HTC Hero available sim-free through Amazon

Posted by David Walker on Mon 29 Jun 2009

Or wait until Orange offers it for free with a contract

New Android phones seem to be appearing on an almost weekly basis, but there's no denying that the HTC Hero is the hottest Google-friendly handset around right now. Both T-Mobile and Orange will be offering it under contract for free from around mid-July, but if you fancy one without the 18-month or two-year term, head on over to Amazon, which is selling the HTC Hero sim-free.

According to the blurb on the Amazon.co.uk website, the handset will be on its way to you from 15th July if you put in a pre-order, which tallies up with the estimated dates from the two major networks offering it (T-Mobile as the G1 Touch). The price is a fairly hefty £429, but with monthly deals for the tasty touchscreen around the £40 mark, you'll have your money back in around 10 months, not including the money you spend on calls and data elsewhere, of course.

If you want to get up close with the Hero, check out our video hands-on or take a couple of minutes to browse our in-depth gallery. Its the first mobile phone to offer Flash for a full web experience, throwing in other tasty treats like a customisable homepage, live feeds from Facebook and Twitter (plus one-touch access), a 5-megapixel camera, 3.2-inch touchscreen and a teflon coating to keep your new purchase free from your grubby mitts. In terms of Android phones, the gauntlet has been well and truly thrown down.

Link: HTC Hero on Amazon (via Engadget)