Tuesday
Jan172012
Samsung Galaxy Nexus Droid Review
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 11:28AM
Review of the New Samsung Galaxy Nexus Android Phone.
There is always a new Android phone on the market and the Galaxy Nexus is currently the one to beat. Its the first phone running Android 4.0 a/k/a Ice Cream Sandwich. Android 4 is quite a change from previous versions and make take some getting use to. If you have an Android tablet running Honeycomb, the learning curve will be minimal.
First about the phone. Its has a Dual core 1.2 processor, Super AMOLED 4.65” 1280x760 screen (best on the market today!), 32 GB of Storage built in, 1GB of RAM, 5MP Rear camera, 1.3MP Front Camera, LED Flash, Zero Shutter Lag (Cool!), 1080p HD Video Recording, 2 Mics, NFC (Near Field Communication), and all the standard stuff: Bluetooth, WiFi, Accelerometer, Gyro, Compass, Proximity, etc.
First thing you notice is its thin, light and has a curved glass screen. The screen bright, beautiful and large, although since Android 4 does away with physical buttons and now has soft buttons on the display, they take up some of that nice new real estate. Personally, coming from HTC phones, the Samsung is a little different in that it has the power on the right side instead of the top, and the Volume on the left. It does have both the USB port and headphone port on the bottom which is great for in-car use and docking.
One thing I have seem many people complain about is that the battery door cover is flimsy or cheap. I disagree. it is a thin piece of plastic (whats not these days?) but when phones have the horrible battery life they do today you want to be able to get to the battery quickly to change it. This door snaps on tight, is not going to fall off and keeps the phone light.
The phone comes with a standard 1850 mAh battery. Which while normal, in my opinion is horrible as that would not me half way through the day. Since this is a new phone, there are no extended batteries with 2x or 3x the power so picking up a couple more batteries on Amazon for about $30 was a must.
Back to the display. Its clear, bright and beautiful. Samsung has been known for good displays that are easy to read even in bright light but this one is the best. Although lowering the brightness down a bit does help greatly with conserving battery power. Again, coming from HTC phones, the very easy on the eyes display is great. Its easy to spend time reading and working or watching video with. The feel of the phone is solid and light and I have no complaints about the design.
The new Android 4.0 is a nice step up with many new features and a better design but I am not going to get into a review of the latest version of Android here.
Aside from terrible battery life, I can only say one bad thing about the Nexus...The Camera. I came from a 8MP HTC Droid Incredible to a 8MP HTC Droid Thunderbolt and that was surprisingly a decline in camera quality. Going to this 5MP camera is even worse. Picture quality, which fine for every day use and occasional pictures, it not as good as either of my previous phones. Surprising because we expect things to get better, not worse. But I'm sure I know the reason they did this... 0 shutter lag! You open the camera and start taking pictures and it seems to take them as fast as you can press the button. Great when your trying to get some quick pictures, take a child or animal in which you might just have a few seconds to get that special moment. Most phones take 1-3 seconds to take and save a picture. Not the Nexus! Although forget about using the digital zoom as its absolutely horrible. Although panoramic picture taking is built in and works well so that's an extra bonus. The video recording also takes 1080p HD video and does an OK job at it. If your buying a cellphone to take great pictures then this is not the phone. If you want the best phone on the market, fast, packed with features and can live with just OK photos & video then this is the one for you.
www.INeedBob.com
www.twitter.com/bobkaron
www.facebook.com/ComputerSolutionsNY
There is always a new Android phone on the market and the Galaxy Nexus is currently the one to beat. Its the first phone running Android 4.0 a/k/a Ice Cream Sandwich. Android 4 is quite a change from previous versions and make take some getting use to. If you have an Android tablet running Honeycomb, the learning curve will be minimal.
First about the phone. Its has a Dual core 1.2 processor, Super AMOLED 4.65” 1280x760 screen (best on the market today!), 32 GB of Storage built in, 1GB of RAM, 5MP Rear camera, 1.3MP Front Camera, LED Flash, Zero Shutter Lag (Cool!), 1080p HD Video Recording, 2 Mics, NFC (Near Field Communication), and all the standard stuff: Bluetooth, WiFi, Accelerometer, Gyro, Compass, Proximity, etc.
First thing you notice is its thin, light and has a curved glass screen. The screen bright, beautiful and large, although since Android 4 does away with physical buttons and now has soft buttons on the display, they take up some of that nice new real estate. Personally, coming from HTC phones, the Samsung is a little different in that it has the power on the right side instead of the top, and the Volume on the left. It does have both the USB port and headphone port on the bottom which is great for in-car use and docking.
One thing I have seem many people complain about is that the battery door cover is flimsy or cheap. I disagree. it is a thin piece of plastic (whats not these days?) but when phones have the horrible battery life they do today you want to be able to get to the battery quickly to change it. This door snaps on tight, is not going to fall off and keeps the phone light.
The phone comes with a standard 1850 mAh battery. Which while normal, in my opinion is horrible as that would not me half way through the day. Since this is a new phone, there are no extended batteries with 2x or 3x the power so picking up a couple more batteries on Amazon for about $30 was a must.
Back to the display. Its clear, bright and beautiful. Samsung has been known for good displays that are easy to read even in bright light but this one is the best. Although lowering the brightness down a bit does help greatly with conserving battery power. Again, coming from HTC phones, the very easy on the eyes display is great. Its easy to spend time reading and working or watching video with. The feel of the phone is solid and light and I have no complaints about the design.
The new Android 4.0 is a nice step up with many new features and a better design but I am not going to get into a review of the latest version of Android here.
Aside from terrible battery life, I can only say one bad thing about the Nexus...The Camera. I came from a 8MP HTC Droid Incredible to a 8MP HTC Droid Thunderbolt and that was surprisingly a decline in camera quality. Going to this 5MP camera is even worse. Picture quality, which fine for every day use and occasional pictures, it not as good as either of my previous phones. Surprising because we expect things to get better, not worse. But I'm sure I know the reason they did this... 0 shutter lag! You open the camera and start taking pictures and it seems to take them as fast as you can press the button. Great when your trying to get some quick pictures, take a child or animal in which you might just have a few seconds to get that special moment. Most phones take 1-3 seconds to take and save a picture. Not the Nexus! Although forget about using the digital zoom as its absolutely horrible. Although panoramic picture taking is built in and works well so that's an extra bonus. The video recording also takes 1080p HD video and does an OK job at it. If your buying a cellphone to take great pictures then this is not the phone. If you want the best phone on the market, fast, packed with features and can live with just OK photos & video then this is the one for you.
www.INeedBob.com
www.twitter.com/bobkaron
www.facebook.com/ComputerSolutionsNY
Reader Comments (1)
The Galaxy Nexus generated a high level of anticipation and was even regarded as the most anticipated Android device of 2011, gathering very positive reviews.