Anand's Google Nexus One Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on April 3, 2010 3:40 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
Android's Gmail app is also pretty straight forward. By default it checks the Google account you setup when you first turned on the phone, but you can add more accounts as necessary.
Both the Gmail and Email apps work fairly similarly, although only the former supports full text search putting it at an unfortunate disadvantage to the iPhone.
The Gmail app does support push, making it perfect for anyone who does rely on Gmail as their primary email provider. As I mentioned before, it's only because Google's web apps don't actually suck that this works out. This is one of few times where total integration makes sense.
The Gmail/Email UI isn't as gesture heavy as it is on the iPhone. Swipe up/down to scroll but to delete you have to check boxes next to messages and hit the delete button that comes up. It's quicker than the iPhone for batch deleting, but slower for removing just one message. On the plus side, it's more difficult to accidentally delete a message because of this.
Messages are automatically downloaded from the server as you reach the end of a screen of messages. All in all, it works pretty well.
Some have complained about how many taps it takes to switch between accounts on Android. Personally it's not a huge deal since I don't maintain that many different email accounts, but you do get a combined inbox if you'd like. I do agree that since you don't swipe to delete, you should be able to swipe to switch inboxes in message view mode.
Despite the high resolution screen, responding to an email is cluttered with UI elements that take up far too much real estate. Quoted text is always off screen.
Syncing
The concept of syncing is quickly changing. On the Nexus One your contacts and calendar are synced over the air using your Google account. Windows, OS X and Linux all have routes to sync your existing contacts with your Google account, so the import process isn’t painful at all.
You can put the Nexus One in USB storage mode, in which case it’ll appear as a USB storage device where you can quickly copy files to the SD card you have installed in the device.
There are other third party apps you can use that perform more traditional syncing options (e.g. The Missing Sync, doubleTwist) if you miss them.
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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