HTC Hero Review

The HTC Hero's dimensions are 112 x 56.2 x 14.35 mm ( 4.41 x 2.21 x 0.57 inches), and it weighs in with its battery at 135 grams. It is solid without seeming unwieldy or too large or heavy.

The HTC Hero features a 3.2-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with 320x480 HVGA resolution. It is clear and detects ambient light to brighten and soften the image so that it is nearly always readable, even in direct sunlight.

It comes in two colours: white and black. The back of the phone is a matt non-shiny material which gives you confidence when holding it that it will not slip out of your grip. I find it easy and comfortable to manipulate the hardware buttons on the casing while using the touchscreen and track ball. Use one or all three it is up to you, whatever is closest and easiest for the task at hand.

 The HTC Hero is one of the few HTC phones to feature the 'chin': the small bend at the mouthpiece end of the phone to bring the microphone closer. Not everyone likes the 'chin' and certainly the newer HTC phones like the HTC Desire or the Nexus One don't have it. With the 'chin' you have to be careful when you put the Hero in your pocket, but with all phones of this size I don't think putting it in your pocket is a very good idea. I like the 'chin', it gives the phone a little more individuality and with the size of my hands it helps me to grip and manipulate the phone when in use, particularly when using the small trackball found in the centre of the 'chin'.

HTC Sense is HTC's user interface built on top of the Android OS and is a joy to use. It is easy to swap Scenes (think 'theme') and change it to suit your mood. There are seven 'pages' that you can scroll between with a flick of the finger to the left and right and all your icon widgets and apps can be put in full view. If you have too many to fit you can even add folders to fine tune your organisation and ease of use. I have each 'page' dedicated to a certain activity. On the middle screen I have my email, MMS and browser apps, along with calendar, clock and alarm. My games are on a page by themselves, my music on another.

Accessing configuration and system menus is a question of a couple of button presses and a bit of scrolling and everything seems well thought out and organised in a consistent and understandable way.

HTC Sense is one of the best things about this phone. I can't imagine the Hero without the Sense.