HTC Nexus One by Google (unlocked)

Pros: The flexibility of a touch-screen phone and its available apps make for a huge step up. The phone is much easier than a Blackberry to configure (except for Exchange). Sound quality is good. From the case to the screen, the phone looks good.

Cons: You can't get full Exchange sync yet. The phone takes a minute to boot. It's slippery in the hand. Some controls are balky, and answering a call takes a finger swipe instead of a simple button push.

Summary: I moved up from a Blackberry Pearl Flip (8220), so the Nexus is a big change. The first thing I noticed as I started to configure Nexus was its beautiful screen. Then I was grateful for well-designed menus, and the Android Market which let me add functions very quickly and easily.

I knew that Exchange integration would be tough, had done enough research to settle on Nitrodesk's Touchdown app, which loaded and immediately started pulling down mail, contacts, calendar and task information (no notes, though). It took around 20 minutes to get everything loaded over WiFi.

It's great to have a large, bright screen. Web pages are readable now, though the reviewers are right about the need for multi-touch (Apple's pinch-and-zoom system where you can expand, contract and re-orient images or web pages by using two fingers at a time) - the Nexus One's browser's zoom control is awkward.

The phone's settings menus are very well done. Call forwarding is easy to configure (at least on T-Mobile). Some configuration choices are mis-placed (the Google Voice application's settings control whether GV or your carrier controls the outgoing calls, which can lead to confusion).

Android Market makes it easy to download new apps, and the apps are useful (from Kayak, to Fandango, to Google's Sky application for identifying constellations). Be careful with exotic VOIP apps, though - I had to rebuild the phone after one of them corrupted the phone's basic calling functions.

Simple telephone calls are tougher than they should be. To answer you have to swipe your finger across the screen - tougher than just stabbing a button, and you'll probably miss a couple of calls. To call is easy enough, but it's not as fast as hitting a Blackberry call button and starting to type a name in the text box. There is no classic telephone ring tone - just a bunch of hip-to-goofy tones that you may not feel comfortable hearing in conservative business meetings.

Don't get this phone if you want full Exchange compatibility and the most efficient way to make phone calls and read email. Blackberry is better for these things. But if you want to use more of the Internet while on the go, and especially if you find yourself relying on lots of Google web applications (Picasa, Gmail, Voice, etc.) the Nexus One is a good way to expand your mobile computing power.

Updated on Jan 11, 2010

After a few days, this is a great entertainment device, but a miserable phone.
* Looking up contacts is an ordeal. The voice recognition doesn't work well for names. Screen typing is erratic. You can't set your contact list to display by last name. God help you if you're looking up someone named Steve Vanzini, and forget about making calls when driving.
* Battery life is well under a day of regular use - sure, you can extend it by turning off all the services you bought the phone for, but then why use this phone?

Other - cutting and pasting text is near impossible. Support has been criticized in the news, but T-Mobile and HTC were helpful and quick with me. Google Translate is a miraculous app, as is their Sky app for constellations. Boot-up has improved to around 30 seconds (as Cleoz point out, that's faster than a Pearl 8220 - especially when you consider how bogged down Blackberrys are while they download mail).

Leaning toward sending it back. Glad I didn't engrave it.

Updated on Jan 11, 2010

One more thing: Cell connections are very weak with the Nexus One so far. T-Mobile is tough enough with a Blackberry, but Nexus is losing connections much more frequently.

Updated on Jan 12, 2010

The noise cancellation works very well for outdoor calls. In two calls from a busy streetcorner yesterday (buses and UPS trucks growling by), callers said that all they could hear was something that sounded like a softly rushing water in the background.

Contacts and the Touchdown program are still giving me fits. If you're a Blackberry owner you'll miss the option of having all received and sent mail, plus SMS, in a single folder. You never know if a mail's been sent. Touchdown's Send button will probably be right over the phone's Home button when you send a message. Sometimes the phone will revert to the home screen without your knowing whether the message has been sent. With no record in your inbox, you're clicks and minutes away from confirming in the sent folder. Sigh.

Updated on Jan 14, 2010

The phone's navigation feature is very strong. You can just tell the phone "Navigate to 4817 Mission Street in San Francisco," and then a couple of clicks later you're on your way with a detailed map and instructions on the beautiful screen. A terrible speaker on the Nexus One doesn't detract much from the joy of this feature.

By the way, you can also tell the phone to "Navigate to the nearest gas station," or "Find the closest Japanese restaurant." And you'll get a map of where you are, showing cluster of relevant destinations around you. Amazing.

Updated on Jan 14, 2010

There *are* multi touch applications available for Nexus One (and Android in general). The Dolphin browser lets you magnify or diminish a web page by pinching or spreading two fingers on the screen. It is also better in other ways than the base Android browser, and there's a free version available in the Android Market.

B&B Gallery lets you pinch and zoom your photos. No rotation, though. It isn't as slick otherwise as the Google Gallery app.

On this evidence I would expect to see more multi touch applications coming soon for Android phones.

Had to call HTC yesterday about the dreaded keyboard problem (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JCSEnkntEI - fixed after a battery-out reboot). Their support rep picked up in 30 seconds, offered to send me a new phone if we couldn't solve this quickly. (888) 216-4736 - the number's not secret. No idea why the press is going on and on about Nexus One support problems.

Updated on Feb 4, 2010

Used it for a 90-minute speakerphone call today. It took around 40% of the battery. The N1's speaker is much worse than a Blackberry's (tinny, distorted), but the other side reported that we sounded fine to them. Battery life is always a worry (but same for iPhone, from what I hear). There are no spare batteries available yet (on order, not shipped). T-mobile started routing my support calls directly to HTC after they figured out I had an N1, which became annoying when the update screwed up my call forwarding options. So why do I still have this thing? It's fast. The Dolphin browser is a treat to use. There's great integration with Google's various services. I am using it to send only around 20 emails each day a day, so I can take Touchdown's terrible Exchange sync and the N1's occasional keyboard fritzes. Will hit the road next month and find out how it functions under higher message loads.

Updated on Feb 20, 2010

NAVIGATION - Works well for turn-by-turn navigation, even if the speaker is pretty weak. Navigation sucks a lot of battery power, so bring a car charger when you go. And if you will be traveling beyond the range of the cellular network you're better off with a Garmin, since navigation relies on online data updates, not on maps stored in your phone.

CAMERA - Picture quality is still so-so. Auto-focus makes photos very crisp, but colors are cold (the camera does offer a white balance control). At least the camera starts very quickly (CNET says about 2x as fast as an iPhone. I say fast enough).

Updated on Feb 20, 2010

NAVIGATION - Works well for turn-by-turn navigation, even if the speaker is pretty weak. Navigation sucks a lot of battery power, so bring a car charger when you go. And if you will be traveling beyond the range of the cellular network you're better off with a Garmin, since navigation relies on online data updates, not on maps stored in your phone.

CAMERA - Picture quality is still so-so. Auto-focus makes photos very crisp, but colors are cold (the camera does offer a white balance control). At least the camera starts very quickly (CNET says about 2x as fast as an iPhone. I say fast enough).

Updated on Feb 20, 2010

DESKTOP DOCK - This $50 addition, now available from Google, turns your Nexus One into a clock radio that plays MP3s (stored on the phone), Pandora or other Internet radio stations, all while charging your phone. It has significantly increased my happiness with the Nexus One.

Updated on May 23, 2010

Just installed the Android 2.2 update. Among other things, it speeds up Nexus One by up to 5 time (great), allows for applications to be updated automatically and stored in removable memory (expanding app space by hundreds of times), improves the camera and lets the phone turn into a wireless hotspot to share your 3G data connection. It's like having a new phone.

Android phones sold by carriers may wait months for this upgrade, making Nexus One the phone to have if you want the latest and greatest out of Android, even though newer models feature better screens, keyboards and HTC's Sense interface, which cleans up Android a bit.

Android 2.2 has apparently added Exchange calendar sync capabilities. If the built-in email client can somehow keep user login info for more than a week at a time (it's terrible), this will be a big improvement.

Finally, the Nexus' power switch is going bad. A known issue on Google's Nexus One forum. Possibly looking for hardware exchange now.