• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Is The Moment Better Than The Sprint HTC Hero?

pierceNKC

Member
Feb 26, 2010
96
0
I know you guys may be a bit partial...

But sell me on why I should pick the Moment over the Hero. I currently swapped the Pre for the Hero, but have been reading things that the Hero may run slowly after the 2.1 upgrade.

Since I'm locked into this phone for a year (friends/family plan), which will keep up to speed with everything else better?
 
everyone here will say the moment.

It's entirely personal preference. And remember, with both phones you can root and really customize. The Hero's developed to the point where the new ROM's have no lag at all, even the 2.1 ROM's that are out have no lag, or very minimal. A bit buggy at the moment, but they've only been out a couple days, and the new one coming out has just about everything working (no visual voicemail is all that doesn't work by the look of things)
 
Upvote 0
I was in the same boat as you. My first choice was the Hero. However after playing around with the store display I discovered the Hero just wasn't for me. I went with the Moment for the following reasons:

- Physical keyboard. Coming from an LG EnV this was just something I had to have. The virtual keyboard of the moment just didn't suit me.

- The screen of the moment. Wow is this beautiful. Also it uses less battery power.

- The optical pad. I'm not a fan of the trackball at all.

- The stock specs. In store I noticed the moment was fast but not by much. Also looking reading a few review online, most say the moment performs better with multi-function duties. I cannot verify this as I never used a Hero except in store.

- Price. The moment is $50 cheaper. Although that did not have a lot of weight in my decision. I would have paid for the Hero had I not played with the store display first.

Hope this helps you. Let us know what you decide to go with.

Peace.
 
Upvote 0
The Moment has a physical keyboard. If you detest virtual keyboards (like me) it's the only Android choice on Sprint. Theoretically, it should be faster and have a better screen than the Hero. OTH, HTC's support of the Herois superior to Samsung, as is the hacker support. It should be much faster to upgrade the plain jane Google branded Moment than the Hero with all its Sense add-on's, yet the 2.1 updates are apparently being released at the same time. Before the ill fated bring-it-into-the-shop to update initial cl14 update, I would have been more willing to recommend this phone. Though Samsung finally did come through with a OTW version, that they didn't have a reasonable update path 4 months after release seems to speak loudly to how little resources they are applying to this phone. I like the phone but am suspicious of it's manufacturer. I'm not ready to condemn the device but as it stands, I would hold off until the 2.1 update to see if Samsung screws it up before purchasing this phone.

I also find it amusing that the first response in the >Moment< forum to this thread is a Hero owner making a pre emtive "everyone here will say the moment" attack. Nice!
 
Upvote 0
I also find it amusing that the first response in the >Moment< forum to this thread is a Hero owner making a pre emtive "everyone here will say the moment" attack. Nice!

Just speaking from previous experience lol.

And remember, I also work with a Moment (Mom's). It's entirely personal preference. Go to a store, and play with them both, see which one fits you best.
 
Upvote 0
I have to say that the trackball was the deal breaker for us. The support from XDA is amazing on the Hero, but the fact that that trackball would be in my pocket (much like my old BB Pearl) and get lint and crap built up on it all day long just didn't work for me. Especially when all the Berry Balls are getting replacements now - just a deal breaker for me.

So far the Moment is the 3rd most favorite phone I have ever owned behind the HTC Touch Pro 2 and ancient NEC 525 (yes a long time ago)... That's not knocking the Hero in anyway, but it's been a great device for me.
 
Upvote 0
I also find it amusing that the first response in the >Moment< forum to this thread is a Hero owner making a pre emtive "everyone here will say the moment" attack. Nice!

In general, I think fervor on this forum has died down a lot since the update came out because its fixed all the major issues.

Post the update, its a great phone. Never had a Hero, so I can't speak to it.
 
Upvote 0
I have to say that the trackball was the deal breaker for us. The support from XDA is amazing on the Hero, but the fact that that trackball would be in my pocket (much like my old BB Pearl) and get lint and crap built up on it all day long just didn't work for me. Especially when all the Berry Balls are getting replacements now - just a deal breaker for me.

So far the Moment is the 3rd most favorite phone I have ever owned behind the HTC Touch Pro 2 and ancient NEC 525 (yes a long time ago)... That's not knocking the Hero in anyway, but it's been a great device for me.

oddly enough, my Hero has been in and out of my pocket since mid-October (jeans, very linty, very dirty), and I don't have any issues with the trackball not working. Don't know if it's the design, or if it'll happen over time, but it seems to be holding up pretty good in my mind
 
Upvote 0
oddly enough, my Hero has been in and out of my pocket since mid-October (jeans, very linty, very dirty), and I don't have any issues with the trackball not working. Don't know if it's the design, or if it'll happen over time, but it seems to be holding up pretty good in my mind

Ditto. I've only had mine for a month but it isn't getting anything in it. And really, I barely use it anyways. I just drag and point on the screen.
 
Upvote 0
I agree with all, it's entirely up to the individual. I however think that you get more with the Samsung Moment.

1. Physical keyboard
2. Screen brightness and clarity and efficiency (AMOLED screen)
3. Slightly better processor.

The hero does have the advantage over the battery issue. :)

With the 2.1 upgrade, I would pick the Samsung Moment over the HTC Hero.
 
Upvote 0
i went ahead and kept the hero. i just can't get over the crappy sliders on these phones. they seem to give too much. it reminded me just why i hated my pre prior to swapping it for a hero.

also, the screen wasn't as responsive as the hero. could have been b/c it was a store model, but i felt like i kept having to do the same motions at least 2-3 times to get it to do what i wanted to do...and that trackpad was just awful to play with. i didn't understand that at all.
 
Upvote 0
i went ahead and kept the hero. i just can't get over the crappy sliders on these phones. they seem to give too much. it reminded me just why i hated my pre prior to swapping it for a hero.

also, the screen wasn't as responsive as the hero. could have been b/c it was a store model, but i felt like i kept having to do the same motions at least 2-3 times to get it to do what i wanted to do...and that trackpad was just awful to play with. i didn't understand that at all.

The slider is fine. Mine gets extremely heavily used. No flaws so far, And i've had mine since November.
 
Upvote 0
Does everyone have that little wobble on at the top of the phone - I think it's the safety 'give' for the slider - which everyone I have ever seen has that little wiggle (maybe an 1/8 of an inch?) to the top half of the phone.

Just want to make sure since that was the indicator of the TP2's slider going out - but the Moment seems to be a better slider mechanism that the tilt screen (though I do miss the tilt!)
 
Upvote 0
The slider is fine. Mine gets extremely heavily used. No flaws so far, And i've had mine since November.

I'm with you. I've only had mine since January, but I keep up in texts with my teenage daughter, my ten year old, a gripey ex-wife, the sitter, work emails, personal emails, and so on. So my slider gets used constantly.

Unlike the previous slider I had (Ocean), this one hasn't given out...yet. Plus, if it does, the onscreen keyboard works just fine as a backup.

And, yes, you should get this phone. But I AM biased.
 
Upvote 0
I went through this same debate. I went as far as setting up another line to try them both out. The verdict?? Hero has better software and the Moment has better hardware. I noticed the Hero was slow and got constipated with even a few apps on it. I (Sprint Store or over the phone) couldn't get the Hero's contacts imported w/HTC sense to sync with Google and couldn't get hotmail to sync. I could get email from Hotmail but not to delete messages or manage the account.

For a week, I went back and forth on which to keep. The Hero was so much more fun to use and looked nicer. I honestly have only used the slide out keyboard a few times. The virtual landscape KB on the Moment is so much better than the Hero. The Hero has a much better Contacts manager, bringing EVERYTHING from a contact to one place- FB/Twitter, email, SMS, phone/VM. The Hero was also too small for my hands and I didn't like the track ball- I got stuff stuck in it really quickly. The Moment camera flash is nice too. I decided the software on the Moment can be changed, Hero hardware can't be "updated". I found software to emulate the 90% of what I liked about the Hero.

Anyone know of a Sense UI inspired contacts manager that brings everything together like the Hero??
 
Upvote 0
Screen: I'm still baffled why people are so amazed by the screen on the Moment. I sat and compared both for the 4 months I had both phones and only the black screens popped a bit more on the Moment, the white screens had this annoying blue tint. I compared youtube videos, sprint tv etc and not once did the Moment stand out that much to warrant a compliment.

Size: on paper the Moment is not much bigger, but when you hold it the larger size feels significant

Processor: on paper the Moment is much faster, but when I did side by side comparisons I was not blown away by the speed difference; however, the Moment does perform better in this category I just never felt it was enough to be a deal breaker

Keyboard: HW keyboard on the Moment is fantastic, but I rarely used it! I type fast on onscreen keyboards and will never want a HW keyboard again

UI: HTC Sense wins this by a landslide; however, I do understand why people prefer Vanilla Android, but this category clearly goes to the Hero
 
Upvote 0
I Had the moment for a month loved but bricked it. Then went to the Hero, had it for 3 months and man sometimes I just want to throw it against the wall. Its true what they say the Hero is so damn laggy. Lags on everything from answering calls to simply swiping the screen.YES IT DOES LAG SIGNIFICANTLY!!! I hate the touch screen keyboard even in land scape. in landscape you cannot see what the conversation was because the what you are typing takes up the whole page( not ideal for instant messaging ). It is a great phone with the sense U.I and multitouch internet browsing but when 2.1 comes out this will prob make the phone slower. We forget how these are phones and you should be able to make simple calls on them, the hero has f*cked up so many calls from answering to dialing (LAG). You might have to have a 10 sec patience to use this phone... Now Im back to the Moment and yes there is a significant speed difference and THIS IS VERY TRUE!! Battery meter is off but lasts as long as the hero. I am keeping both phones until after the 2.1 upgrade to see how both phones compare. So far my mind is pretty much set on the moment.
 
Upvote 0
I went through this same debate. I went as far as setting up another line to try them both out. The verdict?? Hero has better software and the Moment has better hardware. I noticed the Hero was slow and got constipated with even a few apps on it. I (Sprint Store or over the phone) couldn't get the Hero's contacts imported w/HTC sense to sync with Google and couldn't get hotmail to sync. I could get email from Hotmail but not to delete messages or manage the account.

For a week, I went back and forth on which to keep. The Hero was so much more fun to use and looked nicer. I honestly have only used the slide out keyboard a few times. The virtual landscape KB on the Moment is so much better than the Hero. The Hero has a much better Contacts manager, bringing EVERYTHING from a contact to one place- FB/Twitter, email, SMS, phone/VM. The Hero was also too small for my hands and I didn't like the track ball- I got stuff stuck in it really quickly. The Moment camera flash is nice too. I decided the software on the Moment can be changed, Hero hardware can't be "updated". I found software to emulate the 90% of what I liked about the Hero.

Anyone know of a Sense UI inspired contacts manager that brings everything together like the Hero??

Where did you find the software to emulate the hero?
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones