Taste the Nexus One

Booya. Nexus One arrived and everything. So much to catch up. I'm only going to speak in truncated sentences for brevity. There are things I like about the N1, and there are things I find distasteful. Let's throw up a pros and cons list.

Hates/Cons:

• Eclair is soooo slow. I can't explain how crappy it was. At least, my expectations were high. I can't believe the N1 actually shipped like that since it came out. Unbelievable. I was running the EPE54B AT&T/Rogers/Bell/Telus firmware, which is further than the shipped T-Mobile versions, as far as I read. Nevertheless, everything was clunky and slow, the response was abysmal, and I felt like I had made a terrible purchase because of it.
• Mm, pretty much everything compounded from the whole slowness thing. Where to begin? Typing was a nightmare, battery life was a bad joke, location was lost. I hated almost everything since it was slow.
• Why no wake-with-trackball-click? Sometimes I feel Android is just different for the sake of being different, ie. different from the iPhone when it doesn't need to be. There are plenty of features that can fit into both OSs without patent infringement or copy-catting.
• I don't like how everything is thrown into that one main app listing thingy. I want them all out there after I download them.
• There aren't very many good games in the Android Marketplace. Give it time, I suppose. I wonder how hard it is to program for a platform with infinitely many screen settings. Apple seems to have a hard time with just 2.
• I miss the ability dTunes from Cydia gave you to download any song you wanted if you felt like listening to something. I fear I cannot do this in Android.

Likes/Pros:

• Hardware is so slick. I love holding this thing in my hand. I hate the shape and size of the iPhones 3G and 3GS. I wonder what the 4 will be like. Nevertheless, the curves and rounded edges are such a dream on this thing. It's like the lead hardware designer had my hand size in mind. I want to high-five him. Internet-five!
• Froyo FRF83 is wicked awesome. Because of the super confusing method of upgrading, I was caught just after unlocking my bootloader when the OTA hit my phone; go figure, eh? The top two improvements, from my three days' experience with Eclair, is that A) typing is much more palatable and B) the speed has just shot through the roof. Everything else hinges off those two improvements for me. You know what my expectations were coming into this whole Android mess. I think the speed is probably on par with the 3GS with either having the edge in certain areas.
• Notifications bar is so ballin'. No more "IN YOUR FACE!" pop-ups for low priority events. Oh yes. I will likely miss that when I hit iPhone 4. :(
• USB drag-n-drop. The world has gotten so used to Apple's strict policies that the freedom to use the capacity you paid for feels alien and wrong. Even though I only have a 4GB microSD, I will use this thing as a USB drive. Drag-n-drop tunes is new, but it's also awesome. Nevertheless, I am glad I have everything organized via iTunes, but at the same time, I'm glad Android doesn't need it to sync. Oh sheesh. That segues me nicely into...
  
• ...cloud syncing! Never you mind, Apple. The Internet's got it figured out for us. Syncing it all to the Google account is so easy. Nevermind iTunes+iTunes Music Store+App Store integration, Google Account is here! Can't wait to start syncing browsers...
• Search button. I'm not used to it, but I think I'll get used to it.
• Dedicated period and comma buttons. Thank you, God and Google.
• Google Navigation. I won't use this feature much since I won't have a car to drive until January, and I usually just figure out the route to my destination before getting too far anyways. I still think GPS navigation is a toy. I prefer to know beforehand where I'm going before I head out. That's just me.
• How can I forget built-in rootability? Thanks, Googs. Even though I voided my warranty, the ability to install any firmware I want is pretty much golden. Thank you. Even though the FRF83B OTA came out half an hour after I unlocked my bootloader, I still like the ability to do what I want with my device.

That's all that really comes to mind at the moment. Things are so exciting now. New toy. Very interesting. I'd say that the N1 on Froyo is a competitor to the 3GS, and that's still a compliment for El Goog which is still the newcomer in the market. There are a lot of little nitpicks about Android that I like, but there are probably just as many about iOS that I miss. Overall, I think that the smartphones are just about the same. What matters is the services they provide. I can listen to music on either, I can play games on either, I can text and call people on either, I can go on the internet on either. I'd say Android and iOS are about even in terms of user experience for me, though I'm still in the honeymoon stage with Android. My pros/cons list can go on, but I have not the desire to pick things apart just yet. I'm just ecstatic that my N1 has Froyo, and arguably, the review and comparison should start now. I made a pretty big gamble on Froyo, and boy, am I glad I did. I'm not much of a risk taker, so that was a big sore point for me up until the update. Once I get a bit more settled, I'll create my own take on a guide for unlocking and rooting the N1. For now, check out theunlockr.com's guides. I'll try to make mine as newbie-friendly as I can, ie. make it the set of instructions I wish I had before going into this process. Alas, I've only had a little taste of Froyo, but first impressions are really positive.

I think Google deserves a round of applause and some thanks. Thank you, Google, for giving the world Android and the N1. Thank you for Froyo. I'm so glad I got this phone now.