The iPhone Wannabe That Can't...., April 6, 2010

I've had my HTC Hero for two months now. Having used an iPhone and my iPod Touch previously, I've found the HTC to be very, very lacking in many important areas. Most pressing, there's a significant response lag when using the touch screen features. A reboot or hard reboot is often necessary to clear issues which cause the slow downs. An impatient person will find this maddening. Secondly, the apps seem to work on their own time frame. The weather widget, for example, doesn't provide real-time weather UNLESS you click on the widget and refresh. Even then the widget doesn't update on the main screen! Other apps, although free in many cases, are very limited and often generic but can't hold a candle to the performance or features of iPhone apps. In summary, this phone tries to compete with Apple's iPhone but comes up far short in almost all categories. Bypass this phone for now...

      does not work with bluetooth headset!!, April 1, 2010

Just got my phone an hour ago and I'm not happy. If you have a bluetooth headset and you're used to using the button on it to activate voice dialing, you're going to be disappointed. For some reason, HTC didn't properly implement that feature. So, if you push the button on your bluetooth headset or speakerphone, nothing happens. This is a basic feature built into most phones nowadays - even my free phone could do this, and it surprises me that HTC didn't implement it on their flagship Android phone. Why would you build a phone that cannot be voice activated for the bluetooth headset?? Isn't that the whole point of the bluetooth headset to have a hands-free phone? I'm returning my phone tomorrow and going back to my free basic phone that actually works like a phone!!

      Buggy Phone - Need lots of patience, March 30, 2010

Bought the phone in November 2009. It has caused major headaches. I need a reliable phone. Every time I travel to another city, I cannot receive calls. Upon returning to my home city, I still cannot receive calls. After 2 to 3 hours on the phone with Sprint's tech support, they end up resetting the phone with great difficulty. I then loose all my applications, settings, contacts and calendar. The next time I travel the same thing happens again - and I must spend hours on the phone with Sprint upon my return (not to mention the hours spent setting up the phone once more). When the phone is working properly, the sound quality is good, but the phone rings only 70% of the time for incoming calls, even though it shows a strong signal. Like others have stated: the phone is sometimes slow, you constantly have to use a Task Killer, battery life is short, and the on-screen keypad does not always respond to touch. However, I am technical and can live with these complexities. What I cannot tolerate is the build quality that causes bugs and errors. Sprint has no explanation - other than it must be the phone, so they are sending a replacement. From a basic usability standpoint - if you are not technical, stay away from this phone. From a reliability standpoint - I know others who have not had problems, and I know others who had hardware problems and replacement phones. It seems HTC's quality control for the Hero is poor - so you are taking your chances by choosing this phone coupled with Sprint's service.

      Interesting idea, badly executed, February 26, 2010

Pros: Nice screen Android OS Market (Store) Sprint Support folks attitude Cons: Battery issues Network issues HTC Sense Text app Sprint Support folks ability to solve issues Voice Mail This is a beautiful phone. It feels great in your hand. It has a premium finish. I like the way the phone gives tactile feedback when you're using the on screen keyboard. For only being up for so short a time, the Market (app store) is very full of (sometimes) useful and inexpensive apps. The Android OS itself seems like it is well planned out. I also have to say that during the forty or so hours I've been on the phone with them, the folks at Sprint (their advanced technical folks) and the folks at HTC have been quite nice. Very friendly. I'm currently on my second handset in as many months. The first one refused to let me see texts, or voice mails. It had about a 3 hour battery life (due to what I was told was an issue with the text application). The processor was never allowed by that app to ever sleep. It was running 100% of the time. Those nice folks at Sprint sent me a new phone and battery. The new one has had some of the same issues, and others that have been baffling. The browser would refuse to ever open. Apparently you have to clear the History just about daily to keep this from happening. The browser seemed to think I was in Germany, flipping over to that language despite my never requesting it. The thing still won't let me see all my voice mails, sometimes dropping them in days later. Changing over to the Handcent text app (per those same nice folks at Sprint) seemed to clear up the sleep issue with the processor, but now Sprint is telling me Handcent may be to blame for my phone locking up and not letting me answer phone calls. I cannot get my Hotmail account to load to the phone. You have to use an Advanced Task Killer to preserve the battery. The phone is already to quiet, and heaven help you if you get a case for it, as it will muffle the phone's speaker phone by huge amounts. Apparently, if you use too much of the internal memory (the only place apps can reside) it will cause the phone to loose its mind as well. I've just tried turning off the HTC Sense. That reduces the number of screens and types of widgets you can use, but since they've got me paranoid about using the internal memory, it isn't a huge hit. REALLY SAD I GOT THIS PHONE. That said, my fiancee's phone has worked with little or no problem. That's why it is getting two stars. I'd not give it any. Lagging processor, unreliable build quality, OS that kills the phone's usefulness. Stay away. Stay far, far away.