My HTC HERO Review ●ωσяк ιи ρяσgяєѕѕ●
14 posts • Page 1 of 2 • 1, 2
by uk786 » 30 Oct 2009, 15:05
HTC HERO Review
Introduction
First of all I am not a professional writer of any kind and this is the first review I have ever done so please don’t be too harsh on me. I have enjoyed writing it up so I hope you enjoy reading it.
When I first heard of the Android platform I wasn't that all impressed with it to be honest, when I decided to go and try the T-mobile G1 at a local phone shop not only was the handset ugly but no video recording, limited number of apps and awful music UI it was just too much.
Since my first Smart-phone/Symbian device a feeble Nokia 6120 classic I started to enjoy the platform and it was very powerful and great to use after I dumped my LG Shine which was just rubbish.
Then the hype of the iPhone began with its highly sensitive touch-screen and multi-touch input method it was a show-stopper, but I was not impressed and convinced with the device; useless camera, rubbish speaker and NO MULTITASKING it was a joke (well for me at least).
It was then when I my love for touch-screen mobile phones grew, with big screens and easy input it feels so much better and advanced then the typical hardware buttons. My next phone had to have a touch-screen.
The Nokia 5800 gets leaked, then announced and finally released and it seemed to be the answer to my prayers, with its high-resolution screen, Carl Ziess optic Camera, large touch-screen, reasonable price tag and most importantly Symbian Operating System. But it was not what I expected; the screen was not as sensitive as I wanted it to be so I knew capacitive was the way to go, the web-browser was not that good and there was and still is hardly any applications. The build quality was below par and so were the materials used and not forgetting the horrible Camera which tended to take pictures with a lot of noise and green tint which were simply unusable despite the fact of the 'Carl Zeiss' branding.
Then Samsung came with the OmniaHD/i8910 beast, with its 8mp Camera, HD recording and AMOLED display. I knew I should get this; I purchased the device but then returned it a day later as despite the powerful hardware superb build quality, good Camera, crisp display, and capacitive screen. It was inconsistent; the web-browsing with no kinetic scrolling was the same pitiful experience as the Nokia 5800 and so was the amount of applications; also the device was too big for my liking making it uncomfortable to use.
Then I spotted the HTC HERO and I was instantly impressed did a lot of research on the handset and I also tried it out before I made the purchase.
Noteworthy Points
• Notification Bar is really useful something I started to instantly become fond of
• Multi-Touch ‘pinch to zoom’ input works very well, in Browser, Images and PDF viewer only
• Great Live widgets easily customizable
• 7 easily customizable Home screens
• Superb build-quality, solid Tempered Glass Oleophobic display, rubbery matte finish with metal accents
• Great Camera despite absence of flash and dedicated Camera button
• Beautiful Design
• 3.5mm headphone Jack
• Mini USB/Ext USB slot for charging, syncing and even headphones
• Great notification light
• Sensitive vivid touch screen
• Sensitive ambient light-sensor
• No Blue-tooth file transfer (confirmed to be coming soon in Android v2.0 Eclair)
• No Camera Flash
• No FM Radio
• No TV-Out (tested and it just won’t work, not even audio only)
User Interface
The UI is really slick, I am running a Custom ROM Modaco’s 2.8 to be precise which features some optimizations, and the device is running really fast no lag what so ever and with a fresh boot I have 100+ RAM Memory for use considerably more than any current Nokia device, I have never experienced the device crashing, freezing or rebooting randomly in the few days I have had the handset which is a relief after the pain I had with My N Series Nokia (N85).
The handset was quick to get used to despite the layout being so different from your average Symbian/Nokia device.
HTC have done great stuff in there Sense UI, the notification bar looks considerably better than the standard ‘cartoony’ Android one and the virtual keypad is the best I’ve ever used, with it has Haptic feedback and it feels like the vibrations are coming from directly underneath the button you press which is really cool, and it can easily replace your hardware keypad.
The graphics of some of the games I’ve downloaded from the Android Market are superb Screen-shots below, and there is lots of applications that utilize the built in accelerometer.
Coming from a Symbian handset the Android handset seems to offer better customization. It features kinetic scrolling everywhere like in the menus, contacts, music which is something I always wanted since the 5800. Also if you grab the scroll-bar when in certain applications like the music player and contacts it shows you can scroll using alphabets, hard to explain screen shot below.
The built-in web-browser is SUPERB re-flowing text instantly to match your screen width and pinch to zoom works like a breeze, the browser does include Flash support but it’s nothing compared to your desktop it works but not quite as good as the one on Symbian devices. It also has kinetic scrolling which makes browsing a natural experience. The track-ball also helps when trying to click links.
The Music player is good but lacks an equalizer. It features good bass and the handset itself is pretty loud. The loud-speaker is located on the back. The 3.5mm audio jack is located on the top of the device making it easy to access. The supplied headphones are of good quality and look very stylish with player controls.
Applications are easy to install no more certificate errors and wasting time signing applications I have 64 applications installed and still have 126mb free out of 165mb. Because I have partitioned my SD card, now apps automatically move to the SD card. as by default they can only be installed on the phone internal memory.
The handset comes pre-installed with some useful apps like PDF Viewer, Quick Office and Weather the PDF Viewer including support for multi-touch ‘pinch to zoom’.
Multi-tasking is different compared to Symbian when you hold the Home button it shows the last 6 applications you have used. and there is plenty of RAM to multi-task.
Rooting the device is simple after watching some videos on Youtube. And its easy to flash a custom ROM.
Java games do work after downloading the Java client application from the market but its not really worth it. The Java app comes pre-installed with the Modoco 2.8 custom ROM.
There are over 11,000 applications available on the Android market and growing rapidly, majority of them FREE.
One concern I have is that Android seems like an sort of spy-ware and that it's pretty useless for pay as you go as you need internet, without internet you can't basically use the phone.
Android v2.0 Eclair has been announced and has been confirmed by HTC that it's coming to the Hero which is great news this will add tons of new feature's and improvements like Blue-tooth file transfer for example.
Hardware
The Build quality is really good the handset feels solid and there’s no creaking or light escaping from the side unlike the recent Nokia handsets which are not being built well. The back cover snaps on and off like the Nokia 5800. The camera features no lens cover but it is fairly indented in the case to prevent scratches. The battery has a capacity of 1350mah and the memory card slot is located underneath the back cover. The display is covered with tempered glass and feels solid it also has an Oleophobic coating which is supposed to prevent fingerprint I haven’t actually tested this out as I slapped on a screen protector straight away. The touch-screen is extremely sensitive responding to the lightest of touches. The casing gets no fingerprints and does not scratch easily it’s a good change from the shiny finger-print prone plastic which is featured recently on lots of handsets. The device is pretty heavy and it gives a strong sturdy feel to it. The bend or chin at the bottom is not a bad thing it hugs your ear when calling and feels comfortable in your hand. The volume rocker is large and easy to use and the trackball works well. The device can easily be used with one hand.
The HERO has no proximity sensor but it is not a issue the screen does not lock itself when on a phone call but I have never experienced any problem, like a call being ended accidentally.
The notification light is on the right to the call speaker it blinks orange when on low battery and when charging stays orange until the battery is full then it becomes green.
The ambient light sensor is to the left of the call speaker and it is great really sensitive and does it job adjusting the brightness of the screen in relation to light around well.
The display is bright, easily readable in sunlight, vivid and look almost OLEDish with deep blacks, the specs say 65k colour but I have not noticed any difference from the 16mil Nokia screens.
The trackball does not light up, it only lights up when receiving a call (flashes to the beat of the ring-tone) or when there is a missed call, text message received etc. that's when it breathes to notify you, pretty cool.
The handset does not feature a dedicated Camera button but using the camera and taking a photo is surprisingly easy. Touch to focus works very well. The camera is good in most conditions. In low light it is difficult to take pictures because of the lack of a flash but the images are not that noisy which is good.
It also features a compass which works well and there is an application on the market that uses it as a metal detector, cool stuff.
Battery life is ok, from 6am in the morning to 9.30pm in the evening I still have 64% battery left which is pretty good considering I made about 40mins worth of phone calls sent 2 texts and browsed the web over 3G connection for about a hour.
The phone seems to have a propriety port for charging and syncing. ExtUSB. But you can plug in a Mini USB cable to charge/sync which is great even though it looks like it doesn’t fit into the slot. Data transfer speed is at about 8mb/sec which is great, a transfer of 4GB of data took less then 10mins. The supplied USB cable is also the charger as you have to plug the USB into the adapter which plugs into the socket on your wall, which is really handy.
The handset comes in a small box and a 2gb memory card.
Wrapping Up
As a whole, I am very impressed by the Sense interface indeed and the handset itself altogether. It offers deep interaction with the OS and it’s easily customizable with widgets which work well from a battery percentage indicator to a switch to on/off WiFi. I strongly recommend the device to all symbian-freak users out there, don't jump to a conclusion without trying the device yourself, I made a good choice and I'm glad I never took another risk in purchasing another Nokia/S60 5th edition device.
Symbian-Freak has been a great asset to my when I had my Symbian Device.
Introduction
First of all I am not a professional writer of any kind and this is the first review I have ever done so please don’t be too harsh on me. I have enjoyed writing it up so I hope you enjoy reading it.
When I first heard of the Android platform I wasn't that all impressed with it to be honest, when I decided to go and try the T-mobile G1 at a local phone shop not only was the handset ugly but no video recording, limited number of apps and awful music UI it was just too much.
Since my first Smart-phone/Symbian device a feeble Nokia 6120 classic I started to enjoy the platform and it was very powerful and great to use after I dumped my LG Shine which was just rubbish.
Then the hype of the iPhone began with its highly sensitive touch-screen and multi-touch input method it was a show-stopper, but I was not impressed and convinced with the device; useless camera, rubbish speaker and NO MULTITASKING it was a joke (well for me at least).
It was then when I my love for touch-screen mobile phones grew, with big screens and easy input it feels so much better and advanced then the typical hardware buttons. My next phone had to have a touch-screen.
The Nokia 5800 gets leaked, then announced and finally released and it seemed to be the answer to my prayers, with its high-resolution screen, Carl Ziess optic Camera, large touch-screen, reasonable price tag and most importantly Symbian Operating System. But it was not what I expected; the screen was not as sensitive as I wanted it to be so I knew capacitive was the way to go, the web-browser was not that good and there was and still is hardly any applications. The build quality was below par and so were the materials used and not forgetting the horrible Camera which tended to take pictures with a lot of noise and green tint which were simply unusable despite the fact of the 'Carl Zeiss' branding.
Then Samsung came with the OmniaHD/i8910 beast, with its 8mp Camera, HD recording and AMOLED display. I knew I should get this; I purchased the device but then returned it a day later as despite the powerful hardware superb build quality, good Camera, crisp display, and capacitive screen. It was inconsistent; the web-browsing with no kinetic scrolling was the same pitiful experience as the Nokia 5800 and so was the amount of applications; also the device was too big for my liking making it uncomfortable to use.
Then I spotted the HTC HERO and I was instantly impressed did a lot of research on the handset and I also tried it out before I made the purchase.
Noteworthy Points
• Notification Bar is really useful something I started to instantly become fond of
• Multi-Touch ‘pinch to zoom’ input works very well, in Browser, Images and PDF viewer only
• Great Live widgets easily customizable
• 7 easily customizable Home screens
• Superb build-quality, solid Tempered Glass Oleophobic display, rubbery matte finish with metal accents
• Great Camera despite absence of flash and dedicated Camera button
• Beautiful Design
• 3.5mm headphone Jack
• Mini USB/Ext USB slot for charging, syncing and even headphones
• Great notification light
• Sensitive vivid touch screen
• Sensitive ambient light-sensor
• No Blue-tooth file transfer (confirmed to be coming soon in Android v2.0 Eclair)
• No Camera Flash
• No FM Radio
• No TV-Out (tested and it just won’t work, not even audio only)
User Interface
The UI is really slick, I am running a Custom ROM Modaco’s 2.8 to be precise which features some optimizations, and the device is running really fast no lag what so ever and with a fresh boot I have 100+ RAM Memory for use considerably more than any current Nokia device, I have never experienced the device crashing, freezing or rebooting randomly in the few days I have had the handset which is a relief after the pain I had with My N Series Nokia (N85).
The handset was quick to get used to despite the layout being so different from your average Symbian/Nokia device.
HTC have done great stuff in there Sense UI, the notification bar looks considerably better than the standard ‘cartoony’ Android one and the virtual keypad is the best I’ve ever used, with it has Haptic feedback and it feels like the vibrations are coming from directly underneath the button you press which is really cool, and it can easily replace your hardware keypad.
The graphics of some of the games I’ve downloaded from the Android Market are superb Screen-shots below, and there is lots of applications that utilize the built in accelerometer.
Coming from a Symbian handset the Android handset seems to offer better customization. It features kinetic scrolling everywhere like in the menus, contacts, music which is something I always wanted since the 5800. Also if you grab the scroll-bar when in certain applications like the music player and contacts it shows you can scroll using alphabets, hard to explain screen shot below.
The built-in web-browser is SUPERB re-flowing text instantly to match your screen width and pinch to zoom works like a breeze, the browser does include Flash support but it’s nothing compared to your desktop it works but not quite as good as the one on Symbian devices. It also has kinetic scrolling which makes browsing a natural experience. The track-ball also helps when trying to click links.
The Music player is good but lacks an equalizer. It features good bass and the handset itself is pretty loud. The loud-speaker is located on the back. The 3.5mm audio jack is located on the top of the device making it easy to access. The supplied headphones are of good quality and look very stylish with player controls.
Applications are easy to install no more certificate errors and wasting time signing applications I have 64 applications installed and still have 126mb free out of 165mb. Because I have partitioned my SD card, now apps automatically move to the SD card. as by default they can only be installed on the phone internal memory.
The handset comes pre-installed with some useful apps like PDF Viewer, Quick Office and Weather the PDF Viewer including support for multi-touch ‘pinch to zoom’.
Multi-tasking is different compared to Symbian when you hold the Home button it shows the last 6 applications you have used. and there is plenty of RAM to multi-task.
Rooting the device is simple after watching some videos on Youtube. And its easy to flash a custom ROM.
Java games do work after downloading the Java client application from the market but its not really worth it. The Java app comes pre-installed with the Modoco 2.8 custom ROM.
There are over 11,000 applications available on the Android market and growing rapidly, majority of them FREE.
One concern I have is that Android seems like an sort of spy-ware and that it's pretty useless for pay as you go as you need internet, without internet you can't basically use the phone.
Android v2.0 Eclair has been announced and has been confirmed by HTC that it's coming to the Hero which is great news this will add tons of new feature's and improvements like Blue-tooth file transfer for example.
Hardware
The Build quality is really good the handset feels solid and there’s no creaking or light escaping from the side unlike the recent Nokia handsets which are not being built well. The back cover snaps on and off like the Nokia 5800. The camera features no lens cover but it is fairly indented in the case to prevent scratches. The battery has a capacity of 1350mah and the memory card slot is located underneath the back cover. The display is covered with tempered glass and feels solid it also has an Oleophobic coating which is supposed to prevent fingerprint I haven’t actually tested this out as I slapped on a screen protector straight away. The touch-screen is extremely sensitive responding to the lightest of touches. The casing gets no fingerprints and does not scratch easily it’s a good change from the shiny finger-print prone plastic which is featured recently on lots of handsets. The device is pretty heavy and it gives a strong sturdy feel to it. The bend or chin at the bottom is not a bad thing it hugs your ear when calling and feels comfortable in your hand. The volume rocker is large and easy to use and the trackball works well. The device can easily be used with one hand.
The HERO has no proximity sensor but it is not a issue the screen does not lock itself when on a phone call but I have never experienced any problem, like a call being ended accidentally.
The notification light is on the right to the call speaker it blinks orange when on low battery and when charging stays orange until the battery is full then it becomes green.
The ambient light sensor is to the left of the call speaker and it is great really sensitive and does it job adjusting the brightness of the screen in relation to light around well.
The display is bright, easily readable in sunlight, vivid and look almost OLEDish with deep blacks, the specs say 65k colour but I have not noticed any difference from the 16mil Nokia screens.
The trackball does not light up, it only lights up when receiving a call (flashes to the beat of the ring-tone) or when there is a missed call, text message received etc. that's when it breathes to notify you, pretty cool.
The handset does not feature a dedicated Camera button but using the camera and taking a photo is surprisingly easy. Touch to focus works very well. The camera is good in most conditions. In low light it is difficult to take pictures because of the lack of a flash but the images are not that noisy which is good.
It also features a compass which works well and there is an application on the market that uses it as a metal detector, cool stuff.
Battery life is ok, from 6am in the morning to 9.30pm in the evening I still have 64% battery left which is pretty good considering I made about 40mins worth of phone calls sent 2 texts and browsed the web over 3G connection for about a hour.
The phone seems to have a propriety port for charging and syncing. ExtUSB. But you can plug in a Mini USB cable to charge/sync which is great even though it looks like it doesn’t fit into the slot. Data transfer speed is at about 8mb/sec which is great, a transfer of 4GB of data took less then 10mins. The supplied USB cable is also the charger as you have to plug the USB into the adapter which plugs into the socket on your wall, which is really handy.
The handset comes in a small box and a 2gb memory card.
Wrapping Up
As a whole, I am very impressed by the Sense interface indeed and the handset itself altogether. It offers deep interaction with the OS and it’s easily customizable with widgets which work well from a battery percentage indicator to a switch to on/off WiFi. I strongly recommend the device to all symbian-freak users out there, don't jump to a conclusion without trying the device yourself, I made a good choice and I'm glad I never took another risk in purchasing another Nokia/S60 5th edition device.
Symbian-Freak has been a great asset to my when I had my Symbian Device.
Last edited by uk786 on 31 Oct 2009, 02:47, edited 7 times in total.
★overclocĸed нтc нero @ 710мнz! ★eclaιr 2.1 → vιllaιnroм 12
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-
-
Symbian Freak
-
Posts: 2195
Joined: 24 Nov 2008, 18:01
Location: UK
Phone model: нтc нero
by uk786 » 30 Oct 2009, 21:57
Q&A
Any Questions send a me a personal message and I'll post the Question and Answer here.
Any Questions send a me a personal message and I'll post the Question and Answer here.
Last edited by uk786 on 30 Oct 2009, 22:42, edited 1 time in total.
★overclocĸed нтc нero @ 710мнz! ★eclaιr 2.1 → vιllaιnroм 12
-
-
-
Symbian Freak
-
Posts: 2195
Joined: 24 Nov 2008, 18:01
Location: UK
Phone model: нтc нero
by NZtechfreak » 30 Oct 2009, 22:04
Look forward to it - please ensure the review is based on the current firmware, and make sure to use a third party SMS app (the inbuilt one is responsible for major battery drain!).
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Symbian Freak
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Posts: 1777
Joined: 01 Mar 2007, 07:18
Location: New Zealand
Phone model: Galaxy S i9000, HTC Desire, N82
by uk786 » 10 Jan 2010, 22:34
The camera is ok in my opinion but could be better, can take time to take a shot and fire up the camera app though.★overclocĸed нтc нero @ 710мнz! ★eclaιr 2.1 → vιllaιnroм 12
-
-
-
Symbian Freak
-
Posts: 2195
Joined: 24 Nov 2008, 18:01
Location: UK
Phone model: нтc нero
14 posts • Page 1 of 2 • 1, 2
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