Nexus One: iPhone killer or just another smartphone?

A few years ago the concept of a “smartphone” was virtually unheard of. There were a few phones on the market performing some interesting technological tricks, one that springs immediately to mind is the Palm Trio. Basically, a Palm Pilot capable of performing a few phone functions.

That was about it when it came to the device as a phone, but people liked it because they could store all of their information, receive email, and text messages – all on one device.

Sadly, in reality the phone was the size of a small brick and heavy to boot. Fortunately, time and technology keep marching forward and today, the iPhone is the game to beat.

Embraced globally, Apple has taken the smartphone to an entirely new level and people have responded in a frenzy, all keen to get a piece of the handset that seemingly does it all. This success has largely been due to the simple consumer-facing operating system and its extreme ease of use.

Trucking along nicely, the iPhone was great by itself and has reached even greater heights through the introduction of the app store. Apple gave people the tools to create their own applications, put them out on the Web for all to see and buy, and then split the profits with the developers!

This is what really ignited the smart phone era. In less than three years, people have come out with every application from a computerized carpenter’s level to an app that will randomly pick a restaurant for you and give you phone numbers, reviews and menus. Don’t like what it offers? Give the iPhone a shake and more comes up! Elegant simplicity allowed the iPhone to storm and then command the front lines of technology.

Mobile companies have been playing catch up ever since, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and every other big name player has been trying to come up with a so called “iPhone Killer”ever since. A phone that would do everything the iPhone could do and more.

Problem is, no one has been able to do it. Just when a company thought they had come up with something that was amazing, Apple announced a new update for the software enabling the iPhone to again move just out of reach. The most recent phones storming the castle are the Motorola Droid and the Google Nexus One.

Google is no newcomer to the world of smart phones, they came out with the Google G1 awhile back, but the chief complaint was its size, and it didn’t have near the app market of the iPhone.

However, people liked that it could still do a lot and had a physical keyboard. Fast forward to the 21st century and the Nexus One. Fortunately we’ve had experience with both handsets, but remember, we’ve had a lot longer to play with the iPhone.

Software:
The Nexus One boasts an impressive Qualcomm QSD 8250 1 GHz processor, quite remarkable in and of itself. This is what allows the Nexus One to go beyond the iPhone and run multiple applications. Not a bad feature if you have to check your email and you are in the middle of a WORD document or EXCEL spreadsheet.

The Android 2.1 operating system is Google current OS tour de force and has shown to be reliable as well as zippy. Here’s something diehard Apple users won’t like.. (and I used to be one)… the phone is unlocked, meaning it can be used on any network with no problems. Pretty handy for someone who is away for work a lot – just swap out the SIM card and then go about your business without any problems. Portability – you gotta love it!

Battery Life:
To be perfectly honest, there’s not much difference between most smart phones and this one when it comes to battery life. You could use the phone on a single charge on 3G for about six hours before you have to charge it, but if you are bored, sitting in an airport and cruising the Web while relentlessly playing Solitaire, you’ll be lucky to get 3-4 hours out of it.

Everything Else:
The first thing most people notice when laying eyes on a Nexus One is the screen. A big mother of a display by any standard; 3.7 inches of OLED goodness with colors that absolutely pop!

Undoubtedly, it is a beautiful screen and worth the look. The screen and the touch technology has a surprisingly quick response of about 1 to 2 ms.

Some people might consider the Nexus One’s 5.1 megapixel camera a huge selling point, unlike the iPhone’s which couldn’t take a good picture of a still object in perfect lighting without holding still for an extended period of time.

Thankfully, the Nexus One comes fully equipped with a flash for low light conditions, video camera, 2x zoom and geo-tagging, meaning that you can take a picture of a place that you’ve just visited and post it on the web for later. Not a bad feature.

For US Nexus One customers the handset comes with a version of Google Maps that gives turn by turn directions in an easy to operate platform. In today’s world a GPS system on a phone can only do so much, and this is one of those systems. Overall, the phone weighs about a half pound and is about 5 inches in length.

The Android Apps from the Android Market are fairly neat and user friendly, making things much more pleasant to deal with, and whilst there’s not as many as the iTunes app store there’s a growing number every day and major attention being given to the Android platform.

The Bad and Ugly:

• Trackball: Why?! This is supposed to be a touch phone, and as far as we can see there’s no reason for that silly little ball. Plus, even if you wanted to use the trackball it’s in a location that’s likely to end up in hand cramp with extended use.
• Over Heating: Sometimes when we used the phone for extended periods the underside would heat up.
• Microphone Location: Talk about a strange location… the extreme right bottom, which if you try and hold the phone with your shoulder and talk at the same time you might block yourself out.

Other users have reported problems with the phone running slowly, glitches, freezing up, and things of that sort.

We didn’t have any such problems in our time with the unit, but hopefully Google will have a software update soon to sort out any problems that crop up.

So, is it an iPhone killer? Well, no, not as far as we’ve seen so far.

Keep an eye out for our full review coming in the near future.

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