HTC Legend Review: A Users Opinion ~ Cell Phone Reviews

HTC Legend Review: A Users Opinion

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Written on 4/19/2010 04:10:00 PM by poison_ivy


So, what do you get when you cross a Macbook Pro with an HTC Hero? The HTC Legend, the first mobile phone to have an aluminum unibody. But aside from the design, can the HTC Legend live up to its predecessor, the HTC Hero? Read on for my HTC Legend Review.

HTC Legend Specifications


Screen
3.2 inches
Resolution
320 x 480 HVGA
Processor
600 MHz
ROM
512 MB
RAM
384 MB
Expansion Slot
microSD up to 32GB
GSM Network
850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G/HSPA/WCDMA Network
900/2100 MHz
Connectivity
Bluetooth, 3.5mm Headset jack, microUSB, WiFi, GPS
Camera
5 megapixel, autofocus and flash


Design


I was expecting to be wowed by the Legend's aluminum unibody but I wasn't. There's nothing really special about it, in fact, some of my friends even mistook it for the HTC Hero (so much for bragging rights). Maybe if they lost the chin it would be much more appealing. Also, one of the disadvantages of a mobile phone being made mostly of metal, is that you'll worry a lot about it being scratched. I have a carrying pouch with a zipper and every time I put it inside and it makes contact with the zipper, I cringe and feel like I'm scratching the surface. Good news is that its not easily scratched.

The battery can be found under the rubber covering on the backside of the chin. It's not a pop up battery cover, you have to slide it to open it but its still hard to put it back. The optical D-Pad is also a nice touch although I noted that it's a bit too sensitive as it jumps two letters whenever I try to go back or forward.

Overall, the aluminum unibody of the HTC Legend is nice and has a solid build, it can turn heads but its not really that eye-catching (or maybe I was just expecting too much from it).









Features

The HTC Legend features the new HTC Sense on top of Android 2.1. What  can I say about Sense? Well, it's pretty and functional. You get up to seven homescreens but I think you can add more though I haven't figured out how to do that yet. I initially thought seven homescreens is too much but HTC widgets take up most of the homescreen so in all, seven homescreens doesn't seem to be enough. Instead of swiping to get to the last homescreen, there's a neat feature wherein you can use the pinch to zoom feature so you get a shortcut view of all seven homescreens.

The HTC Legend doesn't have the processing power of its big brother, the HTC Desire but the 600 MHz processor is really snappy. Kinetic scrolling is smooth and everything is just snazzy. I have yet to experience any lags on the device and it's really surprising because with the X10 and its 1 GHz processor, I experienced some lags.


Phonebook and Messaging

If you set up your Facebook and Twitter Account with Friendstream, if your Facebook contacts have their mobile phone number indicated in their profiles, it would automatically sync with the Phonebook together with their Facebook profile photo. You can choose not to sync with your Gmail or Exchange contacts and instead just use your contacts with your simcard but then you wouldn't be able to tag your contacts with their photos and it would be a shame because HTC's People widget is really eye-catching.

The Messaging inbox doesn't show your contact photos but when you dig deep into your conversation with your contact, you'll be able to see your conversation, your contact's thumbnail picture and your own picture if you've filled up your info on the phonebook.

The HTC keyboard is nice compared with Android's own keyboard as the symbols and numbers are already shown on top of the letters and all you have to do to input a number is long press on the letter.

Video and Audio 

A lot of Android fans have been complaining about how the HTC Legend only has HVGA resolution. I don't see what the problem is since according to Wikipedia, the iPhone and Palm Pre also has HVGA resolution and since a lot of videos are available for the iPhone, it only means you can download more videos without converting it. Anyways, I streamed a video that's compatible with the iPhone and watching videos is GREAT. LOVE it.

Audio player on the HTC Sense is superb. in terms of UI. There's still no equalizer or any audio enhancements which can be found on Samsung's Touch Players but I really like HTC's music widget. I just wish it can be used in landscape mode.

Browser

The HTC Legend has one of the best and fastest browsers I've seen on an Android handset. Web pages render fast and browsing is as smooth as butter, there's pinch to zoom which I love but since I don't use landscape mode  on touchscreen phones, I don't use it much but glad that it has tap to zoom too, unlike the X10. And the best thing about the Legend's browser? Flash! Yep, flash is present and I can play embedded videos. I was able to view the videos on my sidebar but I don't know whether it's because of my internet connection but flash videos seem blocky.

Camera

I was prepared to write off the HTC Legend's camera because based on expererience, HTC's camera is really nothing spectacular but I was surprised with the Legend's image quality. Everything is clear and bright and colors come close to the original. I definitely like the fact that you can use the optical D-pad as a shutter button, kindly like my i900 Omnia so it automatically focus on your subject. Here are some sample shots taken from the HTC Legend.


Battery Life

The HTC Legend is the first smartphone that lasted me 3 days. Yes, 3 days but it's with minimal internet use, few minutes of gaming, and few minutes of listening to music. With 2 hours of gaming, WiFi and 3G turned on, and a few hours of music listening, like any other smartphone, it only lasted about a day. Moderate use and you'll get two days of battery life.



Conclusion

Sure, I might have been disappointed with the HTC Legend's design but in terms of everything else, it more than meets my expectations. I actually love this phone. Very fast, love the browser, camera, decent audio playback, it's actually perfect in every sense. It's not as snappy as the Nexus One but it's not slow either. It's comparable with the iPhone 3G in terms of kinetic scrolling speed. The only thing that would be a point against it is pricing. Right now, the price difference between the HTC Legend and Desire is not that much, around £50 and with the Desire, you get a faster processor and bigger RAM though essentially the same UI. So this is where the HTC Legend's unibody design would come in, if you want that Macbook Pro finish on your mobile phone, then you're likely to lean with the Legend over the Desire.

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2 Comments

  1. Marty |

    For lovers of fine arts and high tech! Ah... if it only ported the 1GHz Snapdragon instead...
    Seriously a 600Mhz phone in 2010? I would expect a $100 difference at least.

     
  2. speedypin |

    I love this phone. I am really pleased with how well it performs and how much there is to do. For the price, it is amazing - very fast and powerful. It does burn up battery, however, but this is not such a problem for me. The keys at the bottom feel a bit cheap and plasticky compared with those of the Desire, but that is only a minor point and they are not really that bad. The camera is great and the screen is amazing. HTC sense shines through as always, and now it has the update to Android 2.2, it is an absolutely epic piece of kit.
    I would recommend it to anyone.

     

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