- 4G LTE-enabled smartphone with Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS, 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display, and dual-core 1.2 GHz processor
- Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking (with optional Wi-Fi Mobile Hotspot service); Near Field Communications (NFC) capabilities
- 5-MP camera; full HD 1080p camcorder; front-facing video chat camera; Bluetooth stereo music; 32 GB memory; corporate and personal e-mail
- Up to 12 hours of talk time, up to 150 hours (6.25 days) of standby time; released in December, 2011
- What's in the Box: handset, rechargeable battery, wall/USB charger, stereo headset, quick start guide
Technical Details
Product Details
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Product Description
Amazon.com
The world's first smartphone running on Android 4.0 (a.k.a., Ice Cream Sandwich), the 4G LTE enabled Galaxy Nexus by Samsung for Verizon brings a redesigned user interface with enhanced multitasking, notifications, full Web browsing experience, and more. You'll also enjoy innovative, next-gen features such as Face Unlock, which uses facial recognition to unlock the Galaxy Nexus.
 Powered by Android 4.0 and a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor (view larger). |
 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED Contour Display (view larger). |
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The Galaxy Nexus is outfitted with a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED Contour Display (with curved glass), 5-megapixel camera with zero shutter lag and Full HD 1080p video recording, and a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video calls on the go. It's powered by a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor that speeds up your web browsing, gaming, and multitasking.
The Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network provides speeds up to 10 times faster than Verizon Wireless' 3G network. With 4G LTE, you'll enjoy simultaneous voice and data capabilities, allowing you to check e-mail, browse the web, download an app, and check directions on Google Maps while on a call. You can expect fast download speeds of 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps in 4G LTE mobile broadband coverage areas (learn more about 4G below).
You can share your high-speed 4G LTE connectivity with multiple devices--laptop, another phone, MP3 player, and more--via Wi-Fi using the built-in Mobile Hotspot functionality (additional service charge applicable). And the Galaxy Nexus is outfitted with ultra-fast Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking as well as next-generation Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity.
The new Android Beam feature (using NFC connectivity) allows you to quickly share Web pages, apps, and YouTube videos with friends by simply tapping compatible phones together. You'll also enjoy easy access to a full complement of Google mobile services, including Gmail, Google Maps 5.0 with 3D maps, syncing with Google Calendar, a redesigned Google＋ app, and access to more than 300,000 apps in the Android Market.
Other features include a virtual onscreen QWERTY keyboard with enhanced auto-correction and touch recognition for a more natural feel, 32 GB of internal memory, 1 GB of RAM, and up to 12 hours of talk time.
Advanced Photography and Video Recording
The Galaxy Nexus has a full-featured 5-megepixel camera with automatic focus, top-notch low-light performance, and zero shutter lag. Open it right from your lock screen, and fire off a photo instantly. You can also take beautiful panorama pictures--just point and touch the shutter and pan your phone from one side to another. Android immediately stitches together an expansive panorama photo, ready to share.
A full-featured photo editor lets you add filters and effects, adjust color, straighten, reduce red eye, crop, rotate, flip, and even doodle on your favorite photos--right after you take them. Your edits are saved as a copy, so you can always get to the original.
Your photos can upload themselves with Instant Upload, which makes it much easier to share them with family and friends. If you've signed up for Google+, you can enable Instant Upload and share photos with anyone you choose.
Shoot video in Full HD 1080p, and snap still shots while you're at it. Continuous focus, real-time zoom, and time-lapse mode give you the power to shoot stunning videos. When your footage is ready, create your own movie with Movie Studio and upload it to YouTube. When you shoot videos, you can choose from a number of silly faces and other fun effects. Galaxy Nexus is smart enough to recognize individual facial features--give your friends big eyes, squeeze heads, make noses bigger. Or change the scenery with background replacement.
Vital Statistics
The Galaxy Nexus by Samsung weighs 5.29 ounces and measures 5.33 x 2.67 x 0.37 inches. Its 1850 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 12 hours of talk time and up to 150 hours (6.25 days) of standby time. It runs on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network, as well as EV-DO, Rev A 3G and CDMA 800/1900 frequencies where 4G LTE is not available.
What's in the Box
Galaxy Nexus by Samsung handset, rechargeable battery, wall/USB charger, stereo headset, quick start guide
 Organize your home screen with folders. |
Android Ice Cream Sandwich Operating System
The Galaxy Nexus runs the Android 4.0 operating system (dubbed Ice Cream Sandwich), which adds powerful new ways of communicating and sharing while improving on the best Android features: easy multitasking, rich notifications, customizable home screens, resizable widgets, and more.
The new Ice Cream Sandwich interface features an onscreen navigation bar that replaces the hardware buttons for Back, Home, and Menu found with older Android-powered phones. And with Google+ integration, you can video chat with groups of up to 9 friends as well as easily upload and share photos and videos. Other features include:
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You can now unlock your phone with just your face using the Face Unlock option. It takes advantage of the front-facing camera and state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to register a face during setup and then to recognize it again when unlocking the device. Just hold your phone in front of your face to unlock (or use a backup PIN).
And the lock screen now lets you do more without unlocking. From the slide lock screen, you can jump directly to the camera for a picture or pull down the notifications window to check for messages. When listening to music, you can even manage music tracks and see album art.
Home Screen FoldersQuickly access related apps right from the home screen by organizing apps and shortcuts into folders--just drag one app onto another to create a folder.
MultitaskingMultitasking is even easier and more visual in Android 4.0. The Recent Apps button lets you jump instantly from one task to another using the list in the System Bar. The list pops up to show thumbnail images of apps used recently--tapping a thumbnail switches to the app.
Voice InputThe new voice engine in Android 4.0 lets you dictate the text you want, for as long as you want, using the language you want. You can speak continuously for a prolonged time, even pausing for intervals if needed, and dictate punctuation to create correct sentences. As the voice input engine enters text, it underlines possible dictation errors in gray. After dictating, you can tap the underlined words to quickly replace them from a list of suggestions.
Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Network
The Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network allows you to download photos, apps, and games in seconds and entire movies in minutes. LTE (or Long Term Evolution provides significantly increased upload and download speeds over 3G networks, as well as significantly reduced latency (or lag time). Verizon Wireless expects 4G LTE average data rates to be 5-12 megabits per second (Mbps) on the downlink and 2-5 Mbps on the uplink in real-world, loaded network environments.
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With these blazing fast speeds, you'll be able to stream HD movies without the annoyance of constant pauses to buffer the video stream--as well as quickly download HD-quality movies right to your phone in minutes. Additionally, you'll be able to download a new song file in about 4 seconds or upload a photo to your favorite social networking site in about 6 seconds.
The Verizon Wireless 4G LTE mobile broadband network will also redefine the mobile office for business users. Business applications that used to require wired networks will be untethered forever, allowing you maximized productivity and efficiency while you're out of the confines of your office. Enhanced security lets you tap into most VPN networks with less waiting, and faster responsiveness enables you to upload 10 MB presentations back to your team in less than 25 seconds.
In areas serviced only by 3G, you can expect download speeds of 600 Kbps to 1.4 Mbps and upload speeds of 500 to 800 Kbps in Mobile Broadband coverage area.
 | Connectivity
Communications & Internet
|  Hardware
Memory
Camera
Multimedia
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Also Available for This Android Device
 | Amazon Appstore for Android |  | Kindle |  | Amazon MP3 |
 | IMDB |  | Audible |  | Amazon Mobile |
Product Description
The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the third iteration of Google's Nexus program that offers the Android software exactly as Google designed it. The Galaxy Nexus features a gorgeous 4.65-inch HD-resolution OLED display, 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 5-megapixel auto-focus main camera, front-facing camera, WiFi, and super-fast 4G LTE data speeds. Other key features include 32GB internal storage, NFC technology, GPS navigation, music player, and access to thousands of apps, games, books, movies, and music available on the Google Play Store. This is a brand new product, it has never been used, it includes all new accessories, and should be in its original box. This product has been carefully audited, is certified to be 100% functional, and ready for activation.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
451 of 479 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not the pinnacle of new technology, but Android perfection (for now...)
December 15, 2011
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 devices I had access to. And to restate, I am in a well-covered area and have had ZERO issues with connectivity.)
Camera:
It wasn't too long ago that I scoffed at the notion of a "good" camera in cell phone, but more and more I've come to rely on the photo shooter that is **always** with me -- and the Nexus is a sharp shooter. Switching to camera mode and shot-to-shot times are off the hook quick, and the output is excellent. Yes, it's an itty-bitty lens and the low-light shots still require a very steady hand as well as a steady subject. Dynamic range is still a challenge in situations that include bright highlights combined with dark shadows. But focus is usually sharp, colors are mostly accurate not overly bright, and grainy "noise" is kept to a minimum -- mainly in shadowy details. While the lens + sensor can't freeze a busy kid in a modestly lit indoor situation, the super fast shot-to-shot times nearly guarantees that at least one shot will come out without motion blur.
"But only 5 megapixels?" Meh... compared to previous phones, these photos look --GRRreat-- at the typical resolutions I view them at on my 24" home PC monitor after uploading to Picasa and Facebook. The flash is wonderfully bright and will adequately light a pitch-black subject, though will over-illuminate a subject that is too close. And photos automatically upload off my phone into the ethereal "cloud" via my G+ account, almost like a Eye-Fi SD Card but one better! And with built-in editing, I can crop, filter and "fix" my pix before I share them.
The camera is, without question, more complicated to use than any other current phone, but in that complication some flexibility is offered. The very fast shutter fires on release (not on press), and the exposure seems to be center-weighted (meaning that the lighting conditions at the center of the image will determine how the picture is exposed). This allows a 5-step picture taking process in difficult lighting situations (i.e. brightly backlit scene):
- 1. Pan the camera around the subject to achieve the on-screen exposure I desire
- 2. Press and hold the shutter button to lock the exposure
- 3. (while continuing to hold the shutter release) recompose the shot, if desired
- 4. (while continuing to hold the shutter release) tap on the subject I want the camera to focus on, which may not be what I originally aimed at or may no longer be in the center of my frame (if desired)
- 5. release the shutter release to fire the shot
Alternatively, I can just blast away at the shutter release and hope to get the shot I want. Honestly, outdoor shots come out great with not so much as a quick press of the shutter release. Decently lit indoor shots and flash shots where subjects are a few arm lengths away are *pretty good* without too many exceptions. It's those close-in flash shots and dynamically lighted shots that take time and attention to shoot well.
Video Camera:
The video camera, on the flip side, leaves a bit to be desired. The picture is presents is "clean," but the rolling shutter aka "Jello Effect" is most definitely present when panning slowly. There's a sort of wobble that appears that may be an artifact of some sort of electronic image stabilization. There's also a problem of intermittent stutters / pauses -- not bad, just very short and noticable. It's less noticeable when shooting in 720p at 30 frames per second, versus the HD 1080p @ 24 FPS mode. And lastly, there's a weird fish-eye effect when panning smoothly IF any objects are in close range; not as evident on long shots. If you're planning on using the video camera function a lot, you'll want to check this out in person before buying -- or see if a software update can correct some of these issues. On the plus side, I can attest that the video images are sharply focused and with good coloration.
Video:
I absolutely LOVE the YouTube app on this, which is seamlessly integrated with my desktop YouTube favorites and subscribed lists. Videos expand to take full advantage of the 4.65" screen, and have just minimal buffering at the intro (assuming a 4G or WiFi connection), with no blockiness or artifacting/pixelation associated with my previous phone. Or, with Adobe Flash installed, I can access desktop versions of sites such as ABC or NBC to watch full episodes of TV programs.
Browser:
The stock browser is very speedy and really makes alternates such as Opera Mobile and Dolphin HD unnecessary and, frankly, clunky. Pages pinch zoom smoothly and without lag. Scrolling is equally smooth. Tapping on zoomed text columns reformat them to fit the width of the screen, to eliminate side-to-side scrolling. With Flash installed and Desktop mode selected in the User Agent settings, I have access to just about everything I can browse on my laptop. However, there are some pages which it doesn't render correctly (actually, just one in particular that I use for work) that necessitates Dolphin. Also, there's a browser called ICS Browser Plus available on Android Market that takes the stock Android 4. Read more ›
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 devices I had access to. And to restate, I am in a well-covered area and have had ZERO issues with connectivity.)
Camera:
It wasn't too long ago that I scoffed at the notion of a "good" camera in cell phone, but more and more I've come to rely on the photo shooter that is **always** with me -- and the Nexus is a sharp shooter. Switching to camera mode and shot-to-shot times are off the hook quick, and the output is excellent. Yes, it's an itty-bitty lens and the low-light shots still require a very steady hand as well as a steady subject. Dynamic range is still a challenge in situations that include bright highlights combined with dark shadows. But focus is usually sharp, colors are mostly accurate not overly bright, and grainy "noise" is kept to a minimum -- mainly in shadowy details. While the lens + sensor can't freeze a busy kid in a modestly lit indoor situation, the super fast shot-to-shot times nearly guarantees that at least one shot will come out without motion blur.
"But only 5 megapixels?" Meh... compared to previous phones, these photos look --GRRreat-- at the typical resolutions I view them at on my 24" home PC monitor after uploading to Picasa and Facebook. The flash is wonderfully bright and will adequately light a pitch-black subject, though will over-illuminate a subject that is too close. And photos automatically upload off my phone into the ethereal "cloud" via my G+ account, almost like a Eye-Fi SD Card but one better! And with built-in editing, I can crop, filter and "fix" my pix before I share them.
The camera is, without question, more complicated to use than any other current phone, but in that complication some flexibility is offered. The very fast shutter fires on release (not on press), and the exposure seems to be center-weighted (meaning that the lighting conditions at the center of the image will determine how the picture is exposed). This allows a 5-step picture taking process in difficult lighting situations (i.e. brightly backlit scene):
- 1. Pan the camera around the subject to achieve the on-screen exposure I desire
- 2. Press and hold the shutter button to lock the exposure
- 3. (while continuing to hold the shutter release) recompose the shot, if desired
- 4. (while continuing to hold the shutter release) tap on the subject I want the camera to focus on, which may not be what I originally aimed at or may no longer be in the center of my frame (if desired)
- 5. release the shutter release to fire the shot
Alternatively, I can just blast away at the shutter release and hope to get the shot I want. Honestly, outdoor shots come out great with not so much as a quick press of the shutter release. Decently lit indoor shots and flash shots where subjects are a few arm lengths away are *pretty good* without too many exceptions. It's those close-in flash shots and dynamically lighted shots that take time and attention to shoot well.
Video Camera:
The video camera, on the flip side, leaves a bit to be desired. The picture is presents is "clean," but the rolling shutter aka "Jello Effect" is most definitely present when panning slowly. There's a sort of wobble that appears that may be an artifact of some sort of electronic image stabilization. There's also a problem of intermittent stutters / pauses -- not bad, just very short and noticable. It's less noticeable when shooting in 720p at 30 frames per second, versus the HD 1080p @ 24 FPS mode. And lastly, there's a weird fish-eye effect when panning smoothly IF any objects are in close range; not as evident on long shots. If you're planning on using the video camera function a lot, you'll want to check this out in person before buying -- or see if a software update can correct some of these issues. On the plus side, I can attest that the video images are sharply focused and with good coloration.
Video:
I absolutely LOVE the YouTube app on this, which is seamlessly integrated with my desktop YouTube favorites and subscribed lists. Videos expand to take full advantage of the 4.65" screen, and have just minimal buffering at the intro (assuming a 4G or WiFi connection), with no blockiness or artifacting/pixelation associated with my previous phone. Or, with Adobe Flash installed, I can access desktop versions of sites such as ABC or NBC to watch full episodes of TV programs.
Browser:
The stock browser is very speedy and really makes alternates such as Opera Mobile and Dolphin HD unnecessary and, frankly, clunky. Pages pinch zoom smoothly and without lag. Scrolling is equally smooth. Tapping on zoomed text columns reformat them to fit the width of the screen, to eliminate side-to-side scrolling. With Flash installed and Desktop mode selected in the User Agent settings, I have access to just about everything I can browse on my laptop. However, there are some pages which it doesn't render correctly (actually, just one in particular that I use for work) that necessitates Dolphin. Also, there's a browser called ICS Browser Plus available on Android Market that takes the stock Android 4. Read more ›
157 of 172 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still the Best Phone Offered at Verizon, but SIII is a close second
December 17, 2011
Hardware & Form Factor:
A lot of the reviews of the GSM version claimed that the phone felt big in people's hand and that some people had trouble with one-hand operations, however I don't see this to be the case. I have had no trouble using this phone in one hand. It fits comfortably in my hand, and the phone is incredibly light. While the RAZR might also be light, because it is slightly wider, it did not feel as comfortable in my hand.
While this phone may not have the same high-end processor that is found in the HTC Rezound, the 1.2 GHz dual-core processor combined with Android 4.0 makes this thing lightning fast. (Update 1/17/12: My research has informed me that the processor in the device can actually clock up to 1.5GHz. You can get speeds higher than 1.2 GHz, but you must unlock your bootloader and flash a custom kernel. There are a few that overclock to 1.35 GHz since that is what has been found to be the highest speed that remains stable. Do this at your own risk.)I have found no lag in anything. At times, launching the camera application takes a few extra seconds, but it is really not too bad. Overall, launching apps is the fastest of all of smartphone out there (and yes, this is faster than the iPhone 4S). Since I've already mentioned the camera, I'll mention it now. It takes very good photos, but not quite the quality of pictures that the iPhone 4 or 4S is capable of. While it is only a 5MP camera, REMEMBER that MP is not the whole story because the light sensors are even more important. That being said, this takes very good photos and make this a good point-and-shoot camera, just not great.
While some people don't like the plastic feel that Samsung chooses to use, it feel very sturdy! If you need to take the back cover off, it comes off fairly easily, but snapping it back in is somewhat annoying. But keep in mind, how often will you really need to take off the cover. Because the phone is made of very high-quality plastic, it is much sturdier than the iPhone. Yes, the iPhone may have more of a premium feel to it, but to make a phone that has glass on the front and back of the phone, you will very scared of dropping it for fear of cracking the glass. And if you crack the glass on the iPhone, it is not covered by insurance.
I have two assessments of the speaker on this phone. For phone calls, it's great, whether you have it on speaker phone or not. However, if you try to watch a video or listen to music on it the speaker could be louder, but the fact that the speaker is on the back of the phone plays a factor in why it could be louder. . Let's remember this though, this is a phone so in that respect the speaker is great!
Display
The Display is absolutely amazing! It's crisp, and the color saturation is incredibly. I've never seen a display quite like it. It is on par with the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and the HTC Rezound. While the Rezound technically has the highest ppi, the 315ppi on the Nexus is amazing. You can adjust the brightness to save some battery life, and even on low the picture looks as good as is to be expected, but I've chosen to leave it on full brightness because the screen is just that pretty. At time I find myself switching to the auto-brightness setting which I find is very helpful. Since I have always used my cells phones as my alarm clock, the auto-brightness makes it easy to actually look at the phone when the room is dark after I've just woken up. Because the screen is amazing I am willing to leave it on full-brightness most of the time, except when I go to sleep becasue I don't like being blinded when I have to either snooze or dismiss my alarm.
Camera:
I know I've already mentioned the camera a little bit, but since most reviews line item this separately, I will do the same. Yes it's only 5MP, but MP aren't everything. As I've mentioned, the light sensors are more important. It is a little disappointing to see that Samsung didn't inclue the 8MP shooter they use on their Galaxy SII brand becasue that phone takes some pretty good photos as well. After spending a decent amount of time playing with the camera, I find that in perfect lighting, this thing takes great pictures, but other than that, it struggles to take a high quality picture. This still doesn't change the fact that it can take very good pictures, but it's just not what you would have expected in a flagship phone, especially since pictures from the Galaxy SII takes better pictures. Kind of a bummer. However, you can play with the settings as needed to get what I think can still be a very good picture, but not great.
Google really made us aware of the zero shutter lag that comes from the software and camera. I've tested this several times and demoed it to a lot of people that didn't quite believe. I could shoot off about 10 photos in like 2-3 seconds. That's pretty fast!
This thing can also shoot in 1080. Now if you wondering how it can do that with only 5MP, you have to understand what resolution 5MP can produce. A 5MP shooter can produce photos and videos with a resolution of 2984 x 1680. For those of you that don't fully understand the resolutnion of 1080p video, the resolution is actually 1920 x 1080. Now that you can see this, it is clearly understandable why and how the 5MP shooter with a great sensor shoots in 1080. (Updated on 1/27/12: My initial review mentioned 720p recording, but after using the camera enough, I found that was in fact capable of shooting 1080p video in the settings. Default is 720p though, so be sure to change it!).
Again though, the camera in the Galaxy Nexus isn't quite going to give you pictures of the quality that come from the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, but this is still a decent camera.
Software:
I came from a Blackberry, but I have had some experience with iPhones and various Android phones and the custom skins different OEMs use. I can say that the lack of OEM customization and the pure Android experience is by far the best. I like it better than the iPhone OS too. While some people won't like seeing the Google Search Bar widget built in to all the home screens, I kind of like it. The swipe down notification tray is great (something I didn't have with my BB), and you can access it even while the screen is locked, but if you have security set up you will need to unlock before accessing notification tray.
The speech to text feature baked into the whole OS is very good. However, you need to speak very deliberately, and very clearly. If you do, it's about 95% accurate. the other 5% actually has some other options to select from that it thinks you said. While I have not demoed Siri on the iPhone 4S, i do know that you need to speak very clearly too for that, but it might be more accurate. I can't say for sure though. And while the speech to text in ICS is not a personal assistant, I do not need to talk to my phone like I am on the Star Trek Enterprise. Also many owners of the iPhone 4S don't even use Siri after the first couple of weeks. After months of having this phone, I use the speech to text all the time because it's very easy to access and dictate messages when my hands aren't free to type or if my eye should be elsewhere.
The resizable widgets is great. The other thing I like is the ability to create folders on your home screens, but this is something that iOS has had for a while now. However, where this trumps iOS is if you create speed dials. In iOS you can't easily create speed dials, but Android has always been good at this, and with the ability to create folders on your home screen, this becomes incredibly useful because you are not cluttering your screen with all your speed dials.
ICS also has a task manager is that very easy to access as it's built-in as one of the software buttons (remember there are no physical buttons aside from the volume rocker and the power button). You can switch between apps that you have open with a quick press. You can also use this to close any apps that you aren't using anymore. Speaking of Apps, because this is a Nexus device, you won't find any of the bloatware apps that Verizon loves include on its phones. Well, actually you will find 2 apps, My Verizon Mobile and VZ Backup Assistant. I tend to find Backup Assistant to be useless since all my contacts are synced with my gmail, but the My Verizon Mobile i think is semi-useful. Although I have a grandfathered data plan, I can easily launch this app up and check my minutes. If you really don't want these two apps though, in ICS you can disable the apps and they disappear for your app tray.
If you are buying this and don't have a grandfathered data plan you will most defintely want to take advantage of a brand new feature in ICS. You can limit how much data your phone uses each month on the mobile network. This is really important because you don't want to use your phone all month and then get hit with a huge overage charge on data. You can tweak the settings too to limit background data used by running apps also. This is a great add to ICS!
Battery Life:
We've all heard this time and time again, but battery life on 4G phones is not great. So this phone comes with a slightly larger battery than the GSM version. That being said, this was needed for the 4G LTE antenna. You may want to disable 4G if you don't live in an area that has 4G or if you want to conserve battery life. Because I'm not always in 4G coverage, I've turned off the 4G. Since then, my battery life has been great! Most of your battery life is going to get drained by your display, but this is true for all smartphones though. I love how crystal clear the screen is on full brightness so I can deal with the the slightly shorter battery life I will have. Read more ›
A lot of the reviews of the GSM version claimed that the phone felt big in people's hand and that some people had trouble with one-hand operations, however I don't see this to be the case. I have had no trouble using this phone in one hand. It fits comfortably in my hand, and the phone is incredibly light. While the RAZR might also be light, because it is slightly wider, it did not feel as comfortable in my hand.
While this phone may not have the same high-end processor that is found in the HTC Rezound, the 1.2 GHz dual-core processor combined with Android 4.0 makes this thing lightning fast. (Update 1/17/12: My research has informed me that the processor in the device can actually clock up to 1.5GHz. You can get speeds higher than 1.2 GHz, but you must unlock your bootloader and flash a custom kernel. There are a few that overclock to 1.35 GHz since that is what has been found to be the highest speed that remains stable. Do this at your own risk.)I have found no lag in anything. At times, launching the camera application takes a few extra seconds, but it is really not too bad. Overall, launching apps is the fastest of all of smartphone out there (and yes, this is faster than the iPhone 4S). Since I've already mentioned the camera, I'll mention it now. It takes very good photos, but not quite the quality of pictures that the iPhone 4 or 4S is capable of. While it is only a 5MP camera, REMEMBER that MP is not the whole story because the light sensors are even more important. That being said, this takes very good photos and make this a good point-and-shoot camera, just not great.
While some people don't like the plastic feel that Samsung chooses to use, it feel very sturdy! If you need to take the back cover off, it comes off fairly easily, but snapping it back in is somewhat annoying. But keep in mind, how often will you really need to take off the cover. Because the phone is made of very high-quality plastic, it is much sturdier than the iPhone. Yes, the iPhone may have more of a premium feel to it, but to make a phone that has glass on the front and back of the phone, you will very scared of dropping it for fear of cracking the glass. And if you crack the glass on the iPhone, it is not covered by insurance.
I have two assessments of the speaker on this phone. For phone calls, it's great, whether you have it on speaker phone or not. However, if you try to watch a video or listen to music on it the speaker could be louder, but the fact that the speaker is on the back of the phone plays a factor in why it could be louder. . Let's remember this though, this is a phone so in that respect the speaker is great!
Display
The Display is absolutely amazing! It's crisp, and the color saturation is incredibly. I've never seen a display quite like it. It is on par with the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and the HTC Rezound. While the Rezound technically has the highest ppi, the 315ppi on the Nexus is amazing. You can adjust the brightness to save some battery life, and even on low the picture looks as good as is to be expected, but I've chosen to leave it on full brightness because the screen is just that pretty. At time I find myself switching to the auto-brightness setting which I find is very helpful. Since I have always used my cells phones as my alarm clock, the auto-brightness makes it easy to actually look at the phone when the room is dark after I've just woken up. Because the screen is amazing I am willing to leave it on full-brightness most of the time, except when I go to sleep becasue I don't like being blinded when I have to either snooze or dismiss my alarm.
Camera:
I know I've already mentioned the camera a little bit, but since most reviews line item this separately, I will do the same. Yes it's only 5MP, but MP aren't everything. As I've mentioned, the light sensors are more important. It is a little disappointing to see that Samsung didn't inclue the 8MP shooter they use on their Galaxy SII brand becasue that phone takes some pretty good photos as well. After spending a decent amount of time playing with the camera, I find that in perfect lighting, this thing takes great pictures, but other than that, it struggles to take a high quality picture. This still doesn't change the fact that it can take very good pictures, but it's just not what you would have expected in a flagship phone, especially since pictures from the Galaxy SII takes better pictures. Kind of a bummer. However, you can play with the settings as needed to get what I think can still be a very good picture, but not great.
Google really made us aware of the zero shutter lag that comes from the software and camera. I've tested this several times and demoed it to a lot of people that didn't quite believe. I could shoot off about 10 photos in like 2-3 seconds. That's pretty fast!
This thing can also shoot in 1080. Now if you wondering how it can do that with only 5MP, you have to understand what resolution 5MP can produce. A 5MP shooter can produce photos and videos with a resolution of 2984 x 1680. For those of you that don't fully understand the resolutnion of 1080p video, the resolution is actually 1920 x 1080. Now that you can see this, it is clearly understandable why and how the 5MP shooter with a great sensor shoots in 1080. (Updated on 1/27/12: My initial review mentioned 720p recording, but after using the camera enough, I found that was in fact capable of shooting 1080p video in the settings. Default is 720p though, so be sure to change it!).
Again though, the camera in the Galaxy Nexus isn't quite going to give you pictures of the quality that come from the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, but this is still a decent camera.
Software:
I came from a Blackberry, but I have had some experience with iPhones and various Android phones and the custom skins different OEMs use. I can say that the lack of OEM customization and the pure Android experience is by far the best. I like it better than the iPhone OS too. While some people won't like seeing the Google Search Bar widget built in to all the home screens, I kind of like it. The swipe down notification tray is great (something I didn't have with my BB), and you can access it even while the screen is locked, but if you have security set up you will need to unlock before accessing notification tray.
The speech to text feature baked into the whole OS is very good. However, you need to speak very deliberately, and very clearly. If you do, it's about 95% accurate. the other 5% actually has some other options to select from that it thinks you said. While I have not demoed Siri on the iPhone 4S, i do know that you need to speak very clearly too for that, but it might be more accurate. I can't say for sure though. And while the speech to text in ICS is not a personal assistant, I do not need to talk to my phone like I am on the Star Trek Enterprise. Also many owners of the iPhone 4S don't even use Siri after the first couple of weeks. After months of having this phone, I use the speech to text all the time because it's very easy to access and dictate messages when my hands aren't free to type or if my eye should be elsewhere.
The resizable widgets is great. The other thing I like is the ability to create folders on your home screens, but this is something that iOS has had for a while now. However, where this trumps iOS is if you create speed dials. In iOS you can't easily create speed dials, but Android has always been good at this, and with the ability to create folders on your home screen, this becomes incredibly useful because you are not cluttering your screen with all your speed dials.
ICS also has a task manager is that very easy to access as it's built-in as one of the software buttons (remember there are no physical buttons aside from the volume rocker and the power button). You can switch between apps that you have open with a quick press. You can also use this to close any apps that you aren't using anymore. Speaking of Apps, because this is a Nexus device, you won't find any of the bloatware apps that Verizon loves include on its phones. Well, actually you will find 2 apps, My Verizon Mobile and VZ Backup Assistant. I tend to find Backup Assistant to be useless since all my contacts are synced with my gmail, but the My Verizon Mobile i think is semi-useful. Although I have a grandfathered data plan, I can easily launch this app up and check my minutes. If you really don't want these two apps though, in ICS you can disable the apps and they disappear for your app tray.
If you are buying this and don't have a grandfathered data plan you will most defintely want to take advantage of a brand new feature in ICS. You can limit how much data your phone uses each month on the mobile network. This is really important because you don't want to use your phone all month and then get hit with a huge overage charge on data. You can tweak the settings too to limit background data used by running apps also. This is a great add to ICS!
Battery Life:
We've all heard this time and time again, but battery life on 4G phones is not great. So this phone comes with a slightly larger battery than the GSM version. That being said, this was needed for the 4G LTE antenna. You may want to disable 4G if you don't live in an area that has 4G or if you want to conserve battery life. Because I'm not always in 4G coverage, I've turned off the 4G. Since then, my battery life has been great! Most of your battery life is going to get drained by your display, but this is true for all smartphones though. I love how crystal clear the screen is on full brightness so I can deal with the the slightly shorter battery life I will have. Read more ›
85 of 97 people found the following review helpful
By J. Anderson
25 months in the Smartphone arena is more than a lifetime - I went from a Blackberry to the OG Droid in November of 2009. No real complaints about the OG Droid, it was simply well used and abused, and ready to retire. I choose the Galaxy Nexus based on the high anticipation, European-version reviews, and finally the official LTE reviews from numerous sources. I wasn't looking for perfection but this phone comes pretty darn close. Below are my findings, including a perspective on some of the potential negatives:
Display - Wow, it's beautiful. I've read complaints about over-saturation and as an amateur photographer, I have a good eye for color. That said, I am quite pleased with this display and find the rich colors delightful, and the blacks inky like e-ink. If I want absolute accurate color, I'll be looking at a high-end desktop monitor using Lightroom, not my smartphone. The viewing angle is a huge improvement over older phones too. And the 4.65" size is so choice. As others have noted, some of that is lost during normal use due to the virtual menus but it's such a big screen, you'll be fine. During movies it auto-hides.
Size - I'm over 6 feet and have "L" hands. I can't palm a basketball very well to put my hand size in perspective. All that said, I have no issues at all with the size and find the gentle curves and textured back quite comfortable. I can use the device with one hand when needed, though I must say even with my OG Droid I tended to use two. In my front jean pockets, it fits fine and I think the curved glass helps a bit. So while yes, this is one of the largest smartphones on the market, it is quite usable. Would I size down and give up all that screen real estate, no way! But to each is own and for heavy one handed or smaller users, it may make sense to try in the store and compare to smaller form factors. One other point: While the Galaxy Nexus is not the thinnest phone out there, at 9mm, it is still quite thin. To put it in perspective, my OG droid was around 14mm. I held the Droid RAZR several times and found the design striking but not particularly comfortable to hold. It was wide, with sharp angles and top heavy. I also picked up the HTC Rezound and found it quite comfortable despite its relative girth. I personally think thinness is overated and contour/ergonomics are more important.
Battery - This is probably the biggest letdown. Even though I was eligible for an upgrade when the first batch of LTE phones came to Verizon, I didn't want the bad battery life associated with those. I've only had the phone for a few days and admittedly have used it quite heavily during that time. But based on my early experience, I plan on carrying a charger or spare batteries with me during the day. I think it will make it through the day with very light usage (I'll get there eventually when I'm done playing and configuring :). But if you plan on navigating, watching videos, or otherwise just having the screen on a lot, plan on having backup juice. I found these 3rd party batteries and charger on Amazon: [...] Note they do not have NFC built in but otherwise should work fine and serve well as backup batteries in my bag. Finally, I am hopeful (no knowledge to go on) that as Android 4.0/ICS is updated, users will see battery life improvements. If not, this will be the one strike against the GN.
Performance - I don't know what to say here other than it does everything I ask it very quickly. It's faster than my wife's Incredible 2 and night & day from my OG Droid. As long as it stays that way with future software updates, I'll be happy.
Software - Much has been written about Ice Cream Sandwich / Android 4.0. If you're an Android user, you'll quickly figure it out and love the tons of upgrades. I really appreciate the ability to customize my device as compared to the arguably more polished but locked down iOS. That's a personal preference though, and I'd probably buy my parents an iPhone. But for me, it's all Android. A case in point: Verizon didn't want to offer Google Wallet (NFC/wireless payment enabled) on this phone because Verizon is launching its own payment system shortly. But being an Android phone, within 3 days of release, somebody had already offered up an installable version (no rooting required) that works perfectly. That experience would never happen in the iOS world. In summary, Android users need this upgrade and will love it. Others need to decide what's right for them.
Conclusion - I simply love this phone like no other. It is so capable and a real pleasure to use. My one complaint is the battery life, which is less than ideal, but something I'm willing to put up with to have this much phone in my hand.
UPDATE: I decided to install Juice Defender Ultimate ($5 marketplace), which I had purchased for my OG Droid. Today, that has clearly made a big difference. With very moderate settings, I am at 8 hours unplugged and still have 70% juice left. That's with normal use of checking emails and other apps approx 3X/hour. So with this trend, I can easily make it through a 16 hour day unplugged. The only negative is when the screen is first turned on, it takes about 3-5 seconds to establish data connection. Something I can live with.
UPDATE 2: The LTE speeds are blowing me away. With 3 plus bars at home, I'm seeing 8-15mbs down and up. With lower bars at my office, I'm seeing typical speeds of 5-8mbs down and 8-10 mbs up. Latency is around 50-70 ms.
Display - Wow, it's beautiful. I've read complaints about over-saturation and as an amateur photographer, I have a good eye for color. That said, I am quite pleased with this display and find the rich colors delightful, and the blacks inky like e-ink. If I want absolute accurate color, I'll be looking at a high-end desktop monitor using Lightroom, not my smartphone. The viewing angle is a huge improvement over older phones too. And the 4.65" size is so choice. As others have noted, some of that is lost during normal use due to the virtual menus but it's such a big screen, you'll be fine. During movies it auto-hides.
Size - I'm over 6 feet and have "L" hands. I can't palm a basketball very well to put my hand size in perspective. All that said, I have no issues at all with the size and find the gentle curves and textured back quite comfortable. I can use the device with one hand when needed, though I must say even with my OG Droid I tended to use two. In my front jean pockets, it fits fine and I think the curved glass helps a bit. So while yes, this is one of the largest smartphones on the market, it is quite usable. Would I size down and give up all that screen real estate, no way! But to each is own and for heavy one handed or smaller users, it may make sense to try in the store and compare to smaller form factors. One other point: While the Galaxy Nexus is not the thinnest phone out there, at 9mm, it is still quite thin. To put it in perspective, my OG droid was around 14mm. I held the Droid RAZR several times and found the design striking but not particularly comfortable to hold. It was wide, with sharp angles and top heavy. I also picked up the HTC Rezound and found it quite comfortable despite its relative girth. I personally think thinness is overated and contour/ergonomics are more important.
Battery - This is probably the biggest letdown. Even though I was eligible for an upgrade when the first batch of LTE phones came to Verizon, I didn't want the bad battery life associated with those. I've only had the phone for a few days and admittedly have used it quite heavily during that time. But based on my early experience, I plan on carrying a charger or spare batteries with me during the day. I think it will make it through the day with very light usage (I'll get there eventually when I'm done playing and configuring :). But if you plan on navigating, watching videos, or otherwise just having the screen on a lot, plan on having backup juice. I found these 3rd party batteries and charger on Amazon: [...] Note they do not have NFC built in but otherwise should work fine and serve well as backup batteries in my bag. Finally, I am hopeful (no knowledge to go on) that as Android 4.0/ICS is updated, users will see battery life improvements. If not, this will be the one strike against the GN.
Performance - I don't know what to say here other than it does everything I ask it very quickly. It's faster than my wife's Incredible 2 and night & day from my OG Droid. As long as it stays that way with future software updates, I'll be happy.
Software - Much has been written about Ice Cream Sandwich / Android 4.0. If you're an Android user, you'll quickly figure it out and love the tons of upgrades. I really appreciate the ability to customize my device as compared to the arguably more polished but locked down iOS. That's a personal preference though, and I'd probably buy my parents an iPhone. But for me, it's all Android. A case in point: Verizon didn't want to offer Google Wallet (NFC/wireless payment enabled) on this phone because Verizon is launching its own payment system shortly. But being an Android phone, within 3 days of release, somebody had already offered up an installable version (no rooting required) that works perfectly. That experience would never happen in the iOS world. In summary, Android users need this upgrade and will love it. Others need to decide what's right for them.
Conclusion - I simply love this phone like no other. It is so capable and a real pleasure to use. My one complaint is the battery life, which is less than ideal, but something I'm willing to put up with to have this much phone in my hand.
UPDATE: I decided to install Juice Defender Ultimate ($5 marketplace), which I had purchased for my OG Droid. Today, that has clearly made a big difference. With very moderate settings, I am at 8 hours unplugged and still have 70% juice left. That's with normal use of checking emails and other apps approx 3X/hour. So with this trend, I can easily make it through a 16 hour day unplugged. The only negative is when the screen is first turned on, it takes about 3-5 seconds to establish data connection. Something I can live with.
UPDATE 2: The LTE speeds are blowing me away. With 3 plus bars at home, I'm seeing 8-15mbs down and up. With lower bars at my office, I'm seeing typical speeds of 5-8mbs down and 8-10 mbs up. Latency is around 50-70 ms.
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