Finally, An Android Phone Not on T-Mobile: Sprint Hero

Whether Google's Android, or HTC for that matter, would be Sprint's Hero and saving grace towards profitability is another story, but we're hoping so. The nation's number three has a very strong and compelling smartphone lineup, which includes the BlackBerry Tour, the Windows Mobile Touch Pro2, an HTC Snap, the flagship webOS Palm Pre, and now the CDMA Sprint HTC Hero complete with widgets.

Preliminary reviews from the web has it that the Sprint version is quite a bit better than the international unlocked version. Sprint's Hero has a bit more curves and contours, losing the angular chin, and boasts seemingly better software and hardware performance.

Reviewers at Engadget Mobile and Gizmodo note that the Hero has a better screen viewing angle and better color, a faster and more responsive HTC Sense UI, a larger and more comfortable trackball, and better button placement. The downside is that reviewers are noting that the Hero isn't still as refined as the Palm Pre or the iPhone.

Whether you like the retro-geek look of the angular Hero or the curvy Sprint version is a matter of personal taste. However, whatever the case may be, we applaud Sprint for getting Android into it's lineup. Prior to the Sprint CDMA Hero, Android has only been spotted in T-Mobile's lineup, which began with the T-Mobile G1 and was replaced by the myTouch 3G on the nation's number four carrier; T-Mobile is also expected to release the Motorola CLIQ in the near future, a handset that has garnered Motorola much praise from the tech media.

The Hero will probably be a competitor with slab tablet devices like the iPhone from Apple and the Windows Mobile Diamond2 as those devices lack a keyboard.

(via: Engadget Mobile and Gizmodo)