Hi, I want to preface by saying that I will try to remain as unbiased as possible in this review, but I felt compelled to write it for those of you with shiny new iPhone 4S's (or 4's or 3GS's) who may be feeling a bit of Android envy with the release of the Galaxy Nexus (as I was). I have owned a 4S 32GB since launch day, an iPhone 4 before that, and I generally enjoy using Apple products, but by no means am I a fanboy.
I am in the UK on business and I had been reading the (mostly) stellar reviews of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Although I had no problems with the 4S, it simply has not been the quantum leap I was hoping for, so I scratched the itch and went out to Phones4U to see what the hype was about. I have only ever used Android devices in passing, and have never owned one before this. After spending a few minutes with the device, I decided to shell out the GBP 530 (!!) for an unlocked device to try it out for myself.
As I eagerly unboxed the behemoth device, my first thought was "I can't believe how light this is." I was shocked at how feather-light the device felt in hand, almost to a fault. As many have mentioned with the Samsung devices, although their build quality is good, it almost seemed too flimsy compared to the satisfyingly solid feel of the iPhone. I'm telling you, it's hard to appreciate the difference without holding them both side-by-side.
Other than my reservations with the build-quality, the first several hours of use with the phone were pure bliss. The enormous screen looks absolutely fantastic, especially compared to the tiny 4S screen I have gotten used to. I found the keyboard to be excellent, and the People HUB for contacts was great. Text was sharp and crisp. I was skeptical that the Roboto font I'd read so much about would actually make a difference, but it honestly was quite pleasing to read. Watching movies or Youtube clips was truly great on the 720p display, as they really popped on Samsung's screen.
As for the camera, when they say zero shutter-lag, they really mean it, as the phone took pictures instantly. Unfortunately, this did have some consequences, which I will come to in a minute. I also liked the ability to share via Twitter, Facebook, Picasa or a multitude of other services right from the camera app. In fact, this ability is present across the OS, and I found this really useful. I have long-since gotten used to taking a picture, closing the camera, opening an App, fiddling around until I found the upload menu, and attaching the picture. Android is much more seamless in this regard.
I have long-sought for iOS to have the level of customization that Android has, and I had a blast customizing the crap outta the phone to my desire. Widgets are also really great, as it requires far less taps and touches to see Facebook updates, Twitter messages, and new email than the iPhone.
Alas, the honeymoon with this phone would be short-lived. I was disappointed that the phone only had 16GB, but that is the only capacity currently available, and I found that I soon ran out of space by the time I loaded some music, apps and videos on to the phone. Understanding this limitation, it was by no means a deal-breaker, but then some of the software problems really started to creep in.
Having used the silky-smooth iPhone for several years now, I really couldn't believe that a device that had a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM and software tailored specifically for the device was still lagging and locking up. JT on The Verge claims that this device is stutter-free, but I really didn't find this to be the case at all. Even swiping between homescreens was not a lag-free experience, which I found to be very annoying in practice. Again, it wasn't as bad as other Android phones I have used, but it was by no means as crisp as the iPhone. This is true in many of the tasks on the phone, from scrolling, pinch-to-zoom, and even typing on the keyboard. I was reminded of iOS 3.xx when the keyboard would lag behind a few keystrokes before catching up to what I was typing.
And back to the camera - although the shutter lag manages to best the 4S ever so slightly, I found that many of the pictures I was taking were very slightly out of focus and lacked the level of clarity that the 4S's camera has garnered much praise for. I would honestly prefer the extra millisecond or two to properly focus a shot instead of having blurry pictures. Also, after the initial wow-factor of the 720p screen, I still found the iPhone screen to be crisper and sharper. Although you can't necessarily see individual pixels on the Galaxy Nexus display, it just didn't seem to have the same level of clarity I have gotten used to in the iPhone.
I could go on and on about other seemingly little things that bugged me about the software, but I suppose it really depends on your level of comfort with Android. I just prefer the seamless and smooth experience of the iPhone, with hardware and software designed top to bottom to just work.
This next part was really the deal-breaker for me, and the reason I won't be keeping the Galaxy Nexus. I went in to this experiment really looking forward to having a larger screen and more real estate to play with, and while I definitely appreciated the extra size, I really found the device in general to simply be too big. I know this is a matter of personal preference, but I found myself constantly having to operate the device with two hands. I had gotten used to being able to effectively operate the iPhone using one hand, but I nearly dropped the Nexus on several occasions because I was trying to reach that extra half-inch to access a menu or tap an icon. Granted, I don't have huge hands, but by by no means would I consider myself to have below-average sized hands, so I would imagine this would be a problem for many out there.
The other main factor of my decision to go back to my iPhone was the ecosystem. I believe that Google is well on its way to challenging iOS in terms of a cohesive and extensive marketplace for Apps, but I found myself eager to manage my Apps, music, and pictures with iTunes. As poor of a piece of software I find iTunes to be at times, it really is the easiest way to manage the system, and I simply couldn't find a comparable solution for the Nexus. Also, as awful as I've found the 4S's battery life (eagerly awaiting the 5.0.2 to fix this), the Galaxy Nexus simply sucked in this department. After a few texts, some light web-browsing and playing some music, I found the battery down a full 25% in about an hour. This, in conjunction with the multitude of small annoyances with the software, has been enough to convince me that Android is just not quite ready to earn my money.
Now that I've written a book about my experience, I will be switching back to my iPhone and the level of comfort I have developed with that device. I really, really wanted to fall in love with the Galaxy Nexus and sell the 4S, but I can't shake the notion that I would find myself regretting that decision fairly quickly. If you have any feedback I would love to hear it. For you Android-lovers out there, please try to convince me why I should keep the device... I still find myself itching to give it another chance. As it stands, I plan on returning the phone sometime this week, or selling the GSM HSPA+ phone once I get back to the States. Thanks for reading!
So please, make it happen.
