HTC Hero: A Phone with Style

HTC passed around their latest creation: an Android-based device they're calling Hero. And... wow! I have always been a fan of HTC since back when they came out with the HTC 8125. If you recall that phone was a monster but back in the day it was full of features that other phones during that time did not have. So now as time has passed we look for more features and a slicker looking style phones.

So it was with notable reticence that I took a shine to the Hero. The whole interface is skinned in HTC's own UI, which they call "Sense," built on top of Google's Android operating system, version 1.5 (aka Cupcake). Like other HTC-designed interfaces, it's beautiful. Unlike others, it works. Fast.

The device's most superficial menu is a dashboard-like flip screen that holds an arrangeable array of widgets, which can provide quick access to your contacts, Twitter feed, music player, calendar and weather-bugs, among other things. Once you dig into the Hero's customized apps, you'll notice that the contact flow has its own lovely Rolodex feel, akin to TouchFLO but more space-efficient and responsive. Likewise, HTC has ginned up its own custom on-screen keyboard (the Hero has no flip-out jaw, thankfully) and its own calendar, which look and feel as good as anything birthed in Cupertino.
The camera, backed by an excellent 5MP sensor with autofocus and digital zoom, takes pictures that shame the iPhone's (3G or 3G S), even though zooming is confusingly operable by the rolly nav ball instead of any of the soft keys. And the rest of the phone's physical chassis is above and beyond what we've come to expect even from a good hardware maker like HTC: the glass screen is oliophobic, so fingerprints wipe off easily, and the backing is infused with Teflon so it doesn't stain or fade with contact from palm or purse. The screen is crisp and bright--moreso than the iPhone--and the body itself feels more compact than Apple's device, although they're virtually the same size. Even HTC's trademark "foot"--the bend at the bottom of the device--seems refined from its odd incarnation on the G1.

Unlike the G1 or the new myTouch 3G, the Hero has a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top, and unlike the iPhone, it plays Flash animations out of the box.

HTC says the Hero will go on sale in the U.S. this fall in two colors, black and white, but no price or carrier has been disclosed.

Here are the specs of the phone. HTC Hero