how good is the hero

[adz63]

hi i just managed to blag 3 to swap the pile of junk satio as its useless ,

after 2 months of trying to get them to swap my phone they finally gave in .

so they have give me a choice of phones i can pick , another ericsson phone , never going to but from them again , or any nokia or the hero

im kinda gonna go for the hero but i would like to know from you users how good it is , and any bad points to the phone etc so as much info as poss please , is it easy to update android , does it update through fw update etc , anything you think i need to know please share you opinion before i actually choose it

 

[Xyro]

Well, which other phones are you considering specifically? That way we know which features you want to compare

To answer some of the points you mentioned, I'll explain the current firmware situation. As you may or may nor know, unlike say your old satio's firmware, android is a firmware shared by a tonne of different phones. The Hero launched with android 1.5. HTC skipped updating to versions 1.6 or 2.0, and are now currently releasing 2.1 to our phones. Unfortunately, some branded phones, such as Heroes on 3, haven't revived that update yet. But it should be here soon.

As for how easy to update it is, it's very easy to upgrade to 2.1. The update is all done via the phone it's self and it will get on with it without much help. However, if you choose to use unofficial firmware, which is a much more involved process (and does risk voiding your warrenty), you can end up with a phone running android 2.2 and many improvements not available to phones on the official firmware.

Although the Hero is now outspecced by the latest generation of android phones, it would still be my choice over any nokia/sony ericson phone.

 

[Bunjiweb]

I personally would say the Hero trumps every Sony or Nokia, apart from perhaps the X10, but then I prefer the HTC Sense UI. Nokia has really struggled to build a good smartphone and IMHO Symbian is being surpassed in every way by Android.

Ben

 

[makaen]

How can you tell if downloading firmware will void your warranty, and where would be the best place to get said firmware?

 

[jim_h]

Hi adz63,

As others have commented, I'd pick the Hero over any Sony or current Nokia mobile at the moment. I'm not convinced the hardware is any better, but Android wipes the floor with the increasingly old and tired Symbian OS. The X10 is a really nice phone and probably the only real contender as an alternative, but it's only running 1.6 firmware and I'm not struck by the Sony Android overlay in comparison to the wonderful Sense by HTC.

The Hero hardware is excellent, if a little let down by the average camera and slow CPU. However 2.1 does address these issues and it feels much quicker.

In terms of choices of OS, there's no contest. With the hardware they are offering you, I'd pick the Hero or push for one of the newer HTC models.

In case it helps, there are quite a few of us here who are also on 3 and have unbranded and then upgraded (not rooted) our Hero to firmware 2.1. It's very easy and took me around 2hrs (most of which was taken up with backing up my SD card). The improvements are worth the effort.

Cheers,
Jim