Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Editor's Review of the Galaxy Nexus

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the Google's latest flagship handset, and the first phone in the world to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Therefore, the Galaxy Nexus is probably the biggest Android launch of the year - but does the phone have that much-important "wow" factor?

Design & Build

There's no denying it, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is BIG. With dimensions of 135.5 x 67.9 x 8.9mm it's larger than the Galaxy S2, and also heavier at 135g. That's not to say it's not a good looking handset, as the Nexus's textured back panel gives it a high-end feel, and its curved minimalist front oozes both style and practicality.

The bare front is dominated by a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen, with an eye-boggling 1280 x 720p HD resolution. This display is just as impressive as it sounds on paper too, boasting the same deep vibrant colours and pin-sharp detail as Samsung's best-selling Galaxy S2.

In fact, the Galaxy Nexus also packs the same 1.2GHz dual-core processor as Samsung's 2011 flagship too. You don't need us to point out that the result of that processor is an extremely snappy all-round performance, and an extremely quick start-up time.

OS & Interface

With Google's Ice Cream Sandwich onboard, the Galaxy Nexus is not like any other Android phone available on the market. Although the software took us a few minutes to get to grips, Android 4.0 represents a giant leap in usability for this rapidly growing operating system.

The most immediate difference between Android 2.3 and Android 4.0 is the overhauled interface, which has been cleaned-up considerably and is now much-more intuitive. The platform's hardware navigation keys have been replaced by touch-keys at the bottom of the screen, and icons have been given a much-needed refresh and more-polished look, bringing Android up to speed with its main iOS rival.

Other neat interface improvements include improved multitasking where apps can be swiped away to quit, and an improved onscreen keypad which makes bashing out emails much faster and more accurate.

One of the more interesting features of ICS is Face Unlock, which lets you unlock the handset using the front-facing camera. Although there's been multiple claims that the features doesn't work and has security flaws, it's the most fun feature included on Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

Beyond that, Android 4.0 simply looks a lot better. It feels more mature than previous iterations, thanks to its more user friendly and intuitive UI.

Multimedia & Storage

Those after a high-spec camera may be disappointed to learn of the Galaxy Nexus's 5 megapixel effort. However, image quality is still perfectly acceptable - if not quite on par with the iPhone 4S - and there's zero delay between taking photos. The single panorama mode also managed to impress, enabling us to scan our surroundings before stitching the shots into one single photo.

Thanks to the phone's dual-core innards, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is also capable of shooting 1080p HD video, which it managed to do without a glitch. Of course, footage looks great on the phone's HD screen too.

Everything Else

Early adopters of the Galaxy Nexus might not be too pleased, as although the phone runs Google's latest software, the handset is lacking in Flash support. Still, Google is promising that an update will be coming in due course, although no exact release date has yet been given.

If you overlook the phone's lack of Flash support, the overall web experience is pretty impressive. Thanks to the 1.2GHz innards web pages are extremely speedy to load - and we noticed no glitches at all with the stock Android browser. Scrolling through pages it noticeably improved with Android Ice Cream Sandwich too,

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus may not appeal to everybody, but with its intuitive software and excellent screen, the handset certainly managed to win us over. However, the handset is somewhat lacking the "wow" factor that we were expecting - especially considering its mere 5MP camera and its lack of support for Adobe Flash content.

Review model provided by Clove