The first 259200 seconds with the HTC Hermes in hand

Due to previous experience, I will even highlight it this way, in the normal text. READ THE GREEN BOX BELOW! This is not a review, this is an absolutely subjective preview!!! If sombody writes to me in a chat room or private message or anywhere else that this “review” is somehow strange/subjective/lacking detail or something similar, I will personally go and perform a device hard reset for him, chew up his SD card and break his stylus!

Notice: This article is not a review. The featured device was not subject to my typically thorough testing and pedantic detection of weak points. These are my first, positive, impressions. This is not therefore an objective report, but a wholly subjective description of a brand new device, which is full of uncritical admiration and enthusiasm for the new functions and properties. If you do not like this format for some reason, then wait for the full review.

Well, my somewhat unconventional introduction is over. For those who did not collapse and did not spend the last of their pocket money at their favourite psychoanalyst’s after reading the two preceding paragraphs, I have a very interesting Pocket PC here. All that I have written in the introduction is definitely true. What’s more, because of the limited length of the introduction, I have held back a few things yet; the HTC Hermes can do even more! One thing at a time, though.

This almost divine device comes again from the HTC company’s workshop. As you probably know, each device made by this company has its own code marking. For example the Qtek 9100 reviewed recently is therefore called HTC Wizard, the MDA Compact reviewed even earlier has been called HTC Magician by the company and so on. It is therefore almost certain that this device will be purchasable under plenty of different titles, apart from its code name HTC Hermes.

During the couple of days that I had the device at my disposal, I tried to use it and test it at full blast. However, with regard to its capabilities, you should treat this article as a sort of cross-section really; I will need many more days for a complete review. Moreover, it was a pre-production piece with a far from completed ROM drive, hence you should take all the information presented here with a grain of salt. During this device description, I will also not defend against comparisons with the Qtek 9100, as the design philosophy of both devices is very similar. But enough of that boring blah blah blah, let’s have a look at the Hermes.

At first glance, the Hermes, god of fertility and of some other things in later years, did not look that cool. The device looked sort of wishy-washy; simply a boring grey mouse. There were too many input controls (I have counted 14 altogether, including a cursor-pad and a rotary wheel!), the material appeared to be cheap plastic to me, and, above all, the slide-out keyboard did not promise much with its manufacturing quality… Fortunately, I did not take this first glance too heavily into account, and even if the stated features are not improved (and they perhaps will be improved, it is just a sample after all), everything else deserves appreciation.

I could hardly begin with something other than communication capabilities, or with telephone module features to be precise, when describing this new device. Because I could not find official and precise information on the Hermes’s capabilities over the weekend and I do not want to fabricate details (there are so many different configurations going round the internet that it is difficult to find two that correspond), this will perhaps not be a definitive summary, however, it does not alter the final impression anyway. According to the information available, a four-band telephone module working with 850/900/1800 and 1900MHz frequencies is the basis. Besides the classic GSM and GPRS, it copes with EDGE as well, which I have proved by using the Hermes’s notebook connection as a modem and downloading with a constant speed of 22KB/s. In terms of data transmissions, the third-generation UMTS network (WCDMA at 2100MHz frequency to be precise) is much more interesting. When I inserted a Eurotel card into the device and an icon on the display changed from “G” to “U”, I could download a 48MB file in 8 minutes, which makes a great average of 100 KB/s! The uploading rate to the internet is also excellent, with a speed around 40 KB/s my home ADSL line can only watch with envy. But for apparent latency, I would not recognize any difference between a telephone and a mobile phone. In most other specification reports on the device, the term HSDPA figures as well, which should be an even faster version of transmission. But because I lack guaranteed information, we will talk about this in the review.

There are no problems regarding telephone calls; I did not try videophoning because of technical reasons (there was nobody to call). Other classic features like sending SMS or MMS represent no problem for the Hermes, so regarding the device’s evaluation as a mobile communication and data device, it is hard to be unsatisfied. And while we are speaking about communication, the Hermes can also transfer data via infrared port, Bluetooth and WiFi. Regarding WiFi, it will be interesting to find out what specifications it can cope with, as the information has differed so far.

The TI OMAP processor in the Qtek 9100 was widely said to be a step into something brown and unattractive smelling. With the latest versions of ROM Qtek has indeed become quite a usable instrument, nevertheless, it is still a fact that even the great battery endurance could not balance out the generally poor performance of the device, where the processor is the main culprit in this unpleasant circumstance. A weak processor, moreover, was undoubtedly the main reason that many users have opted for a different device. It is therefore good that we will find disproportionably more efficient processor in the Hermes. The Samsung SC32442A, clocked at 400 MHz, is indeed not a conqueror of the highest benchmark peaks, but with any device including an integrated phone, it is always necessary to choose between performance and power consumption, so this Samsung is a good choice. Along with this, a classic combination of 128 MB FlashROM and 64MB RAM is available. It is pointless now to indicate the amount of memory that is really free, as this number will change with every new ROM.

Let us continue. The Hermes boasts two integrated cameras in the one package. The smaller one is designed for 3G video conversations, the larger one offers the option of photo recording up to 1600x1200 pixels resolution (out of the box, with no assistance from outside sources), so a clear 2 megapixels. Together with an option of a two-level focus change for the making of macros (for example photos of a text or a snapshot from an insect’s life), the Hermes represents a good choice for amateur photographers, but the result is still somewhat below expectations. Macro is great, and short distance photos are as well, but with increasing distance, the quality of photos quickly decreases (see photo originals [3557KB] ). However, I will leave the final verdict, together with a description of features (flash, video…), for the review.

The slide-out keyboard has changed dramatically. Regarding appearance, it is now more likely similar to the Universal keyboard, with a blue light (why blue again…?) that is activated by a photosensitive sensor. For several reasons, however, the characters on the grey keys are slightly more readable, so I will give the blue light another chance. Much like with the Qtek, the keyboard is now composed of 41 keys (39+2 soft-keys). Apart from its shape, it is the keyboard layout that has changed above all, and disregarding a few exceptions, the system of secondary key functions (see photo) is completely reformed. Even though the keyboard (keys) mechanism is perhaps the same, it is subjectively more comfortable for me to write on the new Hermes.

Display and sound abilities do not exceed the standards of this category in any way. I liked the display more than the Qtek 9100’s, as the white was slightly whiter:). Otherwise, its measures and parameters are consistent, therefore it is a transflex TFT with 2.7 inches diagonal, 240x320 pixels resolution, and the ability to display 65 thousand colours. The option to configure the lighting separately for battery-powered operation and for operation during recharging is a pleasing change. Regarding headphones, we will find one special feature. As if they could not come to an agreement at HTC on whether to use a 3.5 mm jack or 2.5 mm connector, an easy solution has been reached – they have used neither of them and headphones must be connected via data connector. Well, I will not enter into any details on this for now, but this solution will not be idolised by music-loving users for sure…

I will describe the appearance of the device in the review, for now you can look through the detailed pictures. Besides the unusual number of input controls, the first very interesting feature of the Hermes is the rotary wheel, located in the place where you rest your thumb while holding the device in your left hand. The wheel rotates without limitation and it is used to make selections from the menu, for scrolling though web pages, long e-mail scrolling, or basically anywhere that something needs to be selected or scrolled through. In addition, because a selection can be made by pressing the wheel, device control with one hand is very simple and comfortable. The device’s measurements are quite similar to the Qtek 9100; the Hermes is only slightly longer, but approximately 2 millimetres thinner, which is a difference you can feel in your pocket – the first good point. With respect to weight considerations, the Hermes is slightly heavier, however, 184 grams is still tolerable.

A mishmash of several important pieces of information, which would not occupy a whole paragraph individually, are instead mentioned here at the end. Battery endurance will be interesting. I had no time to perform any tests, but with regard to the plethora of energy-consuming modules headed by the UMTS, it will be certainly hard for the replaceable 1350mAh Li-Ion battery. An expansion slot, which has once again been made smaller and is customised for microSD cards, will perhaps be a small minus in the eyes of the general public. Accessories are usually the basest in the case of testing devices, so you can read about this in the review. The device has a Windows Mobile 5 Phone edition operating system of course; AKU2 is its part already. Besides the basic applications, there are many bonuses (PDF reader, voice command, ZIP utility), nevertheless we can expect even more in the final ROM.

Well, I will finish here in order to have something to write about in the review:). In summary, than if you liked Vario, you will love Hermes. He will probably fall short of reaching Olympus, however, the list of its parameters is impressive and so we have no choice but to look forward to the finished product and the detailed review.

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