The grey market is alive with Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus, but if you’re keen on picking up one of the best Android phones available via a plan, Vodafone now says it’ll be the first telco to deliver. It’s accepting preorders on its website as I write this.
When it comes to the various flavours of Nexus, Vodafone’s had the jump on other providers in the past, and as it stands, it looks like the situation won’t be any different with the Galaxy. Telstra’s already said its first 4G phone will be hitting next year in the form of the HTC Raider/Holiday, while Optus (at this stage) won’t be doing anything 4G-related until April next year, despite internally confirming that they’ll sell the Galaxy Nexus from around December 20th.
We may hear differently shortly — Samsung is holding a Galaxy event this coming Wednesday — but for now, excluding the grey market, Vodafone is first off the line. They’re promising pre-Christmas delivery if you get in before December 16, which should please gift hunters. It also means Australia’s first 4G phone could be with us before the end of the year.
What’s that about 4G? Google has a Nexus info page up for Australian users that mentions the 4G / LTE capabilities of the device. Does this confirm 4G, or are we just seeing the international version with the “au” domain slapped on the end? The Australian info site also mentions Google Beam (NFC; Near Field Communications) which we missed out on with the local version of the Galaxy S II. But again, this could just be a carry-over from the global version. Fingers crossed that’s not the case.
I’m hopeful because Google’s US and Australian Nexus pages have different designs, so it seems lazy to not go to the trouble of removing these particular slides if they weren’t applicable to Australia.
The thing is, while Telstra has 4G, Vodafone doesn’t. This fuels speculation that we may see two models of the Nexus Galaxy — one with 4G and one without. Vodafone has said it’ll have LTE by year’s end, but it’s getting awful close to December 31.
Plenty of information to digest right now, but if you’re just interested in Vodafone’s plan pricing for the Galaxy Nexus, hit up the table below:
tim
Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 2:47 PM$10 on the $49 cap? I’ll bite at that! Special deals for early upgrades too? heres hoping..
Steve
Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 4:34 PMGood prices but I still wouldn’t be caught dead on a Vodafone contract.
Anonymouse
Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 5:53 PM$768 for the $29 cap version? Sounds almost better than buying outright.
Greg
Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 5:53 PMNexus S Vodafone only in Australia, god I hope the Galaxy Nexus doesn’t suffer the same fate.
Jamie
Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 6:05 PMOptus have already announced they’ll be carrying the Galaxy Nexus from December 20th.
Telstra yet to formally confirm however.
Namarrgon
Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 7:03 PMIt’s worth noting that BuckScoop and Moneybackco are offering up to $200 cashback on Vodafone postpaid phones – including the Galaxy Nexus.
So the ($29 cap + $35) * 12 months – $200 cashback = a mere $586, which puts it firmly into the “seriously-tempting” and “might even be worth Vodafone” categories…
Namarrgon
Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 7:04 PMEr, that should be $568 (even better!).
JokeyRhyme
Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 9:01 PMFact: Samsung and Google launched 2 versions of the Galaxy Nexus:
- HSPA+ which supports Telstra’s NextG (3.5G) in addition to 3G via all other Australian carriers
- LTE with unconfirmed support for 3G operation (it’s basically custom-built for Verizon USA, who knows what other carriers it will support)
I sincerely doubt any manufacturer is going to go to any effort to produce a handset specifically for the Australian market. I believe that the HSPA+ model (which is already launching across Europe) will be the version that we see down here.
It is very unlikely that we will see a single SKU that supports both HSPA+ and LTE, and we know that the HSPA+ model already supports all Australian carriers. It’s the path of least resistance.
MotorMouth
Monday, December 12, 2011 at 5:27 AMSurely these handsets have to be backwards-compatible with everything else, all the way back to GPRS? Otherwise, you’d be crazy to get into one, given that coverage varies considerably. I often find myself stuck back on GPRS around home and I live within walking distance of the Harbour Bridge.
BenDTU
Monday, December 12, 2011 at 10:53 AMI’m not clear on how LTE devices work as far as fallback goes. As was mentioned, Verizon uses CDMA which is basically ancient tech we don’t have over here.
You’d hope it’d call back to HSPA, you’d be insane to get one otherwise.
Azza
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 7:41 AMBuddy of mine is offering similar plans on Optus. He says they’ll be available on the 20th
The Other Luke
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 8:58 AMVodaphone?? Never again. I don’t care what they are selling, Its not any good when you can’t get any reception.
Sam.D.
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 10:38 AMI’m happier now paying $79 a month with Telstra on a network I can use than I was paying $49 with Vodafone on a network with absolutely woeful data reception.
Husky
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 3:52 PMBloody tempting. I have a 4S on Telstra for reception, but I always carry multiple phones. $768 over a year is very decent.
Cr3
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 11:00 PMHmm, guys..
dont hate vodafone.. i know it scuks for the past.. hmm say more than 1 year, but from my experience its getting better (or at least in Brisbane CBD).. Last July, Voda scuks a lot~ even at my home.. now, well, getting better.. from D/U 50/~5kBps to 300/100kBps.. not sure bout your place but if you are interested in GNexus, you might wanna ask your mates about Voda’s line.. maybe its better in your area too :)
p/s: i am not voda affiliates or what so ever.. just a student in UQ :)
Cheers~
MotorMouth
Monday, December 12, 2011 at 5:29 AMYeah, I have my mobile broadband with Vodaphone and it is back to being very reliable. I have also been more than happy with their customer service.
Steve
Monday, December 12, 2011 at 8:59 AMVodafone’s network is probably only improving so fast because of the masses leaving their network, not because of network improvements. If they did nothing to their physical network, you’d still expect an improvement!
The Other Luke
Monday, December 12, 2011 at 10:15 AMI’m happy that you have found your zen with vodafail. You probably have gotten the attention because you are in a major city CBD. I’m in Launceston and only in the centre of town do I ever get full bars. It is a waste of time anywhere else.
macdave
Monday, December 12, 2011 at 8:41 AMIt seems ironic that the phone that the most advanced phone that requires the most data speed to use to it’s potential is available from a network at runs at about 8k only 7KM away from Centrepoint in Sydney (despite showing full bars of coverage).
If the battery life is good, I’ll buy it outright from somewhere and use it on a network that is faster than GPRS.
TSH
Monday, December 12, 2011 at 3:14 PMStill waiting on their plans for Lumia 800…
Sean
Monday, December 12, 2011 at 11:45 PMHere in Brisbane i would get a LTE phone and i would use voip for phone calls but i would wait for better lte coverage i just use the telstra lte for data on a laptop before i get a lte phone.