New Phone Review - Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Well I finally managed to get my hands on my new handset 6 months after first looking around, The new handset is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus which at the time of writing is the only phone to be featuring Android 4.0 (AKA Ice Cream Sandwich)


Initially I did not think I would be able to have this phone as it is not on sale with T-Mobile in the UK and I did not want to lose my unlimited internet so I had started to resign myself to the release of the two new HTC Quad Core Devices due for release Q2 of this year however after being offered the Nexus on Three with unlimited internet for £41 a month I decided it may well be time to switch from
the network I had been with since I got my first mobile back in the 90’s. I called T-Mobile to ask for a PAC-Code and instead they told me I could actually get the handset from Carphone Warehouse, not just that but they would give me a £20 a month reduction (to £25 a month) and I could keep my unlimited internet. So I picked up my phone Saturday morning at 10am and it took until about 10:35 until I was hooked.

Looks wise when I first saw the handset in the shop my first thought was “Massive” but strangely enough as soon as I got it in my hand it didn’t occur to me, If I place it next to my old Desire again I am shocked by how big it is but whenever it is back in my hand it just seems to fit, perhaps this is just that I have big hands, but it feels a good size. The Shape of the phone also helps with a very thin top side 6mm with a much wider base (11mm) this has the effect of the phone feeling light but with a substantial weight where you are holding it which gives it a good feeling of quality. The most noticeable thing on first glance is that there is a complete lack of any buttons on the front (In fact there are only two buttons on the phone (On and Volume)) this is likely to become the Ice Cream Sandwich standard as the new Android features on screen standard buttons (Home, Back and Multi-tasking)

Ice Cream Sandwich features a few interesting features many of which are more fun than reliable but show the way things are going to go:

Face Lock: Alongside the standard Android unlock options (Pin or Pattern) ICS features a face unlock option, simply look at the screen and it opens, now whilst this is a fun feature it can be slightly temperamental in less than perfect light and makes people think you are using your phone as a mirror, so you may seem a little vain, you can always bypass the face lock to access a pattern or pin
unlock instead.

People: The people app has had an update since my last Android Device (Running FroYo) particularly the ability to link in more accounts so I can link in my Googlemail contacts, Twitter Contacts, G+ Contacts and Linkedin Contacts. Now I am sure you may have noticed the obvious omission from there in that I did not include Facebook; unfortunately the ongoing disputes between Google and Facebook mean that people does not feature native support of facebook contacts. Obviously as I can not be bothered to come up with pictures of all my friends this was a bit annoying, luckily there is a way around it via a third party application, there are a few available but I personally selected HaxSync as it had been highly recommended – it set me back 62p but as soon as I had that and facebook app installed I could link my contacts to my facebook friends. Another good feature of people is the ability to “Star” your favourite contacts meaning that you can split off the people you
use most often who are displayed in a simple to use grid.

Voice Type: The voice typing feature is now a standard on all areas where you can type and seems remarkably responsive, I have dictated quite long text messages with so far no issue whatsoever.

Multitasking: One of the three buttons that exists on the bottom of the screen is for multitasking and selecting it will open up all of the open apps which you can return to with just a tap, or shut down with a quick swipe. A very similar interface is used for notifications where you can swipe to dismiss or touch to select.

There are plenty of upgraded experiences as well, such as the Apps menu which just feels nicer to navigate than a long list and contains all of your widgets as well, also the Google search bar is now a permanent feature at the top of the phone, and the long awaited arrival of the folders for your apps allowing you to better organise your apps so you can really take advantage of the 14GB of internal memory. Everything combines to make the phone feel both cutting edge and simple & intuitive.

If I was pushed for a downside I would have to say that the lack of an external memory card is a little disappointing but with 14GB internal memory I doubt it will cause me too much of an issue between now and next June when I’m next up for renewal.

New Phone Time Again

It has been 12 months since my last phone upgrade and so my mind once again starts to look at the various options out there that may appeal, Since getting the HTC Advantage 6 years ago (Probably why I did not think the iPad was particularly groundbreaking) I have only had one handset from a different manufacturer (The Samsung Omnia) however each upgrade I look at all of the handsets available so I am not tied to a particular brand.

I had been expecting the choice to be made between three handsets – The HTC Desire S, An update on the HTC Desire which I still think is a great handset. – The Samsung Galaxy S, currently the fastest selling Android device. – The Motorola Atrix, Which would be my first Motorola since the graphite around the start of the millennium. This all changed around January when I had a quick turn on a friends HTC 7 this windows 7 device was a bit of a game changer as I had considered Windows to be too far behind the other OS’s and have not had a windows phone since the Advantage. The question is could I be bothered to switch OS? Obviously if I switched to a Windows phone I would need to reload and repurchase all of my apps, also the interconnectivity between my google powered life and the phone would be lost possibly bring in all of the interconnectivity limitations of the iPhone. I think I have therefore decided that changing OS is just too much of a hassle and therefore I think I will need to stick to an Android device – In fact I guess if none of the OS’s come up with an easy way to transfer your programmes then there will likely be a situation where movements between Operating Systems become less and less common.

So the HTC 7 out I am left again with the first three, of the three The HTC Desire S is obviously a good well known model and simply being an update to my current HTC Desire a phone I know I will like, question is, Is it so close to the Desire that I will lose that “New Phone” buzz? If so I may as well just keep my Desire. So I started to look at the other two Android leaders, the Samsung Galaxy S is a fast phone with great features and has the clearer screen resolution but the Atrix comes with a dual core processor and an amazing array of accessories which can turn your phone into just about anything you require – but these come at a cost equal to that of the phone itself. The camera is 5MP in the Atrix and 8MP in the Galaxy with the Galaxy also being lighter and larger.

Looking at it I am starting to think that I will need to go for the Galaxy S II however I struggle to get away from the Atrix’s finger print reader for unlocking that ensures that only you can open the phone – and despite the fact that this is not a real necessity and because as a human being I am entitled to go against even my own logic I decided I would be getting the Motorola Atrix.

Decision made it was perhaps foolish of me to look at the “Coming Soon” section of the website where I found the HTC Sensation, combining the Dual Core of the Atrix to the 8MP camera of the Galaxy with a host of new features such as HTC’s new Video on demand service and a four app locked screen to give quicker access to you favourite apps (A must for anyone who has ever whipped out a camera only to miss the moment as you mess about trying to open the application.) So it may not have a finger print scanner but it does contain enough exciting new features for me to delay getting the new phone until I get to check it out.

HTC Desire, The Greatest Phone Yet?

After my first three days with the HTC Desire I can officially announce that I am highly impressed.

The 3.7 inch touch screen is phenomenal, it has 7 home screens so you never run out of home screen space to load up your apps (An issue I had a few times with my G1) There is also a very good widget which brings all your friends status updates from Twitter, Facebook etc.. right to your home screen. The contacts sync up with your facebook profile, Outlook and G-Mail services. This caused a slight error for me the first time when I uploaded the contacts from my old phone to G-Mail and ended up getting everyone on there twice. Also it pulls your contacts photos off social media and adds them as their contact picture which is a nice touch as i can never be bothered to take pictures of everybody.

The handset itself has a good feel, it is sleek and looks modern enough to give the iPhone a run for its money but has enough weight to make it feel good and robust, Battery life has so far proved good as I charged it when it first arrived and then it went 18 hours of very heavy usage whilst I was setting everything up and I am now showing 3/4 battery after 22 hours of "Average" Usage.

The Best feature - easily the 1 Ghz Processor, when i heard it had such a large processer I was sceptical if it would make a difference, it really does, from the second you log in you notice how much faster this phone is than any other smart phone you may have used. Now obviously no phone is completely perfect so I really want to find a fault to report on, So far the only negative for me is that it does not have a full keypad, I have always had a connection to my keypads and have never liked the virtual keyboards, however even this is slightly mitigated as it has a predictive text recognition software which is very good meaning i can actually use the on screen board as fast as I can type on my G1's full keypad.

I am sure that before long I will find something that annoys me, so I will be sure to be a lot more balanced once I have found it. But for now the only thing I can think is that there is so much I am not using it, there is a chance I have finally found a mobile device where in fact it is me that doesn't have enough features.

I have the full specs here from the HTC website