The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds
85%
Google Nexus One

Google Nexus One

Hard to resist

  • print
  • alert

Review The flourishing Android operating system has appeared on phones made by Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG and HTC. Now Google has launched its own handset, though it’s actually made by HTC, which has made the bulk of Android handsets so far.

Google Nexus One

Nexus One: hardware by HTC, software by Google

The thing about Android is that manufacturers can change the OS to taste. This has been a great bonus for Motorola, a company known for stylish, appealing phones but which has always had a dog of an operating system. Motorola has been able to tweak Android effectively to add social media smarts.

So what would Google do? The Nexus One is a cute piece of kit. Its vivid, colourful OLED display is fractionally narrower but noticeably longer than that of the iPhone, clocking in at 3.7in compared to the iPhone’s 3.5in.

In fact, it feels even more spacious than that, as at the bottom there’s a further touch-sensitive area where icons represent the Back, Menu, Home and Search functions. But the real stand-out feature of the screen is not the size or brightness, it’s the resolution. At 480 x 800 pixels, it’s strikingly pin-sharp – the iPhone only manages 320 x 480.

Google Nexus One

The handset comes with a natty slipcase

The curved edges and sleek, slim profile make the Nexus One feel good in the hand, especially because of the metallic frame and rubber-paint back. It’s light but solid, and the phone’s look is completed with a white trackball, front and centre under the display. It’s another way to navigate the touchscreen and it pulsates with light when you receive a notification. Beyond that, there’s a volume rocker on the left edge and a power button on top.

Not True

The I phone is not the first phone to do stuff. Its just the first phone to look nice. At the launch of the iphone my buddy had a windows mobile phone. It could, and still can, do everything the Iphone can. Remote logins, music, downloading torrents, administration,web browsing, etc. Instead of a finger you would use a pen and it looked no where near as good as an Iphone. It sounds weird when apple fanboy's say the Iphone is the first smartphone. It's not. TBH Apple needs to stop spending money on lawyers and start upgrading there product. The world now has phones that people think look as good as the i phone so deal with it and stop thinking Steve Jobs is from the future.

1
0

I don't get it.

This review, and others, seem much more positive than the Milestone review, yet the Nexus One still only score 85%. The same as the milestone.

Are you seriously telling me the LG Viewty Smart is a better phone than either of these? It got 90%.... Maybe ratings should be reviewed over time, but your league table of phone reviews looks mighty odd.

1
0

yeah, yeah...

I've owned said 'tat' for almost two years now. I consider it mediocre at best, and can't wait to get my hands on a Nexus One.

I want my phone/most used device to be truly useful.

1
0

LED

Please can reviewers avoid calling LEDs "flashes"? LEDs on camera phones are not without merit - a xenon flash isn't much use as a torch, for starters - but confusing the two is playing into the marketeers' hands.

2
1

Sample photographs

Cafe Fanny sounds like my kind of place! Where is it? Google Maps directions on a postcard please ...

1
0

More from The Register

Android is a mess and needs sprucing up, admits chief
Can Google really fix it? It isn't in control any more
New Lumia 925: This, loyalists, is the BIG ONE you've waited for
Nokia veep drills high-end master plan for El Reg
Android device? Ooohhhh, you mean a Samsung phone
Koreans nabbed nearly all the Q1 profits – more even than Google
Review: HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook
All roads lead to Chrome?
Borked your iDevice? Pay EVEN MORE to have it fixed by Applecare
Or scream at their hapless techies on their forums
Euro PC shipments plummet into bottomless pit of DOOOOM
11th quarter of decline, 20pc drop on last year - Gartner
MIT takes battery-powered robot cheetah for a gallop
Biomimetic big cat needs no power cord, just a walker