Gizmodo gets hands-on with the Google Nexus One while Engadget reveals the specs

Thu, Dec 24, 2009

News

The Google phone is a reality, and Gizmodo was able to get a little bit of play time in with the device, though they were unfortunately precluded from taking any pics.  In any event, here’s what they had to say.

Writing for Giz, Jason Chen notes right off the bat that not only is the Google phone thinner and slightly lighter than the iPhone, but that its design is “the antithesis of the Droid: smooth, curved, and light, instead of hard, square and pointy.”  Ouch, and seeing as how Verizon and Motorola are dumping huge sums of money into advertising for the Droid, you’ve got to wonder how they feel about now having to deal with Google as a direct competitor.

Moving on, Chen notes that the screen on the Google phone is impressive as all hell, and he even goes so far as to say its the best smartphone screen they’ve ever seen.

The colors are much more vibrant and the blacks are blacker, as evidenced by putting both side by side and hitting up various websites and loading various games. The pinks on Perez Hilton and the blues on Gizmodo just popped a lot more on the N1, and made the Droid (which was actually considered to have a great screen) seem washed out. The same feeling carries over when you compare the Nexus with the iPhone 3GS. And it’s pretty damn bright, compared to the other two phones.

Notably, and also bound to piss off Motorola, but the Google phone appears to be blazing – which shouldn’t be all that surprising given thenow confirmed 1GHz chip inside.  By way of comparison, the Motorola Droid only sports a lowly 550 MHz Arm A8.

Chen’s final conclusion? The Google phone is a winner, and the best Android phone by a landslide.

If Google’s planning on releasing this phone as their official Google phone, it’ll certify them as the premium Android phone brand out there right now. Even though it doesn’t have a hardware keyboard, it basically beats the hell out of the Droid in every single task that we threw at it. And face it, some people didn’t like the Droid’s keyboard because it was too flush and the keys were too unseparated with each other. N1’s onscreen keyboard felt fine, and the speedy processor made sure that each key was interpreted well.

And in case you’re of the nerdy variety and want hardcore specs, Engadget was able to cop those for your viewing enjoyment.

  • Android 2.1
  • 11.5mm thick
  • 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM, 4GB microSD in-box expandable to 32GB
  • 5 megapixel camera with mechanical AF and LED flash
  • HSPA 900 / 1700 / 2100, 7.2Mbps down and 2Mbps up — in other words, yes to T-Mobile 3G and no to AT&T 3G, though you’ll still be fine on EDGE
  • 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED display
  • A2DP stereo Bluetooth
  • Digital compass
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