my impressions of the myTouch 3g

**deckard67** · 07-13-2009, 02:44 PM

I went over to a t-mobile store and got hold and play with one of the t-mobile sales reps myTouch 3g. This one was black.

Aesthetics, size and feel. I think the phone looks great. I think it is almost aesthetically pleasing as the iPhone. It is not as minimalist, simply because it has more buttons, but I like the presence of those buttons. The home and back buttons are highly useful and found myself using both of these quite often while playing with the phone.

The phone neither looks nor feels cheap in the hand. The phone fit into my hand nicely and while being light, felt well built in the hand. The back plate has a rubberized finish much like the black moto q had. I liked this very much because I have big hands and small devices like this have a tendancy to slip out of my paws. I had to buy a gel skin for my pearl as the slick exterior was not good for me. I will probably buy a gel skin as it just makes it easier for me to hold, but since the back has that rubberized finish, I might think twice about buying one.

The touch screen seemed very responsive. The accelerometer worked pretty well, but there was some lag when it turned the phone to landscape mode and this was intermittent, as sometimes it switched almost instantly and others it lagged for a second or two. The portrait soft keyboard is a bit small for my large fingers, but the portrait keyboard is large and easy to use, I feel that with just a bit of use this would be easy to get used to.

I did some browsing, and the browser was very quick, even in edge mode. I walked around the store and got some intermittent 3g connectivity, and man was that fast. Google maps loaded lickety split and maps loaded fast as I moved around and zoomed in.

The camera worked decent in low light, I do wish it had a flash though.

I really like the status bar that you can pull down from the top of the screen and see all of is going on, messages, calendar events, etc. This is a great feature, and one where I think Android smacks around the iPhone.

Overall, I was very impressed. The phone looks, and feels nice. The OS was responsive, and I found it easy to find my way around even though I have only played with android devices for a total of about 10 minutes. the size of the phone I think is just right. The screen is bright and and the touch screen is responsive. This is a well put together smart phone, and has definitely moved to the top of my list of wants in the next few months.

P.S. word about memory and keyboards. the myTouch has roughly twice as much memory for storing apps than the G1, and has more RAM memory for running apps (196)than the samsung i7500 coming out(128). Granted the samsung has an AMOLED screen and 8 gigs of internal storage, two very big pluses, but the lack of RAM in the samsung, is a large downer for me.

Keyboard, was a big fan of a hard keyboard, but having had a bb pearl for almost 2 years, my keyboard is wearing out and some letters don't register a touch when I press the key every time, and I find myself making more and more mistakes. I am leaning toward a soft keyboard because i am assuming that the touch screen will not become less sensitive over time, like keyboards and buttons do. just my two cents.

Deckard67
Arizona

**Iceberg** · 07-13-2009, 03:32 PM

Nice this makes me consider looking further into it. I"m waiting till they get it in stores to tinker with.

**RegGuheert** · 07-13-2009, 06:51 PM

Thanks for the nice review!

**geedup** · 07-13-2009, 07:14 PM

same here...i'll wait until it shows in stores...that hero is sexy tho...and

**Dayzee** · 07-20-2009, 08:25 AM

If its like The Ion that I have, the amount of ROM space available for apps is around 295mb compared to around 75mb on the G1 so a lot more than double. I have around 50 apps on my ion at the mo Including 10 or so above 3mb apps and copilot at 15mb and am just about reaching 200MB left.

RAM wise, it has 192mb with about 98mb free after the system/ general running of the fone kicks in.

There is a LOT of confusing stuff about Ram And ROM since the space for apps on ALL models (ROM/Storage) is close to 288mb RAM in the Rogers model.

Daisy xxx

**deckard67** · 07-20-2009, 06:21 PM

When I originally posted the stuff about memory, I was going purely by the specs. The G1, according to the specs has half the Flash (they call it ROM) for storing downloaded apps. So my saying it was double the memory was just a guess based on the specs. Since then I have come to understand, as you stated, that the G1 had about 75MB of storage left for storing apps after space was taken up by other things. So simple math would say that the myTouch/Magic has 3.9 times as much space for apps in the ROM.

That, to me was the tipping point causing me to want this phone and to not wait for the samsung i7500. I have found in forums that the G1 would hold somewhere between 30-50 apps, depending on the user. SO, if I take the middle, then the myTouch will hold about 140 apps before space becomes an issue. Furthermore according to what I read, the samsung has 128 MB of RAM, while the ION/myTouch has 192...I think I like that better. Not to mention that I like the track ball, (got used to using one on my bb) and I think the myTouch is a nicer looking phone than the i7500. I am sure others will disagree with me on the looks, but this is simply a matter of opinion.

Deckard67

**Shel** · 07-20-2009, 06:54 PM

Originally Posted by deckard67

.... and I think the myTouch is a nicer looking phone than the i7500. I am sure others will disagree with me on the looks, but this is simply a matter of opinion.

Deckard67

Thanks for the review!

I also found that when I went into a T Mobile store and actually held the myTouch and used it, it was much nicer then it seemed from the photos. It just seemed MUCH smaller then how it looks in photos on the web, but it still has a good feeling in your hand.

Not sure if I'm explaining it well, but some phones are very small, which is good, but they're hard to hold/operate. Other phones are large, easy to operate, but bulky to carry around (i.e. G1)

This phone (and, I'd assume being they're practically the identical size, the Hero) seems like the perfect compromise.

The iPhone, for example, while light, is a little wide, making one handed operation difficult. Not a deal breaker, but the slightly narrower size of the mT3G does make one handed operation easier then the iPhone.

**Robertleehadley** · 09-24-2009, 02:25 AM

Indeed good review.

**theorangesplat** · 09-25-2009, 03:22 PM

nice review, really helping me decide if i should go with a mytouch (i already have an iphone)

**Maximosis** · 09-25-2009, 03:46 PM

Great Review, I have been using Mytouch 3G for about one month now since my G1 Tragically broke in pieces after having it since October the 21st of last year. I must say performance wise while on a cyanogen rom the phone runs great, I really miss the physical keyboard and that definately took some time to get use to, but The baterry life last alot longer. I am able to run my phone on heavy use for 8 to 10 hours before I have to rejuice.