Google Nexus One Review

An unbiased review of the Google Nexus One Super-phone
 

Introduction

So, after owning 5 iPhones (three first-gen iPhones, one iPhone 3G and one iPhone 3GS, most of them factory unlocked and bought from Italy, one of the two countries that has a law requring the GSM operators to sell the phones unlocked) the time has come for me to own the latest Gadget, Google Nexus One. I sold my iPhone 3GS the day the Nexus One launch, a move the I usually do in order to ensure that I can get a good price on my current phone before everyone finds out that a better one has launched :) I waited two long weeks for my Nexus One to arrive because Google does not ship directly to my country and I had to use a package forwarding service.

You can be sure that this review is fair and unbiased. I am not affiliated with anyone, I am not afraid to upset a company or another like I noticed in other Nexus One vs. iPhone reviews. By the way, as a person working in the software industry, I know a thing or two about how the reviews are done. And I can tell you that some of the Nexus One reviews are biased in one way or another.

The Box

The packaging box for the Nexus one is a step forward from the old boxes that HTC (maker of Nexus One) used, this white classy box lets you know that there is a quality device inside. Compared to iPhone box though, the Nexus One box is of lower quality. But...it's just a box :) It includes the phone, battery, charger, headphones, USB cable and some manuals. Its very nice that the plug charger has a different cable than the USB data cable, as it is in the iPhone's case.

Nexus One Build Quality

The build quality of the Nexus One really stands out from the other smartphones, except the iPhone. It is not flimsy in any way and it seems solid and rugged, but the iPhone somewhat seems better built and more upscale. However, while the iPhone looks like a precious thing that you are reluctant to use because you it looks so expensive, the Nexus One seems like a device that just begs you to use it. It has somewhat of an industrial design. I presonally like it, it is less intimidating than the iPhone's design.

Nexus One hardware

Qualcomm Snapdragon running at 1GHz, 512MB of RAM, 192MB of ROM, GPS, extra microphone for noise cancellation, capacitive multi-touch capable (but disabled in software) AMOLED touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera with video recording and auto-focus, these are the basic specs of the Nexus One. Compared to the iPhone 3GS, this is significant step forward. However, this does not necessarily translate in improved speed in all applications, as I will show you. I would have liked an FM radio, but altough the chipset seems to have such support, it is not active (yet?) in the software.

Nexus One Touch Screen

Nexus One's screen is an AMOLED screen, meaning that each individual pixel lights up separately, as opposed to the commonly used TFT screens that use a backlight for all the pixels. This has a significant effect on color contrast. The AMOLED screen of the Nexus One is one incredibly looking screen. iPhone doesn't stand a chance on this one. The Nexus One resolution is also way bigger at 800x480 compared to 480x320 on the iPhone. Unfortunately, the screen has a significant drawback: it attracts smudges and fingerprints incredibly fast. They are also not easy to clean without special screen cleaner solution. iPhone 3GS with its oleophobic screen coating is much better in this area. Even the older iPhones fare better. But all is not lost :) I am planning to wrap the phone in Zagg Invisible Shield foil, like I did with my last iPhone. This will largely solve the fingerprint problem.

The touch screen also seems to have some accuracy problems, maybe it's the software though. Also, in high ambient light the screen is quite difficult to see unless you turn the brightness to the max.

The Software

Nexus One uses Google's Android 2.1 operating system. I have not used other Android versions in the past, but from what I read it is a step forward from the 1.x versions. The Android software is not as polished as the iPhone's 3.x software, unfortunately. Even the original iPhone OS beats Android 2.1 in ergonomics.

For example, many important buttons are at the very bottom of the screen (like the Back button) and hitting the back button while holding the phone with one hand is very hard. By comparison, iPhone has the important buttons at the top of the screen, an area that a finger easily reaches. Also, an important problem is that in order to unlock the phone while it is locked, hitting the trackball button (similar to iPhone's Home button) doesn't do anything, you have to press the top button in order for the display to be activated, and then to swipe the finger on the unlock icon. You can do this simple task with one hand on the iPhone, you (almost) can't on the Nexus One. What were they thinking ?

Home screen

Nexus One's home screen is very customizable, gadgets are available for it which display all kinds of things you might be interested in, like Twitter updates, Google News, etc. It is much more customizable than the iPhone's screen, and this is one reason I might be happy with the Nexus One.

Notifications on the Nexus One are better implemented than on iPhone. First, there is a 3-color trackball that lights up and notifies you of a missed call, SMS, or new email. iPhone badly misses such a feature. Email notifications also display the sender and subject of the email. Much better than on the iPhone. And I need email to be as good as possible.

Web Browsing

For starters, web pages are rendered correctly and load very fast on the Nexus One, faster than on the iPhone 3GS. However, scrolling down a page is a bit choppy most of the time, lacking the smoothness of the iPhone scrolling. Sometimes though (rarely), scrolling with the Nexus is faster than on the iPhone 3GS. The lack of pinch zoom and multi-touch makes the web browsing experience different and less pleasant than on the iPhone. I used to browse some sites on the iPhone even when I was in front of my internet-connected laptop, it was a snap. But with the Nexus One I am not inclined to do it.

Because of the higher resolution of the Nexus One, more of a web page can be displayed in front of an user at any given time. This is nice plus.

Email

Gmail integration into the Nexus One is almost perfect. If it wasn't for the awkward placement of the back button, it would have been perfect. Scrolling is butter smooth and the HTML email is rendered flawlessly. I really like this feature. I have not tried the generic email client, but I suppose it is just as good.

Camera

The Nexus One camera seems to be much better than the iPhone's 3GS camera. The megapixel difference is obvious, but this is not the main difference. On the iPhone 3GS the pictures are too dark for my taste (darker than on the iPhone 3G), and also quite blurry. The videos are fine though. On the Nexus One, the still pictures are much sharper, they are really usable. The LED flash really does help when needed. One odd thing is I did not manage to play even my own recorded videos on the Nexus One (I get the "This video cannot be played" error). Go figure...:)

Battery Life

When you first use a gadget, you tend to use it alot and this drains the battery very fast. Since I have not spent enough time with the Nexus One in order to change my habit to the "normal" usage pattern, I cannot have a final word on this.However, the battery life seems to be worse than on the iPhone 3GS. About 30% worse, but I will wait a few days to be sure.

I only use 3G, WiFi and notifications, the same features I have used on the iPhone 3GS. When turning off notifications, the iPhone 3GS lasts about 6 days with light usage ! However with the notifications on, it lasts about 2 days on my type of usage, which is ok for me. On the Nexus however, the battery is at 30% and I charged it fully about 12 hours ago. It has a much larger screen and multitasking, this might have an impact in battery usage. I hope this will improve, and I am confident it will, because the screen consumes about 70% of battery, and by the time I will reach my normal usage pattern in a few weeks, I will not be using the screen so much. However, if it continues to drain fast while using email notifications, I will consider this a dealbreaker for me.

Conclusion

So far I like the Nexus One alot, but I have to admit that for normal usage it is not as good as the iPhone 3GS except the email, notifications, screen quality, and camera. Ergonomy on the iPhone is outstanding, everything is well tought out. On the Nexus One, no so. Also the web browsing experience is better on iPhone 3GS, but very usable on the Nexus One too.

What I do like about the Nexus One is its customization ability, the "openess" of the plaform which allows me to do what I want with it, and the potential that the Android platform has. On the iPhone, you would have to wait years for a new feature that everyone was wanting, and the development pace is very slow. Also, every day you were somehow reminded that Apple controls you. You couldn't do much with the phone if Apple did not design or approve a "way" to do it. I have patiently waited for a phone that would free me from the Apple control, and that day has almost come. Nexus One is a big step forward, it can replace the iPhone right now and this is a big thing to say.