Samsung Galaxy Nexus - Mini Review

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the next Android phone to hold the name "Nexus", meaning like its predecessors it was developed in collaboration with Google. The hardware can be considered an evolutionary step, taking many design elements from the very popular Samsung Galaxy S II, with a touch of the Samsung Nexus S thrown in. The real story here is that the Galaxy Nexus is the first phone to come with Google Android 4.0, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich. This is the next major revision of Android and looks to merge Android 2.x (Phone OS) and Android 3.x (Tablet OS), hopefully ending some of the fragmentation that has plagued the platform from day one, as well as taking Android to the next level, competing with Apple's iOS 5.0.

I have now been using the Galaxy Nexus (GSM on O2) for just over three weeks and thought it was time to post a mini review.

What I like:

I have always been a fan of the iPhone 4's 3.7inch IPS Retina Display. The 640×960 resolution and industry leading 326 pixels per inch is simply breathtaking, providing a sharpness and clarity never before seen on a consumer mobile device.

Since the iPhone 4's release in 2010 we have seen hundreds of high specification displays, however in my opinion none of them have offered the same quality as the Retina Display. Until now!

The Galaxy Nexus offers a massive 4.65inch Super AMOLED display with an impressive 720×1280 resolution and 316 pixels per inch. This display is simply incredible! The colours are eye popping and it sounds strange, but I have never seen black look this black on a any other device. It even makes the colours on the iPhone's Retina Display look washed out when compared side by side. I can honestly say this is the first phone that I would happily watch a movie on, without automatically reaching for my iPad or MacBook Pro.

The second great thing about the Galaxy Nexus is the operating system itself. For the first time Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) feels complete, with a beautiful new "TRON like" user interface that is fast, elegant and easy to use. It also comes with a number of new useful features, three that I am am particularly impressed with:

• A new multi-taking menu that allows you to quickly close applications, without requiring a third party task manager. This has always been a major pain point in previous version of Google Android, as you know a rogue application is killing your performance and battery, but it was difficult to track it down and kill it.

• For the first time Android 4.0 provides the ability to track cellular data usage as well as set warnings and limits. This is a great feature for anyone with a data usage limit (just about everyone in the UK). I have a 500MB monthly limit and therefore set a warning for 400MB and have data usage automatically stop at 500MB. I hope Apple and Microsoft look to include this feature in future updates.

• Finally I am loving the Google Music integration, allowing me to access and stream my entire music library anywhere in the world, as well as download any songs for offline usage. This is exactly how I want my music to work and I hope Google don't over complicate the service with future updates.

What I don't like:

So I love the display, but unfortunately the rest of the device feels somewhat underwhelming. The plastic shell, although well built, feels cheap to hold, especially when compared to the perfectly formed glass and metal of the iPhone 4S. If you don't believe me, just pop the back off and ask yourself if you would ever hear that plastic cracking noise on an Apple product. In Samsung's defence, it is clear the Galaxy Nexus was built to a price, with the aim for it to be able to undercut the premium iPhone.

My next pain point is one that I have spoken about before. In my opinion the Android Marketplace is still a mess. Due to the vast number of different Android devices and operating system versions, it is increasingly difficult to find a decent application or know if it will actually work on your device. I had a number of apps fail to run or constantly crash on the Galaxy Nexus, which is a quick way to take the shine off a new device. Now I know this will improve with time, however if history is anything to go by Google will likely have Android 5.0 out before all apps are running seamlessly on Android 4.0. Simply put, this experience is still an embarrassment when compared to the Apple App Store.

Finally, I have a few concerns about the Galaxy Nexus battery performance. I'm not sure if the issue is hardware or software related, but I have been struggling to achieve a full days life. Worse of all, I would not even consider myself a heavy user, with an average day consisting of periodic usage of social networking apps and music. As a comparison, under the same usage conditions I normally achieve at least two days from the iPhone 4S (which is reported to have its own battery issues). Hopefully this situation will improve with future Android software updates.

Conclusion:

Overall the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is without a doubt the best Android phone ever made. In fact, I would argue that it is one of the best phones ever made. It's not perfect (as detailed above), but it's a giant leap forward in user experience for Android devices, offering a great user interface that is fast and simple to use.

Is it better then the iPhone 4S? In my opinion the answer is still no. The best way I can describe it is that with Apple the hardware and software always feel as one, resulting in a seamless experience. By comparison I feel that the hardware and software of Android devices are, at times, detached, with a higher rate of unresponsive touches, lagging and crashes. Although the Galaxy Nexus is the best yet, I still encountered these frustrations.

With that said, I believe the Galaxy Nexus marks a significant milestone in the Android story, with the new operating system moving the platform from good to great and I only expect this trend to continue. 

Smartphones - The Challengers

Over the past couple of weeks we have seen a number of high profile smartphone releases. Specifically the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (previously known as the Nexus Prime) and the first Nokia handsets running Windows Phone. So are they worth a look and how do they match up to the iPhone 4S?

Samsung Galaxy Nexus

As with the previous Nexus handsets (Nexus One, Nexus S), the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the new flagship Google Android device, created in collaboration between Samsung and Google. As you can see from the image below, the handset has a striking design, with a curved glass display.

The design is backed up by a massive 4.65-inch Super AMOLED display (1280x720), dual-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz, 1GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB storage options, a 5-Megapixel rear-facing camera and a 1.3-Megapixel front-facing camera and finally NFC technology for wireless payments, as well as the new Android Beam sharing app.

I think it's fair to say that the Galaxy Nexus hardware looks great (although the screen is a little large for me), but the real story here is that this is the first handset to run Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0). This new operating system aims to merge the best parts of Honeycomb (Android 3.0) and Gingerbread (Android 2.2), as well as reduce the current fragmentation (and confusion) that plagues the Android market.

Anyone familiar with Honeycomb should immediately be at home, as Ice Cream Sandwich has brought the 3D-effect UI from the tablet to the smartphone. This looks great (a major step forward in my opinion) and continues the "TRON like" look, with the familiar horizontal homescreens which can be swiped across and filled with apps and/or widgets.

Other new features include a new lock screen, allowing the front-facing camera to be used for facial-recognition. Although this had some issues in the Google live demo, it has been proven to work well and is a very cool way to activate your handset.

We also have a completely new browser which offers tabbed browsing (like iOS 5.0), as well as a new Gmail app which enables offline use. The camera application has also seen a major upgrade, with built in image editing and manipulation (think Photo Booth on the Mac). Google have also finally seen fit to include an integrated task manager, allowing you to easily kill off any rogue applications, without the need for a third party app.

The best way to appreciate Ice Cream Sandwich is to checkout the launch event video below:

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus should be available in the UK from November, or you can pre-order now from Amazon for £549.

Nokia Lumia Series

Another eagerly anticipated launch took place this week in London, with Nokia unveiling their first Windows Phone handsets. The flagship model is the Nokia Lumia 800 (previously known as Sea Ray), which, as expected, looks very similar to the much loved, but recently killed Nokia N9 (MeeGo Device).

 

Just like the Nokia N9, the handset looks great, but I feel the specification is a little underwhelming for a flagship product. It includes a 3.7inch ClearBlack AMOLED display, a 1.4GHz processor and comes with 16GB of internal memory as well as 25GB of cloud storage free via SkyDrive. It also includes an 8MP Carl Zeiss lens with 720p HD-recording at 30fps.

Although the processor looks good (even if it is only single core), the lack of front facing camera, 1080p video recording, larger storage options and NFC (found in the Nokia N9) makes this handset good, but not great, especially when compared with the competition from Apple and Google (maybe a good time to remind yourself of the Galaxy Nexus specification above).

On the software front, the Nokia Lumia 800 is the first Nokia handset to use the Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) operating system. I have always defended the Windows Phone operating system and believe it has great potential, however I still feel that it's at least one year behind the competition. It will be interesting to see how quickly Microsoft can catch-up and if this new partnership with Nokia will result in the sales both companies have been desperately looking for.

Alongside the Lumia 800, Nokia also announced the Lumia 710, which also runs the Windows Phone operating system, but aims to be sold at a cheaper price. Industry analysts believe the handsets will be available from November, but we are still waiting from Nokia to announce official details.