HTC Hero Available at Sprint October 11

The new to the U.S. Android phone will cost $180 after an instant $50 rebate and a $100 mail-in rebate. Okay, so you’re out of pocket $230 on October 11. One more catch, all HTC Hero buyers will have to sign up for the unlimited data plan from Sprint, which starts at $70 per month.

Do not be put off by the unlimited plan requirement. With a phone like this, you’ll want unlimited calls, texts and data. If you want this phone or any phone from Sprint, go in to the store. You may get an even better deal, I did. And remember, Sprint’s night start at 7:00 pm, two hours earlier than most other providers. Yes, I like Sprint.

The Hero has been available in Europe for several months, and has built quite a following. The Hero comes preloaded with Google services including mobile search, maps, gmail and YouTube. Hardly a differentiator, but HTC’s new interface, Sense, is intriguing. It has seven different customizable home screens the user can sweep between. For example, you might want a Work screen with a work email, appointments and maps, while an Entertainment screen might include your personal email, Facebook and YouTube.
 

The HTC Hero comes with a 5.0 MP camera, camcorder, Wi-Fi, GPS, accelerometer, a microSD slot and a standard headphone jack. Users can receive corporate e-mail through Exchange Active Sync. It’s a good phone for work, home, play, shopping queen, day trader … you name it, up to seven that is.

See our current lineup of touchscreen phones.