Criteria
Comments
Rating
- Reception and call quality No comments
- Display No comments
- Battery life No comments
- Camera No comments
- Ease of use No comments
- Design and form factor No comments
- Portability (size / weight) No comments
- Media support No comments
- Durability No comments
- Ecosystem (apps, accessories, etc.) No comments
Detailed review
When I first heard of the HTC Dream/T-Mobile G1 I was as excited as pretty much anyone with an interest in tech. It was only when my phone arrived that I realised what an overrated device it actually was.
Firstly the hardware. The only plus point I can find with this phone is the keyboard. It's big, it's deep and the keys are the perfect distance apart meaning anyone can learn how to touch type using this keyboard. The sad thing is, that's where my praise for this phone ends.
The rest of the hardware is cheap and plasticy, probably due to the fact that it's made from cheap plastic. This device will scratch, dent and have chips knocked out of from only the slightest fall. I dropped this on laminate flooring and there were scratch marks on the back, on the bus and there were chunks missing and on pavement and suddenly my phone looked like a 3D roadmap.
The battery life is also quite terrible on this device. I consider myself an average user. That is, I like to browse the web whilst on route to work or home, whilst dispatching the occasional e-mail or text and every now and then I'll tweet using Twidroid. All in all this gets me to roughly 6-8 hours of play time with my phone before it's crying out for its charger once more. I am aware that Twidroids background processing may be a factor in my battery drain but it should NOT be a major one. Even with backlighting turned way down and the phone constantly on silent with no keypad tones or vibrating alerts I cannot break past the 9 hour mark.
Of course most people will say this phone is more about the software than the hardware. I see this argument as the most redundant thing I've ever heard. What does the software run on? THE HARDWARE! If the hardware is not upto scratch then the software is not going to shine. This may be what has put me off Android as an OS however, the fact remains that Android OS is incredibly buggy and disjointed. Almost every app I have used on the phone has force closed for one reason or another including the application "Phone". Seriously Google? The App, "Phone", should never force close on a phone!
I could rant for days about this phone but I'm going to leave it there. In all this phone gets a 3/10
Firstly the hardware. The only plus point I can find with this phone is the keyboard. It's big, it's deep and the keys are the perfect distance apart meaning anyone can learn how to touch type using this keyboard. The sad thing is, that's where my praise for this phone ends.
The rest of the hardware is cheap and plasticy, probably due to the fact that it's made from cheap plastic. This device will scratch, dent and have chips knocked out of from only the slightest fall. I dropped this on laminate flooring and there were scratch marks on the back, on the bus and there were chunks missing and on pavement and suddenly my phone looked like a 3D roadmap.
The battery life is also quite terrible on this device. I consider myself an average user. That is, I like to browse the web whilst on route to work or home, whilst dispatching the occasional e-mail or text and every now and then I'll tweet using Twidroid. All in all this gets me to roughly 6-8 hours of play time with my phone before it's crying out for its charger once more. I am aware that Twidroids background processing may be a factor in my battery drain but it should NOT be a major one. Even with backlighting turned way down and the phone constantly on silent with no keypad tones or vibrating alerts I cannot break past the 9 hour mark.
Of course most people will say this phone is more about the software than the hardware. I see this argument as the most redundant thing I've ever heard. What does the software run on? THE HARDWARE! If the hardware is not upto scratch then the software is not going to shine. This may be what has put me off Android as an OS however, the fact remains that Android OS is incredibly buggy and disjointed. Almost every app I have used on the phone has force closed for one reason or another including the application "Phone". Seriously Google? The App, "Phone", should never force close on a phone!
I could rant for days about this phone but I'm going to leave it there. In all this phone gets a 3/10
good review!
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