Galaxy Nexus Review: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

The long-awaited, much-hyped, Android 4.0 flagship is here at last. You already know we like Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), but what about the first phone to bear it? We’ve talked software, it’s time to hit the hardware.

Note: Testing was conducted on the European version of the Galaxy Nexus.

Why It Matters

It matters because it’s a Nexus. Nexuses (Nexii?) are designed by Google (and a manufacturing partner — in this case Samsung) to be the standard-bearers, to show what’s possible from the Android OS. In this case, it was designed specifically to show off Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Not only is it currently the only phone that has ICS, but it’s probably one of the few phones that will ever have a pristine version of Android the Fourth, unspoiled by manufacturers’ unpleasant skins.

Again, I just want to point out that this is a hardware review, not a software review. You can and should read Mat Honan’s full review of Android 4.0 to hear all about the software. I’ll add a bit here and there, but as much as possible — and it’s not entirely possible — I’m going to be isolating the hardware from the software.

Using It

The phone is big, but surprisingly light — without feeling cheap. The iPhone 4S feels tiny in comparison, like your fingers suddenly grew at little bit. But don’t let that big 4.65in screen scare you. The phone’s body is almost exactly the same as the Galaxy S II, which has a 4.3-in screen. And actually, most of the time, the usable part of the screen is the same as a 4.3in screen, with the bottom area being used for a revamped set of navigation buttons that are no longer separate from the screen. But switch on a video or a game and the nav buttons fade away leaving an awesome full-screen experience in their place. There’s more metal on the phone than there is on a typical Samsung device, which makes it feel more solid than usual. Also, despite its size, it’s actually 5g lighter than the iPhone 4S. It’s thinner, too: 8.89mm vs. 9.4mm.

The micro USB port is centered on the bottom, right where it should be. But then — what the heck?! — the headphone input is down there too. The bottom of the phone is actually its thickest part, and there’s a glowing LED notification light down south as well (taking a page from the trackball on the Nexus One). It’s almost as if you’re supposed to keep the phone upside down in your pocket. The phone also lacks a dedicated camera button.

Like

The screen is gorgeous. It’s the first Super AMOLED HD screen (with full 1280×720 resolution). It doesn’t have quite as high a pixel density as the HTC Rezound (316ppi vs. 342ppi), but it makes up for it by being far brighter, having more vivid colours, and inky, deep blacks. What about against the iPhone 4S? The pixel density is slightly lower (316ppi vs 330ppi), but the colours are more vivid, the blacks are blacker and it’s more than an inch bigger. For watching an HD movie or playing an HD game, the Nexus has the best screen you can get. Call quality (both for myself and the receiver) was absolutely superb. It also packs an NFC radio, so it’s ready for the mobile payments revolution which may or may not be on its way.

And it has a barometer! Nobody really knows what that’s about yet, but it’s still cool. Oh, and battery life is fantastic. In 3G mode I almost always got through a whole day despite very heavy use. The other new Android heavies, Droid RAZR and the HTC Amaze 4G, simply can’t compete in this department.

Speed. It is very fast, but this is where we get into murky territory. Because the Galaxy Nexus is currently the only phone natively running Android 4.0, it’s tough to tell whether these speed enhancements are coming from the new OS or if the hardware’s a smoker. And judging it against other Android phones is comparing apples and oranges. That caveat aside, here’s what I found: The user experience is extremely fast and fluid. Scrolling around webpages is quicker and smoother than any other mobile browser I’ve used (and with all of its new enhanced features, I would call ICS’ version of Chrome the best mobile browser out there). It also has the fastest camera shutter out there, easily beating even the iPhone 4S and the rest (in speed).

The closest thing to a Nexus Galaxy is the Galaxy S II — an older handset (also made by Samsung) that has been the reigning Android champ all summer. Thing is, the S II is actually faster than the Nexus in some regards. Others, not so much. One aspect of performance that regular people will feel a lot is Java and browser speed — an objective measurement of how quickly the phone parses the code that makes up the Internet (many apps, too) and turns it into the stuff that hu-mon eyes can understand.

In this area, the Nexus trounces the S II (and the iPhone 4S too). But when it comes to raw number-crunching, the kind of stuff that has a major effect on graphics performance, the S II gets its revenge. In Quadrant Standard tests, the S II slaps the Nexus silly with an average score of 3316 versus the Nexus Galaxy’s 1785. And the S II is quicker at starting up and opening apps too. Take that, new kid.

What gives? If I were a betting man, I would say that the Exynos processor in the S II is just simply way faster than the OMAP in the Nexus. Why didn’t they use the Exynos in the Nexus? Good freakin’ question. All that said, you’re not going to feel a speed deficiency in the Galaxy Nexus unless you’re doing some really heavy gaming.

And I’ve resisted, but it must be said, Android 4.0 is better in almost every single way. It’s still supremely customisable, but it’s way more intuitive, more user-friendly, and, as Mat said, “more human” than any other Android version by a tremendous margin.

No Like

The Galaxy Nexus is one of the few Android devices that doesn’t have a micro SD card slot, which means there is you’re stuck with what you’ve got in terms of storage. The volume on the external speaker is sub-par. The LED notification light pulses too slowly and subtly, making it easy to miss. The lack of a physical camera button is maddening. The only other thing is I just can’t shake the feeling that they should have gone with the Exynos processor you find in the Galaxy S II.

And for all of Ice Cream Sandwich’s improvements, it ain’t perfect yet. Not all of your old apps are going to play nicely with it (yet). Some just have small quirks, others force-close like a mofo. Other anomalies:

• Under “Accounts and Sync” you have the option to add a Facebook account, but pressing that button doesn’t do anything.

• Face Unlock is a cool feature, but it only worked about 40 per cent of the time despite my righteous and recognisable Movember ‘stache. If you’re at all backlit (which you usually are, when you’re looking down at your phone) the camera adjusts to the brighter light behind you, instead of the light on your face.

The camera is somewhat of a let-down. When I heard they’d gone with a 5MP sensor instead of the now-standard-on-high-end-phones 8MP sensor, I promised I’d reserve judgement until I’d tried it. The camera does pretty OK in bright daylight, but it doesn’t come anywhere near its competition, plain and simple. Colours are washed out, low-light shooting is a noise-fest, and it’s not nearly as sharp. Why would you totally revamp your camera software, make it fast and awesome, include time-lapse, panorama and really fun face-morphing video features, and then put a piece of crap camera in there?

Watch the video in 1080p, if you can.

Should I Buy It?

Yes, you should buy it. The only truly bad thing about this phone is the camera. Even with that, I’m comfortable calling this the best Android phone. But that’s only because it’s the only Android phone you can get with a clean build of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and that supersedes all of its faults. The improvement over Gingerbread really is that big a deal. But it needs to be said: This phone shouldn’t be getting bitch-slapped by a previous-gen handset from the same manufacturer. If that’s Google’s idea of a flagship, it should consider whether it wants to take its armada to war.

Specifications

OS: Android 4.0.1
Screen: 4.65in 1280×720 Super AMOLED HD
Processor and RAM: 1.2 GHz dual-core TI OMAP processor / 1GB RAM
Storage: 16GB or 32GB
Camera: Back: 5MP/1080p HD, Front: 1.3MP
Weight: 135g
Battery: 1750 mAh
Price: $999 RRP
Giz Rank: 4 Stars