HTC Legend GSM/UMTS Smartphone Review
Positioning
After the success of HTC Hero the company had two ways to go. First – by all possible means to prolong Hero’s life by releasing it in new colors, special accessories exclusively for the model, constant software updates or new versions of the OS. Unfortunately, today we can say for sure that HTC has forgone this way as a delay, or, to be precise, a double delay of Android 2.1 release for the Hero demonstrates so clearly. The company opted for the second way – to create a smartphone similar to Hero with a number of improvements and changes made. I.e. HTC decided to eliminate mistakes made in Hero in the shortest time and present a new device that is meant to pick up Hero’s successful sales and at the same time to drive it out of the market.
There is nothing strange about this choice. The company decided that if the support of the already released product and the creation of a new, improved one require comparable resources, it would be reasonable to choose the second way. In this case Hero’s life (reincarnated in the Legend) will be prolonged not for just 4-6 months, which could have been achieved if the company chose the first way, but for a year or even longer. The outlook is really cheerful both for HTC as a manufacturer (the Legend is built on the similar platform, hardware and possesses many other similar parts, so the process of the device development was not too difficult) and for the resellers of its devices as the Legend exploits Hero’s success and is positioned as its sequel.
The Legend is a direct development of the Hero, its sequel and twin in many aspects - the device belongs to the medium price segment, to the top of this segment to be exact, as it is offered for the money close to what is asked for the flagships. What new can be found in the Legend compared to the Hero and how smart is the replacement of a “hero” for a “legend”? We’ll talk about this as well as about all the Legend’s specifics below.
Conclusion
The reception quality had no problems. The use of aluminum casing has not affected it, which could have been expected. Speech quality during the call is not bad, nothing more to say. The speaker has some extra volume left, under normal conditions (home, office) the maximum level is superfluous. Loudspeaker has medium volume, should you need a very loud ringtone you can select a tune from a standard set, most of them sound very loudly. Vibrating alert is medium or a bit stronger, when the device is in the jean pocket you feel it vibrating even while walking.
When I just met HTC Legend before the mobile congress in Barcelona, the device caused very warm feelings and seemed like something unusual against the background of other modern smartphones, most of which are look alikes. Now the way I look at the Legend changed not because of its similarity with HTC Hero. The reason is another Taiwanese manufacturer’s device – HTC Desire. If there was no such smartphone and in its place in Europe we had HTC EVO 4G, the HD2 analog running Android, the real flagship, the impressions from the Legend could have been totally different. But the Desire exists and it is available, and costs only 80 Euro more than the Legend. Now it is clear that it is with the Desire the company hit the jackpot - the device became popular immediately after the sales began.
Against the Desire background the Legend doesn’t look that much of a legend, it is just HTC Hero in aluminum case with two reasons that can get you to buy one. The first is if you are already using HTC Hero from its very first days and you became so close, all you need from a new device is the same Hero, just a bit updated. And the second one is that you are really eager to have a smartphone in the aluminum casing. Should one of the two reasons suit you, then HTC Legend is what you have been looking for; if not, but you are searching for an Android-based device, you’d better look towards the Desire. Taking into account all my love towards HTC I could not understand the logic of these two existing at the same time at the same place.
Technical specifications:
After the success of HTC Hero the company had two ways to go. First – by all possible means to prolong Hero’s life by releasing it in new colors, special accessories exclusively for the model, constant software updates or new versions of the OS. Unfortunately, today we can say for sure that HTC has forgone this way as a delay, or, to be precise, a double delay of Android 2.1 release for the Hero demonstrates so clearly. The company opted for the second way – to create a smartphone similar to Hero with a number of improvements and changes made. I.e. HTC decided to eliminate mistakes made in Hero in the shortest time and present a new device that is meant to pick up Hero’s successful sales and at the same time to drive it out of the market.
There is nothing strange about this choice. The company decided that if the support of the already released product and the creation of a new, improved one require comparable resources, it would be reasonable to choose the second way. In this case Hero’s life (reincarnated in the Legend) will be prolonged not for just 4-6 months, which could have been achieved if the company chose the first way, but for a year or even longer. The outlook is really cheerful both for HTC as a manufacturer (the Legend is built on the similar platform, hardware and possesses many other similar parts, so the process of the device development was not too difficult) and for the resellers of its devices as the Legend exploits Hero’s success and is positioned as its sequel.
The Legend is a direct development of the Hero, its sequel and twin in many aspects - the device belongs to the medium price segment, to the top of this segment to be exact, as it is offered for the money close to what is asked for the flagships. What new can be found in the Legend compared to the Hero and how smart is the replacement of a “hero” for a “legend”? We’ll talk about this as well as about all the Legend’s specifics below.
Conclusion
The reception quality had no problems. The use of aluminum casing has not affected it, which could have been expected. Speech quality during the call is not bad, nothing more to say. The speaker has some extra volume left, under normal conditions (home, office) the maximum level is superfluous. Loudspeaker has medium volume, should you need a very loud ringtone you can select a tune from a standard set, most of them sound very loudly. Vibrating alert is medium or a bit stronger, when the device is in the jean pocket you feel it vibrating even while walking.
When I just met HTC Legend before the mobile congress in Barcelona, the device caused very warm feelings and seemed like something unusual against the background of other modern smartphones, most of which are look alikes. Now the way I look at the Legend changed not because of its similarity with HTC Hero. The reason is another Taiwanese manufacturer’s device – HTC Desire. If there was no such smartphone and in its place in Europe we had HTC EVO 4G, the HD2 analog running Android, the real flagship, the impressions from the Legend could have been totally different. But the Desire exists and it is available, and costs only 80 Euro more than the Legend. Now it is clear that it is with the Desire the company hit the jackpot - the device became popular immediately after the sales began.
Against the Desire background the Legend doesn’t look that much of a legend, it is just HTC Hero in aluminum case with two reasons that can get you to buy one. The first is if you are already using HTC Hero from its very first days and you became so close, all you need from a new device is the same Hero, just a bit updated. And the second one is that you are really eager to have a smartphone in the aluminum casing. Should one of the two reasons suit you, then HTC Legend is what you have been looking for; if not, but you are searching for an Android-based device, you’d better look towards the Desire. Taking into account all my love towards HTC I could not understand the logic of these two existing at the same time at the same place.
Technical specifications:
- Class: smartphone based on Android OS
- From factor: candy bar
- Rivals: HTC Desire, Sony Ericsson X10
- Body materials: aluminum, matte plastic (soft touch)
- OS: Android 2.1, HTC Sense UI
- Networks: GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS/HSDPA 900/2100
- Platform Qualcomm MSM7227, 600 MHz CPU
- RAM: 384 MB
- Data storage memory: 512 MB + microSD slot
- Interfaces: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR (A2DP), microUSB (USB 2.0) slot for charging/synchronization, 3.5 mm jack for headset
- Display: AMOLED, capacitive, 3.2” diagonal with 480x320 resolution (HVGA), automatic brightness adjustment
- Camera: 5 MPx with autofocus and flash, VGA video capture
- Navigation: GPS on Qualcomm gpsOne chip (A-GPS support)
- Additionally: FM radio, accelerometer, light sensor, proximity sensor
- Battery: removable 1300 mAh Li-Ion
- Dimensions: 112 x 56.5 x 11. mm
- Weight: 126 g.