Product Listing

HTC Legend - Does It Live On?

By Wong Casandra - 6 Apr 2010
Launch SRP: S$628

Conclusion

Blazin' With the Legend

While the Android platform does not have the prowess of the Apple's app store (160,000 apps and counting), this is a much younger platform that has a lot of potential because of the advantages of the open source operating system and its tight integration with Google related services and apps. It's no surprise why several phone vendors are decking their line-up with an Android based device these days.

While competition is aplenty and growing, the HTC Legend is a worthy investment from our assessment if you don't already own an existing competitive phone like the Google Nexus One. We also dare say it is one of the better looking phones out there in the market, and a vast improvement over the Editor's Choice winning Hero of last year. When comparing them side-by-side, the once leading Hero looks rather unappealing and overtly plastic. The Legend is quite a makeover in terms of design with its streamlined layout, and svelte unibody build. Just watch out for the easily fingerprint smiudged screen and glossy buttons. Size-wise, the Legend is a good fit, due to its light weight of 126 grams, slim dimensions and a body that provides good grip. The optical trackpad also provides better browsing capabilities, and does not 'jump' like the trackball on the Hero.

Those familiar with the HTC Sense UI will find the latest one a notable improvement over the first - and it is a strong enough reason for other Android phones users to give it a close look. Most of the changes are subtle ones that make the mobile experience a smoother and easier one such as the mute and speaker buttons being on the caller's popup, the option to mass delete emails on your secondary email account, new FriendStream and Leap functions, and most of all, a detailed rundown on battery life usage in the settings menu. While the UI hasn't gone through a complete cosmetic overhaul, the animations peppered throughout the home pages (e.g., weather app, email app) are nice touches to the interface.

Multimedia functionality of the phone didn't fare well unfortunately. The 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen with a 320 x 480 pixels resolution screen isn't fantastic for video playback as YouTube videos appeared fuzzy and blur - there's no way to read the subtitles on the video. Audio quality was also found to be average. The phone's camera quality however, didn't sit well with us. Photos taken were overly red in the dark, while the autofocus can sometimes be a pain to activate, and controls were a bit iffy. We would have really preferred a physical camera button, instead of having to use the optical trackpad as the shutter button.

Although the phone does not run on a 1GHz processor like the larger upcoming HTC Desire, the Legend is still sufficiently speedy as it ran all the apps well without lag. The user experience is smooth, with screen and app loading showing no signs of slowing down in-between transitions. When putting the Legend through our daily pace of use, which involves 3G connectivity while partaking in heavy mobile phone usage throughout the day, we realized that a full battery charge could last us slightly more than a single day of use.

 The HTC Legend is a beautiful phone that's also very user friendly, but it's multimedia performance is unfortunately not its forte. Interested buyers who need a compact smartphone and upgrading from the Hero would definitely like it though.

In summary, the new Legend is an apt update to the previous Hero (and to an extent, it’s sort of a 'Hero 2'), but in-line with the current portfolio of Android devices offered at this level, the Legend faces steep competition. Particularly, its multimedia aspects aren't as polished as the competition from what we've conveyed within the review.

For those who are specifically looking for an Android phone with the updated HTC Sense UI, the HTC Legend is an ideal candidate at S$798. For current owners of the HTC Hero, the differences lie purely in the operating system as well as positive physical design overhaul. While these are reasons to upgrade, do keep in mind that an Android 2.1 upgrade for the Hero is on the way. Those with more time to kill on their hands might want to wait for the arrival of the larger HTC Desire, which also comes with the new HTC Sense UI, But for the impatient, the Legend should suffice.

If your main criteria is to hop on to the Android bandwagon and have no real preference in this mid to high-end tier of phones, you should take a close look at the competition as well as the HTC Legend to see what fits your needs most as it is a close call between them.

Join HWZ's Telegram channel here and catch all the latest tech news!
8.5
  • Design 9.5
  • Features 8.5
  • User-Friendliness 9
  • Performance 8.5
  • Value 9
The Good
Sturdy, lightweight, and beautiful exterior
New HTC Sense UI
Reasonable Battery Life
The Bad
Smudge-Friendly Screen
Sub-par Imaging Quality
Mediocre Video Playback
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.