HTC Dream - Of Androids and Electric Sheep

The Geek Dreamboat

There has been a lot of talk about the HTC Dream. And we do mean quite a bit. Introduced as the T-Mobile G1 in the second half of 2008, the first Google Android phone did create quite a stir in geek circles. The delicious open-source Android platform kept budding and experienced developers busy and hard at work in delivering new applications to the Android Market.

With so much riding on the freedom to download apps to enhance your user experience, it's irrefutable that the stage is set for an app store war. So does the Dream live up to its expectations as the opening salvo from Android in the war of the devices? The answers, coming right up, after these messages:

Do Androids have Curves?

Unlike the creamy white T-Mobile G1, what we got here in Singapore is the matte black version. This is fine by us, though we did inquire on the possible availability of the white version from SingTel. There has been no word yet on this, but we do think that having the color option could raise the consumer interest.

We love the Dream's 3.2-inch capacitive touch screen. Period. Generous on the screen real estate and friendly to the thumb, the Dream didn't give us problems when we were navigating through its unfamiliar (at first) user interface. The only thing that could have marred the Dream's screen, is the sheer amount of fingerprints that made its mark on the screen. As it is, we figured this is unavoidable due to the touchscreen nature of the device.

The Dream's navigation layout isn't particularly simple, though it does make its buttons obviously clear. Just below the screen, there's the Menu button. This, as one might surmise, brings you deeper into the menu of each application for more options. There are the standard Call/End buttons strategically flanking the Home and Back button. What comes next, is the focus of our attention: the trackball. Frankly, it wasn't really our favorite portion, seeing as how the trackball is the size of a pea, and it's pretty hard to utilize as an Enter button. In fact, there were moments when we accidentally moved to a different icon before pressing down the trackball. We think you get the picture: inaccurate input.

When it comes to the battery casing, we think there's a conspiracy out there. Akin to the of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, we had to pry the battery casing before it granted us access to the battery and the SIM card slot underneath it. Needless to say, we were apprehensive in doing so, as the device felt as though it might snap at any time from our excessive force.

And now, we move onto the final part: the slide-out 5-row QWERTY keyboard. Much can be said about this and we'll start with the negative aspects. Firstly, the hinge that's utilized is vastly different from what you see on similar devices such as the . With a single rail and a curved hinge supporting the screen's movements, we do wonder at the sturdiness of the design. Furthermore, when we were removing the battery casing, there were moments when we accidentally gripped the screen and it seemed as though we were placing a lot of stress on the single hinge.

And have we got a lot of comments for the keyboard. We went ahead with the standard message test, and mistakes were aplenty. The reason behind this is simple: the right portion of the keyboard is constricted due to the navigation pad. In short, our right hand couldn't get a good reach of the keyboard, thus reducing our typing speed. This doesn't mean that the keyboard is totally unfriendly. With the individual keys spaced out, it did create more room for comfort and we loved the tactile feed of the keys too.

If you haven't realized it by now, we haven't mentioned the microSD card slot. This is because we only found it right after sliding the keyboard out and noticed the catch that reveals the microSD card slot. On the bright side, this means you won't need to tackle the battery casing to access the microSD card. But, if you were to think about it, requiring one to slide the keyboard out to access the catch that opens up the slot, is just adding more work than necessary.

The Android Market

Know what we're going to talk about? That's right, it's the Android Market. As much as we would like to avoid the comparisons between this and Apple's App Store, it's bound to happen. So we'll say it once for the record: App Store has the edge. In terms of popularity and quantity, there's so much one can do to match up to the App Store standard. But in light of the lead time Apple got with its service, the game is still open for Google and its Open Handset Alliance partners to trump the competition. So, instead of harping on what the Dream doesn't have, let's talk about what it brings to the table.

The Android UI will be unfamiliar to users of both Windows Mobile and Symbian S60. Practice makes perfect, we say. And that, we did. The Extended Home Screen (as labeled by HTC) is essentially a 3-page home screen that houses all your application shortcut icons. In essence, it's actually like a full page spread that's folded into three pages. We were tinkering around with the wallpaper function and realizes it isn't a fit-to-page portrait version.

Akin to how one adds widgets onto their desktop, you get the same user concept here. By pressing and holding onto existing icons, you can rearrange their current positions, or even toss the shortcuts into the bin to make space for more useful applications. Besides swiping left and right to access the icons on your extended pages, you'll only need to remember two other areas to swipe.

Swiping your thumb down from the top of the screen pulls down the notification tab. Typically, you'll see your emails, downloads and any other notification on this tab in a full drop-down list. Swiping from bottom up will reveal the list of applications within your device. Similarly, press and hold an icon to drag and drop a favored icon onto the home screen for easy access. Alternatively, just press the respective icons within the menu and you're good to go.

As listed in the specifications table earlier on, you'll notice that the Dream's connectivity options are aplenty, ranging from the usual Wi-Fi, to dedicated high speed HSDPA mobile broadband. Seeing as how the Android OS is aimed towards communication services such as Gmail, YouTube and downloading applications off the Android Market, this comes in as a pretty nifty feature.

The oddity about the Dream, is the lack of a native video player. The only thing that's anywhere close to doing so, is the integrated YouTube application that links you up with the latest YouTube video on site. This really isn't of any surprise to us, since Google does own both YouTube and the Android operating system on the Dream.

Thus, we made a short trip to the Android Market. Lo and behold, within a few searches we found what we needed: a video player. It is kind of odd that the Dream requires a third party application to play its videos, but thank goodness for alternatives that exists on the Android Market.

There are loads of alternatives on the Android Market. In our short run with the application warehouse, we found ourselves clicking away and downloading loads of free applications during our daily test. Using either the Wi-Fi or HSDPA connection to link to the Android Market, we browsed through the various applications, segmented into distinctive areas. Trippy little applications such as a Magic 8-Ball to tell your fortune, to practical ones such as a Compass or Battery Manager to manage your power usage are just some of the things you can find on the market.

Speaking of battery life, let's move on to something that's a little more hardware dependent: the Performance index of the Dream.

Electric Dreams

Way before we procured the unit, word on the streets (read: Internet) was that the HTC Dream (or G1, as they call it) fares badly in terms of battery mileage. Sadly, that turned out to be very true. In less than a day, we managed to bring a full charge to near zero.

To give a more accurate estimate, we subjected it to our usual battery test. Unfortunately, a little complication arose due to the fact that the existing video player application doesn't have a loop function. As such, we adapted accordingly and utilized a full length feature film of at least 3 hours to test the Dream's battery. Taking note of that, we converted the video to an MP4 H.264 file, at a resolution of 480 x 260 and playing at an FPS of 24.

To ensure that there's no background application running, we did a quick reset of the device. With that, we let the Dream run through the video at full brightness, with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on and volume at 100% with earphones plugged in to determine its battery mileage.

As you can see in the comparison chart above, the Dream underperforms in the stamina department. Having a similar capacity to the ASUS P552W, it actually fell short by at least 20 minutes for the video playback. Nonetheless, for a device powered by a battery above 1000mAh in specification, the Dream still did decently at up to slightly above 2 hours.

Consider the fact that the Dream utilizes a HVGA screen that can bring its performance level down slightly a notch (compared to both the Touch 3G and the ASUS P552W which is on QVGA screen) and you might understand the sharp dip in its power resources. This will also affect its portability index, seeing as how the lower battery life, coupled with the slightly thicker dimensions, will push the Dream's ratio much lower than other devices.

When it comes to normal usage, we did mention that it'll last for nearly a day before putting itself to rest. Beyond the HVGA screen being a power guzzler, there are also a few other factors to take note of. Applications are constantly running in the background, which takes its toll on the Qualcomm processor.

In short, the more applications you flip through, the more likely you'll find the Dream dying on you much faster. We were just as guilty of this when we battered the device with a barrage of downloads from the Android Market or surfing the web using the HSDPA network. Whilst we didn't fully utilize the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity options, it still didn't bode well that the device couldn't survive for more than a day.

However, during its short-lived usage, we were pleasantly surprised by a few things. Video playback on the Dream is, for the lack of a better word, a dream. We were impressed by the level of contrast on the screen which brought out the colors of the video clips. There wasn't any discernible frame losses during the video playback either, which is very commendable. Audio-wise, we'll place it amongst one of the more decent devices out there. It won't be on the same level as the B&O Serenata or LG's Renoir in the audio department, but it was amply juiced up on the lows and mids.

Nothing's always perfect though. Even with its strong delivery on the audio and video aspect, the Dream's 3.2-megapixel camera kind of shortchanged itself. Earlier on, we did mention the difficulty in half-pressing the camera button to perform an auto-focus. To bring this further, auto-focusing takes quite a fair bit of time (up to 3 seconds) and is equally lengthy when it comes to image processing.

But if you were to look beyond this point, the color reproduction came out pretty well, though noise levels tended to be a bit high. We also observed a fine level of detail for a camera of its caliber, as seen in one of our test shots.

Awakening from the Dream

Though the Android Market and its repertoire of entertaining applications should be enticing to consumers, there are other things to consider. Such as the user experience. We applaud HTC for utilizing a capacitive touch screen on the Dream, which by our admission, feels more apt for touch navigation. However, the Dream's form factor, be it weight, size or its keyboard, has some kinks to be worked out. It isn't exactly a behemoth of a device to the point that it feels too heavy, but it doesn't come off as light either. We also doubt the durability of the device with its single hinge system and the constant fear of snapping a few joints on the battery casing.

The Android user interface will be unfamiliar to most users out there, but from our perspective, the learning curve isn't as steep as some other operating systems. We had a good run with the device, taking as little as a day to adapt to the UI from our oft-used Windows Mobile or Symbian S60 interfaces.

Whilst the Android Market is still in its infancy stages, we do have high hopes for its development, especially so with its open-source roots. Having a full suite of connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, HSDPA and Bluetooth does help in positioning the Dream as a well-connected mobile device. But most all, the HVGA screen comes off as the biggest catch, with its wonderful contrast levels and ample brightness (thanks in part due to its capacitive screen). The only important thing that you might not forgive, is the device's lackluster battery life.

If it's a price war you're looking for, then tough luck, as the Dream is under a SingTel exclusive. Think of the iPhone and the need to purchase the device with a SingTel plan. Here's a quick look at the various pricing for both the device and the mobile plan under the new SingTel Flexi plans.

Is the HTC Dream the dream phone for consumers? We actually feel that this phone is more for the hardcore tech enthusiasts out there. The Android platform is ready for developers to go all out with mobile applications and to fully harness its usefulness, there's actually a lot of legwork to be done. Having an intimate knowledge of the mobile devices will definitely help in the long run should you wish to tinker with applications that actually requires direct access on a Google phone.

As such, if you are an early adopter and wish to be the proud owner of the first Google Android phone, the HTC Dream, be our guest. Else, there will be more devices utilizing the Google Android platform coming your way this year.

Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.