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HTC Hero: Innovation in Design

Simon — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:20:39 +0000

Although the HTC Hero still has the familiar candy bar form factor sported by a majority of today’s Smartphones, it is still able to make itself stand out. This is primarily brought about by its contoured and slightly elevated base which allows it to transcend the flatness of the contemporary construction of most Smartphones today. Here’s a harder look at this mobile’s innovative design.

Physical Design

The HTC Hero can be best described as a combination of two of its predecessors – the HTC Dream and the HTC Magic. The Hero screams HTC all the way, from its 3.2-inch TFT capacitive touch screen all the way to the button placement on the device. Much like its forbearers, the HTC Hero also has the familiar button set located right below the oversized screen, or the mobile’s chin as some would call it. Together with the ever-present track ball, there are also dedicated buttons for search, end call, send, back, menu, and home.

However, where the HTC Hero stands out is in its overall image and appeal. Unlike the Dream or the Magic, the Hero doesn’t feel cheap and plasticky. This is because of the fact that its finish is made of some kind of soft touch material – the white version even has a Teflon finish.

Overall Look

The HTC Hero is definitely one of the best looking Smartphones we’ve seen in a while. It has a modern and sleek feel and actually looks like a year 3000 version of the Magic. While some might not be too fond of the Hero’s “overbite,” it’s surely something that can be overlooked once the bigger picture is made clearer. HTC was definitely successful in combining all the best physical features of the Magic and the Dream to come up with a device that truly has an innovative design.

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HTC Hero. A little from column A, a little from column B

Martin — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:18:02 +0000

We’re caught in two minds about the HTC Hero. Yes, it looks like it’s going to be a more than decent Android phone. And, as you probably know if you’ve read our previous rants about Android phones: we love them more than just about anything else out there at the moment. And yes, the new User Interface that they’re debuting on it, called Sense, is pretty decent. But there’s just something lacking, some final 5% that doesn’t quite seem to be there. It’s a little bulky, at nearly 15mm thick. The battery life isn’t that great, with HTC only able to promise a single day’s use for ‘heavy’ usage (i.e. using all the things they put on there). The camera’s not a killer.

But then it does have an awesome teflon coating and fingerprint resistant screen, meaning our chip fat oiled fingers can play around with it with confidence. It’s capacitive touchscreen is equally amazing, and the pushes-you-back-as-you-type onscreen keyboard is a work of genius, quite possibly the best keyboard we’ve seen on a touchscreen, in fact.

But then they’ve felt the need to suppress the Google-ness of the phone, removing all logos and direct access to firmware updates and Android Market (you can still access both, it’s just a bit more of a pain in the ass).

But the dedicated search button is fantastic.

But then most of what they’re shouting about with the new Sense UI has been seen before.

But but but… can you see the dilemma reader. Can you see how, with the HTC Hero, we can’t find our usual stride, we can’t rant in ecstatic joy or hell-like pain about anything it has to offer. But maybe that’s a good thing, right? Bah. Anyway, maybe you can make your own minds up via the official product overview, or using this handy HTC Hero review. No? Try this video on for size instead.