The Verizon Eris (left) and the Sprint Hero (left) are the perfect phones for that geek, app lover, or individual that will appreciate tweaking their phone and that doesn’t mind a virtual keyboard. This device is all about customization and personalization. It is built around HTC’s Sense UI which allows the user to change the interface based on various situations such as whether they are at work, on vacation etc. It offers a widget heavy experience that gives you quick access to your favorite items via 7 homescreens. This phone is fully loaded and comes with all the usual smartphone features that you can find below.
The Verizon Eris and the Sprint Hero are practically the same phone just rebranded. However, there are some slight modifications. The Verizon Eris comes with a proximity sensor and has touch sensitive buttons, both of which are missing from the Hero. The Verizon Eris also comes in black while the Sprint Hero has a silver metal finish to it.
Snapshot:
Price: $179 after MIR (Sprint), $99 (Verizon)
Carrier: Sprint (Hero), Verizon (Eris)
3G: Yes
OS: Android OS 1.5
Input: Capacitive Touch Screen, Virtual Keyboard
Screen Resolution: 3.2-inch 320 x 480 HVGA resolution
Web Browsing: Yes, Full HTML web browsing
Camera: 5 MegaPixels with led flash and autofocus
Wireless Capabilities: Wifi and Bluetooth
Application Store: Yes
Media: Music and Video Player
Expandable: Yes
Memory: 2GB micro USB card included, ROM: 512MB, RAM: 288MB DDR
Special Features: Extremely easy to customize the user experience right out of the box as well as through downloadable apps in the Market Place, lots of social media integration, great for people who use a lot of Google services such as mail, calendar, pictures etc.
Negatives: Virtual Keyboard can be sluggish at times especially with haptic feedback on, separate applications for Gmail and other inboxes as well as Google Talk and other IM programs is somewhat confusing and frustrating.
