T-Mobile G2 Review

While the whole Europe will soon be shocked with the launch of such devices as  HTC Desire HD and HTC Desire Z, US is rocking with already available T-Mobile G2. Simply saying this is an American version of  HTC Desire Z. The release of the handset was conditioned with the success of the first Googlephone of  T-Mobile G1 and the absence of  some other models on the market with desired features and surely the latest version of Android OS.

The successor of T-Mobile G1 got a logical and simple name- T-Mobile G2, or simply saying on our side a HTC G2.

The designers have kept the form factor of the first model, though engineers completely revised the classical design, removing the typical features of G1, and adding stuff among which is functional joystick-trackball under the screen.

I can’t imagine that this device got released only now- the thing is that the expected release date goes back to 2009!

Specs:

Connectivity: UMTS / HSDPA 1700/2100 MHz, GSM / EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
OS: Android 2.2
Processor: Qualcomm MSM 7230 800 MHz
Display: 3.7 “capacitive touch display, TFT, 480 x 800 pixels,16.7 million colors
Battery: 1300 mAh Li-Ion
Weight: 84.3 g
Dimensions: 119.4 x 61 x 15.2 mm
Memory: 512 MB RAM,4 GB internal memory,slot for microSD memory cards up to 32GB
Camera: 5 megapixel camera,Autofocus, Flash, Geo-tagging,Video recording at 720p
Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g
Bluetooth v2.1
USB 2.0, microUSB
3.5 mm audio jack
GPS with A-GPS
Organizer and extras

Boxing:

This is the only case that T-Mobile tried to be the minimalistic with the packaging of the device. It comes with the least amount of accessories and add-ons. Here you will find micro USB cable, stereo headset and the charger which is being connected to the device with the help of the USB cable.

The 8GB memory card attached to the whole box makes it somewhat complete.

Hardware:

The Teflon-coated plastic gives you a sense of more confidence and makes the device to be more convenient while holding in the hand. The main features of the device are rather interesting, while still they do leave a space for the dilemma. The device is equipped with the latest version of the Android OS and the first device of T-Mobile to offer the customers HSPA+ connectivity and 4G at the same time. That’s pretty cool.

And there are also some rumors that soon T-Mobile will add the feature of wireless tethering to the list of the specs, while still unlucky not getting it immediately. And as far as we know the carrier already started to offer the service, which means the speedy work of the device will be improved in short timing.

Another cool feature that was also tried to be used on the device is Swype version of the keyboarding. Overall if we compare the typical side-out keyboard with the second version we’ll see that they’re pretty much substituting each other. So the customers might try out the version of their own choice.

Design:

The overall design of the device is rather impressive. So much that it became one of the main topics of the discussions. Firstly, the smartphone is believed to be similar with Nexus One, while the QWERTY-keyboard is side-out. And all of this is being done to the unusual Z-hinge design. Some still consider this design to be not that reliable thus doubting the choice of the manufacturer. But so far HTC has a long time experience with the creation of unusual designs and I would say that they handle them out successfully.

The responsive trackpad works perfectly combining the easy-to-use feature with the fitting-into-the-design. This makes every single element on the gadget to have a functional and authentic relevance. Recalling the only disadvantage of the device we should mention its weight, which is 6.5 ounch, making G2 to be even heavier than the Droid 2. Still we can say that we got lucky at least to have that weight packed in the small dimensions, while still it suffers of the thickness.

Display:

The combination of 3.7” S-TFT WVGA screen with a resolution of 480 X 800 makes the device to be simply great. Well, some of you will argue the fact that Nexus One has a better OLED display, while it is not actually the reality.

The picture of the G2 display is much more better due to the sharpness and the color variety and clearness.

Performance:

The device is running based on the 800MHz Snapdragon processor having out 512 MB of RAM and 4GB of internal memory. But then we do have the 8GB of micoSD card coming with it despite the fact that the memory can be expanded up to 32GB. This means that the gadget has no problems with the memory availability. What’s left here is the processor. The original 800MHz is a little bit of disappointing but this does not necessarily mean that you should stick up with it. It can be upgraded to 1GHz and according to the responses at that point the speed of the performance leaves no space for any kind of desiring.

And to all of this the lovely Android 2.2 and you’ll get exact what to be expected from a cool device. The only disappointing part is that the device will have a lack of  HTC Sense UI, which is weird, as most of the time Android devices have it pre-installed in contrast to the WP7 devices. And that’s pretty a sad detail.

And its great internet speed performance  is being proved while comparing the device with one of the speedy novelties of Samsung- Samsung Epic 4G.

As for the battery life of the device, we should start with the fact that 1300mAh is enough powerful for this smartphone. And as a result we have around 13 hours of performance with a pretty tough usage.

Camera:

The device is equipped with a 5 megapixel camera, a typical case for HTC devices. The main features of it are the Autofocus and LED Flash. But still when taking indoor pics you might notice blurriness and colors are somewhat washed. What’s the most interesting surprise here is that the camera features video shooting.

And while taking a video we do have a better picture than in the case of the camera. Anyways this means that you just need to get used to the feature and get most out of it.

Speakers:

This feature might not be one of the main advantageous features of the device, as in case of Xpress series of Sony Ericsson, but still you might not get disappointed while using it. Especially if you are listening to the music. The test of the device gives us the result that even when the caller is right in the middle of the noisy traffic jam, the person on the other side can hear the caller without any kind of interruption.

Software:

When we are mentioning that the device is being distributed by T-Mobile we do also assume that there’s a list of features that are definitely available for the device, such as My Account, My Device and Web2Go. But here we do have some exceptions, with the best meaning of the word. G2 comes equipped with almost entire package of the Android apps written by the Google.

Let’s mention some of those… (for the convenience just add the Google suffix)- Earth, Maps,Goggles, Sky Map,Places, Listen, Latitude,Translate, Navigation, Voice, Talk, Shopper, My Tracks. The package is standardized and comes with the availability of the latest version of Adobe Flash Player- 10.1. And the cool part of the whole is the PhotoBucket. It gives you an opportunity to have automatic media upload for every single photo, so there’s no need to worry about the backup of the those.

Widgets:

The widget line-up of the gadget offers you a wide variety. It includes Twitter, Google Voice Inbox, Facebook, Finance, Google Search, Home Screen Tips, Market, Latitude,Music, News & Weather, Picture Frame, Power Control, YouTube and Quick Keys.

The list is huge and the basic features that are needed to be at hand are present straight on the homescreen. Anyways it’s your choice whether you want to add some extras from the Android Market or not as the basics are available for free.

Conclusion:

Gathering the information all together we’ll see that there are so many advantages that it’s worth of getting the device. So let’s see it’s combining the best connectivity features of T-Mobile, taking it to the top level among the devices offered. The list of the practical widgets and apps from Google make the device to have the desired functionality, well, despite the fact that they’re pre-installed and take up a lot of memory. But still you need to keep in mind that the device has an opportunity to get the memory expanded up to 32GB, which is an enormous amount for keeping your favorite stuff here. As for the camera, let’s be honest, 5 megapixel camera is OK for this good-connectivity device and if you have plans to get cool photos, just stick up with such HTC device as HTC Desire HD.

The only missing information here is the price of the gadget. So let’s see T-Mobile is offering it for $199 in case of signing a two-year contract, while in case of getting it from Amazon, you might save up to $100, getting it for only $99, which is even cheaper than the earlier Radio Shack offer of only $159.99. The choice is yours and it reasonable! All this @ this moment.

You can find more review of HTC G2 @ TestFreaks.