If it was made by any other company; I would have given this phone high mark for being simple and elegant. However, this is Google that we’re talking about, so I was expecting something “mind-blasting”. Although it did not live up to my over-imaginative expectations, the phone feels solid. There’s none of those pesky fingerprint and smudge surface. It is mostly covered in a slight rubber matte surface. Even while eating and using the phone, it doesn’t pick up any stains.
The ports and jacks are nicely placed and they are pretty much self-explanatory. I noticed there are some connectors at the bottom of the phone so rumors of a phone dock may not be unfounded. There’s also a trackball, like the one previously seen on the HTC Android model and also the Blackberry smartphones. You’ll also notice four touch-sensitive controls at the bottom of its 3.7 inch AMOLED screen; Back, Menu, Home and Search.
As for the camera and flash, you’ll find them at the top centre of its back. Its back cover is easily removable, by pushing it up. However, much to my chagrin, its microSD card can only be removed after the battery is taken out.
The device was highly anticipated as many were looking forward to seeing Google’s translation of their own Android OS. So what does Android v2.1 bring to the table? Essentially I felt it is not much different than the previous versions other than the obvious cosmetic done to its interface.
Firstly, its Home screen look great and navigation have improved a lot. Its application tab is replaced by a simple Home icon that will bring up the Main menu. The awesome 3D animation lets the icons slide over the top and bottom, just like pulling plastic over the edge. Nothing functional but we welcome any sort of eye candy.
Secondly, it has five Home screens compared to three as seen on HTC devices. Google took some inspiration from the webOS and iPhone whereby you can slide to access each screen. You can also navigate using the cute dots at the bottom edges. Now this is functional eye candy. Of course, there are things that have remained the same since day one of the Android OS; such as its music player.
Now the biggest flaw of all is its lack of multi-touch, at least for US-bound phones which is what I have now. I can live without it for most of its apps but to not have it in the browser and games is a huge bummer. Playing games are dismal and navigating around the browser proved to be challenging.
Most virtual keyboards aren’t 100% accurate and the Nexus One isn’t any different. There are improvements over previous HTC phones but it is still difficult to type when you’re driving or walking. Cue for Google’s speech-to-txt beta engine which has generated a fair bit of buzz. There’s an icon on the onscreen keyboard to activate the feature where it will try to turn your words into text. I find this to be around 80% accurate but it has to be proper words and not street lingo.
The great thing about the Nexus One’s voice recognition feature is that it works everywhere on the phone. You can Voice Search, Voice Dial and so on. It had some troubles recognizing my speech when asked to activate apps on the phone but it will throw up some suggestions. I fared better with Voice Search and I found it to respond better to a female pitch compared to a manly mumble.
Apart from the cool stuff that Google has put in, I was also very interested to see for myself how Android Market is like. You only need an existing Gmail or any other Google account to access this app store. The amount of apps compared to SlideMe is astounding, not to mention the quality too. Although it still lacks the variety that Apple’s App Store has, I managed to get a lot of cool apps for free.
Facebook is already preloaded but functionality is still limited to updating your status, pictures and so on. You can’t poison other people people’s farms or run a restaurant yet. I also found Twidroid to be very useful and graphically pleasing too. There are a wide variety of board games and even Google Goggles. One of my favorite categories would be Comics. It has apps for Dilbert, Calvin & Hobbes, Peanuts and even BC. But if you’re looking for compelling action-packed games, you’re going to be disappointed.
One app I definitely would recommend is Task Killer. It lets you pick and choose which apps to end to preserve battery. Back and Close options are sometimes unclear in Android and with this app you can manage running apps.
Nexus One spot a 5-megapixel camera with Auto-focus, LED flash, geo-tagging and it is able to record videos at 720 x 480 pixels (D1 resolution) @ 20fps. The Nexus One takes decent photos with proper focusing. However, light reproduction is off and pictures are oversaturated. To my pleasant surprise it is able to handle night shots better than most camera phones; Most of my night shots turn out like they should be.
Its video capture is nothing to shout about. D1 resolution at such a low frame rate plus 8KHz sound and 2Mbps bitrate only results in stuttering videos and soft audio. Personally, I would do with lower resolution but at a higher fps.
I have to confess that I had much fun with the phone, with a lot of apps to keep me entertained as long as its battery permits. The battery lasted about a day with intermittent WiFi connection and plenty of app-loving. The touch response needs some getting used to and HTC/Google has to do something with its camera modules but otherwise, I want one!
Google Nexus One on Youtube :
Pros :
- Android works like a charm with Snapdragon
- Speech-to-text is impressive
- Gorgeous AMOLED screen
- Able to show it off with its pretty UI effects
Cons :
- Lacks multi-touch (for US version)
- So-so camera
- No Flash support
Google Nexus One Specifications :
Standard Package : Google Nexus One, battery, 4GB microSD card, travel charger, USB cable, pouch, headset, manuals.
Size/Weight : 119 x 59.8 x 11.5 mm / 130g
Connectivity : HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth A2DP
CPU : Qualcomm Snapdragon, 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM
Camera : 5MP, AF, Geo-tagging
Video : D1 (720 x 480 pixels) @ min. 20fps
Popularity: 4% [?]
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