Apple iPhone 3GS vs Google/HTC Android Nexus One Hands-on Video -- Round Robin Redux
Literally right after I finished my 2009 Smartphone Round Robin week with Google's Android platform, represented by the HTC Hero and Motorola Droid, Google went and brought in a ringer -- the HTC-built, Android 2.1 sporting Nexus One.
Android Central's is still en-route but our Editor-in-Chief, Dieter Bohn has been using the Nexus One all through CES so we grabbed him -- literally -- and got him to very quickly put it one-on-one with the great one -- the iPhone 3GS.
Does it change things from our previous hands-on-Android video, and my "power but no passion" full review? Like I said when I posted our iPhone vs. Nexus One gallery, my first impressions are that the Nexus One is top notch when it comes to Google services and hardware specs, but the iPhone is still the king of media and it's user interface remains unequalled. Am I right? Watch the video below and tell me in the comments!
[Note: No, I didn't slam it in the video or try to make the iPhone look better -- that's not the point of the Round Robin. Ultimately the more, better devices that hit the market, the more, better iPhones Apple will have to make for us here at TiPb.]
Editor-in-Chief of iMore, Executive Producer at Mobile Nations, co-host of Iterate and ZEN and TECH, cook, grappler, photon wrangler.
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Rene you confuse me sometimes. One day you say webos ui is better than the iphone now you say iphones is unequalled? Lol make up urr mind. I'm a former palm user just like you but the iphone ui is not king anymore.
Hey hey! Ya, Apple needs to do something now with all these newer phones that are out. The stock iPhone now is just boring, no customization. Come on Apple, at least give them some wallpapers. I don't think 4.0 will do much but I think 5.0 might raise the game a bit with an ovehaul of the OS. Why 5? Just sounds better than 4
@Rene
I really need you to clarify your wording.
The UI is not anything special anymore. A LOT of people are saying the UI is getting stale. It's not changing and the launcher grid is pretty old.
Now if you're speaking on the UI of the many apps, then yes...those are only equaled by the webOS apps.
So lets get it clear. The UI itself is nothign special anymore.
The UI of the apps is what makes it unequaled.
The only thing better than the iPhone 3G[S] is the next iPhone.
Our major telco's research found people want ease of use, not customisation - and consequently has chosen not to release any android phones.
I'd say that's valid too. Let's face it, android users are rabid anti-iPhone geeks - and not at all representative of the wider community.
There's a mock-up in the forums of how widgets may work on the iPhone. A bit like Dashboard on OSX, there when you want them - but they don't try and take over the whole interface.
@frog
But that's the thing, people must be so used to Apples force tactics that they don't understand the keyword here:
Choice.
Widgets are not something you HAVE to use. But it's an option for when you want at-a-glance info. You can have all homescreens filled with icons. Or have nothing at all and just stare at pretty wallpapers (and now live ones).
Just as people, Android users or not, say that US Android devices shoudl have the option of multitouch, every phone should have the option of customization. You don't want it...that's cool. But it should be there for those who do.
I guarantee you, majority iPhone users will bemoan customization (which I doubt since a large portion is jailbroken), but if and when Apple gives it to them, they'll flaunt it like it was never on phones before.
Rene, I think you made a big of enough deal of the Nexus voice speech to text feature... That is one great looking feature just based on your video. I could see it coming in handy when I'm driving and I need to send a quick email or text message.
LOVE THE VOICE TO TEXT!! great job Google. iPhone def needs to have a similar button in their future keyboard 4.0.
Correction you DIDNT make a big enough deal on the voice to text nexus integration.
Have to say I do like the UI of the nexus one, but the thing people need to understand about the Apple, is the they love to lead and not follow. Like it or not the UI on the iPhone, the application grid layout is now iconic, in fact, I would put it at the same level as the click wheel in terms of instant recognisability. If Apple where to tuck them away in favour of widgets, they would lose some of that.
If they are going to add widgets, they should be handled the same way they are on the Mac (hidden and out of the way). That is, they should maybe be placed on a separate screen level all to together. For example, swipe downwards to move to an upper row of screens where you can find all your widgets. In that way you don't lose the iconic grid of apps and at the same time add all the "customisation" that people are so desperate for.
@dragonfly, if the iPhone app grid is iconic, that's something not to be very happy about because, as Rene pointed out, the icon grid has been what the old PalmOS launcher used. Maybe it's simple, but old. Newer OS's seems to be wanting to hide the apps for own customization ala the android widgets/switches, or blank screen for the webOS cards.
The iPhone is still king.. I really love the speak to text function... Is there an app for this... Can not wait for the new iPhone 4.0... Come on apple show us what you got....
Gino: Yeah I agree, the voice to text is the only thing on the Nexus One that I'd like to see on the iPhone. I actually thought "Voice Control" on the 3GS was going to expand and do more through subsequent 3.x releases, but that never happened. Hopefully 4.0 brings that along.
Yes the only thing that is better then the iPhone 3GS is the Next iPhone....
@Dragonfly, like the idea, do that with an upper row of screens and allow for a customized "widget" lock screen
I would love a widget screen or some way of getting glanceable info on the lock screen. I also like to use Dragon Dictation on the iPhone to do text to speech and think it would be nice to have integrated rather than having to use that and then copy-paste into a text while on the move
.
be real. like the iphone, iphone 3g, and now 3g[s] the only device that will perform better and sell as good is the next iphone. all these other phones r playing catch up
That's the nicest video demo of the N1 that I've seen online. Quick, informative, not frenetic.
If you saw CNBC's special program on Google, they did a good job covering Google's interest in the mobile sector. There was some statistic regarding the increasing percentage of people who will use their phones, and not computers, as their primary interface with the internet in the world market. That's the basis for using every element of the phone (microphone, camera, GPS) as a means for accessing information from the internet as easily as possible. It's also probably why Google makes decisions like going with T-Mobile and Vodafone out of the gate. They don't need to make millions of dollars as a phone manufacturer in the U.S., but they do want to position themselves as the interface between the internet and the smartphone user as much as possible in the world market.
The UI that I mean is the overall user interface to the phone -- the way you interact with it. Not the chrome (skin), but the way in which it scrolls, moves through pages, handles buttons and actions, etc. It's still not close to the iPhone. Neither is Palm, frankly, though it comes close (and implements UI concepts well that the iPhone doesn't at all). Neither is as fluid, even with the same or better hardware. Android doesn't have the consistency (which matters to end users whether they're conscious of it or not) or attention to detail. And that's fine -- the old cliche is that Google engineers and Apple designs.
Saying the iPhone is better for Gmail would be just plain wrong. So would saying any version of Android to date has as good a user interface and experience as the iPhone. One is Google's forte, the other's Apple.
I've heard all the "not stepping on Apple's toes" drama, but why they would release this in the U.S. without multitouch is beyond me. I almost considered jumping from the iPhone, despite the lack of apps, but the multitouch issue just closes that down.
iPhone is king but not for long they are catching up quick. In this 6 months alone HTC and Google are droping 4 or 5 phones i belive. Apple better have something up there sleve or I might be sorry to say this but ditching the iPhone please don't let that happen apple show us what u got!!!!! I LOVE MY IPHONE
Fanboys never cease to amuse me. Most of them have never used another smartphone and enjoy their ignorance. The iPhone OS is not for someone that truly likes phones. It simply lacks much functionality!
About multitouch, the free Dolphin browser has pinch and zoom. Personally I like having a one handed zoom option too. Multitouch requires two hands which can be a hinderance.
Android is not playing catch up. It does many things the iPhone cannot without hacking the phone.
The Nexus One is a more powerful and faster phone than the 3gs. With multitasking, having 512 MB of ram and 1 Ghz of power is awesome.
Until Apple stops treating their customers as if they are too stupid to choose things as simple as their wallpaper, the iPhone OS will continue to lack basic customization and options expected in a smartphone.
@Deathwish238
Yawn.
I find it kind of funny how all of the iphone round robin reviews come across as really biased. The phones are good for different users, and I thing that kind of failed to come across. Would I recommend an iPhone to a technologically challenged person; probably, its easy to use and everything is layed out. Would I recommend Android to that same person, probably not. But for users who love customization, Rom cooking and all sorts of goodies, and like an open sourced platform, androids for them. It all comes down to preference, unless your an iPhone user, then its iPhone or die haha
@someguy I have to disagree. Being a somewhat capable smartphone user, I have used my fair share of android phones and iPhones and while the options of customization do attract me, i always end up using my iPhone. I think your idea about the iPhone being for a non tech savvy person is somewhat inaccurate. For me it's all about the fine line between power and usability. While phones such as the nexus one do indeed flaunt their power, I find the current os of the iPhone to be much more user friendly and fast on a day to day basis. It's just fluid and while I'm sure more customization will come in iPhone 4.0, it's still the most pleasant to use and at the end of the day, that's what keeps me on the iPhone
@Dragonfly: As already mentioned Palm had a Gird view ages ago, and there were many different desktop like apps (tracker in examlpe) even for the P800 with UIQ were you could easily make a multipage app grid view. While the IPhone indeed brought many GREAT new features to the table, and without Apple smartphones wouldn't be as far as they are now, the boring grid view is NOT one of them. Please don't think that EVERYTHING apple does is iconic or comes from greater power than mankind.
I guess before Apple introduced cut&paste some apple fanboys called the missing cut&paste iconic too and didn't want it to change
We see hardware changing but the UI hasn't. The UX has however changed lightly.
I like the NexusOne and I love my iPhone but the UI on the Android and iPhone OS has been basically the same since launch. The N1 got the 'zoom feature ' probably because of the hardware. Nothing that really impresses me.
I hope when Apple puts some new hardware into the iPhone , they do something with the UI that is still simple but impressive
Once Nexus comes to Verizon I might be using my 3GS as an iPod, sadly my workplace is like a map commercial.
@Frog... Are you that dumb??
come on... if a user don't want widgets on the Android.. THEY DONT HAVE TO USE IT ... and I hardly find a user WHO DOES NOT NOT WANT WIDGETS ...
GTFOH
That camera man needs to shut-up. He is clearly prejudice to the iPhone.
"I cannot give you a rational or sane explanation for this." (Rene, referring to the lack of multi-touch on the Nexus One).
Apple has patented multi-touch technology on phones. Patents are territorial, however. That means that Apple's US patent on multi-touch does not give it rights in any other country. Google and/or HTC likely has not chosen to license this technology from Apple for the Nexus One.
Well I have used a Pre and a HTC Hero as a daily phone as well as the iPhone and a BlackBerry. For the total package of UI experience and hardware nothing beats the iPhone. The Pre is a battery hog and lacks video out of the box. And is buggy and laggy at times. The HTC Hero is very laggy when alot of programs are open. It can be a battery hog also, though not near as bad as the Pre. My feeling is that a lot of the laggyness (if that is even a word) is dur to the processor inability to keep up with the multitasking. A jailbroken iPhone can be laggy when trying to run too many programs. The iPhone is just as fast or some times faster at closing s program and opening a new program as an android phone is when switching between programs. May be Apple is on to something with the way it handles changing programs. Sure with the snapdragon processor multitasking should be smoother, but what could Apple do with the same processor. Mind you that the 3Gs and the Pre share the same processor and the iPhone is a faster phone. You can customize your iPhone today, just jailbreak it. Yes Apple needs to update the OS. But don't act like the OS is so far behind the Pre or Android. For many the OS works just fine. Infact judging by Apple's ever increasing market share I'd say it works very good for most people. How much of everyones love of the Pre or Android is due to it's newness? Take someone off a BlackBerry and they would be in hog heven on a iPhone. Infact I just switched back from my Bold to my iPhone and I think the OS looks quite up to date. So for those who think Apple is doomed and the OS is useless go over to the Pre or the Android experience and touch back with us in a few months and tell us how you like it. I think you will be like me and find out that the iPhone taken as a total package is the best out there. Other phones might have a different take on the OS that might work better in some spots but have draw backs on other areas. For to total user experience, the OS, hardware, apps, battery usage, over all daily use the iPhone wins. And it is not really close if one is honest.
sometimes people make me sick. Apple fanboys, let the people who want Android have it. And the same with Web OS. If people prefer it over the iphone OS let it be. You guys defend this piece of plastic and metal with your lives and for what.....so you can go out a year later and buy it all over again. Apple doesnt dispense cocaine from the sim tray do they. Iphone is wonderful excellent stupendous blah blah blah, we know that, but there is room for other OSs to thrive as well. The only people who should be this "gong ho" about apple are the one who have stock in apple. By the way i have an iphone 3GS (just in case you all wanted to know)C'mon Man!
@Jerry, Yes Frog is that dumb. He told me yesterday that he would give apple all his money to have a Iphone.
@Rene
Well I do agree with you there. But honestly, I've come to expect it and I'm used to it. You'll never get the integration and smoothness from someone who makes hardware and software together. As you said...one is Apple's forte, and that is it. Something that will never be mimicked (for now at least).
But with that said, the difference is not THAT noticeable. As long as it is smooth that's mainly what the consumer cares about. The Nexus One brings that to Android (so does the Droid I presume, but I own the Nexus so I'll only speak on what I have). The G1 was choppy and buggered down. I hated scrolling and the battery, don't get me started.
Nexus One is truly what an Android phone should be. The baseline. This is what a low-end Android should be...oh yeah, I'll go that far.
I bash the iPhone a lot (not for things they do excel in, but for my personal preference. I'll give credit where it is due). But in the end...I think the two top winners will be Google and Apple. That's not to say either will beat out that number one spot US wise or world wise. But the mindshare will belong with them. Android isn't even in 3rd place I think...and yet you hear only things about Apple and Google to go with their respective OS's and phones.
2010 will be a great year. iPhone 4.0. You just know Android 2.5 will come along with 3.0 at the end (if the releases are the same as last years.
The Nexus One looks better every time I see it, but I'm afraid of T-Mobile's service. I've got an iPhone 3GS on AT&T right now - AT&T sucks and they're way bigger than T-Mobile.
If there's no Verizon iPhone by the time the N1 hits big red, I'll buy an N1. Here's hoping that one of these (iPhone or Nexus One) hits Verizon soon. Hating ATT more each day.
And I don't like the shape or the keyboard on the Moto Droid, so I've ruled it out.
@Kevin: I here you, brother.
im holding both right now. I just cancelled my att service for the n1. Oddly enough i started having this problem which htc cant tell me if its software related or hardware related where it drops from 3g to edge almost every other minute. There are already reports on it. the n1 has a great screen. My iphone 3gs screen looks washed out...though its still more responsive to touch....and oh yes multi-touch matters. I love my customization....i cant tell you how much it means to me. Im one of those people that changes his wallpaper and adds and removes a widget every 3 days lol. But call me crazy....my iPhone was overall faster and more intuative to use. But google is for sure on to something. Clicking on a picture and getting the option to facebook,email,text, etc no matter if im in the phone app, the text app, email app is a real time saver. and a back button...OMG i reached for it on the iphone today lol. But I cant tell you how glad i am that apple sometimes does its whole app store thing. I cant find nearly the quality of apps on android. Start with a twitter app and just try to find one thats as good as tweetie 1 or 2.
To be fair alot of my frustration with the n1 has nothing to do with how its set up but how open it is so all these crappy programs just never have to worry about being the best and i dont know if any of you read the boygenius(sorry) but as much of a rant that was ...the screen responsiveness is an issue and the consistency in the interface. I love all the htc widgets but i cant get those because i have the "google" phone....now thats crap.
Sorry this is long but....i think that googles approach to openess is awesome for how i want my phone to look and work right up until i get an app where the uniformity isnt close to what android looks like when i go back to the homescreen.
Speed it up apple, speed it up. Fanboy or not...oddly enough i bet many people who call us fanboys dont realize how much we love google. Our maps app is a google made app. Most of use use gmail on our desktop and probably have google chrome right on our dock next to safari. If you must know the fanboy thing gets me because I love what htc is doing on every device. I love what google does on its apps, i love what blackberry is doing with its crack like messanger and i love what palm is doing with its multi-tasking....way easier than holding down the home button of my n1.
Then you guys get mad because we tend to choose apple. They just happen to be the ones that are so strict that even if i hate it, its uniform. I love google and android i just dont want to see them turn into windows mobile....now them i hate....hate.
Yesterday i fell in love with my nexus one....today i just sort of wish that the app makers cared as much as google seems to with all the new features they gave it.
or that apple lets my wallpaper be a wallpaper and not a lockscreen..thats totally mislabeled lol. and gives me a high res screen.
I could live with either.
@Cajunrph the Problem here is, that neither you or me can say which product has the "universally" better package. Because for MY use-cases Android has the better overall package. Why? Because to me real multitasking is much more important than the iphone 3gs opening apps faster in some instances. multi tasking is NOT only about the speed of switching the app, but the fact that your app can do anything it wants in the background. And i can never live with a app shortcut only homescreen, since i got my today view for many years on windows mobile devices, i don't accept that the newest smartphones like the iPhone or the Palm Pre just don't give me any widgets or other way to diplay important information on the homescreen directly. This IS a killer criteria for me, and i'm 100% sure that apple will start supporting widgets at some time in the future.
Also i don't want a company to dictate which software i have to use, or which app store.
The only thing you can say in the end is, that Android as well as the IPhone are both greats OS/Products, and to be honest nearly anyone can get along with either option quite well. If i had an iphone i would jailbreak it, and i'm sure that i would be happy with it. But Android gives me customization without the need of hacking, that's why i prefer it.
I'm afraid I could not compare them, the iphone is just the best! Before i got the iphone I had always been using HTC touch and was strongly torn.
No doubt apple are way a head in my opinion and will be for some time to come!!
For me I'm going to stick with the iPhone. I am def. Willing to trade costomization for realiability. My iPhone works great everytime I take it out of my pocket. You'll never see my trying to free up memory so the thing will run an app, and you'll never see me do a hard reset cause the thing froze up. What you will see me do is glide easily between commenting on this page, sending an email, checking the weather, and playing a first person shooter.
"Subtitle text here"
i actually went back to my iphone. i think im just tied too deep into the eco-system. I think the apps are better oddly enough my coverage is better here than t-mobile i think with or without the 3g /edge/ drop problem reported. I would recommend the nexus one to anyone. all my friends likes it when i let them play with it. I just think my apps are way greater on iphone, the media player is top notch and i have about a million different docks and cases and stuff.
sidenot again, lol my iphone screen looks lame in comparison now though lol.