Engadget's review on Nexus S | Hacker News Reader

Engadget's review on Nexus S

engadget.com

53 pointsseahsq28 comments

"To have this many options and discrepancies over something as simple as copy and paste should be embarrassing to Google. What it mostly is, however, is a pain to the end user.

And that's kind of the crux of our problem with Android in its current state. We don't question the power of the OS, but the fit, finish, and ease of use simply is still not there."

I think Joshua Topolsky nailed it right at the heart of the problem for Android, at least from a typical smartphone user's point of view.

the UI gets overhauled in honeycomb. the focus of this release was performance.

Which means most users will have it by... Q4 2011? Q1 2012?

I mean, we're up to 2.3 now, many devices are still being sold with 2.1, and while a lot of 2.2 updates are out now, they took forever.

I fear that the way the OEMs drag their feet on Android updates is a serious problem for the platform - cursed to constantly be chasing iOS which can get its new features to users months ahead of Google's schedule.

http://www.intomobile.com/2010/12/10/motorola-android-honeyc...

that says CES in january. it doesn't usually take long to go from there to the public. who knows which current/past devices will be supported.

CES in January. Let's just say public in February - which means it's only available to Nexus owners, hackers, and enthusiasts with the know-how and inclination to root their device.

Being shipped with new devices? Being upgradeable from phone manufacturer (i.e., the ability for the "normal" user base to upgrade)? End of 2011, early 2012?

That's the problem, too many hoops, too long to hop through them. iOS can push major updates to their users instantly, Google has to wait for OEMs to get their act together, and if Android up to this point is any indication, it takes forever (if ever).

the public doesn't really care about that, they just want to buy the snazziest frobulet. you want an update? just buy a new phone. the hardware improvement makes it worth it anyway. so yes it's a problem, not not an important one.

activations are growing so fast that most users will be on the latest release quicker than you expect.

Spot on. I have an HTC Aria from AT&T that is still on 2.1. It is an awesome piece of hardware, but I use my iPhone most days because of the old Android OS.

> OS can push major updates to their users instantly

Actually no, people need to connect their iphone to itunes in order to update, this is too much for many people and the result is that many iphone users do not update their phones:

http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/937182-study-suggests-ios-...

And that's what I believe is the major reason why Google flip-flopped on releasing another Nexus. By making an Android device widely available that gets prompt updates and has no bloatware, they're letting carriers and manufacturers know that if they continue their games of user-hostile "branding", deliberate crippling, and planned obsolescence, their customers will have a solid alternative.

One of the things that bugs me about the Android UI, which doesn't seem to have been addressed in 2.3, is the lack of any decent UI management for multi-tasking. There's the alt-tab switcher if you hold down your home button which isn't a very obvious solution and it just takes too long. On my phone I have to hold down my home button for several seconds. This is probably a good example of what Topolsky is talking about.

2 seconds is too long?

Yes, when someone just wants to switch to another app to get something done, 2 seconds is quite a long time. Compared to the double-click-home in iOS, which is quite snappy, the two-second delay on Android takes the flow out of using the OS.

“It seems like every couple of weeks we're saying something along the lines of "x is the best Android smartphone on the market right now." We'd like to tell you differently when it comes to the Nexus S, but the truth is, it really is the best Android device available right now.”

THAT is the most annoying thing about Android by far. It's impossible to feel good about buying an Android phone when a newer sexier one always comes out a couple weeks later.

Well, unless your mood is not dependent on having the newest sexiest thing all the time.

That's why I'm sticking with the IPhone! I always want to be assured that I won't be out-sexied by any other smart phone user, as long as I upgrade once a year.

People will also know that my choice of IPhone as my primary communications device signals that I have the largest number of sex partners, on average, of any smartphone user.

http://mashable.com/2010/08/10/iphone-sex-okcupid/

In a communist society or as an Apple user life sure is simpler.

I can sympathize with this - I've been debating Android vs iPhone for a while and while Android is winning the mental debate lately, it's been hard to decide when to buy an Android phone - it perpetually feels like if I wait just 4-6 weeks more I can get a better phone for the same price.

(which I guess is a good problem to have in a way)

I don't understand why people expected so much from Gingerbread in the first place. So they expect Google to only release updates with massive feature additions? Personally I would rather have small incremental updates than nothing at all.

It has massive new features: SIP support, gyroscope support, NFC support in addition to the various Dalvik and NDK upgrades and APIs.

Feature-set was never a problem for Android. The UI didn't get an overhaul though, just nips and tucks, and is the only quarrel in that post. Personally I like the Android UI specially after the black/green/orange refinements in 2.3.

Even the hardware manufacturers expect big improvements in every release.

Integrating a new release, testing and verifying correct operation of a cell phone is a long and costly procedure. This is why many phones still don't have an update for 2.2.

So cell phone makes would prever big upgrades with many new features -- but release infrequently.

The "release early, release often" mantra just doesn't suit this type of market.

Competition. Apple stepped it up in iOS4 and has continued adding user facing features in each point release since -- HDR, Game Center, AirPlay, AirPrint, etc. Then you have WM7 with, at minimum, a very attractive GUI. RIM has some eye-candy stuff on the way with the PlayBook GUI. I think the big disappointment is that Google hasn't been able to spruce up the Android UI. We're starting to drift into this uncomfortable Windows Mobile 6.x territory where the UI is clunky, somewhat difficult to use, and just not all that nice looking. In my opinion at least...

Is this thing actually fully-unlocked if you get it with a T-Mobile contract?

The FAQ that Best Buy put out was pretty ambiguous. I called Best Buy's dedicated Nexus S helpline to clarify that, and they were basically useless.

Phones in the US have a 30 mandatory day return window by law. Easiest thing to do is just buy one and return it after testing it out on another GSM network's sim.

Some states may have a 30-day window, but I don't think the US does as a whole. I only had 14 days to return my Nexus One.

Hmmm....Looking further, it looks like you're right...the T-Mobile rep was wrong apparently (and it said so on the receipt).

I believe it's 3 days by law, with no real charges. Many carriers allow 30 with prorated usage and restocking fees.

The N1 was unlocked even if you bought it on a T-Mobile contract, so I'd expect the S will be as well.

I've said for a long time that it's wrong to compare the iPhone and Android. iPhone is a phone and a brand. Android is an idea, arguably a philosophy. It is not a brand.

Let me put it another way: when people buy an iPhone, they're buying an iPhone. When people are buying an Android phone, they're buying a phone (or, in some cases, they're not buying an iPhone).

I've now had the opportunity to use a HTC Desire, an iPhone 4 and a DroidX (in that order).

Inconsistency of UI/UX (as well as hardware) is a huge problem for Android. Even Microsoft abandoned the handset manufacturer and carrier customization model with Windows Phone 7.

You are seeing what carriers are doing: the Samsung Fascinate from Verizon is just the most recent example.

You also see people still releasing 1.5/1.6 devices when there really is no technical reason to do so (carriers/manufacturers like product differentiation, no matter how illogical or how much it hurts the UX long term).

That being said, from Google's perspective, Android is a huge success. Google is successfully commoditizing the mobile OS, lowering costs and driving adoption of smart phones, which drives mobile Internet usage.

The carriers and manufacturers are simply being complicity in their own execution in this race to the bottom. It reminds me of net books actually (almost no profit, commodity hardware, very cheap).

One error made with Android (IMHO) is the proliferation of buttons. It's confusing, inconsistent and (with the possible exception of the back button) unnecessary (beyond the one home button).

Well see just how much pent up demand there is for the iPhone when it spreads to other carriers. My guess is a lot.

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