Nexus One thoughts (from an iPhone user)

[edog]

I've owned a lot of phones, including BlackBerries, the Palm Pre, and the iPhone 1G-3gs. I'm a gadget addict, so I recently got the AT&T 3G-compatible Nexus One, and I wanted to share some of my initial thoughts about the Nexus One from the viewpoint of a (mostly) iPhone user to help others who might be on the fence.

What I love

• FREEDOM. I feel this immediately, when I put the Pandora app in the background and it continues playing, when I download a tethering app (PDAnet) that works without having to root/jailbreak the device, and when I sift through the multitude of home screen replacements. No app store censors either (except for certain apps like PDAnet I guess, but I just downloaded the APK easily anway). I love this.
• The screen. Though there have been various articles out there questioning the quality of the screen, it is amazingly sharp and high contrast to my eyes. After using the N1 then looking at my 3gs's screen, the 3gs's screen just seems inadequate.
• Syncing with "the cloud." I like how much wireless syncing happens with built-in apps like GMail and 3rd party apps like Doggcatcher. I have a G1 that I've previously played with on and off, and when I linked the N1 to my Google Account, my apps "magically" appeared. Very nice.
• Soon to be available on all carriers. This is an important type of freedom for me, especially if AT&T continues being subpar in my area (San Francisco).
• Different hardware choices. I just got the N1, but I'm already looking forward to the HTC EVO.
• A lot of other small things: 5 MP camera with Flash, unlocked without requiring rooting/jailbreaking.
• Ability to customize. On iPhones, you can't even set a wallpaper for your home screen without jailbreaking. I'm going a little nuts with all the freedom though -- I've gotta get some actual work done!

What could be improved

• Apps. I think Doggcatcher, AppBrain, and a few other Android apps are amazing and have no iPhone equivalents. However, there are apps for the iPhone that have no Android equivalent, especially games. Also, Facebook for Android is atrocious compared to its iPhone equivalent. I feel that this gap is closing rapidly though.
• Lack of DRM'ed media support. There's no native Audible audiobook support, no Kindle app (clearly no support for Apple's eBook store either), no support for DRM'ed movies. Like it or not, these are necessary (or at least incredibly convenient) for legally viewing many of the newest/most popular books and videos.
• Not so good wired syncing/backup. Out of the box, there is no support for doing a full backup to and syncing with my computer.
  
  While I know I can trivially rsync the SD card to my laptop, I want to sync/backup *everything* including call history, SMSes, phone settings, etc. I'm currently using The Missing Sync for Android to sync iTunes playlists, photos, etc., but I only settled upon that after a lot of experimentation (Salling, DoubleTwist, my own scripts).
  
  Nothing beats the convenience of just plugging in an iPhone and having it sync everything automatically without having to mount the SD card, sync, unmount from computer, and disable USB mass storage mode. Or, getting a new or replacement iPhone, plugging it into iTunes, and having everything restored from backup.
• Why is it that I still can't get a 32GB microSDHC card from a reputable retailer or get an Android phone with more than 16GB capacity? I wish that some manufacturer of Android phones would use the same type of non-removable flash memory Apple uses, to get past the current 16gb limit. iPod Touches have had up to 64 GB capacity for a while now.
• Media players. bTunes is the closest thing I've found to an iPhone/iPod equivalent media player, though I wish it didn't have to re-process all my ID3 tags every time I start it. MixZing is nice, but it doesn't have lockscreen controls which are very convenient. Nothing available on the N1 (at least not bTunes, Meridian, 3, MixZing) matches the ID3-based browsing abilities of the iPhone media player or combines all the features I want into one app.

Stuff I'm "meh" about

• Removable battery. I don't keep phones long enough to wear out their batteries, and keeping a second battery charged without an external charger is too annoying for me. I obviously don't mind that it's there, but I feel that for many people, it's not a clear advantage of the N1 over the iPhone.

I've tried to be as fair-minded as possible here, and I hope this helps others.

As for me, I'm currently using the N1 as my primary phone, and my iPhone primarily as an iPod Touch. I'm loving the freedom of Android and the Nexus One!

 

[Pryomancer]

I think the iPhone's main selling point is the App Store. Without this, the iPhone is probably average at best. It's a solid phone, but I don't believe it would be the behemoth it is now without the App Store.

 

[starfish]

This review was very helpful as I live/work in the Bay Area and was wondering about AT&T's network.

Thanks!

 

[CodeMonkey]

Why is it that I still can't get a 32GB microSDHC card from a reputable retailer!

My usual memory card retailer (in the UK) has SanDisk 32gb microSDHC cards listed as in stock from 20th April.
Personally I've been waiting for them since September last year...

 

[Caloy]

I once lived in the Bay Area (Hayward) and AT&T has very good coverage in the Bay Area.

 

[takeshi]

Why is it that I still can't get a 32GB microSDHC card from a reputable retailer or get an Android phone with more than 16GB capacity?

They're new to the market.

 

[edog]

I once lived in the Bay Area (Hayward) and AT&T has very good coverage in the Bay Area.

It has pretty good Bay Area coverage except on parts of highway 280 and in downtown San Francisco. I live close to downtown San Francisco, and my coverage there is spotty with a very weak signal at times.

 

[tiika]

is N1 can't connected to GPRS? in my country, it's harrd to find wifi.