The Nexus One is Still My Number One
Its been over 6 months since the Nexus One leaped onto the scene and in Android time, that’s almost an eternity and yet, I find myself more content with this phone than I have any other I’ve owned. In the last 6 months great Android phones like the Motorold Droid X, the various versions of the Galaxy S series as well as Sprint’s HTC Evo have all launched with mass hysteria from the community and great reviews from the critics and yet, here I am, totally still in love with the best Android device on the market, the Nexus One and here is why I think so.
Custom Interfaces
While HTC Sense was revolutionary back when the Hero launched and Android 1.5 was king, I think we have all learned that in the end, these interfaces maybe more hassle than their actually worth. From added stress on the hardware to updates that come few and far between, Custom interfaces seem to be the biggest cause of fragmentation outside of hardware limitation. With the release of 2.2 (and the supposed UI upgrades in 3.0) Android has lost the need for custom interfaces, it looks and works well as a plain old vanilla OS and needs not HTC, Motorola or Samsung to “pretty” things up. Sure appearance is a matter of opinion but the added lag and delay in updates is reason enough to stick with the Nexus One and its straight from Google OS.
Hardware
Out of all the latest Android handsets released in the US, I’ve yet to find one with the looks and build quality of the Nexus One. The Droid X comes close but its still doesn’t feel as expensive as holding the Nexus One and it is only bested by the Iphone 4. Samsung’s Vibrant for T-mobile, while I appreciate for being light, feels like a cheap toy or at best a $50 feature phone. When I hold my Nexus One in comparison to the newest breed of Android phones, the others just pale in comparison and when I drop the big bucks on a phone, one of things I look for is longevity and durability and the Nexus One has held true for me. In a world where the competition (iPhone) is made of fancy glass materials, Samsung and HTC have got to step up their game, the Vibrant and the Incredible, feel incredibly cheap and feel totally uninspired, whereas the Nexus One shines in the hardware department.
Carrier Freedom
Though I have no intention of leaving T-Mobile anytime soon (especially with the release of their speedy HSPA+ network in Cincinnati) but having the option to switch to my local carrier Cincinnati Bell (uses the same 3G bands as T-Mobile) without jumping through hoops to unlock my phone is pretty amazing. Freedom of Carrier input is also very handy when it comes to upgrades to the Android OS. Since Google released the phone they supply the updates and the latest revisions of Android are built directly for the Nexus One. In the carrier model, we wait for Google to bake the OS, the OEM to make it work on their device and then the carrier to approve it and roll it out to its users. None of this is a short process, just go ask Sprint’s Hero user base who waited months for an update to 2.1 while getting completely skipped on 1.6. It actually saddens me that Google did not succeed with the Google Web Store and that I’m going to one day have to give up the freedoms and luxuries I have with the Nexus One.
On top of all these reasons, I mostly just really have never fell out of love with the Nexus One. Its everything I wanted in a device and its seems to be of a dying breed of great high powered stock OS devices. Their is nothing about the Iphone 4, the Moto Droid X, the Droid Incredible or the Evo that make me wanna lose what I have with the Nexus One which is great hardware that runs software coming directly from the Source.
![SGP Neo Hybrid for Galaxy Nexus [Video]](http://www.droiddog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/DD.png "SGP Neo Hybrid for Galaxy Nexus [Video]")
I once wanted a Nexus One, but I played with a Vibrant and ordered one right after. It's 1 GHZ processor smokes the N1 and it's graphics capabilities are twice as powerful compared to every other Android device out right now. There's a video of the N1 next to a Galaxy S, both playing the game “quake”, and the N1 is barely chugging along while the Galaxy S is zooming along fine. That, and you can't beat that screen. Unless you get an iPhone 4, but Android-wise, you cant beat it.
This post just reeks of “lol”. It's definitely not the most powerful phone out there, and the whole “one try” thing? Don't be ridiculous. Google might have had a hand in developing the phone, but HTC actually made it and put it together and used their YEARS and YEARS of experience to put it together. And I bet they tried pretty damned hard to create the N1.
I have to totally agree. I’ve tried all the new phones out there. Evo, Droid, Incredible but I always come back to my N1. I like the way it built. I like the metal finish and it does feel expensive unlike the others which has a bit to much plastic.
You are right in the world of high design like the iPhone, Android has to step up to the plate like the N1. People after all want the bling no matter how big the screen is. Secondly, I like not being tied to a carrier/contract which I’m not at the moment with my TMo N1. People don’t get it. Either way you pay for that phone whether is 2 year contract or up front. I think Americans are short sighted. They just see the $199 but not the overall longer term price of the phone.
Thirdly, I’ll know that when Oct comes rolling around my N1 will get the Gingerbread update first. Yes, the phone does have its moments…but for the most part I can overlook it because it still a pretty darn good superphone! :)
Tbh, I really don't like the look of the N1. No doubt, the specs are awesome along with the build quality and the phone itself can compete with the phones that just came out. I am more of an eye-candy person instead of performance person or perhaps because I actually never messed around with it in my actual hands.
I completely agree with you epically about the Hardware section. I was fully prepared to drop $530 to get to phone and switch to AT&T in Dec. (t-mobile's lack of 3G in my city is holding me back). I want a smartphone that stands out compared to standard phones. This includes it being built to last. Not being built like its going to break in 6 months to a year. It saddens me very much to know i will not get the opportunity to try out this truly revolutionary device. I just hope they build a duel core processor android powered phone that his built like the Nexus One. I will forever see the Nexus One as a devise that truly shows off what the future will look like.
What if my nexus one breaks or I drop it somewhere would I still be able to get a replacement? I have it insured so idk how it would work :(
Justin Hubbard – I guess I can understand your reasoning but to me there are now superior phones… I left tmobile and my nexus one in favor of sprint and the evo (however now I'm thinking of going back to TMO cause hspa+ just deployed in my area!). Anyways, the evo is FAR easier to type on (even the htc keyboard on the nexus wasn't good). The evo's camera absolutely destroys the nexus one. I don't know about your nexus one but the camera on mine is terrible for 5mp. You also fail to bring up the vast widespread issues of the tmobile version nexus one struggling to maintain a 3g connection (this is a huge issue). I had a N900 before my nexus one on tmobile and I was connected to 3g in many more locations.
So while nexus is still very much supported the most with software updates and what not, it has been passed in hardware in my opinion…
I will say that for whatever reason my nexus seemed snappier than the evo but that could be due to sense lagging things up. I also overall like the AMOLED screen more than the big evo screen.
If I go back to tmobile will I use my nexus? No, I'm gonna buy a galaxy (vibrant). Superior screen clarity, bigger size, better camera even without flash, and a newer processor.. .not to mention internal memory. AND not to mention no edge/3g switching issues.
even thgough though neither of those devices exist?
Agreed. I still love my N1.
Can't wait to see what future updates and hacks bring to this incredible device.
@jdog there isn't going to be a nexus 2, Google said there was no need for it and that the nexus one is the best android device out there and I agree ( NEXUS ONE FOE LIFE)
Damn I got a reply to this old story and just saw that you said there wouldn’t be a Nexus 2, guess 5 months later I was right.
Hey I also have the same phone and I also know about the Nexus One are you saying that you have Froyo and free tethering. Can you please post a link to Froyo I didn't know it was out already because that is the only way the Incredible could ever beat the Nexus One since they are the same phone. Wow free tethering on Verizon you really made my day buddy, I'll be waiting for that link ;)
@Nick281051 Pics of the Nexus One came out 4 months before it existed! OMG
Sir, good article… keep writing…
Sir, good article… keep writing…
Why talk about iphones? They are only third in sales. Here is for all the apple fanboys. You can talk about apple selling 3 million iphones. But the phone sales are not iphone vs evo. It is Apple OS phones vs Google OS phones. (Just like PC VS Mac) Like Pc vs Mac; PCs includes HP, Dell, IBM, Acer, Gateway, Generic PC, Custom Build PCs. These PC’s usually runs windows and windows come from Microsoft. Which Microsoft has outsold Apple. That is why Microsoft is touted as a “Monopoly.” Yes there are linux PCs but for sakes of just numbers we can say the majority are Microsoft Windows. Just like PCs with windows Google Android is the Windows for phones..(Yes there are windows phones but for the sake of just numbers there are mostly Androids OS phones.) An android OS phone includes Evo, Samsung Galaxy, G1s, Nexus 1, Droid X, Incredible, Eris and more. Same operating system(Google Android), different hardware(Flavor), with different carriers. According to the sales Google Android OS is winning than Blackberry OS and finally Apple OS comes in third. Apple(Iphone) comes in third place in sales! Iphones sales can’t even beat the Blackberry in sales; that includes the iphone 4. Here are the proof and the numbers 33% of the belongs to Android with 28% going to RIM and 22 % to Apple. You can argue with facts and the fact is in under 3 years Google OS has overtaken the most popular phone which was the Blackberry OS. Apple is not even close. Google Wins period.
good to read this article, i totally agree, its the best all around phone ever made in my opinion, at age 59 i got my first smartphone the iphone 3g, battery was not good but i liked it, so i dedided to trade up to the 3gs before trial ran out, did that , great phone, but as i researched , there was all these androids out there that sounded so good, especially the nexus, but i didnt want to order it not knowing if it would be good or not, i tried droid eris, long story short , the best phone i think to compare was the evo, kinda like big brother to nexus i called it, but not as good build quality, i still want the original nexus so bad, when i get spare money im getting one, i even had iphone 4 , not talking bad about it, but i was bored with it in about couple of weeks, any way, i still say the original nexus one is best all around phone made, from what ive researched and that is a lot, read lots of reviews, the new nexus s 4 g sounds awesome too, and i tried the nexus s at best buys, was very impressed, im locked in with sprint right now, theyl be getting the nexus s 4 g soon. im very tempted to go that way when i upgrade, but by that time there,s no telling what will be out there in the new phone line. thanks
I love my nexus one too! My wife has a Desire HD – a newer, bigger, arguably better phone. But I had gingerbread months before she did and I prefer the clean operating system over HTC sense. It’s now almost 2 years since the N1 was released and I still feel I have one of the best handsets available.
Damn how did you find this article, it was written 14 months ago when people kept saying that there wouldn’t be anymore Nexus phones. Those were the good old days.