T-Mobile G1 User Reviews

Overall User Rating
Build quality
8
Camera quality
7.5
Performance
7.5
Display
7.5
Battery life and charging
8
Rating breakdown (out of 10)
User reviews
9

First Android Phone - not much else needs to be said

Phone owned for more than a year

This was the first android phone available to the public, running Android 1.5 Cupcake out of the box. Not too much else can be said about it. It was a great phone, had a unique keyboard slide out feature, great build quality from HTC, including the matte black, rubberized body. It was very sturdy, had great call quality and introduced what is now the Google Play Store with all of the fun apps cataloged nicely for us.

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7

Aaroser

Phone owned for more than a year

Htc introduce more better esperience
it's world first Google Android smartphone
Display: 3.2 in (8.1 cm) TFT-LCD flat glass touch-sensitive HVGA screen with 480×320 pixel resolution and capacitive touchscreen.[20] Although the touchscreen hardware is capable of multitouch gestures, official releases of the Android OS (versions 1.0 to 1.6) Users can patch the supplied version of Android, update to Android 2.0 or later to make use of the multitouch screen.Keyboard: The HTC Dream has a sliding full 5 row QWERTY keyboard. I

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9

Phone owned for

The T-Mobile G1 is the best phone I've ever had, (only had like 3 phones) had Cricket for 2 yrs, wasnt satisfied anymore, jump ship to T-Mobile, like I said G1 is the best phone yet for me.  Love the fact you can make it your own phone, such as having all the good icons on the center screen, then having two different screens to put other stuff on, got a screen for widgets and other two are downloaded - pre-downloaded apps.  Was gonna go for the myTouch, but decided against cause of the fact of a physical QWERTY keyboard, and virtual keyboards, got 3 different options style of keyboard, one good for driving, one good for work, and the other is good when just hanging out and chillin'.  Had issues with email, but found out that port 25 is blocked for a Cableone account and just put the outgoing server as Yahoo!'s and voila, works, love the pandora app, or even the fact that i can sync music to the device and still have substantial amount of space for more apps, love how contacts and calender events, etc... sync over the air with Gmail, so if i lose the device, or contacts get erased, BAM!!! i have copys in my Gmail account, cant go wrong with that.  All in all G1 is the best phone, but if myTouch had a physical keyboard i would of went with that, but hasnt happened.  Browser a little slow, but you can just get opera mini and be good.  design is alright, could be a little thinner but good enough.

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8.7

Phone owned for

I am really impressed with htc dream -G1/android. I have had all the other brands and models but the htc dream spells the difference from the rest. I like the grip of the handset. It has the best quality features such as a very responsive touchscreen, fast internet connection either network provider gprs/ 3g or wifi. I like its interface and generally what i love about the handset is everything in it. The battery however is one of its downsides, and the the camera is totally unreliable during night time. The charging time is too long before it can be finally fully charged and it does not support video calling.

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6

My T-Mobile & G1 Experience

Phone owned for

It's fantastic. However, unfortunately, I allowed myself to be persuaded by my homeboy of 14 years to switch to T-Mobile shortly after I finished college because doing so would supposedly "1) save me money, 2) give me more plan perks for the money, 3) give me access to a great network that never gave him any problems, & 4) give me access to a 'revolutionary phone with a revolutionary phone operating system.'" Foolishly, after playing with his phone for 30 or so minutes, I knew I had to have something that seemed as amazing as it did. Since, at the time, I had been with Sprint for 5 years, I failed to look up current up-to-date plan offerings as well as some of their newest high-tech devices running on their network, and I somewhat reluctantly jumped ship, paying my ETF and all, to T-Mobile. I hadn't been with them since they were VoiceStream Wireless. Back then, they were consolidating and merging with other regional GSM networks nationwide to create their nationwide network to go up against what would be Cingular, Sprint, & all the companies that eventually formed Verizon, and basically, they were terrible. Dropped calls left and right. Sure, I was in the network map, but I digress...
I bought the G1. From the get-go, things, at first, seemed really awesome. It was my first smartphone, first touchscreen phone, and first slider. It's innovative approach to a mobile operating system actually taught me a lot about its initial concept, and helped me to see what many other smartphones actually lacked. It was easy to use. It had a fairly basic UI. Not too many apps, but enough to get it off the ground. Everything seemed great. Then I couldn't properly sync any other e-mail except GMail. No problem, I'll just ask around, go to T-Mobile for assistance, or contact different on-line support groups. No help. Fine, I won't have Yahoo! or Hotmail. Then I could never get album art no matter what I did. Then it started freezing. Then I started dropping calls in full bars with full 3G. I began to miss phone calls only at home. Then, the last straw was when, during a conversation, the phone would just, well, shut off. Yes. Not just drop a call, but literally shut itself down. I couldn't take it anymore. I began to see more and more that there were 3 major problems: this actual handset was likely defective, that Android just wasn't properly polished enough for primetime and that its bugs hampered and hindered too much as powerful& innovative a concept an OS as it was. I kept saying to my friends and myself all the time when I mentioned my cell phone issues with my G1 "I don't think it's particularly HTC, but Android and T-Mobile; T-Mobile's network is inferior to Sprint and this OS just isn't or wasn't ready to be released yet. However, Android has enormous potential."  Finally, I called TM and they sent me a new phone. All the problems persisted except the phone shutting down on me during calls out of nowhere. No one had answers. My G1 friends (I knew 4 people) all said it was "me." How the hell is it me? I'm just using the phone like it was built to be used: to make calls, send and receive messages, browse the web, listen to music, that's it." I didn't drop it. I didn't expose it to water. It was just a piece of crap. I sold it to a friend's brother's friend's roomate in Houston for $200, switched to AT&T for the iPhone 3G thinking it would solve my mobile problems (only causing more because AT&T is a horrible network only slightly better than T-Mobile but wholly inferior to Sprint & Verizon not to mention that the iPhone truly is an iPod Touch with an afterthough GSM network radio; seriously.). I used the money to pay my $200 ETF at T-Mobile. I spent the next 7 months with the iPhone 3G, then I sold it after it incessantly dropped calls to buy the iPhone 3GS (I only bought it because I liked many aspects of its features, but not realizing it wasn't really a smartphone but a touchscreen iPod with a phone application, really). Eventually, the $145 a month bill from AT&T was ridiculous. Dropped calls persisted, and whenever I spoke to people on the phone, they complained of horrific call quality. One friend actually thought I was always talking them doing something on the other side of a room while the phone was on speakerphone mode. Yeah, it blows.  I'll never buy another iPhone again. I'll never buy another Android phone from a GSM network operator, especially T-Mobile or AT&T. I thought I should wait until a real company with dependability brought a reliable phone to market with Android; one on a network you could depend on. Sure enough, the best Android phone ever comes out and it drops on my former network. I had to jump ship. Due to the overwhelming desire for the iPhone, I was easily able to sell it quickly, and not only has it paid for my ETF to AT&T, it paid my last month's wireless bill, too. I was home finally, with the Sprint HTC Hero. It's truly amazing, and it's reliable on a reliable network, and due to its modifications and updates from Android OS 1.0, it's superior to what was first initially introduced on the G1. I'm happy and entirely too satisfied with Android, but for a proper network experience with the speed and data transmission you need for a phone of its caliber, switch to Sprint. Case closed.

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8.7

Phone owned for

This phone is way better with the software update. keeps up with the iphone and touch pro 2!

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9.3

G1

Phone owned for

I love my G1. the only thing the battery is really bad so i turn off my wifi and gps (i dont use it anyway) plus it helps if you charge the phone turned off. also the camera is really bad so i would not get this phone if your a big camera person.
Other then that i love my phone.soooo many free apps and games.plus i love how its touchscreen and has a keyboard!

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8

Msjazz79's review on the T-Mobile G1

Phone owned for

Ive had my Tmobile G1 phone since January 2009. When I first received it within a week, I had to call Tmobile because the battery in the unit was overheating. So they promptly sent me out a replacement but unfortunately THAT one was defective and wouldn't even turn on. So by the third time, it was finally a charm, but still was having a battery overheating issue even by the third one, so when I called back Tmobile for a 4th time they offered to exchange it out again but I told them to just send me a battery replacement, because I didn't want to go through all the trouble again to download all the apps I had on it. So since I changed out the battery I have had better success.
Some great things about the phone are the different applications that are made for it to allow you to make your phone completely unique to you. One of my favorite apps is called OPEN HOME, it allows you to change your background screens, icon looks to such a degree that at first glance it makes you take a double take at the screen. I highly recommend the program another program I use is called BETTER KEYBOARD that allows you to change the look of the keyboard. Very nice. The Android Market is great for direct download of apps but I do wish that it had a software system connection for PC such as the Application store for the Apple Itouch and IPhone. I own an Apple Itouch and must say I do enjoy the convenience of going online checking reviews and seeing screenshots of the software before I decide to download an app. I think if this option was made available it would help customers out and not clog the network so badly with delayed downloads. Last but certainly not least is the keyboard, I enjoy a physical keyboard, I have a bit of a heavy hand when it comes to my phones and I type very quickly so being able to touch actually keys versus a touchscreen keyboard is a plus. Yet I know that it does add to the bulk of the phone I do think for myself it is a necessity.
 
The biggest gripes I have had with the phone have been the accessories, camera, battery life, and internal memory. Also another issue that comes to mind is finding accessories, especially cases for the phone. I guess this can be attested to the keyboard but still even with different cases that are out there and for the phone to almost to have been out for a year, it still is very lacking. With the camera I will say compared to other phones I've had in the past such as LG and Motorola, the camera is simply horrible. Yet I have seen some improvements with the cupcake update but that is only through an application I downloaded called SnapPhoto Pro. I recommend it over the camera software that came with the phone. The battery life definitely will drain big if you are on the internet, but I find it even drains quickly when I'm on phone calls that last about 10 minutes or so, not for hours at a time. The internal memory is a reallly big issue. For all the apps on Android Market it becomes a game of playing which apps to keep on your phone. I think the phone really was a big disapointment in that aspect.
Overall I've been happy with the phone but it is far from perfect.
 

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9.7

just got better!!!

Phone owned for

this new update on this phone just got better finaly a good camrecorder and more features now i love it more nice job android has improve.

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6.3

Good, as long as you don't need to use it to talk to anyone

Phone owned for

Love the sync with my Google calendar and Gmail. Good texting. Nice Internet browsing. However, if you want to be able to speak with someone, you'll be disappointed. I can rarely complete a conversation in one call. I can hear about 50% of what the person is saying to me, and that's after asking them to repeat several times. I understand about 33% of the voice mails I receive. As others have said, the camera is terrible. It takes FOREVER to capture the picture, and it's often blurry.
The only thing that makes the phone worthwhile is everything except for actual phone use, so if you want to use the phone for talking, find something else. Also, if you are trying to cut costs and want to do without the data capability for a while, can't do it with this phone. You must have the G1 data plan for the phone to work - or so I was told by customer service.

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8.3

Phone owned for

i was at a toss up between the sidekick, a bb, and the g1. i'm very phone savy, and in about 3 years total i've had 11 cellphones, 90% of them top of the line. i really wasn't sure that i was going to like the g1 from day 1, i've had it for a little over a month now, and i still dont like it. the phone freezes a all the time, the on screen keyboard is way to tiny. you cannot get very many good games at all. and it's just horrible. i should've gone with the sidekick.

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9.3

Love the Phone

Phone owned for

I have had the phone for a few months now. Theres so much you can do with it. You'll never be bored with this phone.

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9.3

love it!!

Phone owned for

i have been back and forth about getting this phone since before it came out and i finally got it.. and to get to the point i love the phone.. my cousin got this phone and i was skeptical at first but i liked how it worked and the 3G in california was really fast.. my friend here at home got it and her battery sucked!! we work 8 to 5 and by 330 it was plugged into the wall.. i got it and its midnight right now and my battery is still at 30 percent and i text heavilly and talk on it also.. i love how the phone notifies you of everything.. i also love the keyboard its really spacious.. the track ball works with some applications and others it requires your finger to smudge up the screen :S there are two things i dont like with the phone. the first its super bulky.. so much for a sexy sleek phone huh.. and two you need an UBER steady hand to get the pictures to come out clear.. and they will come out.. :D i tried using the samsun behold before this one and with my fingers i needed keys and this is perfect for me i highly recommed this phone :D

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7.7

50-50

Phone owned for

There are a lot of positive reviews for this phone out there, but if they still are saying the same thing today than they were when they first bought it, they're lying.
Only when the phone is working does it work well.  And it needs to be backed by a hoard of aftermarket applications to be considered for this.
Hello AIM is a very good application for messaging--works like the real thing, cept it disconnects maybe 100-200 times a day.  An auto-sign in has fixed this, and soon there will be a setting for vibrating alerts only when a message comes, not when it signs in and out.
aTrackDog must be downloaded to keep up with the updates.
Close Everything is a must, it lenthens battery life.
The stock camera is beyond terrible, and the phone must be placed on a stable surface to work.  Otherwise, SnapPhoto can be used, but it is an aftermarket application.
ChompSMS, combined with <dg>Alert Prefs and SMS Popup are to die for.  IPhone cloned messaging with an IPhone cloned alert popup.
MyBackUp is a good application, but it seems annoying sometimes, and isnt polished.  The video recorder is made by someone in another country, and thus is not asthetically or grammatically pleasing at all.  It's amazing when it works--if it ever loads or doesnt crash the phone.
QuickCalender tells you a few of your upcoming events in the pulldown bar.
The pictures app continously crashes when browsing pictures.
SMSBackup is amazing--immediately and automatically backs up your texts to email.
The WeatherBug application always shows the temperature in the status bar, something i sorely missed from my Sidekick.
 
Once you get used to the phone, you can type like no tomorrow.  AK notepad is amazing, and can stick individual notes onto your home screen for quick access.
 
But the horrible downsides:
CONTINOUSLY crashes and restarts unexpectly in the middle of messages or randomly without being touched.  Multiple times a day.  The phone freezes constantly and the camera is horrible.  SnapPhoto does the best it can, and still the camera is beyond repair.  The video recorder is pretty amazing, at full resolosution, but currently you cannot save videos to a memory card.
 
Those are my complaints and many others according to forums as of 2/24/09.  Hopefully things will improve.
 
OY!
I tried an Epix while using this phone, returned the Epix (hate Windows Mobile) and now will try a BlackBold.  But remember, with the combination mentioned above, IM'ing, texting, and Gmailing are at the very best out there.

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9

Great Phone

Phone owned for

After much debate over what phone to get in the past month, I decided on the G1, and I have to say I do not regret my decision. It has many features, its keyboard is great, and the web browsing is a groundbreaking experience. The most severe of my complaints is the battery life, though. It can run out very quickly.

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8.3

The G1

Phone owned for

I did this about a month ago but here is my review and thoughs on the T-Mobile G1
http://www.bwone.com/2008/11/22/t-mobile-g1-review-part-1/
http://www.bwone.com/2008/11/22/t-mobile-g1-review-part-2/
Youtube Links for HQ videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJE3r97vXkohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5kW1VMUfrI

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9.3

Phone owned for

Great phone, honestly one of the best phones i've ever used. It's very comfortabe to hold and use. The thing that stands out the most is, this phone is  almost entirely customizable. So, if there's something you don't like, Android Market has a  replacment for ya. Plus Android Market is free.....enough said. I REALLY love how the text messaging is set up, for a heavy texter, it makes it very easy to keep track of  who your talking  to, who said what, ect. It's work almost like an IM service. Each conversation is devided into conversations with THAT person and it shows how many messages you havebetween each other (makes it easy to keep track if you dont have unlimited text). The camera is really clear too. The things  i don't ike about it however, is  the battery life. If you use it for JUST calling and texting, it's good. But if you use alot of applications the battery drains fairly fast, from the constant use. For instance i was using aim all day, so the battery clocked in at about 4 1/2 hours. GPS drains it fast as well, so if  you plan to use that, bring a charger. Also, there's no video recording program, no biggie tho. And no zoom on the camera.
Despite the cons, the phone is still amazing.

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9.7

I Love It

Phone owned for

The G1 has many capabilities other phones dont and i jus love it

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9.3

I Like This Phone A lot

Phone owned for

A pretty good design. Only complaint was the little round edge at the bottom. It has incredible features including the android and a 3.2 megapixle camera. The performance was very good. It was not slow and was very responsive.

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9.7

G1 review

Phone owned for

Well i got the G1 on sunday (12/7/08) and it has been amazing! it feels good in the hand, touch screen is responsive, OS is cool, and the Android Market is nice. The key board is pretty good to use. At first when you use it, it feels weird, like the chin gets in your way, but after a few times of using it it feel fine. The web browser is also very good.

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9.3

T-Mobile G1

Phone owned for

The T-Mobile G1 is the first cell phone with Google's new Android OS. Key features include a full slide out QWERTY style keyboard, 3G data, HSPDA, Wifi, Google maps with street view, 3.2 megapixel camera, music player and touchscreen.
What’s Good: Android experience is excellent; Web browser is amongst best available on cell phones; Great touchsreen; Touchscreen plus trackball plus QWERTY board provides multiple input options; Notifications bar is handy; Great GMail & Google services implementation; 3G and WiFi for fast data speeds; Amazon provides DRM-free mp3 downloads via WiFi
What’s Not Good: Big, bulky, heavy, and not particularly attractive; QWERTY thumbboard is not as good as those on other recent HTC phones; Lacks 3.5mm headphone jack; No Stereo Bluetooth or video capture/playback support out of the box

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9.3

the g1 phone

Phone owned for

i havent bought this phone but i have used it since my friend has it and wow that phone is really nice, way better than a sidekick, way  way better!

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9.7

One of the best I've used

Phone owned for

The t-mobile G1, while lacking a few features, is one of the best handsets I've used. Previous to owning a G1 I had a Nokia E71, prior to that I had a Nokia N95, both of which were simply amazing devices. However the easy to use o.s., great keyboard, and great touchscreen on the G1 trumps them, overall. In addition, the app market has the potential to offer nearly unlimited capabilities. While the body of the phone isn't very pretty it is very functional.

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9

Awesome phone!

Phone owned for

I've loved it so far. The only complaint I've had about it was battery life. Although, it turns out that mine's a dud and I'm getting it fixed. It's incredibly simple to use and navigate.

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7

Phone owned for

It's a nice phone. The trackball on the bottom is smooth rolling. The touchscreen is very responsive. Big display, well-spaced keyboard. Comes with all the bells and whistles a high-end phone should have.

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