Above: The much anticipated and possibly overly hyped Nexus One Android phone from Mountain View California-based Google

The Google Phone, now known as the Nexus One, drew some serious buzz and more pre-launch hype than a new Madea Goes to Jail movie at cookout on Sunday.  Many people have dubbed this “superphone” the and all and be all but we beg to differ.  iPhone killer?  We think not.  The Nexus One is a serious piece of great tech but without the finesse and refinement the iPhone enjoys in almost every aspect, we can hardly award the Google phone the title of “iPhone killer”, and much of the geekosystem agrees.

There was a certain ooh and aah when the iPhone was announced.  A united feeling that something excessively monumental just took place.

The Nexus One doesn’t have that.  But then again, maybe it doesn’t need to.  Maybe it has something greater to offer than the wild band of ugly and swollen Google Gadget followers who have nothing better to do than shit on the iPhone.

Let’s delve further.

Design

The handset is sleek the body is comprised of what appears to be two interlocking pieces; a main, dark gray housing coated in a soft-touch treatment like a rubber Incase shell (we like this) which is intersected and wrapped by a lighter gray, smooth, almost metallic band.  The overall effect is fluid, beautiful, and understandably Google.  It’s safe to say this is HTC’s best looking mobile phone to date.

Front

Besides the requisite power and volume rocker buttons, there are five “buttons” on the face: one trackball and four haptic-based touch buttons.  It pains us to admit that the trackball is ridiculously useless.  There is literally nothing in the OS that requires it and the only thing you’ll be using it for are the color-based notifications informing you that you have a new email, text message or missed call.  A nifty feature if you don’t feel like having to turn on the screen but one that still doesn’t excuse the pointless Sidekick-like ball.

The verdict is not much better for the four touch buttons–back, menu, home, and search.  The target areas seem to be to high causing you to accidentally tap them when composing an email or miss them when tapping too low.  These buttons seem more concerned with providing haptic feedback than they are with actually registering your taps.

Back

Around the back you will find the generous 5-megapixel camera and LED flash.  As much as having the number 5 and megapixel in the same sentence makes you feel like dancing around the Costco parking lot because you were able to get the same sample twice, the design is a bit awkward and strangely pronounced with the camera protruding outward like a grown man’s outie belly button.  While this may seem like no biggie, this interruption in the smooth surface of the rear is just enough to either scratch surfaces that the handset is placed on or scratch the lens itself.  More on the camera later.

Screen

The Nexus One incorporates a 400 x 800 AMOLED glass capacitive touchscreen and it’s gorgeous.  Everything on the display is rich and colors pop to the point that it makes competing phones like the iPhone 3GS and the Droid look washed out and pathetic.  However, if you plan to use your Nexus One while you sunbathe and become sun kist under any sort of bright light or daytime conditions, you can forget it.  The best reaction to using the handset in well lit circumstances was “manageable” which is hardly a term that should be applied to a phone like this.

Software

Equally, if not more important than hardware, is software.  For the most part Android is an open and progressive platform but we think Apple has this in the bag.  Between the iPhone’s slick and intuitive UI and the App Store, we can’t see people clamoring to start playing web-based copy Bejeweled 2 on a Nexus One.  That’s not to say that an Android-powered device couldn’t pose some serious competition to Apple in future.

Mulitouch

There is none.  Not if you live in the U.S. at least.  We consider this a fail.  No device of this caliber should lack such an important piece of innovation.  There is nothing more we can say.

Keyboard

The Google Keyboard app has been getting less than stellar reviews.  Naturally it’s direct comparative is the iPhone’s multitouch keyboard which is widely successful and a number one on our list of mobile keyboards, period.  Interestingly enough, you can download a [better] keyboard if you are unhappy with the one that ships.  We recommend you do so.

Camera

The camera is a nice addition to the device boasting 5-megapixels and an LED flash.  This gives the Nexus One an advantage and allows it to take sharp and detailed images.  If the best camera is the one you have with you then you will be glad your brought this.

Phone

As a phone, the Nexus One isn’t dramatically different than most mobile devices you’ve probably used.  In terms of call quality and volume, it’s certainly on par with it’s peers, providing a loud, reasonably clean talking experience, though it doesn’t touch the Droid in terms of call clarity and evenness and this is thanks, mostly to Verizon.

Final Thoughts

Kudos to Google for launching this device and sending everyone back to the board in a good old game of friendly competition.  This little piece of tech is a good first step for Google and despite our strong words, we like the Nexus One.  It’s a great mobile device with a few flaws and kinks that would be barely noticeable if there were no such thing as the iPhone.