Sprint HTC Hero now on sale to everyone
By Nilay Patel 
posted Oct 11th 2009 1:57PM
posted Oct 11th 2009 1:57PM
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
posted Oct 11th 2009 1:57PM
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I've been with Sprint for all but 2 (Verizon) of the last 10. Up for a new phone and ditching my love-hate relationship with my Treo 800w. Not going to Pre due to similarly poor battery life that I have now, plus I'd lose the expansion slot (that I use) and I don't like the Pre keyboard, but I honestly think it's a great device getting better each week. Hero looks impressive, but poor batter life and the on-screen keypad would be a pain for me. Looks like Touch Pro 2 is getting the go-ahead for me this week. But I really want to play with a Hero.
Thanks for clearing that all up for us bub.
so you're sticking to WinMo? I'm guessing your first experience wasn't bad enough to steer you away... Though to HTC's merit, they do a pretty nice job skinning on both WinMo and Android.
Hero poor battery life? did you use one? no...
so wth are you talking about. i have one, played with it for hours, internet, txt, sprint tv and the works. battery drained 20%.
that is poor battery life? it's not even conditioned yet either.
I would have to go with the Pre only because it's a more polished as of right now than the Hero. But the Hero has alot of features that the Pre must envy.
oreo twist, crack screen, back light bleed, cheap feel.
Like voice dialing and video recording? I don't use those, yet some folks do, and I can see why they would want to jump ship, or not consider the Pre at all.
Definitely the Hero over the Pre. The Hero itself feels better than the Pre and I'm loving the Android OS. :)
I got my hero on the 9th at best buy... I haven't put it down since lol... I left my pre for this and am not disappointed. The keyboard is actually better than you all think, especially with the predictive text. I have to say this is the best onscreen keyboard I have ever used... only thing I miss on the pre is the great multitasking and the fast web browsing, for some reason the hero's browser takes longer than usual... don't kno exactly why but the pre's browser is way faster... I honestly can go on all day with the pros and cons but when it all comes down to it they are both really great phones... its a win win situation, that's what im talkin bout Sprint!
OMG LOL !
I got my Hero on the 9th and I'm considering returning it. The main problem with it is that it sometimes gets hot during calls. Not burning hot but hot enough that you would notice it and feel discomfort. The styling is going to take some getting used to. this phone looks like they put the mogul on a serious diet. It feels great and has a nice serious business look to it but I want something more sleek and sexy. Right now I'm wishing i could get my hands on a European Hero
I upgraded from a Palm Centro and love it. Obviously the phone is much different than the Centro but I have had several HTC Windows Mobile phones and the BlackBerry Curve as well. I ended up returning all of those and just sticking with my Centro for a while.
The Android Market is great and I've already installed dozens of apps. I also love the fact that almost everything is free. Games run very well and the display and sound is great. SenseUI is awsome and the widgets are useful too.
It isn't really laggy at all except when loading web pages. Once the pages are loaded it runs great. Flash works well although I've run into a couple of pages that flash content that wouldn't load.
If you constantly play with it you will find yourself recharging it more than once a day. I've been using it moderately since 7am this morning and have about half battery power left.
So far I'm definitely loving this phone and am now an official Android lover. If anyone has any questions about it just reply to my message.
I have had none since Friday also. Reward zone finally paid off for something. I traded my Pre to get this. So far I really like it. The major differnce is the amount of apps available. The pre has very few the hero has tons. Give It 6 months and the pre will have tons. The browser Is noticably slower on the hero.
Has anyone had trouble with the Google voice app? Wont work for me. No sms will work outgoing.
"I traded my Pre to get this"
How?????
Got mine on Friday and I absolutely love it. None of the performance issues I've read about - everything is fast, UI is gorgeous, tons of apps, seamless integration with all of my email accounts, social networks, etc. Also, EXTREMELY impressed with the keyboard - after 2 days I'm already typing MUCH faster than on the iphone.
No regrets about dropping AT&T and paying the cancellation fee - the hero is well worth it so far
That's why it's called hero. It's unbelievable. Sprint's version has the "major update" that HTC has been talking about (no more clock "flip" animation) and folks, it's flat out speedy. No delay flipping through packed screens of widgets, calendars, music, etc. Yeah the browser speed is the same for me in a wifi environment as it is with 3g, but it's close to dsl speeds at that! And it let's me turn off wifi and save some batts. How many people have loved a new qwerty keyboard the day they get their phone? It's always taking me some time to get used to them, and on the Hero, I'm staying in portrait mode to type so when I go landscape mode, it feels like a full size keyboard! And it has a calibration setting that monitors your fingers placement on the keyboard as you type and adjusts it for your style of whacking at the keys. I've downloaded way to many widgets, metal detectors, levels, one that fogs over your glass when you blow on it and wipes off with your finger, and many other quite "vital" apps. I can't put it down. It was well worth waiting for. After hours of ownership and constant use, I exclaimed to my wife, "Look! It has a phone too!" Sorry gotta go. I need to download a bunch more apps.
I have the Pre. I switched to Sprint just because it was so much cheaper than AT&T. Well, I should have waited a bit longer. When I bought the Pre the word was that there would be no Android device on Sprint. So I went with the Pre. Literally no apps. But I waited. I had the iPhone and knew that it takes time to build up the store to something functional. After waiting months and months I can't take it any more. Also, the Pre build quality isn't the greatest. I swapped mine out quite a few times. I usually jump on new products fairly quickly and I don't want to make the same mistake with Android either. I'll wait a few weeks to see how things go. But if things look good I might pull the trigger.
P.S. I got the Pre for my wife too. For what she does it's fine. But if you are a heavy techy phone user like myself I don't think it cuts it.
Is everyone forgetting the Homebrew apps that the Pre has available? Between Homebrew and the App Store, there are around 400 apps!
Hero? Pre?
Try TOUCH PRO2 Baby! I'm Sprint Premier and just got the new Windows Phone hotness and don't see how these pretenders come close. Weak.
I was thinking about getting the Hero today at a local Sprint store but the employee said they don't come in until tomorrow even though today was the launch date since it is Sunday and they don't get deliveries on Sundays. The store didn't even have a demo to show, again, it was Sunday and they don't get deliveries. I wasn't a pre-order person since I like to try out things before buying them. I'm sorry but who was the smart guy who decided to launch on a Sunday when a store wouldn't even have them in. Gives me second thoughts about switching from tmo to sprint now.
It seems as if you might have been at a Sprint dealer. Always stick to the corporate locations. My store got theirs on Friday and started selling them as soon as they hit inventory.
Is there a way to tell that on sprints website?
I think the real decision is between the Hero and the Moment. Not sure yet.
Last Friday, I brought my Touch Pro in for the third time from random hardware failures. I spent my time waiting in line messing with the Hero they had on display, and I thought it was pretty fantastic from the time I spent with it. The guy at the store tried to give me yet another TP, but I told him I didn't want to be back in two months looking for yet another replacement.
It was pretty clear that he was already prepared to offer me a different phone and he asked me what my needs were, so I pushed for a Hero, but he said I needed to pick something with the same OS. I'm not 100% sure that this was true because I've seen the Sprint memo about proactively trading Touch Pros out for other devices such as the Treo 850w (WinMo) and several Blackberry models (not WinMo), but I figured it was a bit much to push for a phone that hadn't even launched yet, officially.
As a result, I have a Touch Pro2 coming within the next couple of days. I'm not thrilled, but I'll live. I'm hoping it lasts me another year until I'm eligible to buy myself the latest and greatest Android phone, because the Hero definitely left a lasting impression. Or maybe someone will be willing to trade...
@EvilBit
my bet it that once you get your Touch Pro2, you won't want anything else. that is a very powerful and loaded device. not capacitive like Hero, but terrific in different ways.
those are my choices to decide this week.
So if your touch pro acts crappy they switch it out for a new phone ? Maybe I should turn mine in since it barely recieves text messages and drops calls all the time, though my premier membership gets me a new phone in Dec... you make it sound like a pro 2 will be free?
@Martin
There are other factors. I pay for the $7/mo TEP plan, it's had significant and verifiable hardware defects that were not my fault, and this is the third time in less than 6 months that I've had issues. I think it's always up to the manager's discretion though, so if you're a good customer and you complain enough, they may very well hook you up. My understanding though is that they're relatively willing to upgrade a TP to a TP2 because the TPs have been so much trouble.
@dtreo
I've been looking at reviews, and I'm excited for it. The reason I got the Touch Pro in the first place is that it's a powerhouse, and the TP2 is only improving on that. But after as much time as I've spent with WinMo, I'm ready for a more elegant user experience. I guess when my contract comes up next year (though I think I become Sprint Premier in a month or two?), I'll start looking at something Androidy. I want me some capacitive screen.dtreo
conditional call forwarding with hero - have the g1 with Tmobile – I like the hero but i can not switch until i find out about conditional call forwarding and if Sprint supports it and if they charge for it – i use google voice for voice mail and without conditional call forwarding it just does not work – i also will not pay $.20 for a call forward to use voice mail – when i went to the settings screen on the phone it did not have the call forwarding options that the g1 has – does anybody have any information about this? the Sprint rep at the store and the call center reps have no clue what i am even talking about
Let me start by saying I'm about as heavy a mobile user as you'll find. Even when home, I'm feverishly addicted to my mobile devices. I might be one of the few people here that passed on the Pre because I had to change my amazing plan I had with Sprint. I actually had two phones, 1000 shared minutes (usually enough, went over only a few times) unlimited data and text and paid a grand total of $40/month. This was not an offered plan, it was something given to me after a really bad customer service indecent. Needless to say, I didn't want to give up this plan, but it wasn't compatible with the Pre when it came out, and I stuck with my plan and basic phones. When the HTC Touch Pro 2 came out, they didn't force a plan change, so I pulled the trigger and got it. I used the TP2 for a full 30 days and had a love/hate thing going on. The slide-out keyboard is without compare. I have big hands and could rip through texts / IM's and Tweets faster than a monkey gets the peel off a banana. The speakerphone was phenomenal but the problem for me was both Windows 6.1 (yes 6.5 is better) but I simply dislike windows, and the phone is a bit of a brick. (Need I mention the hefty price?) You can almost drive a railroad spike in the ground with it as well. I bring up the TP2 to preface what came next. When the Hero came out, I knew I'd have to change plans and I did. I lost my "spare" second phone (thats ok actually) and pay $10 more a month (yes they gave me a deal) but have unlimited calls to all mobiles and navigation and all the features you already know. BTW, ATT does not work well in my house, right here in Hollywood, CA so at any price, no ATT for me. So, what I also hated about WinMo was the apps available seemed archaic compared to both iPhone's and Android's choices. I am a Twitter addict and no WinMo app cut the cheese for me. I've had the Hero since the day Sprint released it and its the best phone I've ever owned, and for once, I finally don't feel I'm missing out not having an iPhone. iPhone killer? No, I won't say that since they still have the best apps in the business, but I don't need to tell this crowd that Android has many benefits over iPhone, and I'm paying LESS than 50% of a similar ATT bill where Navigation, Text and Data are all separate prices. When iPhone finally comes to Sprint, I MIGHT do it, but I'm not waiting around anymore. Hero simply rocks!
The Hero has dropped $80 in price on BestBuy.com to $99.99 for NEW Sprint customers and includes Free Shipping. This is the best deal online since the only other place to get it is on Sprint.com. They also dropped the price of the Moment to $99.99.
Here is a link to thier new Hero offer:
http://wireless.bestbuy.com/template/simpleautocontent.aspx?r=bestbuy4&pageid=6264