Comment on Samsung Galaxy Nexus 4G Android Phone (Verizon Wireless) by Nathaniel Allen.
Not the pinnacle of new technology, but Android perfection (for now…),
There are phones with bigger screens (Galaxy Note), faster CPUs and GPUs (Rezound), thinner profiles (RAZR), more memory and longer battery life, but the Galaxy Nexus (Verizon’s LTE version) puts a respectable amount of everything together into one package, and leaves me practically nothing to complain about.
IN SUMMARY: This may turn into one of my longer reviews, so in a nutshell: BIG, but comfortable to hold, though begs to be used with two hands. Screen is awesome (bright and crisp) & keyboard is accurate. No problems with signal coverage. Average volume levels. Smooth & fluid Android interface feels polished. Camera very good, but vid cam has a lot of issues. “Typical” LTE battery life i.e. widely variable depending on usage, AT BEST a whole day on one charge.
Android 4.0 Operating System:
Outstanding: The OS feels integrated, speedy and mostly intuitive. Face unlock isn’t just a gimmick, it’s mostly reliable (though not in bad light), and it’s very swift in getting me to the home screen. Swipe-like gestures similar to Palm’s failed Web OS are carried over to manage and switch recent apps. The ability to expand widgets and personalize screens is not only fun, but really useful — for instance, I set up a screen for “home” where I’m more interested in the weather, Facebook & G+ updates, and feeds from my bike forum, whereas my “work” screen has quick access to certain web sites and apps that I use regularly. Icon animations for screen transitions are subtle but just enough to give the front end interface a sort of 3D effect. The selection of “live” backgrounds is neat, but a few of the more graphically intensive ones slow the phone down just a bit — and as great as they look, I still opt for corny (and static) photos of the kids. Hopefully, this being a Nexus device, new OS updates will come regularly and quickly from Google, without delay from Verizon — but be aware that this may be a bit of a beta device since it sees the first wide distribution of everything.
You’ll need to know that because the operating system is new, there will initially be application incompatibilities. This isn’t a knock against the Galaxy Nexus — it’s something early adopters of a new platform should expect. I expect this to last only a short while, because new Android 4.0 devices are in the pipe for release in the coming months.
Phone & Signal:
For starters, I like 4.0’s big “clean” dial pad. And it’s also easy to dial from any of my contacts, as they culled from all sources (personal Gmail, company email via Exchange, G+). But I prefer to use voice dial because I’m often driving when calling, and I’d prefer voice confirmation ala BlackBerry (Android 4.0 still requires me to look at the screen to confirm). External speaker sound quality is loud enough for most uses, but just slightly quiet & flat compared to other phones (not a problem over my Bluetooth visor-mounted speakerphone or headset), and my voice quality is apparently clear and loud on the receiving end. I live and work in a well covered urban area, so signal strength is rarely a problem with any phone. However, I do have a couple of “dark spots” in the remote areas of where I work, and the GN hasn’t dropped a call on me yet. LTE coverage has been equally strong with fantastic data speeds, fantastic, *but* Verizon’s 4G antenna is literally attached to the building I work in. It’s not enough to say “faster than dialup” as in some respects it is faster than my home cable (longer latency times, however).
(Note 1/22/12: There have been numerous reports (confirmed by Verizon) of signal problems in either fringe coverage areas or inside buildings. I, personally, have not experienced any problems with this either with dropped voice calls (CDMA/1X) or dropped data connections (LTE/3G) BUT there is a short “no data” time out when the phone switches from LTE to 3G, or vice-versa. HOWEVER, out of curiosity checked my 3G signal strength in Settings > About (LTE must be switched to OFF to read 3G signal strength, otherwise 4G reception will be displayed) and observed the Nexus consistently -10 to -15 dBm WEAKER than some other Verizon Android & BlackBerry…
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