Review: Motorola i1
The i1 runs Android 1.5 without Motoblur. Motorola said that in the future, the i1 may be updated as far as Android 1.6. To me, with Android 2.2 devices already hitting the market, this is just inexcusable. Android 2.0 has been available for 9 months now, Android 2.1 has been available for 7 months. How is it possible that Motorola would skip either? It's the equivalent of releasing a brand new Windows Mobile 5 device, even though Window Phone 7 is almost ready.
Sigh.
Anyway. The i1's version of Android 1.5 is mostly stock, with only a few color changes to some buttons here and there. It has three home screens for customization and is loaded with plenty of Sprint Nextel bloatware. I like that Sprint Nextel decided to put huge widgets that control the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios on the main home screen (especially considering how critical the Wi-Fi is).
At the bottom of the screen you'll find three software buttons: Phone, Main Menu, and Contacts. These are self explanatory. The main menu looks like any other Android 1.5 device you may have seen, and the deeper menu pages are the same old Android we've seen since Day 1. They all take some time to get used to, but are certainly easy enough to figure out.
I wish there were more home screens for apps and widgets. I find three to be too few. That's probably my biggest complaint with the i1. Given how great some Android widgets are, the lack of real estate is a bit of a downer.
The i1 presents no challenges to use. Perhaps the one benefit of Android 1.5 is that there's a lot less to complicate how the phone is used.
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Motorola i1
