Much like HTC’s great 2009 device, Hero, this is a solid, durable and powerful phone.

The HTC Legend is constructed from aluminium and is deceptively light weight to hold but consistently tough. The ultra-modern look is helped too by its severe minimalism in features with just a single optical trackpad at the protruding chin of the device and a few buttons hidden at the bottom of the screen.

Interface
Unsurprisingly for HTC these days, Legend runs on Android 2.1 which is combined with a Sense UI. Like the Desire, multi-touch functionality allows you to pinch on the touchscreen – which can be used to bring up a homescreen of seven screens with ease. It’s an usual action for a touchscreen phone but navigating the OS is surprisingly inituitive and the capactive touch screen is excellently responsive, plus super slick to slide through. Sense UI has additions on this handset, such as Friendstream which lumps all friends and contacts together from different sources, ie. Facebook, Twitter… you get the idea.

OS
The OS looks stunning on the bright AMOLED display that announces colours vividly, and the entire display is just 3.2″ which is a smaller size display for HTC but suits the slimmer, thinner build of the Legend (it can fit in your pocket too, unlike the HD2). The 5 megapixel camera is decent enough to use, and has the added bonus of facial recognition, but this is one area where we think HTC could improve in quality in future. Though HTC Legend only has a Qualcomm 7227 600MHz – nothing compared to Desire’s 1Ghz Snapdragon processor, but close to the iPhone 3GS – the Legend is fast and smooth to use.

Camera
HTC have never had great cameras but this one, as on the HTC Desire, is a sign of HTC remedying that. The 5 megapixel camera armed with an LED Flash can’t compete with the likes of Vivaz (8 megapixel) but has an excellent auto-focus and can take a picture with just a tap of the touch-screen. And with sliders that allow control of contrast, saturation and sharpness, you’re much more in control of how your photos turn out.

Battery
Okay, first negative: The battery life isn’t great. You’re going to have to charge this phone every day pretty much, which means no forgetting your charger for the weekend. The Legend will last you one day, and under intensive use it will last you half that.

Conclude
All three of the MWC 2010 releases for HTC have been attention-grabbing in their greatness and the Legend particularly seems like a hugely improved version of the HTC Hero model. Buy this if you want a brilliant touch-screen, multi-touch experience but don’t buy it for battery life.

 ★★★★☆ 

SEE ALL DETAILS ON HTC LEGEND UNLOCKED – £369.99

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by Richard Armitage