Which android phone is good for android app development?

If you want a deal on a really good development phone, I'm looking to sell my Nexus One. It's an excellent device, and is fully unlocked and can easily be flashed with custom firmware or stock android from a nice GUI app at the drop of a hat. I absolutely love the phone, but I just want the next greatest, unlocked phone.<p>I still have all the original boxes, cables, books, etc, and I also have the official car dock that puts the phone in car mode, has a loud speakerphone, etc. It's engraved on the back with my username, but it's otherwise in excellent condition, no scratches, screen protector, etc.<p>If you're interested, contact info is in my profile.

The Emulator will give you plenty of experience with what your app will run like on <i>really</i> slow hardware. :-( So I'd suggest skipping the common recommendation of getting a low end phone like a G1. Get something reasonably high end and recent. Almost anything decent and popular should do.<p>Having access to several devices might be beneficial if you're programming something like a game (where you might want to playtest on different size screens, etc.) or are otherwise pushing the UI envelope.<p>If you're doing basic productivity, social network, etc. apps (like todo lists, twitter clients, etc), then there really isn't going to be much different between different devices. If you follow the recommendations in the developer doc on handling multiple display densities, etc. then the platform really does a great job abstracting away any differences between different phones.

I would get the G2 since it's Googles official development device. It may be a bit clunky but its a solid hardware configuration and Google uses this device internally for development. Also, the hard keyboard is useful when testing for those target devices (folded up and hidden, virtual keyboard should activate).<p>I still use the G1 and it has yet to fail me.<p>G2 site: <a href="http://bit.ly/g8Ck6E" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/g8Ck6E</a>

A couple of additional recommendations:<p>The G1 is not the lowest end Android phone you can get, hardware wise. The Huawei U8100 is the lowest end phone I'm aware of. It's 320x240 resistive screen and 128MB of RAM is truly crappy. It can be had for &#60;$150, so testing your app on a very-low-res screen won't cost too much.<p>And you may also want to test on a tablet, like the Samsung Galaxy Tab or a rooted Nook to ensure your app doesn't look horrible when blown up on a large screen.<p>OTOH, rumours are that the Android tablet marketplace will change significantly soon, so you may want to hold off on a tablet.

I've got an HTC/Droid Incredible and it's been pretty pleasant to work with. I suspect as long as the carrier or manufacturer hasn't disabled the "USB Debugging" option in the settings, they are all probably about the same.<p>I suppose what makes the Nexus platform good for development is that it's usually running the latest Android version several months before the rest of the market. Are there any other development benefits to having a Nexus?

I have just ordered the new Nexus S for development work but the Samsung Galaxy S looks the part as well.

HTC Desire. It matches the Nexus One in hardware spec and rooting the device is just as easy (if you want to develop on custom ROM's).

If you can afford it, I'd recommend both the G1 and the G2. The G1 is pretty much the lowest end device you'll have to deal with. I still have and use mine regularly, and it is impeccable, though it's stuck on Android 1.6.<p>The G2 is the other end of the spectrum. It's far more cabable, modern, bigger, yadda yadda. It's probably more like the top end phones you'll see more frequently.<p>If you have to only get one or the other, go for the G2. If you want to make sure that your stuff works on lower end devices, pick up a G1 too -- you should be able to get one for a song.