Thoughts on the Nexus One and the T-Mobile 3G situation
3G…it should be one of those services that works where you need it, and you don’t have to think about it. With my use of the 4 major carrier’s 3G networks over the past few years, I have come to expect certain things from each. Verizon and Sprint seem to have the most robust coverage, while AT&T can easily peg the meter with the fastest speeds. T-Mobile has largely been an afterthought as their 3G network began its rollout in the fall of 2008. Because of this, I haven’t had many opportunities to test out the service, and thus, have kept pretty quiet about it.
Then along comes the Nexus One. Finally, a powerhouse of an Android phone, with AWS (1700 MHz) support for 3G…this must be the phone that T-Mobile has been waiting for! On paper, the Nexus one has a form factor that rivals anything out there, and has specs that make it a leader in what we’ve come to expect out of our smartphones. With a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 512MB of ROM and RAM, Quad-band EDGE with 1700MHz and 2100MHz HSPA+, 3.7 inch AMOLED Capacitive Touch Screen and a 5MP camera…with a flash! Not to mention all of today’s standards such as a 3.5mm headphone jack, industry standard micro-USB jack, microSD card support, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. Really, this phone should be everything the Cell Phone Junkie could ever ask for in early 2010.
Sure there are some small things that may annoy the biggest of power users. The battery life on the device starts out quite poor, leading the user to think that it will only last a few hours on a charge. But then you realize it takes a few days to get up to full capacity, and I ultimately found it to be on par with the iPhone – meaning 14-16 hours before it needs charging. The on screen keyboard isn’t quite as good as the iPhone, but the unique voice transcription may allow you to use different methods to enter your text. Throw in a service like Swype, and the traditional methods of text entry almost feel clunky when using such a stylish device. And though the 3rd party application store isn’t 150,000 strong, I did find 75% of the apps that I use regularly on the iPhone in the Android marketplace, and even a few jems that the iPhone doesn’t have, like the ability to scan a bar code to install an app.
There is however a very large issue that needs immediate attention from HTC, Google and T-Mobile – Radio Issues
Now, it wouldn’t be so bad if the device simply switched back and forth between T-Mobile’s 3G and EDGE networks occasionally, I mean, what can you expect from an 18 month old network? The issue though goes deeper, much deeper. Here are 5 examples of the issues facing the Nexus One and T-Mobile.
3G switching and EDGE
This is what most users are currently talking about, and waiting for a quick fix. An update was rolled out in early February to supposedly address the problem, but most contend that it still remains. The issue is very inconsistent, and quite annoying. Looking at the phone, the 3G signal fades in and out, from full strength to nothing, to EDGE, to 3G, to GPRS and back around. The “bars” on the phone bring a very uneasy feeling to the phone’s owner, and at the very least, should be toned down to not bounce around quite as much. But, bars don’t mean much, and are truly just a graphical interpretation of the phones’ dBm signal strength. Someone clued me in to checking out the Testing menu, which has the information to see the actual signal level. Watching this screen was interesting. The phone itself is susceptible to all sorts of factors that are part of normal use. The position of my hands was one of the biggest.
Radio location issues
In order to create a great looking phone like the Nexus, a certain amount of creative problem solving is needed due to the amount of metal around the phone. If you look at the back of the device, there is a metal band that wraps around the entire face about ¼ of the way from the bottom. The entire area above this band is filled with the battery and camera, so the only area to place the radios is under this band. On the front face of the phone in the same area is the bottom of the capacitive glass screen, and another metal band that houses the trackball. Because of this design, the radios are forced to transmit through this bottom portion of the back. If the user happens to place a hand on the bottom of the phone while talking (like most people do), the signal is quickly degraded, and problems ensue. This video is a good example of this location issue.
Phone call problems
Due to this radio location issue, data is not the only problem a user may encounter. This is a phone after all, and through testing of the T-Mobile service, I found that when on a call, the phone must be held in such a way to not block the bottom, or the signal starts to cut out, even in areas with strong T-Mobile coverage. I also found that even when starting a call on 3G, the vast majority of calls will switch over to EDGE, or even GPRS during the call, negating one of the benefits of having a phone with 3G, simultaneous voice and data.
Poor Wi-Fi signal strength
Further issues can be found in the Wi-Fi implementation. Since the 2.4GHz antenna is also in the bottom section of the phone, it has pretty poor reception when not in the immediate area of your router. I’m not saying that I need to roam hundreds of feet from my router, but when I’m sitting on my couch, and it can’t get a strong wifi signal from my router in the den 30 feet away, I’m not happy.
What about using a signal booster?
While this may not be an issue across the board, the zBoost amplifier I am using in my office does not support the AWS (1700MHz) band. Thus, while I can happily surf on my iPhone via 3G on the 1900MHz network, the Nexus stays stuck on EDGE until I leave the office and walk outside. Hopefully this is isolated to the zBoost, and other amplifiers can assist with the AWS spectrum.
Final Comments
There are rumors that we may see an update to address the still persistent radio issues in the coming days/weeks ahead. However, a device that comes out, directly from Google, certainly should not have these issues. There have been plenty of Android devices out on T-Mobile that have not seen these problems. The T-Mobile G1 and myTouch 3G are both very solid devices, and have no problem taking advantage of the T-Mobile 3G network. At this point, if a fix does come out, it may be enough to save the device and the sales once it hits Verizon. However, if these issues continue to fester, it may be time to move beyond a design that not only looks good, and have Google launch something that is actually reliable in the real world.
So in honest reality which phone would be good to have? I have t mobile, and almost thought switching to at&t just to get the iphone. But at&t is really expensive. Is the google phone really that bad?