T-Mobile G1 gets early user review

Oh sure, you've already read over our (and Ryan Block's) brief one-day impressions of T-Mobile's G1, but one lucky (lucky!) user over at AndroidCommunity has been able to handle one for more than just a few hours. As a precious gift to the world, he's penned a nice list of pros and cons along with a Q&A, and it seems that the "review" is actually growing with time. Right from the top, he notes that the G1 is lke a "SideKick on massive steriods," albeit one with a minty fresh OS. Speaking of, he also states that the handset "doesn't run as smoothly as you would think," asserting that some of the applications "suttered" upon opening. We're also told that it requires a reboot from time to time just to keep things humming along, but we're hoping all of these quirks are just part of the Rev. A rigamarole. It's glaringly obvious that the user adores Android (and the phone, too), but we can't help but hope these niggles he speaks of are addressed in short order.

[Thanks, Oscar]

[allislost @ Oct 10th 2008 4:45AM]

When is google gonna learn? WE need to and because all is we know for it to be AWESOME!!!

[Mike @ Oct 10th 2008 5:58AM]

Ke?

[allislost @ Oct 10th 2008 6:24AM]

Let me clarify on the subject at hand...

Is not of better?!!

[Mike @ Oct 10th 2008 6:32AM]

Oh ... wait, what?

[allislost @ Oct 10th 2008 6:41AM]

...no one understands me!

[LordFarkward @ Oct 10th 2008 8:52AM]

Can you blame us?

[giuliop @ Oct 10th 2008 9:01AM]

All is lost.

[LondonConsultant @ Oct 10th 2008 12:48PM]

Engadget threads seem to be mirroring the stock markets...

[allislost @ Oct 10th 2008 5:27PM]

If you maybe then you'll better!

[fusen @ Oct 10th 2008 4:51AM]

Originally Posted by kaziko View Post
The cons I posted in my review have changed. The battery overheating was due to the fact that I wasn't using the usb charger that came with the G1. The stutter from some programs is because I'm not in a 3G area and I'm using Edge so it has a load time. The memory leak was from a bad application install from the market, I went into a no coverage area while downloading and app and aparently it got corrupt and the Android Test Phone I have did not have error handling for that particular problem and it just leaked memory slowing the phone down...

[ill trooper @ Oct 10th 2008 5:05AM]

"...and it's not so ugly when I don't actually LOOK at it, and the lack of a headphone adapter in this pre-release's box doesn't bother me because I wasn't in the mood to listen to music."

I'm joking but it does sound like it can use a little software polish, like the iPhone needed with 2.1, all totally excusable to me as the G1 isn't actually available to customers yet. Sounds like it's pretty solid though, I'm interested in seeing some apps start to flow...

[Eddie W @ Oct 10th 2008 10:31AM]

This is a relief, although they're going to need to add some sort of application check after installation to make sure that applications aren't corrupted when they're installed on the go. I'd be interested to see how hard/easy it was to discover this and how easy/difficult it was to remove the corrupted app and fix it. I admit that this review was somewhat disappointing and I'm surprised that they didn't find someone in a 3G area to review the phone. It sounds like the remaining software issues will be easier to fix than I had initially thought when I read the review. As for music/headphones, I'm not that worried - apps are already being heavily developed to replace the weak players released with the phone (I'm sure they knew this would be the case - look at how this works on the desktop), and the adapters I've seen don't look so crazy bulky that it would keep me from getting this.

Bottom line is that I expect to have to wait a bit for stuff to be ironed out (and I won't get the phone until it's more or less taken care of), but I doubt this wait is going to be terribly long.

[giuliop @ Oct 10th 2008 5:05AM]

'G1 is lke a "SideKick on massive steriods,'

The G1 is lke? Pity, I can't stand lke. Plus, I have an allergic reaction to steriods.

'some of the applications "suttered" upon opening'

I know, there's nothing worse than an application suttering.

'but we can't help but hope these niggles he speaks of are addressed in short order.'

Not as much as we hope your spell-checker problems get fixed.

[ill trooper @ Oct 10th 2008 5:08AM]

...wow, reading your post was like someone quoting 'Airplane'. Is it comedy hour here at Engadget?

[melo @ Oct 10th 2008 5:32AM]

U-G-L-Y.

[Mike @ Oct 10th 2008 6:04AM]

Yes, I would love to know who the (probably Google) clown was who told HTC that they didn't want any of their cool "design" mambo-jumbo. Instead, they opted for 1980s chic.

[ro @ Oct 10th 2008 6:10AM]

I have to agree. Slide-out-keyboard phones remind me of children's learn-to-spell toys. And all the apps...?

I simply use my phone for talking to people. Just call me Larry McLuddite.

[GhostDoggy @ Oct 10th 2008 7:35AM]

Someone buying a smartphone because of its look cannot be all that smart. You deserve to be with the iPhoneans--the form over function people.

[jakem @ Oct 10th 2008 9:37AM]

@GhostDoggy: While I might agree with you to a certain extent there is a point where any object can be too ugly to consider. The G1 is very nearly at that point if not slightly over it.

[melo @ Oct 10th 2008 2:20PM]

Ghostdoggy... why must people argue FOR bad design? It's ugly, and not the functional wunderkind everyone expected. I believe in form AND function. Because something is aesthetically pleasing does not mean it can't be functional and vice versa.

And by the way.. I am a professional designer, have an IQ of 144 and an iPhone 3G... which I loathe.

Waiting on the HTC HD.

[asg84 @ Oct 10th 2008 6:02AM]

looks like G1 fails to impress most of the people,
thankfully most of the defects are software related ( hopefully they will fix it soon )

and there are very few fanboys for G1 so will have a hardtime

and that review completely omits music department, as far as i heard this phones weakest performance is on that side

[McPOW @ Oct 10th 2008 1:39PM]

TuneWiki looks like a great music player, much nicer than the player in my iPod touch.

[KilgoreTrout @ Oct 10th 2008 6:15AM]

Is there a phone that does not suckin some important location?
The storm has no wifi
the iPhone has no 2nd camera , the one it has is crap, no copy/paste etc. etc.
The HTC diamond has only four gb non expandable memory and an annoying UI.
the G1 apps "sutter"
the Nokia Tube is a cheap phone made for developing countries and you need a plectrum to handle it.
the HTC HD is nowhere to be found and nobody knows when, where or if it will ever appear.

In a few weeks the Samsung Omnia will be distributed in Scandinavia and I think I'll get one of those or maybe (when and if they will be available ) the new LG that has been promised before Xmas time.
Or what?

[eggothewaffle @ Oct 10th 2008 6:16AM]

Android is super awesome and I *cannot* wait to see more devices use it.

But the Dream? I'm afraid to say it's deferred.

[TareX @ Oct 10th 2008 7:19AM]

This "review" is nothing short of DISAPPOINTING.

it's not "exciting"
it's not "reassuring"
and Engadget, the user doesn't sound "lucky" at all.... not even "happy".

Memory leaks? Needs to be restarted? Sluggish apps?
Aren't these all reasons people hate WM?

Sure let's play the "It's Android, anyone could write anything that fixes everything" record. I'll believe it when I see it.

[Robotochan @ Oct 10th 2008 8:51AM]

Actually if you read the comment by fusen further up you'll see that the reviewer found that a lot of the issues that they said were the wrong charging cable, lack of 3G in his area and a program that got corrupted on download.

[st @ Oct 10th 2008 7:43AM]

i know this is going to sound a little "back stabbing" but can it support yahoo mail i need it for my work mail

[Dan Davis @ Oct 10th 2008 9:21AM]

Your work uses yahoo as its email client? Wow.

[R @ Oct 11th 2008 11:51AM]

Does Yahoo support IMAP?

[TareX @ Oct 10th 2008 8:24AM]

This "review" is nothing short of DISAPPOINTING.

it's not "exciting"
it's not "reassuring"
and Engadget, the user doesn't sound "lucky" at all.... not even "happy".

Memory leaks? Needs to be restarted? Sluggish apps?
Aren't these all reasons people hate WM?

Sure let's play the "It's Android, anyone could write anything that fixes everything" record. I'll believe it when I see it.

[dazepro @ Oct 10th 2008 8:35AM]

Not to say the iPhone is the best thing at there, but if anyone says that this phone *looks* good, you need to see an eye doctor. This could be the ugliest phone on the market hands down!

[tealfixie @ Oct 10th 2008 9:08AM]

is it me or does the thing look huge?

[Eddie W @ Oct 10th 2008 10:18AM]

Just find a comparison shot next to an iphone, you'll see that it's not.

[McPOW @ Oct 10th 2008 1:40PM]

It's just you.

[High Ranks make you sterile @ Oct 10th 2008 9:12AM]

....Niggles? You couldn't think of a better term?

[Joshua Satrape @ Oct 10th 2008 9:13AM]

It appears that most of the negative things he found were resolved. The stuttering was due to his use of the phone in a non 3G area. The memory leak was due to a corrupt download from the Marketplace.

[Blank @ Oct 10th 2008 9:14AM]

Cant say G1 interests me, if they expect it to take on the iPhone it has to have a good multitouch screen & have good looks... this has neither.

Not being an iphone fanboy, infact i dont own one & i sold my ipod touch, but i can honestly say the ipod touch on-screen keyboard & general use was the first working(until it breaks)/bug free touch screen ive ever used.

[Jason Wright @ Oct 10th 2008 9:33AM]

This phone does support multitouch. They've stated that the software right now isn't programmed to do anything with multitouch but the device hardware itself does support it.

[asg84 @ Oct 10th 2008 11:51AM]

as far as i know mutlitouch is a patent protected feature(apple),
nokia also tried to implement in their 5800 but it went down

[Dubb @ Oct 10th 2008 12:06PM]

Multi-Touch is not patented by Apple.

Microsoft Surface
EeePC Trackpads

Just to name a couple more Multi-Touch products.

[Jason Wright @ Oct 10th 2008 12:07PM]

Multitouch itself isn't patented. Apples method of doing multitouch is. That doesn't mean that it's the only method. Microsoft Surface has Multitouch, Windows 7 is going to have Multitouch and this hardware support multitouch. It just does it in a different way than the iPhone does.

[Santaji @ Oct 10th 2008 9:25AM]

This is one of the most boring looking phones i've ever seen, i don't care how cool Android is, i wont buy a phone that looks this uncool.

[noyp @ Oct 10th 2008 11:26AM]

Okay, name another phone that looks remotely like this. It's kind of unique in the design.

[Santaji @ Oct 10th 2008 12:38PM]

@noyp, the design may be "unique", but it still is boring, i like more cool looking phones, like the iPhone

[Galicki @ Oct 10th 2008 9:31AM]

The reviewer doesn't live in a 3G area? FAIL. Not even going to look at the review.

[Jason Wright @ Oct 10th 2008 9:35AM]

Unfortunately T-Mobile doesn't have many 3G areas right now so this situation is probably pretty relevant to most of the people that will have this phone. I live in Utah and want this phone. I don't have any idea when I'll get 3G but I still want the features that the phone offers.

[theefman @ Oct 10th 2008 9:51AM]

I wonder why you need to have a 3G connection for apps to run smoothly, shouldnt you have full access to applications without having to report to the google mothership? What happens when you have no coverage, does that mean no apps?

[Zeek @ Oct 10th 2008 11:19AM]

It'so ugly, they can't even show the models faces.

[mo @ Oct 10th 2008 12:06PM]

having worked at t-mobile and fielded the g1 questions, i loved hearing previous Wing owners call in terrified after learning the g1 was made by HTC.

Hopefully android shows up quickly on a more dependable device.

[Nate @ Oct 10th 2008 12:51PM]

Another Google BETA.

In other news: Google announces the GToast Beta (AKA Google Toaster). Cost: Free. Complete with internet connection which downloads sponsor images that are then burned into pieces of toast using a powerful -- "laser." Google is also said to be working on GOven (pronounced Guh-ven), a similar product that promises to market your competitors products and services to your customers via the contents of their toilets. How this is done remains to be seen, but we suspect tritium isotopes and laxatives are involved.