Nexus Gone

I had such high hopes for the Nexus One. The promised features were great, including the tight integration with google services.

Unfortunately, there were some serious flaws that prompted me to cancel my new T-Mobile service within the 14 day ‘buyer remorse window’ and send my new phone back to the Googleplex.

First and foremost, the Nexus One IS a phone. So when I can’t touch the screen during a call, let’s say to input information like on a touch-tone system, or even to hang up, there’s a serious user experience issue. I resorted to switching the phone into airplane mode just to lose the signal to hang up calls.

I didn’t come up with a solution for the second screen issue. Remember those first few pictures that showed up online of the new phone, where you really mostly just saw the reflection of the photographer? The phone is all but entirely unusable in bright sunlight. I live in Colorado: we have sun almost every day. To try to use this phone outdoors in the sun means squinting, angling the phone and trying to shield it from any light. It’s a mobile phone: I should be able to use it wherever I am.

Lastly, there were some general problems with the services. Many of the services tied directly into Google data, which is fine when Internet access is available. I got countless errors during my short term with the phone.

Anyone who has had an iPhone knows the joy of showing it to someone. Even the ease with which things scroll, the entire experience is special. I never felt that with the Nexus One. Even when I’d try to demo the features (I did love Google Maps Navigation), I didn’t always have faith that there would be anything to show.

So, I’m back on my iPhone 3G with AT&T. Thankfully, AT&T was fantastic when I came back, and didn’t make me sign a contract, so I will be ready to upgrade when the next version of the iPhone comes out!

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