Nexus One or Desire - is HTC Sense worth having?

[andyps]

Sorry to start another thread, but I haven't directly seen this question answered.

I am after a new phone, have decided that Android platform is what I want. The choice seems to have come down to 3 phones - Google Nexus One, HTC Desire or Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. Whilst I value a good camera and have had SE products for a few years partly because of this I am concerned that the X10 will only have Android 1.6 at launch so wonder if SE will ever catch up and be quick with releases of updates to Android meaning there could be some apps which may not work.

That leaves the other two which I know are basically the same so I am wondering whether to take the plunge and order a Nexus One unseen and untried (by me) or wait for the Desire. I guess the Desire will have a few extra features over the Nexus due to Sense UI but is it worth having? Also, it presumably means that even the Desire may not be completely up to date in terms of Android as HTC will have to tweak any updates to work with Sense. The one feature which does appeal in the Desire over the other two is the FM radio - I do use it on my phone occasionally and would like it incorporated (it is great for listening to Radio Le Mans when at La Sarthe, amongst other things) if possible so that is a reason to hold on for the Desire.

Otherwise, getting a Nexus One now would stop me looking and wasting time thinking about which to go for!

Final quick point, is anyone using a Nexus on O2, if so does it work OK?

Cheers

[cs02rm0]

Not sure. It is just software though and I know a few weeks ago someone made available an early release of a firmware for the N1 with the HTC Sense UI.

I think I want the extra mic for noise cancelling over the optical touch ball thing and FM radio. Just wish they'd hurry up and get these in the shops here so I could try them out.

[Greedydog]

Why not get a Desire and flash the Sense ROM? The only differences as you've correctly noted is the trackpad/ball and the noise cancelling mic's on the Nexus One (the Desire also has FM radio but I believe the Nexus One has the hardware to support this as well....)

I've a Nexus One which I'm currently using on O2 and regularly swap between ROM's (once you have it rooted and Amon Ra Recovery installed it's almost as simple as just rebooting the phone) and have had no difficulty whatsoever, in fact it even recovers the different settings and data from different backups etc.

Finally the Nexus One is cheaper, better looking, more exclusive (as it's currently unsubsidised although that may change) and will benefit from faster OS updates being, at heart, a vanilla Android 2.1 device......

[Frederick]

I quite like the look of the Nexus One... I'm tempted to order one from the US, but the £350-ish price plus another £100 of DHL charges for the duty, vat and 'handling' put me off, for £450 I could just buy an iPhone 3GS that I know is a good phone...

I flashed an Android image onto my HTC Touch Pro and it's actually pretty good, but I'm not sure as to how day-to-day user friendly it is as the OS is pretty badly crippled on the Windows Mobile-based phone. The Android app store looks quite handy tho - I guess with the larger screen of the Nexus One it would be as usuable as the iPhone app store.

The problem I've got is that I haven't actually seen the Nexus One running, and as such I don't know if it's going to be up to much - I've been watching all the YouTube videos of it that I can find, and it's certainly appealing, but I just can't make my mind up to pull the trigger on it or a 3GS.

[andyps]

Greedydog said:

Why not get a Desire and flash the Sense ROM? The only differences as you've correctly noted is the trackpad/ball and the noise cancelling mic's on the Nexus One (the Desire also has FM radio but I believe the Nexus One has the hardware to support this as well....)

I've a Nexus One which I'm currently using on O2 and regularly swap between ROM's (once you have it rooted and Amon Ra Recovery installed it's almost as simple as just rebooting the phone) and have had no difficulty whatsoever, in fact it even recovers the different settings and data from different backups etc.

Finally the Nexus One is cheaper, better looking, more exclusive (as it's currently unsubsidised although that may change) and will benefit from faster OS updates being, at heart, a vanilla Android 2.1 device......

Sorry, I may be misunderstanding but don't you mean get a Nexus one and flash the Sense ROM? I guess (radio apart) this might give the best of both worlds, Nexus noise cancelling mic and other hardware features with the Desire software on whatever the latest Android update is. Am I right?

[Greedydog]

Yup, you're correct, I meant get a Nexus One and flash the Sense ROM. An important point to note is that with future Android updates unless HTC get a bit quicker with their support the Sense UI will be will still be based on 2.1 but Android could be on 2.5, 3.0 etc.

Edited by Greedydog on Wednesday 10th March 10:36

[Rochester TVR]

Im in a similar situation; my iphone 3g is now out of contract and I am now on the sim only O2 30-day contract while I decide what to do...

Wait for the iPhone 4 or get a HTC Desire?

Personally ATM I would choose the Desire over the Nexus as I can see the track ball on the Nexus failing 12-18 months down plus the YouTube videos I have seen of the Nexus show that the touch sensitive home/menu buttons look a bit slow to react, and its small things like that that would drive me mad!

Having said all that, I haven't seen either of them in the flesh let alone had the chance to test my concerns...

In regards to the iPhone, 'if' one is due out its likely to be around June/July but with no new rumours for a while now I wouldn't be surprised if a winter release were to happen...

What to do, what to do...

[Greedydog]

I've never had an issue with the responsiveness and as for the trackball that wouldn't be a deal breaker because a)I don't use it very often anway b) without it it would function like an iPhone and they're usable enough c) I don't plan to have the phone over a year.... One good think about the trackball is that it glows for a notification (text, call, email etc) and you can set different colours for different instances... not world beating but cool none the less!

[andyps]

The Nexus is ordered. Hope I like it!

[cyberface]

andyps said:

The Nexus is ordered. Hope I like it!

It fking ROCKS.

You will LOVE the quality, it makes iPhones feel like cheap plastic toys. The software isn't quite as slick as OS X on the iPhone, but it's nearly there - and the benefits (open source, it's YOUR Nexus One and you can do what you want with it - get root, no barriers, no 'exclusive' carrier lock-in, no 'jailbreak' bullst) far outweigh the downsides IMO.

And I'm a raving Apple fanatic and have had more than my fair share of experience with the iPhone (first unlocked in the UK, yadda yadda). I really *MUCH* prefer the Nexus One to the iPhone.

Two things though:

1) You'll find it easier if you're used to an iPhone. Many of the UI paradigms are the same, the soft keyboard works very similarly, gestures are pretty much identical (with the second release of the Android OS, multitouch is enabled in the browser, so the APIs are there for all developers).
2) You won't get a 'open the box and it just works' experience like you will with an iPhone (assuming you use iTunes, and have your contacts and calendars on supported platforms). You need to fiddle around a bit, do a tiny, teensy-weensy bit of hacking, to get email, contacts, calendars, tunes, photos, etc. synchronised with the core platform of your choice. I use MobileMe (formerly known as dot Mac) as I'm on OS X everywhere else - and yes, it *is* possible to get Android and OS X talking with each other well. If you're using Google's cloud for PIM then it's a lot easier. Apparently Microsoft (as in Exchange) is supported 'sort-of' too.

There are lots of neat cross-platform apps that make switching from an iPhone easier, but if you haven't had an iPhone then prepare for the initial GUI shock...

Basically, IMO the Nexus One is an iPhone the way I'd design it. I absolutely LOVE mine.

[andyps]

Thanks Cyberface, really looking forward to it and your enthusiasm is partly what spurred me on.

I haven't had an iPhone, never wanted one partly because I don't like the restrictions it imposes on users. I am not a techie, but I love gadgets and am quite happy to play around getting things to talk. As I use a lot of Google stuff, mail, calendar, chat etc. I hope I won't have too much trouble getting things synced with the Nexus. Music is the one I have to figure, I mainly use iTunes these days, but have most stuff on Windows Media player too, but that is not brilliant for podcasts of course so need to get that sorted.

Otherwise I am happy to learn and have no pre-conceived ideas. As long as I can get it sorted within a week before I see my brother to show him it is better than his iPhone I will be happy - he has been doing the unpaid Steve Jobs salesman role for a while

[Tycho]

andyps said:

Thanks Cyberface, really looking forward to it and your enthusiasm is partly what spurred me on.

I haven't had an iPhone, never wanted one partly because I don't like the restrictions it imposes on users. I am not a techie, but I love gadgets and am quite happy to play around getting things to talk. As I use a lot of Google stuff, mail, calendar, chat etc. I hope I won't have too much trouble getting things synced with the Nexus. Music is the one I have to figure, I mainly use iTunes these days, but have most stuff on Windows Media player too, but that is not brilliant for podcasts of course so need to get that sorted.

Otherwise I am happy to learn and have no pre-conceived ideas. As long as I can get it sorted within a week before I see my brother to show him it is better than his iPhone I will be happy - he has been doing the unpaid Steve Jobs salesman role for a while

If you use Google services then you'll be up and running in no time. The contacts and mail integration are brilliant. I use thunderbird for email and there is a plugin called Zindus which allows sync to take place between thunderbird and Google contacts so I never had to connect my pc to my phone apart from file transfer.

Media player will allow you to sync to the phone as a normal sd card and if you like podcasts then get Google Listen which allows you to download them straight to your phone.

[cyberface]

andyps said:

Thanks Cyberface, really looking forward to it and your enthusiasm is partly what spurred me on.

I haven't had an iPhone, never wanted one partly because I don't like the restrictions it imposes on users. I am not a techie, but I love gadgets and am quite happy to play around getting things to talk. As I use a lot of Google stuff, mail, calendar, chat etc. I hope I won't have too much trouble getting things synced with the Nexus. Music is the one I have to figure, I mainly use iTunes these days, but have most stuff on Windows Media player too, but that is not brilliant for podcasts of course so need to get that sorted.

Otherwise I am happy to learn and have no pre-conceived ideas. As long as I can get it sorted within a week before I see my brother to show him it is better than his iPhone I will be happy - he has been doing the unpaid Steve Jobs salesman role for a while

Well normally it's ME doing the unpaid Steve Jobs evangelist role. That's how good the Nexus One is.

However be warned - something I glossed over but really is critical - Google supply the Nexus One with a 4 GB class 2 Micro SDHC card. All storage is removable in the Nexus One - there's a slot for one Micro SDHC card. If you want 32 GB storage like the iPhone, you need to buy a 32 GB Micro SDHC card. These don't exist yet. Sandisk have announced one, but it's not available until April and it will cost £100. A fast class 6 16GB card is pretty mandatory (I've got 16 GB in mine) but that's additional cost, and significant additional cost.

Yes, the benefit of removable storage is that you can swap cards around, but you have to power the device down to do so (and remove the battery). Don't forget the storage! If your brother knows the Nx1 specs then the first thing he'll do is laugh at your piddly 4 GB storage capacity which was less than the first iPhone

In terms of music copying - as long as you don't use Apple Lossless (damn - I do, you see), then you can just copy and paste your iTunes Library folder onto the Micro SDHC card into the /data/tunes folder. Just get a card reader and adaptor for Micro SD, and copy the entire library across. The great thing about iTunes is that it puts the metadata in the files - so if you're using MP3 and AAC, then the Nexus One will pick up all the album art, the artist, album etc. and it all 'just works'. It only chokes on the Apple Lossless format - if you've only used AAC and MP3 then you're laughing.

There's even an iTunes Remote app for the Nexus One, and iTunes even displays 'Android Device' in the Devices tree so you can pair it with your library and control it from the Nexus One. This is where I absolutely LOVE Apple for using open, documented standards... call me a fanboy, but Apple's use of open standards has made interoperability so much easier, and using a Nexus One with Apple's suite of products actually flies. If it was Microsoft... well I don't want to start an argument. But it certainly appears that the historic close ties between Google and Apple have paid off here...

[JohnnyPanic]

I run all of my personal stuff through Google Apps, so my setup was pretty much "works out of the box". First time ever for a phone I think!

Booted up the phone, logged in with my Google Apps login, connected to wifi and as-if-by-magic there was my calendar, email & phonebook. Happy Chappy.

The fun bit was getting my un-synced contacts off my old LG Renoir. Sync LG to new contacts group in Outlook, export the group to CSV, import the CSV into Google Apps, merge existing & new contacts. Relatively painless I guess, compared to how it used to be when changing between different handset makes.

I also second Google Listen, but I've found the best way to search for podcasts is not through the app, but through the browser. Once you've found what you want, clicking on the feed link asks whether you want to open it in the browser or Google Listen. Doing the latter adds it to your subscription list.

The only thing I discovered to my cost, is that the alarms don't work if you switch the phone off!

In the first few days of ownership it will cane the battery. Because you keep playing with it.

[andyps]

cyberface said:

andyps said:

Thanks Cyberface, really looking forward to it and your enthusiasm is partly what spurred me on.

I haven't had an iPhone, never wanted one partly because I don't like the restrictions it imposes on users. I am not a techie, but I love gadgets and am quite happy to play around getting things to talk. As I use a lot of Google stuff, mail, calendar, chat etc. I hope I won't have too much trouble getting things synced with the Nexus. Music is the one I have to figure, I mainly use iTunes these days, but have most stuff on Windows Media player too, but that is not brilliant for podcasts of course so need to get that sorted.

Otherwise I am happy to learn and have no pre-conceived ideas. As long as I can get it sorted within a week before I see my brother to show him it is better than his iPhone I will be happy - he has been doing the unpaid Steve Jobs salesman role for a while

Well normally it's ME doing the unpaid Steve Jobs evangelist role. That's how good the Nexus One is.

However be warned - something I glossed over but really is critical - Google supply the Nexus One with a 4 GB class 2 Micro SDHC card. All storage is removable in the Nexus One - there's a slot for one Micro SDHC card. If you want 32 GB storage like the iPhone, you need to buy a 32 GB Micro SDHC card. These don't exist yet. Sandisk have announced one, but it's not available until April and it will cost £100. A fast class 6 16GB card is pretty mandatory (I've got 16 GB in mine) but that's additional cost, and significant additional cost.

Yes, the benefit of removable storage is that you can swap cards around, but you have to power the device down to do so (and remove the battery). Don't forget the storage! If your brother knows the Nx1 specs then the first thing he'll do is laugh at your piddly 4 GB storage capacity which was less than the first iPhone

In terms of music copying - as long as you don't use Apple Lossless (damn - I do, you see), then you can just copy and paste your iTunes Library folder onto the Micro SDHC card into the /data/tunes folder. Just get a card reader and adaptor for Micro SD, and copy the entire library across. The great thing about iTunes is that it puts the metadata in the files - so if you're using MP3 and AAC, then the Nexus One will pick up all the album art, the artist, album etc. and it all 'just works'. It only chokes on the Apple Lossless format - if you've only used AAC and MP3 then you're laughing.

There's even an iTunes Remote app for the Nexus One, and iTunes even displays 'Android Device' in the Devices tree so you can pair it with your library and control it from the Nexus One. This is where I absolutely LOVE Apple for using open, documented standards... call me a fanboy, but Apple's use of open standards has made interoperability so much easier, and using a Nexus One with Apple's suite of products actually flies. If it was Microsoft... well I don't want to start an argument. But it certainly appears that the historic close ties between Google and Apple have paid off here...

Thanks for the input, sounds like it should be pretty easy to get things set up. If I can pair with iTunes that will be great and a bonus I wasn't expecting - one of the frustrating things about Android market is that you can't see what is in there without an Android phone, I am looking forward to browsing around.

I was aware about the limited storage on the supplied card but will make do with it until the 32GB card is available, I factored one into my costing decisions as I find the 16GB I have on the card in my current Sony Ericsson phone is only just big enough and beginning to get limiting.

[andyps]

Phone arrived today so work went out of the window this afternoon whilst I had fun playing and setting up. The design and feel is fabulous, and so far I am impressed with what it can do, but will have to adjust the way I do things having not had touch screen before.

[Frederick]

I am > < this close to ordering a nexus one myself, when you get it up and running, can you give a quick noob critque of it, ie how easy it is to set contacts up etc?

I'm going to pretty much move purely to GMail when I eventually pull the trigger, but the initial setup will be something I'd like to have a heads up on before I get mine.

[JohnnyPanic]

I would recommend moving to Gmail first. Get all of your contacts in there, then setting up the phone is a doddle. You have to sign into the phone with your Google Account, at which point it basically sets itself up.

[Frederick]

Oh right, nice one - I'll look into that then thanks!

[andyps]

I would agree about setting up contacts first in Gmail - I spent quite a bit of time sorting mine yesterday after I got the phone to ensure all the people I want on the phone are in the list and with phone numbers which I didn't always have in google contacts as that wasn't where I kept them - I think it is beneficial to have done it for both environments, however. It is one of the things I could have done before the phone arrived.

As for the choice of phone, no regrets so far at all, it is great. I would suggest getting the spare battery - the life is poor but I have been playing a lot. I also got the desk stand but have not used it yet.

Overall, it was easy to get it going, connected via wi-fi to get the google account added, then input the settings for using the phone network for the internet and MMS and it was good to go. I have added a few apps which look fun/helpful and they all work OK.