4 Days. Me and the new T Mobile G2 Touch.
August 27th, 2009 • Mobile
One week after I returned from my vacations I found this nice, little suprise on my desk: The new T Mobile G2 Touch. I received it as a trial product for two weeks. And even though I will take a deeper look at it over the next couple of days, I would like to describe my first impressions yet.
Not so paranoid Android
Apart from more ordinary product properties like a 3.2-inch touchscreen, a 5 Megapixel camera, GPS, Bluetooth and WiFi it also comes with good stuff such as GPS, Compass and Trackball…and the new Android version 1.5 Cupcake. While still too many people confuse the Mobile handset with its google OS, it is the phone’s open architecture which makes it especially interesting. While Apple struggles with its app policy, it’s the Android’s openness to free software developments which makes it interesting in the long run.
Good look, kind of good feel
The new G2 Touch definitely looks better than its predecessor, the HTC Magic aka G1 Touch. And as T-Mobile somehow seems to be obsessed with renaming HTC devices they also renamed the HTC Hero as G2 Touch. The new phone is slimmer, lighter and misses the fixed keyboard. And when you first see it, you will perceive a little bend when you hold it in your hand. Yes, this definitely looks a little bit more like phone than the Netbook which we like to call iPhone. But it doesn’t exactly make it easier to carry around. You don’t need anything attached to your phone which looks like a microphone just to make you remember where to speak. Nevertheless the look is definitely nice.
Usable or not usable? That’s the question.
No question, the G2 Touch definitely is a nice phone. It comes with a good interface, navigation via Trackball works well and it’s fast. Nevertheless it’s usability sometimes looks a bit open source too. I don’t want to stress this too much, but it simply is not an iPhone. All too often you get to points where you simply don’t know which button to press or what to do. This is in parts connected with the phone’s open architecture, in parts a lack in usability.
4 days with the G2 Touch
To sum up my first days with the G2 Touch: I like it. It won’t beat the iPhone Usability-wise, but it comes with a great standard product package (which is similar to the 3Gs) and – of course – the advantages of Android’s open platform. Price vs Performance seem to be more than reasonable and I am looking forward to my next couple of days with the G2 Touch. I like it, but I don’t yet love it. Let’s see what comes…
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