Hands on: T-Mobile G1 Android review

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The world’s first Android-powered handset has finally hit the market under the guise of the T-Mobile G1 with Google, and it certainly doesn’t disappoint in its ‘Google-y-ness’.

First impressions are of a fairly functional business phone, with trackball and a slide-out QWERTY keypad a nice BlackBerry-esque touch.

It should be remembered that HTC is a firm with a fast growing reputation in the smartphone market; the Touch series is already proving popular and the coup of picking up the first Android phone is a real feather in the Taiwanese manufacturer’s cap.

The interface

Lest we forget, the reason we’re here is to look at the OS, not the handset itself. The touchscreen and key interaction might be limited by the handset, but what about the actual Android that everyone has been bleating on about for so long?

Well, it’s nicely laid out for starters. The icons that you like most can be placed wherever you want on the home screen, and you can wipe that left or right to access more icons.

The pull out menu and the fact you can pull down different open applications is very nice too… it works well and feel very intuitive.

The access to Google’s applications, such as Mail or Maps, is very easy, and you can tell they’ve been formatted for this OS, as the simplicity of use, such as having your mail laid out in a long list, is easy to see and feel.

We’re impressed… and you can tell there’s going to be a lot of new and innovative things that come out of this open source project from the Open Handset Alliance.

The G1

The slide out keyboard has a nice feel to it; the keys aren’t too far apart and the whole thing sits nicely in the hand in both landscape and portrait mode, though operating the trackball with one hand and using the touchscreen was a little bit tricky.

However, the action had a slight Side-kick feel… we’d rather have a bit more slider-phone slickness to it if we’re honest.

It’s tricky to chat

Messaging, be it MMS, SMS or e-mail, is only available via the QWERTY keyboard, and the little kickblock at the bottom of the handset, where the buttons are housed, get right in the way when you’re typing.

admin @ September 24, 2008