you want to customize, tweak the performance, and have a solid community support, go with Android Hero.
Its not the fastest phone but its more than capable.
HTC Hero
As a mid to low level android phone, the Hero(CDMA) is outstanding. It has threaded messaging due in part to the android OS, it's sleek looking (for its time)(which was in all fairness about 1-1/2 to 2yrs ago) and the touchscreen keyboard is not very buggy at all (again the android OS is what makes or breaks the phone here...) Originally shipped out with android 1.6 the Hero was relatively a high level phone for its time but it has since become monolithic(it would seem thanks to its now "small" looking screen size of only 3.2in compared to most new phones that are coming out with 4.0in screens or bigger. Recently (or not depending on your perspective) HTC has decided to upgrade the Hero's android OS from 1.6 to 2.1 which is/was an outstanding boost in the UI and the general performance of the phone. Having had the HTC Hero for a year and being able to experience it in both the 1.6 and 2.1 editions of the OS I can happily state that if the Hero is one of the phones that piques your interest then I 100% back your purchase with miles and miles of smiles...
Hopefully your purchase of this device will yield as good a time as it has given me.