There's also a wireless manager under the Settings menu where you can turn on and off all the radios and setup connections. To save battery life, you can turn off 3G and revert to GPRS network -- a good idea if you don't need to surf the Web or download apps or music.
The T-Mobile G1 uses Webkit as the basis for its browser, which is also the core of the Safari browser on the iPhone. It uses full HTML browsing and has Java support, plus you can surf almost every Web site -- except ones that use Flash. You can pan across the screen with your finger, and though you can't zoom in by pinching as you can on the iPhone, you can bring up onscreen zoom controls at the bottom of the display. Similar to the iPhone, you can also double-tap on a Web page to zoom in on a particular section.
Of course, you're not limited to the touchscreen when navigating the browser. In fact, we preferred the trackball for scrolling around pages. You can also tab between multiple browser windows, and we like that the browser settings are easily accessible. As with the iPhone, you can view the browser in both portrait and landscape modes.
There are a few hiccups with the G1 browser that keep it from being a totally seamless experience, however. For example, we didn't like having to go in and out of the browser menu to do basic navigations such as Back and Forward. Yes, there are keyboard shortcuts for these functions, but we don't want to have to remember them all the time. And even though we like having the physical Qwerty keyboard, an onscreen one would make entering text while holding the phone vertically much more convenient. Also, the G1's smaller display makes browsing more troublesome than on the iPhone.
While the interface for the browser leaves a bit to be desired, we do like that it has so many customisable settings. You can tweak text size, block pop-up windows, turn off image loading, autofit pages to the screen, enable or disable JavaScript, reject cookies, and of course, clear out the cache, history, cookies and passwords. The most intriguing browser option is enabling "gears", which are potential future applications that can extend the browser functionality. What this means is that Google might develop a way for you to take some of your Web stuff offline -- imagine being able to edit your Google Docs without a signal, for example -- and then sync it back online when you do have a signal. This isn't available yet, but we think it has potential.
In a move to compete against the built-in App Store on the iPhone, Google has come up with a mobile application store of its own, called Android Market. Since the Android Market is so new, it's hard to compare its available applications to those on the App Store, but it shows serious promise. It already has applications like ShopSavvy, which lets you scan bar codes for comparison shopping, and BreadCrumz, which allows you to create routes for your friends using photos as visual aids. Downloading applications was a breeze on both Wi-Fi and over T-Mobile's 3G network -- we didn't have a chance to download them over GPRS.
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User reviews8
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Tom Disturrbed Jones 6 May 2011
Good: Android, and fast internet
Bad: Out of date Android, slow processor, rubbish Qwerty keyboard and too big.
Comment: My first ever Android phone, I now own a Samsung Galaxy Apollo. I had this phone for a few days, It was an absolute brick to hold, my hand barely fits round it, and not even slightly practical. The android is Android 1.5, which is quite frankly the most out of date Android you can get on a phone. So about 100,000 of the apps on the Android Market automatically won't work, and all you'd want this phone for is Android. Because you might as well look elsewhere if you don't want a phone purely for Android. Slow processor, It's 400+mhz or something, it's very slow and struggles to run the simplest games and apps. My main gripe with this phone is the Qwerty keyboard, I only bought this phone because I knew it had a Qwerty which would help for texting. The buttons are stupid, they stick and are made of rubber so you have to put a hell of a lot of pressure, also you have to open the keyboard to have landscape view, making it extremely difficult to use. This phone on release was worth £400, You can get a Samsung Galaxy S for that price, which has over double the processor and is much better. The good is basically the internet is insanely fast, that would be the only reason I would have kept it, but I decided to upgrade to a Samsung Galaxy instead.
Good: Android, fast internet
Bad: Low Resolution screen, terrible touchscreen, Out of date Android, overpriced, Slow processor, an absolute brick and a horrific Qwerty.
Junaid 'Devs' Bux 29 October 2010
Good: the looks and the QWERTY keyboard
Bad: no standerd 3.5mm head jack
Comment: i want this phone so bad
Carl.W 10 June 2009
Good: Slide out QWERTY keyboard, Cupcake update makes this phone on par with HTC Magic
Bad: Battery life
Comment: I do believe CNET need to re-review this phone now that the Cupcake update has occurred.
The touchscreen is highly responsive, and where I was tempted to get an iPhone, as this phone is massively cheaper and has the luxury of three screens to arrange your favourite apps, it means that the phone is set perfectly for your lifestyle.
I've been waiting and waiting for the right phone that I can live with for 18 months, but a fortnight (two weeks) in I can safely say this will be my phone for longer than that.
The QWRTY keyboard takes a little getting used to if you, like me, have just moved from a conventional key design, but once you do, texting, and emailing is a lot easier.
Every smart phone is suffering from poor battery life when fully used, and the G1 admittedly is no different, but I can survive a whole day without charging, only to do this at home, or at my work's desk.
I love how integrated it all feels. Google are becoming a real competitor in this market and how much longer will we have to wait until we see them compete with the mighty Microsoft for becoming the desktop OS of choice.
I have been an Apple user for the last 5 years, but I can now comfortably say I will be migrating totally to Google in the next few months. The power of mobile phones is a lot more than just making calls nowadays...
Overall, highly delighted with my choice and am comfortable to whip this baby out anywhere and be content that my first smart phone is one of the best on the market.
See all 8 user reviews