Android Cup Round Two, Game 4: Motorola Droid vs. HTC Hero
June 29th, 2010 by Michael A. Prospero, LAPTOP Reviews Editor 
Wha-ha-happened? We’ve had our first upset of the Android Cup tournament, with the T-Mobile myTouch 3G beating out the HTC Evo 4G. Good arguments were made for both phones in yesterday’s comments. Here’s looking to an equally lively debate in today’s game, between two of the older phones in this tournament: the Motorola Droid vs. the HTC Hero.
While it looks like the Droid will soon be eclipsed by the Droid X and the Droid 2, that doesn’t mean it’s still an excellent smart phone, in some respects, the phone that made Android as popular as it is. This beefy phone has a 3.7 inch, 854 x 480-pixel screen, an ARM Cortex A8 550-MHz, and free turn-by-turn GPS navigation.
It was the first phone to run the Android 2.0 operating system, and has HTML5 support, too. Finally, it runs on Verizon’s network, which we tend to like over all others. Its slide-out keyboard has one of the firmest mechanisms we’ve felt on a smart phone, but, if there was anything we didn’t like, it was that the keys were a little cramped, making it hard to type as fast as we’d like.
Way back in September, we called the Sprint HTC Hero the best Android phone in the U.S. The Hero has a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 480 x 320 pixels, a similar 528-MHz processor, and 512MB of ROM. All your typing will have to be done using the Hero’s soft keyboard, which took a little practice on the haptic screen. On the back of the Hero is a 5-megapixel camera, which unfortunately lacks a flash.
So, which phone should move to the final four of the Android Cup?
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June 29th, 2010 at 10:13 am
Motorola Droid FTW!!!!!!! but in the end of it all Nexus One will reign supreme
June 29th, 2010 at 10:33 am
We all have to remember that the droid brought android to the publics attention, androids market share expanded greatly when the droid was launched.
My vote goes to the droid
and the hero is not a bad device either.
June 29th, 2010 at 10:46 am
Nexus one will get eaten like a chocolate cake after Droid has an “Incredible” dinner…. Droid has the largest owner and developer base of almost all these phones combined. DROID Does Android FLAGSHIP!!!
June 29th, 2010 at 11:28 am
ive been keeping up with this tournament since the begining and i think its safe to say that most of the decisions determining the winner in some matchups are more emotionaly driven or fan driven than cold hard facts. the winner of each matchup should win by things like :manufacturer software, ease of use, hardware specs, phisical appearance, batt life, networking ease, features, durability, etc. but instead i keep seeing weaker phone beating out better phones simply because of fan base?….well anyway at least im seeing what other people actually think about these tech devices, and ive learned this “some people are so gullable and easily persuaded” ive never really been moved much by marketing or advertisement but i have a little more understanding of its strength now. if this were a serious matchup the htc evo and htc incredible would’ve went to the finals with the nexus one getting much respect. the 3G slide beat the evo? really? and some think the droid will take the whole thing? lets get real !
June 29th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
Yeah right the 3g slide I’d better than the Evo! This shows how much people really know
June 29th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
@ jun (above)
why wouldn’t the droid win it has the best screen on any of these devices resolution wise. Its slower than the snapdragons but the omap is really powerful look at all the developer fans and customs roms it has.
its a nexus with a keyboard. the evo and incredible don’t even have a froyo build yet
June 29th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
I have the GSM Hero and it’s the worst piece of shit ever if you compare it to the Droid.. We just got 2.1, but no multi-touch or live wallpapers.. I officially hate HTC right now.
June 29th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
A bigger fan base usually reflects those things which you are looking for, Jun. Why would someone come here and take the time to vote if they didn’t like their phone and find it durable, easy to use, etc?
June 29th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
We all know this tourney will be decided between Froyo and Sense UI. Because that is the only real difference between the Nexus One and the HTC Incredible (people aren’t picking the Incredible for the extra mega pixels). Once Froyo goes OTA to the Incredible that one difference will be a mute point.
June 29th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
I think the HTC hero is better. But then it all depends if you like a keyboard or not. I don’t so I like the HTC hero. It’s just my opinion
Vote HTC hero 
June 29th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
@Publius
What is a mute point?
June 29th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Actually, the Hero does have flash since the 2.1 update.
June 29th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
HERO FTW since the Droid is clunked out and the keyboard is unusable. also Smart Keyboard FTW.
June 29th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
@James2
Right now the Nexus One has Froyo and the Incredible does not, but eventually (likely within a few months) the Incredible will also be getting Froyo. Once that happens the Nexus One will lose its one advantage over the Incredible.
June 29th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
FYI, this IS A TOURNAMENT. Simple facts of whose hardware is better IS NOT going to guarantee a win if the device isn’t as loved as its opponent. I voted for the Droid simply based on the fact that it was the 1st REAL superphone Android had to offer. Raising the bar by being the 1st phone to sport a 1GHz cpu besides Acer’s phone (how many people own that thing anyways). However, all this doesn’t matter cause the keyboard DOES suck and there were a few other problems which seemed to catch up to it now. I’ve never owned one so there’s no love loss here.
June 29th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
haha droid life posted the poll, so looks like the hero is FINISHED.
June 29th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
HTC Hero is better. From an aesthetics point of view it looks better then the Droid (all black rectangle? really?) , and from a practical point of view lacks the unnecessary keyboard. It’s a touchscreen phone, there is no need for so many physical buttons, all they do is take up space and add weight.
June 29th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
They forgot to mention how the HTC Hero was the first to offer sense UI which was favored by many people, and which was part of the the reason (the main reason) everybody loved the hero when it was released.
June 29th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
And they also said that the Mytouch 3G beat the Evo, but it was the Mytouch 3G Slide. They are two different phones.
June 29th, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Nexus one should win it’s a true android phone strong proccessor process.
June 29th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
@Esh
Sorry, but even according to Motorola, the Droid has a Arm® Cortex™ A8 processor 550 mHz not a 1GHz processor as you used for the reason for wanting it to win the tourney. The first “Droid” with a 1GHz processor was the Incredible.
http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Consumer-Product-and-Services/Mobile-Phones/ci.Motorola-DROID-US-EN.alt
June 29th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
I happen to LOVE the keyboard on my Droid.. I also like the fact that it feels solid and has some heft to it… those that hate the keyboard don’t use keyboards anyway… I use mine alot. Just cause some guy says the keyboard is bad doesn’t mean it’s bad for everyone.. Droid DOES cause it can do EVERYTHING your phone can because of the size of the dev community and fans… uh oh… i think i here Froyo knocking at my door.. lol!!!
June 29th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
I wished I would have seen the voting between the MyTouch and EVO. I can’t believe the EVO was beat out. It is hands down the best phone I’ve ever owned, which includes a rather long and varied smartphone list. I only saw this round of voting because HTC tweeted about the contest.
June 29th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
@Step I have a keyboard on my Hero, it’s on the screen. Ok, in all truth there is a valid point to having a keyboard on a phone. I know people who have cold hands and can’t use capacitive touchscreen, so having physical buttons is important since that’s the only thing they can use. But all that means is manufacturers should consider using the older style touchscreens if they don’t plan on making it multi touch anyway. The ones Palm used on their newer (non-Pre/Pixi) devices that came with a stylus.
June 29th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
The HTC Hero better make a comeback. My vote is for the Hero, I only know of one person with the Droid and she absolutely hates it. I love my Hero (biast I guess) loved it since I read about it while I was researching the Droid.
June 29th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Well, the HTC Incredible will best Motorola Droid.
June 29th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Moto Droid, gotta love it!!
June 29th, 2010 at 4:18 pm
I believe the MT3G Slide beat the Evo 4G because, of usability, used both Phone for a pretty long period of time before deciding which one i would buy, since i work at a mobile retailer i had the leisure of checking them both out before launch dates, and i must say i was more impressed by the Slide’s performance and speed than i was the Evo’s and i’ve had just about every Android phone available in the US. The Evo is a great smartphone, and it has features the Slide couldn’t dream of having, but the Slide hands down just performs smoother.
June 29th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
For those calling the Droid “clunked out”, it’s thinner than the CDMA Hero (13.7mm for the Droid, 14mm for the Hero). Also, in terms of hardware it’s got a nicer, .5-inch bigger screen and a better processor than the Hero (the Droid’s GPU is faster and has it’s own dedicated GPU). Also, it’s vanilla android, so updates come sooner than on the Hero (Froyo anyone).
June 29th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
@Publius
My Droid runs a 1GHz.
June 29th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Alright wrap this slaughterfest up and let’s rock n’roll to the next one.
June 29th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
@Wes: You’re right to point that out, I should have phrased it better. Yes, both the Droid and Hero are the same thickness for all intents and purposes (.3mm is only noticeable when placed side by side). What I was trying to get at was the keyboard adds space and weight that isn’t needed. If you excluded it from the Droid, how much thinner and lighter could you get the phone? I haven’t ever taken one apart, so I don’t know what is hidden in the keyboard that isn’t actually the keyboard but necessary parts of the phone but at the very least 1mm on either side of the keyboard for the plastic back and keys and maybe another mm for the board registering the keys makes a 3 mm difference*.
*This is all based on random guesses as I am at work in a non-tech lab and have no ability to look at one in real space at the moment.
June 29th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
“The HTC Hero better make a comeback. My vote is for the Hero, I only know of one person with the Droid and she absolutely hates it. I love my Hero (biast I guess) loved it since I read about it while I was researching the Droid.”
Hero doesn’t have a chance. Where the hell do you live that you only know one person with a droid? I know 4-5… and they all love it.
If you don’t have good coverage in an area you are going to hate the phone…
June 29th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
not player hating on any particular phone, to each its own. when android came out i got the G1. its antique to me now. im gonna get the DROID X when it comes out so im not a htc only guy…i can see alot of reasons why all phones have their fan base. im just saying that i thought this was a contest of specs and usability and not a contest of whatever phone has the most owners is the phone that wins. i was very intrested in seeing a true educational debate as to wich android phone is the true undisputed champion of android. guess that wont happen.
June 29th, 2010 at 7:07 pm
@Dito_Muertez
If your Moto Droid runs at 1Ghz that would be news to Motorola.
http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Consumer-Product-and-Services/Mobile-Phones/ci.Motorola-DROID-US-EN.alt
Please provide a reliable source (more reliable than Motorola) that says the Droids has a 1GHz processor.
June 29th, 2010 at 7:57 pm
@Publius
It’s called overclocking. For example, my droid runs at 1.2ghz stable. For a lot of people thats the beauty behind the droid, the community that provides custom roms and kernels to make it very fast with minimal hit to battery if any(can scale all the way down to 250mhz while idle, auto to O/C while active).
June 29th, 2010 at 9:26 pm
My droid runs at 1.2 ghz
June 29th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
@publius
Bdub got my back.
June 29th, 2010 at 11:08 pm
Well, my mistake, I am sure that many if not most Droid users are rooting their phone and over clocking their CPU. Should we now say that the Droid runs Froyo or Gingerbread because someone, somewhere did it? Should we base a phones quality on what less than 1% of users mod their phones to do?
June 30th, 2010 at 2:05 am
@publius
Yes we should base it on that! Have you seen the amount of people of Droid-Life and Droidforums that have their phones rooted and customized? My droid is over clocked to 1ghz and I am running Froyo with flash. The Droid is going to win this competition. The only phone that can take it out is the Droid X.
June 30th, 2010 at 2:58 am
Evo lost to mytouch3g?? First thats not even a fair comparison (its like comparing a 2011 corvette to a 1990 ford Taurus) and this poll is soo screwed up if Mytouch actually won. Who in there right mind thinks a mytouch3g is better?? Even with the small bugs Evo has, it still out performs the slide in every imaginable way possible 2 times over.
June 30th, 2010 at 3:45 am
LOL! “My Droid runs at 1ghz+ stable…” Prove it. lets see some video.
The Droid may overclock to 1.3ghz but is not stable at that speed and will probably fry your phone. Overclocked CPUs get hot and drain batteries. Enough stories kiddies.
June 30th, 2010 at 9:04 am
@Publius
One month droid owner here, running 800MHz-1GHz stable. And you ought to google moto droid rooting, moto droid overclocking, moto droid custom. It’s a LOT more than 1%.
June 30th, 2010 at 9:06 am
I’m tired of u fools who keep putting down the mytouch slide. The EVO tried to cheat and beat the slide but of course we still won!!! If you don’t mind, go find the article where the Slide places first in the GPU comparison test beating out even the Nexus One, the Incredible and the Evo didn’t even stand a chance. Like I said before the only phones that should even be able to even hold a candle to the Slide aren’t even out yet!!!
June 30th, 2010 at 11:30 am
@Troy H
Verizon works fine out here in northern California, Sacramento area. It’s not the service she has problems with, maybe she can’t figure it out, I just know she don’t like it. I was gonna get the Droid myself, but then I found HTC while researching. But the hero is gonna lose anyway so I don’t care.
June 30th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
MOTOROLA DROID MURDERED THE HTC HERO BADLY LOL!!!
DROOOOOOIIIIIIDDDDDD!!!!
July 1st, 2010 at 1:28 am
I understand that thats the reasoning for the better GPU benchmarks but does that lower resolution excuse really hold any water? I mean, You can’t really notice a big difference until you are using a benchmark test that actually pushes HD graphics!!! Otherwise the games will look pretty much the same whether they are being put out on the G1 or the Samsung Galaxy S. Oh and by the way, when comparing the screen on the Mytouch Slide to the one on the Ipod touch 2g, they look almost identical, why? Its because they are the same resolution!! and Im sorry but my Ipod touch rocks the socks off the EVO and the Nexus in any and all benchmarks anyday of the week and looks better while doing it with just a 480×320 resolution!!!! Now why cant the Mytouch Slide do the same??? Any Nexus fanboys want to explain it LOGICALLY?? You can’t since Its not a bad screen at all and looks hella beautiful while watching HQ Youtube videos on it. So when talking about resolution, DOES IT REALLY MATTER if the games are not in HD in the first place??
July 26th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
I purchased a Hero approximately two months ago and love it. My brother has a Droid and after playing with it last night, I honestly have to say that I like the overall design and feel of the Hero. However, I must also admit that I am quit disappointed the graphics and speed capability of the Hero when it comes to games. I was hoping to download some high-end games like those offered by Gameloft and Polarbit, especially Raging Thunder 2. Looks like that just isn’t going to be possible, however.
July 26th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
I also failed to mention that I am disappointed that, for some strange reason, the Hero doesn’t support live wallpaper. So, I guess the real question b/w the two is what can and can’t you live without. If you want a phone that is clunky and has a horrible physical design, especially the pullout keypad, but great graphics capabilities, go for the Droid. If, however, you want a phone with a sleek design and interface, and don’t care about high-end games, then go for the Hero.