Google Android Nexus One

Having been using this phone for a few months I wanted to document my thoughts as to the implementation. Despite being a Google branded device it is actually manufactured by HTC.

Positives

Android: Full stop. Excellent, open operating system (i.e. not Apple or Microsoft). Froyo (update 2.2) which landed on my phone in early July 2010 only made the experience quicker and much smoother. I'm now teaching myself the Android SDK and learning a lot more about Java. There is certainly a learning curve going from the (slightly lazy) world of VB and .NET but I feel this can only enhance and improve my skills (generically) as a programmer. The market for Android Apps will only get bigger with the number of devices being released by big players using the Android OS.

Negatives

There are a lot of good things about this phone. But, of course, it's the bad stuff which tends to affect daily use more so that's what I am covering (for now) in most detail.

• The glass screen is far too fragile. Within a month of getting the phone I had broken the screen. Dropped from a table on to a concrete floor. Like buttered toast it had to hit the floor at the worst possible point - directly on a corner. Looking around the edge of the glass there is no visible sign of any dampening or buffering from the casing. Despite having it in the little (neoprene?) case that came with it the case managed to slip off 'mid-flight' on the way to the floor. What's really annoying is that I remember watching a Google / HTC sales video for the Nexus One showing how they tested the unit for robustness in a machine looking like a tumble drier. Cost charged to me by HTC UK for fixing my phone was 105 quid (included new screen, labour and postage). At my expense. Despite the fact that I strongly believe this is a design flaw - phones DO get dropped.
• The power button (top left edge) does not, unlike the iPhone 3G, require a long press to power up the device. Just the lightest, shortest press turns the device on. This is a major problem if you've turned it off during a long flight or similar in order to save battery as it's quite liable, with the slightest brush past the power button, to switch itself back on. As, indeed, it did for me on a flight to the US. Important contact details for where I was staying were inaccessible to me on arrival thanks to the battery being completely drained. I had turned it off on departure but it had turned itself back on mid-flight (probably as I put it in my bag or pocket). Very annoying.
• The USB port at the bottom of the device, also used for connecting the charger, does not use the popular Mini USB B-type (like most devices). Instead it uses the Micro USB B-Type. Most of my devices whether they be scanners, cameras, hard drives or phones use the sensible (accepted standard) Mini USB connector. Why HTC / Google chose Micro USB I cannot understand. I have lots of Mini USB cables but cannot just 'grab' one to work with my Nexus One because it has to be the odd one out using silly connectors. The same goes for charging it.
• Battery life. Always a problem with smartphones it seems. And this is no different with the Nexus One. If you switch on WiFi when you're at home or in the office and enable background synchronisation then you'll be lucky to last until early evening before the battery indicator has gone orange indicating battery level circa 10%. And that's on a day when I don't use the phone that much. I have to get in to the routine of switching off WiFi, background sync and sometimes even 3G when I go out and about just to ensure my phone lasts a whole day. To function, let's face it, as a phone! At least, unlike Apple's phones, this device can have the battery changed. So, maybe... just maybe... somebody will come out with a battery technology that'll keep these devices running for days as opposed to hours. While my Nexus One was away with HTC to have the screen fixed I was using an old Orange SPV handset for a few days. This required a charge once every three days!