What really sold me on the Nexus One was the AOSP flavor Android. Rather than have to wait for HTC to do its magic with a Sense based distribution/rom AOSP is always going to be on the cutting edge. Some other aspects definitely helped too such as the Snapdragon that was long rumored to come to Android phones and is making a true offensive in a number of handsets.
This handset is also unique in that it is not sold via stores but simply via Google's on-line phone store. (http://google.com/phone)It is a bit of an experiment to use this exclusive distribution channel in the United States and it is keeping adoption from what I believe it could be. People like to hold things, they like to fall in love with the form factor and the beautiful display etc. [more]
Form Factor
The Nexus One is significantly wider and taller than the HTC Hero but is thinner at the same time. It's form factor is pleasing to the hand itself during a phone call. Fits easily into a front pocket without being obvious or annoying. At the same time it is large enough to enable the gorgeous 3.7" AMOLED display to be a perfect data consumption device.
As you can see in the picture the Droid and the Nexus One have very similar size screens. The Blackberry Bold 9000 has a smaller standard Blackberry style screen. If you enjoy the web in all its glory in your hand a traditional blackberry is a poor choice.
Screen
As mentioned above the 3.7" AMOLED display is gorgeous. AMOLED displays themselves can be low in power consumption which is plus with the Nexus One's modest 1400mAh battery. It can be hard to read in direct sun light unless the screen is set to its highest brightness setting and the screen definitely does not have an oleophobic coating. Every couple of days I use a lens cleaning rag to give the screen a good polish but after couple of hours of heavy use you can see the smudges on a turned off screen. Luckily when the screen is on the smudges almost disappear. The touchscreen is certainly not going to blow anyone away but it does an adequate job at sensing input, I don't play games on my phone so I can't judge how it would handle that.
OS & Software
Android is a brilliant little operating system. It is the Lego set of the mobile world and to say it is customizable is an understatement. Android itself is based on a Linux kernel and through that has a vast developer base that it can piggyback on. Android allows me to tinker with my phone to customize its appearance, characteristics and performance to be more to my liking.
Android has two very different personalities depending on who is handling the phone development. One of them is a docile operating system with an excellent app ecosystem. An operating system that has a lot of eye peruse the source code. It is a pretty safe implementation with a minimum of risks taken by Google. It is also extremely stable.
Google has done a good job to create an operating system that is definitely ready to be a daily driver for a lot of people.
One question though: How can a mobile OS in 2010 not dial via Bluetooth? The Google voice search feature is great but why in the world can't I activate it via my bluetooth headset?
Enterprise Use
Is the Nexus One, or plain vanilla Android for that matter ready for Enterprise use?
Short answer: No
Long answer: Unless your company uses Google Apps for their internal infrastructure vanilla Android is not going to cut the muster. This might change with Android 2.2 (Froyo) but until then Exchange implementation is limited to email and very limited contact integration unless you buy a third party app such as Touchback. It lacks calendar integration and there is no corporate directory integration.
Thats a pretty major omission for any communications device to fancies itself Enterprise ready. I still firmly believe that Blackberrys are the way to go for enterprise integration, there is a reason they are the corporate workhorses.
Furthermore the stock android email app will not exactly blow anyone away. If you are a road warrior that depends on exchange mail on your phone for a living this is not the phone you are looking for. RIM has this market cornered and while RIM has recently shown a failure to innovate they cater to a market where safe always beats innovation.. And for good reasons.
Coverage/Reception
The Nexus One is often maligned for its 3G reception. There were definitely some design choices made that seem to prevent the Nexus One from fully taking advantage of T-Mobile's awesome HSPA network. Originally when the rumors of the Google phone started circulating it was in a conjunction with a rumor that Google has issued employees a new Android based phone. This internal beta test with its employees should have taken care of a lot of design problems right there and then.
I'm going to assume that Google due to its close relationship with T-Mobile probably has femtocells[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femtocell] on their campus. This would not be unusual for large corporate customers. Assuming that this is the case people on the campus would never be very far away from a cell signal and for 8 hours per day the phone would behave splendidly despite poor antenna placement. Admittedly switching the baseband/radio firmware to 4.04.00.03_2 showed some significant improvement. My dream would be the Nexus One as an UMA capable phone.
Consumption vs Creation
I've used the term data consumption device frequently in this write up. I generally think that touchscreen phones itself are not great data entry devices. Like the iPhone the Nexus one is more for reading the web, getting news and overall taking information in. Sure when you get an important email you can send back a quick paragraph or two with only minimum of annoyance but if your daily work relies on you writing instructive missives a touch screen is not where you want to go. You'd want a phone with a hardware like the new MyTouch3g Slide or something like the Blackberry Bold 9700.
Pros
- Fast Processor and OS
- Highly customizable
- beautiful screen
- Great HSPA speed
Cons
- Exchange support is lacking
- Screen can smudge up
- Some reception issues
Summary:
I really love this phone. It has its blemishes starting with it unique distribution model and it has the same issues every touchscreen device has. Since my data already relies very heavily on Google services such as Gmail, Reader, gCalendar etc. etc. this phone is a good fit for me. I would say for your normal power user this phone is a great fit. On the other hand if you are looking for something to use in an enterprise environment I'd probably steer clear until the implementation matures. This is a general recommendation for Android as a whole and while HTC and Motorola have their own hacked Exchange support on their phones they just aren't there yet either.
Maybe with the Froyo update in the next two weeks this will change. I am hoping for it.
EDIT: Google has seen the light so to speak and will bring the Nexus One into the traditional cell phone sales channels. I think this will show a significant boost to adoption.
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