My First 2 Hours With a G1 - Review

[snoslicer8]

The fabulous folks at the T-Mobile store (corporately owned) at Maplewood Commons in St. Louis, MO just let me play with their demo G1 unit for TWO WHOLE HOURS.

That's right, folks...I don't own the phone yet, but just explored every nook and cranny of this thing.

I only took two (rather generic) pictures of it for proof, I hope y'all are ok with that.

Touch Screen
Very responsive. I would venture to say even more responsive than an iPhone (gasp!). The interface beneath responded to touch input without lag or anything. There was even an option for a "confirmation tone" for touch input. With the ringer turned off, this confirmation tone turns into a type of touch feedback...slight vibration from the vibrate motor when the screen is tapped...very nice.

Notifications
The notifications were FLAWLESS. I can't believe I've lived with an iPhone for this long without a central notification system that is EASY TO ACCESS. If the phone makes a noise, and I miss what it was, drag the window shade down. That's it, everything is there, period. I noted that the "Clear Notifications" button at the top of the window shade will dismiss all notifications EXCEPT a voicemail notification. That stayed there until I dialed voicemail and hit 7 to delete it. E-mail, SMS, IM, Market, etc. all showed up in real time no matter what app I was running (including Pacman!).

Market
This is going to be Android's bread-and-butter. There are some amazing apps in the market already, INCLUDING a Skype client! It's already there! I also played with Locale, and this app is going to prove invaluable to just about everyone. Basically, you set conditions: anything from GPS/WiFi location to Caller ID to Battery status (draining or charging/plugged in)...and then tell the phone what to do if these conditions are met (turn phone to silent, vibrate only, set certain ringtone, power off at 10% battery, turn off WiFi at 20% battery, etc). The possibilities with this app are endless.

Skype

I did not download and try the Skype application, as I found it in the market toward the end of my salivating G1 preview. I did read the description in the market, and it says that it allows text chatting AND Skype out calls to other Skype users or land lines. It also says something about using the voice channel processor in the phone instead of recording sound and sending it, which makes the voice quality exponentially better on the receiving end.

E-Mail
Just tested one outgoing, and one response e-mail back into the G1. Sent mail was instant, and the Push GMail worked just like it should...it pushed it. Amazing.

Music
The music player was fairly impressive, even with me coming from an iPhone. The speaker was to DIE for. Playing the exact same song on my iPhone at max volume, the G1 was easily 1.5x as loud at 75%. I didn't want to blow the speaker. Ringtones were equally as impressive. Music controls were intuitive, and playlists worked just like the User Manual online says they should (see my Apple Automater section in the Knowledge Base for some "syncing" with iTunes tricks).

Trackball

I have to admit, I love the trackball. Coming from the iPhone, especially. There are some times when I just don't want to touch the screen! This is a very responsive and quick way to get where I need to be, while keeping the glass clean. The trackball also worked very well in PacMan (better than the on-screen analog joystick, in my opinion), just scroll a little bit to change directions.

Keyboard

The keyboard was VERY familiar to me, a long-time Sidekick user. I felt right at home on it. The keys are well spaced (not like the MDA et. all), they have just enough travel with feedback, and I found myself typing out test messages VERY quickly...much faster than word-correction on iPhone's "smart" keyboard ever allowed. I can't wait for this phone.

Battery

I forgot about the battery!!! Two whole hours of exploring (i.e. never turning off) this phone, and the battery meter HARDLY FLINCHED. We're going to get GREAT use out of this thing, especially after the initial 'must use it all the time' period wears off.

That's all I want to write out for now. I will reply to this posting with answers to any questions that I know that answers to. Responses will be as edits to this first post.

USER QUESTIONS

Originally Posted by 360Photographer

Very nice, thanks for the mini review. My only question is.... How did the screen, and overall phone look? Did it look cheap in any way?

The phone is NOT AT ALL DONE JUSTICE BY PICTURES. It was by far the most amazing feeling device I've held, and I mean that. My iPhone feels like it is going to slip out of my hands. The G1 feels solid, weighted (but not heavy) in the hand. I didn't have to grip it out of fear. The screen mechanism snaps open with a comforting authority, it's not flimsy like a Sidekick screen.

Originally Posted by 360Photographer

One last question... How do photos look on the phone? Not actual photos from the phone, but more like a wallpaper, and so on. Do they look sharp?

I only ask because I'm a photographer, and will using my work as wallpapers in the phone, so quality is a major plus for me.

Pictures on the desktop (wallpapers) were clear and crisp. Not the highest DPI screen (saturation) that I've seen, but impressive...at least up to iPhone scale.

Originally Posted by ggreeenwood33

Very good info. Thank you for the time to infrom us all. One of my questions was about the compass mode on street view. Was it laggy? or did it move smoothly when you moved? Thanks again

While in Google Maps Street View, the phone loads an entire 360 sphere view into memory. After this, the compass mode is VERY responsive to every move...it literally is like you're there. Once you navigate down the street a ways, it takes a few seconds to load the next sphere, then you're ready to look around again.

What is video playback like?

I didn't have a chance to try out video, as I only had music on my MicroSD card.

I did plug in my MicroSD, and downloaded a few apps. The apps DID NOT appear in the directory listing of the card, which means they are stored locally. I do not know if the system will automatically start to store apps on the card once the device's memory is full.

Originally Posted by ggreeenwood33

Thanks. makes me feel a lot better. figured that when you moved down the street or scrolled across a map.. it would take a few seconds to load. You are me hero. ha. anything else you really really liked? how was the browser? responsive?

The browser (I was on EDGE network) was very responsive. It loaded the smartphone version of Google.com (not desktop, not mobile). Searching from the home screen search bar took less than 5 seconds from hitting enter to results in the web browser...on EDGE!!!

Originally Posted by ggreeenwood33

and did you have a lot of apps open at once? how did that go?

The way Java-based OSes work: everything is already running, but suspended in the background. Everyone is griping about not having a task manager...you don't need one. Just hold the search button and hit the letter assigned to the app you want to go to, and it jumps there instantly. When a Java app loses focus (and it's correctly coded with the suspend call), it sleeps itself...there is no need to ever 'quit' an application.

Originally Posted by Technickal

you probably didnt try em , but how were the IM clients?

I only signed into the included AIM client (the store was signed into the phone with their own GMail account, so I couldn't sign into GTalk as myself). It took about 10-15 seconds to load the buddy list...I am assuming this is because it retrieves the list using the SMS based system. Once online, messages were sent and received (from as far as I can tell) instantly.

Originally Posted by Swimm12984

so question....about how deep is the market...like how many apps (estimate of course im sure u didnt count them lol) are available

You're right, I didn't count them...I should have.
The applications section is much deeper than the games, but I have a feeling they will even out...people are just figuring out what this platform is capable of graphics-wise.

The apps that are in the Market now are simply dumbfounding...stuff you would never think you needed until you tried it...now I don't want to live without them for another 12 days.

Originally Posted by f4phantomii

How was the screen brightness? Was it washed out in bright light or sunlight?

I didn't get time to take it outside to check screen brightness or full-light photos like I wanted to. However, the store was quite well lit with florescent lighting, and the screen was easily readable.

Originally Posted by dkvitus

Just wondering... take a pic with the phone? any reviews about the picture quality, integration with picasa or other options/settings?

I took a few pictures, but it was with the stock SD card in the phone, I forgot to put my card in before snapping them. From on the screen, the picture quality looks far better than I was expecting.

I had already read the instruction manual, so I understood that this phone has a MECHANICAL auto-focus, and I knew how to work it. You need to point at object to take picture of, hold shutter button halfway (like on a regular digi-cam) and wait for green focus light on screen...then snap picture. I found just snapping picture without letting mechanical focus work were far fuzzier.

Originally Posted by dewudzki

So can I say if I dont want to store mp3s videos and photos I dont need memory card?

You have to have the memory card in to take any pictures. The phone yelled at me when I tried to take a picture using the camera without the memory card inserted.

Originally Posted by Sun Diego

Hey GoCubs. My questions posed earlier in this thread were not answered. Would you?

Does the G1 have anything remotely similar to a GPS like a tom tom? What apps did you use and then liked/disliked?

There was not a turn-by-turn app pre-installed or immediately available in the market. If you have the GPS satellites enabled, and they have a good signal, Google Maps will show your position moving along streets as you drive/walk.

There is supposedly a turn-by-turn program coming soon that uses a good deal of GMaps for its data, but adds in voice-over and navigation abilities.

Originally Posted by she a g e e

Is there a tasks or notes app?

I did not immediately see a tasks or notes app available.

Cheers!
Brady

PS: As an UNofficial word, this particular T-Mobile store (corporately owned, NOT an authorized dealer) has said that their demo unit will be the only G1 in their store until the St. Louis 3G network launches in February 2009 (also UNofficial). My contact there says that officially, G1 devices will not be carried in corporately owned stores that are NOT in a 3G coverage area.

[heyitsnan]

Hey, Snoslicer8, Thanks so much for this hands-on account! Very exciting!!!! I'm sure everyone here will appreciate another ACer's review.

[isaac65]

Awesomeness!!!

[remister]

Nice mini-reviews.
I'm so tempted to go to the nearest T-mobile store and try it out. I don't want to ruin it though for the 22nd

[Driguez]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing!

[jgoldy15]

Two hours huh? Did they finally kick you out of there? I need to venture down to my local store to see if I can do the same!

[isaac65]

Originally Posted by remister

Nice mini-reviews.
I'm so tempted to go to the nearest T-mobile store and try it out. I don't want to ruin it though for the 22nd

Hahaha, I'm the same way. I want to "save myself" for the one I'm actually buying. lol

[probigeorge11]

Did you burn out the battery? Why didnt you steal it?

[kryptonkid07]

i wanna go to a store and see if they have one!

[Jorsher]

Good job snoslicer

Thanks for the info. I can't wait to get my hands on it!

A couple people in the office were talking about wanting a G1 today. I let them know mine is preordered. I'm sure it'll pass through many hands the day I bring it to work.