Despite having my HTC Hero for just shy of nine months, I’ve gone and bought a Nexus One.
The primary driver behind jettisoning what is a perfectly usable phone was HTC’s apparent lethargy to release any updates in a timely manner. Secondary to this was the fact that I’ve had what is best described as a rather busy week at work, and I needed to treat myself.
Less than 72 hours after clicking ‘Order’ and telling my credit card company that, yes, this is a valid transaction and, no, there isn’t anything else they can help me with, I had a delivery from DHL sitting on my desk at work. Without ceremony (and certainly without taking a video of The Unboxing complete with a trying-to-be-unexcited voiceover), I transferred my SIM from my Hero and set to work charging the battery.
It’s two and a bit days on now, and thanks to the Interblogs, I have Android 2.2, known as Froyo to those who prefer cuddly names to cold numbers on the phone.
Am I impressed? Yes, but not to the level at which I’d stand outside and preach about it. Is the raw Android interface better than SenseUI? No, but I’d rather not wait six months and lag behind everyone else when it comes to Android. SenseUI doesn’t make Android usable (because it is already), it just adds some polish and sparkle that I’d rather jettison to keep up with the Joneses.
It’s a mini-revolution – where Nokia’s S60 is somewhere in the dark ages compared to Apple’s iPhone. I don’t like six months of speculation and re-blogging of articles, hearsay which may or may not have come from HTC, ‘hacked’ ROMs that don’t fully work, just to be part of something I perceive as important.
Anyone want an HTC Hero? One careful owner, update in the pipeline…?