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G1 Google Android Phone Review

After a week of playing with Google and HTC’s new Android phone, I can say that there’s a huge promise with the platform. See unboxing photos here and specs here.

Let’s break it down to two main components and focus there — hardware and operating system.

Hardware Construction and Design. Off the bat, the G1 phone is hideous — period. We’ve seen a lot of phones coming out of HTC but the HTC Dream is a really odd one. I think this model was conceptualized way back in 2003. And despite the plastic body, it still feels heavy and bulky to the hands.

gphone

A number of people asked me why the phone is angled at the bottom end. I realized the slight protrusion was done to give a better grip when handled horizontally and positioned to take pictures.

The well-spaced qwerty keyboard benefited from the wide body of the G1. Since the keypads are hidden from the slider, the individual keys are buried into the pad you don’t get much feedback when typing on them. The keyboard is also oriented heavily on the left side that your right thumb will have a hard time reaching the middle keys.

gphone

In the front panel, there are 5 buttons and a trackball that serves as main navigation and shortcuts for phone use. The trackball at they middle is very easy to use especially when running thru long lists like your Contacts or Playlist and crawling thru objects and links when browsing. It also serves as an Enter key.

gphone

At first glance, the lever that supports the slider looks like it’s made of plastic and could be a problem when it breaks off. However, the spring mechanism is constructed in metal so it may last prolonged usage. The phone makes some squeaking noise when applied with pressure or when flipped — sounds like walking over a bamboo floor.

The UI and Operating System. This is the first time I’ve used a new OS on a mobile phone. We’re already pretty familiar with the Symbian OS, Windows Mobile, Palm OS and iPhone OS. The Google Android platform performs better for a first generation OS. It’s fast, responsive and integrates really well with Google Apps.

The main interfaces works like a desktop with icons scattered across 3 homescreen. It’s like an extended desktop you can scroll across (similar to the iPhone but only limited to 3 homescreens).  There’s also a sidebar that extends across the screen which contains shortcuts to a lot functions or installed apps. What’s really nice is that alerts are non-intrusive — there’s a small one-liner ticker that slides at the top of the screen to indicate SMS and other notifications (along with a vibration and buzzing sound).

gphone

The iPhone OS of Apple works seamlessly with the iPhone because the platform was tailor-made for it. Likewise, Android was also tailor-made for the G1 and thus, you get an optimized UI and performance. The menus are intuitive and responds very well. There are some minor quirks here and there but overall, the OS performs in top shape.

gphone

Imagine having this platform on your favorite phone? The T-Mobile G1 is just a test model. Once we see more and more models go out with Android in it, the clearer it becomes to us that the platform is truly a solid contender against the iPhone OS.

HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1) specs:
3.2-inch HVGA TFT LCD @ 480×320 pixels, 180ppi
Qualcomm MSM70201A ARM11 528MHz single-core processor
192MB RAM
256MB internal storage
up to 16GB via microSD
3G, EDGE
WiFi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth 2.0
GPS with aGPS support
Android 1.0 OS
Li-Ion 1,150mAh battery
158 grams (weight)
117.7 x 55.7 x 17.1mm (dimensions)

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

131 Responses

  1. Avatar for rommel rommel says:

    g1 is so old and parts for it are so hard to find, your better off buying a new phone. But if you really want to get it fixed. most places can fix it if they can find the part. i suggest getting the part from an old broken g1 with the flex still ok. are you in Phil?

  2. Avatar for Arlene Arlene says:

    may i ask someone who might be able to help me find out where can i get to fix the flex of android G1 google phone lately? any idea how much does it costs? thanks

  3. Avatar for TECHIHUNT TECHIHUNT says:

    Very good Web browser. Highly configurable. Solid call quality.

  4. Avatar for rommel rommel says:

    well, for you to access you google account you have to have internet connection. so you may have to set up wifi connection. there are links all over the internet on how to do it.

  5. Avatar for Therese Therese says:

    i did factory reset on my phone and now I cant get past the setup screen. i have a google account pero di ko siya maaccess.. paano yun??

  6. Avatar for Internet Hizmetleri Internet Hizmetleri says:

    I’m having the same problem as Rochelle…I can’t get past the activation screen. To those using the G1 with Globe, what are the APN settings?

  7. Avatar for dany dany says:

    you goint to bjutifol in my tv i e ni but i not jor mine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    :)

  8. Avatar for ehly ehly says:

    i need help. i can’t use my G1 phone. If you happen to read my message please tst me as soon as possble so I can explain it. here is my number.. 091552*****

  9. Avatar for Iojrn Iojrn says:

    Before smart sim din gamit co but because it eats much of my load ngchange aco ng globe sim.,khit nkauncheck ung background data mo after awhile ubos n lod mo,stick to ur globe sim :-)

  10. Avatar for jeff jeff says:

    help naman po yung g1 unit ko ayos siya pag globe nakakatawag ako at di nawawala load ko. Pero when i started using smart sim lage nauubos load ko kahit naka register ako sa unli, tapos pag magdidial naman ako your call cannot be connected please please check your phone setting. Smart naman ang network operator na pinili ko dun sa settings help naman po oh PLEASE!!!!

    jeffreyave****@****.***

    TULONG PO PLEASE! :(

  11. Avatar for Rommel Rommel says:

    Seems like most g1 initially eats up load even if apps that can eat load are disabled. Resetting to factory default very fixes this .

  12. Avatar for Gh0sT Gh0sT says:

    I brought my G1 from the US to Cebu unlocked. I have a Sun sim loaded in it and every so often I get txt messages from 7210 saying “You do not have enough load to complete this transaction. Please reload immediately,” I usually get 2 or 3 at a time.

    I also have Globe and Smart sims, and what I’ve noticed is that it’s normal on Globe and I don’t get any messages, but with Smart it eats the “free txt to any network” that you get when you load it, and with Sun it’s also eating the free txt, and when it gets done eating them it starts sending the messages. Also, if I leave my phone alone and don’t touch it for an hour I won’t get any messages, but as soon as I hit my menu button to wake it up it starts up with the messages.

    Is there any way to stop this? or is my phone actively looking for a signal and using txt messages as a way to see if there’s an update available for download?

  13. Avatar for darie cruz darie cruz says:

    @armiel,

    sorry am so so so so bad coz of this late reply….anyway, if still needing my help u can add me on your YM here: darie****@****.***

    let’s discuss possibility & other details in threshing out problem concerning data services….tnx

  14. Avatar for rachell rachell says:

    hi, please help. don’t know what to do on my g1. i had it factory reset and now i’m stuck on welcome to t-mobile g1. touch the android to begin. :(

  15. Avatar for armiel armiel says:

    pa help naman po

  16. Avatar for armiel armiel says:

    @ darie cruz,

    I have the same problem with kamirucorella. Sinubukan kong i reset dahil maraming app ayaw gumana. Nung mai reset ko di ako makapag set up. 2 sim card na ginamit ko smart at globe parehong ayaw

    • Avatar for joseph joseph says:

      hi!
      Sir same din ung nangyari sa G1 ko,ask ko lng what happen na sa problem nyo.na ayos na po ba?
      need ko lang po ng help.
      eto po email add ko joseph_14****@****.***

      thank you

  17. Avatar for darie cruz darie cruz says:

    @kamirucorella,

    sorry but read ur concern so so late….ur unit need to be reflashed…..if interested u can leave msg here or send e email, br

  18. Avatar for kim kim says:

    panget amp anu bayan e 2 ba web nen 2 wla 2

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