HTC Legend review: A Hero becomes a Legend
Gsmarena have posted their review of the HTC Legend. Here are the phone's key features, main disadvantages and their final impression.
Key features
* Aluminum unibody design
* Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
* 3G with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA 2Mbps
* Android OS v2.1 with latest Sense UI
* 3.2" capacitive AMOLED touchscreen of HVGA resolution
* Qualcomm MSM 7227 600 MHz CPU, 384 MB RAM
* 5 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and VGA@30fps video recording
* Web browser comes with Flash support
* Multi-touch zooming in gallery and web browser
* Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and GPS receiver
* Digital compass for automatic navigation of maps
* Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate and turn-to-mute
* Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP); File transfer over Bluetooth
* Standard microUSB port for charging and data
* Standard 3.5mm audio jack
* FM Radio with RDS
* microSD card slot with support for up to 32GB cards (2GB one included)
* Tethering support right out-of-the-box
* Social networking integration with Facebook and Twitter
* Direct access to the official Android application repository
Main disadvantages
* No video-call camera (or videocalling whatsoever)
* No dedicated shutter key or lens cover
* No TV-out port
* No voice dialing
* No DivX or XviD video support out of the box
* Dodgy flash video support
The HTC Legend has the tough task of filling the shoes of what was considered the best Android handsets. What makes this task even harder is the fact that the Hero lost its top-shelf status just before its successor was announced.
The HTC Desire, Google Nexus One and Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 are now battling it out for a spot at the top of the Android food-chain and the HTC Legend has been relegated to the mid-range segment where fierce competition arises.
In theory the HTC Legend puts enough new stuff on the table to justify its existence. More RAM, faster CPU, AMOLED screen and aluminum unibody all sound like perfectly good reasons for an upgrade. The Android 2.1 is hardly a factor as the Hero's own Android 2.1 update is just around the corner. We will let you decide for yourselves if the rest of the upgrades are worth the price premium but both devices seem like a decent deal at this stage.
If you are looking to step outside the Sense UI world, you might also want to check out the Samsung I5700 Galaxy Spica. Admittedly target at a bit younger audience than the Legend it comes at a lower price for a similar package but lacks the shiny aluminum case, which might or might not matter to you.
If it has to be AMOLED then the Samsung I7500 Galaxy is even willing to throw DivX and XviD support to the mix. Again it's not quite the looker but offers a viable alternative to those wanting to save a few bucks but do insist on those deep blacks that only OLED screens can provide.
Of course, the Android fans wanting the ultimate performance will have to dig deeper in their pockets and reach for one of the abovementioned trio - HTC Desire, Google Nexus One and Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10. The three 1GHz Snapdragon-powered handsets have the speed and plenty of it. Plus you can pick between an 8 megapixel snapper and an AMOLED display.
There are also some HTC Legend alternatives outside the Android world. For about the same kind of cash you can get an unlocked iPhone 3G and sacrifice some hardware power for access to one of the richest mobile AppStores and all the consequent fun. You can also wait a few weeks for the HTC HD Mini and have a taste of the Sense UI running on WinMo 6.5.
So the HTC Legend certainly has a competitor or two for its place under the sun, but it looks well prepared to tackle them. With the Android platform expanding as rapidly as nothing else we have seen before, chances are there will be enough customers out there for it.
It will probably fail to achieve the iconic status of its predecessor, but that is a task given to the HTC Desire. However reaching a similar amount of sales is on the cards, which leads to better support for the owners, which in turns makes the HTC Legend an even better deal.
Key features
* Aluminum unibody design
* Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
* 3G with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA 2Mbps
* Android OS v2.1 with latest Sense UI
* 3.2" capacitive AMOLED touchscreen of HVGA resolution
* Qualcomm MSM 7227 600 MHz CPU, 384 MB RAM
* 5 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and VGA@30fps video recording
* Web browser comes with Flash support
* Multi-touch zooming in gallery and web browser
* Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and GPS receiver
* Digital compass for automatic navigation of maps
* Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate and turn-to-mute
* Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP); File transfer over Bluetooth
* Standard microUSB port for charging and data
* Standard 3.5mm audio jack
* FM Radio with RDS
* microSD card slot with support for up to 32GB cards (2GB one included)
* Tethering support right out-of-the-box
* Social networking integration with Facebook and Twitter
* Direct access to the official Android application repository
Main disadvantages
* No video-call camera (or videocalling whatsoever)
* No dedicated shutter key or lens cover
* No TV-out port
* No voice dialing
* No DivX or XviD video support out of the box
* Dodgy flash video support
The HTC Legend has the tough task of filling the shoes of what was considered the best Android handsets. What makes this task even harder is the fact that the Hero lost its top-shelf status just before its successor was announced.
The HTC Desire, Google Nexus One and Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 are now battling it out for a spot at the top of the Android food-chain and the HTC Legend has been relegated to the mid-range segment where fierce competition arises.
In theory the HTC Legend puts enough new stuff on the table to justify its existence. More RAM, faster CPU, AMOLED screen and aluminum unibody all sound like perfectly good reasons for an upgrade. The Android 2.1 is hardly a factor as the Hero's own Android 2.1 update is just around the corner. We will let you decide for yourselves if the rest of the upgrades are worth the price premium but both devices seem like a decent deal at this stage.
If you are looking to step outside the Sense UI world, you might also want to check out the Samsung I5700 Galaxy Spica. Admittedly target at a bit younger audience than the Legend it comes at a lower price for a similar package but lacks the shiny aluminum case, which might or might not matter to you.
If it has to be AMOLED then the Samsung I7500 Galaxy is even willing to throw DivX and XviD support to the mix. Again it's not quite the looker but offers a viable alternative to those wanting to save a few bucks but do insist on those deep blacks that only OLED screens can provide.
Of course, the Android fans wanting the ultimate performance will have to dig deeper in their pockets and reach for one of the abovementioned trio - HTC Desire, Google Nexus One and Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10. The three 1GHz Snapdragon-powered handsets have the speed and plenty of it. Plus you can pick between an 8 megapixel snapper and an AMOLED display.
There are also some HTC Legend alternatives outside the Android world. For about the same kind of cash you can get an unlocked iPhone 3G and sacrifice some hardware power for access to one of the richest mobile AppStores and all the consequent fun. You can also wait a few weeks for the HTC HD Mini and have a taste of the Sense UI running on WinMo 6.5.
So the HTC Legend certainly has a competitor or two for its place under the sun, but it looks well prepared to tackle them. With the Android platform expanding as rapidly as nothing else we have seen before, chances are there will be enough customers out there for it.
It will probably fail to achieve the iconic status of its predecessor, but that is a task given to the HTC Desire. However reaching a similar amount of sales is on the cards, which leads to better support for the owners, which in turns makes the HTC Legend an even better deal.
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