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Nexus One Limitations?

feelyat

Lurker
Jan 15, 2010
5
0
First, an introduction -- I am a smartphone newbie. I've always had ordinary "phone" phones, and they've done OK by me. Recently, I've come to the realization that I could use a lot of the tools available in a modern smartphone, and Android (the concept) really appeals to me.

I'm on Sprint, so I picked up a Sprint HTC Hero for a brief time last year. I gave it a week, but was really unhappy about three things:

  1. Weak vibrate ringer
  2. Inaccurate keyboard
  3. Clumsy phone UI

I almost never have my phone set to anything other than vibrate. I like the fact that I can quietly ignore an incoming call or text that rings in my pocket. When the Hero was set to vibrate, I could never feel it.

The keyboard inaccuracy was driving me crazy. I kept mis-hitting keys on the on-screen keyboard, including in the phone dialer. I don't have any problems typing on a friend's iPhone, in either keyboard orientation.

The phone UI was frustrating for me. Specifically, hanging up a call. Whenever I was talking on the phone, the screen would go to sleep (saving battery, all good stuff). Then, when I was done, I needed to wake up the phone, unlock the screen, and hang up. Three actions. Very annoying, especially in the car. In the past (and currently) I used a flip phone, which had a single action to hang up -- close the phone.

OK, now to the Nexus One question. I'm still excited about Android, and the N1 appears to be a great Android phone. Being that it's an HTC device with a very similar form factor to the Sprint Hero, I'm concerned that my Hero annoyances will be there on the N1.

Can anyone who has a Nexus One speak to my concerns?
 
The keyboard problems you mentioned are nonexistent for me on the N1. For one, the screen is bigger thus the keyboard has more space, also the phone is much more powerful and registers key presses much better and on par with the iphone imo, which I owned in the past.

The issue you had with hanging up a call on the Hero is also not present on the N1. The N1 has a proximity sensor built in, ala the iphone, so when you pull the phone away from your face the screen wakes up and you can press the end call button, or any other in-call options there are.

Personally I don't like SenseUi and think stock Android2.1 is much better.
 
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I disagree quoting the Magic v N1 example.

Just because the N1 is more accurate than the Magic doesn't mean it's not inaccurate. Do you know what I mean? Just take a look at some of the threads in the N1 forum to find inaccuracy of the touchscreen. One guy's N1 had a glitch so bad that he was typing ABOVE the keypad! I don't think you can rule out the inaccuracy of the keyboard when so many continue to note the accuracy of the iPhone keyboard over all Android phones. Certainly, the latest 2.x version keyboards are better, but they're not there... yet.
 
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.....

Can anyone who has a Nexus One speak to my concerns?


luckily, i did not rush to pay half a thousand bucks for another android lemon. but i can tell you this much: if you didn't like sense ui (Which like sooper droid said, is popular among android users), then i highly doubt that you'd like N1. yes, there's a cool gallery and a cool homescreen but they only thinly veil stock android's real face.

as far as the VK, well, 1.5 years is apparently not enough time for google to perfect it, so you might wanna wait for a nexus 6....
 
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The keyboard problems you mentioned are nonexistent for me on the N1. For one, the screen is bigger thus the keyboard has more space, also the phone is much more powerful and registers key presses much better and on par with the iphone imo, which I owned in the past.

The issue you had with hanging up a call on the Hero is also not present on the N1. The N1 has a proximity sensor built in, ala the iphone, so when you pull the phone away from your face the screen wakes up and you can press the end call button, or any other in-call options there are.

Thanks. I was wondering how the proximity sensor worked on the N1, but I haven't seen a detailed explanation. Your experience with the KB is encouraging, but it sounds like there are still some grumblings in the community.

@sooper_droid12, I was not saying that the entire sense UI was clumsy. Just the phone aspect of it, i.e. making and receiving calls, and (especially) ending them. Sense seemed fine to me and not at all difficult.

Does anyone use vibrate for alerts/rings?
 
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limitations - and i'm in the minority it seems - is crappy battery life...
How crappy? I'll admit that, as an "old school" phone user, I was shocked by the battery life in modern smartphone devices. I go 4-5 days without charging my current dumbphone (Sanyo Katana II). If you can get a full workday out of the N1, then that's probably pretty good, AFAIC.
 
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