Tech bloggers and analysts have praised Google’s Nexus One handset, labelling it as the most powerful Android handset on the market and potentially threatening the iPhone’s dominance.
But some reviewers have said the device may not match the iPhone’s hype, and predict it will be quite some time before another device can take away Apple’s market share.
Silicon Valley tech blog TechCrunch wrote the release of the Nexus One was an important milestone in the smartphone market, and said it has “no obvious flaws or compromises”.
“This is a software company, frustrated with making compromises with hardware manufacturers, that has taken the product bull by the horns. HTC makes the phone, but the branding is mostly Google and it’s clear that they directed every aspect of the development of this phone.”
“It’s Google’s vision of the perfect Android device, from the huge and beautiful screen and massively fast Snapdragon processor to the software elegance of Google Navigation, Live Wallpaper and the Voice Keyboard. When combined with Google Voice there is no phone on the market today that can touch the Nexus One.”
Engadget praised the phone’s features including interactive wallpapers, new widgets, voice interactivity and the improved camera settings, but also said the release of the phone may not be as big an event as some suggest.
“Industry politics aside, though, the Nexus One is at its core just another Android smartphone,” the site wrote.
“Of course, if Google’s goal is to spread Android more wide than deep, maybe this is precisely the right phone at the right time: class-leading processor, vibrant display, sexy shell, and just a sprinkling of geekiness that only Google could pull off this effortlessly.”
TechRepublic noted the voice support, technical specifications and the “unlocked” capabilities, but also said the limited internal storage, number of apps on the Android Market and a lack of multi-touch support let the phone down.
“Overall, the Nexus One appears to be a solid mobile device with a lot of promise. I’m just not sure it lives up to the “superphone” moniker,” it wrote.
Britain-based TechRadar also said the lack of multi-touch support for the on-screen keyboard was disappointing, but praised other features including the crystal-clear 3.7-inch screen, Wi-Fi connectivity, easy web-browsing, fast processing power and simple file-browsing structures.
“Android is just getting better and better, and the addition of things like live wallpapers and the forthcoming Google Earth application just show how cool the OS has become,” it said.
“We’ll reserve judgement until our full and in-depth review, but we’re quietly confident that when people ask ‘which phone shall I get?’ we’ll be pointing a few in the direction of the Nexus One.”
The Telegraph also wrote that the Nexus doesn’t necessarily “feel quite as well put together as the iPhone” and lacks the ease of moving entire media collections. However, it said the Android was breaking ground in a market of its own.
“But the Nexus One does plug in effortlessly to the web, social media, email, calendar, search and contacts functions; perhaps the company that dominates web search should simply start making the computers as well.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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