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Let me start off by saying that I am not an Apple fanboi, but a rather a gadget one. I carry a mix of gadgets ranging from Apple, to Microsoft, to Google, etc. That being said, I can give my honest review of this device.

When I compare it against the iPhone, the reason for that is because the iPhone is simply the gold standard when it comes to form factor design, interaction, and quality of build. Apple haters can argue this until the cows come home, but we all know it's true. When comparing new smartphones, the industry is always looking for the "iPhone Killer."

Form Factor - The Nexus One has a great shape. Slightly longer than the iPhone, it's a bit slimmer. Finish is definitely high quality with a nice semi-smooth paint. Color's not too bad either. It's comfortable holding to your ears, although the buttons on the bottom are a little awkward to touch.

Winner: Tie. Both are essentially the same when you strip away all the navigation etc.

Navigation - I like that it has a dedicated back button, although that would be better situated on the side where it's easily accessible with your thumb. The little lines that bring up contextual menu, just looking at it, it's not super intuitive. The roller ball, while I always thought that I would like, I found it completely useless, considering the fairly responsive touchscreen. I think I'd rather have more screen real estate, or put the Home button in its place.

Winner: N1. The dedicated back button is nice, and so is the contextual menu button. I suppose the roller ball is an added bonus, but unnecessary.

Screen - Nothing bad here. Beautiful 3.7" WVGA AMOLED screen with high resolution. Definitely beats the iPhone in both size and clarity. Nuff said.

Winner: N1

Camera: N1 has a 5 megapixel. iPhone has 2. Honestly, I’m not going to pull out my
phone when I want a high quality picture. I’ll put the N1 as the winner, but this wouldn’t be a deciding factor in making me buy any phone.

Operating System – This one is a biggie. There are clearly two sides of the fence on this one. One device is a developer’s device. The other a consumer’s. Can you guess which? When it comes down to the average consumer, nobody is going to care that Android is open source, while the other is not. Let’s be realistic. Google knows it’s not going to make a fortune marketing this device to a legion of hardcore Android developers.

Before moving on, just some historical perspective:
Windows Mobile’s early (very early) success was due in large part to that it was a business-minded device for people who wanted to do more than just have an excellent email experience (a-hem, RIM!). These business people wanted a desktop like experience on a mobile device. And while Windows Mobile innovated with certain features long before devices such as the iPhone (cut and paste anyone? Voice command? Full Exchange Support? Shall I go on?), Windows Mobile relied on the enterprise.

Flash Forward to today, and you see the marketplace and demographic has changed the smartphone landscape dramatically. Apple’s success has long relied on the consumer, creating a loyal following by creating: FUN, INNOVATIVE, EASY TO USE devices. Sure they didn’t always feature the latest technology (Cut & Paste? 3G support? Etc Etc), but they sure fulfilled those first three characteristics. And did anyone notice the literal explosion in iPhone sales as soon as they enhanced the Exchange integration? Better email. Better calendar. All of a sudden, every executive, vp, director, manager, line worker, wanted an iPhone, and woe to the IT group who wasn’t prepared to support this, despite corporate mobility “policies” in effect.

This is where the N1 fails miserably. For a $562 (including tax) device, you can’t even get your Exchange Calendar, that a huge majority of business users need. Sure, you could pay $20 for a third party app, but it still wouldn’t run natively. And sure you can sync your Outlook to Google Calendars. But you won’t get anything in real time. And who wants to pay $562 and if they can’t use it as their primary device in the office? Ok, there are those who’ll say “Who cares about Exchange? I use Google Calendars?” Sure. What large business uses Google Calendars?

I could barely look beyond the lack of Exchange Calendar support for the other apps. Sure the Maps integration is terrific. And the voice command. And a bunch of others. But you know what. The iPhone has some pretty sweet apps built in too, and readily available in the App Store.

Conclusion:
The N1, while it may be a developer’s “Superphone,” it’s not for me. It’s going back in its box and I’ll gladly pay the $45 re-stocking fee. I’ll wait until the AT&T version is available (the Desire), with Sense UI and hopefully Exchange Calendar support (although, not likely).