HTC Hero - what a mistake

[FrankTheTank]

Oh dear. Decided to take a risk and opted for the Hero. Not impressed so far.

The mp3 sound quality -awful. Just before tracks start to play there's this whooshing sound like a CD player finding a track. You can also hear it in quiet pieces of music. I tell you it's almost a dealbreaker. Ipod it ain't.

Call quality. OK I'm using a Rebel Sim (thanks Orange UK you bastards!) due to unlocking problems, but calls keep dropping. Never had a single problem with my ancient but trusty Sony W810i.

Annoying interface.

When the display turns off, why can't you just tap the sceen. Why do you have to press the power button to wake it up?

The chin. God it's ugly but also impractical. Not very ergonomic when holding and pressing buttons.

Think I'm going to sell it on ebay while I can.

Would be interested to hear whether anyone concurs!

Frank

 

[germcevoy]

music playback is poor (and the minimum volume too high). Makes listening to podcasts a downer.

I find the call quality to be a little bit shit really. It's clear but just doesn't have that strength I was used to on Nokia.

Saying that though I don't make a lot of calls and I only use the phone for podcast listening so these are 2 minor black spots for me just.

 

[FrankTheTank]

Thanks. I'm not alone then...

 

[andy d]

That will be why three magazines. T3. What mobile. And Stuff have awarded the Hero phone and gadget of the year.

 

[computerboyo]

My Hero/G2 Touch is amazing. I've been using the Skype app to connect to a local number and call the USA and Canada and the sound quality is crystal clear.

Just installed CoPilot 8 today and it works a treat.

Cushty.

 

[FrankTheTank]

The glowing reviews are the reason why I bought it Andy! Anyway, it's not addressing the issues I mentioned!

 

[Bunjiweb]

Oh dear. Decided to take a risk and opted for the Hero. Not impressed so far.

The mp3 sound quality -awful. Just before tracks start to play there's this whooshing sound like a CD player finding a track. You can also hear it in quiet pieces of music. I tell you it's almost a dealbreaker. Ipod it ain't.

Are you using the included headphones? If so I'm not surprised, I use a set of Sennheisers and I think the audio quality is great, Are you sure its nothing to do with the way your music is encoded?

Call quality. OK I'm using a Rebel Sim (thanks Orange UK you bastards!) due to unlocking problems, but calls keep dropping. Never had a single problem with my ancient but trusty Sony W810i.

I'm using the official Orange sim and have to say again I haven't noticed this, unless I am in a very poor signal area, but then this is to be expected.

Annoying interface.

I'm afraid its only you who thinks this as most people think the interface is glorious, very customisable and versatile. I love it!

When the display turns off, why can't you just tap the sceen. Why do you have to press the power button to wake it up?

Don't you think that if the phone was in your pocket and it was accidently tapped it would then lead to a bit of a catastrophe? This is why EVERY touch screen phone requires a physical button to awake it. Having a touch-to-wake feature would be hugely impractical.

The chin. God it's ugly but also impractical. Not very ergonomic when holding and pressing buttons.

Half the reason behind it is that it is actually very ergonomic when holding it. Granted if you wear skin-tight trousers the shape might be annoying, but then you have serious issues with your choice of trousers! I don't find the shape a problem but then I've got plenty of pocket space thanks, no skinnies for me!

I think u really need to look at it with a fresh and positive face, otherwise you are just the pickiest person ever.

Ben

 

[Monkey]

One of the things you commented on Frank was that it is Not an ipod,
I know you want good sound but remember mate at the end of the day
its a Phone Not an MP3 Player.
Three Mobile are bundling the Hero with Spotify which to be honest I wouldn't
be interested in as I have an ipod already.
I hope you get your Pleasure out of this phone in the end Mate.

Peace,
Andrew.

The glowing reviews are the reason why I bought it Andy! Anyway, it's not addressing the issues I mentioned!

 

[germcevoy]

That will be why three magazines. T3. What mobile. And Stuff have awarded the Hero phone and gadget of the year.

the iPhone won plenty without being able to forward a text message

 

[Iggy82]

Get rid of that rebelsim and unlock the phone from Orange properly. You can use the MoDaCo custom ROM to and an unlock code to see the full potential of your hardware:

See my link: http://androidforums.com/htc-hero/14833-how-unlock-your-htc-hero-orange-uk.html

I'm really impressed with the phone, especially since moving away from the stock Orange ROM

 

[rizzla]

Oh dear. Decided to take a risk and opted for the Hero. Not impressed so far.

The mp3 sound quality -awful. Just before tracks start to play there's this whooshing sound like a CD player finding a track. You can also hear it in quiet pieces of music. I tell you it's almost a dealbreaker. Ipod it ain't.

My sound quality is fine, i've never heard any whooshing sounds. Maybe get better headphones i never use headphones that come with the phone as they are always rubbish even the ones on my ipod. Could be something wrong with your phone. Also its not an ipod

Call quality. OK I'm using a Rebel Sim (thanks Orange UK you bastards!) due to unlocking problems, but calls keep dropping. Never had a single problem with my ancient but trusty Sony W810i.

Not getting dropped calls on T-mobile uk, so not sure of your problem there.

Annoying interface.

How is it annoying exactly?

left and right swipe to screens, add button to add apps and widgets, plus button to view and run apps. Phone button bottom of screen to access phone dialler.

Host of widgets you can add or remove from screen, easy positioning of icons and widgets. pull down menu for notifications and the screens are totally customisable and easy to use.

I prefer to set my phone up to how i like it not they way the Manufacturer expects you to.

Sounds like you just want a simple bog standard phone, if thats the case why go for a smartphone?

When the display turns off, why can't you just tap the sceen. Why do you have to press the power button to wake it up?

To stop accidentally turning the phone screen back on, standard on smartphones. This isn't your first smartphone is it?

How many phone calls do you get from people who's phones have dialled out when in their pockets so you listening to conversations they are having in their house or them walking on the street.

The chin. God it's ugly but also impractical. Not very ergonomic when holding and pressing buttons.

I find it easy to hold, though possible not as easy to do one hand operations as my vario III with the buttons, but when accessing the screen it feels better. But not had a major problem with it.

Think I'm going to sell it on ebay while I can.

Would be interested to hear whether anyone concurs!

Frank

Sad you feel like that its all down to personal choice at the end of the day. But once you fill it up with your selected choice of software, arranged your screens to suit you and having widgets that give you instant information at a glance without the need of opening the apps and checking with updates coming from all over them place, its would be hard to go back to any less of an experience in my opinion.

 

[computerboyo]

Are you using the included headphones? If so I'm not surprised, I use a set of Sennheisers and I think the audio quality is great, Are you sure its nothing to do with the way your music is encoded?



I'm using the official Orange sim and have to say again I haven't noticed this, unless I am in a very poor signal area, but then this is to be expected.


I'm afraid its only you who thinks this as most people think the interface is glorious, very customisable and versatile. I love it!


Don't you think that if the phone was in your pocket and it was accidently tapped it would then lead to a bit of a catastrophe? This is why EVERY touch screen phone requires a physical button to awake it. Having a touch-to-wake feature would be hugely impractical.


Half the reason behind it is that it is actually very ergonomic when holding it. Granted if you wear skin-tight trousers the shape might be annoying, but then you have serious issues with your choice of trousers! I don't find the shape a problem but then I've got plenty of pocket space thanks, no skinnies for me!

I think u really need to look at it with a fresh and positive face, otherwise you are just the pickiest person ever.

Ben

the pickiest person ever.

 

[themonkster]

Ha Ha Frank The Tank has just been destroyed by the might of the Hero Tankbuster.

Best phone ever. With the Android 2.0 Update in the making things just get better !!!

 

[elektrobix]

Could be there's something wrong with your encoded mp3's, your earphones or the phone itself. I no longer use my iPod Touch because i've found my Hero sounds just as good, though i don't consider iPod to be the best sounding mp3 player - using Ultimate Ears EB earphones (which pick up everything) i've noticed no whooshing sounds.

I think the interface is brilliant, waking the screen up with a button is normal for most touch scree devices isn't it?

The only thing i would agree with is that the call quality isn't as good as some phones i've used, i found Blackberry to be the best for call quality.

 

[cheggerspop]

If you don't like it, just get rid and move on!

 

[green81]

Baffled!........this phone is the nuts
the UI blows me away

 

[Quazar]

Wow people are picky these days, I find the phone to be amazing but its down to personal taste I guess.

 

[chris4chelsea]

i like changing phones like every few months... but after i got my hands on the HTC Hero, i already know that this is the right phone for me and Android is doing a good job. there is no perfect phone for me, i liked the n97 keyboard and the smoothness of the iphone, but overall HTC Hero is the winner for me by far! maybe Frank has his own preference, but i m sure many of us here are very satisfied with the Hero...

 

[quantumrand]

Another thread paid for by Apple (yes, Apple pays people to bash competing products)?

The mp3 sound quality -awful. Just before tracks start to play there's this whooshing sound like a CD player finding a track. You can also hear it in quiet pieces of music. I tell you it's almost a dealbreaker. Ipod it ain't.

Sound quality is perfectly fine for me. I hear absolutely no "whooshing sound," nor are there any moving parts in the phone (other than the vibrater, but that would be obviously noticeable) that would make said sound.

Call quality. OK I'm using a Rebel Sim (thanks Orange UK you bastards!) due to unlocking problems, but calls keep dropping. Never had a single problem with my ancient but trusty Sony W810i.

I have yet to have a single dropped call with my Hero. At most, the sound quality suffers slightly when I'm in areas with low signal. Basically the exact same experience I had with my previous W580i and W760a.

Annoying interface.

When the display turns off, why can't you just tap the sceen. Why do you have to press the power button to wake it up?

ALL touch screens are like this!!!!! If you could wake it up just by tapping the screen, you'd be "butt dialing" all the time. The interface is FAR more practical than that of the iPhone and WinMo phones. With the Hero you can customize the interface to your needs.

The chin. God it's ugly but also impractical. Not very ergonomic when holding and pressing buttons.

I think the chin looks good. Plus it's quite practical. Not only does it prevent buttons being pressed when you set it down, it also protects the screen. You say it's hard to push the buttons, but that has NOTHING to do with the chin. All phones with buttons down on the bottom like that (basically ALL touch screen phones), are difficult to press. Obviously you've never used a touch screen phone before.

 

[galaktiker]

Oh dear. Decided to take a risk and opted for the Hero. Not impressed so far.

The mp3 sound quality -awful. Just before tracks start to play there's this whooshing sound like a CD player finding a track. You can also hear it in quiet pieces of music. I tell you it's almost a dealbreaker. Ipod it ain't.

Call quality. OK I'm using a Rebel Sim (thanks Orange UK you bastards!) due to unlocking problems, but calls keep dropping. Never had a single problem with my ancient but trusty Sony W810i.

Annoying interface.

When the display turns off, why can't you just tap the sceen. Why do you have to press the power button to wake it up?

The chin. God it's ugly but also impractical. Not very ergonomic when holding and pressing buttons.

Think I'm going to sell it on ebay while I can.

Would be interested to hear whether anyone concurs!

Frank

Try to buy normal headphones, if you like to listen to music with HTC Hero. It may help.

Anyway, if you like music, you should look for another pda phone. Hero's music is awful for music lovers.

 

[Slug]

The mp3 sound quality -awful.

Not on mine it's not. Granted it's no Linn but then neither is the cost. It happily matches my N95 for playback quality, my only gripe being the lack of EQ to tailor the output to individual users' preferences.

Call quality. OK I'm using a Rebel Sim (thanks Orange UK you bastards!) due to unlocking problems, but calls keep dropping. Never had a single problem with my ancient but trusty Sony W810i.

No call problems with my Orange handset. No drops and the voice quality is miles better than any handset I've had previously, as good as my landline.

Btw, if you wanted an unlocked handset it wasn't a terribly good idea to buy one subsidised by a carrier.

Annoying interface.

You didn't try it out before you bought it? Oh dear.....

When the display turns off, why can't you just tap the sceen. Why do you have to press the power button to wake it up?

As already noted, because it's a touchscreen.

The chin. God it's ugly but also impractical. Not very ergonomic when holding and pressing buttons.

Again, you didn't notice that before you bought it?

It might not be to everyone's taste but in my hand it sits perfectly, the buttons are right where I need them for single-(right)handed use, and the 'chin' brings the mic a little bit closer to my mouth so that I'm used to people commenting on how clear my voice sounds.

 

[FrankTheTank]

Blimey! Really stirred up a hornet's nest here haven't I?! I suppose being critical of the Hero in a Hero forum was a bit cheeky of me!

I've calmed down a bit now so I am looking at things more objectively! Actually, over the past 24 hours I have to admit to taking a liking for it! I shouldn't really complain - I got it for free. My dad's contract with Orange was up for renewal, and I managed to negotiate a big saving for him and get myself a free phone out of it! (as far as my dad's concerned a phone is for making calls, and if being adventurous making the odd text message!) That's why it's an Orange phone and I'm on Virgin!

Incidentally, I think one of the reasons why I'm a bit annoyed is Virgin's coverage where I live. At my mate's house I get 3g all the time. At mine it's GPRS and occasional 3g. It was like a different phone at his.

Back to the few niggles.

Sound quality. I had experienced these strange noises with my in-ear Sennheisers (not cheap) which I think must have been some sort of electrical interference - as if you could hear the thing working! On my huge Sennheiser Ovation headphones it was almost non-existent. Strange. Oh and yes I agree - maximum volume not loud enough for some headphones.

Call quality. It was fine at my mate's. Fair enough - network issue. Having said that I don't think it picks up a signal as well as some other phones. Potential for a firmware update? I don't know.

Interface. Ok, I'm getting used to it. Few niggles e.g. not being able to use multi touch with google maps etc. Interested to see what difference Android 2.0 would make. (Love the idea of free sat-nav - that is definitely a reason to persevere). (no didn't try it before buying- impulse buy after brief internet research, great reviews)

Jimmy Hill Chin ;-) . I'm getting used to it. Have to say though the volume control was designed by a moron. It's so flush it's difficult to find the up down button in your pocket. Could be far more tactile. Disappointing.

OK, unleash hell! (Calm down dear it's only a commercial)

 

[cheggerspop]

I've heard HTC are looking towards releasing a new model called the FrankTheTank, but I bet even that wouldn't be good enough for you Mr Picky!?! lol


Chegs.

 

[FrankTheTank]

Play the ball not the man!

 

[makfi78]

Just buy an iPhone and give us a break if youre not able to handle the HTC Sense