Anand's Google Nexus One Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on April 3, 2010 3:40 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
Made for Google, by Google
From the very start you're made well aware that the Nexus One, as any other Android phone, is built for tight integration with Google's online services. Things like Google docs, Gmail, Google Talk and Google Voice are all well coupled to the OS. To even start using the device you have to provide or sign up for a Google account. While this is what all companies in Google's position have tried to do (Microsoft pushing Live and Hotmail, Apple pushing Quicktime, iTunes, Mobile Me) the difference here is that virtually all of Google's services are among the best in their class, and they're all free.
I can't really complain about Android's integration with Google apps other than to say that I feel like I'm contributing to making an entity that is seemingly innocent today, even more powerful. Maybe one day we'll pay for giving Google so much power and access, but for now just enjoy the convenience.
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The integration is visible on so many levels. For example, instead of just a single Email icon you have two apps: a Gmail app and an Email app. Distinguishing between Gmail and Email? Interesting.
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By default the Gmail app lives on its own homescreen but obviously you can move it anywhere. The two apps work pretty much the same way but the Gmail app is obviously more flexible. You can search your inbox, you get a grey instead of a black background and of course Gmail on Android supports push. Otherwise, the two apps are rather similar in functionality.
There's integrated Google Talk support, which is also a welcome change from the iPhone's lack of any integrated messenger (you have to rely on 3rd party apps for that). You get new messages and chat invitations as notifications in the upper left hand of your screen just like you would a text message or a missed call.
Google Maps ships with the device and it's ridiculously fast. There's finally multitouch support in the app so it's just as functional as the Maps application on the iPhone, it's just faster on the Nexus One.
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Google Maps for Android also fully supports the Nexus One's integrated GPS and compass, so you have an idea of exactly where you are and what direction you're facing. While these are both features echoed on the iPhone, Google one-ups Cupertino by offering a built in, free of charge, navigation app that integrates with Google Maps.
That's right, you get turn by turn navigation directions with voice for free with the Nexus One. The obvious limitation is that map data is streamed to the phone in real time and not stored on the device like on a dedicated portable nav unit. So if you're in a location where you don't have data access then you do lose navigation.
Nav can run in the background
The turn by turn directions work quite well, although you'll need to remember that the loud speaker on the Nexus One is on its backside so keep it free of obstruction if you're trying to hear the directions.
All in all it's a huge improvement over what the iPhone offers. Turn by turn navigation support can be enabled on the iPhone through 3rd party applications (expensive ones at that), so this isn't a feature that will ultimately drive users to the Nexus One, but it's one that is definitely appreciated.
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xtremevarun - Saturday, April 3, 2010 - link
Reviews of Nexus One on other sites were not as comprehensive as on Anandtech. You guys really explored all the features. Apple needs to do a major refresh to iPhone. And I do see Android becoming a major, major OS for phones if it's not already. WinMo7 also looks great. Good that competition is hotting up against the iPhone.xxNIBxx - Saturday, April 3, 2010 - link
What about Samsung's Bada OS? Samsung Wave s8500 beats the living crap out of all those Snapdragon devices. Also Samsung will release i9000 Galaxy S, which has pretty much the same hardware as with s8500, except it runs Android. Hardware wise, these 2 are the best phones in the world. Snapdragon is old news.Iphone 4g, which will come out in 2 months, will most likely use apple's a4, which from what i hear, is probably identical to samsung's 1ghz cpu(same cpu/gpu)/
sprockkets - Saturday, April 3, 2010 - link
If you receive a call over BT, does it1. Play the ringtone over the headset?
2. Play it on the headset only or both the speaker and headset?
3. Announce CID over the headset or even just the speaker?
sushantsharma - Saturday, April 3, 2010 - link
Looks OK! But usability should not go for a toss! Or I am missing it and it is there?Chloiber - Saturday, April 3, 2010 - link
"It's got a Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8650 SoC"Thought the Nexus One (and the HTC Desire) use a Snapdragon QSD8250?!
Anand Lal Shimpi - Saturday, April 3, 2010 - link
You are correct :) Fixed!Take care,
Anand
Karl Brown - Saturday, April 3, 2010 - link
I will be receiving my Sony X10 on Tuesday.I hope the Sony will offer enough of the Nexus One's functionality to not make me regret not waiting longer for the Nexus One to become available in the UK.
jasperjones - Saturday, April 3, 2010 - link
Thanks for the very thorough review. The one area were the review lacks depth is audio and video playback and syncing. Differences in this area are striking imo:1.) If you don't use iTunes as an iPhone owner, you're pretty much SOL. The Nexus One I could sync with iTunes using DoubleTwist. But I don't like iTunes. I can just use Explorer or Windows Media Player or Songbird (1.7 beta) to sync instead. The latest Songbird builds do an amazing job (they even converts WAV and FLAC files on-the-fly).
2.) Formats. I like that the the Nexus One supports OGG. FLAC support is coming (AFAIK it got added to trunk some time ago--idk if users will see it in FroYo or Gingerbread) Plus the Nexus One gives me everything the iPhone has (including M4A).
3.) The media player. I hate to admit it as a current Nexus One and previous iPhone owner, but here the iPhone with its iPod app wins hands down. The UI of the iPod app is infinitely more intuitive, whereas things such as playlist generation are a pain on Android (everything takes far too many clicks).
Because of 3.), I think the overall win in this category goes to the iPhone.
bstewart - Saturday, April 3, 2010 - link
Outstanding review - really enjoyed your detailed assessment of the Nexus one compared to the IPone and Palm Pre. I have read a number of reviews on the Nexus one lately determining if it is the right device for me or not. After reading this review I am certainly more inclined to purchase it than before; especially based on it's pros and cons versus the IPhone. Thanks!Brian
cj100570 - Saturday, April 3, 2010 - link
All in all I'm not feeling this review. There was way to much time spent comparing the Nexus to the iPhone. And your complaints about the notification system used by Android is just asinine. I'm the former owner of both an original and 3G iPhone and Android simply puts the iPhone OS to shame. The iPhone had it's 15 minutes of fame but it's time to face facts that Apples way of doing things is the biggest problem the iPhone has. As a smartphone it is a #FAIL. Sure it sells well but the honest truth is that most people buy it because it's an Apple product and because of all the apps, 80% useless, that Apple and AT&T trot out as the big selling point.