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T-Mobile G1 (HTC Dream) review

7.0

Editors' Rating

Design		6.0
Features		8.0
Performance		7.0

Bonnie Cha & Nicole Lee CNET

Published: 21 Oct 2008

Overall, the T-Mobile G1's interface is clean, fun and easy to use. You can customise the Home screen with your favourite apps, and you can do this in a couple of ways. For example, you can do a long press on the Home page, which will bring up a menu where you can add shortcuts and widgets or change the wallpaper. Alternatively, there's a little tab along the bottom edge of the screen that you can touch and then pull up, which reveals a full menu of applications. From there, you do a long press on an icon and then drag it to the Home screen. To remove it, perform the same touch action and then drag it to the trash can. Note that this action simply removes it from the screen and doesn't delete the application from your device. There are also sliding panels to the left and right where you can add more shortcuts, and there's a notification bar at the top, which you can pull down like a window shade and view missed calls, new messages, downloads and more.

There's a lot to like about the G1 interface, with its glass touch-screen display, slide-out QWERTY keyboard (although we don't like the small keys) and the Pearl-like trackball for navigation. But although the touch-screen is on a par with the iPhone's, we have to say that, overall, the interface isn't as intuitive. For example (as with almost every other phone), the need to dip into the menu layout every time you want to access something can get a bit clunky. Yes, it's possible to drag out your favourite applications as shortcuts, but you'll need to spend quite a bit of time setting that up. With the iPhone, there's no home screen at all — you're brought directly to the menu. Of course, the iPhone is unique in this sense, but in a strict comparison between the G1 and the iPhone, the latter's interface wins out.

Also, although we like the aforementioned trackball and menu bar, it just isn't quite as smooth as the multi-touch gestures on the iPhone — especially for zooming in and out of pictures. This is even more apparent in the browser application, which we'll explore later.

Features
Below the display, you get some tactile navigation controls, including Talk and End/Power buttons, a Home shortcut, a back button, a trackball navigator and a Menu key. Similar to the touch-screen, the Menu button is contextual to what application you're in at the time. For example, if you're in the web browser and press Menu, you'll get options to open a new window, go to a URL, bookmark a page and so on. It's a minor issue, but we're a bit annoyed that pressing the End/Power key automatically locks the handset; we're used to having the End/Power key as a shortcut to exit the application. Because of this, we ended up having to unlock the screen frequently, which got annoying.

The left spine holds a volume rocker and a microSD expansion slot. To access the latter, you have to push the screen open in order to remove the protective cover. On the right side, you'll find a camera activation/capture button, although you can also press the trackball to take pictures. We actually preferred this method, since the dedicated camera key was a bit small. Plus, when holding the phone horizontally, our thumb had a tendency to keep nudging the screen upward while trying to take a picture.

Much to our disappointment, the G1 does not have a standard headphone jack; instead, you must use the USB port and an audio adapter.

On the bottom of the unit, there is a mini-USB port, which is protected by an attached cover. This is where you can connect the power charger and sadly, this is also your only option for connecting a headset. There's no dedicated headphone jack, 3.5mm or otherwise, which is really disappointing. Yes, there's a headset included in the box, but you don't get the same comfort and quality as you would with a nice pair of headphones. If you want the privilege of using your own 'phones, you'll have to spend extra money to buy an adapter. Last but not least, the camera lens — sans flash or self-portrait mirror — is located on the back, and the G1 offers a user-replaceable battery.

The T-Mobile G1 comes packaged with a travel charger, a USB cable, a wired headset, a 1GB microSD card, a soft protective case and reference material.

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Overview

T-Mobile G1 (HTC Dream)

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Editors rating: 7.0

Verdict

The design isn't great and we'd have liked some additional features, but the real beauty of the T-Mobile G1 is the Google Android platform, as it has the potential to make smartphones more personal and powerful. It's not quite there yet, so for now the G1 is best suited for early adopters rather than business users.