Catshanghai

Video care of Engadget.com via Tudou

I bought a Nexus One phone last month, but it took me a few weeks to get it shipped from the UK. It cost just under 4000 RMB, but I would buy it from Expansys.com.hk in the future or PDA Dream at Cyber on Huai Hai Road. You can buy a Nexus One in shanghai for 4600 RMB without waiting several weeks.

I could have bought an I phone, but I like linux and wanted to be able to run multi tasking. I have been using my new phone for two weels. This is what I like about it:

• The phone feels great in my hand and is beautifully designed.
• The amoled screen is crisp and at 800 by 480 is good for reading text and watching movies.
• GPS is amazing. I have had fun tracking my location on Google Earth and Google Maps.
• I like the choice of apps from the market place. I have been using Seesmic for Twitter Guardian Anywhere, Gmote to remote control my computer and Listen for podcasts.
• Mobile web browsing looks great.
• The camera is really good for pictures and videos in natural light.
• The syncing of Google contacts, calendar and Gmail is seamless.
• Android is easy to use and easy to customise compared with Windows Mobile.
• Multi touch lets you pinch and zoom when browsing and viewing photographs.
• The noise cancelling microphone makes call quality very high.
• Battery life is very good (all day) if you manage the phone properly by turning off animated (live) wallpapers, dimming the screen brightness, regularly using a task manager to kill background services and turning off gps, wifi, bluetooth and 3g when not needed.

There are a few kinks and issues that need to be figured out for Android to be perfect rather than merely very good.

• Android needs Audible audiobook support. I have to use Macosome Audiobook converter to listen to my Audible collection on my Nexus One.
• You need third party software to sync Itunes with Android. Doubletwist works fine on my Mac, but it cannot handle smart playlists.
• Android does not yet support many video codecs. It supports h264, m4v and mp4, but I had trouble playing the mp4 files I downloaded from BBC Iplayer Downloader only rectified using Handbrake.
• Copy and paste is awkward. It is buried in menus for browsing and is not available in the native gmail app.
• The virtual screen keyboard takes a lot of getting used to after a physical keyboard on the HTC Tytn. I have recently installed Swype, which is much better than the native keyboard.
• Paid apps are only available from the Android marketplace in a few countries (not China). I had to pop in a UK sim card and use a vpn to download paid apps such as Pixelpipe Pro and The Egg talking timer.
• There is vpn support, but you need to root your phone to use openvpn. Chinese isps keep cutting my pptp connection after a few minutes.

These are a few minor gripes amplified by living behind the GFW. I am sure they will be fixed or worked around as Android develops and matures. This is still the best phone I have ever used, although I have never owned an Iphone.