Google’s Nexus One Released: Is it an iPhone killer?
Created by hasan.kamal under General Discussion
Apple’s success with the iPhone has run for a long time, however, it seems like there’s a potential iPhone killer in town, namely the Google Nexus One. With Google employees almost immediately Tweeting about the release of the new phone, a hype has started building.
Recently I managed to get some one-on-one time the Nexus personally. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed due to the impending release date of January 5, but the initial impressions were fantastic.
Feel
Starting with the overall feel of the phone, it just feels like a weighty and well-built phone. The Teflon coating on the back of the phone is absolutely fantastic. Smooth, sophisticated and polished – words that weren’t necessarily associated with the previous Android phones. The Nexus still maintains a link with its predecessors with its distinctive curves and buttons – remnants of the original G1. The smooth lines and slim profile helps portray the image of a durable yet oddly sophisticated and technical phone. Normally it’s hard to get all three areas correct but the Nexus just portrays this undue sense of nobility that’s hard to define. It’s got multiple personalities would probably be a better explanation – there’s the corporate image (utility grey, work productivity suites, etc), the sophistication (massive vibrant 3.7 inch screen, sleek lines) and the fun side (light, durable, easy to use aspect). Nonetheless, the most striking part of the phone has to be the screen.
Screen
The screen area is just impressive; it puts the iPhone’s screen to shame in comparison. The clarity and responsiveness is amazing, gentle finger movements are accurately recorded. The nice large screen definitely made the virtual keyboard easy to use. However, the vibrant 3.7 inch screen is absolutely stunning. The screen is clearer than the Droid’s and the 3GS which is great considering that in well-lit conditions most screens become very difficult to see. Rather difficult to use a screen without an OS, so how’d the user interface compare to the infallible iPhone?
User interface
The real star of the show was the user interface. The ability to multitask was amazing. After taking a few snapshots of friends, while having some music play in the background and flipping through the contacts list – the Nexus didn’t even break a sweat. Just tapping through menus and apps shows how the phone user interface is quick and responsive to user input. Nexus seems to address all the issues that users are facing with the iPhone and Droid; a brighter screen, faster surfing, and improved multitouch features. The user interface is just designed to be very user-friendly and with the large screen size it now starts to make sense why companies are clamoring for this technology on their phones.
The snappier user interface can be attributed to the processor speed alone. The new Snapdragon chipset is already significantly faster than what the iPhone and Droid carry with a 1GHz clockrate. The significant RAM and flash memory (512MB), there’s plenty of processing speed and resources available for applications to use.
The features available combined the new Android platform are already putting the iPhone 3GS and Motorola Droid to shame. Nexus loaded web pages, JavaScripts and anything the testers threw at them faster than the Droid and 3GS.
Noise cancellation
A very unique feature of the phone is the active noise cancellation. Depending on the environment, the sound level of various apps will be adjusted accordingly. It’s a nice touch considering that in a quiet environment the last thing that anyone wants to hear is an aggravating ringtone shrilling away. With an incoming phonecall – while sitting in a crowded restaurant – the ring tone volume was more than adequate. Although there is a potential problem with the phone being in purses or pockets, it’s not as audible as one thinks. Regardless, it’s quite a nifty feature being able to listen to music quietly without having everyone hear what you listen to in the office.
Camera
The 5MP camera was stunning. Pictures were clear, crisp and colorful. The stabilizer tool works and the zoom actually works quite well. Although the interface for the camera still needs to be faster. There was some lag time when switching between video and point-and-shoot modes. Regardless, the video and camera modes both did justice to the phone.
Google Nexus One - Courtesy Engadget
The features offered on the Nexus are not necessarily revolutionary but evolutionary in nature. The logical progression that Google has taken with the Nexus has built on what are generally considered standard features on smartphones. It seems like Apple and Motorola may have finally met their match with Nexus. It just seems like a fantastic phone and would be a strong recommendation if someone’s interested in buying a new smartphone that has every conceivable feature that you need.
Anyone signed-up on the invite-only list for the Nexus? Does it finally seem like that there’s a viable iPhone killer or will this suffer the same fate as Motorola’s Droid? How do the design aesthetics and features appeal to you? Interesting, nothing new or revolutionary? Please leave your comments or thoughts below.