Device for Android development

Question

Hi All, not much of a programming question, but development related still,

I'm starting Android development and have been at it for just a little over a week. So far so go regarding progress, specially for someone who hadn't touched Java in his life (but have good C#, Objective-C, VB.NET and Fortran experience)

As I'm looking into a testing device I'm undecided on the phone to get. I need it to be unlocked, so I'm looking into Dev Phone 2 or Nexus One. The difference being $120~ish in price.

Anyone having one of those and using it for development? which do you consider is the best choice. Is the extra speed and screen in the Nexus One worth it?

I'm targetting SDK 1.6 but down the road I can see myself playing with 2.1.

Any input is appreciated

Regards

Answer 1

Something I learnt today was not to let a developer work on the faster model of mobile device when most of your users have the slower model. If it's good on the faster one, it's not always good on the slower device. I'd get a retail G1 as they can be flashed to all kinds of Android revisions. Plus they'll be cheap.

If you go for the Nexus 1, your apps will look better but only to Nexus 1 owners, mostly!

Answer 2

From what I've heard all Android devices are going to get a bump to some form of 2.1 in the future. The specific feature set of each particular build would depend on the hardware capabilities of the device. Neil makes a good point about speed and polish but with a device like the G1 (which I have and love) you will yourself to be limited by the hardware whereas with the Nexus One you can choose to limit yourself or you can choose to develop Live Wallpapers!

Also, you've asked 7 questions and haven't accepted any answers. If you keep that up you'll soon find that people are less willing to spend the time answering your questions.

Answer 3

If you want a test device go for the g1. If you want a good android phone for everyday use go for the droid or the nexus one.

For development be careful which carrier you buy the phone from, some of them like AT&T will change them to forbid installation of software from unknown source etc. to enforce the market. Those are pretty useless for a developer then.