T-Mobile G1 (black)

5.0 stars

"i gave away jailbroke iphone for this" on October 27, 2008 by samkash387

Pros: keyboard, UI is great, the available apps are awesome, compass mode in street view, amazon music = drm free, u don't have to feel like a tool with an iphone anymore, copy paste is very nice, web pages load faster and no checkered pattern

Cons: just battery life really, no virtual keyboard makes one handed quick texts un doable, but that can be fixed with a firmware or good dev. no headphone jack is annoying, but really using it as a dedicated music player would only make battery life worse

Summary: If its this or the iphone for you. think about a few things. if you want to look like everyone else with an iphone, get an iphone. iphones are powerful and user friendly, and closed off by apples thumb up their own butts. but if you want something open, with a fun UI, where the sky is the limit on apps, if you just don't want an iphone but want to be able to do everything it does and more, go G1

Updated on Nov 3, 2008

also, a really important thing to me is the browser is able to save your login passwords just like a computer. iphone can't do that, and when u say hey thats just something to type in real fast no biggie, think about how often u are logging in to your favorite sites, its alot, and it makes a big deal. also, if you'd like, u can let pages load in the background

5.0 stars

"WOW WOW WOW" on October 30, 2008 by iLuvIPhone

Pros: Blazing fast Internet speed. Beautiful in the bronze version. Cool super free applications and more coming. Google R&D behind the phone applications.

Cons: Comes in black or Bronze. I dont like the black Matte finish, looks cheaper to me and much easier to scratch. I love the bronze but its impossible to find. I wish there were more applications ready but I know they will come fast.

Summary: I loved my iPhone but I was also using Google products on the web a lot. I love this G1. Super fast, super practical. Fast web and fast and easy to use. I read a review once that said that G1 was slower than my beloved iPhone but that is absolutely not true. There is a free application that lets you create your own ring tones, take a MP3 song and cut out the portion you like and create your own ring tone. The keyboard is so much easier and faster to use than the iPhone screen. I love this new phone I was surprised and it surpassed my expectations by far.
The open source architecture is awesome. Think of Mozilla Firefox as a phone. I dont have to be slave to Apple proprietary software and applications and I can save a lot of money to get the same or better service than Apple.
I loved my iPhone but this G1 is a revolutionary product and applications, WOW.

5.0 stars

"I don't know how I lived before my G1." on February 6, 2009 by maceface47

Pros: Simply put, the total customization of the OS through new apps. My phone gets better with every access to the market.

Interface methods (physical keyboard and trackball as well as the touchscreen).

All-in-one integration of media, data, and phone.

Cons: The camera is terrible.

Alerts could be louder.

Summary: It didn't take long for this phone to take over almost every aspect of my life. The all-in-one capabilities offered by this class of phone are astounding. The ability to play music, videos, streaming content, browse the web, play games, and be able to go between doing those things in a dynamic and continuous manner borders on life-changing.

Still, there are many phones populating the market now that offer that capability. What sets this phone apart, however, is the Android OS and Google's wide-open market. Absent here are the sort of restrictions Apple has placed on its app store. One restriction in particular to the App Store is notably absent in the Market: Apple restricts its developers from doubling the functionality of of components that ship with the phone (e.g. the browser, text messaging, media players, etc), and Google does not. So, don't like the default browser? Download a better one. Do like the text messaging? Download a new app to take over this functionality. Plus, you can have many options for any of those things, and more. Which means we the users get to pick the best of the bunch, or the one that best suits our individual needs and tastes.

Besides the wide-open market, there is the open-nature of the OS itself and the tools developers have to make apps for it. Google allows access to all of the most core components of the phone and OS, meaning developers can make apps taking advantage of any feature, or modifying and improving any functionality! And don't think for a moment that developers are ignoring that: There are THOUSANDS actively and eagerly making new apps for the worlds most open phone.

Oh, and by the way, that means this article is VERY out of date, because developers have added so much new functionality to the phone that it's practically a different product from the one reviewed here.

As for what I do with my phone; well, with Compare Everywhere I always know the best price for a product before buying it (I've actually had an experience where I was in a store and Compare Everywhere found a better price. I showed it to a rep at the store and they matched the online price, saving me $20 on the product and $4.99 on 3 day shipping!). Meridian Video Player has allowed me to view dozens of movies in between things at work. With Brain Genius I've had the most fun I've ever had working out my brain. With NESEmu, I've rediscovered my love for classics like Mario Bros, Contra, and Donkey Kong. With Labyrinth I've gone back to my grandma's living room and playing one of the most frustratingly challenging games of all time (still tough to this day!) With threaded texts, I keep track of all my conversations. With Gmail I stay connected with everyone. With Google Calendar, I never miss an important event. With GPS enabled Google Maps, I'm never lost for long! Me and my wife have found all kinds of interesting new places in our new home town. And with Task Switcher, I can switch between all of those tasks at the touch of a finger, all while Music Player blasts my tunes in the background!

I don't know what I'd do without my G1

4.0 stars

"WHY DOES EVERYONE GIVE THIS PHONE A HARD TIME!" on December 4, 2008 by dpballer85

Pros: - Nice Big Touch Screen
- QWERTY Keyboard
- WiFi
- GPS
- Cheaper Data Plan than AT&T
- Promising Android Market
- Scroll Ball
- Street View in Maps

Cons: - Bad Battery Life (Only if you plan to run the phone like a desktop computer)
- A Bit thicker than other phones
- Creaking noise with screen (Sturdy screen but still squeaky, might be because of the mechanism used to open the phone)

Summary: I've read 100's of reviews about the T-Mobile G1 and 90% of them bashed the G1 phone. I've come to the conclusion that the people writing the reviews are all iphone lovers. Another thing i would like to mention before my review is that pictures make this phone look ugly and huge but it's like a completely different phone in person, it is much smaller than what you may think.

This phone is one of the best phones i've EVER had. The screen is very rich in color and very responsive to touch. I am also glad that the OS doesn't lag like the T-Mobile Wing (Might be due to low RAM and the slow Windows Mobile OS). The keyboard is also a life saver because i have big hands and touch keyboards like the i phone always get the key that i press wrong. The android market place is great also, there are many of apps available for download. The only problem i have with the market place is that there aren't any screen shots for the programs available. The battery life on the phone can be pretty good if you are not using the phone like a PC. the battery lasts a lot longer if you turn off wifi, bluetooth, 3g, gps, auto sync option, and dim the screen. You should only turn those on when you really need them. People complain about this but there aren't any phones that last long when you have these on at the same time. The scroll ball is also a good addition because it helps with accuracy when on web pages and places where you may be trying to use the touch screen. Street view on maps is great, i went all the way to my house and it even lets you roam the area too.

People who are unsure about this phone should go to the T-Mobile store and try it out for themselves. I'm satisfied with the phone and the Android OS will only grow with time.