Initial Reviews of Android-based G1 Phone: It Does Not Look Good but It Does Not Matter

Back in September T-Mobile presented a long-awaited first phone manufactured by HTC and powered with Google’s Android mobile operating system. We were offered some images and videos of what the phone was capable of doing and those present at the T-Mobile event in New York were able to take a closer look and play with the gadget for a while.

But that was basically about it until yesterday when embargo lifted and bloggers that received the G1 phones from T-Mobile to review started to publish their opinions. Now that those T-Mobile customers who have preordered the phone are even more eager since they will probably receive their phones as soon as on Friday, these reviews are definitely worth reading for everyone contemplating the purchase.

So a number of bloggers and reporters (from Engadget, Gizmodo, GigaOM, Los Angeles Times, and other media outlets) received the pre-release review gadgets from T-Mobile to play with them for a week and prepare the reviews for their respective publications. Now that the reviews are here I think it is safe to say that the common opinion is pretty simple: it is a good start.

But a good start is a good start - it means that there is some visible potential and the direction is clear so it is possible to start improving and growing. But unfortunately it is not perfect and there are certain issues about the phone that should be done otherwise to call the device perfect.

The bloggers talked about problems both in hardware and software of the phone. When speaking about the hardware, they often complain that the raised section of the device (the one that contains scroller ball and home and menu keys) makes it difficult to type using the keyboard of the device as it is always on the way. On the other hand, everyone agreed that the trackball was very good in use though switching between the trackball and the touchscreen is difficult. But the most important thing when it comes to hardware of the device is that everyone seems to agree that it is simply not beautiful - it lacks the aesthetics of iPhone and looks like design was definitely not among Google and HTC priorities.

But let’s try not to forget that this phone is about it’s Android operating system - and it’s the Google’s first attempt of an OS that makes the phone interesting, not its hardware. So when it comes to the software, the bloggers agree Android is a solid system that never hangs or freezes completely and is also remarkably fast. At the same time early users report certain usability issues like inconsistent actions or unclickable areas that seem to need to be clickable instead.

Multi-tasking functionality is told to work exactly as it is supposed to do and allows to use various applications and leave them in the background while working on something else. The operating system is engaged in redistributing memory where it is most needed and this arrangement is reported to be efficient as well. Notification window shade will notify the user when something new requires attention - like new emails or IMs.

The default applications are told to be good and work smoothly - though the number of the available applications is definitely far from what you’d expect from Google (out of Google’s own properties we only get applications for Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps but no Picasa or Google Docs, for example).

But those applications that are available on the phone by default are usually described as good. For example, the Gmail application is reported to perform 90% of all the actions you use on the desktop application. Om Malik went as far as referring to the Android IM client as “the best Mobile IM client on the planet” which must be some indication of the quality here. The browser also works well but lack of multi-touch gestures makes it difficult to zoom and also Flash is not supported which are both viewed as disadvantages.

In general my impression that those things people mentioned about Android and the default applications do not really sound like huge problems both because they can be fixed in future versions and because some of them sounded like it was the matter of taste mainly.

But it is remarkable that bloggers agreed about the phone’s lack of visual appeal - and this can be a huge problem for the G1 phone when it comes to making people switch from the shiny and beautiful iPhone. Yet I will keep telling that there is a big difference between iPhone and Google’s plans for its Android mobile platform as Android will eventually powerful numerous mobile devices from all the manufacturers that choose to use the operating system. And this is what makes the project unique and this is exactly why we should not really worry all that much about the aesthetics problems of G1 - Android is not about this particular device, it is about the mobile experience in general and those consumers who don’t like the looks of G1 by HTC can very well decide to switch eventually once some new devices arrive powered with Android but looking better.

Image courtesy of Engadget