gdgt

The G1 needs to be examined on two different levels, the phone and the OS. Overall though the phone is a great smart phone and easily comparable to other smart phones, maybe not the iphone, but definitely the windows mobile phones and blackberry.

First off the phone; While the phone itself is a very stable and solid feeling phone the hardware has some small issues. The accelerometer sometimes gets stuck, which is fixed by a reset or a vivid shaking. The camera while a 3 megapixel with auto focus still takes some blurry pictures and in low light they tend to be more orange. Now the 1.5 update made it a little better and added video recording with ability to upload straight to you tube. The lack of a 3.5mm audio output can be discouraging but the stock headset isn't to shabby and with the upgrade to A2DP you really don't even need wires anymore. The battery is one of the big downfalls, since it has about a 12 hour life expectancy with moderate use, but i never find myself away from a computer or my charger so recharging isn't that hard for me. The slide out screen to reveal the keyboard is one of its big pluses. I am not for an all touch device i like to have some hardware buttons to mash most of the time. The biggest thing i can see is even if the touch screen stops working, and their are reports it has, you can still use the track ball and keyboard shortcuts to use your phone.

As for the network T-Mobile is great with a moderate coverage area. Since they have upgraded to 3G in my area my connection never drops below 2 bars and with the phones WIFI i never have to worry about missing a call.

As for the OS, definitely one of the most versatile out their. I can't say I've used others smart phones other then the blackberry but it still lives up to my expectations. With so many customization options and a wide variety of apps and games that is backed by an awesome development community, it is hard for me to say their is a better app market out their. The Android OS in general is a very easy and unique UI that can cater to every phone user. Although with the exclusion of exchange servers it is not a business phone but the Gmail is pushed very fast to the phone and all the phones contacts and events are synced to your Gmail account so if you have to switch to another G-phone you don't have to reenter all those contacts they automatically sync.

In conclusion it is a great phone, worth the price and contract fees. I couldn't go back to any other type of phone after using this phone.