Unless you’ve been living under a rock, or have already bought an iPhone, you’ll know the T-Mobile G1 finally launches today. The world’s first Android-powered superphone is now officially available in Britain. Want to know if it’s worth it? Read on for our first impressions.
Free on T-Mobile contracts over £40 per month, you’re looking at a touchscreen wonderphone with skills to rival Apple’s mighty iPhone. We’re talking a touchscreen, downloadable apps, accelerometer, GPS and a better phone than the iPhone too.
That’s all on top of a proper hardware keyboard, making bashing out emails an absolute breeze.
But is it enough to topple Jobs’ baby from its perch? Not quite. But it’s close.
We’ve been playing with the G1 for a while, and it’s the closest thing yet to an iPhone beater. Why the closest thing and not a true Apple-smasher? Simply put, the G1 still has a few rough edges.
The software is hard to fault, with just a few niggling annoyances, such as lengthy shutter lag on the camera, but the physical build quality of the handset still leaves a lot to be desired. Its plastic shell wobbles and creaks, and because it’s thicker than the iPhone, feels larger too.
There isn’t even a headphone socket, an omission that’s hard to overlook when going head to head with Apple’s finest.
Compared to the polished iPhone, the G1 has to settle for second place. If you’re a complete Applephobic, however, you’ll love it, and the Android software inside is an absolute dream. If you can put up with the plasticky outside, and aren’t keen on hot-swapping your headphones, it’s still an awesome phone. Just not quite the best there is.
Out now | From £free | T-Mobile
