t3ch Review - T-Mobile G2

Chris Self Jan 10, 2011 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Android, Exclusive, Hardware, Mobile, Okay Geek Review, Reviews, Smartphones

Released in early October, the T-Mobile G2 has quickly become known as one of the best Android experiences out there. Capable of 4G speeds and recording HD 720p video, we just had to test it out. But is it truly a worthy successor to the G1, the first Android phone. Or is just another minor iteration in the Android landscape?

Product: T-Mobile G2
Features 

• First HSPA+ phone on T-Mobile (4G speeds)
• 3.7” 800 x 480 WVGA LCD
• 800 Mhz MSM 7230 Snapdragon processor
• 512 MB of RAM
• 4 GB built-in storage, 8 GB SD card included
• 5 megapixel, auto-focus camera w/LED flash, capable of 720p video
• Slide-out QWERTY keyboard with “Z-hinge”
• 1300 mAh Lithium-ion battery (6.5 hours of talk time)

Review

Hardware

Colorfully packaged in its box, hardware is anything but lacking on this phone. Every person I hand this phone to comments on how solid it feels; especially over an iPod Touch. The battery, microSD card, and SIM card are housed under a sturdy, aluminum plate. The large, bright screen makes surfing the web and watching video a sure pleasure. Running on 512MB of RAM and a 2nd generation Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, this phone definitely works quite rapidly. While playing games I encountered no dropped frames or lag of any kind. For the average consumer the included 8GB memory card will be an adequate amount of space.

The touch screen flips up on a “Z-hinge” that reveals a full QWERTY keyboard. Keys are spaced just far enough where it’s comfortable to type. Also on the keyboard, is a handy feature called “Quick Keys.” These are assigned when you first setup your phone. By giving users three customizable grey keys, they can assign functions to access their favorite applications with ease. Great controversy has sparked from G2 owners over the z-style hinge design, which to explain simply — if you hold the G2 upside down, the screen will dangle from the back of the phone. If you’re one of those people who lay in bed with your phone above you you’ll find this extremely annoying. Other complaints I’ve heard prior to this review involved the way the phone flips up to reveal the keyboard. People have described this idea as unpractical and “unnatural,” especially compared to slider phones. To be quite honest, during the time I used this handset, none of these things really bugged me but if you are going to throwing your phone around, then the G2 isn’t for you.

With the 5 megapixel camera I was able to get some pretty decent shots. The LED Flash is extremely bright and adds great contrast to photos. I also really liked the addition of white balance and exposure “presets.” Additionally, if you have GPS enabled, the location where you took the image will be saved as well. The HD video this device takes is superb to say the least. Just like the camera you can select white balance presets, but you can also select from a variety of color presets such as “sepia” or “black and white,” and if you’re shooting a video and it’s too dark, you can enable the surprisingly bright LED Flash to operate continuously. 

Software

Android 2.2 is very snappy, and loading a website takes as little as three seconds. This phone, however, like many others running Android, takes a substantial amount of time to boot and “prepare the SD Card.” This can be very annoying when you need to access information on your phone quickly. The G2 also comes preloaded with a great array of Google apps. Although Android operates extremely well on this device, I did encounter the occasional, and annoying, crash. Not too long ago an update was pushed to the phone that gave me the ability to make calls over wireless networks. Cool addition, but I haven’t used it once. However, something that I have used quite frequently is Voice Actions from Google. Whether you are searching for something on Google, finding a song in your music library, or texting your friend, this feature is always there for you. After waiting a quick second, you’re prompted to speak, and then within a few seconds it analyzes what you spoke. I tried fooling it with trickysome, complicated phrases and large words but it still worked its way through. Where the G2 shines through for is when I’m driving and can’t look down at my phone. I only have to hit two buttons to send a text message; voice command and send.

Battery Life

If you’re an Android power-user, you’ll notice that your battery life will diminish quickly. Having the screen set at full brightness, browsing the web connected to Wi-Fi, recording HD video with the LED Flash, and playing games are all things that will shorten your battery life tremendously, as would all smartphones when used that extensively. However, if you are just browsing the internet on a 3G network, texting, and listening to music, you’ll be fine. According to T-Mobile, the G2’s battery will last long enough for up to 6.5 hours of talk time. When I have the phone on standby, I can get about 16 to 18 hours of battery life. While using the phone for extended periods of time, I can get about 7 to 8 hours. 

HSPA+ Network

T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network, more commonly known as 4G, is currently available in 75 areas. Being able to take advantage of these speeds, I ran five speed tests using the “speedtest.net” application. I received a calculated average of 1.97 Mbps down and 0.58 Mbps up. Results like this leave me to wonder if they are pumping out true 4G speeds, as T-Mobile claims.

Overall

I’ve been very happy with the T-Mobile G2 and have little to no complaints, although the battery life is inadequate and applications tend to crash here and there, the pro’s definitely outweigh the con’s. The speed, camera quality, preloaded applications, keyboard, and sturdy construction all make this phone a great buy in my opinion. If you’re on T-Mobile and are looking into Android, this is definitely a great option. 

Pro’s

• Sturdy and solid construction
• Very snappy performance
• HSPA+ network is very fast
• Great camera with HD capabiliy

Con’s

• Inadequate battery life for power users
• Occasionally crashes
• Slow powerup times
• Complaints over z-style hinge

Price: $199 (with two year contract)
Where to buy: T-Mobile Amazon

Photos

G2 Photos by Donald Kelly - Flickr