Motorola Milestone and the Joys of Android – Part 2: The Milestone
March 25th 2010
So, now that I have had my shiny new phone for three months, what do I think of it? Has it lived up to my expectations?
Let’s start with the hardware. The Motorola device was quite weighty and felt fairly solid when I bought it and the hardened glass screen has already come in handy a I have been known to knock it off the odd table or drop it onto the floor. It has a few minor scrapes around the edges of the phone but the screen is still as good as the day I bought it.
The slider is starting to loosen up but it still functions as it should and still satisfyingly clicks into place when opened or closed.
The keypad got a little getting used to as I would often spend a while searching for the symbols like @ and ‘ but I have now got used to their locations and can happily tweet or text while walking home without falling over.
The battery life is not great as the high resolution screen does drain if left on. However I have got used to having it plugged in whenever I am near a PC (which is when I am at work or at home). When out and about it can last the day as long as I remember things like wi-fi and don’t run battery consuming applications when I don’t need to.
The main selling point of this phone though has to be the Android operating system. It was the first phone to run version 2.0 and if the rumours are to be believed, version 2.1 with all of its improvements should be made available to me before April.
It does everything a smart phone is meant to do and it’s hooking up to Google is superb. I now manage my contacts, emails, documents and calendar from wherever I am. It is like having a mini-laptop in my pocket.
Surprisingly it has had a few issues with being an actual phone. I have had a couple of instances where I’ve not been able to make phone calls without restarting the handset first. Thankfully I don’t make a lot of calls but a heavier phone user might find this annoying!
But what has really made this application great and the reason that I believe that the Android operating system is the future of mobile OSs is the vast (and I mean vast) number of free applications that can be downloaded. I have everything from task managers, music players, replacement texting applications, a bible with every translation you want, weather notifications, games and so much more.
I’m planning on writing a couple of posts on some of my favourite applications but trust me, there is something here for every need you might have.
So, in summary, 3 months on I am still really happy with my choice and have become a permanent convert to the Google operating system. With new Android phones coming out all the time this is the platform to watch.
To be continued…