Is the Google Nexus One for You?
The hype about the Google Nexus One phone was enough that practically every tech-savvy phone owner was drooling over the possibility of getting one. As always in these circumstances, the rumours proved to be a little more tempting than the reality, with talk of $200 unlocked phones soon being shot down. It could be tempting, in the circumstances, to go to the opposite extreme and suggest that no one needs this phone while Apple’s iPhone is out there. Instead, let’s take a careful look at both, and try to find areas where each wins out.
Applications
The Google Nexus One is up against stiff competition here. The Apple iPhone is rightly famous for its array of apps, and programmers have had since 2007 to come up with effective ones. In its corner, the Nexus has the fact that it is using an existing open source operating system in the form of Android, and that Google seems to have made sure that there will be a fairly good initial menu of applications to choose from. Combined with the speed at which new apps for both formats will probably be produced, there seems to be little to choose between them here.
Specifications
It can be easy to get too hung up on the specifications of new gadgets, but most of the time the differences don’t make that big an impact on your experience using them. Who will really notice, for example, that the Google Nexus One’s screen is 0.2” bigger than the iPhone 3G’s? There are two differences that you might notice though. Google’s smart phone offers 4GB of SD memory to either 16 or 32GB of flash memory on the iPhone, giving Apple’s option a significant advantage when it comes to storage. It loses out though in the battery stakes, offering similar life to the Nexus in most areas, but only five hours of talk time to the other handset’s ten.
Camera Options
One other area in which there seems to be a clear difference is in the two phones’ camera modes, where Google’s offering gives you 5-megapixel and Apple iPhone only gives you 3-megapixel, along with a digital zoom function. It means that the Nexus One can function on a level comparable with most decent compact digital cameras, along with the more basic SLRs. Whether that would be one of your primary considerations in buying a phone is perhaps debatable, but if you’re the sort of person who likes to snap away on a mobile, it might make the difference.
Should You Switch?
Even in terms of price, there isn’t that much to choose between the two smart phones, with the 16GB iPhone being only $20 more expensive than the contract version of the Nexus One, which is the one most people will probably want, given the expense of the $529 unlocked version.
So, you probably won’t buy Google’s Nexus One if you already own an iPhone. On the other hand, there’s no reason why, if you find yourself looking for your first smart phone, you shouldn’t give it some serious consideration.
