Our review unit of the Sprint HTC Hero is taking longer than expected so in the meantime I have decided to get down to the bottom of this alleged Sprint HTC Hero performance lag.  We know that the GSM version of the HTC Hero suffered from serious lag issues but a firmware update which began to rollout last week addressed this issue.  HTC assured Cnet editor Bonnie Cha that the Sprint HTC Hero was also updated, “HTC assured us that the Sprint Hero includes the latest ROM update”. So let’s go ahead and see what various media outlets are saying about the Sprint HTC Hero:

CrunchGear, “The Hero is Android perfected and it is an excellent phone. I would recommend it over the Palm Pre and, dare I say it, something like the iPhone 3G. $180 isn’t too much to pay for the best Android phone on the market.”

Cnet, “While it could use a boost in the performance department, the HTC Hero is the most feature-packed Google Android device to date, bringing some notable improvements and a highly customizable interface”

MobileTechReview, “It’s hard not to love a Hero, the HTC Hero on Sprint in this case. It’s replete with features and those features work well. HTC’s customized Android is a joy to use: it’s fun, it’s efficient, full-featured and highly customizable. The phone is responsive (though it needs a reboot every 3 days or so to keep things moving quickly) and it has one of the best web browsers on a smartphone. The capacitive 3.2″ display is sharp and we love the multi-touch feature when zooming in on web pages. Though it lacks the serious business clout of the HTC Touch Pro2 with its full MS Exchange support, very complete Outlook syncing and an Office suite that both reads and writes MS Office files, the Hero should do for those who don’t need Windows in their pocket. Well done, Google, HTC and Sprint.”

Gizmodo, “The princess might not kiss this Hero because it’s kinda ugly, but at least it’ll actually get the job done now. If you’ve been waiting for an Android phone not on T-Mobile, or one that’s finally just about ready for primetime, this is it.”

Engadget, “Here is what we can say about the phone: the industrial design of this version versus the older model is a marked improvement, chucking that awkward chin shape for a proper bottom half, and rearranging the hard buttons so that you’re not constantly getting your hands cramped up. We also have to mention the trackball, which is the most comfortable we’ve ever used. While the performance is still not where we think it should be, the Hero is an awesome addition to Sprint’s growing line of serious contenders in the smartphone game. If that new update is all it’s supposed to be (and if Sprint is expedient in bringing it to market), many of our complaints should be quelled — and this will be the killer device we know it can be.”

Things are looking very positive for the Sprint HTC Hero based on the first reviews surfacing on the net.  All five websites have plenty of positives to say about the device and the general consensus as that the device is a winner.  As far as the alleged lag it seems that Cnet and Engadget are onboard with this standpoint and possibly Gizmodo, but they don’t explicitly state this.  It seems that whether or not the lag becomes a problem is mainly dependent on the user and HTC will be here to address the issue if it becomes a problem for the majority of Sprint users.  At $179.99 and the power of the Sprint 3G network, the Sprint HTC Hero is a no brainer if you are looking for the most polished Android device to date.