HTC Legend coming to AT&T, according to FCC
By Chris Ziegler 
posted May 4th 2010 11:25AM
posted May 4th 2010 11:25AM
posted May 4th 2010 11:25AM
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Meh. No snapdragon? No thanks.
@Peter F
AT&T... No thanks.
I have seen what they did to the Backflip
@Peter F You do realize that Snapdragon is not the end all be all, right? The OMAP 3430 in the Droid as well as the 3630 in the Moto Shadow are incredibly powerful and competent SoC's. Also the Hummingbird which is found in the Galaxy S is also an incredibly powerful SoC design. It is amazing what people don't know when they speak.
@Peter F
As I see it right now the only android phone that ATT will not neuter is the Nexus one.
I don't know, it seems pretty capable with a MSM7227.
@schmidt1985 They can't neuter it because they can't touch it! AT&T Band N1 FTW! (yeah, I own one)
@Darkseider While the phone is certainly not underpowered, there is something to what he is saying. While Android is certainly a mature platform at this point, it can still be resource intensive and quickly overtake the processing capacity of lower end ARM chips. I think that Snapdragon is the way that Google is trying to solve this problem, by basically throwing as much power in the phone as possible, while not dealing with the real issue of optimizing the platform. Fortunately for Android, HTC seems to be doing this for them (cough Incredible cough).
@Darkseider ummm... he just said he doesnt prefer it. he didnt say that every other processor sucks
@Peter F You do realize that the MSM7227 has exactly the same OGL ES 2.0 GPU (AMDZ430 ) as the Snapdragon?. It's even faster than the Snapdragon in some cases. See the benchmarks here:
http://www.mobiletechworld.com/2010/04/23/htc-hd-mini-review-is-it-worth-it/
@thesafecigarette
Knowing their track record with Android phones (to prop up the iPhone?), this unit will truly be a "legend", as worse phone ever.
@Peter F
im actually excited for this! yea i know no snapdragon :( i wanted the desire, but you cant really complain at least att is getting something.
@mikeaguilar95m I, personally, have to disagree. The Legend looks like garbage compared to the current Android phones coming out. AT&T already has 2 garbage Android phones. What happened the the Desire? We're stuck getting a phone that's already out-dated in it's specs, or paying $500 for a Nexus One. Now that's just my opinion. There may be people who love the Legend and can't wait for it, but I'm a cutting edge cell phone user and I'll use every last bit of CPU power and RAM that I'm given.
I'll tell you what though. My contract with AT&T is up soon. I was planning on getting an Android phone and staying with them, but if they haven't released a phone on par with the N1, Incredible, etc, I will go to another carrier. AT&T can have fun with their iPhone that's already being overtaken by Android (something I didn't expect to happen until next year).
@JudgeDredd
MSM7227 is just the next evolution of the MSM7200 garbage line of processors. Sure its GPU may be alright, but what about the CPU itself? Just slightly faster clocked garbage? No thanks.
The MSM7200 was the worst thing to happen to smartphones. It completely destroyed WM and gave Android a bad start. Slow piece of junk.
@Peter F there's absolutely nothing wrong with the processor itself, or wasn't in its time. the problem is that it's had an extraordinary long lifespan compared to most mobile chipsets, and while it was fairly standard when it came out now it seems like a slow POS. and you're kidding yourself if you think this processor "killed" winmo. my old MSM7200-based winmo phone was fast enough, it was the UI and constant onslaught of bugs (hooray for win95-style program crashing let and right) which doomed the platform
@Peter F
This phone isn't all about performance. It's about the design most importantly! The unibody aluminum shell is awesome. It actually seems to be a better compainion to the MacBook Pro than an iPhone in terms of appearance. Hopefully they won't ugly it up like what Sprint did to the Hero.
Snapdragon isn't everything.
@merliasegovian
Stop posting links to your spyware infested website. Thanks.
Enough of these phones that get one thing right (design, in this case, maybe). Let's have an all around great Android phone, without a low quality camera.
@person5e9 Do you mean HTC EVOlution?
@person5e9
that doesn't exist and nor will it ever.
@R Skicking I don't agree, in fact its nearly inevitable. For me a device with a good camera and same general quality of other devices would be "it" (ok, with a keyboard would be perfect). Then the bar will be raised, and we'll start asking for stuff that seems impossible now, like good battery life. :) The Xperia X10 could have been the "it" device, but they failed in lack of multitouch and lack of ability to upgrade. Anyway review sites need to stop saying "5 megapixel camera" and say "washed out images in sunlight but good low light capture ability" and stuff like that.
@person5e9 X10... lack of ability to upgrade? Where did you here that??? If anything, its shipping with the same 1.6 that just about every other skinned phone is shipping with, and SE has already released a statement that the phone will be upgraded.
@Luxury Guy 1.6 is out of date for any definition of an ideal current Android device, and there's no guarantee when and what version forthcoming updates will be. The ideal Android device will be able to track the latest version of Android, which is what Froyo is supposed to help with. But I'd be happy with a device that runs 2.1.
damnit att, when will you get it right?
I'm so SICK of waiting for a freaking Snapdragon Android. God i wish i had another viable choice of a cell provider to go to.
@elijahblake Nexus One?
@dingus
if i had $529 lying around i would. I just don't see putting that on my credit card.. Especially if I'm going to be with att for another 2 years ANYWAY! If they would give me a cheaper rate, then i def. would. But buying an unlocked phone at full price and paying the same rate, NO THANKS.
I feel like they owe us a good phone with a subsidy. Especially considering i've given them thousands of dollars over the last 6-7 years
@elijahblake
So get the most subsidized phone you can, that you can get the most for, sell it, and then put that towards the Nexus One. Yes, it's crappy that the phone companies put us in this position, but at least it partially resolves your problem.
@elijahblake I picked up the N1 for 529. I sold my 2 year old USED Iphone 3G for 400 on ebay. If you are eligible for an upgrade, you can always buy a phone on contract and sell it on ebay. That's how you get your N1 at "contract price"
@elijahblake So buy an iPhone 3G and flip it to recoup your subsidy.
@victor BTW, with this. I'm still eligible for an "upgrade" right now. Means in a few months (with the iphone 4), I can potentially be buying a phone for 200 and selling it for 500-600 dollars, making money off of this whole thing.
@victor
well, i'm really not sure i want the nexus one to be honest. I mean i think the Desire may be better (IMO, i think) and the Incredible def has it beat. So i hate to go through all that trouble, then smack att releases something I REALLY want. I mean hell i've been waiting for about 3 years to get a smartphone, whats a few more months?
@elijahblake I'm on the verge of just getting the Nexus One, sick and tired of waiting for AT&T... I'm giving 'em a few more weeks (see if they announce anything at Google's I/O event or w/e) then I'm just getting the Nexus One and either buying an iPhone to re-sell or waiting 'till the new one drops to do the same thing and hopefully milk a lil' bit more out of it.
I don't mind paying the $520, I'd just hate to pay up then see something like the Shadow or the Galaxy S come out a month later... But AT&T's playing it's cards pretty close to the vest so I've got no choice. Those devices might not even be rooted for months after they come out anyway, so that's one hassle i'd avoid by going w/the N1, honestly the one thing that would redeem AT&T in my eyes is if they released the Desire by June (which is already rooted).
That's the one phone that AT&T could plausibly release that would be worth this horrible wait, for me...
@Impulses
be careful about getting the iphone 4g you know it's prob going to have the new micro Sim so it's going to be a pain in the a$$ to have to go and get att to give you another one. since the new one will be activated when they ship you the iphone, right????
@elijahblake There are a few spec things here and there that the incredible "have it beat", but it's really a preference of carrier at that point (like I have international data plan on my phone for when I travel to Asia or Europe)
If AT&T launches the desire, it will be spec for spec the same as the N1 MINUS voice speech to text and noise cancellation. It'll also come with some of the most restrictive branding implementation on AT&T in a while. It will be locked on yahoo search; you can't sideload apps outside the marketplace, and rooting the phone will be very hard. Not a win by any means in my book.
@elijahblake I guess that's true, but there's already microSIM to SIM converters out there (soon to be sold by AT&T no less), and if nothing else I can just tell them I lost the new iPhone or something and that I wanna keep using my old phone (so they'd have to re-activate my old SIM, lol). Nothing insurmountable imo.
@victor The Desire has a few advantages over the N1 imo... A lot of people have commented it's speaker is louder (extra hole for sound output on top), that they prefer the physical buttons over the N1's touch sensitive ones, and the touchpad is less of a failure point than the N1's trackball. I'd take the Desire over the N1 even w/some AT&T crapware, and we don't know that they'll jack it like that yet.
None of what they did on the Backflip was irreversible (switching the search provider is simple and you can side-load apps if you download the Android SDK), that phone just sucked either way so people focused on that.They could make it harder to root than existing Desire variants in Europe tho, but w/e. I'd live w/that for slightly better hardware and a cheaper price.
@elijahblake
Buying subsidized is roughly equivalent to buying on credit anyway. At least on a credit card you have the option of paying it off early.
@elijahblake
it's not a pain to walk into any store and get a new sim for free. People do it all day long.
@Waltah
oh, i didn't know that..
@StalkyTheFish
not in my opinion. See my whole point is I'm going to be with ATT for 2 years anyway. So getting a subsidized phone saves me money vs buying an unlocked one with no subsidy.
Now if att offered cheaper rates for non subsidized phones when you're not in a contract like Tmobile does then yes it would be beneficial..
@Impulses
That EXACTLY how I feel.
This phone is sure getting on Iphone's nerves..
damnit what happened to the spring hero 2?
@meteros *sprint
@meteros
You mean the EVO?
@Mentat Nah, there were rumors of Sprint getting the Legend as the Hero 2 as a slightly cheaper and less cutting edge companion to the Evo. I had hoped to see the Legend on Sprint this summer so I could get that for my gf when I get my Evo.
The Legend is a mighty cool looking device. I may find myself with one before all is said and done.
@BigJayDogg3
looks wise it is top notch. But feature wise and (reviews like engadgets) go to show you that the snapdragon is an important component in a phone running Android 2.1
@elijahblake
not to mention with everyone talking about HTC's reception bug, I can't see the signal going through a block of aluminum all that great, but what do i know
@elijahblake
I find it ridiculous a cell phone should have to have a 1ghz processor as a baseline.
Cool things those opinions huh?
And the first gen iPhone had an aluminium back. I haven't had problems with reception.
@elijahblake not really.... my phone runs just fine stock 2.1 should run fine on any phone and from the review of the legend seemed fine to me, no?
@BigJayDogg3
Exactly. I don't see everyone complaining about the Droid and it's 550mhz. They still managed to sell a few of those and everyone I know with one loves it.