gdgt

7.0

Solid build quality but quirky.

By stalky14 - Nov 25, 2009

Got for my wife to replace a broken G1. The first thing we did was remove most of the Motoblur social crap from the home page, since it made it WAY too cluttered. They are just widgets that come pre-installed and can be removed easily. Otherwise, it's pretty standard Android. So standard, in fact, that the software doesn't seem to quite "fit" the hardware comfortably. Sometimes the touchscreen would lag or become unresponsive. Sometimes the (soft) hangup button would fail to respond, meaning you'd have to open it to select the button with the +pad. The keyboard is cramped compared to the G1 and the +pad is clumsy compared to the G1's trackball. You have to take the back off and the battery out in order to remove the SD card. The proximity sensor is a nice touch but doesn't always work. This phone NEEDS real Send/End buttons.

It's a beautiful looking phone though, especially in white. It also feels a lot more solid than the G1, but the G1 is just more reliable from a software point of view and is definitely a mature product. The CLIQ feels very 1.0. I'm sure they'll fix it up as it goes.

We ended up exchanging it for another G1. If you're looking at it as a first step into Android and you're on T-mobile then it's a good choice. If you're looking for an upgrade from a G1, wait. There's not much here you'll prefer except for the real headphone jack and solid feel.