So I thought that after having my Nexus One now for a full week that I’d post a little mini review for people. I know I haven't included EVERYTHING as many other reviews out there already have.

I had some pretty high expectations for this device. Every person that got a hand on a Nexus One reported that it was FAST and yup, it sure is. The 1GHz CPU really gives Android that massive kick in the pants that it’s been missing I think but I’m quite sure it’s really not what gives the Nexus One it’s true speed. When I say “fast” I really should say “instant”. The Nexus One has 512MB of RAM, of which, only 256MB is usable currently due to the kernel it’s running but it’s still more than enough (also, an update is soon to be released to unlock the other 256MB says Google). There’s only a handful of programs you constantly run day-to-day. For me it’s Maps, Browser, Google Talk, Contacts, Gmail and maybe one or two other small things. The rest of my information I get through the widgets. The Nexus One is SO damn fast because it can just store ALL those programs in it’s RAM for instant access. The 1GHz CPU doesn’t do any work at all when I “launch” these apps because their all running in the background, the phone just switches to them. When the extra RAM gets unlocked God knows how many more apps it’ll be able to run in the background.

Aside from the speed I was also really looking forward to reviewing Android 2.1 and from what I’ve seen Google really have taken it up a notch or 8. Everything just oozes “cool” and sleekness with the exception of the Camera and Music apps. Don’t get me wrong, those two apps still work perfectly fine and I haven’t got a problem with them in any way, it’s just you can tell that their up next for a re-hash just as the Gallery app was redone for Android 2.1. Everything from the stock widgets, to the transitions, to the Contacts, to even the Calculator has been reworked to make it just a joy to use. The two best features of Android 2.1 though are by far the Live Wallpapers and the Speech-to-text input capabilities. A lot of people talk down the Live Wallpapers as “battery drainers” or “eye candy” but I’ve found them to be just stunning and mesmerizing. They don’t drain the battery as they only use battery when you’re on your home screen, which isn’t for very long in most cases as you just launch an app or turn the phone off most of the time. To me they seem to just have a lava-lamp like effect. It’s just fun to sit there and stare at them and watch them do their thing. As for the Speech-to-text input it is in my opinion pretty much the best feature of the phone. It seems to work best if you break up big sections of text into small amounts (no more than about 7 words per chunk) and if you make sure each word is separated and not slurred together with others. Speak clearly and in small chunks and it is about 95% accurate I’ve found. I can speak entire posts in less than half the time it’d take me to type it plus it really helps when you have NO idea how to spell a word (which in my case is very often). It’s also something that no other mobile OS comes even CLOSE to producing and in time, I really think it’ll be the answer to “how do we input lots of text on such small devices”.

The hardware side of the Nexus One is pretty much fault free as per usual with HTC. The phone is SOLID with no moving parts and although it’s all screen, it seems to be scratch proof (according to a youtube vid I saw) and the Teflon coating covers the back of it. The track ball is always handy and fun to fiddle with, the touch buttons sometimes have their quirks but are 100% OK in my book and I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another phone with them. The feel of the device is just like the OS, sleek, smooth and solid. The camera’s flash is as bright as you’d expect but the camera is also about as good as you’d expect. My N95’s camera was better, but then again that’s to be expected considering how big it was (as in, the lens on the N95 was HUGE, thus giving it better optics etc etc). Google wanted this phone to look awesome (and it does) and so I’m guessing they didn’t want to put a giant ugly camera lens on the back. The screen is huge and gorgeous. The AMOLED makes the colours just pop and while it is a fraction brighter than the LCD’s you notice the more natural colours than anything. I currently have the “green grass” live wallpaper on and the blue/green colours just look awesome. The reds seem to be a bit over saturated but nothing that would annoy. The resolution is equally impressive. For instance, I can make out and read the text of forums when it’s zoomed completely out showing the whole page. People claim AMOLED’s are “harder to see in direct sunlight” but I can never see ANY screen in direct sunlight, both LCD and AMOLED’s look just as pale.

Going through the apps quickly:
- Browser is SUPER fast loading pages. More than once I’ve continued to wait for it to “load” only to realise that it was already loaded and I just hadn’t noticed because it did it THAT fast.
- Calendar has new support for “guests” which is very welcomed and implemented very well.
- Car Home is a pretty decent app but I haven’t used it too much.
- Clock has a few new cool things but has stayed mostly the same which is good as it was great
- Contacts have been reworked and now looks heaps better. Much less clutter and now also shows peoples DOB and nick name.
- Email has full exchange support and is working great with my Work email. Was simple as to setup too.
- Gallery looks really, really slick and is VERY fast too. There are a ton of sharing options now (including Bluetooth) and it now also supports swiping from left to right to scroll through your pictures which is handy. It will also pull down all your Picasa web albums for you if you so wish and you can hardly tell their not actually photo’s on the phone everything’s that fast.
- Gmail hasn’t changed much but was always perfect in my opinion anyway.
- Maps has just had another new addition and aside from Aus still having Navigation locked out it’s fantastic. The numerous Labs features are great and the GPS lock on is the quickest I’ve ever seen (about 2 seconds or less providing your outside).
- Phone has been given a VERY welcome overhaul and now works beautifully. Nice big buttons and no need to press the Menu button to access them either. You can also easily put people on hold which I’m not sure if you could do before.

In short: If you have the money (and don't HAVE to have a physical keyboard) then the Nexus One is the best phone out there hands down.

In Long: From the HTC HD2 to the iPhone 3GS to the Blackberry Storm 2, nothing can match it's feature set now with speech-to-text, live wallpapers, instantly fast OS, widgets, multitasking, Navigation and Flash (when it arrives very soon), full Contact, Calendar, Mail, Settings, Apps and Bookmark Syncing, massive dev community, open OS and Market submission it's no wonder Android sales increased by over 1000% last year. So far EVERY person I've shown the phone to, about 6+ in total (mostly iPhone junkies but not all) wanted to go buy one within about 2 minutes. If Vodafone release this soon and release it on a fair plan I think a fair few people will be owning the Google phone... (Posted on 22/02/10)

This is the coolest phone I’ve ever owned. It’s sleek and it fits in my hand nicely. It’s my first smartphone and I was going to g with an iPhone, but changed my mind because everyone has one. I am so happy I went with this phone. I love that I can have more than one thing open at a time. I can be on a website, start another app, and then go back to the same place I left off on the website. It makes it so much easier! The screen is amazing and it’s very fast. So happy I went with this phone! (Posted on 4/02/10)

Such a simple phone to use and although it may not be as flash as the iphone, I think it has a sleek design and great screen size. Anyway, can't be bothered writing such a detailed analysis, but I love the phone and the service from Mobicity was also top notch. (Posted on 26/01/10)

Nexus One In-Depth Review

Google has consistently put out reliable Android phones and the new Nexus One lives up to most of its hype. HTC is the manufacturer and they’ve been lucky to get their name branded onto the device. Visually, the Nexus One is stunning. It’s got a nice shape to it and fits well into our hands and you can’t say enough about the screen - it includes a 3.7 inch AMOLED display. In addition, the Nexus One also has a 5MP Camera, Wi-Fi, and a pre-installed 4GB microSD card. It also includes an impressive--and arguably, one of the most important features--a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and the new 2.1 Android operating system.

The Design
As stated, the screen is definitely the best anyone has seen. The Nexus One has a resolution of 480x800 pixels and bursting with vibrant and beautiful color. This especially makes the addition of 3D graphics and live wallpaper (all due to the Android 2.1) even more enjoyable. Located on the back of the phone is the 5MP camera with a flash.

The Nexus One comes in only one color and has a two-toned gray that appeals to most people. The only physical buttons that exist on the device are the volume controls on the side and the power button, which is located on the top. The Nexus One also includes a trackball navigation option, which can also be used to select items. The phone has a nice, light weight (it’s only 4.48 ounces) to it, but it seemed to be distributed in an odd way and seems to be somewhat top heavy.

Operating System
The Nexus One is the first phone to have Android 2.1. For the most part, it’s similar to 2.0, but it has visually changed. It includes your typical Android operating touch controls: a back button, home button, search key, and the notifications menu. There isn’t the drawer to reveal your applications anymore. Instead, there is now a single icon which reveals the applications in a 3D cube. Android 2.1 also includes live wallpaper and it’s a nice touch for personalization, however, it may affect battery life. A nice change is there is now a shortcut bar that allows users to easily activate Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi options. It also includes five home screens for additional personalization, as opposed to three.

Of course, the upgraded operating system might not be possible with the impressive 1GHz Snapdragon processor. It allows all of the added 3D effects possible. Opening applications and web sites are noticeably faster with the upgraded processor.

An amazing feature that Android 2.1 has is speech to text in any text field. This allows you to use it in emails, texts, web searches, etc. However, even though the Nexus One is Bluetooth capable, you’re still unable to use this feature via a Bluetooth headset. Hopefully this is improved in the near future.

Multimedia
The gallery has also received the new 3D overhaul and is visually appreciated. All of the files are organized by dates and location. With the new AMOLED display, videos look beautiful.
Although it is 5.0 MP, the camera quality is just okay. Outdoor shots were better than indoor shots, but weren’t as sharp as we hoped. For personal use, videos were acceptable. Overall, the camera/video quality is acceptable as the Nexus One is meant to be a “camera phone.”

One upgrade that we wish the Nexus One received is the overhaul of the music application. The music player is pretty basic and somewhat boring. It does what it needs to do, but we’d like a better experience, especially for those who a big music lovers.

Call Quality
Voice quality on the Nexus One was good overall. Conversations were clear and there was little interference. Callers also stated that they could understand us and had no issues of clarity. The only issue was with the speakerphone at a high volume because we found the sound to become somewhat distorted.

Battery Life
The battery life on the Nexus One was acceptable. HTC states that it should have a talk time of 10 hours and a standby time of 290 hours. Realistically, for a phone that’s primarily used for heavy web browsing and all touch screen, we were able to get through a day of constant use without recharge.

Conclusion
For any person who is heavily dependent on Gmail, Android phones will never fail to please. It’s by far the most reliable device when it comes to syncing Gmail contacts and calendar. We’d like to see the Nexus One have improved basic phone functions, such as Bluetooth and a better music experience. However, these can be overlooked because the Nexus One is definitely the best Android device yet.
(Posted on 17/01/10)

Got mine from MobiCity a few days ago and one of the best handsets on the market without question and the best deployment of Android so far. Pioneering the term 'Superphone' (1GHz processors plus) for good reason; it's snappy and does everything you need and more. Really happy with the design- it's so thin and smooth and the interactive wallpapers are so cool!

However I'm not quite sure why Google would get further into mobile phones than just an OS. Android is a great platform for their core business, which is selling ads and a vital new medium given their saturation of the conventional web. But to build a physical device that goes head-to-head with (and generally outperforms) their other hardware partners seems like a bad move. Still, I'm not complaining; get one yourself and see how good this superphone really is!

Extremely satisfied with my new phone and buying experience with MobiCity. I will recommend to all who will listen! Enjoy. (Posted on 13/01/10)

awsome (Posted on 8/01/10)