Anand Finally Reviews the Nexus One

[zerocool84]

It's really all about functionality. Google offers more out of the box, making the Nexus One more like a computing device and less like just a smartphone. I suspect that many will prefer that, while others will still not be swayed if they value a cleaner, more focused interface. Just like there are Mac users and PC users, there are iPhone users and Android users. It's not that Android is an iPhone alternative, it's that Android is a completely different approach to what Apple offers.

On paper, Android and the Nexus One offer all of the value. You get more out of the box, you get features like Google Navigation, Google Voice and you get a platform that can do pretty much anything you'd want. Honestly, on paper, the iPhone is a tough sell. It's got slower hardware, less flexibility and you have to pay extra for what Google will give you for free. It's actually very similar to the Windows Mobile vs. iPhone debates from 3 years ago. What sold folks then was Apple's UI advantage, and Android is no slouch in that department.

Many of the same value/openness arguments are made against buying Mac computers over PCs. Ultimately what sways users is how much they appreciate Apple's way of doing things. Clearly not everyone does, but I suspect that there are enough who do to keep the iPhone strong despite Google's serious lead in functionality/bang for your buck.

These two platforms are very polarizing. I have friends who would clearly not work well with an iPhone and others who wouldn't enjoy the Nexus One. It really boils down to what you value most as there's no clear cut answer for everyone. Personally, there are things I love about the Nexus One, and things that I still prefer on the iPhone. If Google or Apple would just copy and improve upon the Pre it would be a much easier decision for me

Going forward, Google will have to reign in some of what makes Android so flexible today to avoid it turning into another Windows Mobile. And Apple will have to embrace some of what Google is doing to prevent iPhone from turning into what Apple's products were in the 1990s.

I always enjoy the way Anand writes and gives his opinion on the good points and bad points of Android and iPhone and how they can make themselves better in the future. He even tells them to copy WebOS.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3632/anands-google-nexus-one-review/1

 

[randomlinh]

I love the line about the Pre... cause I have to say the same exactly thing. A kick ass OS... but clearly not optimized, and hindered on the subpar-ish hardware. I was happy up until 9 months in... it's like a switch flipped and suddenly the hardware started falling apart.

I hate to say it, but if Palm doesn't have a significant update in the summer, I'm invoking my 1yr sprint premiere thing to get the EVO or Nexus One (if it hits sprint by then). or if HTC releases an update to the Hero (I like the smaller form factor).

 

[Tom]

Nice to see an objective, informative review of an Android phone. I agree with the characterization of the Nexus One as more pc-like than an iphone, but what isn't in the article is a proper comparison with a Winmo 6.5 phone which is even more pc like than an Android phone. But the UI improvements of 6.5 with Sense 2.5, currently shipping on Sprint Touch Pro2s, is really just as friendly as Android, or I would even say more developed. Some of the email shortcomings of Android that Anand mentions are not present in Winmo 6.5. And notifications are handled better IMO.

Only real advantages I see are Google Voice and Maps, both of which Google has dropped the ball on developing for Winmo. Which is what I expect from a competitor, but that's more an example of a direction Google is going that I wish they weren't, rather than a weakness of Winmo. There are 3rd party apps for Google Voice integration, and Sprint Nav is better than Google Nav anyway. Google maps is on Winmo, just not talking navigation.

Touch Pro2, still one of the most capable pc-centric phones..great battery life, awesome real keyboard, and awesome touch screen keyboard too.

 

[Tristicus]

Doesn't sound like a great phone honestly. Just didn't get a great vibe from the review. The power sounds nice, but other than that, not too sure.

 

[tommo123]

sounded good to me, but i'm going for the desire (same thing right? but with sense?) in july when my contracts up.

i wonder how long till android has a sibling for PCs? google are going to go that route eventually i assume.

 

[A5]

sounded good to me, but i'm going for the desire (same thing right? but with sense?) in july when my contracts up.

i wonder how long till android has a sibling for PCs? google are going to go that route eventually i assume.

http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os

Chrome OS. Designed for netbook-class machines.

 

[randomlinh]

Doesn't sound like a great phone honestly. Just didn't get a great vibe from the review. The power sounds nice, but other than that, not too sure.

I just read the full review, and get the same vibe. I may have to reconsider switching to Android despite WebOS's pitfalls.

 

[Tebor0]

Nexus One + ClearPad 3000 touchscreen and I'm biting.

Until then I'm sticking with my antique Moto Razr.

 

[Spoooon]

I just read the full review, and get the same vibe. I may have to reconsider switching to Android despite WebOS's pitfalls.

I've used both. WebOS is really cool, but I just prefer Android. Some of that may be because of having used Android first. If Android would make more use of gestures, that would be pretty sweet.

As far as deleting individual emails, just press and hold.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Im keeping the Nexus One for now, primarily because I think Google will move heaven & earth to smooth out the OS.

They have tons of cash and expertise to make it an amazing OS.

 

[randomlinh]

Im keeping the Nexus One for now, primarily because I think Google will move heaven & earth to smooth out the OS.

They have tons of cash and expertise to make it an amazing OS.

they can start by buying palm and integrate some of the nifty webOS features =)

 

[tommo123]

http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os

Chrome OS. Designed for netbook-class machines.

ahh, nice!. will give it a once over.

i was thinking more actual PC though since i'm hoping that in the end, google will do free versions of common apps to get people off windows/OX X to its own OS. or maybe since android is based on (i think anyway) linux, then all those linuxy apps would work on it? or at least could with a little minor work.

now that MS is bound and determined to kill off PC gaming that's 1 less reason to stick to windows. linux (ubuntu anyway) is out. it doesn't like me

 

[Gooberlx2]

I guess I expected the Android's choppiness to be sorted with the powerful hardware...unfortunate to see it probably has more to do with code optimization. Oh well.

The more I think about it, the more interested I get about Win7 Phones. My 1-year premier on Sprint isn't up 'till December anyway...I expect a lot will happen between now and then.

Frankly, I just don't have a lot of faith in Palm being able to survive in its current form. I think they're going to be forced to abandon making the hardware and license WebOS (definitely the best mobile OS I've used so far)...but by that time it may be too late. Maybe they'll sell to Google and the best of both worlds will emerge.

Edit: One thing though, about Anand's distaste for the N1's keyboard in portrait mode:

When I had my Hero, I found using the double-wide key layout (like 2 letters per key) retained about 85-90% accuracy due to the predictive/auto-correct text. Even with slightly reduced accuracy, I could type much faster since I wasn't mis-hitting letters.

 

[A5]

I guess I expected the Android's choppiness to be sorted with the powerful hardware...unfortunate to see it probably has more to do with code optimization. Oh well.

The more I think about it, the more interested I get about Win7 Phones. My 1-year premier on Sprint isn't up 'till December anyway...I expect a lot will happen between now and then.

Frankly, I just don't have a lot of faith in Palm being able to survive in its current form. I think they're going to be forced to abandon making the hardware and license WebOS (definitely the best mobile OS I've used so far)...but by that time it may be too late. Maybe they'll sell to Google and the best of both worlds will emerge.

Edit: One thing though, about Anand's distaste for the N1's keyboard in portrait mode:

When I had my Hero, I found using the double-wide key layout (like 2 letters per key) retained about 85-90% accuracy due to the predictive/auto-correct text. Even with slightly reduced accuracy, I could type much faster since I wasn't mis-hitting letters.

I've been using full QWERTY on an HTC Touch (2.8" screen) for a year now, and I've gotten used to it - I'm looking forward to the bigger screen on the EVO though

 

[teiresias]

they can start by buying palm and integrate some of the nifty webOS features =)

Having owned a Pre since its release, the only "nifty feature" I can really think of on the device in terms of software is the actual GUI card metaphor for the task switching and its associated gestures. It does work really well as a UI construct and I'm sure if Apple's implementation of multitasking in iPhone OS4 uses a coverflow interface (as opposed to an expose inspired one), the fanboys will conveniently forget WebOS ever existed and hail Apple for their genius.

Unfortunately, Palm has some penchant for keeping a bare home screen, making app launching too much of a pain since I can only fit four apps on the launch bar (or whatever it's called), and the obvious lack of on-screen widgets. It's like the polar opposite of an iPhone home screen with Android somewhere in the middle.

Otherwise, I'm not sure what's really nifty about WebOS, there are some baffling design decisions in some other areas of the UI, and it certainly doesn't boggle my mind with its speed (granted I'm not on a Pre Plus). The UIs look also looks a bit big and kiddie for my tastes after having used it for a year.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I guess I expected the Android's choppiness to be sorted with the powerful hardware...unfortunate to see it probably has more to do with code optimization. Oh well.

The more I think about it, the more interested I get about Win7 Phones. My 1-year premier on Sprint isn't up 'till December anyway...I expect a lot will happen between now and then.

Frankly, I just don't have a lot of faith in Palm being able to survive in its current form. I think they're going to be forced to abandon making the hardware and license WebOS (definitely the best mobile OS I've used so far)...but by that time it may be too late. Maybe they'll sell to Google and the best of both worlds will emerge.

Edit: One thing though, about Anand's distaste for the N1's keyboard in portrait mode:

When I had my Hero, I found using the double-wide key layout (like 2 letters per key) retained about 85-90% accuracy due to the predictive/auto-correct text. Even with slightly reduced accuracy, I could type much faster since I wasn't mis-hitting letters.

Well the stock Android keyboard isn't good... just like the Droid's hard keyboard isn't very good when you compare to what's out there. HTC bundles its own IME keyboard with the Hero and to me it's a huge upgrade. There's a whole thread on XDA-Developers where they ported the HTC keyboard over to devices like the Nexus One. I for one am using the HTC keyboard. It's about 10x better than the stock keyboard. The prediction/correction is way better, and so is the key press accuracy.

Android's lack of code optimization is certainly annoying. To think that the N1 is enough, and then realize that it's still slightly choppy is annoying. When the Droid first came out I dismissed the UI speed as being "meh" at best because the iPhone was still much faster, but everyone hounded me and was like "OMG fastest thing ever." And with all those custom ROMs out, who would ever think of running a Droid at stock? Except I'm on a Milestone with a locked bootloader so I'm forced at 550mhz all the way. It feels like night and day with a N1 side by side. The choppiness is kinda disturbing on my Milestone. But for it to take a Nexus One to take down the iPhone UI speed still means that Android needs a lot of optimizations.

 

[randomlinh]

Having owned a Pre since its release, the only "nifty feature" I can really think of on the device in terms of software is the actual GUI card metaphor for the task switching and its associated gestures. It does work really well as a UI construct and I'm sure if Apple's implementation of multitasking in iPhone OS4 uses a coverflow interface (as opposed to an expose inspired one), the fanboys will conveniently forget WebOS ever existed and hail Apple for their genius.

Unfortunately, Palm has some penchant for keeping a bare home screen, making app launching too much of a pain since I can only fit four apps on the launch bar (or whatever it's called), and the obvious lack of on-screen widgets. It's like the polar opposite of an iPhone home screen with Android somewhere in the middle.

Otherwise, I'm not sure what's really nifty about WebOS, there are some baffling design decisions in some other areas of the UI, and it certainly doesn't boggle my mind with its speed (granted I'm not on a Pre Plus). The UIs look also looks a bit big and kiddie for my tastes after having used it for a year.

I'd argue the UI is a pretty big "nifty" feature. The notification system being the other. multitouch across the whole platform. And whatever patents Palm has that keeps Apple from suing them.

Not much, but I really like the WebOS UI. Unfortunately, I'll probably pick up an EVO, and thus, wouldn't mind google snatching up Palm, heh.

 

[zerocool84]

I'd argue the UI is a pretty big "nifty" feature. The notification system being the other. multitouch across the whole platform. And whatever patents Palm has that keeps Apple from suing them.

Not much, but I really like the WebOS UI. Unfortunately, I'll probably pick up an EVO, and thus, wouldn't mind google snatching up Palm, heh.

Yea WebOS as a whole is great it's just on bad hardware and it's not getting and marketing to push it at all. Palm really needs to license out WebOS if they want to stay alive.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Well the stock Android keyboard isn't good... just like the Droid's hard keyboard isn't very good when you compare to what's out there. HTC bundles its own IME keyboard with the Hero and to me it's a huge upgrade.

Ohhh...I didn't realize that. Makes me wonder if the EVO will be smoother by virtue of using SenseUI....maybe HTC optimizes their code better for those few things (keyboard, extra "screens", widgets, etc...)?

 

[Reliant]

I have an iPhone 3g, avoided the 3gs upgrade because I thought I wanted something different. I've been itching to upgrade my phone for the last year or so, I was hoping the Nexus One would be it, but I just don't get that good of a feeling about it. I have a lot of thinking to do about which way to go for my next phone refresh.

 

[vshah]

its sad that one can't try a nexus one in stores. the speed difference is very noticeable when using the device and could be a selling point for many, if they could only try it.

of course several carriers are getting similar hardware later this year...