At the time it came out, the HTC Hero was, by far, the best Android phone on the block. With the HTC Legend, the manufacturer took everything good about that handset and made it even better.

Physically, it looks a lot like the Hero, down to the trademark chin. The body is cut from a single piece of aluminum (taking a bite out of Apple's aesthetic), making it both more attractive and durable at the same time. Replacing the trackball with a metal-trimmed trackpad also raises the style points up a notch, apart from working just as effectively.

Display is a gorgeous 3.2-inch AMOLED screen, with 320x480 resolution. Colors literally pop out, adding a "wow" factor that you seldom get with the mass of Android phones in the market. At 3mm thinner than the Hero, it's easily one of HTC's more pocketable devices.

As a phone, the HTC Legend manages slightly above average call quality. Voices sound natural with plenty of volume to go, although we did encounter a slight amount of distortion. Speakerphone worked just as well, perhaps lacking just a tad more volume to my liking. Battery life is quite disappointing, though, likely requiring a recharge every day and a half for most common uses.

While the Hero suffered from some form of sluggishness (which they later rectified via firmware), the Legend runs with satisfying speed out of the box. Navigation is smooth, transitions are fast and apps launch quick, putting all 600Mhz of that processor to good use. Web browsing (both over WiFi and HSDPA) is exceptional, with pages rendering almost twice as fast, compared to many Android phones we've seen. Plus, the browser's got multi-touch and some amount of Flash support.

It delivers all the usual Android 2.1 favors, from the nominal music player to the mass of Google apps to extensive messaging capabilities. HTC primps it up with their fancy Sense UI, which adds a lot of value to the device, including features such as being able to add mail to your Outlook folders, an improved mail interface, a very good onscreen keyboard and the MotoBlur-like Friend Stream. The latter, by the way, doesn't work as well as expected. Expect software updates on that end. Camera module is a 5.0 megapixel unit that manages to snap average-looking shots.

Sure, the Motorola Droid and the Nexus One have probably gotten the most press out of today's Android phones. In terms of overall value, though, I'm tempted to side with the HTC Legend, with its great looks, sleek operation and robust feature set.  Price should vary from retailer to retailer, but expect it between $550 to $600 unlocked.

Sprint recently announced official plans to release the HTC Hero in the US market, not too long after T-Mobile launched the MyTouch 3G (aka HTC Magic).  While both handsets sport several similarities,  the Hero offers enough advantages to make people wonder whether T-Mobile will come out on the losing end of this head-to-head battle between two Android smartphones.

Bigger RAM. While both devices use similar (though not completely the same) 528Mhz Qualcomm processors, the Hero has a distinct advantage in memory, packing 288MB of RAM to the MyTouch3G's 192MB.  While less than 100MB of RAM may not sound much for a PC, it makes a world of difference for a phone, where background processes can really slow operation down immensely.

Better Camera. All phones have poor camera modules (compared to a point-and-shoot) and that's why megapixels count so much.  Every extra detail adds up and the Hero's 5.0 megapixel optics simply outdo the 3.2 megapixel camera on the MyTouch 3G.

Better Multimedia Hardware. Actually, they're mostly the same, except for the fact that the Hero has a built-in 3.5mm audio jack.  T-Mobile's MyTouch 3G does ship with a small adapter, though, which evens things out.  Regardless, you can easily misplace an adapter; a built-in jack will stay with your phone forever.

Better UI. The Hero is the first phone to feature HTC's Sense UI, an absolutely better Android skin than what's available with the MyTouch 3G.  Based on recent reports, MyTouch 3G users can't simply download and install Sense on their phones either, without using some voodoo tech skills and bypassing some security.

Bigger Battery. MyTouch 3G comes with a 1,340mAh battery; the Hero comes with a 1,500mAh unit.  Given that both handsets do largely the same things, it's fair to say their energy use will foster similar numbers, making the Hero a hands-down better-lasting device.

Better Pricing For US Customers. That's right, the Hero offers a better price point than the MyTouch 3G.  Of course, one can argue that the latter is smaller and lighter (not by much, but true), apart from being better-looking (arguable, although the Hero seems a bit more formal in bearing, while MyTouch 3G is just sleek).  Still, with all of the other factors going for it, Sprint is selling the Hero for $179.99 on a two-year contract, a good $20 less than the MyTouch 3G.  Even Sprint's plans are priced lower ($69.99 for 450 minutes with unlimited data) than what T-Mobile is bundling  ($74.99 for 300 minutes with unlimited data).

If you want the kicker, some sites are reporting that the MyTouch 3G won't be receiving full firmware upgrades for Donut and beyond, because of the lack of memory.  The Hero won't be having this problem.

Photo Credit: Engadget

Let's get the requisite comparison out of the way. The HTC Hero is no iPhone-killer, but it's definitely worthy of being considered as one. As of this point, though, Android still has some rough edges that needs polishing before a handset like this can topple the almighty smartphone leader.

As the first phone to sport HTC's Sense UI overlay for Android, it brings a fantastic amount of customization that iPhone users can only dream about (seven screens that you can basically fashion however you like in numerous iterations that you can all save). It does pay, however, in occasional sluggishness as a result of the update (largely because HTC just went ahead and used the same 528MHz processor from the Magic / MyTouch 3G). This sluggish behavior is even more notable because many of the widgets don't even try to update in the background.

Physically, the phone is a stunner, with the quarter-moon chin really not getting in the way of its aesthetic appeal. It feels incredibly good in the hand and looks sturdy from all angles. The touchscreen interface is so well-implemented that we ended up barely using the trackball, something we couldn't say for HTC's previous Android efforts.

Regular phone talents are very good, with excellent voice calls and a full set of advanced messaging options. Of particular note is the phone's address book, which automatically pulls details from your Facebook, Flickr and Gmail accounts, filling up the fields without requiring you to do any typing on your end. Not that entering text is any trouble at all, because this phone arguably offers the best typing experience among all Android models released so far.

This phone, however, is about features, of which it has plenty. It offers one of the best browser experiences around, with decent Flash support (not all videos handled very well, sad to say) and multi-touch zooming over fast 3G and Wi-Fi connections. I'm pretty sure it will get even better when we load Opera into the handset, so the phone's prospects as far as staying connected to the web are pretty great.

Other prominent features of the Hero include 5-megapixel optics (average photos) with video support, terrific music playback, GPS and a few other smartphone standards. We're quite disappointed, though, that the handset still doesn't come with its own syncing utility, leaving the transfer of files a backup-less drag and drop effort.

Given a choice between this and the relatively recent HTC Magic, the HTC Hero wins hands-down. While the Magic seems the more affable-looking fellow, the Hero bests it in almost every category, from UI to battery performance. There are many Android phones coming out this year and if they're hoping to excel, this handset, duly propped up by the excellent Sense UI, is easily the benchmark from which they'll be judged.

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HTC just announced the debut of a customized user-interface designed to run over the sturdy Android OS. Called the HTC Sense, the new overlay will find its way on the upcoming Hero handset and all future Android phones from the manufacturer.

Based on the press release, the Sense sounds like a highly-customizable interface, with plenty of elbow room for personalizing various displays, well beyond what the typical widget-based home screens currently offer. A feature called "Scenes" is supposed to let you create numerous content profiles, allowing you to use your handset differently every time you need to. The UI also appears to borrow from the social networking aspects of webOS, offering a single view for all your contacts' pertinent sources.  They also boast of a feature called "Perspectives," which supposedly creates a new method for managing connections between email, contacts, and social media automatically.

Crunch Gear gave their early review of the new overlay, based on the demos at HTC's event in London and had this to say: "Sense does everything WebOS can do but it uses Android, a platform that is already popular with the geekerati and has a great install base." Should Palm start worrying? Probably so.

As we've said, the UI will make its debut with the HTC Hero, a 3.2-inch touchscreen handset that's slated for a European release beginning in July and the US before the end of the year. Phone specs include a 528MHz processor, a 5.0 megapixel camera module, aGPS, digital compass, gravity-sensor, a 3.5mm audio port and microSD expansion.   T-Mobile is probably fuming right now.  Who will want to buy a MyTouch 3G now, with this thing coming stateside in a few months?

Photo Credit: Crunch Gear