By Uh-oh. Looks like Google’s self-coined Superphone is starting to attract negative attention in the eyes of its owners. We knew about the spotty 3G signal strength issue since the phone’s launch and even with an update to address those concerns, users are still experiencing problems.
Unfortunately, more complaints are beginning to rear their ugly heads. Problems such as phones being muted during calls to the touchscreen becoming randomly unresponsive have turned up as major areas of concern for several users. Take a look at this huge laundry list of complaints that many users are cosigning on:
1) 3G connectivity issue
2) Touch Screen unresponsiveness/sensing incorrect input
3) unresponsive trackball
4) WIFI connectivity issue
5) Lock button response issue
6) Proximity sensor sensitivity issue
7) Ambient light sensor issue
8)bluetooth issues: fails to operate; inadequate volume; intermittent failure to accept commands
9) speaker: horrible sound quality
10) ringer: insufficient volume
11) earpiece: insufficient volume
12) headset connector: headphones cord activates pause or other functions
13) manufacturer says phone cannot go in pocket
14) Phone mutes when calling people and can only be unmuted by turning mute on then off!
15) missed call notification trackball does not flash
Needless to say, but I’ll still say it, that’s downright ridiculous. I can’t comment on the validity of any of these claims, but check for yourself in several support threads on Google’s official Android Help site to see just how many people are dying for a solution. We feel for you, guys. Here’s hoping Google continues to increase their customer support quality and are cooking a nice update to dissolve all – or at least most – of these issues in one clean sweep.
Are any of you having problems with your Nexus One? Cry out in the comments below!
[Thanks, Engadget]
ok the 3g issue isnt just an issue with the phone. it lyes in the way tmo send out the signal to android devices. currently the network just dosnt know how to handle the way the nexus pulls down the signal so when edge is more prevalent it will select that over 3g. it dosnt mean the 3g isnt there its just not strong enough for the phone to consider useful so toggle to edge. so this issue is something thats being worked on by both google and tmo. i have yet to hear ATT user having issue with 3g, have you? and everything else on that list can usually be fixed by a soft/factory reset. so quit crying like little girls and learn how to troublshoot. this isnt the first time weve seen issue with new tech. early adopters you know how this is and its unfair to google that we arent taking this into consideration.
Can’t help think this is all blown up out of proportion a little; had my N1 since early Jan and it hasnt presented with me with any major problems- though I’ve been on CM5 for a while :-)
Sold my nexus one a week ago.
horrible 3G signal
“i have yet to hear ATT user having issue with 3g” i was reffering to the ATT 3g compatible version FYI.
granted the lack of any updates from Google is worth a comment but this is troll bait. #1) 3G connectivity issue; on which provider??? AFAIK AT&T has been OK. So maybe it’s the network? How about a little better reporting vesus regurgitating the same article that was on BGR.
Making and supporting a phone… not as easy as Google thought!
Thinks most of these are bogus. Probably posted by Iphone fans trying to bash android and N1
Putting a smile on Steve Jobs face without even trying….Priceless !
For everything else, there’s the iPhone.
Brought to you by the committee to promote iPhone OS4.
iphone fanboy comments should just be nuked IMO.
I’m running latest MOD by Cyanogen, nothing to complain about. 3G is spotty, yes, but then I drive a lot and use Verizon’s mobile internet, it’s even spottier than TMO.
Complains are good though, bring G’s attention :) iCrap products have had just as many issues too (even considering all their limitations), I guess most of ppl who use Apple products don’t even realize a difference between a feature or OS bug :)
Yeah mostly bogus because my N1 is doing fine. The only issue I have is the touch menu at the bottom edge are not that responsive. Other than that, great phone.
Google walked into the phone business with a bit more arrogance than is healthy, thinking that software and platforms would be pretty much the same thing. Oops. But the other question is how many problems are due to stock 2.1? I know people have been screaming at Motorola for taking three months to get 2.1 on the Droid, but did they ever consider that 2.1 might have had some serious flaws from the onset and it took time for Motorola to fix them in their baseline? Maybe Motorola, who knows a little more about shipping phones than Google, was being a little smarter about deployment than Google was with the N1.
I experienced touch screen issues where sections of the screen (home screen) are unresponsive a few times (twice since it’s release). I turned off the screen and turned it back on, that fixed it. I also am noticing a small buildup of dust in the upper right hand side of the screen, really only a problem when looking at the screen in very bright day light. No 3G problems, sometimes the wifi might not reconnect when the phone wakes up. All that aside, the Nexus One is an amazing phone, still the best decision I’ve made since I bought the G1.
Not one of those issues is found on my nexus one. suck it.
There are minor bugs with any product. I have a Nexus one and its been wonderful. Most of the “serious problems” listed are just people being nit picky. I would rather deal with some minor problems that can be resolved over time with some firmware than deal with an inferior by design product like the iPhone.
I really don’t think Google came into the cell phone business with any arrogance. It was really the media outlets pumping this phone up to be the greatest thing since sliced iphone….Google made a product, a good product, that has issues like any other product. Its the first version (N1) and will get better as time goes on. Granted, no one wants to pay 500 bucks for a test dummy, but thats a risk we take with anything brand new. My hopes are with the N2 (what ever they call it) as the true super phone. As for the iphone being the king of smartphones…I don’t buy it! I’ll take the problems with the N1 as long as I can have an open platform and xda over any lockdown apple product. Buy the way…I’m still rocking the g1 (xda keeps it going strong) and would STILL prefer it over an iphone.
My ATT version has no 3G problems, in fact the speeds are fantastic. As for the wonky screen issues I had this once or twice and then it never happened again. (I’ve had the phone for 3 weeks now) I never put any cell phone in my pocket so I could care less about that. No problems with bluetooth what so ever, but the volume of the phone is a little low. All in all this is the best phone I have ever had, hands down. I love this little guy! lol
ni3po42
if that dust issue starts to get bad call nexus one care (888-48-nexus) and they can perform a swap for you.
This is bogus. Engadget is a bunch of iFans and bash any other phone as much as possible. The only problem that I ever had was the spotty 3g coverage that was fix with updates a long time ago. This phone(as far as im concerned) is perfect.
and with any issue…..if you think its the phone cal cal cal nexus care and a swap can be performed regardless of your buyers remorse. if your in your 14 days 30 in CA and you dont like it. return it.
Motorola has way more experience making cell phones than Google or HTC, so their slow progress on 2.1 meant they did more testing. Google and HTC probably rushed things a bit and it’ll take time and maybe even new hardware revisions in the future to solve some of these problems. HTC is not exactly known for high quality products, they were just gutsy enough to go for Android from the get-go, which was great, but they’re not perfect.
Love my N1 – I get exact same edge/3g performances as my G1 (they reproducible drop to edge at the exact same spots in town). I think if you made a list of the 15 problems anyone is having with any phone it would look just as impressive. It doesn’t mean that everyphone has every single one of those problems. For the most part, those are probably manufacturing defects and should be swapped (which HTC will do).
out of all isues listed I’m only having trouble with the touchscreen registering wrong inputs and triggering the bottom soft keys and I’ve just had enough
LOL at this article, its so malicious and narrow minded.
Most of these are not really issues. Engadget propaganda.
thanks for the bogus news, Engadget!
My N1 is doing fine except for my ringer/notification tones will go silent. Even changing them results in no sound at all, but if my phone rings then it’ll ring, but nothing when I change it. If I get a txt or email I wont hear the sound and still nothing when changing the tone. This is the only thing that is wrong with my phone and it did not happen in the beginning so it could have been an App for all I know. But nothing on that list pertains to me so I’m not sure what is up with it. Might have slow 3G at home with full signal but at work I get great 3G speed, so I attribute that to a tower issue which I have called in.
So basically the N1 suffers from EVERYTHING that could go wrong with ANY phone EVER. Hmmm… strangely I haven’t experienced a single one of those problems on the list except the 3G issue. The 3G issue is annoying but has a workaround. Basically I just have to make sure not to cup the bottom of the phone with my hand while using data.
Only issues I have with my N1 are 1, sometimes 2, and sometimes 14. The 3G thing might just be TMO, not sure. After a while sometimes the touchscreen will bug out and I will have to put it to sleep and wake back up to fix. No clue on 14… seems totally random but probably just a bug.
I think all the people that complain about being unhappy about there N1 A) dont take care of there phone! B) dont know how to work the android OS and C) you just have people that complain about EVERYTHING!!! I have had my Nexus for a while now and yes at first the 3g connectivity was an issue but it lasted for a day and it never happened again! the phone works fine and if you know how to use it and trouble shoot it, its an awesome phone. i have to honestly say it is an impressive phone. So for you all that complain about every single thing about your Nexus 1 or any phone. Ask your self, Do i take care of my phone or does it really suck? Cus honestly (knock on wood) I have never had a problem or issue with the Nexus.
I’m in Germany using an imported Nexus. I don’t see a specific 3G connectivity issue, just the overall reception is not as good as with a Motorola Milestone (=Euro-Droid) for example.
Sometimes it loses data connectivity completely though (so, not falling back from 3G to EDGE – just no data at all) and 3 times it froze completely with no signal available.
My biggest complaint is the screen: You have to touch above the softkeys to use them. At random, inputs somewhere in the lower half of the screen are registered as softkey presses. Sometimes one “touch” gets stuck, resulting in every other touch being interpreted as pinch-zooming.
Pinch-Zooming itself is imprecise, Multitouch doesn’t work properly (see countless YT-Videos or try “Pong Multi Touch” from the market).
The AMOLED display is also not good. Main reason is the red color cast and the PenTile matrix leading to slightly “jagged” text compared to an LCD screen. Again, the Moto Milestone is much better in this respect.
That said, I’m going to sell my Milestone and keep the Nexus, because it has a LOT less software flaws and runs faster and more stable.
When I take a pic with the camera it does not appear in the gallery .. and the camera shutter volume is extremely low even if my media, ringer, and notification volume is set to maximum .. and I tried turning my phone on and off but no luck.
Mohammad
try going into you settings, applications, filter to view all, select gallery and clear data. it wont erase your images but clear the cache of all the images that rent there anymore and in turn allow the pics you just taken to appear quiker. this is a good fix for any app that isnt respondin quikly. keep in mind if its an app other than an included app say a game that save to the phone storage you will lose saved data. so only use this is the app syncs to google, you have the info backed up, or if it saves data to sd.
N Issue
6
7
10
11
Were fixed with CM5.0.6 as far as the other issues go, I’ve only had the unresponsive touch screen, (maybe once a week) but that’s fixed with a quick press of the sleep button and unlock. haven’t had any other problems besides the 3g issue but that’s t-mobile, not the phone
In my experience, my N1 has had few problems since I got it the day it was released. Any issues I may have are no more than any other phone. My “issues” 1) the touch screen can get a little weird. Nothing major 2) the volume is a bit too low 3) I’d rather have hardware buttons. The last two are not problems though and the third is merely a preference of mine. Also, I hear there is a hack for number two.
If you feel, “I can’t comment on the validity of any of these claims,” then why did you feel print them?
My experience with a Nexus One has been nothing short of revolutionary.
The only “issues” I’ve experienced in the 2+ months I’ve owned my T-mobile N1, are the 3G connectivity…which I blame squarely on T-mobile, and the lock button sensitivity. Sometimes I have to press it a couple times to wake the phone up.
I live in Ohio… T-mobile’s network isn’t very ubiquitous here. However, when visiting my sister in Chicago, I don’t ever drop off 3G no matter how I hold my phone or where I am inside her building.
I have had absolutely no issues with my Nexus One.
I’m like my Nexus one a lot, but when I’m laying on my side and using the keyboard, some times the screen gets whacked out and the screen starts tweaking and the keyboard doesn’t work right. It kind of sucks, but uh it’s okay.
@WoodRow there’s obviously a pretty vocal community out there that are not happy with their Nexus One experience. Why not get the word out, even if it doesn’t effect everyone?
Everyone with 3G coverage issues with their N1 with T-Mobile just know that it is not your phone it is T-mobile itself. I had the G1 and I had the exact same problem and that is why I switched to AT&T great coverage btw! If you are frustrated with your connectivity with T-Mobile call them and tell them that they are breaking their contract with your non or spotty 3G coverage maybe you can get out of that contract and go to another carrier that offers the N1. Which Verizon will also soon be carrying if you are not a AT&T fan!
I have had my nexus one for 3 months now and haven’t noticed any of these issues. Intact the 3g and wiring reception on this set seems to be better than my iPhone 3gs
I have a Nexus One here in Houston and have had a couple of the issues above but they have been minor in annoyance and not happened very often (particularly the touch screen issues and the gallery app not showing images, etc.)
My biggest gripe is T-Mobile’s 3G here has been terrible since this year started. Part of it might have to do still with the Nexus One but in general the issues I’ve faced here with the Nexus One someone with a G1 right next to me also is suffering from the same issue. Usually, the issue is in the middle of loading a website, reading email, or viewing apps on the Market the 3G service hangs and the up arrow gets stuck facing up without any other traffic even though you have full signal.
All I can get from T-Mobile is a not quite sure “I think” they’re upgrading towers.
I’ve seen so many cracked iPhone screens – Google will prolly just have to replace stuff immediately when someone tells too many people he has a problem. Otherwise they cant keep up with Apple.
Unfortunately Android users actually hae own opinions and want to be heard – unlike Apple fanboys who keep buying expensive crap …
Does anyone know if the Desire does better? Being nearly identical and all.
I’ve had my N1 for about 6 weeks and I’m definitely a power user. I’ve had a number of “features” but no bugs. If anyone has been in IT testing they know that a bug can be reproduced where a feature is simply an oddity that you see once or very rarely without any pinpointing. In every single feature I experienced a reboot fixed it. I’ve seen a couple of the features pop up more than once, but definitely can’t reproduce it.
I have seen the same feature as reported by reddragon72 with the notification sounds all of the sudden not working with only a reboot fixing it.
I have seen the inability to get a cellular/data signal after being without a signal for an extended amount of time (I work in a lab in a basement of the building and utilize wifi). Only fix has been a reboot. Activating and removing Airplane Mode didn’t do a thing.
I have seen the inability to “completely” load a webpage until a reboot which leaves landscape typing very annoying as the address bar is halfway over the input area for text.
I have seen MMS messages unable to send when signal was showing full until a reboot.
From the list in the article I have seen:
4
5
7 – is more of an issue due to the light sensor not getting the appropriate angle for the light or my hand accidentally covering it (when typing in landscape).
15
I still have no regrets and think this is the most kickass phone out there right now. It’s the number one first thing you do in IT when you have a problem (reboot). Don’t people watch The IT Crowd?? ;-)
Wow. I have absolutely none of these issues on my N1. I ran the stock ROM for 2 months before rooting and installing Cyanogenmod. I didn’t see these problems on stock and I’m not seeing them on Cyanogen’s mod either.
Obviously not all of these issue can be written off as user error, so what’s the deal? Inconsistent quality in manufacturing seems like the most likely explanation to me. And if that’s what it is then I feel very lucky to have ended up with a solid, well-performing unit.
I have had some issues with my AT&T compatible Nexus One. Really only #s 2 & 10.
To be fair, though, I had an iPhone & iPhone 3G … BOTH phones have a consistent tendency to NOT RING on incoming calls nor show any announcement of an incoming call. With full cell signal, I’ve had phone in hand and only received a voice mail alert. Not to mention unresponsiveness issues, freezing issues, I had a battery reporting itself dead and would only show it was charged after a restart.
And the iPhone has had tons of touchscreen issues, though my Nexus One seems to have them more regularly. The solution has always been to lock the screen and then unlock it. Fixes it every time. Obnoxious when in the middle of a game … but it’s a specific problem whereas the Apple touchscreen issues are more general.
And frequently my ringer volume will be turned all the way down and I don’t know how that keeps happening. I don’t know if it’s software or if I somehow keep hitting the volume down button and slowly turning it down throughout the day.
Using the AT&T version, I’ve experienced little 3G issues and generally experience better 3G service with the Nexus One than I did with the iPhones.
The Nexus One is not perfect … but I wouldn’t say it’s any worse than the iPhone. It’s par for quality. Not above, not below, right around everyone else. I can’t comment on its reliability compared to RIM, Palm, or other Android devices.
“Don’t people watch The IT Crowd”
Best tech sitcom ever!!!
alot of these issue are adressed at my blog as well as some really good how-tos and loads of other info.
http://tinyurl.com/techienewsmongral
No problems here have been using my N1 with TMO service for 3 weeks and no issues at all but i am rooted and running cyanogen/MaDaCo desire roms, maybe other owners should look into rooting and custom roms unless they really worried about the warranty. The Desire rom has been great and cyanogens as well but i didn’t have any issues when i was on the stock ERE27 but the custom roms are better in every way.
My N1 rocks, I’m with bell in Ontario and the HSDPA is flaming fast and so reliable, I drive all over the back country streaming Shoutcast at 128kbit/sec and never cuts out, 4 hours of driving today all good.
Screen works great, absolutely no issues with my N1.
Nexus works good, beside:
WIFI PROXY SETTINGS ARE MISSING, useless for companies and at the university
I have had my N1 for a month now and I havn’t had any of these problems accept for the touchscreen one. I am especially confused with peoples issues with 3g connection, I guess they need to flash the new radio…
I have an AT&T version and I have had NONE of the outlined problems. 3G signal is good, and Trackball and touchscreen are extremely responsive.
The only issue I have is that the Nexus One does not allow you to change the way the trackball notifies you (cant change color, blink rate, etc which is extremely frustrating given that my G1 had this ability)
My n1 rocks. No problems worth fussing over. These crappy regurgetated engadget articles do nothing to help the image of a great phone and only help the apple fan boys bash the phone they no nothing about.
Lol this article is garbage.
Petty attempts to squeeze out at least something bad out of N1.
Nothing beats N1 right now.
bah, I meant the list, not article.
I have had NONE of the issues mentioned here. IMHO, most, if not all, are ID-10-T errors.
I absolutely love my AT&T n1 besides a few known features, spotty 3g (which is realy pissing me off), screen is purple on automatic brightness, and the volume is a just a little low. I already rooted my phone so I can’t take it back. I’m an avid android and google user, but if I knew all this was going down with this phone, I would wait and see what HTC phone AT&T was going to offer. I heard the n1 atenna was built on the bottom of the phone, which is no excuse but a reasonable explanation for 3g. If google sends an actual update, and fixes these problems, I would think 527.64$ was worth it for this phone.
Most of the people in the forums have tried all the solutions that everybody here has mentioned. I have noticed either you have problems or you don’t, so don’t bash people just because you got lucky with your problem free phone. I just got my third replacement this morning as of now everything is finally working after 3 MONTHS (knock on wood). I see some people say maybe those people don’t know how to use android but I have been using it for 18 months with my problem free G1 and Google Ion. Also I know for a fact that its not a T-mobile problem, when I switched back to my Mytouch like Google asked me to do I didn’t have any problems what so ever 3G or touchscreen. Also AT&T users aren’t safe like many claim at the end I’ll post a link that a AT&T users started. These are pretty serious issues and HTC could fix them very easy but they keep sending out broken replacements (up to 6)and denying they have even heard of these problems but according to some others on the forums they spoke to the same HTC reps and they are lying about not knowing. Anyways I started one of those linked threads and I want nothing more than to have a mostly problem free phone like most Nexus One owners.
For anybody who says that the AT&T Nexus One doesn’t have any problems please read this thread from one of your fellow AT&T users.
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=47dc569ca9667ba7&hl=en
so sad. so freakin sad. why can’t google get their act together and release something that’s smooth, fast, and refined like apple’s OS? why? why?
Wow I am experiencing all of those problems with my Nexus. I cant believe I actually bought it knowing the issues i would face. IDC how much is the Samsung I9000 Galaxy S, I’ll b getting that phone in a heartbeat. LOL.. Here I go rushing!!
Perhaps the “problem” is that google’s support is publicly available for all to see. What if we had transcripts for all the calls to AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile…would we also see a laundry list of problems for the other phones? Maybe..maybe not. I have a Droid, and a friend has a Nexus one…all of our minor complaints are well worth having these awesome phones. I was much unhappier with the last non-Android phone that I had….because it was buggy *and* useless.
I don’t have 3g issues, but I do not like the touchscreen and its unpredictable nature. The typing on this thing is pretty much useless as compared to my iphone. The screen issue should have been resolved months ago. If this went to a class action suit, google would get their ass handed to them. Ridiculous. This is just #102030 of their current projects. Maps, apps, buzz, etc, etc, etc. Too busy showing off how great it is, not fixing the problems, not taking care of customers. Your the richest company on the planet and you can’t even open a call center to at least give customers some reassurance? This is a crock. I wish I had stayed with my iphone
I have had zero problems with my Nexus One. Best phone I have ever owned.
My Nexus worked great the first day I had it then it stopped working alltogether the next day and am still waiting for a working phone im in california too.
So many Apple Iphone Nuthuggers and trolls on the blogs.
Apple can put out a useless brick and Apple fans will worship without question.
Steve says jump, and off the bridge they go!
I got rid of my Iphone 3GS and have a Nexus. I love the Nexus and have not missed the Iphone at all.
Iphone sucks on AT&T. The worse carry ever. I would drop 1 in 10 calls in Orange County, CA. I got so sick of telling customers that I will call them back if the call drops.
Only complaint about Nexus is the GPS doesn’t alway find a location and the battery life is starting to get bad.
just FYI everyone. the OP in that linked thread doesn’t even own a nexus one. nuff said.
Going on 2 months with the N1. Have a friend working for Google that got one in December when the employees got theirs. Neither one of us have had any problems with the phone in any way, other than iFan bashing. 3G issues are very much localized to TMO in certain areas. BTW, yes I’ve asked my friend about the CDMA Verizon release, and I am told I cannot get an answer as they are very tight lipped and aren’t sharing that with employees.
I just gotta say I luuuvvvv my N1
Don’t forget the problems with the screen:
http://www.metalev.org/2010/03/more-on-resolution-of-nexus-one-display.html
http://www.metalev.org/2010/03/generating-false-color-images-on-nexus.html
Polo79 seems to think that anybody that complains about a Nexus One problem doesn’t own one. I’ve already proved him wrong in this thread:
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=6e0ad1075b975350&hl=en&start=160
With this picture:
http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/af78/mrbill03/P4080300.jpg
Here is my sad but TRUE Nexus One story
A short time after I got my first Nexus One and began to use it, I discovered some issues with the phone. The phone would not maintain 3G signal, the display would repeatedly go from bright to dark and back under constant lighting conditions no matter where the brightness control was set, and it would not hold a wi-fi signal no matter where the sleep policy was set. I did as requested (although I don’t believe it’s the proper way to handle this type of thing) and contacted HTC. I was told that a replacement phone would be sent to me after talking to a tech. rep. that could not get it to work properly over the phone. A few days later I had not received the replacement so I called HTC again and was told that the phone was never sent out. I was told that it would be sent out that day. I called back later that day to get a tracking number and was given one. When I went to check on the tracking number I found that it didn’t exist. I called HTC back the next day and the again was told the phone was not sent out. To shorten this up, I finally did receive a replacement on 1/21/2010.
The second Nexus One however was defective as well. It had the same 3G issues and the same wi-fi issues only this one would not reconnect to the wi-fi until I either turned off the wi-fi radio and turned it back on, put it into “airplane mode” and then back out or turned the phone off and then back on. I then called HTC and again arraigned for a replacement. Needless to say it took several phone calls, but I received my third Nexus One on 1/23/2010.
The third phone still had some 3G/EDGE problems, but it was better and the wi-fi issue was the same as the first one. During this time there was news of an OTA that “might” help with the 3G issue so I held on to it and waited for the OTA. My phone received the OTA on the night of 2/4/10 and I installed it as soon as it was downloaded. There was no improvement in the 3G or the wi-fi. Two days later on 2/6/2010, sometime before 6:30 PM, the phone completely lost all phone and text messaging capabilities. I could not make or receive phone calls, could not send or receive text messages, got no missed call indicators or any voice mail indication. During that time I had missed calls and received two voice mails. I tried to shut the phone off to get the signal back but I couldn’t. It got to the last screen where the background is blurred and it says “Power Off” and under that it says “shutting down” and it has the spinner, and that’s where it stayed. The spinner stopped spinning and the trackball kept flashing until I took the battery out. This happened several more times over the next two days. After checking the loss of signal with my wife’s Blackberry (Also on T-Mobile) right next to it and getting 3 to 4 bars of signal, I decided to call T-Mobile and check with them. All the tests T-Mobile did showed that my account was working fine. When the phone did it yet again, I called HTC on 2/8/2010. They had me do a factory reset and that worked for a few days. On Friday, 2/12/2010, same problem again! I contacted HTC and they started the process to ship out the fourth replacement. That was received on morning of 2/17/2010. Phone number 4 received the OTA as soon as I signed in to my Google account. When I started using the fourth Nexus One I noticed that it had the same wi-fi issue that the other three had and that it was having the issue with the screen going from bright to dark and back just like the first one had. That afternoon I got the disconnection error described above and again the following morning. This led me to call HTC yet again. I asked that the next replacement, Nexus One, phone number 5, have the OTA preinstalled and be tested. I was assured it would be. I received the fifth one on 2/19/2010 in the morning and proceeded to set it up and it did indeed have the OTA preinstalled. It doesn’t go from bright to dark like before, it does have the wi-fi sleep issue and it seems to have less flipping between 3G/EDGE. Most importantly it didn’t loose its phone signal……..until the next day. At a little before noon the problem of losing the signal described above started again. I did some experimenting comparing it to my wife’s Blackberry and then putting the SIM from the Blackberry into the fourth Nexus One to compare it to the now locked-up fifth one. The results can be viewed in the pictures here:
http://s995.photobucket.com/albums/af78/mrbill03/N1-No%20Signal/
One picture is of my wife’s Blackberry with 3 bars of voice on the left and my Nexus One #5 on the right with an “X” and no voice signal. The other is of Nexus One #4 with the SIM from my wife’s Blackberry in it showing 4 bars of voice signal on the left and my Nexus One #5 on the right with an “X” and no voice signal. Upon further investigation I discovered that when this happens there is no way to call 911 either. I pulled out and reinstalled the battery and then it worked fine for about another hour before doing the same thing again. On 2/22/2010 I called HTC to inform them that I was having the signal loss problem above and and I emailed them the link to the pictures above. On 2/24/2010 I called back to request another exchange since the phone had locked-up a couple of more times. During that phone call I agreed to get and try a new SIM card from T-Mobile, which was sent out to me that day. But in the meantime the 5th Nexus One has lost signal as described above on the 26th, 27th, and 28th during which time I also discovered that I am unable to call 911 (emergency). I called T-Mobile on the 27th while the phone was experiencing the problem and they said they could see it logged on to the tower nearest my house, but again I could not use it. My wife’s shop is 2.5 blocks from this T-MO tower:
http://www.t-mobiletowers.com/TowerDetail.aspx?towerid=SF05886A&a=&c=&s=&zip=&lat=&lon=&b=0&m=0&t=&i=&mlat=36.61363&mlng=-121.850064&mz=13&tabid=2&mode=
and I drove right up to it on the 27th while the phone was having the problem and I still had absolutely no voice service at all as I explained above nor could I cal 911 and this tower is the flagpole at the Sand City California Police Station/City Hall! I had to pull the battery out and replace it to get the signal back as usual.
I received the new SIM card on 03/01/2010 and had it activated the same day at about 12:30 PM. It work without disconnecting up to 03/03/2010 at about 3:00 PM then it did it again at about 7:00 PM and continues to do it just as randomly as before the new SIM. The problem has gotten so bad I had to stop using the Nexus One. I have been using a My Touch 3G since 4/2/2010 and have had none of these problems.
I have made well over 500 posts on the Google help forums during this time and the response from Google employees has nonexistent.
My experience with the Nexus One is really no different from any other complex piece of electronics I’ve owned. My cable modem goes out every so often. My Xbox 360 got the red ring of death three times and had to be sent in for repair. My Wii would play games fine, but the picture had these little green dots, which I later learned was due to the graphics chip overheating because of that stupid WiiConnect 24/7 crap. Other electronics have minor bugs and annoyances, and so does the N1, sure. But the pros more than outweigh the cons in my experience.
“I just got my third replacement this morning as of now everything is finally working after 3 MONTHS (knock on wood).”
It sounds to me like you are expecting too much. No experience is going to be absolutely perfect. The touchscreen gets out of whack? Reboot the phone! It seems like we can handle rebooting a computer to clear up issues, but God forbid we have to turn our phone off and on. It’s really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
None of those issues for me either!
The most surprising for me is the “ringer: insufficient volume” issue…
Nexus One is the first phone I have used on which
I have turned down the ringer because it’s too loud!!!
I really am disappointed with google and their lack of support for their flagship superphone. including all the annoyances above where is Google doc’s?
My touch screen is unpredictable …every night it freaks out and I have to power off, and sometimes I have a problem trying to power off.
I’ve noticed the screen become unresponsive towards the end of a long day of usage – not sure why!
I’ve complained to both Google and HTC about the camera having the same “pink hue” that affected the HD2 but there’s still no fix – like the phone and I honestly do think its better than the Desire and the 3Gs
I am using the nexus in the uk on o2. the 3g issue of no connectivity and then the apn closing and reopening is prominent on 2g,edge and 3g so I don’t believe it is the network as my similar works fine in my n900. this is my main issue and it just needs sorting. reading this thread about rooting voiding my warranty may be my fix. either way the phone cost enough, there are ota facilities available and other than a kick up the rear they should fix it. friends on Twitter with a HTC desire are having no such issues.
missed call notification trackball does not flash : It sucks !!!!!!!!!
I can vouch for “Touch Screen unresponsiveness/sensing incorrect input”. I will eventually create a youtube video to demonstrate the problems I have. Most times the phone is fine, but every once in a while the touchscreen flips out and the on screen keyboard becomes unusable. A restart of the phone usually fixes this.
I have had issues with 3G vs Edge on my Nexus (T-Mobile), but really no different than I did on the G1. I fixed that my downloading the “Phone Info” app. With that you can set it “WDCMA only”. Now it never switches out of 3G, unless I tell it too. Problem solved.
The touch screen is sometimes incorrect, but that’s infrequent. I have seen the issue where pictures don’t always show up in the Gallery app. If I go to a file manager (I use OI File Manager) and select a picture file, it will bring up the Gallery with the pictures in it. So I have a workaround, but this needs to be fixed in future Android versions.
On rare occasions, it has dropped my T-Mobile cell signal and I had to reboot the phone. It’s only happened a few isolated times since I bought the phone. But I’d like to see that fixed too, because you need your phone to be reliable.
Everything else is fine, and I loooove my N1. My car dock should be arriving today. I can’t wait!
@Spokker Do you have a Nexus One and have you amongst other things had to lock then unlock your phone oh lets says 1000 times until your messed up the lock button. I have never had so many damn problems with a phone. Also what makes it worse is that they happen at random so there is no real way to avoid it or I would, I don’t want to be mad on purpose and I’ve heard all the ways to try to fix this phone and HTC and Google said that the only way now is to get a replacement. Like I said if it wasn’t the big of a deal then why does HTC and Google lie about it. I don’t know why they don’t give you an option to get a refund think about how much money they waste sending people like me and mrbill defective phones over and over, just they overnight shipping to and from them can’t be cheap. Just in case you are wondering I am not going to sell this phone it is the best I’ve ever had.
that is why you wait until verizon gets theirs,or just stop being a big cry baby and deal with it,like the people with their storms
mute thing happens in google voice, noticeably.
I get it on mine too. drives me nuts.
I have had both the Tmo version and now I am using the ATT version. With respect to the 3G the ATT version is much better, of course that netwrok has a massive foot print. I still don’t get it why Google chose T-mobile the worst 3G foot print of them all. As for the un-responsive screen I too have experienced this but I blame it on 3rd party apps. I have definitely replicated the issue with NubiNews and Engadget apps. For some reason when you quit the app the phone still thinks it is running. Once I but the phone on standby via the top button and turn it back on will it work correctly again. IMO it is still the best smart phone of all them.
sold mine and got x10
Love my nexus one. Had it since day one. No issues. Love voice transcription. Love gps. Love seamless and cordless cloud integration of mail, calendar, photos, contacts, etc without “synching” (seems so old world…).
Who are these folks with all the issues?
@Mr bill: Didn’t you post on every thread about your stupid lame excuses(same essay posted) about your experience with N1?! Cry baby! Go get yourself a flip phone and jump off a cliff! Lol
I have the Nexus One, the mute problem appeared about 3 times during about 4 months, it is annoying and I rebooted the phone to fix it, did not know it would be fine when muting and unmuting. Ringer volume is depending on the actual ringtone very quiet, thats also true. But is OK as I selected now not a song but a old school type of ring tone.
Today I dropped my phone out of the hand onto a steel floor, it looks like in the image now. I’ll sent it for repair, with shipping it will cost about 180 USD.
Good thing is, I got this phone as a present from Google. Overall it is still a very nice phone with very good performance and colorful display. So I still like it. But usability and some quality problems make me look a bit for alternatives. But until now no really better alternative is available.
At last I’d like to mention that the phone is quiet hard to operate with one hand, touching the side of the phone (and thus the screen a bit) disables proper operation of the touchscreen. With this regard and with the hardware buttons the G1, which I also own is much better to operate one handed.
@ototmobaho I work for Google and we don’t appreciate your remarks to Mrbill, these issues with the Nexus One are very real. You are not helping us figure out the problem.
I am typing on a N1 right now. I’ve had my Nexus One for about a month now. I can honestly say that the only issues that I have dealt with are #1, and #2. I have a G1 also and clearly the Nexus One has a weaker antenna. It drops calls similar to the iPhone. That was disappointing. I didn’t want AT&T like phone service, and didn’t want the iPhone. The 3g really reception is poor. No doubt about it, but for most of my use, I’m on WiFi anyway and that works perfectly. I think the Verizon Nexus will solve the problem, because it’s just a better network. The touchscreen issue is annoying, but not a dealbreaker. If it’s unresponsive, all you have to do is click the power button to reset the screen. I don’t even have to shut it off. Most of the touchscreen issues are due to the black border of the screen that looks like it is inactive, but it actually is functional. If you hold the phone properly, most of the touchscreen issues will disappear.
Conclusion: awesome phone, minor issues. But if you are considering buying it, get the AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint one. T-Mobile’s weak network + the N1’s weak antenna equals no 3g signal.
Oh, and by the way, even with those 2 issues, it’s still the best smartphone on the market and way better than the iPhone 3gs, Pre Plus, Storm 2, Droid, (for now).
It’s crazy, my Nexus One started smoking. I tried to get it the patch and it just wouldn’t apply it. Now it’s gonna get lung cancer and I unlocked the bootloader so it’s out of warranty.
@ototmobaho
I did and I will continue to post anywhere and everywhere until GOOGLE mans-up and fixes this brick. Also, you need to read the entire post. At the end of the next to last paragraph I said “The problem has gotten so bad I had to stop using the Nexus One. I have been using a My Touch 3G since 4/2/2010 and have had none of these problems”.
I love my Nexus One and, honestly, I have not ever had ANY major issue with it, and I can’t remember any time I’ve even had a minor issue. I have not experienced any of the problems you mentioned (for instance my 3g signal is more constant than on my G1 if I swap the SIM card; and I have never heard a clearer louder phone for calls (including my home phone)). The Nexus is great and I think you won’t regret buying it.
I do tech support for the iPhone, and aside from #3 and #13, I’ve heard customers call in about every one of these issues with their iPhone.
We need to consider the target market. Blackberry was always solid and reliable until they decided to market to the consumer market. The lack of professional skill and baseline configurations make this a problematic exercise. Essentially, systems are used without a standard understanding of functionality and with a lack of policies and enforcement. Apple was aware of this and they strictly enforce the configuration of their products as well as what may run on them. Apple targets the consumer market with an understanding that the consumer is often the unreliable element. They hold their hand and limit their freedom to undermine the reliability of the device. So, you guys in the Android market have the open and free environment you wanted, yet many have not learned what it means. The training wheels are off and your mistakes can have consequences.
I luv my N1. No major issues to complain about.
Minor complaints but quick reboot should do the fix. Just gave up my N1 to my beloved wife and thinking of ordering another – if they release one with a different color :)
Great phone.
I don’t have a single one of these issues. Every device will have a few bad eggs and these days people tend to be (rightfully) pretty noisey about any problems. but there is no blanket recall level defect here. I’ve had a flawless experience.
what is that …. sabotage from HTC ? :-)
oh yeah, there is htc desire of course :-) from same manufacturer :-) ehm.
no problems with htc desire ? … WHAT A SURPRISE ! :-)
post by jdog,
@ototmobaho I work for Google and we don’t appreciate your remarks to Mrbill, these issues with the Nexus One are very real. You are not helping us figure out the problem.
dude, i have been posting back and forth with this jdog for a couple months and this is the first i have heard of him being an employee of google. i’m calling BS.
Crazy!! I havent had a single listed issue. Bought the at&t unlocked version the day it came out, put the iPhone aside, and never looked back. Then again, I put CM 5.0.5 on it within a couple days…that may be the reason for the zero issues.
Granted, there are a couple quirks but the phone is soooo worth it.
The 3G problem has been demonstrated, reproduced and even acknowledged by Google, it really surprises me how people who don’t have the problem still try and profess that it does not exist. I degree by which the N1 signal is reduced when covering the bottom of the phone is a major problem/flaw especially when you compare side by side with another phone.
I really like my N1, one of the best phones I have ever owned and I think Google can enhance it even further by unlocking/introducing some of the features the phone is capable of e.g FM Radio TX/RX, Wifi 802.11N, etc
However it’s time for Google/HTC to respond properly to the outstanding issues with the phone. I know people will say they will cause themselves a problem by doing so, and whilst that may be the case it would just go towards demonstrating what a poor company they are, as they would prefer to take our money, keep quite and screw their loyal customers over instead.
Generally I feel and hope that Google/HTC are working to try and solve some of the problems, but a real vote of confidence would be if they actually came out with an official statement confirming this.
to the apple fanboy, steve jobs doesnt care about N1, Droid is the one that made huge impact.
After using the N1 for around 4 weeks now I’m still very happy with the phone and feel its a solid well build unit. Some things like the soft buttons are not the best but get over it and either learn to use them or sell it. I’ve had small issues with some things listed above (WIFI struggled to reconnect automatically ONCE on returning home etc.) but in general I’m a happy customer.
I Have two N1 phones in the UK on Vodafone.
One only has the wifi issue.
The other has the wifi issue, touchscreen issue and also the shutdown issue.
Both struggle with network coverage and poor audio.
I have done a factory reset from the OS and also a factory reset from recovery mode.
This doesn’t sort the touchscreen issue. It works fine for a day or two and then it goes mad…
Had the Magic and Hero before this.
They worked brilliantly.
Anther odd thing is that when you sync the phone contacts with the Car it seems to strip out the leading + on all contacts so +44xxx would become 44xxx and the call fails.
Didn’t have this problem with the Hero or Magic… Odd…
I hope there is an OTA update soon…
I have an ongoing complaint into the BBB. I see the potential of the N1 but I’m very frustrated by the very real issues we face and Google’s non-responsiveness. If you are interested in making a complaint, here is the info:
http://sanjose.bbb.org/ContactUs.aspx
Here is Google’s info for the complaint:
Google, Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy
Mountain View, CA 94043-1351
Contact: Day, Beth
Phone: (650) 330-0100
Firstly, I love my N1. Glad I bought it. Was waiting for this on Big red, but I want to develop and for its faults, T-Mobile is pretty good. T-Mobiles 3G isn’t great, and it should be in my area.
I have found these to be valid:
2) Touch Screen unresponsiveness/sensing incorrect input
5) Lock button response issue
I suspect that these are related.
6) Proximity sensor sensitivity issue
This is a small issue, and I suspect software.
7) Ambient light sensor issue
In the car, this is really annoying. This is probably also software.
9) speaker: horrible sound quality
11) earpiece: insufficient volume
These *can* happen, but again, I think this has to do with a common software failure. I ‘spect it’ll get sorted.
13) manufacturer says phone cannot go in pocket
I hate lawyers.
14) Phone mutes when calling people and can only be unmuted by turning mute on then off!
This has just cropped up. I have to wonder why it is happening. Really, REALLY annoying. Only seems to be a problem after longer on times (3/4 days?)
These are frustrating, but this phone does some amazing things too. I do hope that HTC and google see fit to address some of these. Rightly, if they keep doing what they are doing (trying to be the best at what they do) It’ll only get better.
I am glad that someone is finally reporting on the shortcomings of this device.
I have the at&t Nexus One which (due to the 3G/reception issue) can’t even make a phone call in an area where other phones have 100%, 4 out of 4 bars reception!
RIDICULOUS!!!!!
Phandroid should also add the missing exchange sync and lacking copy&paste in emails to the list of complaints!
Problems with my Nexus
1) Touch Screen unresponsiveness/sensing incorrect input
2) Phone calls being muted
3) Poor battery life
This device should never have been released with such problems. Im very disapointed, and feel like Ive been robbed, as I could have got an iPhone for this price.
Is the HTC Desire often called the Nexus One minus the Google branding plagued with the same issues that are “bugging” nexus one users?
I’m planning to get a Desire and want to know what to expect.
Does anyone know how is the Nexus One’ 3G reception in New Jersey? I am planning to get one next month. Any recomendations?
I’ve had my Nexus One for just over 3 months now, and so far haven’t found anything to complain about. So far so good.
Most I haven’t encountered but I’ve had major issues with erroneous touchscreen input (every once in a while when I touch the screen a point an inch below where I’m touching responds), and it does sometimes become unresponsive during a call. The speaker quality is horrendous compared to even some non-smartphones I’ve owned before but that’s rather cosmetic. Other than that, I found N1 a very enjoyable phone.
AT&T and still have the iphone 3g, but using N1 instead. Love the n1, except the darn thing does not work when there’s a low signal on 3g. I’m testing it to see if disabling the 3g portion helps, but the stupid thing drops calls 10x as much as my iphone, but google voice, the cal and contacts are so much better done. I’ve never cared for HTC’s build quality. I might have to switch back to the iphone due to the crapy 3g coverage. I just want a phone that works, and the n1 is starting to prove i can’t get a signal consistently.
I have experienced all the issue listed above.
However, my major gripe is dropped calls and poor voice quality. In some cases I can hear the caller but they can not hear me.
Carrier: T-mobile; Google Nexus One FROYO 2.2
I purchased my Nexus One directly from google and use it with a T-Mobile network. On several occasions, the phone does not ring for a phone call … it doesn’t even register a call from the person, but a voicemail comes through. This isn’t a case of just missing the call or not hearing the phone ring … the call never registers and the phone never rings!. Also you cannot hear the other person speaking when talking on the phone but you often hear your own voice echo back. The “in call” volume is so very low that you can’t even make a phone call and expect to hear the other person talking.
i’d really like the nexus one, if i could get one to work and continue working. it’s great when it works, unfortunately for me, i’m on my 4th!!! return. seriously. and they wont give me a refund…. at this point, i’d just like my razor back.
I have to use 2G because every time I try to use 3G
all my voice calls get routed straight to voice mail.
For a phone that is supposed to be Google flagship, this is
a disappointment. Can only use Edge but paying for 3G.:(.
Yep, I’m on my third N1…just got it and will be sending it back this week. Forced to use 2G because 3G causes texting to foul up, calls won’t go out or come in straight to VM. Frequently have issues with the touchscreen not working right. My last one had the power button go out on it, plus had the texting and calling issues. I thought it was just that one bad phone…guess not. I tried to get TMobile to let me switch out to a different phone, but they won’t be having any of that…Guess I’ll just keep getting new N1s until my 2 years is up.
Oh, and the music player sucks…it won’t keep full songs in memory and cuts off in the middle of songs. I went out and bought an mp3 player it is so bad. I also have lost many of the photos I’ve taken…they just disappear randomly.
The N1 is fraught with issues..there needs to be class action suit against google and htc to recall lemon phone. On/off switch from the beginning.
Hi, Adam, engadget is a bunch of iFans and bash any other phone as much as possible. The only problem that I ever had was the spotty 3g coverage that was fix with updates a long time ago. This phone(as far as im concerned) is perfect.