The HTC Hero has been a long time coming and for many it heralds a new coming of age for Google’s android system. The other landmark phones using the system including the T-Mobile G1 and the HTC Magic were interesting first steps, but it’s clear from just a few minutes with the Hero that despite the rather corny name, we’re looking at the next generation in terms of how well Android works and what it can do – well, sort of.

One of the power of Android was always going to be its ability to let OEM’s mess around with it to a huge amount, and the complete overhaul HTC have given the system have showed just how well this has paid off. The brand new home screens and keyboard are both far better and more configurable than the original. The design of the Hero is also very clean and professional and certainly gives the iPhone a run for its money – something that can’t be said for many Smartphones on the market right now.

The 3.2 inch screen is also pretty much the same as the iPhone and thankfully it’s got about the same level of excellent responsiveness. The display is bright and clear and perfect for standard phone usage as well as photos and videos. To round things off the Hero finally combines Android with multi-touch, making the phone a joy to control even if they on screen keyboard is a little poor.

Unfortunately, despite a promising start in both design and software, the hardware ends up letting the phone down overall, making the actual experience with the phone far more worth than it should be. Despite the excellent controls and smart software, it’s simply not fast enough to keep up with normal usage. This is even more annoying considering the phone runs at a full 528 MHz – much faster than the original iPhone, despite being slower for it. This isn’t a good show for Android at all and marks the system down quite considerably in our books – HTC had the right choice for the hardware but unfortunately, the operating system couldn’t keep up.

While the Hero makes some great innovations and is solid in both software and form factor, this speed problem means that the Palm Pre, Apple iPhone or even the older HTC Magic are still the best choices right now.