After months of rumours, a delayed unveiling out
of respect for Steve Jobs, and a launch that could be best described as
chaotic, Google and Samsung have finally released the Galaxy Nexus — the
first smartphone to run the latest 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich"
version of Android. The Galaxy Nexus successfully combines a superb
screen, great software and excellent hardware to produce what we think
is the best Android phone ever.
Galaxy Nexus: Design and display
There are a few reasons why we think the Galaxy Nexus
is the best Android phone on the market, but the most apparent is its
strikingly large 4.65in Super AMOLED HD display. The HD denotes a high
definition resolution of 1280x720, and the Galaxy Nexus displays an
ultra sharp and crisp image. Its bright, vivid and clear and text is
crisp and smooth with minimal visible aberrations: if we were being
picky we'd say that the iPhone 4S still displays slightly crisper text, but the difference is very small and won't be immediately noticeable to a casual user.
The large size of the screen naturally makes the
Galaxy Nexus great for video playback but Web browsing is the main
beneficiary — the clarity of the screen makes reading Web pages and
books an impressive experience. Our only complaint involves the
automatic brightness feature: its often erratic and most of the time is
either set a little too bright, or too dim. We suspect this is an issue
that could and should be corrected by a software update.
The
Galaxy Nexus is a large phone but the big screen doesn't make it
uncomfortably large to handle. The unit has on-screen controls rather
than capacitive keys that were previously standard on Android phones, so
the Galaxy Nexus isn't too much bigger than the popular Samsung Galaxy S II.
Aiding the look and feel is a curved screen and a body that has a
teardrop profile — this means the Galaxy Nexus is thicker at the top and
slightly wider towards the bottom. The curvature makes the Galaxy Nexus
feel natural to hold and therefore comfortable to use.
Unfortunately, the Galaxy Nexus' battery cover is
way too fiddly and difficult to put back on once its removed. It's only a
minor issue but the fit and finish is a step behind many of its rivals
including the iPhone 4S and the HTC Sensation XE
— the plastic feels durable but it doesn't look or feel as sturdy as a
premium device should. We also dropped our review unit and it left a
noticeable chip and multiple scuffs on the plastic surface, while there
is a small spot on the edge of the cover that moves when you press it,
suggesting its not clicked into place properly. We love the teardrop
design and the the non-slip grip that the back of the Galaxy Nexus
provides, but we wish Samsung paid more attention to detail.
Two
more minor issues — we hate the headphone jack on the bottom of phones
and the Galaxy Nexus is no exception. It feels out of place and requires
you to turn the phone around when you pull it out of your pocket. We
also found the volume buttons on the Galaxy Nexus too easy to
accidentally press when the phone is in your pocket, which is annoying
when you're listening to music.
Galaxy Nexus: Ice Cream Sandwich UI
The hardware of the Galaxy Nexus is only half of the story. Google's latest Android software, Ice Cream Sandwich, is the real star of the Galaxy Nexus show and the changes are both exhaustive and impressive.
Right
from the moment you switch on the Galaxy Nexus for the first time, it's
clear that the entire user experience has been improved. The interface
has been refreshed to create a more uniform look and feel. There's a new
typeface called Roboto. The software is faster and slicker than any
previous versions of Android and is an improvement over any manufacturer
UI skin that we've seen on any other device. The Galaxy Nexus feels
consistent and is easier to use than any other Android phone we've ever
tested.
There are too many changes to list, but
there are a few key elements that make the Galaxy Nexus a pleasure to
use. The first is consistency. Google has changed almost every part of
the interface and the result is a phone that is easier to use. Android
4.0 still isn't as simple as iOS or as elegant as Windows Phone 7.5, but
its fast, effective and easier on the eye than any previous versions of
the software. In a full week of use, the Galaxy Nexus did not crash or
stutter: performance is consistently excellent.
On the lock screen, you can swipe right to get to
the home screen or left to jump straight into the camera. You can now
access notifications from the lock screen and you can swipe individual
notifications away rather than having to clear all notifications. You
can also quickly access the settings menu from the notification drop
down, create folders on the home screen by dragging one app on top of
another, and access widgets by swiping through the app draw. We also
liked the link to the Android Market in the top right corner of the app
draw — a small but very appreciated touch — along with the fact that the
Google search widget is now a permanent fixture at the top of every
home screen. It can not only be used to search the Web, but can perform a
phone-wide search, too.
As previously
mentioned, Ice Cream Sandwich no longer uses hardware shortcut keys.
Instead, three on-screen buttons appear (back, home, multitasking) on
most screens. In some apps, further settings can be accessed when three
small dots appear in the lower right hand corner of the screen. This can
be a little confusing and its often easy to accidentally bump the home
or back buttons, but the navigation is something we quickly got used to.
We also found multitasking quite intuitive: pressing the multitasking
buttons brings up a vertical, scrolling list of your most recently used
apps. Tapping on an app will switch to it, while swiping an app off the
screen will close it. Its the same multitasking method used on Google's
Honeycomb software for tablets, but it feels far more natural and
intuitive on a phone.
Galaxy Nexus: Keyboard, Browser and more
Perhaps
the best feature of Ice Cream Sandwich is the on-screen keyboard: it's
the best we've ever used on an Android phone, with accurate word
correction and an excellent layout. If you're coming from an iPhone, you
should have no problems adjusting to the Galaxy Nexus, as the keyboard
is easily on par with iOS.
The Browser on the
Galaxy Nexus is also superb. It's the fastest browser we've ever used on
a smartphone (yes, even slightly faster than the iPhone 4S). It's
smooth to scroll and zoom and although it doesn't support Flash right
now (that is coming in a future update from Adobe) it loaded most pages
without an issue. Our only complaint is that when using the on screen
keyboard to type in text fields, such as posting on a forum, the
keyboard loses its auto correction abilities.
We
love most of the changes that Google has made to Ice Cream Sandwich,
but Face Unlock isn't one of them. Its largely a gimmick feature in the
first place, but we found it a hit and miss affair. Sometimes it worked
flawlessly, but other times the front facing camera was affected by a
lack of light (especially if used it indoors) and didn't work.
We also found an annoying issue in the new People
app. The interface and layout is excellent but the images the app pulls
from your contacts end up looking distorted and pixelated. Though its
ultimately a minor issue, this takes some gloss of what should be a
great looking feature. You can get around this by replacing your contact
images with ones taken with the Galaxy Nexus' camera, but even then,
the image inside the contact menu is blown up and looks blurry.
We
also discovered some apps in the Android Market aren't compatible with
the new Ice Cream Sandwich software. Some apps like Facebook will work
but are missing the ability to access the options menu due to the
on-screen keys replacing the hardware buttons. Others, like RemindMe
don't work at all. This is an issue that will be resolved over time as
developers update their apps to support Ice Cream Sandwich, but it
remains a stumbling block for early adopters.
Galaxy Nexus: Camera and other features
The
Samsung Galaxy Nexus has a 5-megapixel camera with single-LED flash
that also doubles as a full HD 1080p video recorder. The best feature of
the camera is its speed: it takes photos with virtually zero shutter
lag. You can easily capture a whole heap of images in a matter of
seconds, as the picture is taken the moment you press the on-screen
shutter key. The Galaxy Nexus also has a 1.3-megapixel front facing
camera will handle video calls and also record 720p HD video: a nifty
addition for those who like to record themselves.
While we loved the fact that there is virtually
zero shutter lag on the Galaxy Nexus, it often results in images that
aren't well focused. The quality of images isn't as good as some other
camera phones we've reviewed this year. The Galaxy Nexus is by no means a
bad camera: in many instances it produces pretty natural looking
photos, and macro performance is excellent. However, images tend to lack
detail and have a fair bit of noise, and shots taken in low light
aren't exposed very well.
Perhaps the most
annoying aspect of the Galaxy Nexus is the volume of the external
speaker: its not loud enough so ring tones and notification tones can be
difficult to hear when the phone is in your pocket. We tried
downloading an equaliser app from the Android Market to boost the volume
but even with a slight boost this still remained a significant issue.
We can only hope Samsung might be able to fix this with a software
update, but its likely hardware that's the issue.
The
Galaxy Nexus also lacks a microSD card slot, so you'll have to be
content with the 16GB of internal memory. Samsung promised a 32GB model
at launch, but as yet this model hasn't been released anywhere in the
world, so it may not ever see the light of day.
The Galaxy Nexus supports a wide range of video and
music files and doesn't require software to get music and video files
onto it. You can simply plug the Galaxy Nexus into a PC via a USB port
and drag and drop files onto the device. On a Windows PC the Galaxy
Nexus appears in the control panel as a "portable device", but on a Mac
or Linux computer you will need to download the Android File Transfer application in order to move files to and from the phone.
Galaxy Nexus: Battery life and availability
The
Galaxy Nexus has average battery life. For light users, it should last a
full day, but heavy users will more than likely need an injection of
power before the end of the day. The best we managed to squeeze out of
the Galaxy Nexus was almost 19 and a half hours: this was on a day with
light to moderate use.
The biggest battery
killer on the Galaxy Nexus is the screen: it often accounted for over 50
per cent of battery life on a heavy day, and around 30 per cent on a
light to moderate day. Unlike many other Android phones, using the
Internet and synchronising applications in the background (like Gmail,
Twitter and Facebook) doesn't seem to be a huge battery drain. A good
example is the fact that the Browser accounted for less than 8 per cent
of the battery drain in most instances.
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