HTC Hero hands on at Starhub

Yesterday afternoon, I went to the Starhub Plaza Singapura roadshow to have a look and hands on for HTC Hero. The handset on the booth seems not working, you have to get it from the promoter. While you are playing, the promoter would also explain the features and answer the query.

First impression, it looks snappy. Although the promoter said he got the handset few weeks ago, but I suspect it is with the updated ROM already. The scrolling and menu selection looks fast and without lag.

The important part, it is all about the Sense UI. Yes, really. You buy the HTC Hero because of the customisation they put, that is Sense. You have have up to seven pages in each Sense, where you add all the widgets. In different Sense, for example - work, play etc, you can configure the widget that suit the purpose. Other than this, it got all the rest of android handset features.

On screen keyboard, it would take sometime to get used to it, if you are coming from the normal handphone user. Very often, you would touch the other key wrongly and need to backspace. I suppose after a while, your eyes and hand would be more coordinated.

The chin, yes it got a unique look. But in my opinion, the chin actually adds to the usability. It make the phone easier to hold on hand. So, this "feature" actually serve some purpose.

Other areas, camera function look so so. The image quality is respectable, but I don't think it is really that fantastic. The touch is close to iPhone, you don't have to press hard in order for it to recognise.

Bottom line is you need to try it out for a while to decide whether it is for you. I guess the sms won't be faster, but the tight integration to online service make it easier to use.