I have this as a backup phone. There are other phones which are faster, better looking and more advanced sure but felt I had to write a review after accidentally dropping this more times than I've had hot dinners and finding it working perfectly after each time! If you are a clumsy buffoon like me then this is ideal! The camera is pretty awful though!

I have this as a backup phone. There are other phones which are faster, better looking and more advanced sure but felt I had to write a review after accidentally dropping this more times than I've had hot dinners and finding it working perfectly after each time! If you are a clumsy buffoon like me then this is ideal! The camera is pretty awful though!

A good phone if you want to avoid the iphone route. Well made and works well as a phone - something smartphone manufacturers often forget. It takes a long time to figure out how to work it - or maybe im just thick?? And a lot of phone calls to Orange and HTC themselves, to answer all the questions Orange couldnt answer. Big problems porting numbers in from another phone - theres no feature to translate all numbers from sim to phone or vice versa, in the end needed to download an app to do it. The 'manual' was a thin leaflet and next to useless- leaving you pretty much on your own to suss it out. Once all settled though, a good phone of its type. Plenty of apps though not as many as iphone. Battery life pretty poor but does actually improve if used properly and not overcharged.

Google contact backup is brilliant - the phone constantly backs up all your contacts automatically to any gmail address - lose your phone and dont lose your life!

Recommended.

I love this phone. With the upgrade the Andriod 2.1 it's even better. Im hoping HTC will also upgrade the fireware to 2.2.

The htc Hero, although not the newest phone on the block, is still a great smartphone, and helped by the fact many mobile phone companies, have rolled out there andriod 2.1 upgrade it still has plenty of life left in it.

Pros
Good screen quality
Sense ui works well
Built well [as are all htc phones]
Looks very business like
Running android gives you more freedom and options compared to apples iphone range.

Cons
Not the latest tech [for that see the HTC Desire]
Orange and 3 network users still waiting for the android upgrade.

Overall this was the 2nd best phone last year when it was first out, only slightly shaded by the iphone 3gs. But it still has a good bit of life left in it yet. For the best phone out there, in my view its the HTC Desire, it beats the iphone 4, which suffers from being very restricted by apple.

Best phone I have owned ... I am tempted by the newer models but this phone is outstanding and the Google Android operationg system is a real winner. You can also get this phone unlocked without being threatened with the phone self destructing ! I am waiting for the android 2.1 update which is currently being released and promises even more goodies

I've owned an HTC Hero since august. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HTC are a highly reliable brand with a great reputation, not least with Google who have paired up with them for the Nexus and seem to be involved with Google's rival to the iPad. They are not as big as Sony etc. I have owned a Sony in the past and wouldn't touch them again with a bargepole.
The phone does so many things I wouldn't know where to start. Check out the tech reviews for that.
It has been entirely reliable, feels comfortable to hold. The lag that some people talk about is a lag of less than 1 second, so not exactly life changing. However, the Hero can run multiple apps at the same time. From what I gather the iPhone can't. The iPhone is a big slippery, expensive gadget used by so many children. (I'm a teacher, I see them everywhere.) For me, it's nice to have a real quality item which doesn't look like a clone of everyone else's phone.

This may suprise some I have the htc hero by Tmobile and I thnk it is rubbish. Why my previous phone mda3 windows as a functional every day use, calander, phone book etc far better & simpler. HTC screen info just far to small, stylus needed to select or scrol, hitting the wrong item a regular occurance. Screen some times very slow to respond to touch or strokes. Contacts way too much distracting info that if you don't use it you can't remove. There is too many negative things to mention if your thinking of changing from windows don't. "+" screen looks very nice and I think now after 5mths I can slightly text faster on a single text only. Internet access is disappointing very slow.

i have had a htc hero for a while now and can say they are nice phones with plenty of features to play with, it has gps, 5 mp camera (no flash), wifi ....... i find the design ugly with its slanted front and the HTC brand does not have the same credibility as say nokia or sony ericsson, i like the apps market where u can choose from 100s of apps fot the phone, i think that this phone has a lot of stuff to offer but for the £400 price tag on payg, maybey it just isnt worth the money

WOW! Was a bit gutted that I couldn't get an iPhone because I'm stuck on Orange, but they offered me the HTC Hero for an upgrade instead. They said it was the closest one at the moment, and it is AMAZING!

The touchscreen is just as clear and responsive as the iPhone, and the Hero is so easy to use. The homescreen has different pages, so one swipe to the left or right can let you update Facebook, send a message on Twitter or even check out the weather (well useful these days!). The web browsing is really good, and all the sites that use Flash can work on it!

It is much smaller than I thought it would be, and all my fears for having a touch phone were totally gone as soon as I had played with it for a couple of days!

I can even get my work e-mails from my Exchange account on there, and I can download cool apps!

Only problems are that the battery doesn't last too long, and the shape is a bit funny at first, but I'm used to it now.

The HTC Hero is awesome, and has made me forget all about THAT Apple phone!