HTC G1 Cell Phone

Hi everybody. Heard a lot good things about the "google phone", I bought it and needless to say, it is amazing.

Let's start with the thing you see first when you unbox it - the touchscreen. It's massive and crisp, colours are vivid, backlight does great. It's very responsive, the only thing is to get used to it (you have to know that it catches the exact point on the screen when your finger was). All graphics are very clear.

When you boot the phone for the first time it asks you about your Google Account (that's why it's called "google phone", right?). If you don't have one you can create it straight away without touching your PC - everything is done via the phone. That's cool, it automatically synchronizes your mobile contacts, calendar and similar stuff with Google.

Every action on the phone is really simple. It's easy to use, everything is in the right place. It reacts fast to the user activity and last but not the least - Android Market. In fact - it should be a subject to another review. This little thingy is simple yet powerful. On top of it you can see few (about 8-10) featured apps - and those are really robust, the most of them are "a must". Software is divided into groups like lifestyle, tools, entertainment, games, etc. What makes it really easy to navigate - search functionality. You can search apps from the main screen, from any opened group, it remembers what you've been looking for previously. Apps are described well, many of them are free, user reviews are really helpful there. Along with ratings and number of downloads makes it very quick to tell if you want this app or not. You'll have notices about upgrades and so, very handy.

QWERTY keybord - well, that's self-explanatory. It's great. It's superb. It's amazing. And you can't tell anything bad about it - it's just the ultra comfy keys in your phone. You can do shortcuts to access apps or anything quickly. Just brilliant.

On the other hand you don't want me to bless this phone all the time, do you? Well, it lacks few things of course. It doesn't play or record videos - you can use one of a bunch of external apps doing that, not a big problem (personally I don't use it as I don't need this functionality and always wondered why do they put video recording in every phone). You can use only the phone memory to install apps (it can run out at some point, haven't reach it though). And the biggest software mistakes (you can workaround them by rooting your phone - you can google "rooting g1" for more details) are: not letting you into the console as a root user (causing some limitations, the regular user probably won't need it and it protects from completely breaking your phone - but I would like to have it) and not utilizing the multi-touch (yes, that's right. You can use only one finger at a time even that the hardware allows two [at least, that's what I know at the moment]).

To conclude it - this is almost everything I've ever wanted from phone. More than that, it doesn't have any compatibility problems (it is the only Android phone so googling "android phone" is way more easy than "T-Mobile Google Enabled g1 HTC Dream Android mobile phone") and the community is really helpful. Apps developers are people you can ask something, not "pay and go away", updates are frequent. This phone is truly excellent and I can recommend it honestly for everyone.

This is a great device and the only real competitor of the iPhone. The operating system is very fast and stable and there are lots of useful apps to download, most of them for free. I love the slide-out keyboard and the memory card ability. The only con is the poor battery life but I am very happy with the phone overall.

I've been using Nokia phones for a few years, most recently the E51.
I like the idea of touch screen phones but my partner briefly had a touch screen LG and it was a pain to use.
I like having my emails on my phone, I use google maps every day and I live by google calendar.
I saw an ad for the G1 on T-Mobile and live the keypad in addition to the touch screen and the sync with google calendar and Gmail.
Stuck on a contract with '3' for almost a year still I just bought a G1, it took me 5 minutes to unlock it and set it up for 3, no problems at all there.
The touch screen is superb, the backlit hidden keypad is excellent, the battery life is supposed to be a big problem but so far, for me, not, it lasts a day and thats fine for me 99% of the time.

I looked around at other phones too mainly in the Nokia range before making the move to this one and this is a hell of alot of phone for £150ish.
You can download applications (software, 'apps') for all kinds of things, I recommend 'netcounter' (free) if you have a limit on your data use (such as my 1gb per month on '3').

To unlock I went to www.unlock-googlephone.com and they sent me an unlock code in about half an hour. Anyone needing settings for '3' in the uk (these work fine for me, for other networks and/or other countries, search on google for APN settings):

Menu button > Settings > Wireless Controls > Mobile Networks > Access Point Names > Menu Button > New APN

Name: 3
APN: three.co.uk
Proxy: <not set>
Port: <not set>
Username: <not set>
Password: <not set>
Server: http://mms.um.three.co.uk:10021/mmsc
MMSC: http://mms.three.co.uk:10021/mmsc
MMS proxy: mms.three.co.uk
MMS port: 8799
MCC: 234
MNC: 20
APN type: default

A little cumbersome to some, this phone is great in almost every aspect! At least it is for me, as it allies a very nice capacitive screen (unlike the Windows Mobile devices I've been using for the last 5 years, they are very inferior to this OS), 3.5G network access, a superb user interface. The Market is great, as are some free applications. You do need to settle for the existing applications, or you can write your own, since you can have the SDK free (Google conditions apply). The Linux dist this thing has is very stable and you can benefit from it if you have some advanced computer knowledge. Though this is generally a T Mobile, you can unlock it (both SIM, CID and root) with a little effort (more than most people would be willing to accept).
Cons: it drains battery like there's no tomorrow, expect 24h or less of battery. It needs to be permanently connected to the Internet so you can benefit from Google apps and from other goodies (and it sucks up MB big time, around 10MB @ day with little effort). It has no advanced navigation software, like Tomtom, you have AndNav, but it's really no match.
It's really a new experience, I believe it can stand its own against the iPhone and it's way more cool, since it's more geeky. :) The integrated keyboard is great (way better than the virtual, for speedy typing) and the operating system just got better with the latest 1.5 Cupcake upgrade.
If you remember its disadvantages, this is a last generation phone that will serve you well.

Brilliant phone! won't burn a hole in your pocket like the iphone. Loads of great free software, and hackable so I can even run a full linux distribution on it or use it as a WiFi tether for my laptop.
Has a built in keyboard which is much easier to use than the virtual on-screen one (also provided).

The phone itself is an awesome piece of equipment with a good level of apps available.
Battery life is poor when all features are turned on but turn the unneccesary ones off and its life is much like any other phone.

Decided to buy as T-Mobile wouldnt let me cancel my contract to get an I-Phone but this is by far on par with the Iphone in terms of usage.

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brand new and sealed phone, works very well (infact it works perfectly. the product was recieved within days and doesn't take long to learn how to use it. decided to buy the phone because i decided it's time i got a new phone. the phone is very easy to use and user friednly. i would recommand other people to buy this phone or model.

I bought this phone as a replacement for one that had been stolen... it is so brilliant that i could not cope without it!

Looking back I have no idea why I chose to buy this phone, I bought it at a ridiculous price too! Over £200.

I received the phone, switched it on. The first thing I noticed was that you HAVE to have an account with Google Mail to use the phone. It is free but still ridiculous especially if you don't use Google Mail as your e-mail client.

The home screen is appealing, but very laggy and slow. And I struggled adding new widgets as well as dragging my shortcuts to different windows on the home screen. Waste of my time, if it's a smart phone, it has to be easy to use, simple and in this case you're probably better off building the phone piece by piece and re-programming the Android Software.

Overall I found even the latest 1.6 Android operating system buggy, laggy and unresponsive. I don't care if it's in it's early development or not, I payed for the phone and I shouldn't have to stress and worry over whether the functionality will be compromised due to un-revised software faults.

The phone is big and bulky and is prone to scratches quite easily. The keyboard is useless unless you have pins for fingers because the keys are that small! Slight exaggeration, but never the less I do have quite long, thin fingers and thumbs and I really struggled to use it whilst texting. Also, like pretty much every body else, I am on the move every day and sometimes need to text whilst I am walking. This phone requires your undivided attention to do the most simple of tasks such as texting or making a call, that has been made easy by many phones sold for 1/4 the price. You have to use two hands when using the keyboard which is not very user friendly at all.

I really don't mean to sound nasty at all, but when buying a phone I expect it to be revised, tested properly, responsive, built out of good material and durable. Especially for the money I spent on this phone. The buttons are flat with the front of the phone and I found it annoying whilst trying to exit to the home screen or put the phone on standby whilst not using it.

Talking of standby, the battery life on this phone is probably the worst I have ever seen in my entire life for a phone. No joke, on a full charge the battery would last for about 7 hours, and if you used it all the time the battery would last you about 3 hours maximum. Even the Nokia 3310 had better battery life than this phone! And that came on when? 2001? Probably earlier. It is absolutely appauling and you can tell that the manufacturer and developers barely put any thought at all into the production of this phone in general.

Don't buy this phone. I sold it after 6 days of trying to get used to it and pretty much all my hair had turned grey from all the stress this phone caused me! I'm 18! I sold it straight away and as quick as possible and got a Sony Ericsson K850i, now that's what I would call a phone, the battery lasts 3 days for a start!

Trust me, don't waste your money!

I bought it because I was really intrested in all of the features, and yes they're all there as said. It's really great if you like to be connected to internet all the time and be able to chech your e- mails anywhere, aswell youtube is ok but it's quality is far from perfect.
Setting it up to different operator then t- mobile wasn't hard though and it works perfectly, I really like having keyboard, but the battery is dead almost instantly so as annoying as it is You need to charge this phone every each day and if you' re using most of the features in it it may still not be enough.

Very efficient with prompt communication, very surprised to see the item so quickly. Greatly appreciated.

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First off, this isn't an iPhone. My workmates have iPhone 3G and a 3GS and there is simply no other mobile device that offers the silky smooth interface and level of application support (in terms of number and quality of apps). The reason I never got one is because there is no amount of features in a phone that would justify £800+ over a 24 month contract for.
This is where Android phones fit in perfectly for me. My G1 phone cost £160 including unlocking, and I use a £15/month 30-day contract sim from 3 with unlimited internet.
Feature-count wise its almost identical to an iPhone 3GS; application store (with lots of games) compass and gps for Layar location finding, good browser and maps, and with albeit poor camera. There are some advantages over iPhone hardware too: replaceable memory stick and battery (my workmates iphone battery now lasts <12 hours after 12 months daily use), Obviously the keyboard is handy and speeds up typing (sadly only the g1 has it).
One major difference is the ability to run Opera as a separate browser. I prefer it loads pages far faster and prefer the feeds, despite it being a bit fiddly to use with track-ball. It shows that google aren't as unfair as apple in forcing you to use their own browser.
Quality wise G1 is just not as good as an iPhone. You just dont get all the same cool apps you see on tv, it often slows up and is just generally not as smooth as doing the same things on an iPhone. However in my opinion it is equally as capable and can achieve all of same tasks you would ask of an iPhone.
Yes, it is a cheap-man's iPhone, but even if you can afford the iPhone I simply cannot validate the price, no matter what competition there is. Its just good that Android phones are very comparable and half the price

this phone is easy to use, the keyboard is very nice but could do with sharper backlit keys. The size is very compact and the slide up keyboard with the touchscreen works very well. Internet content can take a long time to load.

I decided to buy this phone, due to my old one being stolen. I really like how the phone works, with some great (free) applications downloaded from the market place. Very quick with loading the internet and straight into googl maps. The only downsides to this phone are; Bluetooth (you can't actually send or receive anything via bluetooth, although you can download an application to send via bluetooth). Battery life is useless, I have to charge mine every day. The camera isn't great but will do. There is not video recorder, but again you can dowload one.
Overall I would say this is a great phone.

VERY NICE BIT OF KIT FAST AND CLEAR
BUT THE DRAW BACKS ARE
1 YOU CANT STORE APPS ON THE MICRO SD
2 BATTERY ISNT THAT CLEVER
3 WIFI IS NOT THAT SENSATIVE .COMPARED TO MY IPOD TOUCH
BUT NEVER THE LESS A NICE PEICE OF KIT AND THE WHIRE ONE IS VERY NICE TO LOOK AT FOR TYHE LADYS...

this is a great phone, i got a fantastic deal on it, i bought a faulty g1 of ebay and got the screen repaired, in all cost me around £110 to buy repair & unlock to use!!,
The seller was prompt and helpful, great comms and very speedy delivery turnaround for special delivery.

First thing i did when i bought this was i rooted it. This is a way to get root access to the directory's in the phone to allow you to install a custom Recovery software (cyanogens is the best), and flash custom "ROMS" bascially new operating system or "software" for your phone.

Im currently using HTC Hero build on my T-Mobile G1, i have all the features of the HTC Hero + More!, I have all the applications and cache on my fast Class 4 SD HC card (Recommened you buy a class 6), running super fast, phone internal memory is only used for browser & maps cache, keeping browsing and general use of the phone really fast even with over 40+ apps installed.

Also have Multi-Touch Zoom within the browser which doesnt come with the original G1, You must have a rooted phone to have this feature.
Plus custom themes & more stuff i forgot!

But the battery is a killer if you use your phone alot, I found that installing Cyanogens custom ROMS you can greatly increase your battery life, im currently not using his roms, testing others, but make sure you turn of your wi-fi, bluetooth and gps if your not using any of these, these can be a killer battery drain, also some apps make your phone look very nice but the downside to this is more battery usage. If you have loadsa widgets on your home screens, expect your battery to drain faster.

Cyanogens ROMs have been optimized to run faster and more stable then current android builds, and with more features. Battery life is also great with this ROM. For Example, He has removed the battery from the LockScreen, keeping it simple but saving a TON of battery.
some Battery widgets in for your home screen will draw more power then others. Dont overdo it and you'll be fine.

This is a great phone for the tech enthusiast.

All in all, I am VERY happy, i got a great price, great phone.
We need some more android apps but their are loads to keep you going to now.
I wont be changing phones for a while!... very happy with my g1.

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this is a great phone but is a bit thick and the touch screen is harder to use than the iphone but it is great and i woud recommend

good looking ,... good application and very good qwerty keypad .. easy and pretty simple to use and good fun :P

Love everything about it, perfect seller too.. good communication and i would recommend him as a seller. back to the phone. its a great piece of kit, as as its easier navigate and work with would recommend it to anybody! A***