Google Nexus One
PrintLike all Google products, it's still a bit beta
On paper, Google’s new Nexus One is the smartphone to beat. It’s got a gorgeous screen, a svelte formfactor, and the hottest phone operating system on the planet, Android 2.1. Unfortunately, just like the Motorola Droid, the Nexus One has some problems that prevent us from recommending it wholeheartedly.
Let’s start with the awesome. The Nexus One’s screen, a 3.7-inch 800x480 active-matrix OLED display, is undeniably gorgeous, rendering pitch-perfect colors at high resolution in a way that makes the iPhone 3GS screen look simply sad by comparison. The Nexus One runs a Qualcomm QSD 8250 at 1GHz, comes with 512MB of RAM and 512MB of onboard flash, and includes a user-upgradeable 4GB MicroSD card. All this is packed into an HTC-designed body that’s slimmer than an iPhone 3GS and waaaay sexier than the Droid.
The Android OS itself continues to impress. The 2.1 edition spit-shines the improvements to 2.0. We dig the speedier application menu and the dynamic wallpaper, which uses cues from the music you’re listening to or the time of day to render interesting (but ultimately useless) visualizations behind your home screen. There are a few more substantial updates, as well—most notably, every text field in the phone is voice enabled. While this won’t make in-car Twittering any safer (you still need to navigate to the right fields with your fingers), we found the feature occasionally useful, especially in the navigation app. It’s worth mentioning that the voice recognition all happens server-side, so even though it’s pretty accurate, it takes a moment or two to complete.
The Application menu in Android 2.1 received some cosmetic and performance improvements. Icons seem to scroll up and over a 3D cube, rather than up a flat surface.
The best thing about Android continues to be the ability for third-party developers to integrate their apps with the phone’s native apps. The widgets that have been part of Android since version 1.5 even allow you to customize your phone’s home screen, something that’s notably missing from the iPhone.
While the Android Marketplace now has more than 14,000 apps, the viewer software does a poor job of promoting the good apps and burying the bad. We still don’t know how to sort by user rating or popularity, and the editorially driven selections are not compelling. All the applications in the world won’t help your platform if your users can’t find the awesome ones, Google.
Android includes a car-friendly nav menu that puts the apps you frequently use in a car at hand, so it is ever-so-slightly less dangerous when you use the phone while driving.
We also experienced some pretty serious problems with the onscreen keyboard, on three separate occasions, with multiple handsets. It simply stopped registering touches accurately, which made it impossible to type. The problem was sporadic and difficult to reproduce but it was annoying as hell. We haven’t experienced the problem since applying the multitouch update, but it’s a serious enough problem that it warrants mentioning. We also feel that the soft buttons on the screen’s fascia (Back, Menu, Home, and Search) are placed too high. It’s too easy to accidently tap them when you hit the keyboard.
Of course, the worst of it is that this Nexus One is really only usable on T-Mobile’s limited network for now. AT&T users can buy it unlocked but will be limited to EDGE speeds. The good news is that the Nexus One is coming out in Verizon trim this spring, with an AT&T version on tap, too. Having this phone on a more capable network would push the Nexus One up in value. Still, as is, even with its little foibles, the Nexus One is clearly the best Android-phone yet.
Google Nexus One
Rick Deckard
Great OLED screen; replaceable battery; good call quality; infinitely customizable.
Roy Batty
Keyboard wigs out; weird soft-key placement; Android Marketplace sucks; T-Mobile.
8
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RD
December 18, 2010 at 10:01am
Thanks for the post. I'll consider this while making my choice. I've seen a video about Nexus One testing and was quite impressed. Here is the videro http://www.tubesfan.com/watch/nexus-one-the-story-episode-3-testing/2 . But of course the points you considered were not mentioned. Thanks for objective opinion.
Phrish
March 17, 2010 at 12:16pm
I agree! And no more talking about monitors, keyboards, or printers. And no software. Don't mention games anymore... or routers. Just PC's only. No one wants to hear about computer accessories or anything that can actually be used "with" a computer or in conjunction with a computer or... in harmony with... or around... or about computers. Just talk about motherboards... and CPUs. Don't let me hear about MP3's or DRM, or dur with durpa durka dur. And hooka pooka dur de diddly durga durpa ding dong.
They durk uur duuuur!!!! Durka durka durpa durrrrr!!
- Phrish
brannank
March 17, 2010 at 8:56am
Maximum PC needs key folks in place to refocus the magazine on PCs and PC peripherals instead of cell phones and cameras. Sorry but the magazine we've all come to appreciate needs to find it's way again.
mesiah
March 16, 2010 at 9:36pm
Does your spam filter actually block spam, or just meaningful posts?
LGA1156
March 16, 2010 at 6:39pm
All these smartphone storys, I thought this is maximum pc? out of how to install thermal paste stories?
COMMANDER_COOK
March 16, 2010 at 5:23pm
I was actually thinking you guys needed to review the nexus one just earlier today.
----------------------------------Donate blood! http://www.redcrossblood.org/
BobbyPhoenix
March 16, 2010 at 4:10pm
I have one for about a month now. I love it. I came from Verizon, and I'm so glad. T-Mo has been way better for me. Better call quality by far. I have used an iphone before, and to me the N1 blows it away. I have all the apps I need, and I simply can't put it down. I even named my phone. Andy the Android. tee hee
Phrish
March 16, 2010 at 3:21pm
Android is sexy. I'll give it that. I tried the Droid, and I've used Windows Mobile in the past (version 6) and Blackberry. I traded my Blackberry Curve Flip for the Droid, then switched back.
My main arguments against the Android platform in general and the Droid in specific:
- At a MINIMUM for a PDA, I need calendar, contacts, notes, and tasks. Android has calendar and contacts, but the tasks is half baked and really just an ofshoot of the calendar. I need SEPERATE tasks that I may or may not want to tie alarms into. And notes is non-existant. I have tons of notes in Outlook that I'd want to port/sync with Android. Google, Google Docs is not a substitute for a quick sticky-style note application for syncing with Outlook. I've seen some hacks of task syncing and something that tries to sync Outlook notes with Google Docs... but... no... nuh uh. CALENDAR, CONTACTS, NOTES, TASKS. This is not too much to ask. All else is gravy.
- Droid keyboard sucks. Flat out sucks. No question. I'm not an on-screen KB person. I need the tactile of a true touch KB. I can text like you wouldn't believe with the Blackberry Pearl Flip... love those keys and the predictive word algorithms are 99% dead on.
- I do miss the customizable on-home-screen application for my calendar, agenda, weather that I used to enjoy with WM (PocketBreeze, Pocket Weather). With home screen widgets, I expect I'll probably see this eventually on Android, but I've not seen anything yet that I like. Eventually, I'm sure, but it will take that to pull me away from my flip phone back to a brick of a touch screen phone.
But the calendar, contacts, notes, tasks thing is the biggest bugaboo for me right now. I don't even know that that is primarily due to Android as a platform, but I suspect it's a shortcoming with Google itself. Google is great, but the integration of these kinds of basic PIM items seems half baked.
Take the main Gmail interface as an example. You have email right there (no way to send a high/low importance email still I might add... geez comeon Google). Calendar is a hyperlink at the top of the page that opens a whole new browser window or tab. Contacts and tasks both look like a mail label link found with your other mail lables. Tasks opens a floater window over mail, but it's really a tie-in with the calendar. Contacts closes your mail interface and opens a contacts interface. There is no "notes" link, except for the Google Docs, which, like Calendar, again opens a new browser window/tab. Docs is not a quick note taking application.
The interface is just "half baked" top to bottom. Using Google is an exercise in trade-offs, finding and executing the various components of the suite of functionality.
I just want to say to Google, in case they are listening, which they probably aren't... look at Outlook. Despite my desire to move off of Outlook to the Google cloud, you can't argue that Outlook has the user interface right. They have email, calendar, contacts, tasks, notes, etc. as they should be. Logical. Consistent. As soon as Google can emulate that experience, the better off everyone will be, and the better Android will likely be as a result, as it moves to accommodate the interface and functionality.
And for heaven's sake, build a proper integrated notes app, separate from Docs.
Ok, I'm done ranting. =) Thank you. I'll be here all week.
- Phrish
savior
March 16, 2010 at 2:50pm
Ive had this phone for a few months now, I really enjoy it. I wish I can compare it to the iphone, but I never had one of those
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