The HTC Hero (also known as the T-Mobile G2 Touch) is a fantastic touchscreen smart phone with enough style and power to take on Apple's iPhone 3GS and come out alive. It's got zillions of useful features that make it a pleasure to use, from an address book that links to Facebook to a Teflon coating that dodges finger grease. We wish it were slightly faster, and its little chin may scare babies, but the Hero could rescue us from our iPhone addiction.
The Hero is available from free on a £34.25-per-month contract with Orange, but be sure you
get the £4.89 add-on that gives you 500MB of data each month. It will also be available from T-Mobile, although
the company hasn't announced prices yet. You can pick it up SIM-free for around
£400.
Chin-tastic good
looks
We feared for the Hero when we first saw its publicity snaps. It looked like a trimmed-down version of its ugly older brother, the T-Mobile G1, due to its oddly angled chin. Thankfully, the Hero is much better-looking in person, although we still prefer the
looks of its predecessor, the HTC Magic. Rakish bevelled edges, a subtle brushed-metal trim, and a matte
surface on the case -- made of fingerprint-fighting Teflon -- all add up to a
phone that we'd be proud to wield.
See Sense
The Hero is the first phone to tweak the user interface of the Android operating system. HTC is calling its user experience 'Sense', and we love what it's done.
There are seven home screens that you can swap with the swipe of a finger, and you can add a range of widgets and shortcuts, as well as customising the wallpaper. You can use Android widgets, and download more from the Android Market, but the ones that HTC has built for the Hero deserve special mention. The Twitter widget, for example, shows a live stream of tweets, and the email widget lets you flip through your email right from the home screen with a flick of a finger. The design of some of the widgets reminded of us the Palm Pre's 'deck of cards' UI, and it's a good look.
You can also change your whole configuration, depending on your mood, by creating your own themes, known as 'scenes'. For example, if you don't want to see your work calendar on your home screen on the weekend because those Monday meetings stress you out, you can switch to your 'fun' scene, with your music-player widget and relaxing beach wallpaper, instead.
So many choices could be overwhelming for some people, but the phone is set up well right out of the box, so you don't have to change anything if you don't want to.
Social network in
your pants
We loved how the Hero grabbed our Facebook and Gmail contacts and merged
them together in the address book. This feature can be a nightmare if your
Gmail address book is unorganised, since it will drag in everyone you've ever
emailed, so definitely clean up before you sync. But we liked how our friends'
Facebook profile pictures and birthdays were merged with their numbers and
emails, especially since the Hero ignores friends that aren't in your phonebook.
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Caitlin Brodie 8 May 2011
Good: Android Market - apps for just about everything and mostly free!
Bad: Camera Quality and Battery Life Depletion
Comment: I bought this phone in October 2009 on a 2 year contract and I can honestly say I dont regret that at all, this phone is one of the most robust and functional phones around. I love how the home screen can be customised to suit you and I think this is general idea around the whole phone - to make everything about you. Email, Facebook and Twitter are really good and texting is also good although you have to delete your texts periodically otherwise the phone becomes a bit slow, for those who despair at the thought of losing all your messages there are many apps that back up your texts online so you always have them just not necessarily on the phone. The pure range of applications and games that are available leave you with endless possibilities so theres no scope for boredom. The music player on the phone is good although the shuffle feature is a little dodgy but nothing too major. The calendar app is also good for keeping me organised as well as applications such as Springpad which keeps all my lists and notes together. The only major downside to the phone is the battery life - when I first got the phone the battery lasted around 2 days, now it lasts just 1 but you can buy a replacement and also im assuming this is because I've charged it everyday for the past one and a half years. All in all this is an amazing phone and im definitely an Android convert, the thought of an iPhone interface instead of the Android one brings a tear to my eyes and I will definitely be buying another Android when my contract runs out.
Phonesyay1234 4 February 2011
Good: eveything it is the best phone ever
Bad: are you joking nothing
Comment: cool!"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
jalil 4 December 2010
Comment: kola mohy hasab nea
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