I received my “Hero” phone, Brown, [the unlocked international verison] about two weeks ago, and have been hard-pressed to put it down. After some conflicting information by a couple of [well-meaning] but under-knowledged tech-support staffer from T-mobile, I had the patience to hang-in-there and finally got some one who really knew how to troubleshoot. She got me up and running on the “EDGE” network in a flash [which was the only thing I had trouble configuring]. Everything else loaded flawlessly. Moreover, She was a real professional, and I could not thank her enough for her help.
The first thing I didn’t noticed, or witness [what many were complaining about] was its, so-called, “noticable Lag”. No “lag” here, the andriod plateform worked as promised with speeds comparable to home networks or better. The UI Sense screen [though very sensitive] can be tailored to accommodate large finger and for those not use to “touch” typing. It is light-weight and comfortable in the hand, and has a good feel when carried inside a suit jacket or pants pocket. Naviagating through the various screens and apps took some getting use too, but was fairly simple once you got the hang of it. The Andriod Market Place is filled with free Apps that are easily downloaded and installed. No radio with the Hero- not a problem, there’s an App for that. Want some really good games- there’s an App for that, too. Not only was the Android Market Place filled with Apps, the online store is filled with them as well. So don’t be fooled by App mania, or lack-thereof.
The WiFi was a breeze to configure, whether home or away, and the 5 pixel camera takes some stunning pictures. Its style is futuristic and cleverly constructed, [chin design and flat profile] gives it that eye-catching look that people notice. “That’s not, The iPhone”? Yeah, I know, will be your response with a broad grin. The sound quality is clear with very little background noise, and when the 3.5 mm, ear-buds are in, you don’t need a lot of volume. Also, the Bluetooth discovery/marriage to my Car’s sound system was a snap to setup. It’s the knid of phone where you wouldn’t want an ear-piece Bluetooth because its so hand-friendly and stylish, you’d want to hold it. Can’t say that about many hand-held devices. One other cool thing, I found the phones lockout feature especially nice. Forget about trying to remember the lockout code. What we have here is basically a finger design sweep where you trace an outline on the screen to gain access. Now how clever is that. Try cracking that, hackers. There are so many good feature associated with this phone, it would take far too much time trying to list them all individually. Basically, its a dream to operate.
Yes, it is a little pricey, no doubt about it. But, if you want a superior phone on a plateform suited to today’s needs, with enough umph to get the job done, then the Hero should be looked into and taken seriously. There are many phones to choose from, with some awesome capabilities, but dollar for dollar, unlocked, and without the commitments you couldn’t do better. I recommend it wholdheartedly.