HTC Legend Extended Review
HTC has been making some of the most popular Android devices since Google has put it on the map. The HTC Legend is going to become one of those devices and from what we’ve seen so far, it’s going to live up to its name. It has an AMOLED display, a CPU of 600MHz and 348MB of RAM. Not to mention, the body is made of a singe piece of smooth aluminium.
Software/Interface
The HTC Legend runs Android 2.1 and has the HTC Sense interface. There are seven home screens for more personalisation for widgets and shortcuts. The Legend allows you to view all seven home screens at once. This is easily activated by double-pressing the home button or pinching the screen. Of course the Legend has all the standard phone functions like alarm clock, calculator, and calendar (which can also be synced with Gmail and Facebook). Any other apps you need can usually be found in the Android Market.
If you’re into social networking, you may enjoy the addition of “FriendStream.” This is a widget that is similar to Motorola’s MOTOBLUR (but a much better deployment) and is a constant stream of status updates for sites like, Facebook and Twitter. Some of these updates can also be found in “People,” which is HTC’s category for phone contacts. “People” is also where you can find specific call history, message history, and pictures.
The processor allows the Legend to run smoothly even with a lot of apps open. Of course, the updated Android 2.1 software doesn’t hurt.
Design
An aluminium body for a device is nothing new, but HTC was still able to make it lightweight in the hand, but still feel robust and solid. The contrast of the silver and black is really nice and very reminiscent of the currently MacBook Pro styling. The battery slot is a new look and a novel way of attaining a finish with just a the single piece of aluminium. There isn’t a trackball like we’ve seen on some previous HTC Android devices, but instead they’ve replaced it with an optical track pad which makes the device much more streamlined and sleek than it’s predecessor the Hero.
As stated, the Legend has an AMOLED 3.2 inch display. It is a vibrant display and supports multi-touch. However, the slightly reflective display was a little hard to see in the direct sunlight, but overall the Legend is probably the best styled mobile device we’ve ever come across.
Camera
The HTC Legend rocks a 5MP camera with a flash. It takes about 3 seconds for the camera function to start up once initiated and is displayed on the screen for about one second after taken. The camera took some crisp pictures and colours were realistic and better than 5MP HTC’s of the past.
Internet
The browser overall on the Legend is improved over some other Android devices. It is quick and with the multi-touch capability, zooming is easy. There is some Flash integration in the browser and it often depends on the website you’re visiting. Sites like YouTube load ok, but some non-mobile version websites may not load at all. It can be frustrating at times, but there are many devices that do not currently handle any Flash,, so this is a step in the right direction.
The Legend is also Wi-Fi capable.
Overall Performance
We were able to hear callers on the other end without any issues, but seemed to be quieter than some of other devices. Callers also did not have an issue hearing us.
HTC states that the Legend will provide 8 hours of talk time and 18 days stand by time. This seems to be accurate, but of course we must integrate what we actually did on the device. There was a lot of web browsing, multimedia and messaging, which of course isn’t considered in the figures, but there should be enough juice to get you through a full day of heavy usage.
We were happy with the performance of the HTC Legend. It has a great feel and is solid in your hand and the AMOLED display is a nice upgrade. The interface has a nice personalized feel to it and when we pick it up, we know it’s ours. The HTC Legend is a great addition to the HTC Android family and one few would have any complaints about.
HTC Legend Extended Review
HTC has been making some of the most popular Android devices since Google has put it on the map. The HTC Legend is going to become one of those devices and from what we’ve seen so far, it’s going to live up to its name. It has an AMOLED display, a CPU of 600MHz and 348MB of RAM. Not to mention, the body is made of a singe piece of smooth aluminium.
Software/Interface
The HTC Legend runs Android 2.1 and has the HTC Sense interface. There are seven home screens for more personalisation for widgets and shortcuts. The Legend allows you to view all seven home screens at once. This is easily activated by double-pressing the home button or pinching the screen. Of course the Legend has all the standard phone functions like alarm clock, calculator, and calendar (which can also be synced with Gmail and Facebook). Any other apps you need can usually be found in the Android Market.
If you’re into social networking, you may enjoy the addition of “FriendStream.” This is a widget that is similar to Motorola’s MOTOBLUR (but a much better deployment) and is a constant stream of status updates for sites like, Facebook and Twitter. Some of these updates can also be found in “People,” which is HTC’s category for phone contacts. “People” is also where you can find specific call history, message history, and pictures.
The processor allows the Legend to run smoothly even with a lot of apps open. Of course, the updated Android 2.1 software doesn’t hurt.
Design
An aluminium body for a device is nothing new, but HTC was still able to make it lightweight in the hand, but still feel robust and solid. The contrast of the silver and black is really nice and very reminiscent of the currently MacBook Pro styling. The battery slot is a new look and a novel way of attaining a finish with just a the single piece of aluminium. There isn’t a trackball like we’ve seen on some previous HTC Android devices, but instead they’ve replaced it with an optical track pad which makes the device much more streamlined and sleek than it’s predecessor the Hero.
As stated, the Legend has an AMOLED 3.2 inch display. It is a vibrant display and supports multi-touch. However, the slightly reflective display was a little hard to see in the direct sunlight, but overall the Legend is probably the best styled mobile device we’ve ever come across.
Camera
The HTC Legend rocks a 5MP camera with a flash. It takes about 3 seconds for the camera function to start up once initiated and is displayed on the screen for about one second after taken. The camera took some crisp pictures and colours were realistic and better than 5MP HTC’s of the past.
Internet
The browser overall on the Legend is improved over some other Android devices. It is quick and with the multi-touch capability, zooming is easy. There is some Flash integration in the browser and it often depends on the website you’re visiting. Sites like YouTube load ok, but some non-mobile version websites may not load at all. It can be frustrating at times, but there are many devices that do not currently handle any Flash,, so this is a step in the right direction.
The Legend is also Wi-Fi capable.
Overall Performance
We were able to hear callers on the other end without any issues, but seemed to be quieter than some of other devices. Callers also did not have an issue hearing us.
HTC states that the Legend will provide 8 hours of talk time and 18 days stand by time. This seems to be accurate, but of course we must integrate what we actually did on the device. There was a lot of web browsing, multimedia and messaging, which of course isn’t considered in the figures, but there should be enough juice to get you through a full day of heavy usage.
We were happy with the performance of the HTC Legend. It has a great feel and is solid in your hand and the AMOLED display is a nice upgrade. The interface has a nice personalized feel to it and when we pick it up, we know it’s ours. The HTC Legend is a great addition to the HTC Android family and one few would have any complaints about.