Handheld Reviews - Expert and user reviews

Google Nexus One

The coveted “Google phone” is finally here, but the Nexus HTC One ($ 180 with a two-year contract with T-Mobile, unlocked or $ 530, prices from 12 January 2010) is not Google Superphone hinted that it would be. It lacks some features of value - such as multitouch and synchronize your Outlook calendar - we’ve seen in competing models, and the keyboard Android can be difficult to use. That said, a nexus of rapid Qualcomm Snapdragon processor 1 GHz definitely Android apart from the pack in performance.

An asterisk attached to the performance of the phone include its interaction with the T-Mobile. The phone has run into some network issues, a lack of concern on a phone with many related functions. However, a phone is very good and represents real progress for the Android platform.

Design: solid but not Pioneer

The hardware of a nexus is not particularly innovative, and its design is undoubtedly the work of HTC. In fact, more strongly resembles a stretched HTC Hero. However, the phone is attractive and well built. Its rounded corners, solid glass screen and rear tire makes it a pleasure to hold. At 4.5 inches high by 2.4 inches wide by 0.47 cm thick, the Nexus One has a slimmer profile than the droid. It also weighs less: 4.8 ounces compared to 6 ounces for the robot. I did not care for the two gray-tone gray color scheme, however.

Four touch-sensitive hardware buttons occupy the bottom of the screen Nexus One: Back, Start Menu and click Search. A scroll wheel, like the hero HTC, is below the buttons. Although I am a big fan of the scroll wheel on these phones - and prefers to rely on the touch screen - this trackball was quick and easy to use. The touch buttons are very sensitive, too, though you have to press firmly to activate them. An oblong button sits atop the one beside Nexus 3.5 jack for standard headphones. In the right column is the volume rocker, and the bottom of the phone, the USB port. The camera lens and flash are located on the back of the phone, and microSD card slot and SIM hide under the battery.
The Nexus One 3.7-inch AMOLED screen has attracted much attention, and for good reason: The screen is excellent. In fact, the photos and videos of the phone does not do it justice. You need to view the presentation in person to see how the text comes out and how dazzling photos as well as how well the screen shows the characteristics of the new Android 2.1 in the dropdown menu and 3D wallpaper. When you take the phone outdoors, however, loses much of the visibility of the screen, especially in sunlight. This limitation particularly disappoint casual photographers who would like to snap many pictures with the phone camera of 5 megapixels - and outdoors is very difficult to see the images you shoot.

Android OS 2.1: Some tinkered

The launch of Nexus is not just about hardware: This is the first phone to run Android OS 2.1. It was announced at the time - or if - other phones, like Motorola droid (which runs Android OS 2.0) or the current crop of Samsung phones Android (all ranging 1.5) receive the update.

Android OS 2.1 adds some lively visual and aesthetic settings for the operating system soft otherwise - how interesting animated wallpapers of fallen leaves or grass waving. These look good on screen is a link, but are a little distracting and seems likely to cut the battery life of the phone at least a little. (You can opt for the traditional static wallpaper, if you prefer.)

You get five homescreens (from the standard three) to them and the customization of shortcuts. Of course, that’s nothing new for Motorola HTC and users Cliq hero: the MotoBlur and user interfaces SenseUI Motorola and HTC, respectively, also gives users five main pages.

One notable omission from Android 2.1 is the tab to pull your main menu. This is a good thing, because they now have quick access to your menu through a central icon on the screen in place. The revised menu includes a Rolling 3D-like effect, and more like pop icons on the screen than they did in previous versions of the OS.
The photo gallery is a welcome makeover, too. When you open the application, groups of photo featured in “batteries”. Tap a group of cells, and you can view thumbnails of photos in a grid. Alternatively, you can browse full-sized photos in a slideshow mode.

The most talked about new element in Android OS 2.1 is the voice-to-text input feature. Now you can talk about your current situation to your Facebook Nexus One - if you dare. In my informal tests, the input method worked fairly well, although I have to speak louder and a little slow for the Nexus between one and resume what he said, even in quiet environments. The phone struggled to understand when I muttered, whispered, or used phrase. I can not say how many times I would use a function like this every day, but it’s fun to play.

While I appreciate the aesthetic touches in Android OS 2.1, other areas seem to have been abandoned since the original release of the Android phone, T-Mobile G1. The music player is the same single player who has appeared in previous Android devices, which supports album art, create playlists and shuffle and repeat modes. You can add music through the included USB cable or memory or a microSD card, or you can buy songs without DRM on Amazon.

No Outlook Calendar Synchronization, n Multitouch

To use an Android phone, you must have a Gmail account, but you can configure POP3 and IMAP web based email accounts easily, and you can sync your Outlook account through Exchange.

Unfortunately, you can sync your Outlook calendar on the Nexus one. Google says this feature is coming soon, but meanwhile, business users could postpone Nexus jumping on one. My colleague David Coursey also explains why in his article “Business Should Wait for the” Nexus Enterprise “One?”
I can live without multitouch, but the failure of Google to open this feature in your operating system is incredibly frustrating. Heck, even the Windows Mobile-based HTC HD2 has multitouch. I do not know what Google’s motives are, but without the phone function so powerful it seems strange. In any case, single-touch input is a pain - especially when dealing with native Android software keyboard, which feels a bit tight and slow, even on the big screen one Nexus, I found myself desperately desire of a hardware keyboard.

Excellent Camera

Overall, I was very pleased with the performance of the camera of a link. The Andr
OID camera application seemed a bit faster than I was accustomed, and shutter lag I’ve experienced less than other Android phones. Shooting outdoors was fantastic, although (as noted above) screen is difficult to see a bright light. Some of my indoor shots had a greenish tint to them (see the informal test shots on the left and below), nevertheless, the details in my photos looked sharp, with no detectable grain or pixilation.

The 5 megapixel camera offers four resolutions, and a flash, autofocus, infinity focus, 2x digital zoom, white balance-and-effect color controls, and three quality settings. You can record video clips in lengths up to 30 minutes at a resolution of 720 by 480 pixels (20 frames per second), but clips for multimedia messages are limited to 30 seconds.

Yield: Hit-or-Miss

What makes Nexus position outside their competitors is not your operating system or its design, however. It is what lies under the hood. The powerful 1 GHz processor Qualcomm Snapdragon processor makes the phone fly. Apps loaded almost instantaneously, and web pages opened quickly. I thank especially the power of Snapdragon as I went through the Android 2.1 ’s updated photo gallery app.
Call quality over T-Mobile’s 3G network was pretty good. Clear voices sound natural and comprehensive volume. Callers on the other end of the line generally satisfied with the quality of the call as well, although some said that my voice sounded a little distance. Most of my contacts I could hear clearly, even when I was standing on a busy street corner in San Francisco.

Some users have complained of a link to their phones with low frequency from 3G to EDGE - or lack of a 3G connection altogether. I never knew, but I did run into some difficulties with the T-Mobile. More worryingly, my Google account does not load sometimes. He also suffered several failed attempts to upload image files from Picasa, due to an error of “network”.

The Nexus One is not exactly the game-changer of people expected to be, even exceeds that of other phones on the performance, display quality, and speed. The native keyboard Android is a desperate need for a new design. And throw in multitouch - to improve navigation and the experience of writing - would not hurt. One is the nexus the best Android phone in the market? It’s close, but I think the droid Motorola has a slight advantage due to its hardware keyboard - although imperfect, can be. No wonder that observers of Android pricked up their ears at the rumor that the next version of the Nexus One will have a keyboard and is aimed at users of the company.

If the problems of the T-Mobile will continue to harvest may be advisable to resist picking up a Nexus One to the CDMA version comes out this spring.

Pros
Stylish, slim design
Snappy performance
Dazzling OLED display

Cons
Software keyboard is far from perfect

Bottom Line
The One Nexus Google impresses with a stunning AMOLED screen, fast performance, cool and adjustments for the Android operating system, but some network problems prevent it from being a Superphone.