The T-Mobile G1 is my first foray into the world of smart phones. Previously a keen Sony Ericsson Walkman phone user, I wasn’t too sure how I’d adjust to such a dramatically different phone. Honesty, I adjusted quite well. The G1 takes a bit of time to get used to but I don’t regret my decision.
Appearance and Design The G1 has a rather simple design. It has a 3.2 inch screen and is 117.7 mm in length, 55.7 mm in width and 17.1 mm in thickness. Below the screen is a menu button, answer and cancel call buttons, a back button, a button tacking you back to the home screen and a trackball. Beneath this row of button is space for the phones’ 1GB memory card. The G1 features a QWERTY keyboard (making writing anything so very quick and simple) which you can access by easily sliding the screen across, this also changes the orientation of the screen and its contents to landscape. Above the screen beneath one of the speakers is a light which flashes either green or red depending on what you need to be notified about. At the side of the phone (like so many) is the volume control and at the back you will find the camera and a small speaker. The G1 is very well designed for purpose and is on the whole aesthetically pleasing.
The phone first opens to the home screen which initially features a clock and some Google applications. This is best described as one page of a three page desktop with each page being a slide away from the other. The third page of the desktop
initially features a Google search bar. The Android phone is very much like a home computer. Shortcuts can be added and taken away from the desktop and anything that you haven’t provided a shortcut to can be found by pressing the menu button. The different applications on the desktop can be accessed by using the touch screen or the trackball.
The Touch Screen Initially, I was quite worried about having a touch screen phone. I feared it may stop responding, break easily or accidentally get up to more than I wanted. Fortunately, the screen is very responsive and hasn’t done anything other that what I’ve wanted it to thus far. The touch screen makes internet browsing and using a variety of applications very simple. In addition to this, the phone screen is very easily locked preventing accidental calls. All in all it is a very effective feature.
Camera It seem that we have reached a point where every phone needs to have a camera, the G1 is no exception. It features a 3.2 Mega pixel camera which I believe to be one of it’s weaker features. The camera isn’t the best of phone cameras and it takes quite a steady hand to get a decent picture. In addition to this, there is no flash so photos in low light are out of the question.
Connectivity and Internet A missing features that many seem to be upset about is the lack of Bluetooth on the phone. Allow me to re-phrase that, it isn’t the lack of Bluetooth but the inability to send things via Bluetooth. Personally, I haven’t had any reason to send or receive anything via Bluetooth so this has not posed a problem. The G1 has good wireless access which can easily be turned on or off. With my contract I was fortunate enough to get the internet on my phone at all times. The Google search bar on the desktop makes a quick search very simple. The phone also comes with a general web browser which is very simple to use and works in the same way as any other web browser. The internet function also allows you keep other applications such a Gmail or news feeds up to date at all times.
Media The G1 comes with a standard music player which a very easy to use and the music be listened to through the earphones or speakers. No software is necessary for the music syncing process as music files on you computer can just be dragged into a folder in the phone. Initially, there is no video player on the phone other than a YouTube application and this can be quite slow. This problem can easily be overcome through the use of free application suitably called Video Player. Once this is installed, videos can be put in the phone as easily as music.
The Android Market and Applications A number of applications can be downloaded for free or for a low price from the Android Market. The Market is an application which comes on the phone automatically which allows you to search for any applications you may like or simply browse until you see something you like. There are some wonderful games available such a chess, PacMan and a game where you try to pop as much bubble wrap as you can. If you are a Twitter user, there are a variety of applications available, personally I use Twitdroid. There is a Last FM application which allows you to create or access your own Last FM library as well as listen to other libraries or recommended songs. The downside to this application is that it takes quite some time to load. In addition to these there is also a Weather Channel application, RSS reader and antivirus.
Google Applications As the G1 is a Google Phone, you’d probably expect it to feature a number of Google applications. If so, you are correct. Upon turning on your phone for the first time, you are asked if you have a Google Account, if so you enter your details and almost automatically you have a quite a number of your features set up. If you are a Google Mail user, your contacts will be imported and if you are a Google calendar user, all events will be imported. The phone comes with Google Mail, Google Maps, Google calendar and Google Talk, all of which are very reliable applications.
Notifications One of my favourite features is the notifications feature. Whenever an email is received, a tweet occurs, software needs to be updated, a text message is received or anything else like this, it will appear in a bar at the top of the screen. All you need to do is drag this bar down to see any necessary information. In addition to this, a green light will also flash above the screen to notify you. If your phone battery is at 15% or lower, a red light will flash alerting you that a charge is necessary. Very helpful.
Battery Life The G1, it can do everything, the downside of being able to do so is that doing too much can drain the battery life like crazy. So, if you’ve got your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on whilst surfing the internet with other applications running in the background the battery will die very quickly. This doesn’t mean that the battery life is poor, it’s simply a reflection of how much you do. There is a great application called Power Manager which allows you to control how much power you phone uses. Mine currently goes around two days before it needs to be charged again.
Price Fortunately, there are some good price plans out there for the G1 which will not burn a hole in your pocket. I managed to get mine on a £30 a month contract giving me the phone for free, 800 minutes, unlimited texts and mobile internet which I’d say is a pretty good deal.
To conclude, I’d recommend the T-Mobile to anyone who is looking for a phone with variety of features. If you need a phone the just be a phone, the G1 may not be the best one for you.
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Great review. Unfortunately I wouldn't go near T-Mobile with a barge pole so this one was never in the frame for me. Seems like a decent first phone for Google though.
Advantages: does everyhing you would ever want, and so much more! Disadvantages: battery is poor but its not the end of the world if you can charge it regularily.
spencej89 01.04.2009 (01.04.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of T-Mobile G1
Advantages: ermm... very big screen easy to watch youtube... and the games are addictive.. esspecially snake3d Disadvantages: not alot of gagets, faulty
juiney123 21.06.2009 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
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