What the Media is Saying about the HTC Hero
Doing a roundup of media reviews of any high-tech device is usually a mixed bag. Professional reviewers—bloggers, media types, etc—see it as part of their mission to be critical. So even the best devices are going to be hammered at times.
So far, though, the HTC Hero is bucking that trend. Reviews were almost unanimously positive about Sprint’s latest smart phone featuring the Android operating system. Even the toughest critics—like the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg—are impressed by the new smart device, which was introduced Oct. 11.
Below is summary of my findings based on four sites and publications, reflecting a sampling of the HTC reviews and comments.
Physical looks
Bloggers and media types like the Hero’s sleek, slim design with its smooth streamlined look and feel.
CNET: “The Hero is still an attractive handset. It’s also quite compact …and fits nicely in the palm of your hand … It doesn’t feel slick or plasticky, thanks to the soft-touch finish throughout the body of the phone as well as the brushed metal plate just under the front display.
Mobile Crunch: “It’s amazingly small and quite attractive..with none of the iPhone fragility. You could feasibly drop this without much thought, something you’d want to rethink with the iPhone.”
Geek.Com liked the touchscreen with its pinch-to-zoom features and fingerprint resistant coating. “I had my doubts about the fingerprint resistance but after a week of use, I barely see any. Compare that to my iPhone 3GS where it looks like I now have some permanent grease on the screen from so much fingerprint residue.”
Software
Reviewers love HTC’s software and new bells and whistles, which “sets the Hero apart from its Android brethren.” (WSJ).
WSJ’s Mossberg was impressed with the latest, beefed-up, version of this HTC software called “Sense.” The cool widgets with extra features go beyond the typical Android experience.
Mossberg uses the example of an address book app. “…a contact page in the address book application consolidates that contact’s Facebook and Flickr accounts. The music player and photo album look better, and the Hero with Sense can use Microsoft’s Exchange service to synchronize mail, calendars and contacts.”
Reviewers commented on “Sense,” a feature which provides nice collections of sets of screens and apps that allow users to customize the look and feel of the phone.
Your Hero can be transformed from being a “work” (themed) phone (with stock tracker, email, etc) to a Leisure phone with music player, photo album or a Travel scene with Footprints, two clocks, and weather information. “The idea is that you can change your phone’s identity to match what you are doing on that day.” (CNET)
Apps
Observers loved the wide range of apps for the Hero.
Mossberg: “..in addition to the standard Android apps and the 8,000 downloadable apps from Android’s Market app store, there are a variety of large, beautiful HTC “widgets” you can use. …”
Mobile Crunch: “The Android Market is no match for Apple’s App Store, but it doesn’t need to be. In fact, it’s better than the App Store. You see, the majority of apps cluttering the App Store are full of entertainment value and nothing else. That’s fine if you’re into entertaining yourself, but if you take a look at the Android Market you’ll notice it’s much, much different…”
Namely, a wide, sophisticated selection of consumer, business and other apps.
Oh, and HTC’s Sense also gives the Hero seven screens on which to place apps, versus Android’s standard three screens.
Multitasking
Another favorite of reviewers: HTC’s ability to multitask, allowing them to handle multiple applications smoothly.
Geek.com: “This is something that I’ve been enjoying for years thanks to Windows Mobile, but since I’m a daily user of the iPhone, I forgot what a pleasure it is to have. The HTC Hero handles multiple open applications without skipping a beat.”
Camera
Mossberg ranks the Hero’s camera high:
“…the Hero has a much higher resolution camera than the iPhone’s or Pre’s—five megapixels versus three megapixels.
“ It also functions as a video camera, and in my tests, both still photos and videos I took looked very good. Phone calls, even on speaker phone, were clear and strong, and the phone has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in addition to Sprint’s high-speed network, which in my view is better than its reputation. Web browsing was adequate…”
Other features the media and bloggers noted:
- Email: support for personal and business email using POP or IMAP, and quick, and, of course, a very fast Gmail client.
- Social media: Includes everything you need to stay connected to social networks including apps for Facebook, Flickr and Twitter.
- Multitouch capabilities: CNET: “this is a big one.” Unlike its Android siblings, “Now you can zoom in and out of Web pages and images by pinching the screen just like the Palm Pre and iPhone…”
- Sprint services: Includes Sprint TV with live and on-demand programming, NFL Mobile Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile.
Geek.com: “ This is where the HTC Hero definitely shines. I easily launched Sprint TV and navigated through the options. Then I watched as it began streaming in less than 30 seconds. The HTC Hero’s screen is fantastic and the sound quality is great, too. I have tested a number of Sprint’s devices before using the Sprint TV service and the HTC Hero offers the best experience to date.
So far, so good—HTC Hero seems to have caught the hearts and minds of the media and blogosphere.
There were a few negative comments—the phone could be a little faster, apps must still be downloaded to the phone’s internal memory. But these were small quibbles compared to the overall consensus. As CNET put, it “While it could use a boost in the performance department, the HTC Hero is the most feature-packed Google Android device to date, bringing some notable improvements and a highly customizable interface.
Bottom line is the HTC Hero is being viewed as a great smartphone for the consumer and business market, a solid step forward in the journey toward greater mobility and versatility.
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