Review of Nexus One aka Google Phone

[sourceninja]

I've owned every version of the iPhone and I now have a Droid. Maybe I can clear up a few things.

Multitouch: Honestly, I don't miss multitouch at all...for the most part. Yeah, it was great when I had the iPhone and using pinch-to-zoom was handy. The only area where multitouch may/may not be a problem is using the onscreen keyboard. I'm pretty good at cranking out messages & emails with the Droids's onscreen keyboard but I'm not as fast on it as I was the iPhone. Yes, the Droid has an actual physical keyboard but I don't use it enough to care.

Screen coating: I'm not sure about the Nexus One, but the Droid has Gorilla Glass (as someone mentioned earlier). I'll be honest and say I can be a little rough on my phones and with the iPhone, I wouldn't dare walk around without a screen protector. With the Droid, I haven't even bothered with anything protecting the screen and I have absolutely no scratches. Fingerprints happen but I don't notice them that much when I'm using the phone. I have noticed that I don't have the need to wipe the screen nearly as much when I had my iPhone(s). I had a screen protector on my 3GS so I really didn't take advantage of the oleophobic coting. I will say though that when I finally took it off before I sold it, the screen protector was scratched to hell and back. I'm amazed how well the Droid has held up. Hopefully the Nexus One is the same.

Email: On the Droid (and I'd assume every other Android phone), there's a Gmail app and a generic mail app. I have 2 Gmail accounts and I use the Gmail app just fine. Both accounts are pushed to the phone at all times and they have separate inboxes, similar to the iPhone. (no Gmail push on the iPhone though). The email app, which is different from the Gmail app, also allows multiple email accounts but you can also have a single, combined inbox for all of them. The emails have a little color-coded tab so you can distinguish which account the email is sent to. Personally, I just use the Gmail app but the other option is nice if I wanted to have a single combined inbox.

I had the Droid Eris but it just wasn't speedy enough so I went with the Droid. Honestly, I don't like the Droid as a piece of hardware. I really don't like the physical keyboard and I've never been a fan of sliders. I got it because I was sick of the iPhone and it's limitations (even while jailbroken). Yes, there aren't nearly as many apps on the Android market but most of the apps I saw on the iPhone were more fluff apps than anything else. I did have a lot of games on the iPhone that I missed and I still consider getting an iPod touch but the final straw for me was iTunes. I hate it. Plain and simple.

I'm contemplating on getting a Nexus One for T-Mobile since for some reason I can't wait the 4+ months it'll take to come to Verizon. I'd assume I'll have to buy the phone for full price anyway and T-Mobile has 3G coverage in most of the places I go so I'm a little conflicted right now. I wish I wasn't a gadget whore.

Thanks, that helps a little.

I also just wanted to say that I have not used any screen protection on my 3g or my 3gs. It sits in my pocket with whatever else gets stuck in there (pens, keys, money, etc) and while the 3rd party case protectors are scratched up, the screens don't have a single nick on them. I put a screen protector on the iphone 3g for a bit when I was using it and the protector did get all scratched up, but without it the screen took no damage. If it is true that the screen is like the iphone 3g in terms of needing to be cleaned, then that sucks. It's the single thing I hated most about my iphone when I got it, and the thing I praised the most about my 3gs when I got that. However, it's not a deal breaker.

I am interested to see how the keyboard responds to me. I didn't try the on screen keyboard with the droid when I tested it. I did find the physical keyboard simply horrible to use with way more typos and fat fingers trying to use it vs my iphone. I may have to swing by verizon and play a bit more with the droid to see if I can use the keyboard or if the experience of no multi-touch will be a deal breaker.

In terms of lag, my problem with the droid was trying to scroll a webpage or a list of games on their app store. It just seemed laggy in that respect. Also, just a quirk (not a bug or problem) I found when scrolling lists is that if there is nothing to scroll the list does not move. I was looking though the app store and tried to scroll a list with just enough events to fill the screen. The list didn't move at all which made it feel like the phone was lagging or something was wrong. It took me a minute to realize there just wasn't anything else to show. The iphone method of allowing you to 'scroll' a small amount above and below a list (and spring back when you let go) is much more intuitive imho.

 

[Tremulant]

I ordered my N1 last night. Finally decided to step into the world of a smartphone (plus, my moto rizr is finally breaking after 2 years).

 

[Deeko]

2) Multi-touch could be the thing that kills Android for me. Playing games is totally out of the question without it. I ain't the speediest typist on my 3GS, but no multi-touch made me slower. Google really needs to address this.

3) Never even thought about this. I have 4 accounts on my iPhone, but didn't mess with email on the Android phones. Can an Android owner chime in on this?

2) The phone supports multitouch - its the native applications that do not. There's nothing stopping app developers from using multitouch. Even the original G1 supported multitouch in hardware

3) It handles multiple email accounts, and that improved a bit in 2.0. The gmail app is pretty nice if you're accustomed to, well, gmail. It looks and acts like gmail does. The email app for imap/pop3/exchange isn't flashy but it gets the job done. Color-coded combined inbox.

 

[sourceninja]

Besides the dolphin browser, are there any games or apps out there that support multitouch?

BTW, dolphin browser looks nice.

 

[Deeko]

A quick seach just on the term 'multitouch' brings up photo galleries, photo editors, a 2 player pong game, a keyboard (not for typing, for music), bunch of other things that weren't so apparent from the title.

 

[sourceninja]

Well, I just figured out my minute plan. It will actually cost more for me to switch to tmobile. I used well over 1000 minutes last month and I average about 900 minutes a month.

I have the smallest plan currently with ATT, but most of my calls are to other ATT users, thus 803 of my minute last month were free mobile to mobile minutes. Only 197 minutes were actually counted towards my total minutes.

I actually have 1100 rollover minutes banked.

That means I'd need the 99.00 a month plan from tmobile. That's a big cost increase just to get a new phone. I came to this decision after deciding to bite the bullet and take a chance on the N1. So I guess the lack of ATT 3g support is the deciding feature for me.

Another android phone I have to pass on. I'm stuck with this stupid ass iphone forever :-(

 

[Deeko]

You're in luck....AT&T just announced 5 Android phones for 2010.

 

[sourceninja]

You're in luck....AT&T just announced 5 Android phones for 2010.

Awesome. I've got nothing but time to wait LOL. Honestly though, as of december tmobile has much better service in my area then att with more 3g coverage. My wife pointed out that if I left our att plan she could drop her plan down and it might eat the difference of me having a unlimited plan with tmobile.

 

[Fox5]

Now that google is entering the hardware game, maybe manufacturer's will give the other Linux options a chance.
IE, Nokia's Symbian (suck) and Maemo (pretty cool).
Oh, and you know Ubuntu is entering the phone market soon.

 

[zylander]

In terms of lag, my problem with the droid was trying to scroll a webpage or a list of games on their app store. It just seemed laggy in that respect. Also, just a quirk (not a bug or problem) I found when scrolling lists is that if there is nothing to scroll the list does not move. I was looking though the app store and tried to scroll a list with just enough events to fill the screen. The list didn't move at all which made it feel like the phone was lagging or something was wrong. It took me a minute to realize there just wasn't anything else to show. The iphone method of allowing you to 'scroll' a small amount above and below a list (and spring back when you let go) is much more intuitive imho.

I feel the same way. A lot of people have been commenting on the speed of the droid but when I used one, I was not impressed (a friends new handset, not a store demo). Scrolling through a webpage was slow and unresponsive. Even go through the menu of the phone was sluggish.

 

[zerocool84]

I feel the same way. A lot of people have been commenting on the speed of the droid but when I used one, I was not impressed (a friends new handset, not a store demo). Scrolling through a webpage was slow and unresponsive. Even go through the menu of the phone was sluggish.

For an Android phone it's good but when you've used phones like the iPhone/Pre it's a different experience.

 

[Cuda1447]

Hrmm, this thread has really blown up. I suppose I'll over some insight that might be helpful to some.


First of all, full disclosure. I am a T-Mobile employee. Secondly, I owned the G1 prior to its release. I owned the Mytouch prior to its release. I have rooted both. I also own a 3gs that my wife uses. I purchased the Nexus and have been using it all day.


The Nexus is a huge upgrade over the G1/Mytouch. It has gorilla glass screen. It is not only a brighter/bigger display, it is MUCH more accurate for texting. Definitely on par with the Iphone screen quality. That was one of the major advantages of the Iphone, IMO.

The snapdragon processor is a very nice addition to android. The mytouch was really limited because the processor simply could not keep up with what the OS was capable of. One of the things I absolutely love about android is the customization of the way the phone works/looks. The snapdragon really allows the phone to be used the way you want to use it.

The lack of a physical keyboard is NOT an issue on this phone for me, where on the mytouch it really was a bit of a pain.

As far as rooting the phone, it really isn't that difficult of a process for a geek. Its much easier than it was when the G1 first came out and there are some VERY nice things it allows. Apps2SD is one. Storage limitation is not an issue with a rooted phone. Another major capability is wireless tethering. With the mytouch I was able to click a button and the phone threw up a wifi network I could connect to on my laptop. It worked flawlessly.


As for multitouch, it really is a non-issue. That's all software based because of patents by Apple. Root the phone and download 3rd party apps and you have multitouch. Not that big of a deal, imo.


As for T-mobile carrying the phone in the stores, that's a really interesting question. Personally, I don't think Tmob will. I think they are trying to go the Euro route of not really selling the phones in the store, but just selling service. If they do that they don't have to deal with troubleshooting of phones, which is what like 75% of our customer interactions are because people are to stupid to figure their phones out. Just my .02 on that though.

From a finish/design standpoint the Nexus is among the best in the industry. It feels VERY solid and is very thin. It really makes the mytouch look like a plastic toy.


Anyways, I've rambled enough. If anyone has any specific questions, let me know.

 

[zerocool84]

Hrmm, this thread has really blown up. I suppose I'll over some insight that might be helpful to some.


First of all, full disclosure. I am a T-Mobile employee. Secondly, I owned the G1 prior to its release. I owned the Mytouch prior to its release. I have rooted both. I also own a 3gs that my wife uses. I purchased the Nexus and have been using it all day.


The Nexus is a huge upgrade over the G1/Mytouch. It has gorilla glass screen. It is not only a brighter/bigger display, it is MUCH more accurate for texting. Definitely on par with the Iphone screen quality. That was one of the major advantages of the Iphone, IMO.

The snapdragon processor is a very nice addition to android. The mytouch was really limited because the processor simply could not keep up with what the OS was capable of. One of the things I absolutely love about android is the customization of the way the phone works/looks. The snapdragon really allows the phone to be used the way you want to use it.

The lack of a physical keyboard is NOT an issue on this phone for me, where on the mytouch it really was a bit of a pain.

As far as rooting the phone, it really isn't that difficult of a process for a geek. Its much easier than it was when the G1 first came out and there are some VERY nice things it allows. Apps2SD is one. Storage limitation is not an issue with a rooted phone. Another major capability is wireless tethering. With the mytouch I was able to click a button and the phone threw up a wifi network I could connect to on my laptop. It worked flawlessly.


As for multitouch, it really is a non-issue. That's all software based because of patents by Apple. Root the phone and download 3rd party apps and you have multitouch. Not that big of a deal, imo.


As for T-mobile carrying the phone in the stores, that's a really interesting question. Personally, I don't think Tmob will. I think they are trying to go the Euro route of not really selling the phones in the store, but just selling service. If they do that they don't have to deal with troubleshooting of phones, which is what like 75% of our customer interactions are because people are to stupid to figure their phones out. Just my .02 on that though.

From a finish/design standpoint the Nexus is among the best in the industry. It feels VERY solid and is very thin. It really makes the mytouch look like a plastic toy.


Anyways, I've rambled enough. If anyone has any specific questions, let me know.

I understand rooting the phone for stuff is great just like jailbreaking is as well but having to void the warranty of the phone is not something most people want to do. I know for sure I will but it's just not something everyone will or should do.

 

[Cuda1447]

A lot of people won't, Zero. But let's be honest, without jailbreaking an Iphone its not all that impressive either. At least google isn't REALLY trying to limit you from rooting it. If anything it is HTC that doesn't want you to root it as it may cause them to have more RMA claims. That said, in time there should be a way to unroot your nexus, just as you can the G1 or Mytouch. If/when that becomes possible voiding your warranty isn't really even an issue because you can unroot it and no one will know the difference.