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Two weeks ago today I ordered the HTC G-1 on the T-Mobile network. I have used the phone for almost two weeks and have had the chance to try out the features. The QWERTY keyboard is very sturdy and easy to type on and also easy to get used to. The slide on the other hand, well its still sturdy, but after a week of texting it has started to squeak like a door. So whenever I walk around and the screen shifts it sounds like there’s a mouse in my pocket.  Now the interface is stellar, Google went all out with the Android platform. The menus are clean and easy to use and the scrolling wallpaper is simply stunning. The camera is not as great as I expected, it doesn’t have a built-in flash, or video capabilities, but it works and that’s all that matters right?

I guess the main problem of this phone, which changed my whole opinion on it, is the battery. The first day I tested the phone after fully charging it and leaving all the features on, it lasted 4 or so hours.  After the disappointment I phoned T-Mobile to ask what the problem was and the representative told me to turn off the Wi-Fi, 3G, GPS, e-mail Sync, etc. and that should help improve the life. Well after turning of the functionality of the full-featured phone, the battery life improved and the phone became boring. Without all of those features it became a glorified text message phone. I never got the chance to try the 3G speed and the battery life with the 3G because T-Mobile screwed up my order and didn’t activate the data service.

In conclusion, this phone is sorta well built, the Android OS is outstanding, but the battery will cause this phone to sink.  With all the features that come in the box, not being able to use them really makes me upset.  Why buy a full-featured phone if you can’t use the features.  I enjoyed the two weeks I had with the phone, but sadly I must send it back and wait for the next Android phone to come around.  If I were to rate the phone I would give it 2.5 stars (or for the blog, 2.5 Android bots)

I always say that a first impression is key to a lasting relationship.  Well the first impression of this phone is scaring me a bit.  I’ll talk about some of the main features and hardware to give you an idea of the phone.

Hardware

The phone itself is a bit bulky, but sold.  The weight is equally distributed among the body which mellows out the thickness.  The touch screen is really amazing.  It has a great response time and has very high quality.  The downfall is the glare, though it may be a small flaw it can hurt on special tasks.  The curved bottom gives the phone an odd look but really helps when talking on the phone.  It moves the microphone closer to the mouth allowing better reception of the sound.  The slide seems to be really sturdy and far from breaking.  The track-ball is very useful with links on a web page and for navigating menus.

Texting/E-Mail

The use of the physical qwerty keyboard makes this phone top notch.  The slightly bumped up keys are raised just enough for you to know where your thumb is and prevent wrong typing.  The interface for texting is set up just like the iPhone where each contact is like a conversation.  The even cooler part is that it groups all messages from that contact together into one big conversation.  With e-mail I have only used the G-Mail application that comes auto installed.  The phone syncs all of your messages and has them ready for you to read.  Writing e-mails is a breeze with the qwerty and e-mails are quickly sent over the data network.

User Interface/Operating System

I could literally write pages on how great the Android platform is.  Google did an amazing job with designing the UI and making it easily accessible.  The first thing you see when turning on the phone is the main home screen.  It has a clock and other shortcuts already set, but the best part is your ability to customize your three screens.  When you scroll to the left you are presented the far right screen, confusing isn’t it haha just picture pulling the next screen towards you.  On this screen you see the Google Search bar that lets you enter in what you want to search for and it opens up the browser and navigates to Google.com for you.  on the far left screen you have a completely empty space for you to design and add applications, shortcuts, or widgets to.  My all time favorite part of the home screen is the scrolling background.  When you scroll from screen to screen the background moves with you making the picture seem to be spread out.  Look for a continuation of this tomorrow as I review a bit deeper into the UI.

Battery

This happens to be the ultimate bad of this phone.  I’m talking so bad that it may be worth nto getting the phone.  I know that sounds harsh, but when I have a phone that can’t keep a charge for a full day, I have huge problem.  The main battery test I have run is starting at 8:30 this morning.  The only tasks done were texting, and sending/receiving e-mails.  All of this happening on the 2G signal, because where I live there is no 3G available.  I am not even using the wi-fi to connect to the Internet, mainly because that would just drain the battery.  Now one consideration is that EDGE is always running and sending and getting G-Mail information.  But that should be a small task to complete, for such an advanced phone.  The bulkiness does not even come from the battery.  It is as small as a normal cell phone battery that wasn’t made for a smartphone.  My main complaint is that this is a smartphone with huge capabilities, but a battery that has no punch.  Official time of death today, 3:00pm.

Since I have no battery and can’t continue the review, I shall wait until I get home and charge the phone up.  Look for a continuation tomorrow and more features.