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.

HTC introduced three new touchscreen phones at MWC today, two of them running Android and one running Windows Mobile.  The devices are called HTC Desire, HTC Legend and HTC HD Mini.

HTC HD Mini

Like the name implies, the Mini is smaller than your usual touchscreen slab, measuring 103.8 x 57.7 x 11.7 mm and weighing 110 grams.  It's not a dainty, little handset, though, sporting a decidedly manly design, including four large screws on the back panel.

Core hardware is a 600Mhz processor, 384MB of RAM and 512MB of ROM.  Features include a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen (HVGA resolution), a 5.0 megapixel camera module, aGPS, stereo Bluetooth, microSDHC expansion, Wi-Fi and HSDPA connectivity.  Like its bigger brother, the HD2, it can also be used as a Wi-Fi hotspot.  It runs Sense UI over Windows Mobile 6.5.3.

The HTC HD Mini is expected to hit stores in April.  No pricing, though.

HTC Legend

A remake of the HTC Hero, the Legend differs only with a unibody aluminum construction and a few minor hardware upgrades.  Most of the handset, from the internals down to the trademark chin, are the same.  Details include a 3.2-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen (HVGA), a 5.0 megapixel camera module, aGPS, microSD expansion, a 600 MHz processor, 384 MB of RAM and 512 MB of ROM.  It supports both 3G and Wi-Fi.

The big news here is the revamped Sense UI, which now brings multitouch and a new homescreen feature called Leap.  A Motoblur-like service called FriendStream is also integrated for tighter social network capabilities.  Like the HD Mini, the HTC Legend is slated for an April release.

HTC Desire

Essentially a Nexus One without the Google branding, the HTC Desire trades in the trackball for an optical pad and throws in Sense UI over Android.  Like the Nexus One, it's running on a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, 576MB of RAM and 512MB of ROM.  Notable details include a 3.7" AMOLED capacitive touchscreen (WVGA resolution), a 5.0 megapixel camera module (with HD video recording), aGPS, HSDPA, Wi-Fi and Adobe Flash 10.1 support.

It's coming in March, with no pricing details disclosed.

[via GSM Arena]