Mysterious HTC Hero revision pics surface, angled chin now M.I.A.
By Ross Miller 
posted September 1st 2009 12:00AM
posted September 1st 2009 12:00AM
[Via Cloned in China]
posted September 1st 2009 12:00AM
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Personally, I highly prefer the original Hero from HTC. I looked through all the photos at the Chinese site, and it does look a bit gaudy, and the original had such a clean, svelte look to it, almost Scandinavian in design language.
i agree but when i look at the hero i cant but help think it would feel crippled to me since my G1 has a keyboard cause its the same body but different internal parts to me its like becoming the 6 million dollar man but where gonna saw off your legs though what tha fuk you know??
Yea, I hear you. I have never owned a phone w/out a physical keyboard before, and am thinking the Hero might be the first for me. I'm willing to give it a try, if I hate it I can always just get something else.
I prefer the original Magic personally, but this does look pretty nice too. This is exactly why I'm so stoked on the future of Android, there will be as many different trims, sizes, layouts and specs as the market demands, unlike single vendor products like the iPhone where they aim to make the "one true device" that hits the middle of the bell shaped curve of the market. I find them very boring, very design by committee. If you design that way, you end up with a slightly rounded glass rectangle that couldn't possible offend anyone. **yawn**
arg, I misread that totally... this is a rev of the *hero* ??? crazy... the hero looks MUCH better.
Am i the only person who thinks this looks ugly =\
ugly not really abit dull though yes even though im sure the gold trim is optional lol yeah right maybe on the white version it wont have but who wants white it would get so dirty
Shame on them :P
That phone is as now where near as sexy as the original Teflon in white.
How could they?
Looks like Sprint. And unfortunately (the gold) smells like Sprint too. Awful color choice. What about a CHROME version ;)
It looks like some Chinese imitation, but still it is good.
I didn't mind the chin but I must say that is a good looking phone.
Why gold and why not like silver or black
Does this screw those who have bought the HTC Hero1?
Depends, if there's a bump in the specs, then yes. I much prefer the design for the original, honestly, this looks more like the magic than the hero
I didn't mind the original at all. Lemme guess....this doesn't have a 3.5mm jack now. j/k lol
Lacks the uniqueness of the original HERO!
Wow really? People think that looks good? I never though I'd miss the chin, that thing is as ugly as it gets.
This POS style is clueless. They should've used the same shape and color as the Hero but without the chin.
This looks like something Motorola would still churn out.
Love the chin on my hero, adds character :D
Looks like they combined the Hero and the Click. Maybe this will be sold under a different name. I personally don't mind the design of the thing. While it's not as distinct and 'futuristic' as the Hero, it certainly doesn't look bad. It does look a bit thicker though...
I do not like this. I hope this is fake. The Hero looks like something out of 2001: a Space Odyssey. This just looks boring.
Did anyone else think to look at page 2, page 3, etc... The pictures change from page to page with the pic on page 1 matching the pic on page 3, yet page 2 has a totally different pic, and page 4 showing 2 pictures, one of the one on page 1, and the other white one with the chin. Yet page 1 shows the pic on page 1 labeled as "production". So if it really is a "production" pic, why wouldn't all of the pics have the same exact model? I call bullsh*t on this site.
They were comparing this model to the original Hero.
Nothing about this phone reminds me of a hero. Maybe in different colors I would like this better, I'd rather pick up the original hero. This looks way more like a 2nd version of the magic.
I was actually considering switching from TMobile to Sprint for the Hero, but if this is it, no thank you. I agree with other posters that the initial design of the Hero was unique. This is just trying to be way too safe.
Yay, they dropped the dumb angle. That looks nice for a non iPhone.
The original design was much better looking than this thing. While the new design isn't terrible, it just doesn't POP like the original with the chin. And besides, the chin was a functional part of the design....it protected the trackball and the screen (a bit). Now, both are just out there waiting to be smashed....
Here's to hoping this isn't the phone coming to Sprint! I've been waiting months for this thing!
im totally with you. the oringinal hero is much nicer looking that this i would actually say this is afairly ugly. but hey everyones own opinion.
atleast theres options which you don't get with other phones
NO!!!!!! As someone who will be buying this phone, I hope they don't change the exterior. I love the original version.
now that, mis amigos, is a sexy phone
If this is accurate, any interest I had in this phone just went right into the crapper. I'm slightly encouraged by the fact that the Chinese site's photos clearly showed a variety of phones and not the same model, but there's enough facts involved to make me think this is the one that's headed to the U.S. If that's the case, HTC just lost a potential customer. They took everything that was aesthetically cool and unique about this phone and focus-grouped it into oblivion.
As for Sprint, this would be the final straw for me. I've been a customer for nearly a decade, and while my experience has been frustrating from time to time, my biggest complaint is its lack of iconic phones. The selection has been pathetic for a long time now, but when the chin-laden Hero came out, I was actually excited about one of Sprint's phones for the first time ... well, ever. If this is what we get, toodle-oo, Dan Hesse and co.
i agree with you on that one.
SPRINT READ THIS:
i was going to switch to the everything family plan with another from tmo b/c of you carrying the original HERO. Now if you throw this in our face...
hasta la vista.
Um...This cannot be the Hero that comes to the US. Look closely. This is clearly a mock up based on the Magic.
Compare:
http://androidcommunity.com/vodafone-htc-magic-review-20090515/
Almost identical overall shape. True, there are differences like that cheesy gold trim, wider speaker bar on the top, some metal mesh additions, and pronounced USB jack. Other than that it looks like they just modded that HTC Magic casing. Doesn't help that the details are sloppy. Screams mock up...
Nice try, China
I hope you are right. This looks like HTC Hero "Jerry Springer" Edition.
And I die...
http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/03/htc-hero-heading-to-sprint-october-11-for-179-99-no-chin/
I might be holding on to false hope here (as I just KNOW in the pit of my stomach that my dreams of the REAL Hero in white Teflon on Sprint were too good to be true), but has anyone else noticed that there is not a single shred of an HTC logo on this thing? I can't remember too clearly on what I've seen of pre-production units, but I honestly can't ever remember seeing an HTC phone that didn't have "HTC" emblazoned right across the face somewhere rather prominent...
...Let there still be hope that this cheap, Chinese-knockoff looking monster is EXACTLY that, a cheap, Chinese knockoff!!!
Really disappointed that Sprint dropped the design ball for the Touch Pro2. But, if this is what their Hero will look like, I will have one more reason to buy the Hero. The matte bezel and orange seem to be a common link of authenticity for new HTCs on Sprint.
Hmmm… where to start…? This is a phone with enough gold trims that would make Flavor Flav proud. So ghetto. I prefer the original design. But hey, to each their own
I don't believe that is going to be the Hero. Why are those pictures showing two different kinds of phones?
HTC's website now has the phone up.. I am so dissapointed by the change in appearance that I will now probably just keep my Instinct till my contract runs out, and go ahead and purchase the Iphone...
Actually I think the chin looks great, very futuristic and also very usable. I hope they keep the design for the next Hero.