Nexus One Review: The Hardware Isn’t The Problem, Android Is

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The Software

By all accounts, the Nexus One has the best hardware available across any OS. But why am I still so unhappy? I’ve always blamed the hardware for Android’s shortcomings, but it turns out that Android is the real problem. Android 2.1 is significantly more polished than 1.0, which goes without saying.

2.1 adds two extra pages for apps and widgets for a total of five pages, but that’s not something to write home about. The Live Wallpapers are nothing but a battery drain and while the image/video galleries are now easier to navigate and prettier, I still don’t see the point of them tipping from side-to-side. We get it, the Nexus One handles 3D like a champ, but who cares. Oh, the icons scroll off the page into the distant. Neat. Still don’t care. You finally got rid of that asinine way of pulling up the menu (tapping an icon rather than sliding up)? Thanks but it’s still not that big a deal.

The one interesting thing about 2.1 is voice input throughout most text fields. It works surprisingly well and obviously takes some time getting used to.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laOlkD8LmZw]

(More on Techland: 5-minute Android 2.1 Demo)

But just about everything else from 2.1 is the same as 2.0. Something I failed to mention in the Droid review was that Android 2.0 syncs apps from any Android device to your new one. The weather widget is actually pretty neat, though. While Android supports Exchange e-mail (and contacts), it doesn’t support Exchange calendars natively because everything is tied into your main Gmail account.

And do I even need to bring up multi-touch support? Google sidestepped this question at least week’s press conference and it really ticks me off. Why? Because the Droid and Nexus One support native multi-touch in Europe and Google simply won’t say that they can’t do it in the States because of Apple. The double tap to zoom-in is asinine and frustrating. The Android Market does offer the Dolphin browser that supports multi-touch, but it’s not really my cup of tea.

Miscellany

Everyone’s been asking if the Nexus One is the iPhone killer and it isn’t but not because it’s inferior. It’s simply different. The app disparity is an obvious red flag for some people, but the influx of Android devices this year and the introduction of the “Google Phone” will help spur things along.

Android will eventually outpace iPhone and every other OS in the market but only because manufacturers and carriers will adopt the OS not because consumers will seek it out specifically. A few years ago, most feature phones had a crap OS with carrier “apps” and branding. Android will become the new default OS because people will simply stop buying the crap phones and carriers will feel the need to have more control over what their customers do.

(More on Techland: Google Earth Android Demo)

Conclusion

As I’ve said before, the Nexus One is the best Android device available today. HTC built an amazing piece of hardware and Google has done their fair share of refining Android, but they still have a long way to go. iPhone users likely won’t be making the switch if they’ve made any sort of investment in the App Store and BlackBerry users have come to love physical keyboards, rock solid e-mail support and BBM. If you’re looking to step up to a smartphone then the Nexus One is a great choice. Those of you on Verizon will get yours this spring, but don’t forget what I said about the iPhone coming to Verizon in June.

No phone is perfect, which is why I carry three.

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