Samsung Galaxy Nexus. With Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Samsung and Google promise that this new generation of Nexus family is gonna be much better than the predecessor.
Between Samsung Galaxy Nexus and predecessors
As a starter, this phone is produced much larger than the previous series, as well as the screen size. The screen size of Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which is 4.65 inches, is really huge for standard smart phone, it kind of reminds me of another great iPod Touch contender called Samsung Galaxy S WiFi, which also has a bigger screen for smart phone. So it’s fair to say that Samsung Galaxy Nexus is a smart phone heading to tablet design.
On the other hand, if you see this phone as a tablet, the screen size of 4.65 inches is of course smaller than any standard tablets around the market. For example is Samsung Galaxy Note, which is a great computer tablet, has much bigger screen (5.3 inches) than Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
- Type: Samsung Galaxy Nexus
- Release Date: 2011, November
- Price Purchased: Check Price
- Vendor: Samsung
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Phone Specs: Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 4.65 inches, 720 x 1280 pixels, 16M colors, Android ICS, Dual-core 1.2 GHz, Wi-Fi, 16 GB Internal, 5 MP Camera + LED flash, Secondary 1.3 MP, See Full specs.
- Pros
- Dual core processor | Great sound quality and complete audio features | The latest Android version 4.0 ICS
- Cons
- No FM Radio | No external memory support, only 16GB internal storage | As a high-end smart phone, the camera doesn’t get improvement than predecessor | Battery drains fast (but can be manually adjusted with brightness, auto internet connection, etc)
- Bottomline
- Bottom line, this phone is one of the best Android devices to date. As a high-end smart phone, this phone sits on the top at its class. As a tablet, it fits perfectly in our hands. As a iPhone contender, this one is definitely the best option at high-end price range.
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| Samsung Galaxy Nexus |
Design
Talking about the design, this phone looks different than old predecessor, Google Nexus One. If on Google Nexus One, the front side looks rounded with metallic cover, then on Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the front side looks shinny and flat. But this phone is still designed in rounded shape on every corner just like on the latest predecessor, Samsung Galaxy Nexus S. Overall, this smart phone looks really stylish in dark oval.
At a glance, this phone looks really big, fancy and expensive. This phone is definitely a worth showing off smart phone to the public. The case cover of this phone is brilliantly textured, which makes it comfortable to hold and sticky in our hands. And the whole back side of this phone, along with the battery cover is dominated with gray color. It looks old but still elegant and classy though.
Below the wide touch screen, 3 main keys (close, Homescreen and main menu) have been equipped to operate the touch screen. The power button can be found on the right side of device, while the volume button is put on the left side along with 2 other ports, micro USB port and 3.5 mm headphone jack.
Performance
The biggest and major improvement on this phone is definitely the injection of the latest Android OS version 4.0 called ICS or Ice Cream Sandwich. ICS still looks great, works great and runs perfectly. Even though almost all high-end Android smart phones around the market can also be upgraded with ICS, the latest smart phone like Samsung Galaxy Nexus can be the one that can really optimize the use of features on Ice Cream Sandwich perfectly without any limitation.
Interface and Functionality
Anyway, with ICS, the screen of this phone looks really stunning, powerful and responsive. Its sensitivity is even better on this phone and its interface is more intuitive and fluid than before. With the new feature called Face Unlock, which can only be found on ICS, you can even set your face to unlock the phone. Yup, that’s right. You might remember of some “secret agent” movies, where they can access some high security area by only using their face. So, this one is definitely a great addition for many Android fans out there.
However, this Face Unlock feature somehow works on every face. Even if you set your face as the access to unlock the phone, your brother or sister, which also have identical face structure, can easily unlock the phone without your consciousness.
In the fresh looking Homescreen, 5 total pages have been provided to you to put your favorite shortcuts and widgets on the screen. This element (5 page homescreen) has become the trademark for many high quality Android phones, say, Sony Ericsson Xperia series. And I think, it’s by far better than the static, standard and boring iPhone User Interface. Just saying.
Anyway, on the shortcut homescreen, you can easily customize your favorite or most used applications on the screen by floating and moving them around the provided 5 page homescreen. On the main menu, there are many options to pick regarding your wished applications or widgets.
The standard unlock mechanism has also been provided to the screen. By sliding the screen slider to the right, the phone will be unlocked, while sliding it to the left, the camera gear is opened.
Camera
Looking on the back side of device, the 5MP camera has been equipped with the support of Auto-focus and LED flash. Although Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the upgrade or the next generation of Samsung Galaxy Nexus S, and it’s considered as high-end smart phone, unfortunately, the old 5MP camera on Samsung Galaxy Nexus S doesn’t get any improvement on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
The quality of the photos is still considered great. However, in outdoor area, under the sun light, the quality of the photos will be so much different with the real objects you’re snapping. Somehow, the colors of the photo look different with the real objects. But the quality can further be improved by adjusting, increasing or decreasing the brightness and the sharpness of the photo with the features that are provided on this phone. The quality of its video can also be improved right away on this phone with the video editing feature.
Multimedia and Entertainment
Talking about the audio quality of this phone, this can be the greatest thing you will absolutely get once you have a hold of this phone in your hands. The whole audio feature that being provided on this phone is just great. The sound quality is guaranteed top notch. Listening to music without doing much setting or presets and adjustment in Equalizer can still bring a satisfying experience to your ears. The let down in audio aspect is the absence of FM radio on this phone.
Gaming Compatibility
Gaming has been a quite magnet and the biggest reason why people opt to buy Samsung Galaxy series. As a dual processor smart phone, this phone without a doubt is one of the best and smoothest gaming devices to date. With the injection of Android v4.0 ICS, many high quality or high definition (HD) games across Android platform can be played smoothly and perfectly on this phone. Thanks to its wide 4.65 inch AMOLED screen, playing games with this phone is satisfying and the graphics looks really comfortable to see, even under the sun light.
Anyway, the worth mentioning weakness that you need to know about Android ICS is the inability of this operating system to play one 3D game. Somehow, many users experience that they cannot run one great adventure game called “The adventure of Tin Tin 3D”, and will be forced to download the 2D version. I know this can be ridiculous to hear.
Hopefully, the one that develops that game (Gameloft) will solve this problem soon. But overall, all HD games can be played on this phone, including 9MM, Grand Theft Auto 3D, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, etc.
Data Storage
The other let down on this phone is the unavailability to expand the external data storage with external memory card. Samsung Galaxy Nexus is only sold with 16GB internal memory.
Battery Life
Just like almost all touch screen smart phones around the market, the battery life of Samsung Galaxy Nexus drains pretty fast. In heavy usage (gaming, internet, music, etc), the battery could last around 4-5 hours. However, it depends on certain aspects. For example, in default or when you just bought this phone at the phone shop, the brightness of the screen was usually set in higher rate, and also, the WiFi and 3G connection was switched ON automatically by the retailer.
So in order to get the best out of its battery life, you must firstly adjust the screen brightness to the mid or lower point than standard. And then, you will also need to turn off some applications that require automatic internet connection, such as: Push email, Twitter and Facebook updates, etc. This will definitely decrease the jobs of memory in the background and will eventually improve the battery life even better than befores.
Conclusion
Bottom line, as a smart phone, Samsung Galaxy Nexus is absolutely a fresh addition to the market. Its overall size, including the screen, is really bigger than any standard touch screen phones around the market to date. The sound quality is guaranteed top notch. Gaming capability is really great. And its size is really satisfying to the users. Definitely top recommendation for Android device.
Nice information on samsung galaxy and android thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteSure Android Developer, thanks for your comment.. :)
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