HTC Hero Preview

HTC Hero Preview

Even since the earliest days of its development, the HTC Hero has attracted massive interest, bordering on lust, from the smart phone community. The Hero’s chic and attractive design combine a futuristic look with an easy to use and functional interface. HTC products are renowned for both their versatility and beautifully aesthetic designs, and for the Hero, being their most recent mobile release, big things were expected, and it certainly delivers.

The tactile interface is unlike anything you have ever seen on another mobile device, unless of course you are an HTC aficionado. The base of the phone (or the chin, as HTC’s loyal customers like to call it) sports a few function buttons: a home, menu, back, send, end, and search key. Where the Hero and other HTC products really depart from convention, and apply a futuristic conception, is in the use of a trackball, rather than a traditional arrow key system that is present on nearly every other handheld device in existence. This provides for accurate and precise menu selections when navigating the phone’s built in software or when you are browsing the internet on the device. The phone feels very solid in your hand, and it can back up this weighty sensation with durability like you would not believe is possible in a mobile phone. The outer casing is actually composed of Teflon, which will help to prevent any cracks in the outer casing. Teflon’s low reactivity means that it will also pick up less dirt and smudges than other materials, keeping your HTC Hero looking just as beautiful as the day you bought it. The earpiece is protected by a mesh grating this is just as elegant as it is durable, and the volume rocker is made up of a solid, sensitive button that will not wear excessively. HTC also listened to complaints concerning previous models, and installed a 3.5 mm headphone jack at the top of the phone, so you can now converse in utmost privacy or listen to music without interrupting those around you.

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Though highly functional and stylish, the design of the HTC Hero is not without a few flaws, though they are very minor. The back button is placed very inconveniently on the device’s chin, and considering how much a back button is used on a mobile device, this can quickly become a nuisance, particularly for right handed users. The button is actually perfectly placed for use by left handed customers though. The chin also makes the HTC Hero somewhat awkward to carry around in a pocket, though any discriminating mobile phone users will likely have their own carrying case to protect such an investment.

Though the device’s outward appearance is absolutely stellar, a few of the internal components are certainly lacking. The HTC Hero is equipped with a Qualcomm 528MHz CPU, a meagre 288MB of memory, and an abysmally small 512MB ROM, which are the exact specifications of the HTC Magic. However, the Hero is equipped with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS, so you will be connected wherever you take the device.

The Hero departs from previous HTC models with its new camera system: a 5 megapixel digital camera. This allows you to take extremely high quality digital photos with your Hero, which is stiff competition for modern digital cameras, and far outstrips the capabilities of most camera-equipped mobile devices. The battery is also a huge improvement over previous models, lasting up to a whole waking day with Wi-Fi and camera usage on a single charge, shaming other mobile devices, such as the iPhone.

Conclusion

This is the phone with not only functionality and hip design, but it’s entirely accessible. It’s not only connected wherever you travel, but is also able to run an almost endless, number of applications and complete a wide variety of tasks for you throughout your busy day.