HTC Legend debuts on Virgin Mobile in Canada, glances furtively southwards
By Vlad Savov 
posted June 11th 2010 6:17PM
posted June 11th 2010 6:17PM
posted June 11th 2010 6:17PM
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Yay. Finally some hope for my home country CANADA!!
@gschier
Hope? This is essentially a re-cased Hero. It's DOA.
Ouch, too soon with the Stanley Cup shot. And it's been 17 years since the Canadians won it.
Now all we need is the Nexus one and ANY decent handset on the Rogers. The best choice we have is the "Quench." ... "yay"
@jellotime91
Actually, it's quite a LOT better than the Hero, having used both I can warmly recommend the Legend.
@gschier
It may be lacking in specs department but its hell of beautiful phone.
@walljordan meh, are you are forgetting that Canada won both the Gold medals for men and womens hockey at the Olympics? 'tis a bit more prestigious than the Stanley Cup... I've been waiting for a good Android phone but on Virgin Mobile?? I've been holding out for a long time but I think I'm going to have to get an iPhone instead, Android keep releasing updates too often and it takes way to long before the updates are pushed to the phones. The HTC Evo will probably debut in Canada around June next year, man I hate the CRTC :P
@jpilon How true that is. I would trade all the Cups back to the mid 80s for those gold medals. The Android updates are fine, I would rather have it this way than the other options. Wait 9-12 months between updates because the OS is trying to get the manufactures in line with the update. At least this way, the phone, well at least some of them, stay up to date.
@gschier
Don't expect OS updates anytime soon, IF EVER.
@enaybee Yup, this thing feels great in hand. Very impressed when I used it.
@walljordan Rogers needs good phones?
Pssht, Look at fido xD
but still, i see this as a good thing is androids are getting to the mini carriers cause it means android is getting more mainstreamed
@gschier Lucky Canada. Here in the US, the best smart phone Virgin has is the Blackberry Curve, which is an entry level BB at that!
Pity as it would be nice to pair up an Android (any) phone with their unlimited email, txt, data and 300 minutes for $25!
@vman81 How different is it compared to the Desire? I plan to save some bucks if performance isn't that huge of a difference. Also do you know if it's going to get Froyo?
@jellotime91
You sir are obviously confused and must think that all phones with the same form factor are the same.
How legendary is it?
GSM HTC EVO.....where the heck re u?
The streak is borderline "large" for my taste/pocket
Is the legend GSM or CDMA?
@Plazmic Flame
in europe there is no cdma (i doubt most people even know what it is)
the legend is primarily sold in europe so what's your guess?
@Xstream
GSM for the win Bob, final answer.
@Plazmic Flame
Virgin Mobile in Canada is a cdma / hspa+ network. so its not GSM if its on Virgin
@speakez
I used the term GSM to refer to it using SIM cards. Virgin mobile is the sister company of Bell and uses the same CDMA and HSPA network at them.
To keep things simple and not to get technical, it's either GSM (which uses a SIM card) or CDMA... easy.
@Plazmic Flame
GSM Implies 2G which its not. Plus saying its GSM would make people think it wont work on Bell or Telus, which in theory it would. I dunno, I just think its better to say what it actually is to avoid confusion.
@Plazmic Flame
Saskatchewan & Manitoba do not have HSPA so I'm confident that this is a HSPA/GSM phone. Alberta is got what seems like the second best network coverage outside of southern Ontario and in between is the vast prairie of CDMA only.
@speakez Well how about this, The device uses Sim Cards,
easy enough ? :)
3yrs plan, ouch. And I thought 2yrs is bad.
@cdf74dc9 Thought 3 was normal here...
After signing up for a three year contract for my blackberry bold 9000 I had laying around... These new phones coming out make me sad :(
@cdf74dc9 There is little choice in Canada as far as mobile contracts and price goes, my friend. Across the board if you go with anything less than a three year plan there is very little subsidization for phones. I have been forever jealous of the choice our American neighbours to the south have when it comes to mobile coverage and phones.
@cdf74dc9
In Denmark the legal cap is 6 months.. Our handsets are pretty pricey, but 6 months is just right...
@cdf74dc9 atleast the price for this phone isn't too bad, and lol they were going for like $500c+ on ebay xD
@benjgvps There is reason why mobile phone costs in Canada are so high. It is a fairly simple equation really. We have one tenth of the population (read: customer base) of the US spread across a greater area. That means the infrastructure cost is equal if not greater but there is a whopping 10% of the revenue to support it. I think it makes perfect sense why it's so expensive up here. Doesn't mean I like it :(
@cdf74dc9 I don't think I've ever used a phone for three years before.
@KipDrordy "Equal if not greater" is an exaggeration. Canada is a larger country, but more than half of the landmass has zero coverage (e.g. northern Ontario/Quebec, NWT, Nunavut, etc); Compare that with, say, Verizon's coverage map in the US... they cover more land that any Canadian company. And having 10x more users brings about other infrastructure costs. It's quite possible (even probable) they spend more on infrastructure *per user*, but overall, I doubt it's even close.
@Ducman69 You can apparently get a new subsidized phone sooner than every three years -- my understanding is from my family up there is that they get a new phone every 2, but they have to re-commit for 3. More or less like Sprint allows Premier users a new phone every year, though it requires signing up for 2 years from that point.
Yes !
Definitely a nice phone, but on Vrigin Mobile? Evo/HD3 on Telus, *now*.
At this rate, they'll be up to the HTC Super Awesome by the end if the year
3 year agreement? Holy crap! I thought my 2 year agreement was bad. I think once my contract ends, I'm just going to try and always stay off contract.
@TacosRule
Most carriers in Canada use 3yr contracts, Otherwise you pay almost full price on the phone for a 2yr, say $100 off the full price of the phone. A 1 year contract is worse. We have 5 major carriers nationally and still there is no competition. I swear they have an agreement on costs.
32A Magic 1st in Canada (I got it)
GSM Hero in Canada, the good looking one (Got it)
Legend to Canada as well (should i get it?)
Looks like canada is liking Android, but why not some BIG devices, some Droid Incredible? or some EVO? :( why man!!! why!!!!!!!!!!!? lol
@Rosco911
The Canadian telco companies are too complacent. They're happy with what they're getting. And the new competition isn't going to help with the 3 year contracts.
@Rosco911
Haha who cares if we get it first... 3 year contracts are epic fail. I really hope Wind and other companies take over.
@Peytral
Sorry... I pay cash for my phones, I dont sign contracts... So IDO care =)
Meh. The display on that thing is unproportionally small. 3.2 inches?
@Aboozer -- Yea and it has low resolution. I won't settle for anything less than 800x480
Unfortunately the 3 year contracts are very common in Canada.
@Aboozer
That's just crazy - most laptops would be completely obsolete in that time, let alone a basic smart phone. I can't believe Canadians have to tolerate that. My sympathies :(
Canada is missing out on all the killer Android phones.. im just dying for the incredible or evo..
@speakez -- I'm gonna buy an unlocked Samsung Galaxy S when it comes out on T-Mobile in the states. Hopefully I will be able to use it on the WIND network.
@gschier
see I was gonna do something like that too but im moving to London Ontario now and Wind isnt out there yet :(
@gschier I just got Wind, go for it ;]
@speakez
Hey that's where I live and Ive been wanting a good android phone for a while now. I'm probably going to get the Evo and try to get someone o flash it to virgin or bell, hopefully. Welcome to the other London.
I have a Nexus One on Rogers so whatevs.
With respect to his Lordship:
Anyone remember the Winter Olympics? So sorry.
Who scored the winning goal for Chicago? Better yet where are their best players from? Again so sorry.
We kick ass in football, soccer, baseball and of course basketball....well maybe not. Can you please let us have hockey for a few more years for the love of Gretzky?
Until we qualify for the Worldcup...Go USA!
$349.99 Is not a shabby price for someone who doesn't want to shell out Nexus One type money.
It will work for AT&T/Rogers/Bell/Telus 3G once unlocked.