Review of Google's G1 - The Android Cell Phone
October 22nd 2008 18:27
Category: Mobile Phones
So, the time has come and Google has released its first cell phone. The Android powered cell phone has been doted as the G1, which is thought to be a real competitor to the iPhone, but we shall wait and see.
I will start with the price, as everyone wants to know what the price is, and you can buy the G1 for $179 and have it shipped out on October 22, so the price is pretty nice.
The G1 is not the most attractive phone, but it is available in both black and brown.
Size: 4.6”T x 2.16”W x 0.62”D.
Weight: 5.6 ounce
The 3.17” screen slides up and over to reveal the full QWERTY keyboard. You’ll also see the Menu, Call, Home, Back, and End buttons underneath the screen with the small trackball. You’ll have the volume rocker on the right side of the G1, and the camera shutter on the left.
If you want the silent mode, you’ll have to press and hold the Power button and select the silent option.
Now, as for the QWERTY keypad, you’ll find that although there is plenty of room to hit the keys, they are very slippery. You’ll also find that the backlighting, which automatically adjusts to the ambient lighting, on the keys sucks; if you’re in a dimly lit area, you’ll have trouble with the keys.
The G1 lacks a virtual keypad, except for the phone dial, so you have to slide open the screen in order to get to the keys and symbols. This can be a big concern and irritation if you text a good bit.
But, the overall use of the phone is pretty easy to use with the Android-powered interface. There is a status bar on the top of every Android page that indicates the battery life, time, signal strength, and any email alerts; you can add text message, missed calls, and voicemail alerts to the status bar, as well.
The Android is so easy to use and is simple. The G1 doesn’t have to have all the flashy lights and swirly text.
You will find that as soon as you turn on the G1, your Gmail email will pop up, and if you don’t have Gmail, you’ll have to get it. You’ll be able to access your calendar, address book, messages, and anything else in your Gmail account just as long as you have Wi-Fi range.
But, you can use other messaging options besides just Gmail. You can access POP and IMAP accounts. You also have text messaging capabilities and instant messaging with AIM, Google Talk, Windows Live, and Yahoo! Messaging.
The call quality is pretty good, and the speaker phone capabilities are great.
The main concern that I see is that the G1 is released for T-Mobile, which typically doesn’t have the best reception, but supposedly there is 3G coverage in 21 markets (not cities), which accounts for about 95 cities per market.
The web browser for the G1 is thought to be one of the best. Although there are a few problems in terms of choppy scrolling, no accelerometer (you have to use the keypad or tap a menu option to get an accelerometer). The trackball is great with scrolling through websites and clicking on links. You can even switch between the web browser and other windows, and save or copy the URLs which is not available on the iPhone.
You have access to Google Maps on the G1, but it’s not quite as polished as the maps on the iPhone, but the feature is still available. You also have built in GPS is pretty good in terms of locating you, but it can’t give you turn by turn directions.
The music player on the G1 is pretty basic, and the playback controls are pretty easy to use, but it’s just not as good as the iPhone or some of the other cell phone music players that are already available. You can create playlists, pause and start music, and even download Amazon MP3 directly over your phone. The one problem that you may see is that there isn’t a 3.5mm headphone jack or a stereo Bluetooth/A2DP support), so you’ll have to use a mini USB adapter or the dinky ear buds that come with the G1.
You’ll probably quickly notice that with the G1 it lacks a video player, but it does have a YouTube application.
The 3 MP camera has an auto-focus shutter, and you’ll quickly notice that the pictures are of only decent quality and again no video recording.
The G1 has 5 hours of talk time and more than a week of standby time only if you keep the G1 in sleep mode the whole time. You will find that a regular day of web surfing, texting, talking on the phone, and looking at maps, you’ll kill the battery in no time.
There are still hardware quirks and bugs with the G1, which are being tweak for a new G2, I would assume, but for Google’s first try at a cell phone and for the first Android cell phone, they did a pretty good job.
I will start with the price, as everyone wants to know what the price is, and you can buy the G1 for $179 and have it shipped out on October 22, so the price is pretty nice.
The G1 is not the most attractive phone, but it is available in both black and brown.
Size: 4.6”T x 2.16”W x 0.62”D.
Weight: 5.6 ounce
The 3.17” screen slides up and over to reveal the full QWERTY keyboard. You’ll also see the Menu, Call, Home, Back, and End buttons underneath the screen with the small trackball. You’ll have the volume rocker on the right side of the G1, and the camera shutter on the left.
If you want the silent mode, you’ll have to press and hold the Power button and select the silent option.
Now, as for the QWERTY keypad, you’ll find that although there is plenty of room to hit the keys, they are very slippery. You’ll also find that the backlighting, which automatically adjusts to the ambient lighting, on the keys sucks; if you’re in a dimly lit area, you’ll have trouble with the keys.
The G1 lacks a virtual keypad, except for the phone dial, so you have to slide open the screen in order to get to the keys and symbols. This can be a big concern and irritation if you text a good bit.
But, the overall use of the phone is pretty easy to use with the Android-powered interface. There is a status bar on the top of every Android page that indicates the battery life, time, signal strength, and any email alerts; you can add text message, missed calls, and voicemail alerts to the status bar, as well.
The Android is so easy to use and is simple. The G1 doesn’t have to have all the flashy lights and swirly text.
You will find that as soon as you turn on the G1, your Gmail email will pop up, and if you don’t have Gmail, you’ll have to get it. You’ll be able to access your calendar, address book, messages, and anything else in your Gmail account just as long as you have Wi-Fi range.
But, you can use other messaging options besides just Gmail. You can access POP and IMAP accounts. You also have text messaging capabilities and instant messaging with AIM, Google Talk, Windows Live, and Yahoo! Messaging.
The main concern that I see is that the G1 is released for T-Mobile, which typically doesn’t have the best reception, but supposedly there is 3G coverage in 21 markets (not cities), which accounts for about 95 cities per market.
The web browser for the G1 is thought to be one of the best. Although there are a few problems in terms of choppy scrolling, no accelerometer (you have to use the keypad or tap a menu option to get an accelerometer). The trackball is great with scrolling through websites and clicking on links. You can even switch between the web browser and other windows, and save or copy the URLs which is not available on the iPhone.
You have access to Google Maps on the G1, but it’s not quite as polished as the maps on the iPhone, but the feature is still available. You also have built in GPS is pretty good in terms of locating you, but it can’t give you turn by turn directions.
The music player on the G1 is pretty basic, and the playback controls are pretty easy to use, but it’s just not as good as the iPhone or some of the other cell phone music players that are already available. You can create playlists, pause and start music, and even download Amazon MP3 directly over your phone. The one problem that you may see is that there isn’t a 3.5mm headphone jack or a stereo Bluetooth/A2DP support), so you’ll have to use a mini USB adapter or the dinky ear buds that come with the G1.
You’ll probably quickly notice that with the G1 it lacks a video player, but it does have a YouTube application.
The 3 MP camera has an auto-focus shutter, and you’ll quickly notice that the pictures are of only decent quality and again no video recording.
The G1 has 5 hours of talk time and more than a week of standby time only if you keep the G1 in sleep mode the whole time. You will find that a regular day of web surfing, texting, talking on the phone, and looking at maps, you’ll kill the battery in no time.
There are still hardware quirks and bugs with the G1, which are being tweak for a new G2, I would assume, but for Google’s first try at a cell phone and for the first Android cell phone, they did a pretty good job.
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