Review: HTC Hero from Sprint

In this past week’s newsletter I wrote up my first impressions of the HTC Hero from Sprint. I had previously been putting an unlocked HTC Hero (provided by PureMobile) to the test, which amazed me in the first 10 minutes of use by letting me connect to WiFi and then sync my Contacts, Calendar and Gmail. I then was able to browse the Web, download some games (all by just signing into my Google account) and even make phone calls.
I recently had a similar out-of-box experience with Sprint’s HTC Hero, which I previously detailed. Since there aren’t too many differences between the HTC Hero and the HTC Hero from Sprint, this review will focus on the Sprint version.

One of the biggest things that had been talked about concerning the HTC Hero from Sprint versus the original HTC Hero was the lack of a chin on the Sprint version. If you’re not familiar with the original Hero, it has a bit of a chin on the bottom of the phone.

Sprint decided to streamline the look and feel of the Hero a bit more and has opted for no chin, so the HTC Hero from Sprint resembles a typical candybar-style phone. The only bad part about it not having a chin is that the trackball seems to stick out from the front of the device. This leads me to think that the trackball may get damaged more easily.

Even with the lack of a chin, the Sprint Hero does not disappoint. For starters, it includes HTC Sense, which is HTC’s UI that sits on top of the Android OS. HTC Sense allows the user to completely customize the interface. You can drag any icon to the homepage or choose from a number of widgets by HTC and Google and even customize specific Scenes, which allow you to build one homescreen for work-related activities and then quickly change the Scene to either HTC, Social, Work, Play, Travel or Clean Slate.
As you might expect, Clean Slate is the cleanest one, offering you the option of adding whatever you want to your homescreen without first having to remove icons and widgets that were previously setup. The best thing about the Scenes, though, is that you can switch to them by just clicking Menu and then Scenes.

Once you get familiar with the HTC Sense UI, the phone navigates just like any other Android-based device. The main difference in this one, though, is its speed. Not only is the device much faster than the G1 but it’s now on Sprint’s EVDO network, which really flies. The HTC Sense UI also makes it a pleasure to navigate and look at.

Keyboard

One of my concerns with going with just an on-screen keyboard was its responsiveness. Thankfully, HTC has baked in haptic feedback into the Hero. Unfortunately, even though it gives you a response, the predictive text doesn’t work nearly as well as the iPhone or other smartphones. I’m sure it learns as it goes along, but I found myself having to type super slow to just write a simple text message. One thing I do like, though, is that if you tap and hold on a key, it pops up all of the other options associated with that key. For example, pressing and holding g pops up a quick window with the percent sign and a g with an accent on top.

Screen
The hardware on the HTC Hero from Sprint is very sleek looking, and is a pleasure to hold and look at. The screen itself is a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen, features pinch-to-zoom, and includes a 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.
Hardware
The HTC Hero works on Sprint’s EVDO Rev. A network and also includes Wi-Fi for those times when you’re not in a good zone. It also includes integrated GPS, a trackball, accelerometer, light sensor, 5 megapixel camera and camcorder and a microSD slot.
Software
The HTC Hero comes loaded up with the standard Android offerings, including Android Market, Browser, and others, but it also includes Exchange Active Sync, and support for both personal and business e-mail using POP or IMAP. And since it’s a Sprint-branded phone, it includes Sprint TV with live and on-demand programming, NFL Mobile Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile. It also includes everything you need to stay connected to your social networks including apps for Facebook, Flickr and Twitter and a simple way to access and login to them.
There are also a number of nice tweaks that make the HTC Hero even more of a pleasure to use. For example, you can easily put a shortcut to your GMAIL inbox right on the homescreen. In addition, if there’s a number in an event on your Calendar, it’s automatically detected as a number and you can dial it directly by just pressing it. You can also click the search button and pop up either a Google search or search within an application, where appropriate.
Of course, the best thing about any phone running Android is the GMAIL client. The HTC Hero features one and in fact the GMAIL client alone is the number one reason to pick up the Hero. It’s the standard GMAIL client but it’s so fast on the HTC Hero that it’s incredibly easy to triage your e-mail.
Sprint services
I mentioned earlier about all of the Sprint services. 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.
Camera and Camcorder
HTC did a great job with the software that powers the camera. You can easily switch between video and regular photos and the 5 MP does a fantastic job in well lit situations. Unfortunately, I found it had a number issues when it came time to shoot in less than optimal lighting conditions. The software features an auto-focus option and in low lighting, it was next to impossible to get it to focus.
Phone
I almost forgot to talk about how it works as a phone. The Hero offers predictive dialing so you can either type in numbers or start spelling the name of the person you want to call. As for call quality, callers remarked that I sounded clear, even when on speaker phone, and the speaker phone was loud enough to be heard while driving 40 MPH.
Web browsing
The browser features the same underpinnings as the famous iPhone one (webkit). It renders effortlessly and using the pinch-and-zoom, you can really enjoy content to its fullest. In my tests I browsed my usual sites and even my Google RSS feeder, without any issues. Unfortunately, there’s still no Flash but otherwise it’s a great web experience.

Multitasking
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. When you first start the HTC Hero, one of the panes on the homescreen features a music player with a number of artists already pre-populated. You can simply press play and then go about your business. Not once did I notice any lag while playing music in the background, downloading an application or surfing the Web.
In general there is definitely a lot to love about the HTC Hero, but of course I found some things not to like. For example, it takes forever to turn on. It’s so slow that it actually reminds me of the early days of Windows Mobile where I would wait almost five minutes at times for a full boot up. My iPhone 3GS boots up super-fast so I’m spoiled, but waiting minutes for a boot-up is simply unacceptable.
I also found that a number of the applications would randomly crash. While HTC did a great job polishing up the core of Android, there are still times when the ugly error messages peak through. As for the crashes, I’m not sure what’s causing them, but they seem to be random and sometimes are HTC-branded ones and other times Sprint. I’m sure that an update will tighten all of this up in no time, though.
Otherwise, the HTC Hero is one of the best phones on Sprint’s network, and by far the best Android offering in the United States.
If you don’t want to jump to AT&T to enjoy the iPhone, the HTC Hero on Sprint is one of the better offerings to come along lately.