HTC Hero (CDMA)
Average Ratings
HTC and Android; A Match Made in Heaven...
I purchased the Touch about two years ago, the Touch Diamond about a year ago, and the Hero (all on Sprint) about 6 months ago. I am amazed at what this phone can and will do.
PROS:
- sleek, slim, easy to slide in and out of pockets.
- extremely loud speaker
- great camera (for a mobile phone)
- sturdy feel
- strong feature set
- large, bright display
- responsive touch screen (when set properly)
- auto-sync with my Google account
- availability of numerous apps for just about anything you would want to do that doesn't come pre-loaded on the phone
CONS:
- a little hesitant at times
- battery life (when running mulitple data applications simultaneously)
Over all, I've been impressed with this phone. I've found a couple of glitches with Android 1.5, which seemed to have been fixed when I upgraded to 1.5.6 (or whatever it was). I've heard 2.1 will be greater, which I'm not sure how much more they can improve upon, but I'm excited to get 2.1 on my Hero.
It's an ok phone, not the best
The phone is nice for the most part. It has a great screen and is is aesthically pleasing to look at. The sound quality is very very good and much better than most other cell phones I have had over the years.
It's compact enough to fit into a pocket. Some adjusting might be necessary though and be sure the screen is against the thigh to avoid scratching the handset's screen.
The phone does lag considerably from time to time. Texting is not very fun because the keyboard is all touch and the response rate can be horrible at times. The good thing is that the phone does make corrections as you type. haptic feedback is available but I turned it off.
The apps are ok but the calendar is horrible.
I am still exploring this phone but so far I question it's purpose.
Hero is a must!
OK WOW is the word to describe this phone. I came from a Blackberry Curve, I didn't wanna jump away from the curve cause I was so use to the phone but when I picked up my Hero on Monday I was amazed. Tons of apps, Sleek interface, very customizable, and very sturdy feeling. This is worth the money. It's my first HTC and I was skeptical about getting a HTC but I'm glad I did. I give this phone a +5. The battery life in my mind is excellent. I plug it in when I go to bed and use it for hours on end starting early in the morning and it still works great and for a long period of time. I don't expect my phone to last me a few days with regular use batteries are meant to die with constant use. This is the type of phone I've been holding out for so long to get and I am not disappointed one bit. Enjoy!
Battery Drain Info And Hero Review
Love the phone but, it has a battery issue i had a hard time with. The link below gives some information on whats going on and what to do to help with the issue. Hope this helps some people out.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Sprint-HTC-Hero-Issue-Results-in-Battery-Drain-124596.shtml
My Feedback on the phone other than the battery issue right now.
Pros-
Touch screen is responsive.
Texting is quick and easy.
3.5mm headphone jack ++
Call quality is great.
Easy to customize menu to your likes.
Visual Voicemail.
Tons of Apps.
Cons-
Battery life is not great. But, there is solutions to help with that, And it is a pda type phone. They always use up allot of battery.
Camera has no flash and does lag some time.
Speaker phone is not great. Sometimes hard to hear.
Great phone, i can deal with the Cons and that's why i gave it 5 stars.
Phone is almost perfect.
Just got this phone when it came out and have been playing with it. I must say, it has surprised me in every way except one...the battery. Wish it lasted longer. The interface is beautiful. I love that it has Android. The call quality is great.
I have owned an iPhone, and think that this phone is better. Especially with the built in flash support for websites. With certain Sprint calling plans, you can include navigation and unlimited texting. There is not a thing that I need that this phone cannot offer.
My only complaint is the battery. It drains faster than I would like. However, this is something I can deal with.
Great Android Experience
After using the Moment for 28 days, I decided to exchange it for the HTC Hero. I guess it was because of my indifference towards the Moment. I just wanted to try something else.
Well...what a difference, especially with the Android experience. The tweaks HTC made to the Android platform with Sense is just beautiful. The overall operation of the phone runs incredibly smooth. The difference is night and day. I have heard many complain that the Hero lags. I really have not noticed this. The switch between landscape and portrait is a little slow, but definitely not a deal breaker by any means.
My biggest concerned was not having a physical keyboard. All touch keyboards are hard to type on - even the Hero. However, the auto correct works incredibly well. I in no way miss having a physical keyboard.
The camera is clear. The speakerphone is how a speakerphone should be...loud and clear, on both ends. The call quality is great. The screen (in my opinion) is even clearer than the AMOLED screen on the Moment.
Hands down, the Hero is fantastic Android experience. It looks, feels, and operates beautifully.
Returning to my BlackBerry
This phone is using Android 1.5, HTC Hero, Sprint.
I have used the Hero for one week and I do not like it. I was previously using a Blackberry Curve and will be reactivating the Curve.
The Hero is great when it comes to screen resolution, number of viable and worthwhile apps available, touch screen and natural beauty. However, the phone has horrible battery life and the lag is enough to drive a person crazy.
I do not like the calendar software, I do not like the touch screen at all and I fear the lag will continue to accelerate as the phone ages due to software installations.
Signal and sound quality are exceptional and far better than the Blackberry.
Best Andriod phone to date
AFter 3 wks of use (abuse is closer), I find this phone just good and clearly the best Andriod phone in the market as of today (Verizon's Moto Driod launch is tomm).
PRO:
- Bright & clarity. After looking at HTC hero and lokking at iPhone is like going back to old black and white LCD screen.
- Everything else other reviewers mentioned.
CONS:
- Poor Battery life. Based on default setting, you will not make it through 8 hrs with avg use. I had to turn off some features to barely make it through the entire day. See helpful advise on http://www.gamaze.com/blog/2009/08/improve-battery-life-for-the-android-based-htc-hero-smart-phone/
- Andriod Market is no where near iPhone. After 3wks, I ran out of free apps to try that is worth my time.
- None standard mini USB connection. I'm so used having standard mini usb cable both at home and office. Now I need to carry this cable that came with the phone in order to charge.
Best Phone I've Owned to Date
I was at the Sprint store yesterday as soon as they opened to get it. This is after about a week of watching reviews of the phone online. I knew I had to have it. It's about as close to an iPhone as Sprint has for the moment. I'd LOVE to have an iPhone 3Gs... but I'm not willing to leave Sprint to get one.
The phones interface is very user friendly, very clean, simple, yet packed with a ton of useful features. So much better than the Palm Pre I bought in August. Was thinking of getting the Touch Pro 2, but being a mac person, having a windows based phone is not really feasible.
Likes:
Excellent display at 3.2" (Wishes it was bit bigger)
Look and feel are extremely high quality
Call quality is great
Extremely customizable, you set it up, the way YOU want it.
Performance isn't bad, no lag (so far) in operation.
Dislikes:
No flash for the excellent 5.0MP camera
Speakerphone could be a bit better
Bottom Line... what you get is an awesome phone. It meets and even exceeds my expectations in some areas. Couldn't be more please. Well done HTC, well done!
hero? hmmm...
Only three days after my encounter with the super-duper savvy phone sales rep, and my now questionable purchase of the overpriced, over-hyped htc Hero, I might be ready for a change. I've never returned a phone before, but I still have way too many mixed reviews:
PROS
Shiny, tons of apps available for download, chick-friendly (i.e. pretty, sleek, lightweight, etc.), cursor/ball capable as well as touch-screen
CONS
Very, very slow reaction time; email features slightly difficult to navigate; limited battery life; not smudge-proof at all; despite callibration, touch-screen seems nonresponsive; cursor/ball can't be used for messaging or number keypad; internet is slow
The more features I find that I really like, the more features I find that i really dislike!
