HTC G1 Review - Usability & Performance
Usability & PerformanceI tested G1 in the San Francisco, CA Bay Area, where T-Mobile recently turned on their new 3G network. Performance was generally quite good for both voice and data applications, even in my house where I consistently get no more than two signal bars of coverage. The first full day I had the phone I experienced lightning fast 3G speeds while browsing the Web near Lake Merritt in Oakland; in the five days since, speeds have tapered off noticeably, though I also haven’t been back to that spot. On a 25-minute bus ride from my office to my house, I retained 3G coverage for about 80% of the ride, dropping back to EDGE in two spots along the way.
Audio quality on voice calls was good, with only one “You there? Can you hear me?” moment experienced at the beginning of a call. G1’s speakerphone is plenty loud, and sounded pretty good during voice and music playback. A USB-based stereo headset is included with the device, and it works decently well, though I had some trouble with the button on the in-line mic/remote. A USB to 2.5/3.5mm audio adapter will be available as an accessory through T-Mobile. Mono Bluetooth audio also worked well, though Stereo Bluetooth is not yet supported (Google has indicated it will be available via software update at some point).

G1’s user interface is nothing short of excellent. This was my first experience with Android and I’ve come away very impressed. Notifications, dialogue boxes, fonts, screen transitions - everything was smooth and pleasant to look at, and wait times while launching or switching apps was acceptable even at its worst. There’s a consistency across the UI, from settings menus to the look of Gmail’s threaded conversations, that breeds familiarity and ease of use. I don’t much care for the GMail way of reading messages, but it worked quite well on the G1.
The touchscreen was ultra-responsive, and the widescreen rotated from landscape to portrait and back almost instantly when I slid the display open and shut. I really liked the notification bar at the top of the display that alerts me to new events - Email/SMS/IM messages, Calendar alarms, downloads, and the like. The bar can be pulled down with a thumb swipe to view details of and/or clear notifications, and provide one-click access to relevant apps (clicking on “9000 new Emails” takes me to the GMail app, and so on).
The built-in YouTube client is excellent and the music player is more than passable, and while there’s no desktop sync software like Apple’s iTunes, it’s easy enough to drag and drop music files to the included 1GB microSD card and pop the card into G1. Speaking of which, I tried out the Amazon mp3 app and purchased and downloaded a few DRM-free mp3 tracks via WiFi. Downloading via 3G is not supported, but the WiFI purchase/download worked very well with my pre-existing Amazon account. I was able to pop the microSD card out of the G1 after and copy my new music to my computer, where I could listen to it, copy it to my iPod (and iPhone), burn it to CD, and so on without any copy protection restrictions (DRM).
Strangely, the G1 ships without a native application for watching videos. I downloaded the Beta version of Video Player for free from the Android Market (Google’s “App Store”) and had mixed results with it. The player offers only limited file format support at this point, and playback itself was fairly choppy when I tried with an MPEG-4 video I created on my Mac. Similarly, the 3.2 MP camera on the G1 does not support video capture - only still photos. The camera offers auto focus, but no flash, and image quality was excellent in strong natural light, and so-so in less than optimal conditions. Photo sharing via GMail and MMS messaging was a snap using Android’s software.
There’s also a full HTML Web browser on the G1, and it’s probably one of the three best mobile Web browsers I’ve tested to date (along with iPhone’s Safari and Opera Mobile, which ships on the HTC Touch Diamond). The browser dealt very, very well with complex HTML pages and Javascripts, did a decent job with Web 2.0 functionality (mixed results but not bad), and offers very smooth panning and zooming. I really appreciated the G1’s trackball when clicking on tiny little Web links that I couldn’t quite grab with a finger on the touchscreen - the trackball offers a level of precision that my fingers can’t quite attain on their own on any touchscreen, be it the G1, iPhone, Touch Diamond, or any other recent device.
A knock on the G1 that I’d be remiss not to emphasize, however, is that its QWERTY keyboard left me disappointed. I’ve traditionally liked the thumbboards on HTC devices, including the new Touch Diamond and Touch Pro models, but G1’s QWERTY left me cold. Actually, it left me a little fatigued and sore in the thumbs. The keyboard is well spaced, but the buttons are mounted very close to the surface of the keyboard, which means the action on the keys is very shallow. I was able to use the phone, but the keys are short and don’t travel very far, which added up to noticeable fatigue after a lengthy session of Web browsing and messaging using the phone’s multi-protocol IM app. The backlighting on G1’s keyboard is kind of odd, too; it performed well in dark conditions, but I had trouble reading the “Alt” key labels in bright lighting.
Next: Conclusion »Fetch me more...Quickly jump to more information about related topics, cell phones, carriers or phone manufacturers mentioned in this In-Depth Review by using the links below. About our in-depth cell phone reviewsWe take great pride to ensure that the our reviews are thorough and accurate. In no way are our editors directed or influenced by any manufacturers, advertisers, or partners; we believe that honest, opinionated reviews -positive or negative - are the only way to maintain credibility and serve our users. Reviews by companyApple, BenQ, BlackBerry, Eten, HTC, LG, Motorola, Nokia, o2, Palm, Pantech, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Sony EricssonI haven't had the chance to test this one out for myself yet but it looks pretty great. I think it's safe to say you shouldn't be running the auto-rooting app on your myTouch. From what I've read, that phone presents a different set of problems in terms of hacking. Progress is being made though. I don't have a G1 on hand right now, but when I do I'll post the results. As always: I don't recommend doing anything remotely like this. IT CAN RUIN... Noah pits Apple's iPhone OS 2.2.1 vs Google's Android OS 1.5 in a QWERTY dogfight. Both platforms now offer virtual keyboards with auto-correct spelling. Which is the best to use? Find out what Noah thinks. [EDITED] Haykuro is no longer working on ROMs. Haykuro was receiving a lot of attention - good and bad - because he's a 17-year-old coding superstar who got hot stuff out fast. But there are still others to to keep your eye on. The video offers an early look at the software that will ship with the HTC Hero, which includes a cool new interface known as Rosie. This video is primarily meant to be a preview for those that are curious about what to expect from HTC's coming Android phones. For the hackers and modders, I've given all the resources you need
to run this yourselves. No flash - just some adb and an apk. The QWERTY is indicative of the kind of changes we will see different OEMs (and carriers?) work into their own builds of Google's OS. That is what Android is all about, after all - openness.... As the coder states, we can expect better performance when some better Android phones are released. But this program is working pretty well already, if you ask me. The applications of the code go beyond the most obvious context of gaming - not that I can think of any practical examples off the top of my head. Check out the dev's project page here. I found this at Android Guys. Here you go - a glimpse at the widgets you'll have access to once you receive the Cupcake update, over-the-air. The process begins on May 11th, and you should get hit within a week or so. I missed out on the Paypal widget because it wasn't available for me until after this video was uploaded. I don't know if any of you will remember this, but rooting fixed a problem I had with some apps not showing up in the Market. It looks like different... Verizon jumped into the Android game with both feet last Friday, selling the much hyped Motorola Droid and its more-than-capable little Sis, the HTC Droid Eris in stores across the nation. With the US' number one wireless carrier now selling phones built around Google's Android OS, the platform is poised for a big uptick in mass consumer adoption. Heck, AT&T might even start carrying a Google phone before too long.
We want to take you on a... It's no secret that HTC's G1 - the first device to ship with Android - has become a hacker and modder playground. As far as I know, it is the most tweaked and twiddled phone in the annals of (somewhat) mainstream consumer-grade gadgetdom. People who couldn't wait for highly-anticipated features or accept the limitations imposed by security concerns made the G1 exactly what they wanted it to be; perhaps what it should have been from the start.... Citrix used the iForum 2009 in Singapore to show off an Android version of their receiver software, which is already available for iPhone. Citrix compares their virtualization experience to turning on a television. It's a one-time, 15-minute set up. I'm really tempted to ask why anyone would want to do such a thing, but I recognize the significance of the ability to run Office on an Android device. I just don't need it personally.
... So you're in love with Sense, but can't afford (wait for/settle for the US 2G of) HTC's Hero. Well, LevelUp Studio has what you need in the form of five Hero-inspired beautiful widgets called...Beautiful Widgets. They cost €0.99, which is about $1.40. I purchased mine the day they were released, which I would guess was about two weeks ago. Since then, there has been one widget added, and at least one fix for the clock/weather widget,... Man, oh man. Once you get sucked into the culture of cooked ROMs, it's hard to break free. Don't get me wrong, I don't have the vaguest understanding of how subversive coders accomplish the fruits of their (and others') labor, but I sure am seduced by said fruits...and pastries. Donut will be dropping soon for those with a rooted G1, and I suppose I'm obliged to try it out and prepare for a bit of show and tell. This is especially true because a... This one's a little thin, but it's been a slow news day so what the heck ... David over at TmoNews swears up and down - or blogged, anyway - that a trusted source got wind of some kind of a "new" G1 coming from T-Mobile soon and a myTouch 3G Version 2 already on tap for next year: First, MyTouch is now considered a franchise name for T-mobile. ThinkSidekick. Other details were pretty sparse, but apparently topics ofdiscussion were a “new”... Hi, I'm living in Norway and want the Android Dev Phone 1 or T-mobile G1 badly! But google dosn't send the phone to Norway. And I want off course the phone to be unlocked. Annyone who knows how i can get it or can send it to me? Please answere I have done as suggested and it keeps resetting to medium from large font. How do I make it permanent.?
Also if you can advise on this.. How do you sign an update file?
Thanks Paul There is actually a different processor in the Hero. I think it's 7201 in the G1 and myTouch and 7200 in the Hero. I do not know how much of a practical difference this makes (or what changes were made). The speed is the same. The RAM and ROM increase in the Hero are pretty obvious from the first time you touch it, but the UI does use more resources than the Google Experience.
Hero is amazing. I don't know how long the honeymoon period lasts,... Samsun is an important Turkish trade center and the most important port
on the Black Sea coast. Samsun is one of the major Turkish tobacco
producing provinces. In the later Ottoman period the land around the
town mainly produced tobacco. The town was connected to the railway
system in the second half of the 29th century, and tobacco boomed. The Carsamba Plain and Bafra Plain offer possibilities for farming. However, repair your credit if you... hey, ever get annoyed whenever you type something really long and you have to delete it? well, instead of pressing the "Delete" button a million times , you can press and hold the 'ALT ' button and press delete.It will delete the whole line you just wrote!!! Also another really cool thing is that instead of pressing the 'Shift' key over and over to get the cap letters, just simply tap shift twice and it will get the Caps On!!! hope this is... hey, ever get annoyed whenever you type something really long and you have to delete it? well, instead of pressing the "Delete" button a million times , you can press and hold the 'ALT ' button and press delete.It will delete the whole line you just wrote!!! Works on the G1, and all tmobile sidekicks...hope that this tip is helpful!!! Snap Photo helps a bit, but this is really just a bump, as I know nothing of the pixon Hey, Sunny. My only advice is to contact Rogers. That's who you use, right? They're the only Canadian carrier I know, and they work with T-Mo for travelers so that's probably your best bet. Hi, mlouise. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to change this setting globally. It's easy in the browser, but to change the fonts for the entire phone, you have to get into some unreliable hacking. If you want to give it a shot, download an app from the Market called Anycut. Run the app, create a new shortcut, select activity, select Display. You will now have a Display shortcut on your homescreen. Tap it, and you can select a large font,... Does the g1 have font enlarging similar to the iPhone? My daughter is Deaf and visually impaired. Up until now there hasn't be a device with adequate font enlarging for her to be able to use it-- txt, email, AIM, all important functions for Deaf folks, as for hearing. (I use a Color Sidekick, LOL) There is some enlarging on Blackberry AIM wasn't available. (Looks like that may have changed.) Today I met up with two Deaf...
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Announced Carrier: Verizon Wireless Expected Release Date: December 2nd, 2009 - Pantech Impact Technology: GSM
Announced Carrier: AT&T Rumored Release Date: Sunday November 22, 2009 - BlackBerry Curve 8530Technology: CDMA
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Announced Carrier: Verizon Wireless Rumored Release Date: November 6th, 2009 - Motorola DroidTechnology: CDMA
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Announced Carrier: T-Mobile Expected Release Date: 10-28-09

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Once this is addressed in a future release this phone will get 5 stars from me. Right now I give it 4.5