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 Dissapointing battery life and software performance Jul 22, 2010
As a management consultant who travels almost weekly, I was eagerly looking forward to having mobile email and internet and urged by my wife to get this phone when it came out. However, after nearly two years with this phone, I can't wait for my contract to be up. As an early adopter of the T-mobile G1, I have definitely felt all the downsides of a first generation product.
Pros
- Physical keyboard is handy for texting and surfing the web.
- GPS and turn-by-turn navigation is free and helpful.
- Phone has good integration with Google email, calendar and other apps.
Cons:
- Everything (startup time, apps, navigation, camera) on this phone is extremely sloooooow.
- Software is buggy and phone shuts down unexpectedly at times.
- Battery life is abysmal, the worst on any phone ever. You will need to charge several times per day, particularly if you use Bluetooth or surf the web.
- Syncing of music and other files is primitive compared to iphone/ipod and itunes.
- Lack of standard headphone jack is really annoying when traveling (and you want to listen to music and charge the phone at the same time).
I have a long-time friend who I met recently after many months and lo and behold he had only recently gotten his first smart phone, also a T-mobile G1, and it had even worse problems than mine. After asking him what he was thinking (he definitely should have asked me for my opinion!), I told him to make sure the software was at least up-to-date and that I wished him luck. My friend has a pretty laid-back lifestyle so he likes to crack jokes about the phone matching his pace. He is also more likely to see the phone's flaws as endearing "idiosyncrasies".
I still have a few months left on my contract but given how slow and buggy this phone is, I took out the SIM card and put it in one of the T-mobile "to-go" phones from Walmart. I am paying an extra $25 per month for the G1 service, but anything at this point is better than using this phone.
Recommendation: Don't Buy! Get a smartphone that works or a regular phone and 3G ipad (for mobile email and internet).
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 A great phone that gets ahead of itself. Feb 13, 2010
-Pros-
+ Many Cool Apps (for free)
+ Decent Keyboard
+ Glass Screen (very scratch resistant)
+ Good Camera
-Cons-
- Terrible Battery Life
- Slide mechanism feels flimsy
- Phone freezes a lot
- Not very stylish
- Terrible Speaker
I'll keep this simple, the G1 is a great phone. The Android Market is awesome, and there are many free games and apps that will keep you entertained for a long time. But that's about the only good thing I can say about this phone. If you try and navigate through menus too fast or have too many widgets on the screen, the phone will slow down to a crawl. Sometime it will take 10-15 seconds to load the home screen. Also the physical design of the phone is terrible, when you slide open the phone the top half feels flimsy and loose. It's not very sturdy. Also, the battery life is TERRIBLE. You will be charging this phone every day, even if you don't use it much. There's also a long delay when you take pictures.
In closing, the Android OS is very good, but this phone can't run it very well, it just doesn't feel powerful enough. And the design needs work.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Android, and how! Oct 22, 2009
Phone and apps are fast and reliable on the 3G Network; on Edge they're pokey and frustrating--be aware of that before you buy. But, if you have good 3G coverage, you are in for a treat. The new updates to the phone's operating system (like the onscreen keyboard) and the integration of the powerful Google search engine with all the apps from Google and other developers create an incredible, fun, and useful experience that has left my iPhone-using friends in amazement.
In particular, I love how all my contacts from GMail sync wirelessly and instantly to the phone (an account is set up for you when you activate the phone). And, because they're safely stored by Google, they'll be intantly available on a new phone when I upgrade, or in case I loose this one. They're even accessable via the web in the event I don't have the replacement phone yet. Now, instead of having some contact info in a cell phone, others in an address book, some on bits and scraps of paper, I have everything consolidated in one place where it can be easily updated. Plus, entering the contacts in the Gmail site via my laptop is much easier than using a phone (though the slide out keyboard is very functional and extremely easy to type on).
Once your contacts are entered, you can click on any you have included an address for, and Google will map it instantly. Another click produces turn by turn directions to that address, based on your current position as determined by the built in GPS. Now that's a useful app! Of course, you can also easily map and get directions to and from addresses you have stored, or enter by the keyboard.
You can also get maps and GPS-assisted directions through other apps that show you local restaurants, stores, hotels, gas stations, etc. I've found a couple of new places near my neighborhood this way.
Ever wonder what stars are overhead? Aim phone at the sky, and you'll see the names of the stars and diagrams of their constellations on the phone's screen. The display changes as you move the phone. It's like having an astonomer in your pocket.
Can't decide to buy that sale item you came across in the store? Use the camera to scan its barcode, and Google will tell you what the product costs in other stores, online, and if you can get it for less. You can also instantly learn all kinds of information about it.
If you use your Google scheduler to keep track of appointments and events, you can access them and update them from both the phone or a computer, and changes will synch instantly. Google also sends an email to remind you about each event. You don't have to check your calendar as often, as it checks with you!
That's just a little bit of the stuff that I've used the phone for. It's also a music and video player, web browser, camera and video recorder (both only fair), etc.
The phone is a little thicker than many others (maybe an 2 or 3 eighths of inch?), but I find the size very comfortable and reassuring. I kept dropping my previous, thinner phone. I have yet to drop this one.
Cross your fingers--that's how I broke my previous phone!
Also, if you use a lot of GPS or web enabled apps, you will have to recharge the phone in the early evening to continue using it, as they slurp up the power quickly. Aftermarket long life batteries are readily available from a variety of sources.
I know these things change frequently, but when researching service plans before I bought the G1, I found that T-Mobil's were among the most, if not the most economical, though that may depend somewhat on your particular needs. Free calling to 5 numbers with the $39 MyFaves plan takes care of the bulk of my my calling, and still leaves 300 Anytime minutes to use for other calls. The Android data plan is $25 for unlimted use.
I'm really impressed with this phone and its apps, and look forward to more of what all the inventive app designers and programmers will do with the open source Andriod format.
2 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 HORRIBLE STAY AWAY!!! Oct 17, 2009
I swear... I've never owned a phone that took this long to startup. If you're an average user this phone sucks royally. It needs too much tweaking for it to be awesome. Once you've made all the adjustments to make it cool you've found that you'd be better off spending your money on the HTC Touch pro 2 (Sadly it doesn't have android on it) but don't get the GSM version because it lacks a 3.5 headphone jack like this one unless you don't mind using an extra wire just to hook up your headphones. Also has crappy battery life even with most of the features you may want to use most shut off. A higher capacity battery turns this phone into a netbook for midgets. Whats worse is some cellphone providers try to shoehorn you into believing you need to sign a contract for the data plan you might not necessarily need especially if you already have a wireless connection at home and accessible hotspots in the places you may frequent most. You only need a data connection & a gmail account initially to get to the main desktop of the phone. Of course there are other ways to get to the desktop but its too techy to deal with. Overall if you're a collector and just gotta have one you'd probably be better off scoring one on Ebay but don't get tricked into a contract with this one you'll hate yourself for it and buyers remorse will definitely set in as you glare at your monthly bill.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Potential Not Fully Met - Its Better Then The MyTouch 3G Phone Sep 06, 2009
I hope everyone reads my review with an open mind.
I am a former iPhone user, turned Blackberry, and now the G1. I have been drooling over the G1 for quite sometime. I think its internet, menu system, and qwerty keyboard make it a worthwhile investment. It's definitely for any cell phone crowd that's heavy into texting and emailing. I held off on buying a G1 because of the physical design. I found the bottom chin of the phone to be a massive turn off. Plus, everyone that I knew who had the G1 kept telling me how horrid the battery life was. From that comment, I figured out why they were always carrying their charger with them.
Here we are, almost a year later and the G2 has been released. Known as the HTC Magic in Europe and the MyTouch 3G here in the US on T-Mobile. I was so excited to get this phone & as soon as I got home & fiddled around with it - I immediately lost interest after 10 mins. I thought the integration with the Gmail address was great. I sent my Gmail address an email from my AOL account to see how long it would be before I received the email & needless to say, it took over 30 mins. Even when I went into the account and clicked REFRESH, it still wouldn't come through. I added in my AOL account & it was the same. You can set the phone to check for emails every five mins, ten mins, fifteen mins, and so forth. Certain emails took a whole day before I even received it. This was not a good sign.
So i exchanged it for the G1 so in order to have a real keyboard.
The camera is only 3.2 megapixel and it's not the best, but it does the trick. The camcorder is really lacking features. It's simple & there are no options or settings changes allowed. The battery leaves little to be desired.
Pros:
Keyboard
3G
Threaded Text Message
Responsive Touch Screen
Cons:
This phone had massive potential, but a lot of it was not met!
No 3.5 MM headphone jack
E-Mail is not the best
Not the sexiest cell phone out there
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