It's hard to believe, but rumors of a "Googlephone" have been floating around since 2006. To put it in perspective, the
first Gphone post on Engadget was written by Peter Rojas. Needless to say, it's been a long, slow ride to get to
Android, the
Open Handset Alliance, and ultimately the
T-Mobile G1. If we said expectations were high for the introduction of this device, it would be an understatement. It's not every day that a company with the stature of Google announces it's getting into the phone game, and it's certainly not every day that an honest-to-goodness innovator comes along. That last time the team at Engadget got this stoked for a device, it was a little something called the iPhone -- and you know how that turned out. Will Android and the G1 live up to the hype? Is this the first coming of a serious new contender in the mobile space, or has the triple threat of Google, HTC, and T-Mobile not delivered on their promises? We've put both the device and the software through its paces to bring you the definitive review of the T-Mobile G1 and Android, so read on to get your answers.
As we've really gone to great lengths to dissect the phone and OS, we're splitting the review into two, easy to digest parts. Enjoy!
Part 1: HardwarePart 2: Software and wrap-up
posted Oct 16th 2008 12:01AM
Meh, I really enjoyed the review! It seemed to cover all the bases fairly well.
It's no iPhone...period.
I don't believe it was ever meant to be. Unless you know something I don't. The real serious competitor wont come until maybe 4th quarter next year once they have all the bugs worked out and it might tout Wimax and 3G radios.
Because it actually let's you copy and paste,right?
I'm sure that's why you brought up your comment.
@Emo
Well I know Aviv couldn't copy and paste his useless comment over at Gizmodo, despite wanting to say the same thing.
It's also not a BLT sandwich.
What's your point?
Any pro-iPhone comments here will be voted down to the inky depths (it's the Engadget troll way), but early G1 reviews seem overly apologetic. Period.
"One of Android's most endearing qualities -- and perhaps the first thing new users will notice -- is the home screen. It's really attractive,"
"Really attractive?" Seriously??? If the iPhone had looked like this the day it was announced, Apple would have been laughed out of the auditorium. Girl, you know it's true. The Android desktop looks like a bad Vista knockoff.
The G1 is definitely being treated with kid gloves so far. I'm not sure why there are so many "not bad for version 1," "we're sure it will get better," "we can't wait to see what the future holds" comments in these reviews. Would Apple, or even Microsoft, have been shown this kind of tender mercy with a release of device of this magnitude? No way. Google certainly commands an amazing amount of goodwill.
I'm excited about Android, but it's definitely a letdown for me so far.
"Because it actually let's you copy and paste,right?" - EmoChicksAreHot.....Seriously
Apparently no grammar check though. :P
@ Quix
The whole point of Android is to provide a platform that comes closer to a truly open-source phone OS that will (hopefully) usher in a new way look at (smart)phones. I, personally, think its exciting as hell! I think Google left out core functions/applications with a purpose in mind: the encouragement of third party developers to really take application development to the next level.
I think there's a lot Google should have done differently, as well as HTC, but I feel that the development community will really come through on this one with such encouragement from the Android developers. I don't see how they couldn't.
Maybe I have too much faith in Google, but this is obviously a large investment for them and I doubt they'll let it flop. This all being why I think its reasonable for reviews to be lenient when referring to Android and not-so-lenient when it comes to Windows Mobile or iPhone OS.
Quix, are you joking? The first reviews of the iPhone were nothing but apologetic crap.
MMS, who needs it?
Cut and paste, who needs it?
No Exchange integration? Big deal, that isn't their market anyway, so who needs it?
No way to install apps on the device without voiding your warranty? Who cares, it is perfect like it is, who needs apps?
No removable battery? Who needs it?
Then they would proclaim the iPhone the most flawless and perfect device ever made. It was only once some of these problems were fixed that anyone would admit they were problems to begin with. I distinctly remember multiple blogs around the planet brushing off every problem with the iPhone as being unworthy of serious mention, because the device was "an absolutely amazing piece of technology for Apple's first phone."
This sort of apologetic bias towards anything people like, is the very bane of any tech blog. It doesn't matter who makes the product. If it is "hip" in the eyes of the blogger, they will gloss over just about anything, and make excuses left and right for the shortcomings of the device. This style of "journalism" is practiced at this site almost daily as regards just about every Apple product. Don't cry foul just because there is a new popular kid in town. That just looks petty.
Personally, I have a G1 on order, because I think it looks like a promising platform, and I am excited to play with it, but I pretty much expect it to be less functional (at least for now) than my current HTC Windows Mobile device in many ways. I don't plan to stop carrying my WM in my camera bag for quite a while, but that doesn't mean it won't be fun to play with the G1. Of course everyone is handling the G1 with care, don't you remember, Google is the company bloggers think can "do no evil" and open source automatically earns you good press, because people have immediate visions of getting everything they want for free. I wish the net was filled with honest, unbiased reviews of every product, but it isn't. Don't raise a fuss just because someone other than Apple is reaping the benefits of that bias for a change. Honestly, I thought their review was a lot more even handed than any of the 10,000 iPhone articles I have seen on this site, and it still showed the bias you are complaining about.
o rly?
Hasta la VISTA baby!
Yes, it's no iPhone, coz it does many things that iPhone cannot period.
I'm surprised a product not being from Apple got promoted to front-page banner status.
Yes savocado?
@L. M. Lloyd
I have to take issue with your comment. When Apple launch the iPhone it started with a blank canvas. You saw the advent of a new platform. What HTC and Google have done is borrowed an Idea from a proven winner. When you imitate rather than innovate I think criticism should be a little harsher. After all someone has given you the mark to aim for. While the G1 may be promising it is at best a kluge. We all know what the experience should be. All they needed to do is just add what was missing. The G1 definitely adds some things that the iPhone lacks but it does it in a way that only the mother of a klutz could love.
Its no iPhone....Exclamation!
I know and accept that I will get voted down but android never was, isn't, and most certainly will never be close to the iPhone. There are dozens of reasons why the iPhone owns. The iPhone has a slick, consumer minded, and much more reliable operating system. This is without even mentioning the amazing hardware. The actual phone is thin, slick, eye-catching, and is made of superior stong materials (glass, metal, chrome). I realize that they will come out with better phones than the G1 but even still, do you really think that they're going to ever catch up? Every time Android phones improve, the iPhone will be one step ahead. The bottom line: android sucks, it may improve, but it won't ever be as good. For now, its not even as good as windows mobile 7.
Your right, it's better.
With expandable memory for one. You can have 50 4GB micro SD cards if you want too. Your iPhone is limited to 8GB and 16GB forever? That right there means so much. Not only that, all the Apps and Games are free. No iStore in ur walletz, stealin' your monies.
Android is soooo fast on 3G, it loads webpages faster than my laptop.
At this point I don't care much for the G1. It is kind of a disappointment but I understand why google went this route as it is a Beta device practically so they wanted to make it cheap unlike certain other handsets that made people pay a premium but got a beta device. I just hope I can install the Android rom on other handsets in the future. As in by next year.
I agree, until multi touch and universal frequencies get onto an Android based phone I'm not interested. Maybe Motorola will get it right and make a come back?
I'd like to see Android on pocketable MIDs, like the Nokia N810, especially with an apps market.
As an iPhone user, I'm actually pretty excited about the Android, simply because this level of competition (two companies out of no where all of a sudden charge into the Mobile market) will surely wake up some of the sleeping giants (or kill them in their sleep *cough*symbian*cough*). It's this kind of sudden entry that usually gives a particular market a shock wakeup. The only problem is, the sudden entry can either make them or break them....but the Android definitely has made its impact. It will be very interesting to see where this goes in the future. The G1 is just the beginning, the storm has still yet to come.
Competition FTW.
I co-sign that statement, I'm stoked
I know symbian is not that big here in the US, but its really big in europe and asia, and as a platform, its pretty equal, as of now supported by a lot of handset makers. So it really isnt a sleeping giant.
But yes, the biggest advantage android has is it has google pushing it, which means a lot.
As a current symbian (E62) user, and a former Treo (650 palmos), I've been looking forward to something that doesn't suck for ages.
One thing that seems to be missing from the software side of the review is multi-tasking. Having looked over the SDK, and some of the youtube videos about it, the Android OS is fully multi-tasking which allows things like the IM app to keep the communication lines open so you can do other things like.. "Hey, can you tell me Foo's phone number?" Just jump home, open contacts, copy number, jump back to IM (via the notification area) and paste.
It's something I can barely do via SMS on my E62, and multi-tasking in the Treo was a bad bad joke. (switching from 68k code to arm code? Yuck!)
always good to see competition , that will avoid selling crap products for a premium price
nokia is also about to announce it N series touch phone with in few weeks( probably in sybian smartphone show in London 22nd october )
and that will make things more interesting
Strongly agree with PM1.
And as a long-time Mac user, I hope support of Android on the Mac is strong......strong enough for a long-time Mac to not turn to the iPhone. I want this to be a real alternative, offer not just a "here you go" product where you're completely on your own after you have paid for the hardware and installed the crappy included software. I want the entire ecosystem built around it. It's Apple's successful tactic.....one I'm actually a huge fan of. I hope Android has the same thing. It already appears to be on that path. Lets just hope they offer all the organizational features, good push email, some light web browsing, and GPS.
Oh, and if this thing allows for tethering, and offers me Mac support, then I'm sold. I've never had a Smartphone, and I seriously want an Android phone to be my first one.
I think the world needs more sensible iPhone users like you!
I think I will wait for the second generation Android phone.
I'd rather be an early adopter - it's more fun...
NORMALLY I agree with the OP, but I won't lie...I think being an early adopter for this is going to be a blast, especially as a developer :]
You're right. The 2nd generation phone would rock... imagine having 3 hi-res VGA homescreens for widgets.
But you're running the risk of buying a phone so close to Tegra+WM7's release.
I'm inpressed. The first comment on Peter's post predicted the phone would come out in 2008. Give that man a beer.
Google is slowly...
slowly....
becoming Microsoft of the future....
put the pieces together...
:O
Most people already put the pieces together a long time ago.
Now it's just a matter of how long loyalists-to-a-certain-fruit choose to ignore the signs.
I would prefer them running things a 100 times over Steve Ballmer and Billy...
I was all happy and excited to get a G1 phone next week, until i called my local T-Mobile stores here in Dayton Ohio. I was told, when asking if they would have the phone in stock come the 22nd, that the G1 was not going to be for sale in Dayton. At least not until December, maybe later. This is due to there being no 3G coverage in, ?any of/most? ohio.
I mean really WTF t-mobile I was ready to put down the ~$200 bucks and sign a 2 year contract with you, and I know I am not the only person here in Dayton that would like this phone. I guess I will just have to wait until another carrier releases an android phone, and sign a contract with them instead.
I'd definitely say that restricting sales of G1 to 3G areas was a a poor move for Tmobile to make.
However, if you looked at Engadget's earlier post of how 1.5million G1s have already been preordered, I'd say that it doesn't matter what Tmob did, and that they, as well as Google and HTC, will be rolling in their oodles of money regardless of where the phone was sold.
you can still order it online. you wont get it on the 22nd due to the HUGE pre-order numbers... but you'll get it soon enough. i live in a no 3G area, and i dont really care. i pre-ordered the phone right when they first were available for pre-sale and im glad i did.
I am located in Columbus Ohio. Tmobile will sell anyone a G1 as long as you buy it online. According to the sales folks, Tmobile will not be offering a G1 at any storefronts that are located in non-3G areas. I already ordered mine online last month and should be getting it around Oct 22nd.
You can still get it. I have the G1 currently and live in KS so I only have EDGE and wifi for data access. I have used WM 6.0 for a long time and the G1s performance even on edge is impressive. So far I have downloaded every application that is currently in the market and none of them have taken more than 30 seconds to download, with most of them done in the 5-10 second range. It is true that the phone will only be available in retail stores that are in T-Mobile 3G markets on the 22nd, however you can purchase it with new activation or as an upgrade over the phone if you are not in said markets. My experience with it so far has been great, I haven't had a single crash and have been running everything I can on it since I got it. The only issue that I have encountered so far is one that I am confident will be fixed OTA in a short time, on occaision it does show me as having my sd card in. I can still access the card through some applications while this is happening though so it hasn't slowed me down much. The youtube app works great even on EDGE too, takes me about 5 seconds for an average youtube video on buffer time and it plays the whole way through with no stops.
Other than that the only things that I haven't been satisfied with would be the selection in the market, the apps that are there are great and all work fine for me, I just wish there more more of them, I'm sure that will be fixed shortly though!
Yo Dayton, You can still get the G1, just have to have it sent to you after you go to a store and check out the speed in your area on a demo device to see if it fast enough for you. Because people are generally stupid, Google does not want the thousands of idiots out there to get the G1 and complain about it as a slow phone because they are in a non 3G area. This is a product that is doing spin control from the get go.
I know this comment is (very) late. Look at the bright side you can get one now!!
I've been playing for the device at my T-Mobile store for about a week and I am excited that T-Mobile (I'm an RSR for T-Mobile) is finally getting a wave of exciting phones, with the G1 kicking it off. The only thing I don't really like is the browser. It's not bad (actually it's better than most), but, even without multitouch, zooming could have been handled better, like double-tapping! Everything else feels zippy and feels great.
It seriously looks and feels better in person. If you haven't seen it, at least go to a T-Mobile store and play with it. It really feels great, especially for a 1.0 product!
I hope Opera Mobile gets ported to Android!
Hope no more.
http://labs.opera.com/news/2008/04/10/
That's the problem. I live in a non-3G market, so I won't have an opportunity to see one in person before buying. I'm definitely a "fondle before you buy" type gadget shopper.
I saw this at the local TMO store that a friend works at. The phone felt kinda cheap and was not very impressive. Waiting for the next 'droid device is a better idea.
I don't think that comparison you made between the iPhone and G1, about the 3G speed makes sense to me.. I think its just the area you are in or something because it cannot be that slow...
What about WiFi? WiFi Speed (Hardware), WiFi Connectability (Software)
I do not, will not have a cellphone. But this is a hella lot better than a PSP.
Weird, the post I was replying to got deleted and it ended up under yours!
I didn't know they erased comments like that, it wasn't even offensive.
How about after one thousand "lowest ranked" you get banned?
He would have been banned 6 months ago
Sorry, off topic, why won't you have a cell phone?
Ha Ha, There you have if folks, Straight from your beloved Engadget's mouth...
3G Network is even more crap than AT&T
Camera is crap
GPS is crap
G1 is a BIG bag of F.A.I.L., oops I meant hurt!
so to summerize;
Part 1: Hardware FAIL
Part 2: Software and wrap-up; FAIL
This is what happens when you try and compete with the iPhone...
You're an idiot.
I wish I had more to say, but considering how many of your comments I read (and subsequently reply to), all I can really say is "you're an idiot."
When can we see trolls like this get banned?
Seriously. It's the idiots like these that are stopping Engadget from becoming an almost perfect tech site. Most of these comments are even more idiotic that anything you'll find on youtube. I know that a lot of work has been put into the comments, and doing so isn't the most trivial of things to do, but there's got to be a better solution. When something on Engadget really interests me, I often hope that there will be some really insightful user in the comments section letting me know something I couldn't have imagined. Instead, we're graced with kind of stupidity!
Sorry for the rant.
If you don't get money from Apple, why humiliate yourself in such a way?
Here is to you my dear iEye:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVtGb7NigCw
Seriously...
nobody loves you. you're all alone. you have no friends. even the vast internet has turned you down. nobody even cares about you. you have nothing. you are nothing. go away, and never come back.
thats why you keep you iphone and buy the g1.
g1 + iPhone = pwn
The problem Microsoft has against Apple is that Apple makes its own standards, Microsoft has none in terms of hardware. If Google lets its hardware partners go that route we'll see 200Mhz QVGA android phones next year and suddenly the platform doesn't look much better than Windows Mobile even if there will be some high end Android phones. So what I mean to say is Google has to make the G1 the standard example and promote future devices to do nothing but beat each other instead of race to the bottom
Exactly! I have a T-Mo Dash, and while I like the OS (and love Voice Command) the phone itself is just horribly slow. I was all ready to get the Touch Pro (or import a Touch HD) when I got the offer for this at $179. I figure if I like it I'll keep it, otherwise I'll just sell it to cover a Touch Pro or something else.
11 hours 21 minutes of battery life?! Without making any calls!?
And people (including me) complain about the iPhone's battery!
I think Google should have gone with a nicer phone than this for their initial release, like the HTC Touch HD.
Still, it's only a start, so hopefully they can ramp up development quickly and get better phones out there. Competition is good for everybody, but I'm not really feeling that this is much competition at this point. The notification system seems good though and will hopefully make Apple get theirs out in short order.
Well, keep in mind we had the media player going.
Remember, you can swap out that battery with another one if you want, unlike the iPhone. I know whenever I know I am going to be using my handheld all day, I take an extra battery.
Either you have a defected battery or you didn't condition the battery properly. I get more than 24 hours of total standby time, with over 5 hours of actually usage. My iphone 3g could stay in standby for roughly 6 days or more if I didn't make any calls on it. Is your phone completely running dead? or are you going based on what the OS is telling you through the battery icon? The OS needs to recognize a full drain on the battery, and then a compete and full charge. The battery indicator will then show accurate battery life.
My suggestion would be to restore the iPhone to it's orginal format, without restoring from a backup. Then simply resync your material to the phone, and change all of your settings back to how you had them. From there allow the battery to either drain completely, or after reporting 10% and then some. Then allow the battery to charge through the night for roughly 12 hours. The battery indicator may say "full" battery, however the battery can charge beyond what the indicator shows.
How this helps, and hope it works for you, but the battery on these things is the best around for hand helds utilizing 3g speeds. You should be able to get atleast 5 hours of usage and 24 hours of standby without it dying. Good Luck.
i have a regular old cell phone. so dont misinterpret it when i say this phone is not attractive and it's another google beta. if you are ok with that, then buy 2. just don't think that I will make the same mistake.
I agree. Android runs the risk of ended up like Windows Mobile. Everyone picks on Apple for their stringent SDK rules, but it just goes to show that they really know what they are doing, and they do it very well. It's impossible to argue that point. This is the second review that I've read that has hinted at the issue of Android ending up like Windows Mobile.
I like Windows Mobile
android is gonna be LIKE THAT, but the poor hardware of the G1 will hold it back from being a game changer. after Christmas when other phones come out that has some sex appeal and use andriod right, then you will have a WINNER,
but this does look VERY PROMISING
I'm afraid you're wrong. It's already a game changer.
Do you honestly think that Apple would have received so much flak for their draconian App rules if people didn't know that there was an open alternative on it's way?
So basically when you buy this phone, you should also ask for some rubber bands and some duct tape...
so when you go out you can strap together;
Garmin GPS
a decent camera
Mp3 player with actual useful functions...
and this abysmal phone
or just make the smart choice and get the iPhone,soemthing that works
with my iphone,
i already strap on a Canon camera, a Nikon Flash, a TomTom NAVIGATION SYSTEM (Read, not just GPS, but voice navigation), my Skype phone, two extra batteries, a hacked up Dell keyboard and a pair of scissors and some glue for copy and paste. sighhh... my pants are falling off mannn :(
man.. they need to up their game because... in this day and age their is just no excuse for a handset and GUI looking that lame and ugly... the iPhone has looks and usability...
everything about G1 is FUUUUGLY... from the roota to the toota...
I ranked you up +
iPhone away!
Wow, looks like "iMac chin" has a new competitor.
"G1 chin." With actual protrusion.
G Leno
Nice. Needs some work, but Android is going to be amazing one day. As a current WinMo user who loves the OS, I think Android has the potential to knock it out in one punch.
Once the demand for the phone comes down, and some of the issues are corrected, I am so in.
As a WinMo user also, and therefore a bit of a geek who is not averse to tweaking the software, Android excites me a lot. The hardware this time round is not that thrilling, certainly compared to HTC's latest and greatest, but I imagine that this is just the first of many devices to come. The general consensus appears to be that this works out of the box, but you do need to customize and polish it for the functionality you need - exactly the kind of phone I want!
Also a WinMo user - don't you feel that this could do what winmo does in that it's almost there with many things but doesn't actually deliver the whole lot in a seamless and reliable way? My htc has go features falling out it's ass, but calling people can be a real chore. I fight with it to keep the orientation in landscape when I get an sms, my contacts sometimes delete themselves, activsync sometimes needs resetting, occasionally it won't boot so I have to re-ROM etc.. I can really see this going the same way, but it doesn't start off with things like being able to add contacts to meetings and being able to see their availability through exchange, looking up contacts in the corp. contact list, being able to remote desktop into my server etc. etc. I'd love it to be good, but it needs strict controls to ensure it doesn't end up being a feature rich, but only vaguely coordinated heap like my trinity!
Thanks for the great in-depth review!
How long is one day Jon Speed? Apple has caught up and even surpassed most industry standards in one year. Google's first step looks like 10 steps backward to me.
not to get too embroiled in an iphone vs android debate, but i think if you look at it objectively, both the iphone and the G1 have critical features that the other is missing, and both bring brand new things to the table that are huge improvements to the cell phone market.
all in all i'm still unhappy with the state of smartphones. neither the iphone nor the G1 is as good as i would like. but they are both pretty big steps in the right direction.
sorry for being so damn diplomatic-sounding, but i think a lot of people would agree...
As an iPhone user the one thing Android has that I really wish Apple would integrate is the Gmail integration. They've got Activesync and Mobileme, now they need Google Apps PLEASE!!
Well, good to know that the iPhone fanboys are out in force.
Remember, the iPhone launched a bit over a year ago with no 3G and no application market. When the iPhone 3G launched, it had signal issues and battery life problems.
I use Google services.
I use GMail for my email, so integration on the mobile client is critical. I want to be able to search, archive, label, star, unstar, and delete just like I can through GMail on the web. And I want push, so messages arrive immediately. The iPhone can't offer that; instead, I'm supposed to spend $100/year on MobileMe to get functionality that Google gives me for free. And, no, IMAP doesn't count - for one, I can't search (which is critical). I also can't star, have to deal with a funky interface for labels, and there's no push.
I use Google Calendar for my calendaring. I subscribe to shared calendars, which I want to have show up on my device. The iPhone can't sync over the air with Google Calendar. As far as I know, it can't sync with Google Calendar at all.
I use Google contacts for my contacts. With the G1, they sync over the air. With the iPhone, I need to hook up to my desktop.
I want a phone that uses miniUSB. My camera uses miniUSB. BlackBerry devices use miniUSB. My portable hard drive uses miniUSB. One cable, one connector. The G1 uses miniUSB.
I want a device that can do push IM. The G1 can. Thus far, the iPhone can't.
Is the G1 perfect? No. Some of the issues can be fixed with software. Some (lice reception) will be fixed as T-Mobile's 3G network improves. Some will require a new generation of devices.
For me? The G1 looks like a nice step up from my Dash and its crappy WinMo.
you took the words out of my mouth, right down to my frustration with WinMo on the otherwise impressive hardware of the HTC-made Dash.
If you "get" the G1... its pretty exciting. If you don't, there are plenty of Touch Diamonds and iPhones out there for you, no harm, no foul. I'm glad they launched Android with a relatively humble, handset and some construction dust still scattered around... it only spurs the open source development faster.
On an unrelated note, Android reminds me of the best of Amiga with the best of Linux. Hard to really argue with either of those in my book.
i can't believe you didn't mention the lack of A2DP. this really needs to be more publicized, especially since it lacks a headphone jack. or is A2DP added now? that's one of the things holding me back right now...well, that and my contract ;-)
WOW I can not believe how unbiased this was! Unbiased from Engadget!
Is that sarcasm? I found it to be very biased.
TURD BIRD!!!
After reading, I'm glad I preordered it, although the 3G performance is worrying.
Concerning the battery life test, it's a bit unfair to compare the G1 with the iPhone when it comes to playing media. The iPhone has a low power DSP to decode music and such, while the G1 only has its CPU to rely on. I'd bet that number crunching will result in a much closer race.
Brian, the phone has some glaring issues. How does the thing not have a headphone jack? You also have to remember when the original iPhone launched AT&T hadn't or had just launched their 3G network. Faulting the original iPhone for not having 3G is like faulting computers 5 years ago for not having WiFi. It's impossible for you to try and argue that the original iPhone is in any way worse than the original Google phone. It did a million things that phones have never done before. Full on screen keypad, hard drive in a phone, true music and movie integration, and many other things. It's clearly a better piece of technology, both from a software and hardware standpoint. By the way, I have a BlackBerry so I don't really fall under the fanboy category.
By the way, we should all ban the use of that word. It's miserable.
Let's see about those "million things that phones have never done before":
* On-screen keyboard: Ever hear of a Nokia 7710? From 2004.
* Hard drive: Well... I don't know whether it's been done _before_, but it wasn't done on the iPhone. iPhones are all flash.
* True music and movie integration: I really don't know, but I'll grant you that one.
So far, you're one out of three, with 999,997 to go.
FYI, that combination of wrongness and hyperbole gets people labeled "fanboy" even if they own some competing model.
As a 10 year Tmobile customer who preordered on the first day, I have to say I am pretty disappointed. This looks like a cheap plasticy knockoff of the Sidekick -- at least they could have made it asthetically pleasing not surrounded it in cheap plastic. It actually looks like a Palm Pilot from 1998 with the black plastic casing and the rubber buttons on the bottom.
Next there are many glaring flaws and comparing this to the Iphone or an Iphone killer is laughable. Seriously, this product will end up being one of the biggest flops of the year. Tmobile wants to say 'we sold many more than anticipated' -- well its almost certain that sales won't even match the Iphone by 50%.
Such things as music that can only be saved on a separte microcard, no onscreen keyboard similar to my unlocked Tilt 8525, lack of battery life, many applications available on Iphone cannot be used on this g1 or anything close to it.
I am disappinted with this paying $299 snce I was not eligible for the full upgrade for this POS?? Either it will be returned to Tmobile or sold on Craigslist for $300.
But even $300 may be hard to get. I don't know a single person who ordered this. Everyone tells me I should have gotten the Iphone even if it meant spending $700 on Craigslist for an unlocked & jailbroken 3G 16GB
Hey, even the chinese clone Iphones look better at $200 than this overhyped toy for $300
Did you even bother reading the review? They don't say anything about it being "cheap plastic" Everything so far says it is solid and robust.
use the phone 1st then write your little iPhone comparison. I have an Iphone so I know it's flaws I'm actually writing this message from one and why would u spend 700 dollars on a 3g iPhone unlocked first of all it can only be unlocked through cheap little add ons to the sim card and second you shouldn't have to jailbreak it if it's a perfect device like you make it Seem and third why get a 3gphone without being able to use 3g.
Why is it called "G1"? Is it supposed to be a play on 3G? (G)oogle1?
I think (G)oogle1 is pretty accurate.
It's Android, which is (G)oogle, and it's a (1)st generation device. Getting in with the uniform naming scheme early makes sense, I have little doubt that the second Android handset will probably be called the "G2"
I think Gatorade has the copyright on "G2".