My review of the GSM Galaxy Nexus compared to iPhone 4S (long)

lol good one buddy.

Not really, the one thing absent in almost every single Android phone review is the quality and quantity of quality apps. You can drool over flashy lockscreens, but at the end of the day if the only thing you do with your phone is brag about widgets and customization of the OS, then what do you have? A toy.
 
Got my Nexus from Bell on Friday. Returning it tomorrow.

I've got large hands but still it's a huge phone, bulky in pocket too. Biggest deal breaker for me was Android, ics didnt impress, the OS is not for me all.

I read about all these specs and power ... so where's the performance gain? It seemed slow, clunky and the OS unintuitive to me.

Very pleased to be sticking with my 4S. I am glad I tried the Nexus otherwise I'd always be wondering. If anything it's made me appreciate my iPhone that much more.

If I want a larger screen/form factor I'll reach for my iPad. Would be good if Apple increased the iPhone's screen size a little while maintaining the same form.

For anyone sitting in the fence best is to take advantage of the store return policy and try it. Otherwise you'll never know.
 
Got my Nexus from Bell on Friday. Returning it tomorrow.

I've got large hands but still it's a huge phone, bulky in pocket too. Biggest deal breaker for me was Android, ics didnt impress, the OS is not for me all.

I read about all these specs and power ... so where's the performance gain? It seemed slow, clunky and the OS unintuitive to me.

Very pleased to be sticking with my 4S. I am glad I tried the Nexus otherwise I'd always be wondering. If anything it's made me appreciate my iPhone that much more.

If I want a larger screen/form factor I'll reach for my iPad. Would be good if Apple increased the iPhone's screen size a little while maintaining the same form.

For anyone sitting in the fence best is to take advantage of the store return policy and try it. Otherwise you'll never know.

I think you're trolling.
 
Why? Because he doesn't like the OS that you like?

That's what I'm yelling. I gave Android a shot again, pre-ICS I admit, with the DROID RAZR and I felt the same way.

I'm not going to go into the full deal. I'll post my thread on it below, but long story short... I was underwhelmed. I kept comparing everything back to my iPhone 4 so I got rid of it. Sure it's not the same as the Nexus, but the same principle. Thing's just aren't for all people. I think Android has a long way to go, but it's getting better... but it's not for me.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1279631/
 
I have fairly large hands, and have zero complaints about my iPhone.

I had a Droid RAZR and felt it was too large. It was just enough to be "odd" feeling.

Nothing is "up". It's all preference. I prefer the size and overall feel over a 4" screen.

I'm not against a 4" screen but every phone that has had one either is either wider (aka the RAZR) due to pushing a bit more to the sides to give it a thinner profile or it pushes a bit more of the fatter profile as they pack it into a more "standard" width.

Once they can do edge to edge 4" screens, and the tech is slim enough it can fit into a "close" to iPhone 4 width/thickness I think the 4" screen will blow up but I prefer the size/shape of my iPhone over any of the 4" screens I've used (and I have played with quite a few before I went w/ the RAZR... which eventually got returned).

It's just a matter of personal preference.

You do realize that the Razr isn't a 4" screen right? It's 4.3, and in case you're wondering, that extra .3 does make a difference.
 
Why? Because he doesn't like the OS that you like?

No, because he said the biggest dealbreaker is Android and I'm darn sure he knew it had Android on it already.

He said he has large hands and he said it's still a large phone. It should not be a problem if you have large hands.

He said it seemed slow, that's a lie if you bought it new.
 
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Not really, the one thing absent in almost every single Android phone review is the quality and quantity of quality apps. You can drool over flashy lockscreens, but at the end of the day if the only thing you do with your phone is brag about widgets and customization of the OS, then what do you have? A toy.

i would disagree with you there. I had NS4G and now use 4s and apps on android are on par with ios. Some are actually better. Evernote would be one example as my IOS devices have problems with some notes that are in my account. Android opened and edited the notes without issues but so far my ipad and iphone can't handle formatting of them and always complain that they need to "simplify" the notes in order to edit them.
 
i would disagree with you there. I had NS4G and now use 4s and apps on android are on par with ios.

Personally I'd disagree there with you. I've been using Androids for a while now and I find most apps are much better made on iOS, especially in terms of fit&finish. Android apps generally feel somewhat more crude and overall I feel it's just more pleasant to use iOS apps than Android ones in general.

I finally got to try Galaxy Nexus in the store and came away a bit underwhelmed, my expectation set sky high after reading the glowingly positive review at The Verge. There is nothing inherently wrong with it, it's just that so many have said this is THE version where Android gets the polish and smoothness right, and it's still no match for the iPhone 4S in those departments.

I must say the camera app is very fast and nice, and it is a very nice improvement overall, but it just didn't meet my admittedly high expectation. Also the camera shots taken in low light in the store were pretty bad. (Then again I actually think the iPhone 4S camera is underrated in that I feel Apple did a great job of getting the right balance between detail and noise reduction while keeping the colors pleasant.)

As for the display, I liked how Samsung kept the bezel pretty small and the pixel density is very good as with the always surreal dark black. However I have never been fond of AMOLED and personally I much preferred the LG Nitro's display next to the Galaxy; the LG to me was significantly more accurate in colors and seemed to offer better text sharpness.

All in all, it's a very nice phone and most likely the best choice among the large display Android phones unless you need a really good camera, especially in low light. But I couldn't help but to be slightly disappointed by it.

On a somewhat related note, at the store I was again amazed by how responsive and fresh the Windows Phone devices felt, and how little attention they were getting by both the customers and by the clerks. After all the hoopla about ICS getting more polish and smoothness, I can almost (but not quite) feel for Microsoft's frustration for not getting traction with WP7. On the other hand, I just somehow don't feel the regular consumers will ever like Metro UI that much for whatever reason.
 
Hi Neon, thanks for the detailed write up and amazing video comparison. Was wondering if you could help me out with some questions regarding the Galaxy Nexus.

1. How does the speaker volume compare to the iPhone 4S for music and video playback.
2. Any noticeable difference in terms of audio quailty with IEMs.
3. How does the battery life hold out compared to the iPhone 4S. My usual day, consist of mostly web surfing on wifi when available, 3G otherwise. Reading of ebooks. Some music playback as well as checking and replying to emails. On a busy day my usage is about 6 to 7hrs with about 20 to 25% battery left. Will the Galaxy Nexus last me a whole day?
4. Is the Galaxy Nexus prone to crashing out and rebooting? If it is how often does it happen.

Thanks for the help.:D
 
Hi Neon, thanks for the detailed write up and amazing video comparison. Was wondering if you could help me out with some questions regarding the Galaxy Nexus.

1. How does the speaker volume compare to the iPhone 4S for music and video playback.
2. Any noticeable difference in terms of audio quailty with IEMs.
3. How does the battery life hold out compared to the iPhone 4S. My usual day, consist of mostly web surfing on wifi when available, 3G otherwise. Reading of ebooks. Some music playback as well as checking and replying to emails. On a busy day my usage is about 6 to 7hrs with about 20 to 25% battery left. Will the Galaxy Nexus last me a whole day?
4. Is the Galaxy Nexus prone to crashing out and rebooting? If it is how often does it happen.

Thanks for the help.:D

"Usage" on iOS isn't really your usage. I don't even know how it measures it - but it isn't screen-on time. Android let's you see your screen-on time, and that's probably what you should be paying attention to. Look at your average screen on time, and how long you keep your phone off the charger. Sadly there's no easy way to keep track of this.

Today I've been writing down all my screen on time to see what I get. This'll help me see what I might get with the Nexus.
 
"Usage" on iOS isn't really your usage. I don't even know how it measures it - but it isn't screen-on time. Android let's you see your screen-on time, and that's probably what you should be paying attention to. Look at your average screen on time, and how long you keep your phone off the charger. Sadly there's no easy way to keep track of this.

Today I've been writing down all my screen on time to see what I get. This'll help me see what I might get with the Nexus.

Humm I figured "screen on" time would be the time used for when i am using the screen to read. Here goes the break down. About 2 hours of web surfing. About 2 hours of reading an ebook. The rest of the time the screen is off while listening to music for about 2hrs and some talking on the phone for a couple of mins. Only 1 SMS and no emails. Also since my phone is my only time telling device i switch it on, now and than to find out the time. I would say that actual "screen on" time would be slightly more than 4hrs give or take 15mins. Still i find that talking on the phone and listening to music is actual part of my "usage" too. Will post my usage screen.
 

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Got my Nexus from Bell on Friday. Returning it tomorrow.

I've got large hands but still it's a huge phone, bulky in pocket too. Biggest deal breaker for me was Android, ics didnt impress, the OS is not for me all.

I read about all these specs and power ... so where's the performance gain? It seemed slow, clunky and the OS unintuitive to me.

Very pleased to be sticking with my 4S. I am glad I tried the Nexus otherwise I'd always be wondering. If anything it's made me appreciate my iPhone that much more.

If I want a larger screen/form factor I'll reach for my iPad. Would be good if Apple increased the iPhone's screen size a little while maintaining the same form.

For anyone sitting in the fence best is to take advantage of the store return policy and try it. Otherwise you'll never know.

That is better than most people.

I can also tell you that you still would be dealing with the learning curve in jumping OS in those 3 days. If someone goes from Android to iOS they would still be having issues on day 2.5-3 because of the adjustment/learning curve.

It seems huge because you are not fully use to it but you do adjust to it.
Either way it is better than most people around here but I will say that 3 days is not really enough time for a long time iOS or iPhone user. They would need to use it for about 1 month to fully get use to it and make the complete adjustment.

At least you gave it a good shot.
 
Got my Nexus from Bell on Friday. Returning it tomorrow.

I've got large hands but still it's a huge phone, bulky in pocket too. Biggest deal breaker for me was Android, ics didnt impress, the OS is not for me all.

I read about all these specs and power ... so where's the performance gain? It seemed slow, clunky and the OS unintuitive to me.

Very pleased to be sticking with my 4S. I am glad I tried the Nexus otherwise I'd always be wondering. If anything it's made me appreciate my iPhone that much more.

If I want a larger screen/form factor I'll reach for my iPad. Would be good if Apple increased the iPhone's screen size a little while maintaining the same form.

For anyone sitting in the fence best is to take advantage of the store return policy and try it. Otherwise you'll never know.

Only thing id say is trying it for two days isnt very long if you have been a iPhone user for a long time because the system is different. Took me a week or so to start to really like it while finding out different things it could do.

If the phone didnt run that good, i think id have got another one to make sure it was the phone or just how the OS is. Not all iPhones have been perfect out of the box either. So you should take your own advice and take advantage of the store return policy for more than two days.
 
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I was thinking of switching to the GN, but I'm doubting that'd be the right choice for me... I might just buy the GS2 for only $375 on Craigslist tomorrow.

Brighter display, no pentile.
Thinner
Has the four touch buttons (the ones on the 4.6" GN were wasting screen space, basically making your "real" screen space 4.3" just like the GS2)
Beter camera
Better GPU
Better CPU
Still has 1GB of RAM
Still has great dev support.

I was probably going to go back to CM7 anyways, thus making the "Nexus" part of the device not worth the trouble. And I'd be SAVING money buying the better phone. I live in the U.S. so getting the Nexus was going to be $700+ The GS2 however, would be $375 (used, but in great condition. Really nothing wrong with buying used if you know it's not broken!)

Just thought I'd share that with you guys. I really don't think the Nexus is worth the price. Most Android users use custom ROMs anyways, it's just the way it is.
 
I have larger than average everything, and the iPhone is the perfect size. 4" is pushing it, anything bigger is TOO big.

First, from your comments, it's clear that you've never even used a Galaxy Nexus, so your preconceived notions on what constitutes "too big" may not be accurate - the GNex is significantly more narrow than most phones with displays of that size. Two, this is completely subjective - my hands are by no means large, but I can quite comfortably hold and use the Galaxy Nexus.

I read about all these specs and power ... so where's the performance gain? It seemed slow, clunky and the OS unintuitive to me.

Specs and power are actually (somewhat) what it's lacking. Many of us have lamented Samsung/Google's choices for internals in this thing, as the CPU, GPU, RAM capacity, and many other components are anything but state of the art.

I have never understood the "unintuitive" claims that Android usually evokes from iOS users. Personally, I chalk this one up to simply using a completely different OS architecture after knowing iOS like the back of your hand for years. Of course it's going to seem unintuitive, everything is done differently. Personally, after using Android for some time, going to iOS felt "unintuitive" (read: foreign) for quite a while. Even now that I'm very comfortable with both, I feel that each has it's failings. To me, the employment of a "back" button is the most natural thing in the world - much more so than a button that simply takes me back to my home screen no matter where I press it. The lack of a back button and the fact that I need to go through three layers of settings screens (only after first going to my home screen and entering general settings) to get an app I'm using to behave differently is the furthest thing from "intuitive". Yet Android is usually the one faulted.

I feel it should also be recognized that in a OS that simply gives you more options (on the whole), there will naturally be more settings and commands commensurate to said options.

Not saying Android doesn't have it's faults (it does!), and iOS is generally simple to use, but I still argue that it's not more intuitive. After using her ipad for about 9 months (at least 1-2 hours daily), my wife had no clue she could press the home button twice and get the taskbar to come up. And stuff like this is intuitive?

Personally I'd disagree there with you. I've been using Androids for a while now and I find most apps are much better made on iOS, especially in terms of fit&finish. Android apps generally feel somewhat more crude and overall I feel it's just more pleasant to use iOS apps than Android ones in general.

On the whole, I agree. iOS apps generally seem to have more polish and in my experience, and they're less prone to crash and cause faults (though this is somewhat the fault of the OS fragmentation more so than the apps themselves).

On a somewhat related note, at the store I was again amazed by how responsive and fresh the Windows Phone devices felt, and how little attention they were getting by both the customers and by the clerks. After all the hoopla about ICS getting more polish and smoothness, I can almost (but not quite) feel for Microsoft's frustration for not getting traction with WP7. On the other hand, I just somehow don't feel the regular consumers will ever like Metro UI that much for whatever reason.

Windows 7 mobile does feel fresh and very slick, but the reasons I haven't considered it a serious contender yet are twofold: it seems even more "locked down" than iOS, and the apps REALLY aren't there yet. Plus, a serious lack of multitasking capability. Even faux-multitasking like iOS does it would be welcome

Hi Neon, thanks for the detailed write up and amazing video comparison. Was wondering if you could help me out with some questions regarding the Galaxy Nexus.

1. How does the speaker volume compare to the iPhone 4S for music and video playback.
2. Any noticeable difference in terms of audio quailty with IEMs.
3. How does the battery life hold out compared to the iPhone 4S. My usual day, consist of mostly web surfing on wifi when available, 3G otherwise. Reading of ebooks. Some music playback as well as checking and replying to emails. On a busy day my usage is about 6 to 7hrs with about 20 to 25% battery left. Will the Galaxy Nexus last me a whole day?
4. Is the Galaxy Nexus prone to crashing out and rebooting? If it is how often does it happen.

Thanks for the help.:D

My pleasure.

1. Sadly, the speaker (as in, the one used with the speakerphone, not the handset speaker) is very underwhelming on the Galaxy Nexus. Even at full volume it struggles to put out enough sound to be heard by a small group of people if there is any normal ambient noise. I understand there are work arounds with apps, but it's very disappointing. The iphone is definitely much louder.

2. I haven't tried IEMs, but all accounts seem to indicate the internal amp is slightly better on the iphone. After using the headphone out jack as an input to my car's aux input, I can say that it's definitely overdriven at anything above about 70-80% volume. I wish I could give an comparable data point for the iphone, but I cannot get the iphone to work in the same configuration on account of a very strange high pitched whine. I noted the problem in the troubleshooting forum here, but have found no solution. It's really annoying, and the only thing I can think that would be causing it is the metal construction of the iphone. I realize this doesn't answer your question 100%

3. If you're talking about 6-7 hours of screen time usage (which is how I interpreted it), then no, it's very doubtful the Galaxy Nexus will last the full day. I do a lot of ebook reading on mine too, and it's quite tolerant of that (especially if you use night mode), probably only taking 8-10% battery per hour, but emails, web surfing, and other such activities that use a bit more CPU/GPU on top of the screen drain the battery quite quickly. The GNex is very very good in pure standby, but I would estimate with a balanced mix of the activities that you describe, the internal battery would give out altogether after about 4-4.5 hours of use.

4. Definitely not. I've only had this happen once, and I think it was the app that did it (GrooveIP). Even so, I'm cutting it a little slack since ICS is so new. Apps need a chance to be updated. To be completely honest, I've had my iphone crash on me quite a few times. Once it froze up so badly (black screen, unresponsive to any button presses or even long button presses) that I thought I was going to have to send it for repair. Luckily my guess of "press all buttons and hold them for at least 20 seconds" seemed to do the trick and it rebooted.
 
Windows 7 mobile does feel fresh and very slick, but the reasons I haven't considered it a serious contender yet are twofold: it seems even more "locked down" than iOS, and the apps REALLY aren't there yet. Plus, a serious lack of multitasking capability. Even faux-multitasking like iOS does it would be welcome
WP7.5 has faux-multitasking similar iOS.

Simply press and hold the back button to see your apps. ;)
This will bring up a card-view (similar to WebOS, but uglier) of all your apps that are running/suspended.
Some apps will run in background (app as a service) and some will suspend.

As for locked down, MS does allow users to unlock their phones through the Chevron team for $9.99. This is a legit unlock that MS sanctions.
This unlock turns your phone into a developer device. Your warranty may be voided, so use with caution.
This will allow you to sideload apps and modify system properties.
 
No, because he said the biggest dealbreaker is Android and I'm darn sure he knew it had Android on it already.

He said he has large hands and he said it's still a large phone. It should not be a problem if you have large hands.

He said it seemed slow, that's a lie if you bought it new.

Are you 12?

Of course I knew it had Andriod software. I checked it out to see what I thought of ICS, and to see if having a larger screen was worth having a larger phone.

As it turns out I still don't care for Andriod even with ICS and I don't like phones that big.

You're calling me a liar? In my experience it is slow, slower than my iPhone, and not as smooth or fluid.

I could talk about how pathetic the keyboard is too, yes I can go stumbling around the Google Market testing and playing around with keyboards, but why should I, Apple already has the best keyboard I can find preinstalled on my phone.

And, I could mention how horrible the Nexus wifi is too.... instead I'll just be happy returning the Nexus to Bell this afternoon and enjoying my iPhone 4S.

Now I know what all they hype was about. Nothing. Based only on my needs of course.

But whatever who cares, it's not for me ... I simply posted my experiences after buying both phones and actually using them.

The best fair and objective review is here by Neon the OP, it's solid info and should help anyone determine if the Nexus is worth a try.
 
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Great thread, one question...

The OP mentioned using iCloud to transfer videos
between an iphone and an ipad , thought it only worked with photos?
 
I could talk about how pathetic the keyboard is too, yes I can go stumbling around the Google Market testing and playing around with keyboards, but why should I, Apple already has the best keyboard I can find preinstalled on my phone.

I agree the stock Android keyboard is crap but I do disagree with the bold part.
For a pre installed OS keyboard yes Apple's keyboard is good but over all compared to others out there I find it rather poor.
Personally I find Swype to be a lot better but that is a difference style of entering text.
As for a keyboard and has the same input style (you press all the letters) I say Swiftkey X blows Apples keyboard out of the water and after using Swiftkey I personally find Apple's keyboard to be crap in comparison.
Swype is still good but like I said it is a different style of entering completely so I will go to that one for times where I want that style.

Sounds like you never got a chance to try and use Swiftkey. Swiftkey tends to get better the longer you use it as it learns your style. Yes you can speed up its learning by letting it scan SMS, facebook, twitter and email but it still takes time to learn even after that. Since your phone was new it would lack the best source for fast learning (SMS)
 
I have been using the samsung galaxy s2 for a while and coming back to the iPhone the screen does seem small but I'm sure I'll get used to it.
 
If you have fairly large hands and you think the iPhone is perfect something's up or you think that having a phone rest just on your fingers is a good thing.

It just feels right in my hands, and my hands are fairly good sized (above average).

Personally I'd disagree there with you. I've been using Androids for a while now and I find most apps are much better made on iOS, especially in terms of fit&finish. Android apps generally feel somewhat more crude and overall I feel it's just more pleasant to use iOS apps than Android ones in general.

It depends. There are generally more apps available for the iPhone, but I have seen stuff recently launch as Android-only, as that platform has gained so much popularity.

The quality of the apps on iOS is not that much better, they seem to crash about as much as Android, but the advantage I see is that app crashes on Android often bring the whole system down, whereas on iOS there is a half-second pause, and then the OS kills the errant app, and pops back to the home screen.

First, from your comments, it's clear that you've never even used a Galaxy Nexus, so your preconceived notions on what constitutes "too big" may not be accurate.

The SGS I at 4" was pushing it. Even if the Gnex is in the envelope, of say a 4.4" device, it's still TOO BIG.

I agree the stock Android keyboard is crap but I do disagree with the bold part.
For a pre installed OS keyboard yes Apple's keyboard is good but over all compared to others out there I find it rather poor.

I tried Swiftkey and Swype, and they both ended up taking too much time to make corrections to make them worth it. The stock Android keyboard leaves a lot to be desired, but it is usable.

In reality, virtual keyboards suck, and I have just come to terms with the fact that I'm not going to have a phone with a physical board, as the newest Android phones always come in slate first, and the iPhone has never had a 'board.
 
I have long been a critic of the iPhone's keyboard. As someone who came from Blackberries (many ages ago), the keyboard does not keep up with my thumbing speed. Believe it or not, the Android stock keyboard does (both Gingerbread and ICS). Alas, both still fall short on features and auto-corrections when compared to third party keyboards in the Android Market. What people have come up with, and the features they've added, go a long way in improving the typing experience.

Both iPhone and Android stock keyboards can stand to be improved, but currently, the ICS keyboard is more responsive than the iPhone keyboard. The iPhone keyboard misses key presses at a frequent rate, which lead to confusion or incorrect auto-corrections. Need examples? Just look at those sites with hilarious typos and wrong auto corrections of iPhone messages.

Side note: I could have sworn the 3GS was more responsive. When I typed on that, I barely saw any missed-keys. :confused:
 
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