T-Mobile G1 gets early user review

by Darren Murph posted Oct 10th 2008 at 4:23AM

Oh sure, you've already read over our (and Ryan Block's) brief one-day impressions of T-Mobile's G1, but one lucky (lucky!) user over at AndroidCommunity has been able to handle one for more than just a few hours. As a precious gift to the world, he's penned a nice list of pros and cons along with a Q&A, and it seems that the "review" is actually growing with time. Right from the top, he notes that the G1 is like a "SideKick on massive steroids," albeit one with a minty fresh OS. Speaking of, he also states that the handset "doesn't run as smoothly as you would think," asserting that some of the applications "stuttered" upon opening. We're also told that it requires a reboot from time to time just to keep things humming along, but we're hoping all of these quirks are just part of the Rev. A rigamarole. It's glaringly obvious that the user adores Android (and the phone, too), but we can't help but hope these niggles he speaks of are addressed in short order.

[Thanks, Oscar]

Filed under: Handsets, HTC, T-Mobile, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, Android

Tags: andriod, dream, g1, google, htc, impressions, review, reviewed, t-mobile

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Galen20K @ Oct 10th 2008 5:38AM

Very COol First Look, CHeck it out>>>>>

Lowest Ranked

roach @ Oct 10th 2008 8:12AM

Can't say I am impressed.

1. iPhone
2. Nokia 5800
3. Touch HD
4. G1

Oh well.

Highest Ranked

AaronWhite @ Oct 10th 2008 9:24AM

Touch HD is not coming to the US on a carrier with 3G anytime soon. Nokia 5800 is not released yet. For that matter, G1 isn't either. The fact that you not impressed is unimpressive.

Highest Ranked

Adam @ Oct 10th 2008 1:23PM

Lets see how that ranking changes once you try to type out an email on each of them.

The keyboard is a must-have for many people.

Neutral

DontMatterIPreOrderedG1 @ Oct 10th 2008 8:33AM

Ah... but perhaps this is a way for HTC/T-mo to test the device prior to full release? Then they can fix the bugs in 2 weeks?

Neutral

Matt @ Oct 10th 2008 9:06AM

There is so much more to this story than what Engadget is reporting. That user is using a pre-release model. Not to mention there are others that have used the device for several hours and these same problems were not mentioned. Try the forums at tmonews.com.

Highly Ranked

Aaron @ Oct 10th 2008 9:21AM

Check back on the page and read the reviewers update. Overheating was due to him using an older USB charger from one of his older phones not the standard pre-packaged charging cable. The "Stuttering and Lagging" was due to him being in an EDGE network area and not the intended 3G network. The "Memory Leak" was due to him downloading an application then walking into a No Service underground area which in contrast made his application faulty as it did not download correctly and the file went corrupt since it is a PRE-RELEASE TEST PHONE. The phone did not have the correct software to fix the problem or notify him so it leaked memory and slowed the phone down. I respect Engadget, but why post unsubstantiated "reviews" from web forums as gospel?.

Highly Ranked

Aaron @ Oct 10th 2008 10:15AM

http://androidcommunity.com/forums/18933-post50.html From the reviewer himself.

I expect this story to be amended. :)

Low Ranked

carlo2 @ Oct 10th 2008 10:37AM

I totally agree with Roach.

Never having been a SideKick owner by choice, I am not impressed by this hyper-sidekick and will stick to the real big boy phones from people who know what they're doing. Enjoy paying T-Mobile to be a beta tester folks, and please be sure to work out all of the kinks and come up with some really cool apps so that when they actually do come out with a decent phone, checking it out will be less of a waste of time.

Don't get me wrong, I think that this Quasimodo-phone has some serious potential but "I ain't drunk enough to do 'dat!"

DANG that thing is ugly.

Low Ranked

Caldenni @ Oct 10th 2008 12:09PM

I agree with Roach. The only thing that interests me about the G1 is the software, while almost all other feature isn't so great if we compare the G1 with other phone such as the iPhone 3G, Nokia 5800 or The storm. From hardware point of view I think that Google and HTC should've brought something more impressive than the G1 from the first place.
(http://gadgetwidgets.com/)

Neutral

Col @ Oct 15th 2008 5:22PM

Been running one for a few weeks myself, and I agree with the bugginess - it is an early test handset though.

Definately runs hot, very noticable after only 10mins or so of the handset being on, nevermind running any amount of apps.

Different apps seem to run at differing speeds (performance wise) - for example text input on the web browser is identified and processed faster than it it when writing a SMS - unusual but noticable.

Neutral

Col @ Oct 15th 2008 5:24PM

oh, and the white handset is better than the black one - the back cover is glossy on the white model; the black has a matt finish and it a bit slippier to grip hold of.