Anand's Google Nexus One Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on April 3, 2010 3:40 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
The Browser
Web browsing is a pleasure on the Nexus One. The Android browser is WebKit based like Chrome, and Safari on the iPhone, and for the most part it behaves like the iPhone browser.
Pages load incredibly fast thanks to the Snapdragon SoC, unfortunately the choppy framerate while scrolling is very evident when using the browser. The screen is also perfect for viewing web pages although if you're actually trying to read anything you'll probably want to be in landscape mode.
The browser also offers more features than its iPhone counterpart (notice a trend?), you get the ability to search for text on a page and a download manager as well. The browser supports plugins and a laundry list of settings that are simply not present on the iPhone.
 |
 |
Managing all of these options does make the Android browser a bit more complicated. For basic browsing the functionality is the same as the iPhone, but to access any of the extras I mentioned above there are a couple more levels of menus you need to navigate through. Refreshing a page for example takes two presses instead of one on the iPhone. Accessing the download manager takes three.
Overall the screen and the faster SoC make web browsing on the Nexus One amazing compared to the iPhone. The biggest issue is that scrolling through web pages is choppy, which unfortunately detracts from how quick the phone feels.
Voice Recognition Beta...on your phone?
Spread throughout Android on the Nexus One is this icon:
It's a microphone and tapping it brings up this screen, allowing you to speak your input instead of type it:
 |
 |
Google will warn you that it's an experimental feature and may not work right, but in practice it seems to work very well. You can perform Google searches and dictate text messages. Apple offers a more limited voice recognition feature on the iPhone 3GS without dictation support as you may remember. As with most of the differences between these two platforms, Google's implementation of voice is more flexible while Apple's is more polished.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
95 Comments
View All Comments
strikeback03 - Tuesday, April 6, 2010 - link
So does a 2mm difference in width really make that much difference in how you hold it and keyboard feel? As both phones are quite large compared to my HTC Diamond.Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, April 6, 2010 - link
It really has to do with the autocorrect on the keyboard and key spacing it seems. I switched back to the Nexus One today and definitely make more errors that I have to manually correct, whereas the iPhone seems to do a better job of knowing exactly what I'm trying to say/type.The performance and screen are very nice on the Nexus One however :)
Take care,
Anand
Locut0s - Sunday, April 4, 2010 - link
Thanks for the great review Anand!! I've been thinking of getting a smart phone for some time now and have been eyeing either a Nexus one or whatever Apple does with their next iteration of their iPhone. This review has placed the Nexus one squarely in my top 3. As always fantastic writing, thanks! However I should point something as a reader living outside the US. Google Voice is still not available in Canada or anywhere else outside the US. So if you are reading this review and that feature sounds nice keep this in mind!!Chloiber - Sunday, April 4, 2010 - link
If you like the Google Nexus, read some reviews about the coming (in the next days - weeks) HTC Desire - I bet you like it even more :)Zokudu - Sunday, April 4, 2010 - link
Wonderful article Anand.This epitomizes what I love about your writing.
Keep up the great work
Anand Lal Shimpi - Sunday, April 4, 2010 - link
Thank you :)Take care,
Anand
Mumrik - Sunday, April 4, 2010 - link
"Most of the time you all scare the crap out of me. I want to impress, I want you guys to be happy with what I write. I want every article to be the most well received thing ever. Every writer wants that. No one ever gets it. So when I see comments telling me that you’re eagerly anticipating my Nexus One review, I get a turtle complex. And not the ninja kind."I don't think you need to worry too much about all that Anand. Your work over the last few years especially has been top-of-the-class.
Lifedelinquent - Sunday, April 4, 2010 - link
wonder if the htc evo will use the more updated snapdragon proc with the better gpu?Chloiber - Sunday, April 4, 2010 - link
It will use the Snapdragon QSD8650 (N1/Desire: QSD8250) with 1GHz.http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/23/htc-evo-4g-is-s...
Don't know what that implies about the built in GPU though.
LongTimePCUser - Sunday, April 4, 2010 - link
Anand,It sounds like your biggest problem with the Google phone was the on-screen keyboard.
Have you tried the slide-out keyboard on the Motorola Droid?
The big advantage is that you can see the entire display screen, including type-ahead suggestions, while typing.