T-mobile G1 – The first of the Google Android Phones. A Review
- Thread starter SteveOBHave
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haha I'd love to stop but I've just taken all the photos for the web browsing part - coming tomorrow hopefully!
Soldato
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anybody know if i would be able to haggle down the £40 to £35 for a new customer?
Carphone warehouse wont for me. Haven't tried direct though.
Soldato
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i'll go in-tomorow and be like, i'm interested in the it, but cant afford £40, are there any other price plans for it?
or does anyone have a tatick to go with?
or does anyone have a tatick to go with?
Soldato
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oooh, that sounds good like.
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My phone got updated this morning - the security hole is gone. Not sure what else they patched - I'll have to take a look around to see if I can find a patch log.
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Sweet! It must be distributed by The Google Android team rather than T-Mobile.
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Web Browsing
My experiences with mobile web browsing have come in several forms, the obligatory laptop, the stripped down mobile and the seriously slick iPod Touch/iPhone. Of all of them so far my favorite has to be Apples implementation. It's simple, fast and instantly intuitive. In my personal opinion this is the standard that Android and the G1 was competing with. Has it succeeded? Lets take a look.
The first thing you notice is that the web pages are generally presented in the manner that you expect from PC browsing or from the iPhone browser with the exceptions of sites that offer a stripped down version like Google.co.uk
Hitting the menu button will open the browser options. Go to URL, Search, Bookmarks, Window, Refresh and under More: Close Page, Forward, History, Downloads, Page Info, Bookmark Page, Share Page, Zoom and Settings.
Under Settings there are a myriad of options including popup blocking, Turn off image loading, Enable/Disable Javascrip, Open new windows in the background and the ones you come to expect from a browser like cookie management and cache clearing.
As with the Apple browser you navigate around the page by dragging a finger. When you interact with the screen the Zoom buttons automatically come up and clicking on them will produce the expected result. It's this function that I find a little clumsy when compared to the multi touch of the Apple devices and after having used them I still find myself pining a little for the naturally intuitive fingers out, fingers in process of zooming.
There is a second way of working your way around a web page and that is by clicking on the cross arrows in the bottom right of the screen. This maximizes the web page so that you can see almost all of it and provides you with a magnifying square which can be dragged around the page and then released when you are satisfied that this is what you want to view.
The Android browser also has a version of tabbed browsing that is accessed via the Window option. This opens a screen that displays the pages that you currently have open.
When the phone is flipped onto it's side and opened it will give you the option to add another page. I think since the last update There is now the same option when the orientation is vertical.
You can change the orientation of the browser without opening the phone by going into the Menu then the More submenu and selecting 'Flip Orientation'. This is a clumsy and counter intuitive method of using the browser interface especially considering that the phone has a fully functional accelerometer. Hopefully this will be addressed in later OS updates.
The browser has some great functionality however it does need some streamlining. The G1 touchscreen interface does lend itself to a fairly pleasant browsing experience as does the keyboard. Small things like the screen orientation responding to the accelerometer and perhaps a different way of zooming the screen would make the experience a little more intuitive.
In the final part I will go into some of the better apps available from the Android Market.
My experiences with mobile web browsing have come in several forms, the obligatory laptop, the stripped down mobile and the seriously slick iPod Touch/iPhone. Of all of them so far my favorite has to be Apples implementation. It's simple, fast and instantly intuitive. In my personal opinion this is the standard that Android and the G1 was competing with. Has it succeeded? Lets take a look.
The first thing you notice is that the web pages are generally presented in the manner that you expect from PC browsing or from the iPhone browser with the exceptions of sites that offer a stripped down version like Google.co.uk
Hitting the menu button will open the browser options. Go to URL, Search, Bookmarks, Window, Refresh and under More: Close Page, Forward, History, Downloads, Page Info, Bookmark Page, Share Page, Zoom and Settings.
Under Settings there are a myriad of options including popup blocking, Turn off image loading, Enable/Disable Javascrip, Open new windows in the background and the ones you come to expect from a browser like cookie management and cache clearing.
As with the Apple browser you navigate around the page by dragging a finger. When you interact with the screen the Zoom buttons automatically come up and clicking on them will produce the expected result. It's this function that I find a little clumsy when compared to the multi touch of the Apple devices and after having used them I still find myself pining a little for the naturally intuitive fingers out, fingers in process of zooming.
There is a second way of working your way around a web page and that is by clicking on the cross arrows in the bottom right of the screen. This maximizes the web page so that you can see almost all of it and provides you with a magnifying square which can be dragged around the page and then released when you are satisfied that this is what you want to view.
The Android browser also has a version of tabbed browsing that is accessed via the Window option. This opens a screen that displays the pages that you currently have open.
When the phone is flipped onto it's side and opened it will give you the option to add another page. I think since the last update There is now the same option when the orientation is vertical.
You can change the orientation of the browser without opening the phone by going into the Menu then the More submenu and selecting 'Flip Orientation'. This is a clumsy and counter intuitive method of using the browser interface especially considering that the phone has a fully functional accelerometer. Hopefully this will be addressed in later OS updates.
The browser has some great functionality however it does need some streamlining. The G1 touchscreen interface does lend itself to a fairly pleasant browsing experience as does the keyboard. Small things like the screen orientation responding to the accelerometer and perhaps a different way of zooming the screen would make the experience a little more intuitive.
In the final part I will go into some of the better apps available from the Android Market.
Man of Honour
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A quick question, every review I've seen so far has mentioned fairly appalling battery life - so what's it like?
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Pretty average to be honest. It'll last a day with average use - heavy use would likely make you consider carrying another battery or a USB recharge pack. I've read comments from people on the Android forums stating that they have talked for 4 hours on the phone without it dying. I can go for the entire day with a bit off messing around (i.e. sitting in the bog playing poker) and make it home with around 20% battery to spare. I charge it every night.
Associate
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Awesome review. I was in the process of selling my unlocked G1 but decided to keep it (for no apparent reason tbh). I really like the phone but it does have flaws which annoy the hell out of me. The battery life is pretty dire but I'm never too far away from a charger. The camera is fine if you're in a well lit area otherwise it's pretty much unusable (typical HTC style). It's early days yet for Android but Google really do need to spend some time improving the basic functionality.
I almost decided to keep mine but the camera wasnt good enought for me, and its a bit bulky - hopefully the next releases will solve this (although HTC certainly havent got the best cameras..)
I just sold mine for £310 but apparently you can sell the white ones for aquite a bit more (around £370 I think!?)
if anyone interested in buying a G1 but not liking the idea of the £40/month e2save have it it free(down from £39.99) on £35/month(combi 30 700mins, unlim text + web 'n' walk), £30/month with the phone at £89.99(down from £124.99).
I'm not decided but tempted to get one, also looking at the Touch HD & Xperia X1 as well.
I'm not decided but tempted to get one, also looking at the Touch HD & Xperia X1 as well.
Associate
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Is this available online? How is this deal available?
Also, anybody able to comment how this is for left handers? I like the look of the device but I'm not sure it'd be very ideal when the keyboard is slid out... The scroll wheel which would be in the right hand... Any left handers able to comment? Any way around this?
Cheers.
