T-Mobile's MyTouch Worth the Wait
Visitors to Google’s I/O conference earlier this year received a surprise gift: a new touchscreen Google phone made by HTC. The svelte gadget is the second major Google Android device on the market, and sometime in August, you’ll be able to buy one from T-Mobile USA. T-Mobile is going to sell it for $199 with a two-year contract. Sure, you can buy the new iPhone 3G S, but in case you don’t care much for either the iPhone or the network it runs on, I think the new Android phone might actually be worth the wait.
T-Mobile is calling this 3G handset (with built-in Wi-Fi), myTouch, not exactly the most original or mellifluous name, but from a device standpoint, it is a worthy smartphone. I’ve had the one given out by Google for a few weeks now, and I have found it to be a very worthy competitor to current smartphone champions. I’ve been using it in tandem with my BlackBerry Curve 2. The best part I like about this device: its sleek, lightweight design and how unobtrusively it slips into a top shirt pocket.
It has a great 3.2-inch HVGA touchscreen display; the touchscreen is probably the second best in the business in terms of responsiveness. It comes with a 4GB microSD card for you to store photos, videos and music, which can be upgraded to any size. The phone has a built-in 512MB of internal memory. It seamlessly integrates all Google services including Google Chat, Picasa, Search, Calendar and Gmail.
It took me literally 15 minutes to get going: I typed in my Google ID, and the phone did the rest. My calendars, contacts and Google Talk friends were downloaded to the device automatically. Of course, if you don’t have a Google account, things might not go as smoothly. Setting up IMAP email was pretty easy as well.
Sure, it has its short comings — the browser is good, but not great like the iPhone browser. It’s sometimes hard to switch modes on the virtual keyboard or bring up the dialpad when you need it most. It has one micro-USB port that can either be used for charging or plugging in accessories such as headphones.
The most disappointing feature of the device is the 3.2-megapixel camera — it is horrible. And like most other 3G smartphones, the device guzzles power faster than a Hummer speeding down the freeway. The phone lasted about seven hours at best when I checked email, used instant messaging, and surfed the web too often.
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Hate the camera isn’t good. That’s a must-have for me and my evernote…
Regarding the problem of bringing the virtual keyboard when you need it:
You can bring up (or hide) the virtual keyboard at anytime and in any app by simply holding the menu button.
I’ve had my G2 (HTC magic / ion) since Google offered it to me at Google I/O and I love it. (runs faster than the G1 and the virtual keyboard isn’t as bad as I thought, still not as good as a physical one though…)
I think a lot of it has to do with the way iPhone has defined my Touch screen experience and as a result I find it tough to use this device without problems. You are right about using the menu button. I guess when working while on the phone, one kinda forgets that little instruction.
I agree – the device is much much faster than G1!
The question for me is whether to go for this or wait to see what other Android phones T-Mobile delivers this year. The Samsung i7500 appears to be in line for later in the year and ultimately 3-4 months isn’t a big deal.
What’s so lousy about a 3.2 megapixel camera? That’s pretty decent resolution? Does it not work properly?
There is a lot more to a camera than pixel count. HTC does not seem to make the same level of investment in cameras that certain other vendors seem to, even at equivalent megapixel counts.
The lens quality can make a huge difference, especially when using apps like Evernote, which try to OCR on the images. So it isn’t just the pixel count that impacts image quality.
I can’t see any reason to get this over an iPhone unless you really want T-Mobile. But their data network is minimal so you would have to put up with that. Looks to me like Apple is once again a generation ahead of everyone else with the iPhone 3G S. If I could find something better than an iPhone on a network other than AT&T I would go for it but I’m not seeing it.
There are reasons to get this over the iPhone, though they probably don’t hold for the majority of people. I personally enjoy some of the unique features of Android, such as true multitasking (no, push notification is not an alternative to this as it requires giving 3rd parties access to all the push data), and some apps which would never be allowed on the App Store.
Also I rather enjoy the browser – it fits text to the size of the screen at the current zoom level, rather than an arbitrary column width that leaves you zooming in and out all the time.
I’m rather surprised that the myTouch 3G is faster than the G1 though. I’ve heard that it has the same amount of RAM as the G1, though other carriers have a version with 288MB. The processor is the same too, and more internal ROM should make no speed difference. Are you comparing cupcakes to cupcakes here, or is the comparison to the G1 pre-update by any chance?
Apple is definitely not ahead.
The reason people like this phone because they get to customize it, make it their own phone and not being like everyone else.
There is nothing great about the IPhone, try it and hate every minute of it.
“It has one micro-USB port that can either be used for charging or plugging in accessories such as headphones.”
Why haven’t the smartphone manufacturers learned? These need to be separate.
Until iPhone is available on whichever carrier I choose, I won’t consider buying one. @&T is ridiculous – ads in the mail every week promising this or that.
Let me just say I have never had an iPhone and have been with T-Mobile since they were Omnipoint. For a a lot of T-mobile especially here in NYC we had to deal with dropped calls on a constant basis and IMHO a shitty line of phone (why didn’t someone talk me out out the MDA!!!)
That being said I think that if you’re a loyal T-Mobile customer it would be a welcomed upgrade. I think comparing any phone to the iPhone is futile. It’s the standard that a lot of manufactuers are either trying to imitate or avoid all together.
So since I never had the balls to switch services I’m going for the Touch
And what is with no standard head jack. It’s stereo Bluetooth so that good but come on!!!!
Exactly, I have been with T-Mobile since…..I bought my first cell phone. The calls drop and the phones suck, but with the entire family and friends on t-mobile, it saves me a lot of money, not to mention we are in a family plan now, and all do a lot of texting, no one can beat t-mobiles texting plan. I am excited to see some decent phones coming our way.
However I hate the fact that the iPhone is looked upon as the “God” of all phones, it is in NO means perfect. It took how many years to get video? Not to mention all the proprietary garbage. Yes they have mastered the touch screen, and the Apps are endless, and I think thats why many people are willing to overlook the major downfalls of the iPhone.
Granted the iPhone is a good phone, I had one hacked for t-mobile for about 1 year, it just died and I am looking for something else but I don’t want to play the whole hacking game any more. So I say keep it up, T-Mobile needs a decent phone lineup.
I have also been with tmobile since i got my first cell phone but unlike you i have had amazing luck with their service… i have never had dropped calls or receptions issues and i was extremely excited when the mytouch came out… i am not happy with the price ill have to pay so i am going to wait before i purchase one but my bf just bought the iPhone as he is a ATT customer and i honestly dont think its what everyone crack it up to be… the phone quality is horrible… almost impossible to hear him sometimes… doesnt have reception in areas where my typical tmobile samsung has full reception…some websites are almost impossible to see and are unable to zoom in on and the applications are endless but most of them are useless and a waste of phone memory as well! Maybe ill be disappointed when i finally get the mytouch but as for the iPhone being the one…. very overrated in my opinion
Funny, it seems to me that phone mfg’ers can do a lot with a camera from a software standpoint. My Pre’s 3mp camera is light years ahead of the 3.2mp on the HTC Touch Pro I had before. Not even close. HTC needs to improve their software.
Read this article this morning -
http://www.pcworld.com/article/167090/tmobile_mytouch_3g_too_little_too_late.html
I’m going to hold off on this, it’s a slight upgrade from the G1 but nothing worth getting into a long contract for when handsets like the Samsung Galaxy are just around the corner.
About the camera comment.
The original G1 I have had a problem with the camera as well, it was horrid. The new 1.5 firmware changed that though and it is leaps and bounds better and very worthy.
This migh have the same issue so dont knock it just yet.
I agree. The camera is excellent. I’m shocked how good my pictures and so are those who seem them when I post them.
Does it have a flash player
no it does not. i believe the hero does though!