And It’s Official – Nexus One is First SuperPhone

Posted Jan 5 2010 by Scott Webster in  with 48 Comments

The Nexus One event is in the books and it’s time for everyone to chime in with their impressions.  What did we learn today?  Anything new or that wasn’t already predicted/leaked?    Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments below!

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  • Android Eh?

    I learned that Google has no love for Canada. :(

    • http://twitter.com/CrazyCoolish @CrazyCoolish

      Nor does it for the UAE.=(

      This is why the Nexus One was such a disappointment for me. I am hating on Android now for the lack of localization.

  • Kevin

    I learned that Google's page won't let me buy one even if I try again in a few minutes.

    • cricker

      The page didn't work for me using Chrome (ironically enough) so I ordered one with Firefox.

      • http://twitter.com/velazcod @velazcod

        THE SAME HAPPENED TO ME!
        I was going crazy, switched to firefox, no problem… very stupid and IRONIC… lol

  • george

    I tried to upgrade my 18 month old G1 through T-Mobile: They said no dice!

    • Thorpeland

      Yup. Kinda makes you feel like the unwanted step-child, doesn't it? haha Im in the same boat. Thanks tmo…..you're the best!

  • Ray

    I only have 1 month left on my t-mobile contract and the google website said i did not qualify for an upgrade. As much as i want the phone i cant spend 530 for i bought my g1 at cost and will not spend tha much again for a phone.

  • BKdroid

    Contract is up, account is postpaid, plan is correct….. ineligible. Apparently, when you change from SmartAccess to Postpaid accounts, it takes about 24hrs to update the system. Googles servers see your account as a new contract until the update happens….. So I gotta go through another 24hrs of torture before I can buy my new phone subsidized, and however long until it ships….. Where are those sleeping pills?

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/droidin droidin

    Nothing Earth-shuttering but one damn good phone. I would wait (and I will) month or two to see if they drop the price or come with some smart way to supplement it. So far it feels like reeealy souped-up MyTouch so I'm having hard time justifying to myself new purchase (if 2.1 comes to MT)

    • Karl

      Same impression here after a half day with the device. I'm going to use it as a dev device. Basically it's a 50% blown up Ion, 50% faster, improved camera, lots of eye candy (live wallpapers) of questionable aesthetics. Some attention to detail seems lacking, e.g. the soft keys along the bottom of the screen are slightly misaligned, colors are off, in particular orange. The Droid's display appears more organic/appealing to me. Also, the display brightness is floating for no apparent reason.
      I actually like the fact that there's nothing earth shattering to phone home about. It's about time for the platform to mature.

      • http://intensedebate.com/people/droidin droidin

        Some people call it nitpicking but for me these 1 px imperfections what separates sloppy from perfect. It' s pity that something like that would not be considered a showstopper especially when you position phone as iPhone killer

  • Errol

    does anyone know what the monthly from T-Mobile would be for unlimited everything in each case:

    -if I purchase the unlocked phone
    -if I purchase a subsidized phone

    I need to do the calculation to see how much I save (if anything) if I lay out $529

    • James

      It looks to be about $130 savings for an unsubsidized N1 on the 500 minute/unlimited text/unlimited data plan for 24 months.

      Even More Plus is what you are looking for on the T-Mobile site.

  • BKdroid

    @errol: $79.99 unlimited everything Even more Plus plan with unlocked Nexus. For the subsidized version, you have to get the Even More plan with 500(maybe 750)minutes with unlimited text and web for $79.99. At least that's how I understand it.

    • Plantster

      For the Unlocked version you can get the Even More Plus plan with 500 minutes for $59.99. The $20 savings pays for the additional cost of the unlocked version in 17.5 months.

  • @Phroghollow

    Google has no love for Australia :( I was willing to fork out the cash up front for an unlocked phone too

    • gjs

      same here

  • VKilby

    Didn't see anything that would intice me to "make the switch" – features are farily standard at this point, how about some jazzed up presentations – take a look at some of the really luxury phone, copy some of the better ones and then make them as feature-rich.

  • Mateo

    The Snapdragon chip is what makes the phone, my only complaint about my ION is speed. No ATT 3g support is what breaks it (for me).

  • http://twitter.com/Arasmus @Arasmus

    Alright gang, here is some news from T-Mobile which I think will be helpful to some of you, especially G1 users. I went immediately from coverage of the Nexus One event to T-Mobile. T-Mobile are only allowing existing customers to upgrade to the Nexus One after the 22nd month of their existing contract. Not sure that’s such a cleaver move by T-Mobile because at least for many G1 users that puts them up for renewal at a time when Verizon and other carriers will also be offering the Nexus One. For those anticipating porting their number to Google Voice (hopefully we will be able to do that soon) and getting a data-only plan, at present T-Mobile does not have a data-only plan according to their representative and so you would have to pay at least $39 for voice and $24.99 for data ($64 total).

  • tmogeek

    Keep getting a "T-Mobile's servers are busy or unreachable" error message!
    Thanks T-Mobile, for being prepared for the years biggest phone launch.

  • http://twitter.com/Arasmus @Arasmus

    T-Mobile told me today that you can upgrade after the 22nd month of your contract. Sounds like you are on month 23. Might be worth calling T-Mobile and bringing this point up with them.

  • BumbleBee

    That i just ipulse brough the phone to the UK lol i bet i was the only one :-)

  • samf

    I have a family plan with two of our lines eligible for upgrade but there is no way I am paying $529 for our phones. The Tmo rep did now know of any plans to extend the subsidy to family plans (she also laughably said the MyTouch was prety much the same phone as the N1, so why not get that instead). This sucks – I am grandfathered under a cheap family plan and would pay $70/mo more if I switched to Verizon for the Droid. If my wife did not need a new phone I'd wait it out. Maybe I'll get a used Mytouch from Craigslist for her.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/CBKBAMF CBKBAMF

    Well this just sucks. Since I'm on a family plan with TMO there is no way to order this phone. I have to already have an individual plan, OR I have to terminate a line on my family plan (and pay the $200 termination fee) and set up a new line of service (and pay the $35 activation fee). No porting of number either.

    I guess I could always buy the phone outright for the $530… but it seems there is no way to do this without getting jacked in my wallet.

    After waiting so long… I'm disappointed. Not in the device, but the way to buy it.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/droidin droidin

    More like $567 after taxes and shipping

  • Greedydog

    How much you wanna bet? :)

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/CBKBAMF CBKBAMF

    Ahhh… even better. Can't forget to let the govt get a piece of the pie as well. Guess I'll be sticking with my trusty G1 for a while longer.

  • http://teslasociety.com Nikola Tesla

    Highly disappointed. 567$ is just too much, even if it deserves to be called a smartphone.

  • http://twitter.com/victors @victors

    i'm also pretty pissed at this. i ordered the G1 the day it came out and have the unlimited loyalty plan. it's pretty foolish for those of us with these types of plans to downgrade the plan while paying even more. ugh. hopefully when tmobile starts selling the phone directly, there will be more plan options.

  • doglvr

    I will continue to use my G1 and it's keyboard as long as possible. I have continued to have incredibly positive experiences with the G1 going on 13 months now. Is the keyboard not important to other G1 users or is it just me?

    • iphoneh8r

      Totally agree. No keyboard, no phone.

  • rolly

    doglvr…..I agree with you on the keyboard and its importance….but I need a faster processor for this clunky G1. I have had it since day one and I am over it. I want that nexus one and I think I might fork over the 530 for it. It's super sweet.

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  • denni

    Not payin 530 NOPE

  • davey

    doesn't it bother anybody how cold this google buying experience is? nobody to talk to, nobody to really respond to questions or comments. no way to touch, feel, or really see the phone. no love for current tmobile users. how cold is that! it appears google really doesn't give a !@#!!! about people.

  • 45grave

    I’ve learned….nothing. I have a G1 that is about a year old and the only thing I’m eligible for is the $530 knife in the back. I won’t know how cool the phone is and I won’t bend over and take it from Google or Tmobile. By the time I’m eligible for an upgrade, there will be a phone that blows this and the next big thing away. I take that back. I DID learn something. I learned that neither Google nor Tmobile really wants my business. Any small subsidy would have pushed me into pressing the order button, but it looks like they’re not interested in people like me. You know, the people who will buy a new phone every year or so if the price is right. No, they don’t want that kind of customer.

  • eris523

    I spoke with TMO at about 11 AM CST Wed Jan 6. As of that point, they offered to split a line off my family plan, allowing me to keep my existing number, and enroll the old line / new account in an appropriate data plan. Since my G1 is less than a year old there's no question of getting the subsidy; I don't know whether I would get any kind of upgrade credit if I did qualify, but keep in mind that it is T-Mobile who offer the upgrades as a loyalty reward / re-sign incentive, and it is Google selling the phone. Nice as it would be if TMO and Google were working in tight integration, there's ultimately no reason Google must discount sale of their product to reward loyalty to another company.

    The main thing this tells me is that since T-Mobile is 1) answering the phones and 2) giving a different (and better) answer than they were 24 hours ago according to these comments, it looks like T-Mobile is trying to respond to our criticisms.

  • hazydave

    Ok, it's cool enough.. but I don't see a whole lot of "super" compared to my DROID. Maybe a little.

    The 1GHz Snapdragon is going to be faster, but they are the same kind of CPU, both ARM Cortex A8. Both chips support separate DSP, video acceleration, image processing, and graphics with 3D engine. I would be a little concerned that the 1GHz clock speed will suck battery power even faster, given that power consumption in a CMOS system increases with the square of frequency, all else being equal. But it won't be all that bad, since they're using a 45nm process, rather than TI's 65nm process (power drops with smaller chips, as long as you manage leakage properly).

    And of course, waiting in the wings is that sweet 1.5GHz Snapdragon with dual core CPU… so I really don't see this as anything more than another incremental step… and certainly far from the last. This is also why Android is going to emerge as the predominant smart phone platform… we're going to keep seeing announcements like this once every couple of months for next few years. With Apple, you're going to see Yet Another iPhone, once or twice a year, and most of them will be practically the same as the one before, with something big news… well… still waiting for the second one (the first iPhone WAS big news, those that followed were largely just fixing what they skipped initially).

    And here are the not-so-super details. 4GB microSD? Was it so important to undercut the DROID by $20 that they couldn't have put in a full 16GB? 512MB internal flash… same as the DROID. Adequate, but unless Android 2.1 addresses program storage on SD card (virtual ext3 filesystems, anyone?), this is not quite super.

    Sony seems to be offering more improvements in the Xperia X10. Same processor, so it's just as fast. Ok, they're shipping with boring old Android 1.6, hopefully they go straight to the 2.1 update. They ship with 1GB of internal flash, a huge improvement (3x the program storage, more or less). And a hires screen (854×480, probably the same glass that's in the DROID), and all the usual interfaces. And an 8Mpixel camera, though I'm skeptical.. it's either much larger than a typical 1/4" cellphone chip, or they're going to have issues. Probably priced crazy, too, knowing Sony… just pointing out, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot new or unexpected here.

  • Kevin

    Nothing left on my contract…decided to try and upgrade. T-Mobile said, "downgrade from Unlimited Loyalty plan to 500 etc… buy the N1 then, call back and revert back to Unlimited loyalty." Really! NOT! She was wrong. .. I had to cancel the N1 order and spend 4 more calls and an hour getting back to where I started. Oh well. Maybe in a month. I love my Rooted G1. And T-Mo has great service in Fort Collins, CO and a fair price.

  • mikeB

    i love my nexus one glad i kept up with the press conference

  • Joshua

    Anybody else have success getting this subsidized even though they have a family plan. Somebody commented that tmobile split a line off of their family plan to do it.

    Still can't believe how they are treating the families with plans. Even the friggin US Government gives you tax incentives for starting a family. WTH is going on with the planning process on this.

  • ecb

    Had the Droid and loved it, but I hated the keyboard and the additional bulk and play that comes with a slider keyboard (though I'm amazed at how thin the Droid is for having a slider keyboard)

    The Nexus One takes what I love about the Moto Droid and has the form factor of the HTC Eris so it is the perfectly designed device for me.

    The 2.1 changes simply refine the Android experience over 2.0, but they do not make drastic improvments. Likewise, the Snapdragon processor makes Android a little smoother, but it's nothing Drasic over the Droid's processor.

    The features that made me go from the Droid to the Nexus One are:

    1) Form factor
    2) Getting an unlocked Android phone that runs on GSM and has 3G bands that work in the USA as well as Europe.
    3)With the feature set of the Nexus One (Snapdragon, AMOLED screen….) I can feel comfortable that I have a phone that will not be obsolete in a few months. It may not be the latest and greatest but I should be able to get a good year out of it. ! I'm also fortunate enough to live in an area with good TMobile coverage (though Verizon is superior)

    In the end, if your happy with the Droid keyboard and form factor, there is no real compelling reason to get the Nexus One unless your chasing the latest & greatest phone or you want an unlocked Android phone.

  • kevin

    Love my nexus one… this phone is light years ahead of the mytouch in terms of performance.

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