Nexus One UK New owner Review Notes

[m_lave]

I'm a UK resident on Orange and I've recently upgraded my Sony Ericson c902 to a Google Nexus 1 smart phone. I thought I'd share some of my thoughts with readers here as they may find them useful if they are considering getting this phone.

Cost

 

[theartfullodger]

Nice one, welcome to the club!

Cheers!

Lodger

 

[grainysand]

Nice and detailed. I agree with you about wishing the stock apps could be uninstalled; they take up space that, currently, is too little to be wasted, alas.

 

[TOR]

Excellent post. I just wanted to add a few thoughts as I've also moved from a C902 like you, on Orange, to a Nexus One. I don't want to create a new thread but nor do I want to repeat what you say, so if it's ok I'll just add a few of my impressions.

Data/Service - I'm on a more expensive plan, with 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 500mb of data. This costs me

 

[grainysand]

Re: battery life, generally it improves after the second recharge cycle--especially if you let the battery drain to 0% and die completely before charging. For me, I generally get 8-15 hours out of the phone depending on how heavily I use it.

 

[m_lave]

Thanks for the additional info Tor, I'm sure the readers of this forum will find our combined comments useful. I'm interested by your fast data service. I commute around London and have terrible data speed issues on the train out of central London.

I looked into a London Underground map application but decided not to download one yet. I'm half way through a programming andoid book so maybe I'll roll my own...

 

[justdoit]

After nearly a month of ownership my battery life is running at approx 30 hours with wifi switched off whilst out and about and bluetooth off whilst at home.

Remember, whilst you may not be able to delete the factory apps you don't need to see them on the home pages, press and hold the icon until the home symbol changes to a rubbish bin and drag it down to it and it will be removed.

 

[herojames]

Just wanted to add some further comments

Im in Walsall in the UK, ordered early last Wednesday morning was in my hand by Friday morning. Excellent service, If you are thinking of getting one, a couple of things i wanted to know that I can now pass on.

I was worried about ordering the UK specific charger. Dont bother, use the stock one with an adapter, get from from maplins if you would rather buy from the high street. My blackberry charger and the usb lead connected to an apple ipod mains adapter also work well. Be warned the apple ipod adapter and usb takes ages though.

Do two full charge cycles. Don't be tempted to get right in there, my batt life has been good. and i have been using wi-fi, calls, internet out and about, and generally not putting it down. maybe not quite as good as some smart phones, but working in the phone industry I have learnt that within about six months of release the software updates will have resolved this issue. BB storm one was a prime example.

screen clarity in direct sunlight, i was concerned about this from seeing some youtube videos, today i did a direct test with my bb storm and my nexus the bb storm won marginally, and i mean marginally. all of the big screen smartphones i have owned, storm 1, storm 2, htc hero, and now nexus suffer from this. its not a deal breaker.

now the best bit! you will not be dissapointed, i made the switch from a htc hero, i loved sense but the nexus has one big advantage, one i should have realised a long time ago. Its vanilla android. when google update it, you get it first. other android devices have to be made to fit the new version of android. and i couldnt wait for HTC. looking forward android is moving in the right direction

Amazon mp3 store is pretty handy, i know some dont like it but it works well and the mp3's downloaded play well and are cheaper than i tunes

insurance. Barclays seem to be the cheapest provider of an account that has phone insurance, priced at just

 

[TOR]

Thanks for the additional info Tor, I'm sure the readers of this forum will find our combined comments useful. I'm interested by your fast data service. I commute around London and have terrible data speed issues on the train out of central London.

I looked into a London Underground map application but decided not to download one yet. I'm half way through a programming andoid book so maybe I'll roll my own...

My signal is terrible on the way into London on the train, it only picks up once I'm on the streets right in the centre of London.

 

[Fatal Exception]

I'm on a T-mobile SIM only plan, I pay

 

[kaotix]

Sorry can I just point out your flawed costings between Nexus One and iPhone 3GS.

You said the iPhone costs

 

[Fatal Exception]

I was told over the phone that there wasn't a 'fair usage policy'. I'm not sure how true that is, but it;s a lot better than the paltry 500Mb that Orange offer.

 

[nx1977]

Fatal Exception: What is T-Mobile's actual fair usage policy. You said that its 'true unlimited internet' but I honestly doubt it is. I'd be tempted to get a sim card just for this as I'm with o2 right now (iPhone sim card free data for 12 months) and there coverage for London is non-existent so I routinely swap sim cards for better data usage.

1.2GB fairuasge on t-mobiles normal tarrifs that have web n walk (or whatever it's called this week), and 4gb on a G1, G2 - + all android devices?

 

[kaotix]

1.2GB fairuasge on t-mobiles normal tarrifs that have web n walk (or whatever it's called this week), and 4gb on a G1, G2 - + all android devices?

That's epic! I'm gonna get a T-Mobile SIM card right now!

 

[nx1977]

The 4 gb, is only when you buy an android handset from them. otherwise it's only 1.2gb which is miles better than Orange offer

 

[dhevans]

Great comments, I'd like to add a +1 to the Ocado app, having just done my shopping on the laptop lol..
I looked at the underground map and it's pretty awful, or at least I thought so..

I downloaded a few more apps this evening, the most promising looks to be RAC traffic - no use to those on a train, but seems to be quite smooth.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I'm on an o2 monthly contract, which in probably nearly 5 years of having the "web bolt on" has registered mobile data on my bill for probably 3-4 months of that time? I am in no hurry to leave

 

[r-j-y]

I'm in a similar situation: N1 on Orange UK since the start of Jan, thought I'd chip-in a few findings.

I started on Racoon 15 (

 

[nx1977]

When I left Orange 2 years ago (after 12+ years loyalty) the fair usage was 4mb/month!

I left, along with the Mrs after they told her to do one, and they could end her contract and number with immediate effect. That was after requesting a new handset upgrade, and the unlock code for her old phone so she could pass on to her dad - as she'd done for the last 6 handsets with them. They didnt even care, and even after listening to the call, said their agent did no wrong.

So we both up'd and went to T-mobile and have never been happier. Well until the news they were to merge with Orange!

 

[m_lave]

kaotix: you are of course right, it was not a like for like cost comparison.

My phone contract had expired so it was a comparison of how much it would cost me if I wanted to get either phone over 18 months.

 

[dhevans]

Update: The ocado app is here..
I have been playing with speaking to my phone that I want to buy vanilla essence and coffee
Next week's shopping is in the basket, just waiting for me to finish it..