The T-Mobile G2 Preview
by Vivek Gowri on October 7, 2010 12:29 PM EST
HTC has been having some interesting problems with the G2. For an HTC handset, it seems like there are a lot of minor issues popping up all over the place. I already mentioned the loose hinges issue, but there’s also an issue with the amount of memory the phone ships with. The G2 is supposed to have 4GB of NAND built in, whereas the Desire Z has 2GB of flash memory. More than a few G2’s (including mine) have shipped with 2GB onboard as opposed to the 4GB that it should be. It sounds like a pretty simple assembly line mixup on HTC’s part, but it’s still odd to see so many production issues with an HTC device, regardless of how new it is. I’m supposed to be exchanging mine for a different unit sometime soon, but we’ll see how T-Mobile decides to handle this one.
Edit: A bit of Googling brings me to this thread on the xda-developers forum, which basically says that the G2 ships with a 4GB NAND chip onboard, but the remainder of the memory is not recognized. How T-Mobile/HTC plan to fix this issue still remains to be seen.
Overall though, the G2 has the potential to impress. Great design, a great keyboard, good screen, solid camera/camcorder and good performance. The hinge and battery life are two significant issues that prevent the phone from being great. I suspect T-Mobile's sudden stop of preorders for the G2 has more to do with correcting the build quality issues and less with actually fulfilling demand. There's unfortunately no way around the battery life, but we'll reserve a full conclusion for when we have our entire suite of battery tests complete.
The manufacturing issues aside, G2 seems to live up to the immense hype it had before launch, and T-Mobile seems to have a winner on their hands. Most people who got G1 contracts early on should be set to upgrade right about now, making the G2 doubly attractive to those people.
For a number of reasons, the G2 strikes a unique place in the market, one that has been sorely missed since the passing of the original G1. As the first top tier GSM Android device with a keyboard (since the G1), the first top tier HTC GSM Android device (since the Nexus One), and the only Android device on any network that’s running a completely stock version of Android, the G2 is going to get a lot of fans really quickly. Let's hope T-Mobile can address the hinge issues quickly enough to avoid disappointing those eager fans.
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ImSpartacus - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link
Sorry, I wasn't criticizing the article. I really like that AT phone reviewers use the said phone for a few weeks before posting their full write-up. It shows exceptional polish and class on their part.Like you mentioned, this "preview" has about the same amount/quality of information that a typical "review" provides.
mino - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link
Umm, sometimes the stuff in plain sight is the hardest to spot :) Sorry from me.zorxd - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link
6Mbps down and 1Mbps up is what I get indoor with my HTC Hero (which is only 7.2 Mbps HSDPA) here in Canada. That doesn't sounds like HSPA+ speeds at all.mino - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link
Yeah, And I get barely .5 Mbps from my Huawei 3G router with external antenna. That is explicitly on HSPA+.At the same time I get extremely good .2 Mbps from EDGE on the same spot cause the 2G tower is a bit closer...
Basically, unless testing at the same time, during night, during clear weather, in the same setting, at the most optimal position, any such comparison is moot.
There are just too many unaccounted variables.
zorxd - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link
Still, 6 Mbps is below 7.2 so it is not a proof that HSPA+ is even being used.therealnickdanger - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link
Using my Sprint HTC Touch Diamond and booting into Android 2.2, the Speedtest.net app reads after 5 tests:136-710 kbps down
83-160 kbps up
140-190 ms ping
Using WM6.5 and mobile speed test web page, I can get 1,300 kbps down, 800 kbps up, and 130 ping. WM6.5 is a bit easier for my meak hardware to run than Froyo.
That's inside with a signal moving between 0 and 1 bar. It may seem pathetic, but it's fast enough to stream Youtube.
vol7ron - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link
.5/.2 Mbps seems "offly" low. Are you sure it's not MBps?sprockkets - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link
Not on EDGE :)mino - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link
.5 is on the last straws of 3G signal & not very bad weather.2 is on 1800MHz 2G network with reasonable signal quality
Why I mentioned is that there encoding and band used is only one of the variables. And in most cases not the most important one.
prince34 - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link
It does come preloaded with SWYPE. I personally use it when I only have one hand free and can't flip the keyboard out.I think it is at least worth mentioning.