Google G1 Android Phone Review

With AT&T’s exclusive rights to the Apple iPhone, the rest of the nation’s cell phone providers have been scrambling to introduce a viable smartphone competitor. For T-Mobile, their first attempt at touch screen Internet technology comes in the form of the Google G1. Seeing as how I was due for a phone upgrade on my T-Mobile account and I was specifically looking for full Internet capability, the G1 seemed like a good fit.

Now that the G1 has been a part of my daily life for more than a month, I can safely say that I am generally satisfied with my purchase. However, that’s not to say that I don’t have a few complaints.

Google G1 Overview

Though dubbed a “Google phone,” the G1 is actually manufactured by HTC. Google’s input comes in the form of the phone’s Android Web browsing software. The G1 features a 3.2-inch touch screen, which is slightly smaller than the iPhone. However, the design also includes a hidden full QWERTY keyboard that can be accessed with the simple flip of the thumb. Personally, I enjoy access to physical keys – it allows me to use both thumbs when writing an email and reduces the possibility for typing errors.

A trackball, similar to those found on Blackberry phones, is also available and provides an alternative to pure touch screen Web browsing. This feature is great for highlighting Web links that are just too small to accurately click with the press of a finger.

What I Like

There’s a lot to like about the G1. Chief among my accolades is the integrated Google applications. If you depend heavily on Google services such as GMail, Google Maps, calendar and IM, then you’ll probably find the G1 to be a major time saver. All Google services can be easily accessed via an icon on the Home screen. I was also pleased to learn that a similar icon can be set up for additional email accounts you may have. As such, my Yahoo account is also easily accessible.

Surfing the Web is generally an intuitive and simple process. Landscape screen view and portrait screen view are both available. The trackball is perfectly placed for flipping through hyperlinks. You can control the speed of page scrolls based on how fast you move your finger on the touch screen. The Back button works perfectly, and even allows you to move backward from Web pages to previous applications such as your email.

Zooming in and out is easily done via hitting a touch screen button, although I will admit I miss the iPhone’s zoom finger shortcuts. The G1 offers cut-and-paste, which is unavailable on the iPhone.

The phone itself works largely as expected. The voice coming through the phone is crisp and plenty loud. From what my friends have told me, the quality on the other end is just as good. Bluetooth technology is available, though stereo sound is not. Voice dialing is another convenient feature.

What I Don’t Like

The Google G1 is a full 30 to 40 percent thicker than the iPhone. This makes for quite a large bulge in my pocket when I choose to store it there. The battery life is another downside. On a good day, I’d say the battery lasts about 12 hours. However, surfing the Web for any amount of time lowers this time frame considerably. As such, the phone is almost always plugged into its charger when I’m at home. A car charger was a necessary purchase.

The touch screen recognition could be more accurate. Sometimes, I have to press a hyperlink two or three times before the phone understands what I’m trying to do. My wife says that when she wears gloves, she has trouble getting the touch screen to do anything at all.

Something else I’ve had some issues with is the Dialer function. What should be the easiest thing to use on a phone can be problematic at times on the Google G1. Because the Dialer is an application, it sometimes quits unexpectedly or has trouble opening. If I’m on the phone with an automated voice system that requires me to use the touchpad (”For English, press 1″), then I have to open the Dialer application before I can make my selection. This is kind of annoying, but since most of my calls are made through my phone book, it’s certainly not a deal breaker.

Conclusion

I’m pretty sure I made the right phone decision for my needs. Though perhaps not as slick and streamlined as the iPhone, the Google G1 is user-friendly and reliable. Seeing as how this is the first generation of the phone, I’m sure many of the kinks will be worked out in future models.