When I found out Verizon was not going to get the long hopeful Samsung Galaxy S2 I was devastated and absolutely bewildered at Verizon. After switching to Verizon to get grandfathered into their unlimited data plan it would only require a few moments of patience to get my hands on the S2 with the not too wild hope of 4G capability. After months passed and hearing announcement upon announcement of the phone being released in other countries and carriers I gave up on Verizon and regretted what I thought was a smart move. And then, rumors of the next Google phone emerged and rekindled hopes. Alas, my hands are filled and my life is connected. Was all the wait worth it?
Samsung Galaxy Nexus
Ive been dying for a phone with a build quality and aesthetics like the iPhone. The S2 was the closest offering in terms of design and appeal. The Galaxy Nexus features a beautiful yet huge 4.65″ display with 720p resolution, a 1.2Ghz dual core ARM Cortex A9 CPU, 4G LTE, 32gb internal storage, on a TI OMAP 4460 chipset. The appeal stops however with the camera, with great disappointment. The S2 and the iPhone 4S offer amazing cameras yet the Galaxy Nexus falls short of the mark. The Nexus would have been complete if equipped with a better camera as I was looking for a phone that doubled as a point and shoot. Granted, it takes very decent pictures and I love the panoramic feature, just drag your phone across and it automatically stitches together a panoramic photo. It also captures pictures blistering fast, try instant–it took me a while to figure out that i was capturing pictures because it was so fast. But still, its the one great sigh to a potentially perfect phone.
Android 4.0, Look & Feel
This is my 2nd Android device, first being the extremely disappointing G1. Im glad I didn’t switch to another Android device between then and now as it makes this new device that much more amazing. Rooting the G1 quelled many short comings but it still didnt offer a complete solution to the lack of quality and quantity of apps, and smoother experiences. I held onto the Google core apps ie. Gmail and Navigation like no other and they became the only good things about Android—until now. Ice Cream Sandwich completely blew me away in terms of the ui, experience, apps, everything.
Despite the plastic build, the Nexus has a solid feel to it. It’s no iPhone, but there is a unique look to it that sets it apart from the sea of Android phones thanks to its subtle curve, thin profile, and huge display that gazes into your soul. The decision to build main buttons into the software rather than onto the phone itself really makes this phone a marvel to look at. The new Roboto font is simple and elegant which pervades the whole look and feel of the user interface. The ui is dark, sleek, like a boss. It is night and day when you look at ICS and the previous version, Gingerbread. Thanks to the iPhone we must ask, is it simple and intuitive? Not quite. Google’s attempt to answer the gaping issue of defragmentation in user experience can clearly be seen, but remains in the hands of developers whether or not all app experiences stay consistent. Their universal menu button is yet to be utilized across many apps I’ve seen, but a great effort can be seen on Google’s part to address fragmentation issues.
Multitasking is one of the great features of Android 4.0, with one touch you have access to open up whatever app, browser, etc. you had opened since powering on your phone. It’s amazing how far back it keeps all these instances in the memory.
There is a new face unlock feature, but I am not able to use it as using Exchange Email disables security features such as this and the patterned grid. The Google Talk has video chat capabilities where you can have fun with your friends and family by choosing distortion settings on your lens. Had some good laughs through these silly features!
Ecosystem
The app landscape has grown remarkably since I have last seen it without discounting quality. Again the experience is a bit inconsistent as you’re forced to learn how different apps work, but great improvements can be seen. Google’s integration of core apps continue to be a strong point of Android. I love Navigation and Gmail, and for that alone I love Android. Android devices can finally rid the need of a second music player with the addition of Google Music. The ability to play music anywhere from “the cloud” is a great offering from Android and couples well with the 32gb Nexus. The ability to play flash content is wonderful as now I am able to stream media without hiccup with 4G through Amazon Prime. Google Chrome Beta for Android was recently released and so far it’s a solid browser. I naturally choose to view sites through Chrome now and love that it syncs to my desktop bookmarks. No flash support however, but that is not a big deal for me.
Sound
Call quality is terribly disappointing. At first I thought it was due to the poor signal strength because of my location, but even in areas with great signal strength there is a robotic sound to people’s voices. It is hard to hear clearly the other person and I find myself asking others to repeat themselves, repeatedly. I hope this is just a software issue or some sort of temporary issue with Verizon, but I fear it is neither. When plugged in it is the same ordeal and I often hear some slight static with all my headphones, and when plugged into my car. It will go away time to time but is very annoying. Music sounds decent however and the static either disappears or is unnoticeable. There are also apps that allow you to play uncompressed audio files and tweak the eq to your liking. The speaker is not as loud as hoped either and is almost rendered useless when in noisy areas. All in all the sound portion of the phone seems half-assed.
Battery
Battery life is abysmal with 4G turned on lasting up to 6 hours of heavy use streaming audio and video and using apps such as Facebook and Twitter. Although the screen is an AMOLED screen which is supposed to use less juice, I suppose the sheer size of the screen overshadows any battery efficiencies. Thankfully the slim profile of the phone compensates for any added bulk from a need of a bigger battery. It is frustrating having to plan your day ahead and consciously know that if you’re not back near a plug within a handful of hours you’re disconnected. I did buy a newer battery with about 10% more capacity and did notice a minor increase in up time to a point where I now only need to charge once a day, however the new Razr Maxx absolutely blows this battery out of the water.
Conclusion
No doubt this is the best Android device available now. Despite some of the shortcomings, it is a gorgeous device and a quick one too. ICS is fantastic and really shows Google’s commitment to making Android the platform to use from the average user to the geeks. I’m unconvinced that your grandma or mom will find it simple to use still (this is where the strengths of custom ROMs from hardware manufacturers shine), but clearly Google seeks to make Android a smooth and relatively simple experience.
I would have loved to see more customizable features in the notification tray or the lock screen, but currently it seems only custom ROMs will be your only channel to do so. The problem of fragmentation can be seen when seeing the spread of reviews across many apps and already we see countless announcements of new Android devices in CES alone which conjures up fears that my phone will be outdated within a matter of months. However, Google has taken a huge step forward in the right direction with ICS; it’s not perfect, but the argument for Android is much easier for the average user and there is still plenty to be excited about.
Pros
- Beautiful device physically and ui wise.
- Huge 4.65″ 720p screen for media consumption
- Blistering fast data speeds
- Improved Android experience
Cons
- Poor battery life with 4G
- Occasional crashes and shut downs
- Random issues with connectivity
- Fragmentation still noticeable in apps
Davey Jones' Locker 
