Ok, so, I’ve been the proud owner of an HTC Hero now for all of about 16 hours. Here are my initial thoughts:
I love how open and customisable this OS is, I could spend (and already have spent) hours customising and tweaking. HTC’s Sense UI seems to marry in perfectly with Android and it really has taken the OS to another level when compared with earlier Android handsets I’ve played around with such as the HTC Magic.
The Apps store is more populated than I had initially thought it would be, and I guess, given Android’s open source roots, it’ll only get bigger very quickly. I do worry that it may end up full of mediocre home-brew apps that make it trickier to dig out the good apps amidst the crowds, but I guess that’s what reading online reviews beforehand and judicious use of the app search function are for!
I love the fact that, unlike the other Android phones, the HTC Hero is capable of accessing Microsoft Exchange straight out of the box. I also love the acres of screen real estate you get with the Hero’s seven home screens compared to the usual three.
All in all, I’m very impressed with what I’ve seen so far, and, hopefully, as I delve deeper I’ll be able to further appreciate just how powerful Android has the potential to be.