FIRST-EVER GOOGLE ANROID smartphone is a respectable initial effort that, given an open develbment platform, will grow with time. It’s missing a bunch of key features, such as a decent media player and support for corporate e-mail. But the G1, manufactured by HTC, is a quality phone with few bugs. I’m confident that more features are on the way.
The 5.6-ounce G1 looks like a grown-up Sidekick. It has a big 3.2-inch, 320-by-480-pixel touch screen that’s bright and responsive. Volume and camera controls are on the sides of the handset, and the 3-megapixel camera is on the back. Slide the screen up to reveal a comfortable little QWERTY keyboard. You get about 60MB of available space for apps and data, as well as a slot for a microSD memory card.
A quad-band EDGE, dual-band HSDPA phone (1,700/2,100), the G1 works on T-Mobile’s 2G and 3G networks in the U.S. and on high-speed networks overseas. We achieved 600-to-700-kilobit- per-second speeds in the G1’s browser on the 3G network, which is fairly typical for a 3G phone.
Calls on the G1 sound terrific, at least to the user; the person on the other end may hear background noise. E-mail reads well, but attachment support is poor. As you might expect from a Google phone, the G1 has one of the best Web browsers around. There are holes in the phone’s media capabilities: There’s no video player or video camera, for example. Nonetheless, the Gi is a phone with a bright future that’s worth checking out
Pros First Google Android phone. Connects to Google services. Very good Web browser. Highly configurable. Solid call quality.
Cons Poor music and video options. Subpar document support. No Flash support in browser. No Microsoft Exchange e-mail connectivity. Nonstandard headphone jack.
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