Well it is almost a full week since I started using my G1 and I thought It would be interesting to jot down a few notes based on my experience with the device so far.
My first impressions of the phone were good, the size, weight and feel of the unit is perfect for me. I thought I would find the keyboard to be a bit of a pain at first because the right side of the panel is raised up as this houses the trackball and the main buttons for the phone, however, with use you quickly orient your hands in such a way that using the keyboard is dead simple and not at all awkward.
The trackball is a great idea and, despite it’s size, seems to perform adequately. It has enough friction to never slip and misfire and pressing it to select the highlighted item on a web page or document is no chore as it has a definite feel to it.
there are a couple of applications I consider must-haves for this phone. AnyCut is an app that allows you to make a shortcut out of almost anything at all on the phone. The most useful shortcuts allow you to add shortcuts to the desktop for texting or calling a specific contact. This means that from a single toch on the screen the text or call can be initiated. Very handy indeed. There are tons of other shortcuts too including shortcuts for wireless settings, allowing you to toggle wireless functions quickly with fewer clicks (screen taps).
Another regularly used app is Ring Toggle. This is a simple app that presents you with a menu when you run it, from the menu you can select the ring type from several options including Silend, Vibrate or Normal. I find it a bit quicker than pressing and holding the power button and saves messing with the volume button.
Both apps are available free from Android Market and take up very little space on the phone, this is a good thing as you will see later.
The screen on the phone is responsive and clear, very easy to read and despite being small through the nature of the device the resolution is superb and I’ve not struggled with any websites so far.
Contacts and Calendar are superb and I’ve already got the wife registered online so we can update our respective calendars and so stay up to date with movements and appointments quicly and easily. Being able to update your details in one place and have that filter through to every other device is just excellent and I find I am left wondering why I left it this long to take advantage of Google’s offerings as much as I do now.
I’ve added a couple of plugins into Thunderbird too so the contacts are updated into my email client and calendar, though the calendar plugin doesn’t seem to be doing wot it orta.
Overall I am really happy with the G1 but there are a couple of things that I think can be improved.
Battery Life on the unit is not so good. I have heard people say they get quite a lot of life out of their battery between charges and I’ve been assured that they are using the unit, not simply leaving it on the desk. My experience is not the same though, I make an effort to turn off Bluetooth and wifi when I’m not using them but still I can barely get through a day without having to charge the unit. I do still have GPS turned on so I guess I should turn that off as it is likely to be a real power drain.
I tried using the G1 as an MP3 player yesterday and drained the battery to 10% remaining from about 80% in 90 minutes. I could leave the unit plugged into a power source when using it as an MP3 player at my desk but then that woukd mean unplugging the headphones from the miniUSB to plug in the USB cable or charger to power the device… catch 22 anyone? Of course the answer to that particular gotcha may be to go buy some bluetooth headphones, removing the reliance on the miniUSB socket.
Another issue discovered so far is that every app you install is installed to the phone memory with no option to install to the SD card which is a little bizzarre given that the phone comes with a 2GB card and mine also came with a bonus 8GB card for purchasing online (apparently pointing this out to the guys in the stores get’s you an 8GB card in store too). The phone memory is not exactly plentiful I currently have 30MB remaining on the phone but 6,251 on the SD card. It would be nice to know I can save my contacts messages and apps into that unused space on the SD card.
So after Week 1 I remain impressed by this little device and it has already had an impact on the way I do things, I still feel happy recommending the G1 to anyone looking to get a new phone.
Week 1 summary:
Pro’s
- Size & finish of the unit.
- Screen resolution & Responsiveness.
- Trackball.
- Applications load Quick.
- Android Market.
- Connectivity options.
- Google apps – Update once, update all.
Con’s
- Battery Life.
- Unable to utilise the SD Storage card to ease burden on internal phone memory.
- Lack of seperate 3mm headphone socket.
So, on to Week 2…
