Samsung Galaxy Nexus 4G Android Phone (Verizon Wireless)

Not the pinnacle of new technology, but Android perfection (for now...) December 15, 2011

Reviewer:  Nathaniel Allen  (Oakland) -

There are phones with bigger screens ([[ASIN:B0061YRDX6 Galaxy Note]]), faster CPUs and GPUs ([[ASIN:B0061R3DVO Rezound]]), thinner profiles ([[ASIN:B0061OQJTK 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 [[ASIN:B001EN109C visor-mounted speakerphone]] or [[ASIN:B0043EV20Q 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 [[ASIN:B002UT42UI 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 4.0 browser and expands on its "Quick Controls," which I highly recommend if you opt to use the browser's full-screen mode.

Navigation:

Mounted in a Cygnett DashView Universal car mount (not yet available on Amazon), the Nexus makes a very capable personal navigator, complete with moving maps, a very fluid display that zooms in and out of the maap, voice commands, and a very capable voice search function that rivals anything from Garmin. Alternate routes are either one or two screen presses away, and factor in real-time traffic from major freeways and minor surface streets alike. Estimated travel times are good within a few minutes (usually overestimated), but not as accurate as my dedicated Garmin (with OTA traffic) or my BlackBerry Traffic app.

One complaint is that the voice search isn't integrated with my phone's phone book, so while it's easy to say "Navigate to Memorial Stadium," with expected results, I can't say "Navigate to Home" or "Navigate to John Smith's Home" (as an example of a personal contact). Navigating to contacts' addresses requires a few extra steps, and can be "starred" (favorited) in Google Maps for quick selection from inside the Nav application. Another complaint is that running the Nav app with the screen + GPS + data running the entire time sucks a lot of juice, and a standard 500mA car charger can't keep up. At minimum, have a high-output [[ASIN:B000S5Q9CA Motorola Rapid Rate Charger]], or something with similar charging currents, on hand for navigation use.

The the Nav app's credit, if the data connection is lost, my route and the associated maps are all pre-cached, so as long as I stay on-course, I continue to receive turn-by-turn directions.

Memory:

I may be among the minority, but I am excited about Google's new approach to memory management with this device. One solid block of 32GB means there's no more selecting between an SD memory card or internal storage for audio, video, program and data files. This should put an end to filling up all available space on the internal storage, yet left with gobs of unused gigabytes on the external card.

This memory management change necessitated the removal of USB mass storage mode from the device, but the new transfer protocol works great with Windows 7 & XP (your mileage may vary with other operating systems, including older versions of Windows, and will reportedly not play nicely with USB in-car entertainment systems in Ford & probably other vehicles, although streaming over Bluetooth still works).

Size:

I was a little concerned this phone would be too big, and was even more concerned my wife would find it a problem. It turns out there's a bit of a trade-off: It's slimmer and lighter than either of our previous phones, and the amount of screen real estate is exciting. I take no issues with the build quality -- it feels very refined and techy, not "chunky" like some heavier and/or rubberier phones. This is definitely a challenging device to type on one handed. Just checking emails or flicking through photos of a bookmarked website is one thing, but trying to bat out a quick text message or any other sort of keyboard input practically necessitates two hands. This is nothing new for somebody switching over from a keyboard phone (like my wife's Palm Pre+) but a bit of a change coming from a smaller touchscreen phone with a capable one-thumbable portrait keyboard. And for what it's worth, this is a really easy, uncrowded QWERTY keyboard for my big thumbs to tap on -- even in portrait mode!

I've parked mine in an [[ASIN:B006JO232E Otterbox Defender]] case and, while it fattens the Nexus by a factor of two, the phone's slim build is the only thing that made such a beefy case palatable. You can follow that product link to my review, if you're interested.

Screen:

Gorgeous. Stunning. Big. Crisp. Bright. Sensitive. Tiny text is crystal clear and easy to read. Colors are very rich and black really is inky black (evident when playing back a movie with dark scenes). If you heard something negative about the "pentile" display this phone uses based on similar displays released recently on phones from Motorola, stop into Verizon and check one out for yourself before forming an opinion. If I have one criticism, it's why is it so difficult to get auto dimming to work correctly?

Battery:

This is tough to rate. I've been subjecting my LTE Nexus to what I would consider abnormally high usage in the couple weeks that I've had it (1750mAh battery -- 100mAh lower than what the retail phones shipped with) and I can say this with certainty: if you're either tethering or using Verizon's mobile WiFi Hotspot feature, expect to either plug this in to the charger, or run down the battery in a matter of hours. For normal day-to-day use with a handful of phone calls, some data consumption / web browsing + camera use, getting through an 8-hour workday is no problem, and there are days where I can make it to bed with 20% left on the battery, and others when I need a boost as soon as I'm in the car after work. Seems like a pretty typical LTE device, from what I know of this phone's LTE predecessors. It's certainly no "all day and then some" a la BlackBerry, if that's the battery life you're used to. And definitely worse than the GSM version of this same phone.

I have since picked up Samsung's [[ASIN:B006OBSUUG Extended 2100mAh Battery]] (direct from Verizon by dialing (star)611), and must say that the slight 1- to 2-hour increase in runtime is appreciated.

Google's "Nexus" Promise:

There are newer/better/faster devices not too far down the road featuring the Android 4.0 operating system and improving on what Samsung delivered here. But what hooked me is the promise of regular updates directly from Google for the lifepan of this device, with very minimal interference or influence from Verizon -- just like they've done with previous Nexus devices. I hope that's how it plays out, because the next hot phone can't be that many weeks away, but chances are it's going to be packed Verizon's bloatware and infrequent updates. Your mileage, of course, may vary. ;-)

The Competition (Nexus vs. the [[ASIN:B0061R3DVO HTC Rezound]]):

I hesitate in posting this, because it's very limited in terms of all the other devices available out there, and will surely be out-of-date in a matter of weeks as new phones are announced. But I gave a good, hard look at the HTC Rezound when it came time for me to buy, and it was not an easy decision.

The Rezound has a more naturally colored picture, with the same high resolution. The blacks aren't as deep, and the whites aren't as bright, but the LCD display has just a slightly finer focus to it (without getting too technical, I believe due to the pixel arrangement). In theory, the Nexus has an advantage outdoors in bright sunlight (I didn't test a Rezound outdoors).

The Rezound has a Snapdragon S3 clocked at 1.5 GHz, but I found the Nexus to have a snappier feel to it. HTC uses their "Sense" skin on the Rezound, and it seems that that has a high overhead requirement. For instance, when looking at available system memory after a fresh boot-up, nearly half is already in use by the system. There's no telling when Android 4.0 hits the Rezound WHAT Sense is going to look like then (could be better, could be worse, in terms of system overhead requirements).

The Rezound's camera is fabulous. Where the Nexus shoots more muted colors (some might say "natural"), the Rezound's photos have a richer appearance. The Nexus also has a tendency to blow out highlights (i.e. whites, brights and light skin tones become the same shade of white). This, I believe, will be resolved with a minor correction in the software, and as is, I firmly believe the Nexus photos stand up well on their own and are generally very good -- but the Rezound is undeniably a notch or two better.

The Rezound's external speaker is slightly (just) louder than the Nexus', but also has a wider dynamic range. Playing identical audio from the two phones side-by-side, it's not entirely evident which is louder, but the Rezound is definitely a fuller sound.

The Rezound is thick and has a smaller battery. Only 4mm thicker than the thickest part of the Nexus, and only 230mAh smaller battery, but the external battery (2700mAh) makes the phone extremely fat.

The Rezound uses a 16GB removable SD card (included) to supplement the 16GB of internal memory, to match the Nexus' 32GB. As I wrote in my review, I'm a fan of the single partition system the Nexus is using, so two partitions in the Rezound is a bit of a negative for me, but according to popular opinion I am in the minority here. Also, the Rezound will mount as a traditional USB mass storage drive when plugged into a PC or car audio dock, whereas the Nexus is USB Host (USB OTG) and may result in a few extra hurdles for OS's other than Windows 7.

The Rezound -- no two ways about it -- definitely shows stronger 3G signal reception (in dBm's, not bars) than the Nexus. Again, I have no connectivity problems to complain about -- this Nexus has been a dream both with voice calls as well as data -- but I don't doubt some complaints I've read of owners experiencing dropped calls in fringe areas.

The Rezound has HTC's track record of infrequent, often tardy OS updates. I am heavily attracted to the Nexus due to Google's direct support of this product over its expected 2-year life cycle.

Still the Best Phone Offered at Verizon, but SIII is a close second December 17, 2011

Reviewer:  Timothy Swann 

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.

Update 1/3/12: After several weeks now with the phone, I can comment on the battery life better now. On moderate to heavy usage I can get upwards of around 7 hours. On light usage I get more than 10. The real kicker here is the screen. Screens on any smartphone are power guzzlers. Everyone has different usage on their phones. Also, I read someone complaining about how long it takes to recharge. Using the charger the phone came with, the phone charges pretty fast. However, some other chargers I have take a little longer. Since each charger is designed slightly different (voltage and wattage), this could be the factor.

New 1/9/12 - A Nexus Device: Some people might argue this as being a true Nexus, but the idea of Nexus is for it to be a true developer device. Now you don't need to be a developer to want this phone because it is still by far better than most of the devices out there. However, if you do want to experiment with this and learn how to flash roms and do some other fun stuff, since this is a Nexus device, the bootloader comes unlocked and the device is easily rooted. One developer actually wrote a program that does it all for you. So what would have take a user with no experience about 5 minutes (that's how long it took me and I had never rooted a phone since I came from Blackberry), will take you about 1 minute.

Also as a Nexus, this device has no OEM customization, which I've already stated. This makes the User Experience simply put as fantastic! There is next to no learning curve with this phone. Very easy to use in that regard.

Some Issues/Concerns

Some people will likely be upset by the lack of Facebook syncing with your contacts, but from my research this is not soething that has been supported for some time. If you do need that, Friendcaster will do the trick though and can be downloaded from the Android Market. However, there is a brand new app as of 12/19 that apparently works better called "HaxSync - ICS Facebook Sync" that works great. I have yet to try it, but I will be sure to check it out for $0.99.

Yes, there is no Google Wallet, but this apparently has to do with security concerns from Verizon, but it could also have to do with the mobile payment system that Verizon has coming later this year. Because of the Net Neutrality laws, if Google fixes the security issues that Verizon is concerned about, Verizon will not legally be allowed to block the app. So don't be too concerned about this one. You can actually get this on your phone now without rooting by downloading the .apk from XDA. Just remember that you are putting your personal CC information into the app.

Is it really a true Nexus device? Well it depends on how you look at it. Because of the two Verizon apps on it most people would say no. I don't see why Verizon forced Google to include the apps when they don't force Apple to preload the same apps. Kind of bums me out to see VZ flex it's muscles, but I already mentioned these can be disabled and you can completely remove if you root the phone. The real concern here is regarding updates. Verizon has shown that they will interupt the update process that Nexus devices should be receiving. Android 4.0.4 has been available for some time now and Verizon has yet to allow it to be pushed to this device. If you are going to buy this phone, keep in mind that all other devices on VZ's network are subject to the same slow update process.

No Gorilla Glass, but this is really not an issue. I just want to call this out because someone asked me about it. Gorilla glass is actually much more expensive for OEMs and is power hungry. The fortified glass used by the Nexus is incredibly durable. You can take a key and try to scratch it, but you will have a hard time leaving a mark or even cracking the screen.

No USB mass storage. While this was thought to be a huge deal-breaker for a lot of people, you can connect it to your computer and drop files onto the device. So if you were concerned about being able to get pictures or music from your computer to your phone, you don't have to worry too much.

No SD slot. This is related to the USB mass storage because it doesn't have the removable storage. But this phone has a 32GB internal storage. This is more than enough for any user. If you really intend to fill up more than that with pictures or music, get an iPod or a regular digital camera. Also, you can easily access Google music on this device, so load your music onto that and you should be just fine since you won't use up space on your phone and you'll still be able to access all your music!

The phone can get hot at times. I've found this is only when I have just pulled it off the charger and start using it immediately and frequently. Otherwise, I haven't had any problems with this.
Update 1/9/12: Ok so this does get hot when using it for a while (i.e. the screen is on and at a somewhat high level of brightness). I am not sure what this will do to the stability of the hardware in the future, but this is definitely a slight concern of mine.

Hopefully if you read this you found this helpful. I can easily say this is an amazing phone and I am glad I waited for this phone instead of settling for the RAZR or iPhone.

OG Droid Upgrader - Wow, Android Phones Have Come A Long Way December 21, 2011

Reviewer:  J. Anderson  (Austin, TX) -

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.

Business user... December 18, 2011

Reviewer:  C. Six 

Background: I am a Droid early adopter (bought the original Moto Droid the day it was launched). I've owned the original Droid, the Droid X and the Droid X2. My wife switched from her Blackberry Storm to the Droid Pro. My son owns Incredible 2. Daughter's own iPhone 4 and Samsung Fascinate.

I've been waiting for Verizon to launch a high-end bloat free (no Touchwiz, SenseUI or motoblur) since I owned the original Droid hoping that a pure device would improve interface performance. This phone doesn't disappoint. It is fast. At first launch the phone re-installed most apps that were on my X2. Once I set it up with corporate email (Touchdown app), personal email (Gmail), music library (iSyncr wireless) and logged in/setup all apps that typically ran in background on my X2 (weather, Pulse, Twitter, Facebook etc) I tested the response of the UI. No delay, no hesitation, great video response fast all around experience. Been using it for a few days at this point. Not once have I noticed a delayed response to a swipe or tap - this is a huge win for Android. Typically Android devices have some minor 'lag' due to the fact that the OS is so much more functional than competing OS's (except perhaps Win Phone 7).

I own a Xoom tablet so the learning curve on Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) was minimal. If you haven't used Honeycomb there is a learning curve which is managed well by pop ups teaching new tricks. If you learned a previous version of Android you will be up to speed in 24 hours on this device. With that said, this OS is far more powerful than previous versions. Each day since I've had it I learn new features which enhance my ability to interact with the device. I love the group folders that can be put on the desktop. While having 7 'panels' of icons is nice - the group folder feature leaves you one additional tap from launching anything from your homescreen - very nice.

Battery life - this is my first 4G phone. I am a power work user (email & web) but don't stream a lot of video or play a lot of games. I get through the day and into the evening without issue. My primary concern was being able to get through a 12-13 hour day without needing a charge or to swap batteries. Most days I can get through the work day without issue. I typically get home after a long day with about 20% remaining. Note that I do not take significant measures to manage battery life. I will likely get an extended battery once they are in stock.

Pros:

* Pure software - no bloatware
* Speed and user interface upgrade with ICS
* Groups on desktops - very convenient feature (simply drag an icon on top of another to create a group)
* Incredible screen - this is an HD screen. HD provides an additional row of icons her page due to higher resolution
* Feels good in hand. I like the form factor. In my opinion it could be a bit HEAVIER to feel more substantial in the hand. I will likely get an extended battery which, for me, will kill two birds with one stone (longer life, more substantial feel in the hand)

Cons:
* Lack of accessories at launch - this is likely due it being a new device but I'm used to seeing great accessory support from Motorola at launch. It looks like the car charger doesn't have built in charger but just a 'hole' to use a charger. No desktop charger at launch - if there is one, it's not on Verizon, Amazon, Samsung sites.
* Weird setting for volume seems to link notification volume w/ phone volume. I love to set up profiles for volume and then control with Locale. At night I want the phone to be able to ring but I don't want to receive a notification for each email/text. The only method I can find to turn off email notifications is in the Email app which is annoying to have to do each night versus simply swapping profiles.
* Limited to 32 gb of storage. I knew this going into the purchase so no star deduction - note to Google, on future devices if you're not going to include an SD card then give an option to buy 64 gb or more internal space on the device.

Solid device crippled by certain issues January 21, 2012

Reviewer:  N. Gu 

Ok so this is more of a 3.5. And mind you, this is going to be LEGIT because I've had this device for almost a month.

What I like a lot about the phone:

1) Size of screen - very easy to read!
2) ICS - very clean interface and runs smooth, not necessarily super intuitive, but very functional! I wish I could say I love the task manager button.. but I forget about it often. Honestly any task killer will do the job, without you swiping stuff away a billion times.
3) Internal storage of 30 GB - yes i know this is a negative for some people, but for me I like it. I had like 60+ apps and some music and two movies on my phone and still had about 25 gb left. So trust me folks, storage will not be an issue!
4) Led notifier - yes I know other phones have this. but man, the LED light on this thing is BRIGHT. And I like how you can customize the colors. Fantastic. Download Lightflow.
5) Real-time voice to text - just fantastic. love seeing the text appear as you're speaking. very effective and fairly accurate!
6) ICS keyboard - just great, you could blind type and do a pretty good job
7) Updates from Google - a definite perk

What I didn't like:

1) Signal issues - There was a day where I didn't have service at all, and I live in a GOOD 4G and if not 4G, at least a solidly good signal area. I'm near the heart of Los Angeles for goodness sake! So that one day I was curious why I wasn't getting any calls or msgs. Shame on me for not checking if signal had come back on, after a reboot, I just assumed it'd come back on.. but it didn't. Later on in the evening, I rebooted again and a stream of msgs and voicemail came in. Imagine my horror. I'm really tired of seeing "no service" on the phone. The whole point of a "phone" is well, to know that you can use it reliably as a phone since that is its primary purpose. I'd have to say this was one of my deal breakers..
2) Camera - Yes no shutter lag is awesome, but the quality of the photos.. not so much, unfortunately. For me the camera matters. I don't always have my point and shoot digital camera on me..and I want to be able to know that when I have to take a picture on the fly..that it will still be a GOOD picture. The picture quality is just not great, especially poor under low light conditions. And the quick shutter lag does not compensate for the poor focus. What's the point of taking lots of pictures quickly if only a few actually turn out clear? I'm hoping for all you nexus owners out there that a solid update will come out that improves the camera. For me, I just can't wait forever for it.. and even with third party apps..doesn't help all that much. I'm of the mindset that you shouldn't buy a device to wait for the good things that are to come.. you should buy it because it's good and you love it..RIGHT NOW. That's my philosophy.
3) this is strictly for me - The Size: Make sure you go into a store first and try it out for a WHILE before you get it. I did this too, I went into numerous verizon stores and held the phone. I thought it was going to be OK. But after I got it, and started using it, and time went on.. over the course of a month, I realized this phone was just too big. I wouldn't say my hands are tiny though, but the phone just didn't feel as good in the hand to me.
4) To some extent - the build quality - This is not a "cheap" phone but I realized I liked the feel of an HTC phone better. This phone is very light and coupled with the fact that it sometimes felt a bit too big for me despite me liking the large screen, I was TERRIFIED of dropping it. I felt like the back would pop up right away if I dropped it, and I was scared of the screen scratching or breaking too, even though from what I've read, the screen is pretty hardy. Still, it's about the feel.. and to me, it felt too delicate (and yes coupled with the fact that because sometimes it felt just a *little too big for one hand, made me feel like I didn't have a good grip!). I knew I would need a case for this phone, and that would make it EVEN BIGGER. That's when I knew that I couldn't stay with it for two years..a phone had got to feel good in YOUR hand.
4) Speaker volume - too soft. seriously. I downloaded volume + which helped a little bit. but then the sound sometimes felt a bit distorted. I'm a media person. I like watching videos and listening to music, and I like showing them to friends too. I need a solid media device and the speaker volume was just too low. Also sometimes it was hard to hear my phone ringing. Again, these are basic things crucial to being a PHONE first and foremost.
5) Sync and compatibility with apps - ICS is new, I get it. But know that you will deal with some sync and compatibility issues since not everything is compatible yet with ICS
6) Battery life - my goodness, with some fairly moderate to heavy use, the phone could die in about 4 hours or so. Not cool. And I did test this. I had a charger in the car and on some days, I just didn't use it. The battery died quite quickly. I will say that if you condition the battery through a couple full cycle charges, it does get better. But still not what I would say good battery life.
7) Slight lag - hitting the home screen from an app, the screen freezes and is blank for a sec or two, and then the apps appear. Didn't like seeing that at all.. I thought this device was supposed to be completely optimized for ICS and run with no lag. But I will say that I thought that it was a bit laggy at times..and also within the first few weeks of me using it, it did randomly reboot a couple times. Sometimes from an app, other times just random.

So yes, my primary dealbreaker was the signal issue, followed by camera, and definitely just the feel/build quality of the device. Battery life was a concern too. I returned the Nexus for the Rezound, which honestly was probably a better fit for me in the first place. I was torn between the two, I ordered the Nexus first since I had been waiting for it. And although I genuinely liked the phone (primarily because the screen was huge), I knew that I wouldn't be happy for TWO years with it. And I gave it a chance, for sure. Seriously, a phone is a big investment. As a techie, the two important devices in my life are my phone and laptop. I spent alot of time doing research for both. I know that I can also root and unlock, etc. But I'd like a phone to work pretty darn well outside of the box too because not everyone has the time to flash ROMs and constantly change up everything about your phone. I know the phone will be good for a while in terms of software because of timely updates from Google. Hardware is not so easy to change/update. And as I said before, I'm buying a product for the NOW too, not just the future. I will be returning the Nexus for the Rezound, which just arrived the other day. Having used both phones now, I made the right choice for me. Make the right choice for you!

P.S. So thankful for Amazon Wireless, they did a one-time exchange for me, which was a wonderfully smooth process. Keep those reps employed, they are great.. best customer service!