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HTC Hero
7.0
final rating

reviewed on
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Criteria Comments Rating
  • Reception and call quality Never had a dropped call. Call quality was average. good
  • Display For the size it was a decent display with adequate resolution. so-so
  • Battery life I would usually get about 8 hrs of battery life. If I remembered to disable radios when not in need of them, I could get several more. good
  • Camera No comments —
  • Ease of use Given that this was one of the first Android phones with Sense, it was much more user friendly than prior models. good
  • Design and form factor Compact; small screen. Liked the rubberized back; did not care for the faux metallic face plate and buttons, which chipped over time. so-so
  • Portability (size / weight) Very easy to carry around due to its size. good
  • Media support With the right apps, you could take advantage of many media formats. Video playback slow. Memory is limited, so storage of media is best saved for SD card. good
  • Durability Somewhat rugged little phone, given the rubberized back and sides. so-so
  • Ecosystem (apps, accessories, etc.) Android market is pretty good; this device is limited due to storage siz and, inability to save apps to SD card. so-so
Detailed review
The HTC Hero on Sprint was my first smartphone and first introduction to the Android OS. Although not as powerful as other devices that have come out since, it did a commendable job within its limitations. HTC Sense made the experience more user firendly as a beginner; since then I have grown to not care for it any more. Integration of social media services with address book was impressive, as well as small touches such as wrapping web pages in the browser. For someone starting on Android it was a great gateway.