Gadgetell Roundup: Sprint HTC Hero reviews

With the HTC Hero coming, the T-Mobile G1 is starting to look antiquated. Many of you are probably like me and will be moving to the HTC Hero. So, here we have a nice selection of five reviews that for the most part all seem to have liked the Hero. Sounds like good news to me, but here is a little of what they had to say.

Also, just in case you missed the earlier announcement details from Sprint, it was covered by fellow Gadgetell writer Natesh, but in short, the HTC Hero is going to be available beginning on October 11 and will be priced at $179.99. Also, that price comes after a $100 mail-in-rebate and along with a two-year agreement. In terms of specs, the HTC Hero is an Android handset and will feature the customized HTC Sense user interface as well as a 3.2-inch (320 x 480) touchscreen display, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, 5-megapixel camera, 3.5mm headphone jack and a microSD card slot for storage.

CNET – Received an editors’ rating of 4-out-of-5 stars, making it “Excellent.”

The bottom line: While it could use a boost in the performance department, the HTC Hero is the most feature-packed Google Android device to date, bringing some notable improvements and a highly customizable interface.

PCMAG – Received an editors rating of 3.5-out-of-5, making it “Good.”

PC Magazine noted the HTC Hero as having an excellent built and being inexpensive, however despite the 5-megapixel camera it was also noted as having a “lousy camera.” Here was their bottom line:

The HTC Hero is the best Google Android phone so far, but it falls just short of the other leaders in the smartphone field.

Gizmodo

Despite PCMAG complaining about the camera, the Gizmodo review offered a little better view of the image quality. While it was not stated as being great, they did suggest that it was faster and better in low light. Of course, that is not really saying much because it was being compared to the original HTC Hero that we saw released overseas.

The real power of this Hero is that the best Android phone you can buy—it’s everything good we said about the first Hero, but with our biggest complaint, speed, fixed—is on Sprint and its solid 3G network—making it the first U.S. Android phone outside of T-Mobile—and it’s $180. Plus, the required Sprint Everything now has free calling to any mobile number, not a bad perk.

CrunchGear

The Hero is Android perfected and it is an excellent phone. I would recommend it over the Palm Pre and, dare I say it, something like the iPhone 3G. $180 isn’t too much to pay for the best Android phone on the market.

Engadget Mobile

While the performance is still not where we think it should be, the Hero is an awesome addition to Sprint’s growing line of serious contenders in the smartphone game. If that new update is all it’s supposed to be (and if Sprint is expedient in bringing it to market), many of our complaints should be quelled — and this will be the killer device we know it can be.

Additionally, most of the reviews pointed out all of the extra perks that you get from being a Sprint customer such as the recently announced free calls to any mobile phone as well as the Sprint Navigation, SprintTV, NFL Mobile Live and Nascar services that are included with the Everything plans.

Finally, CNET also included a nice review in video form, which you can check out below.