The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the best smartphone on the market today. After living with it for almost a month, it has not only met expectations but exceeded them in almost every way. Rather than run through the specs, this review focuses on day-to-day merits for real-world use.
The first thing you notice is the absence of physical buttons. Android 4.0 has replaced them with on-screen controls that move with the phone between portrait and landscape. The search button is gone, replaced by a Google search box on the main screen.
The HD Super AMOLED display is genuinely stunning. At 1280×720, movies look gorgeous and apps have a vibrant, almost 3D quality. Viewing angles are excellent. A brief side-by-side with an iPhone 4 made the Retina Display look second-rate. One ergonomic gripe: the charging port and 3.5mm jack are on the bottom, which is awkward in portrait-mode windshield mounts; the power button is on the upper left side of the frame, alone.
Build quality is a mixed bag. The phone feels lighter than it looks thanks to the plastic body, and despite its size is thinner and more manageable than a Motorola Droid X. The back battery cover is thin and flimsy; one of the locking tabs bent during normal battery swaps, so care is warranted. Speaking of which: you will be swapping batteries under normal to heavy use. The Verizon 4G LTE radio is fast (peak downloads of 35Mbps in testing) but pulls hard on battery life. Running with four standard batteries in rotation was a practical solution; the extended battery option adds unwanted thickness.
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich feels like production software for the first time in Android’s history. Folders save home screen real estate, the browser works like a true mobile Chrome with tab thumbnails and a desktop mode toggle, notifications can be swiped away directly from the lock screen, and screenshots are captured with a simple power plus volume-down combination. The Roboto font gives the dialer and system UI a clean, modern look.
Call quality was clear with no complaints from callers on the other end; the speakerphone sounded muffled and thin. The camera is fast and capable but not quite at the level of the Galaxy S II. It can be accessed directly from the lock screen by sliding left.
After many Android devices, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the best phone available at the time of writing. A few competitors were expected to arrive later in the year, but the Galaxy Nexus remained the clear top choice.
