Upcoming HTC Hero Update Removes Lag [VIDEO]

by Rob Jackson on August 19th, 2009
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As we explained and illustrated in our HTC Hero Review, the phone is pretty darn awesome. The general consensus was one of optimism with a fairly widespread irritation of slight lagginess. Not enough lag to detract from the overall success of the phone, but enough to notice.

Presto-Remove-O: Paul from Modaco got ahold of the upcoming firmware update that among other things like bugfixes and Java inclusion, removes the lag lingered:

By the time the HTC Hero hits Sprint on October 11th or soon thereafter, it’ll me as polished and quick as polished and quick can be. And for those lucky lads who already own the Hero, don’t worry – your cure to minor lag is on the way shortly.

20 Comments

  1. 1. Martin wrote on August 19, 2009

    Already own the Hero – now all I need is a napkin!

    Although the lag is not really a big problem, this seems to definitely take the device to another level!

    /Martin

  2. 2. vitriolix wrote on August 19, 2009

    Excellent! That looks so good. I look forward to the XDA rom of it for my g1 :)

    digg it:

    http://digg.com/gadgets/Upcoming_HTC_Hero_Update_Removes_Lag_VIDEO

  3. 3. StephenSaurusRex wrote on August 19, 2009

    Ladies & Gentlemen, the hardest working man in the blogging business!

  4. 4. Ivan Soto wrote on August 19, 2009

    Awesome.. Actually that was the only thing holding me to get a Hero. Now it only needs to come to Canada.

  5. 5. Quboid wrote on August 19, 2009

    When will it be out for existing owners?

  6. 6. SDscorch wrote on August 19, 2009

    android phone, running sense UI, w/ a hardware kybd… THAT would be the ultimate!

  7. 7. macs wrote on August 20, 2009

    I noticed a forum and a few reviews mentioned that the Hero has poor reception. Maybe this is improved in the update as well.

  8. 8. Bloggr wrote on August 20, 2009

    I’m sorry but there is hardly any improvement to be seen here: That is, it wasn’t that laggy in the first place. What you should really show us is how flicking through the photoalbum works now. That is where I experience the most lag. (if at all, again, that is).

  9. 9. Maj wrote on August 20, 2009

    have you noticed that the animation in the clock widget is disabled, same thing for the Browser widget (earth rotating) ?!! Maybe they’re going to disable these animations to give a boost in the performance

  10. 10. Phil wrote on August 20, 2009

    Whats the deal with the Java app? Does this allow regular compiled Java apps to run on the phone?

  11. 11. x9f wrote on August 20, 2009

    he did not show that the update solved the lag except the clock. he should of loaded mail text widgets, stocks, weather, and many others that run in the background to really see the improvement or not.

  12. 12. Anthony wrote on August 20, 2009

    Um… I have the HTC Hero and I don’t experience any lag at all. The rom is superfast. Faster than the Google ion, even though the Hero does have touch flo and all that installed on it; it still runs super-fast.

  13. 13. Chris Hart wrote on August 21, 2009

    I’ve had the Hero since launch. I’m not sure how people aren’t noticing the lag. I’m having to shut down everyday for a fresh reboot to minimise the effects, It all runs better with less widgets but whats the point in that then?

    Its a fantastic phone but it can certainly be improved with these types of fixes.

  14. 14. Jade750SF wrote on August 21, 2009

    I wonder if Rob tried to make telephone calls??
    I have the Hero but; I cannot make reliable calls or in many cases I cannot make or receive calls at all.
    A great piece of kit spoilt by really poor reception.
    It is a bit of a case of when is a phone not a phone?
    I used the Viewty for over a year with no reception problems

    Check out the android sites

    HTC have to get their act together, provide updates or people will vote with their feet!

  15. 15. Flick wrote on August 23, 2009

    @Jade750SF: I’ve used a ViewTY for over 18 months now, and one criticism I have (aside from the one about the camera) is that the reception can cut out suddenly. I’m thinking it the way the phone is setup by default to look for the fastest connection. Am on Orange by the way.

    Glad to hear that there is an update coming soon. I am looking to get a new phone and am really keen on the Hero, but the camera functionality is quite offputting.

  16. 16. Orlin Radev wrote on August 27, 2009

    I have had Hero for two weeks now and there is definitely some lag. However it does not affect the overall experience to my opinion. I would be happy to see an update that removes the lag, but even as it is, I find this phone awesome. I had an HTC TyTN II (Winmo-based) and I have also used iPhone 3G and none of them compares to Hero. I am impressed with the Sense UI and the lag, which you rarely notice is not a big deal.

  17. 17. Paul Cheyne wrote on September 7, 2009

    Got my HTC Hero a while ago now, i think i was one of the first people to get it as it had only been out for a few days.

    first thing you notice about the Hero is its interface, its slick and very fluid and the lag doesnt happen all the time but when it does it knocks an otherwise flawless phone down to a crippled wreck.

    Just getting a text through from someone, i click on the notification and then go through to the message and as im scrolling the screen to move down ???? nothing happens and then about 10 seconds later it will jerk and gradually move down.

    The phone has potential and it really does need an update to erradicate some unwanted lag, I called orange to ask about an update, they promptly informed me to contact HTC!! Which i did, and they told me that it was an orange problem so i would need to contact them?!?! lol really bad communication problem here.

    Needless to say after i had spoke to customer services at orange about the email id sent and the lengthy process of being pushed from pillar to post, they actually admitted that it WAS an orange problem and that they have an update in the pipeline, they also informed me that i could use the HTC update (which will probably be out first) but they said i should wait for the orange one because theres some feaures which won’t be updated by the HTC update.

    JUST GIVE US THE F*****G UPDATE MAN.

    Great phone minus a little lag and some other glitches.

    7.5 / 10 if the update does what it says on the tin then it’ll be a 9 / 10. Because the camera has no flash, small problem but big enough for me as i like to take pics.

    :-)

  18. 18. Abdulla Fouad wrote on September 7, 2009

    The lag issue has been mostly resolved it seems, the update while not officially released from HTC (should be released in a couple of weeks or a couple of months depending on who you believe). The Rom of the fix is already available unoffically from MoDaCo. So if anyone doesn’t mind rooting their phone they should really give the new update a try. People who used it have been very happy it seems.

  19. 19. HTC Hero Update Makes Lag Go ByeBye | Android Phone Fans wrote on September 14, 2009

    [...] irritation that also seemed to be noted across the board – UI lag. Last month we showed you that a fix was on the way and now we can confirm it is finally [...]

  20. 20. Andy wrote on September 16, 2009

    When you install the update does it wipe all the apps or is it just files like music and photos? how would I completley back up my files.
    I’m probably being a bit dim but help would be great!

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