Here’s the thing to know about the Nexus One right off the bat: The much ballyhooed “Google phone” that the search behemoth unveiled this week isn’t as cool as the iPhone. Still, it is a very fine smartphone. In some respects it compares favorably to Apple’s wunderkind, but it comes up short in other key measures, such as storage for downloadable apps.
It advances the ball compared with previous handsets that run Google’s Android mobile operating software, if not dramatically so.
Much has been made of the way Google is selling Nexus, made by HTC: It’s $529 as an “unlocked” phone that lets you choose your own wireless carrier, or $179 for a two-year contract with T-Mobile, with monthly voice and data plans of $80.
You’ve been able to buy other unlocked phones and insert your own so-called SIM card to make them work. But there are limits, at least for now, with the Nexus. It recognizes SIM cards from carriers that use the global GSM standard. But it is incompatible with the frequency used by AT&T for its fastest 3G data network and won’t work with Verizon or Sprint, both of which use a rival wireless format known as CDMA. A Verizon version of the Nexus is expected in the spring.
Here’s more of what you need to know:
*Aesthetics. Nexus One is svelte like the iPhone and close to the same size and shape, but the gray device is nothing much to look at until you turn it on. I was wowed by its lovely 3.7-inch screen, which is a bit larger than the iPhone’s and has superior resolution. I like the animated screen backgrounds. I’m using one with blades of grass that gently sway in the wind.
The device is fast: A zippy Qualcomm processor is on board. You get around via trackball…