Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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160 of 165 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Google Smart Phone, Good General Smart Phone, December 30, 2008
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Summary [7.5 out of 10]
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The T-Mobile G1 is an excellent "first-mover" Android-based phone from T-Mobile and is truly a "Google Phone". If you are already have most of your life on Google through one of their many handy and free services (Gmail, Contacts, Calendar, Talk, Picasaweb, etc.) the G1 is going to be a dream device for you. If you don't make use of the Gmail services or have most of your life scattered across many different services, the G1 will be an OK phone for you, but we'd suggest also looking at a BlackBerry or iPhone as well as there are some things those phones do better than the G1.
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The Great
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* Call-quality (both receiving and sending) is very nice. People I spoke too (in an A/B comparison between iPhone) said that the iPhone sounded just like a typical crappy cell phone and the G1 sounded like I was on my office phone. I also felt the volume of the G1 was louder when talking to people making it a bit easier for me to hear them.
* Google services integration is awesome. It's completely seamless, syncs over-the-air regardless of the data connection you have, seems to sync frequently so your contacts, calendar, email and IM are all always synced up. Also the synchronization is bi-directional, you don't have a "Read only" copy on the G1... you can change anything you want and see it synced right back to Google.
* Having a keyboard is very handy. The non-super-techy types that I lent the phone to for a few hours all commented that the physical keyboard felt and "made more sense" than a virtual on-screen keyboard to them like the iPhone or BlackBerry Storm.
* The trackball is much handier to have for selection than I anticipated. Also it's position on the phone is perfect for both landscape and portrait use. I was surprised (in landscape mode) how my thumb naturally fell right ontop of the trackball, making it much easier to navigate the screen without lifting my hand off the keyboard to press something.
* Micro-SD support - including the new 16GB cards that were released recently.
* Voice dialing - How does the iPhone still not have this. I also found the accuracy excellent, pretty much on par with what my BlackBerry had. I also noticed when you have multiple numbers for a single person, even though the voice-dialing result screen shows you all their numbers, it always puts the one you wanted as the first item, so it's easy to execute. Unfortunately if you like to drive with your phone in your pocket and call people, this might be an extra step some folks don't want.
* Back Button - Similar to the BlackBerry OS, the "Back" button always does what you think it should. If you read an email, and jump into a browser to check a link and click a YouTube link to watch a video... the "Back" button will move you backward through those contexts back to the original email as you keep hitting it. This has always driven me nuts on the iPhone - you have to go back to the home screen first, then back into whatever it was that you were doing.
* EDGE data performance seemed snappy on the phone. While browsing is certainly still just as slow as you would expect, the Chrome-based browser performed well and the background-sending/receiving of data in every other app gave an excellent user experience. Coming from a 1st Gen iPhone on an EDGE network, I was used to much longer lag related to data operations (like Maps or Email) so it did seem a hair more performant - or maybe just designed in a more streamlined flow, it's hard to say.
* Mobile YouTube was easy to use and looked great on the little screen. Playback started quickly and the interface was easy to use - I find the iPhone interface a bit too constrained.
* Basic UI for the Android apps on the G1 were very intuitive; I didn't find myself pointing out UI oddities left and right as I tend to do, everything just did what I expected it to and menu items were right where I thought they would be.
* Universal notification bar across the top of the screen became a huge "must have" for me. Going back to the iPhone is going to be painful after this (and dealing with multiple overlapping dialog boxes). Any time anything happens on the phone that you have notifications setup for (IM, Email, SMS, etc.) a notification icon is added to the bar that you can drag-down with your finger any time to view the contents of. It makes multi-tasking possible where as the iPhone is a single-context device.
* Operating system updates are downloaded over-the-air and you are prompted to install them seamlessly at your discretion. This is both over EDGE as well as 3G.
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The Good
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* Build quality was more solid than I expected. I expected the whole phone to be that "plastic cell phone feel", but the top sliding piece that has the screen in it is actually a solid feeling piece of metal with the glass-esque screen connected to a plastic body.
* The Android UI is a lot more polished and "sexy" looking than I thought it would be. It's not quite like the iPhone, but sexier than BlackBerry OS on the Curve or Pearl (I haven't spent enough time with the Storm or Bold to compare, but at first glance I'd say it's a bit nicer).
* We found most all of the Android applications and system design to be intuitive and flow nicely.
* It is nice to have a "Menu" button again. I got used to it on my BlackBerry as a source of secondary operations that you may want in any application, and missed it on my iPhone -- sometimes feeling like functionality was trimmed to far in the name of a "simple interface".
* The slide-out mechanism for the G1's screen is much sturdier than I thought it would be. I don't forsee this breaking down over time as it has a smooth operation to it and held firmly in place with two guiding pieces. It's also got a good amount of spring-tension to make the operation feel stiff/firm and not flimsy or chinsey.
* Replaceable battery - slide the back cover off and you are all set. You can replace the battery yourself. None of this Apple-crap where you send your device in for "service" to get the battery replaced.
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The Bad
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* Form factor is large enough to consider this a "large" phone. The iPhone was a big phone, but skinny enough you didn't really notice it. The G1 is about 30-40% thicker feeling than the iPhone, so in your pocket, you absolutely notice it. I'd say if you are used to wearing tight jeans, trying to shove this down in a pocket and dig it out is going to be more of a pain then something more streamlined like an iPhone.
* Backlighting of all the keys (keyboard and main face buttons) is dim, uneven and times out quickly so it's easy to loose your orientation when ready before hitting another key. This is really annoying in normal-room-lighting, because the backlighting will always kick in (no sensor) causing the white lettering on the keys to almost become the same color as the key itself, so you suddenly cannot read the keys until the backlighting turns off or you hold the keyboard at an angle so you can read it. This an odd (and annoying) side effect of "all-the-time" backlighting that I had never experienced before on another device.
* Main face-buttons are all the same size, feel and are flush with the face so you cannot navigate them in the dark. You usually have to do something like hit "Menu" or roll the control ball to get the "back lighting" to wake up, then press the button you want.
* Screen display quality is slightly less fidelity than the iPhone (very minor). It's hard to tell, but none of us were "struck" by the beauty of the screen clarity, resolution or brightness unlike (for example) some of the recent BlackBerry Storm reviews that actually called out how nice the screen was. If the iPhone is just fine for you, and you don't need a noticeably improved screen, then this won't matter at all. Just pointing out that there isn't any improvement here.
* The touch-screen performance felt about 15% less accurate than the iPhone. Meaning you had to press a bit harder something or press it a few times before it "clicked", quick clicks with the finger or some slides didn't register right at first. This didn't happen often and for the most part the touch screen was just fine, no usability impact -- it's just that we did notice a hair of a difference in what would be interpreted as "accuracy" of the touch screen.
o ADDENDUM: As one of the viewers on our G1 video review pointed out, the less screen sensitivity was likely due to the protective film we left over the screen. A lot of folks still use screen protectors, so this point could still be important for them, but we wanted to make that clarification. With the screen protector off, the touch screen performance would be expected to be on par with the iPhone.
* From time to time we noticed the OS lag after a button push by up to 6 secs before responding. We've seen this on the iPhone as well (and BlackBerry), but on the G1 the pauses seemed more pronounced.
* No standard headphone jack. There is only the Mini-USB connection at the bottom of the phone or the choice of a Bluetooth headset - Unfortunately because of the poor battery life, we don't think a Bluetooth headset for the purpose of audio is a good choice here.
* The connection mechanism for the entire back plate of the phone (that pulls off like opening a clam) isn't as secure as you might like it. If you dropped this phone I could certainly see the back plate popping off and the battery falling out. A more purposeful latch would have been nice.
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The Ugly
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* Battery life is bad without WiFi and pure crap with it turned on. Overall, about 1/3 the life of my 1st Gen iPhone and on the verge of what I would consider "Something you should really consider if battery life is important". You are going to be plugging this in every night on easy use and if you are a mobile warrior type (few hours of calling a day, lots of map lookups, email, sms, IM'ing, etc.) you are going to need to have this plugged in during the day as well so as not to have it run out on you in the field. This bothered us.
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Conclusion [7.5 out of 10]
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The T-Mobile G1 doesn't seem to have flaws necessarily, more like shortcomings. Depending on the type of user you are, the G1 can be a dream-come-true device (Google-Services-dependent) or a disappointment (Media/Application-heavy user coming from iPhone); it just depends on what you need.
The T-Mobile G1 is a great first-attempt at a phone, but it's still just that: a 1st attempt.
The device itself and Android operating system felt and operated well, but you couldn't help but notice shortcomings in certain places (as noted above in the Bad/Ugly lists) that would all probably be fixed by more time in the oven. We fully expect to see a T-Mobile G2 (or whatever you want to call it) with a seriously refined Android experience and tweaked hardware provide an awesome smart-phone experience -- just right now with the G1, your happiness with it will depend entirely on how you want to use it.
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40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Phone, December 24, 2008
Having had this phone since the launch in September 2008, I have to say that I am hooked to Android. I have been with T-Mobile for a while now and they've been one of the best providers for me. The customer service is amazing. I have owned the T-Mobile MDA and an unlocked first generation iPhone on T-Mobile network, and G1 is the best of those 3 phones IMO.
Now about the G1: I had been looking forward to the first Android phone ever since OHA was announced in late 2007, and the G1 has met (if not exceeded) every single thing I had come to expect from Google and Open Source community. Android, as the phone operating system, is rock solid with great features and extremely easy to use. Android Market (equivalent of the Apple App Store on the iPhone) is already full of great applications to cater to many tasks that you might want to add to your phone. Games such as PACMAN, Divide and Conquer, Hold'em and applications such as AK Notepad, Compass, Sky Map, ShopSavvy, TuneWiki, iMeem, Video Player are some of my favorites. There is also a service named Voxofon Call Router which lets you make long distance international calls by dialing the number directly and it does the rest. Their rates are very competitive and quality is one of the best I've seen.
And of course, default included applications such as Maps, Browser, GMail, IM and Calendar are awesome and I use them all the time. I had debated about getting the data plan, because I have not had one for a while now, but Android makes it totally worth it. The G1 has almost become my inseparable companion wherever I go. And the most important aspect of a PDA phone, the phone, itself is great. Call quality is the clearest I've seen until now, speakerphone is pretty loud as well, contact management and auto-sync with GMail contacts is great.
The hardware is very solid too. The phone itself feels very well built in the hand and the back has a "matte" like finish, which enhances the grip on the phone. Sliding mechanism is unique and works very well. A real physical keyboard is awesome, esp for people who IM/Text a lot.
And as everything in the world, nothing is perfect. Few cons I've noticed until now: -
1. Not very satisfactory battery life. If you do not use any data services and use the phone just for calls, battery lasts about 36 hours, but with any sort of data usage on the phone (which is the whole point of a PDA phone), the battery would barely last you through the day. Keeping one charger each at home and office comes in handy. GPS drains the battery pretty quickly too.
2. T-Mobile 3G network is not available at many places still.
3. Not very pretty! I guess that lies in the eyes of the beholder (or beer holder?).
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26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Android Software, Great Phone with infinite capabilities!, December 15, 2008
Like another reviewer, I too evolved from the Tmobile Dash and although I like the simplicity of having the Dash sync with my Outlook Adress Book, this to me seem too small a gripe to not praise such an absolutely well thought off idea that is a phone and so much more!
Wanting to avail of our upgrade option, I got the blackberry 8320 for my wife (as she tends to use her cell phone at home alot and wifi calling feature was perfect for her) and since I've been waiting for that all around internet phone, I got this one and it certainly did not dissapoint. To make my review a little more direct to the point, I've listed down the PROS with the corresponding CONS...
PROS:
INTERNET Phone at it's best! I can surf, read emails, chat do online banking as if I was on a tiny laptop! I love how I can actually see what movies are showing and where as well as see actual showtimes!
Google MAPS is awesome! You can pinpoint your location or it would show you a range of where you are and you can find whatever stuff you need around you like shops, restaurants, a place of business, etc. without having to call 411 ever again!
KEYBOARD is very helpful especially when a virtual keyboard may be too small for your fingers. I rarely hit the wrong letters and I didn't find the build to be flimsy, but one has to be a little careful when opening it up as it litterally springs into action and this sudden jerk may cause the phone to slip out of your hands! We need autorotate though (see cons)
DIALING: I find dialing easy enough especially since it logs in/out/missed calls. All I have to do is press the green button and I can scroll through my call log without having to have to go to my contacts, and when you do, your contacts is just a tab away! There is an Icon that you press to access voice command. I have since copied this onto the desktop for easy access... A long press on the bluetooth re-dials the last number dialed. but... see CONS
ADDRESS BOOK is great once set-up! and comes with a ton of information options for a single contact.. No one can hide from you once they're in you contact list!
CALL QUALITY: I find the call quality to be absolutely brilliant and loud and I have never experienced anyone mis understanding what I was saying from my end so I guess that's good. Quality is great on the speakerphone as well as my jabra jx10.
APPLICATION MARKET: A few great apps available for download FREE! I will have to agree that the apps out there are a little "out there". This shouldn't make you think that there are no great ones! I've downloaded almost 20 useful apps which I find very helpful for my taste. Be mindful that the community is very young and the potential for wonderful apps are endless given the open source nature of android!
MESSAGING: Is tied together which makes it so simple to see history on a conversation. Email application is great too. I am now able to get, reply and delete emails on both my gmail and my yahoo account which I've set-up on the G1!
CAMERA: 3mp quality is a great feature and shoots fine but (see cons)
MULTIMEDIA: Music player is ok.. speakers are good enough to listen on. Stereo earphones does the job but a good set of earphones will rock your world! I use the lenntek sonix (see my other review on that one) I heard complaints on the earphone dongle and lack of direct output earphone jack but I actually find the dongle very helpful as I am able to use my good earphones when making or recieving calls as the mic itself is installed on the dongle!
CONS:
INTERNET needs Flash Player which is currently underway. I've read that the Flash player should be available early next year.
Google MAPS somehow can't accurately pintpoint where I was even with the GPS on. I Have yet to try it when I'm actually out on the streets it maybe because I was indoors when I was trying to use the GPS option.
KEYBOARD bad: because of having to slide up the keyboard, you can never fit the G1 into a sleeve type jacket permanently. Tmobile stores do offer those hard plastic clip-ons that does the job of scratchproofing your phone though. A lot of people also find "having to open to type" an annoyance, but I read somewhere that a virtual keyboard is actually on it's way as well as an autorotate; automatic screen rotate when you rotate your phone from landscape to portrait onrientation.
DIALING: Bluetooth one press doesn't automatically go to Voice Dialer. You have to access the phone's voice dialer option to say a command like "CALL HOME"... the Voice dialer has a hard time understanding what you're saying especially when dealing with non-american sounding names, just immagine how confused your phone will be after you say "call Mahmud AHMADI-NEJAD"...
ADDRESS BOOK: You'll have to export and copy your outlook adress book and import it in your google site and like one of the reviewers had mentioned, you will lose the mailing address information! what I do is cut and paste any outlook address info I have on my PC onto my online adress book while I'm on the Computer and let the phone sync from my google address book that way.
CALL QUALITY: No cons just yet... Great everything device that actually functions as a phone!
APPLICATION MARKET: A few odd-balls out there but who cares? They're not forcing you to download anything you don't like? So I really can't judge the phone for that.
MESSAGING and EMAIL: Like I said is great but the emails will need to be upgraded to link with microsoft servers to make corporate users happy. I think this is in the works too.
CAMERA: 3mp quality is fine but lack of a built-in flash makes the camera feature useless in low light conditions as focusing suffers in low light too! A video recorder would have been a nice added feature (video capture is great on my wife's blackberry 8320)
MULTIMEDIA: Music player is plain and simple and I think the Iphone wins on that one! Lacks a Video Player but there's a bunch of players out there on the market waiting to be downloaded for free... But this should have been something that came with the phone! Earphone dongle can be troublesome for some! My main concern though is I can never listen to music while charging the phone! Why does HTC push on having the charger share the same port with the headset/usb cable!
BOTTOMLINE:
I am quite happy with this purchase and even though this is the 1st generation, I like the GUI and the simpllicity of navigating around the menus and functions. I have never read the manual nor did the need for me to look something up ever arised! I am almost certain that others will follow suit! and if a better phone with the android ever comes out, which I'm sure it will, I will simply have to upgrade to that after a year or so! but right now I'm enjoying the G1 and this phone right here is the FUTURE!
WISHLIST:
Camera Flash, Tmobile wifi/hotspot Calling, A good Video Pre Installed Player, Video Recorder, Virtual Keyboard, Dedicated Headphone Jack.
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