Anand's Google Nexus One Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on April 3, 2010 3:40 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
Performance: Faster but Choppier
Much like the display, the Nexus’ performance can be frustrating at times. First, the bad. Switching between pages on the home screen and scrolling through applications is downright choppy. The scrolling process isn’t slow, but the animation isn’t smooth - which makes the phone feel slower than it is. It’s a framerate issue that’s been present on every Android device I’ve used (for the life of me I can’t remember whether or not it was present on the Motorola Droid). It varies depending on the app as well. Scrolling through contacts is perfectly smooth, scrolling through Facebook isn’t. I doubt it’s a hardware issue but rather a software optimization/driver problem. Why it hasn’t been fixed by now is anyone’s guess.
Another inexplicably slow part of the Android experience involves getting the virtual keyboard to appear. The keyboard appears whenever you tap in a text input box. Doing so upon first entering an application (e.g. the SMS app) usually takes several taps before it’ll actually respond. It’s frustrating beyond belief and inexcusable given the horsepower of the Snapdragon SoC in the Nexus One. Again, this just seems to be a software optimization issue rather than an inherent platform limitation.
Now the good news. When launching and interacting with an app the Nexus One feels lightning quick, going back to the iPhone 3GS afterwards feels much slower. Applications respond with a sense of urgency that no other smartphone I’ve used can offer. This is a pure clockspeed thing thanks to the 1GHz Snapdragon from Qualcomm.
| Applications Processor Performance | |||||
|
Apple iPhone 3GS (ARM Cortex A8)
|
Google Nexus One (Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250)
|
Advantage Nexus One | |||
| Load www.anandtech.com | 6.9 seconds | 6.7 seconds | 3.0% | ||
| Load www.digg.com | 12.5 seconds | 9.0 seconds | 38.9% | ||
| Load www.arstechnica.com | 12.1 seconds | 10.8 seconds | 12.0% | ||
| Load www.engadget.com | 17.7 seconds | 13.3 seconds | 33.1% | ||
| Load www.gizmodo.com | 20.8 seconds | 13.7 seconds | 51.8% | ||
| Load www.techreport.com | 6.2 seconds | 5.0 seconds | 24.0% | ||
| Launch Web Browser | 0.7 seconds | 0.7 seconds | 0.0% | ||
| Launch Email App | 0.7 seconds | 0.7 seconds | 0.0% | ||
| Launch Maps App | 5.0 seconds | 2.0 seconds | 150% | ||
| Launch Camera App | 2.8 seconds | 2.0 seconds | 40.0% | ||
Loading web pages proved to be anywhere from 3 to over 50% faster than the iPhone 3GS. Launching simple apps didn't move any quicker on the Nexus One, but firing up the Maps and Camera apps (and waiting for them to be usable) was much faster on the Nexus One. The more processor intensive the task, the more the Nexus One can flex its muscle.
Those applications that spawn other apps (e.g. clicking on a Google Maps link in the browser and having it spawn the Maps app) also do so very quickly. If it weren’t for frame rate issues, the Nexus One would be perfect from a performance standpoint.
It’s weird, the flexibility that Android offers is very PC like. And by that, I mean that the platform really does feel like a condensed version of Windows or Linux running in a smartphone. Unfortunately, the weird quirks also seem to come with the package. In fact, I’d say Android really does feel like a more modern version of what Windows Mobile used to be rather than an iPhone, webOS or Windows Phone 7 competitor.
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Antioch18x - Saturday, April 3, 2010 - link
Not only that but I didn't see mention of using a background task killer with "auto kill." (But, granted, I didn't *read* the whole article as I already own a N1 and didn't need to see your impressions of it). Due to the Android's method of multitasking, many times you don't actually exit an app when you think you do - it continues running in the background. You really do need a background task auto-killer to get the best battery life. This is one flaw, I think, in Android.Anyways, keeping this in mind I find that your battery life tests may be off. I get better battery life on my N1 than the old iPhone 3G.
spideryk - Saturday, April 3, 2010 - link
There are alternative keyboards available for the android. as of right now swype keyboard is the best available means of entering text on a smart phone. once you get used to swype, you only need one hand to type and most of the time do not need to look at the keyboard to type. a must have on android.bob1939 - Sunday, April 4, 2010 - link
Great review as usual but you missed something I consider critical. The lack of support for hands free bluetooth dialing.Where I live it can cost $180 if you are caught using a handheld phone while driving, so Hands Free dialing is a must.
Worse Google insists in calling his shortcoming an enhancement and shows no sign of fixing it in the near term.
For me this is a showstopper.
Bob Benedetti
dvinnen - Sunday, April 4, 2010 - link
Not sure what you mean by blue tooth dialing but there is certainly voice dialing. The whole voice integration in Android is really fantastic as Anand said in his review.bob1939 - Sunday, April 4, 2010 - link
I mean leave the phone in your pocket and press the button on the steering wheel, on the bluetooth speaker or bluetooth earpiece and say call whoever and the phone dials the number.My understanding of the N1 and other Android 2.1 devices is that you have to press something at least twice on the phone to operate the voice dial. Where I live that will cost $180 if you are seen by a cop fiddling with the phone while driving.
Bob Benedetti
LongTimePCUser - Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - link
I have a Motorola Droid and a 2006 Toyota Prius.The Droid connects via BlueTooth with the Prius.
I can dial a phone number on the Droid from the Prius touch screen.
joe6 - Sunday, April 4, 2010 - link
1) Good: Nexus One has a microSD card slot. Big advantage in my book.2) Bad: Nexus One doesn't support Exchange/Outlook calendar sync without going through the Google cloud services. This is just silly and frankly, kills the deal for me. I think most Nexus One RMAs come from this bullet alone.
Pitne - Monday, April 5, 2010 - link
There an app for this. How do you people miss the point that is android? Android is all about being open and not LOCKED DOWN like apple. So go download the more functional exchange apps and STFUCali3350 - Sunday, April 4, 2010 - link
Not sure if you posted it and I missed it or if you simply don't want to say in a public forum (which is understandable) but which do you , Anand, see yourself using in the future - the Nexus One or the iPhone 3GS? That sort of message says a lot about the current state of the platforms.Anand Lal Shimpi - Sunday, April 4, 2010 - link
Honestly, I'm torn.After the review I switched back to the 3GS because of the simplicity and the keyboard (I type a *lot*). In doing so, I miss the screen, form factor (ugh it was painful holding the iPhone to my head for an hour long phonecall vs. the Nexus One), some of the apps/features and the speed of the Nexus One. Today my answer would be the 3GS, but after using the Nexus One so much over the past few weeks I have to say that some aspects of the iPhone really do feel archaic.
What I may do going forward is continue to alternate between the two to get a better feel for their respective strengths and weaknesses.
Take care,
Anand