[G2 and Desire Z General] pmcqueen:
So I picked up an MT4G Slide yesterday. Don't get me wrong, the G2 is a fantastic phone, but I found myself wanting a more powerful camera (especially since I was running CM7 on my G2 and the AOSP camera app is pitiful) and, of course, some newer hardware.

Since we don't have S-OFF or a means of permanent rooting yet, this review will need some reworking in a few weeks. The good news is one of the MT4GS guys apparently obtained temp root early this morning, so when he gets back up and writes a guide, we should be able to at least get temp root going and, with gscript, have a little bit of fun. :)

Here are my initial thoughts for those of you curious about the MT4GS and whether or not it is a good upgrade for the G2:

BUILD/HARDWARE

G2

Pros:

-sexy as can be

-feels substantial, not cheap

-sloppiness aside, the z-hinge is actually really convenient

-excellent performance among single core devices

Cons:

-that weird yellow'ish tint that appears after a while

-camera is sub-par... not awful, but I feel like they slacked there

-the z-hinge can be hit or miss.

MT4GS

Pros:

-despite being more plastic'y than the G2, it feels solid and isn't as "cheapo" feeling as I was expecting

-camera is seriously killer... it isn't "the most advanced camera in any smartphone" by any means, but it is certainly on par with the iPhone 4 and it is extremely versatile... I don't know if I need to carry around my digicam anymore now.

-if you like the G2 keyboard, you'll probably like the MT4GS keyboard. Similarly laid out. Buttons are soft but still tactile.. and it has this cool little LED that shows if you have caps or alt enabled.. nice (although superfluous) touch.

-obviously, at the moment, it is pretty well spec'd. Solid internals.

Cons:

-it's the MyTouch line. :/ It really does feel sort of "kiddy" compared to the G2. I imagine I'll get used to it though.

-the hinge, in my opinion, is too hard to operate. It's the polar opposite of the G2. I imagine those of you who liked the Dream's keyboard will get along with this one just fine though.

SOFTWARE/INTERFACE

G2

Pros:

-AOSP (could be pro or con depending on your point of view)

-Obviously, huge community backing with lots of devs.

-Smooth and responsive

Cons:

-AOSP (could be pro or con depending on your point of view)

-EOL... will this affect updates?

-Under heavy load (ie downloading/updating multiple apps), I found it slowed down quite noticably, which I wasn't expecting.

MT4GS

Pros:

-Sense (could be pro or con depending on your point of view) - this interface is new for me as I've always been an AOSP guy. I like it, actually... although I do feel overwhelmed by all of the bloat that I can't get rid of.

-Everything is smooth as glass... haven't experienced even a hint of lag yet.

Cons:

-Sense (could be pro or con depending on your point of view)

-Bloat.. there's plenty of it.

-"Genius" button... jesus christ that thing is annoying. WHERE'S MY SEARCH KEY! :mad: (this should be easily fixed when we get perma-root, of course)

Here's the bottom line, IMO:

If you have the G2 and it's treating you well, there's no need to upgrade to the MT4G Slide... unless you're a tech geek like me who wants the latest & greatest whenever possible for no logical reason. ;)

I imagine once the MT4GS gets S-off and perma root and some good dev backing, it will be a killer device. It's not really as ugly as people claim, it feels more grown up than the MT3G did, but still a little "flashy" for my taste. The G2 still trumps the MT4GS in class, though.. its sexiness is hard to compete with, IMO.

They are very similar phones, and the MT4GS is a logical stepping stone into the land of dual-core smartphones if you are a fan of the G2.

Hope that's of some use for you guys on the fence. Play with one if you get the chance, especially the camera, it'll blow your mind coming from the not-too-shabby 5MP unit on the G2.

See ya guys around!