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Samsung Galaxy Nexus Review

I snagged the Galaxy Nexus last week. Short version of this review is it’s the greatest phone ever. Well, until the next one. That’s how these work. On to stuff.

The screen is amazing and comes in at 4.65 inches and is Super AMOLED. I have no idea what that means other than, apparently, freakin’ awesome. The video quality is fantastic and the games the kids play are zippier. The screen is a little larger than the screen on my old DroidX (now doing duty as a kids’ toy) but the Galaxy seems to weigh less. The default screen setting out of the box is hard to see in bright daylight. But the buttons for screen settings fix that rather quickly. The overall video quality is the best of any phone I’ve ever seen.

The shape and appearance is pretty understated and sleek. There’s no big ass logo on the front occupying the limited real estate. The screen appears to the touch to feel a bit concave, which aids in feel and one-handed navigation of the phone. Unlike other phones I’ve had that have a hump or ridge on the top, this one does not. So, a few times I’ve whipped it out upside down. No big deal.

It lacks the buttons most android phones have. There is only an on button and a volume button, fewer than an iPhone. But this is due to the new OS, Ice Cream Sandwich. The buttons to operate apps and menus appear on the phone’s screen instead of the physical 4 buttons I’m used to. And it’s slick. Phone reacts faster and, once you get accustomed to the lack of buttons, it actually feels better and is more intuitive but it took a day or two.

The camera is zippy. The first time I used it, I hit the button and didn’t think it took a photo and pressed again, a few times. I realized that what happened was it actually had taken about 6 pictures and I just didn’t hear the distinct click, because I was at a firing range. Also, one cool feature is that when you power the phone on, you can slide the slider left to go right to the camera.

The pre-installed ringtones and notification sounds are, frankly, not loud enough. They sound good but they’re rather mild and not attention getting. They’re easy to change so no big deal.

4G rocks. It’s significantly faster and webpages, g-reader and other stuff load near instantly.

Battery life is a bit shorter than I had on the DroidX. The X would, for me, easily go two days without a charge unless I used it for video. The Galaxy makes it to just over a day before I charge it. I’m guessing that’s function of the 4G and the better screen.

Highly recommended.

16 Responses to “Samsung Galaxy Nexus Review”

  1. wkeller Says:

    I have the NEXUS ONE, best phone I have ever had – ever. Might want to check out the ballistics apps and the timer apps available, pretty nice. I’ve had mine for around 2 years, I’m confident you will continue to love the little puppy!

  2. Justin Buist Says:

    Just curious, why did you pick that over the RAZR Maxx?

  3. aeronathan Says:

    Yeah 4G is what’s killing your battery. If you turn off 4G except when you’re doing something data intensive you can extend the life significantly.

  4. D2k Says:

    The AMOLED screen should actually be using less energy, it’s probably just the 4G killing battery life, 4G is nice in some ways, but the energy required to use it is pretty ridiculous.

  5. Fiftycal Says:

    How about a post with some apps that you use and/or have gunny uses? I have a 3g phone and havn’t looked thru the 250,000 apps yet to see which ones I “need”.

  6. RWC Says:

    OT – but it looks like Utah house dems are using the same tactics that the antis use when debating the 2nd Amendment. Ignore ignore ignore…

    http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2012/02/29/house-democrats-have-left-the-iowa-capitol-in-protest-in-an-undisclosed-location/

  7. SayUncle Says:

    Justin, because my friend has had two and both had battery issues.

  8. B-rad Says:

    Three things:

    1. Check out an app called “Volume+.” It gives you several equalizer/volume boosting options. I have mine set on +7db.

    2. There is an ICS update supposedly coming out over the air to Verizon customers in March. It will probably be version 4.0.5, and more than likely will give you a volume boost. Why do I believe that? Because I’m already running a leaked version of 4.0.4, and it helped with my volume (not to mention signal strength, wifi speeds, minor bug fixes, etc.) The developer support for Nexus phones is incredible!

    3. Look into the OEM extended battery. It’s 2100mah, versus the stock one at 1850mah. Not a *huge* jump, but it was only $25 from Verizon’s website and it still fits in the same case!

    3.5 If that isn’t enough, there are portable chargers that are no bigger than the phone itself, and charge just as fast as AC (with a proper “charge-only” USB cable). Mine is the New Trent Arcadia 7000mah, which has two out ports and can fully charge my GNex from dead over 3 times without needing to be recharged.

    Okay, I’m done. For now.

  9. Matthew Carberry Says:

    Did you get stuck with any bloatware?

  10. SayUncle Says:

    Not that i’ve found. yet. But it’s apparently one of the easier models to root.

  11. Euwan Says:

    “So a few times Ive whipped it out upside down. No big deal.” Very funny.

  12. Sigivald Says:

    I have no idea what that means other than, apparently, freakin’ awesome.

    Well, apart from the color banding and general color balance issues, yes.

    AMOLED is a trade-off, with wins and losses, not The Best THing Evar For Evarything.

  13. Sean D Sorrentino Says:

    Yes, the screen is convex. It’s curved from top to bottom. You can see it if you lay it face down. I wonder if that’s why they did it. The screen doesn’t have edges like my Droid 1 did, so if it was flat, you could scratch the screen up by laying it face down.

    I like mine too.

  14. Smince Says:

    I have been thinking about getting one of these ever since they were announced, but just finally bought one based on your recommendation. Kind of funny/ironic that I trust a gun blog review of a smartphone more than those found on VerizonWireless.com.

  15. SayUncle Says:

    LOL. Thanks, Smince.

  16. Ian Argent Says:

    4G is more battery-intensive than 3G, based on my experience with the Thunderbolt. And an experience I had with my work phone has me sworn off phones without removable SD. It went tango uniform on me one day, and all I had to do was pull SIM and SD and was operational with all data within a couple of hours, most of which was spent badgering someone for a replacement. Nor everything is stored on cloud yet.

Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.

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