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Samsung Galaxy Nexus GT-I9250
Review
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Review: November 2011 |
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Last updated December 2011.
Phone rating: 
In a nutshell: The Samsung Galaxy
Nexus is the most advanced Android phone released, and is the
first to run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Highlights include
the lightning fast 1.2GHz dual core processor, Super AMOLED
HD display, full 1080p HD video recording and 16MB of RAM. An
extra-large 1750mAh battery provides power for this beast!
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Update (2 Dec 2011): The initial version of the Galaxy Nexus had a bug which
caused volume to randomly drop to zero. This has now been fixed with an update.
Sometimes you unpack a new phone and a tingling starts in your fingers. You
know that this phone's going to be something special. Something unlike any other
phone.
The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is one of those phones. The Galaxy Nexus (originally
named the Google Nexus Prime) is Samsung's flagship phone for the final quarter
of 2011. The Nexus line of phones has a single purpose - to demonstrate the
ultimate in mobile technology - at least in Android flavour. And this is what
the Galaxy Nexus does. It's a phone that smashes lesser phones out of its way.
It's the kind of phone that makes even owners of the Samsung
Galaxy S2 wonder whether it's time to upgrade, and have iPhone
4S owners wondering if they spent their money wisely (but obviously not
saying so out loud).
What is it that makes the Nexus so special? It could be the fact that it's
the first phone to run the latest version of Android (the stupidly-named Ice
Cream Sandwich, version 4.0). It could be the fact that it's the first phone
with a genuine HD resolution display. It could be the fact that it uses facial
recognition to unlock your phone. But it's actually the fact that all these
amazing things and more have been brought together in a single product.
Let's take a look at the screen first, because it defines the thing you first
notice when you hold the phone in your palm. Its size! For this is one of the
largest displays even seen on a mobile phone. At 4.65 inches it's even bigger
than the huge display on the Galaxy S2.
You might be worried that it's too big. But it doesn't feel that way to us,
partly due to the phone's amazing thinness, at just 8.94mm. That's thinner than
the iPhone 4S, and it makes the phone perfectly
manageable. Sleek curves, including a subtle but rather beautiful curve to the
glass screen and a minimalistic design help too. We've previously played with
the HTC Sensation XL, with its 4.7 inch display,
and we found that HTC's clever design made it no problem to handle. But the
Galaxy Nexus is even easier to hold. In fact we'd go so far as to say that once
you've spend a few minutes using the Nexus you'll never want a phone with a
smaller screen again!
The screen isn't just physically big. It's spectacular in every way. Using
Super AMOLED technology it renders 16 million colours with super-bright richness
and is easy to view outdoors. If you've not seen Super AMOLED in the flesh before,
you're in for a treat. And it's a genuine HD display, like you get on your flatscreen
TV, but here in miniature. That means 1280 x 720 pixels. Yep, that's more pixels
than on an iPad 2. And it means you can watch
HD video in real HD for the first time on a mobile phone.
Let's take a look at Ice-Cream Sandwich (ICS) next. Android version 4.0 brings
a wealth of developments. After all it's been a year since Gingerbread launched
and the guys at Google have been busy. Key features are better performance,
faster multi-tasking and greater ease of use. Plus gadgets. Let's take a look
at the gadgets then. First must be the face unlock feature. Yep, just like in
Hollywood movies we can now all look at our phones to unlock them. This is not
a high security feature, you understand, as you can trick the phone using a
photo of yourself. But it's still cool. And it's an optional feature - you can
secure your phone with a PIN or password if you prefer. Another feature of Android
4.0 is voice recognition. This is not like Apple's
Siri - your phone won't respond to complex instructions, but you can at
least dictate text messages, etc and the voice recognition seems to be accurate
and reasonably fast. You can, in fact, give simple direct instructions by voice.
More broadly, there are lots of subtle changes in ICS. The home screen feels
much more active, with more live widgets, and more going on in the notifications
bar. Contacts have been polished too. Generally speaking, ICS takes the already
very friendly Gingerbread and refines it further. And the Nexus brings you pure
Android, unadulterated by Samsung's TouchWiz enhancements - a good or a bad
thing, depending on your view - but it means that the Nexus will be first in
the queue for over-the-air updates to the operating system when they are released.
That's definitely a key factor to consider if you're about to sign up to a 24-month
contract.
The camera may not sound great on paper, being just 5 megapixels, but when
it comes to picture quality it's actually one of the best we've seen. Not only
are pictures very sharp and with good colour reproduction, but lag time is near
zero, so you'll never miss a shot. Autofocus is very fast and accurate too.
You can even take multiple shots in quick succession, like a pro. There are
also some surprisingly good picture editing tools, plus an automated panorama
tool. Video recording is absolutely first class, recording at 1080p full HD
with very little jerkiness or blur visible. ICS now makes it possible to zoom
during videos, and there are a range of weird and wonderful video effects available.
A secondary 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera can be used for video calls, and
is also used by the face recognition tool.
The Nexus has a 1.2GHz dual core processor and a huge 1GB RAM at its heart,
so you'll never be waiting for it to keep up with you. Start-up time is very
quick too. When it comes to storage, you'll find 16GB of built-in memory, but
no microSD card slot. We're a bit puzzled by that omission, but we can live
with 16GB.
There are no disappointments when it comes to the battery though. A big phone
needs a big battery, and Samsung have given the Nexus 1750mAh, which is larger
than the battery on the S2, and seems to be up to the job.
Of course there are so many other features that we haven't had space to review
- GPS with Google Maps, youtube, facebook, twitter, music and media players,
messaging (including Google+ Messenger), a fully-featured web browser and super-fast
HSPA offering 21 Mbps download speeds. These features are all present, as are
so many others. The fact is that the Galaxy Nexus does it all. It's a living
showcase for the potential of mobile technology at the end of 2011. This is
certainly the best Android phone ever, and we'll stick our heads above the parapet
and proclaim it to be the best phone ever! If you put a gun to our heads and
ordered us to find fault, we'd probably mumble "microSD card slot",
but that's a very minor quibble.
Why are you still reading? Go to the links at the top right of this page and
just get yourself one of these beauties ;)
Features of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus include:
- Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
- 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, autofocus, panorama shot and 8x digital
zoom
- Full HD video recording (Up to 1080p) plus 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera
- Display: Super AMOLED, 16 million colours, 1280 x 720 pixels (4.65 inches)
capacitive touchscreen with auto-rotate
- Music Player: AAC / AAC+ / AMR / AMR-NB / eAAC+ / MP3
- MP3 ringtones
- Integrated handsfree speaker
- Voice Recognition
- AGPS with geo-tagging and Google Maps
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, email, Google+ Messenger, Google Talk
- Personal organiser functions
- Memory: 16GB
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, USB 2.0, 3.5mm audio jack, NFC
- Internet: Android web browser, GPRS, EDGE, 3G, HSPA (21 Mbps download)
- Quadband GSM (850/900/1800/1900), multi band 3G (850/900/1700/1900/2100MHz)
- Size: 136 x 68 x 8.94 mm
- Weight: 135g
- Battery: 1750mAh battery
- Talktime: 500 minutes (3G) - 1060 minutes (2G)
- Standby: 270 - 290 hours
Samsung Galaxy Nexus User Reviews
Love your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review this
phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so
please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive
language, and please, no advertising!
Average rating from 20 reviews:
Reviewed by Jamie from Nottingham U.K. on 31st
Aug 2012
Had this phone for 2 and a half months now and I can honestly say that
it is the best phone I have ever had! I normally get quite bored with
phones but the Nexus has left me more than content. It is lightning
quick and the 16GB storage is a more than adequate amount, not to mention
its duel core processor. The battery is just what you would expect from
a top Android phone getting a good 12 hours average use, it charges
quickly too. It does feel a little plastic sometimes tho so be sure
to buy a silicone case of some sort to protect it against a drop which
without one would certainly scuff at the least.
On one more quick note to end on a high, the 720p HD display is truly
stunning and it really stands out from the rest of the chasing pack
of Android phones.
Rating:
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Reviewed by preston from england on 26th Jul 2012
Had this phone a few months now. Love it to bits. Much better battery
than my s2. And it now runs on jelly bean. Every aspect of this one
is first class for me. A fault would be as someone has mentioned you
need a case due to fear of damage. Other tthan this can't fault it.
Highly recommended. Will definitely go for the next nexus phone whenever
it comes out.
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Reviewed by Locohero from UK on 3rd May 2012
Had this phone for a few months. It really is very good but you have
to buy a case or cover as it's so rounded and smooth. Once in a case
it's a lot easier to handle. Volume nice and loud and with the recent
software update it now remembers downloaded ringtone and notification
sounds
Rating:
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Reviewed by mike. from england on 25th Apr 2012
Having traded my Samsung galaxy s2 for the nexus I'm finding it very
hard to justify
After a few weeks why did I jump ship and ditch my s2. although the
nexus is far from being a bad phone I just don't think it's any better
than the s2.hopefully my disappointment wont be for to much longer before
the Samsung galaxy s3 takes to the stage and pushes the rest to one
side as the best phone on the market. I hope.
Rating: 
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Reviewed by sumansumit from india on 22nd Mar
2012
nice mob
Rating:
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Reviewed by Paul B from Englannd on 15th Mar 2012
I've had my Nexus for two weeks now and am very happy with it. When
I first received it (bought sim free from Amazon) I thought "hmmm, not
bad" but no "wow" factor. A very solid handset, easy to hold, the right
weight and surprisingly not as big as I thought that it was going to
be. The screen is truly fantastic. Dare I say better than my Galaxy
S2 which it replaces (at the moment)? The physical buttons are minimal
with the power button on the right and volume rocker on the left. The
charging/syncing micro usb is on the bottom and three charging contacts
(very similar to Blackberry) on the right. At the time of writing this
review the genuine Samsung Dock and car dock that utilise the charging
contacts are still not available. Anyway, the operating system is Google's
new "Ice Cream Sandwich" or OS 4.0. The new features don't take long
to get used to if you're coming from another Android handset and I've
certainly had no problems adjusting. The face unlock feature is really
a gimmick in my opinion but very cool!!! The main improvement I have
found is the typing experience. The auto correct and fluidity of messaging
is a vast improvement and I would say that I am completing texts and
emails in half the time than I was on my Galaxy S2. The screen is apparently
not Gorilla Glass but Samsung's own version. I always buy screen protectors
for my handsets but after a bit of research I was in two minds as it
seems to be extremely scratch resistant but still opted for a cheap
one just in case. Overall I'm very impressed with my Galaxy Nexus. The
new OS is very user friendly and a good step in the right direction
in the battle with Apple. Yes, it has failings but nothing is perfect.
Will I keep it? Who knows?
Rating:
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Reviewed by Rob from Uk on 2nd Mar 2012
Had this phone now for 2 weeks, this is a stunning phone, but it does
come with some really annoying issues, first off, the sound for the
ringtone and notifications is just too quiet even when turned up fully,
and it is difficult to hear when in your pocket even with the vibrate
turned on.
The other really annoying thing is when you are typing out a message,
the home button is so close to the space bar, you find yourself accidentally
pressing the home button and the phone obviously goes out of the message
to the home screen, took me a while to figure out why the phone was
doing this.
Apart from these two issues which would be nice if they were addressed
with an update, the phone is amazing, not the best looking, but the
screen is lovely, and it is lightening fast, although this can depend
on your connection type/speed.
Would have been nice if the phone had the option to expand the memory
with an SD card slot, but 16GB seems to be ok, I'm one for downloading
loads of stuff and I still have loads of free space, the 5MP camera,
some people have moaned about, to be honest, it's not that bad and the
1080 HD recording is lovely, as I've said in the past, if you want a
decent camera, buy a camera, not a phone.
I did get a bit annoyed that a week after getting his phone, HTC announced
the HTC One x, with some pretty amazing spec, including Ice Cream Sandwhich,
but with Nexus you will get any software updates first, and the HTC
has overlayed ICS on top of HTC Sense, which in a way hasn't given it
true ICS......so I'm convincing myself that I have made the right choice.
All in all, a great phone, which will not disappoint, even friends with
the iPhone 4s are blown away by this beast, you can even sense their
envy.
Rating:
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Reviewed by alistair from uk on 14th Feb 2012
bought my galaxy nexus about 4 weeks sgo. it has rebooted 3 times since
i bought it, the message ringtone goes dead and the phone has to be
rebooted to get it to work it has done that a few times now,am hopeing
these are software related problems that will get sorted, apart from
that its a pretty good phone, certainly not 5 star, been doing some
research and from what i read others have the reboot problem. ive done
a reset and left any added software off but it still rebooted a few
days later, i think samsung rushed it on the market, ice cream sandwich
needs some bug fixes,
Rating:
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Reviewed by richard from uk on 21st Jan 2012
great phone everything works as it should long as you know how to work
them
Rating:
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Reviewed by gary tolland from uk on 19th Jan 2012
ive just had the galaxy nexus and its has great features and the screen
is really crisp but one thing is letting it down big time is when you
try and watch a video on youtube in HQ on wifi it takes a while to load
then plays for say 30s then buffers for ages then stops and starts its
a shame because the videos look really good when it plays i thought
it may be my wifi but its showing full signal and when i play the same
video on my galaxy s2 in HQ it plays fine and loads instant i was looking
forward to having this phone but its a bit of a let down theres a few
people online with the same problem but nobody seems to have a solution
if i cant find a fix im going to sell it and go back to my S2 which
is just as good if not better and everything works!
Rating: 
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Reply by john from uk on 29th Jan
2012
thats a internet buffering problem you cant blame the phone i dont have
that problem mine is perfect
Reply by Rich from UK on 1st Mar 2012
That doesn't sound like a problem with the phone. It sounds much more
like a problemw with the connection to the Internet.
Reviewed by Dennis from UK on 18th Jan 2012
got this phone just after release and I think it is one of the best
I have had, and I have had a few. my last phone was a Galaxy S2 and
this just blows it away. Was worries about the battery life but to be
honest it is easily as good as my S2 was and the virtual keypad is one
of the best I have used. If your thinking about getting one don't think
just get one.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Fred from UK on 17th Jan 2012
Android 4.0 rocks!!! SGN is one of the fastest android phones I used.
Multitasking is great, Android 4.0 completely new experience. Phone
already had 2 updates, running 4.0.2. Most manufacturer has not even
released ICS. Negative bits: Camera could be bit better. Lack of Memory
card. Battery life (android os eating battery) but compare to other
Samsung phones, battery life better.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Richard Jenkins from UK on 16th Jan
2012
Recently lost i phone 4 which I bought upfront but foolishly didn't
check my home insurance renewal policy and wasn't covered so opted for
a contract with 3 via butmobilephones.net. It was my first break from
apple and it took me a day to work around the device but im extremely
pleased. There are a few good videos on you tube on working the handset.The
wifi is quicker than my 2 year old laptop running 2 gig of RAM. The
camera is instantaneous and in my opinion the lack of delay out strips
the galaxy 2 s with an 8mp. It works like shutter burst. the panoramic
facility is amazing. Its the super screen plus battery life that has
blown me away, along with the drag and drop MP4 functionality that makes
it great for a film on a flight or train. I was also amazed at the amount
of free android apps and games available out of the apple zone. I have
however synced my daughters i P touch with all my other apps should
I phone 5 manage to compete with this. The major drawback is lack of
memory card slot & AVi files wont play, but im sure theres an app to
solve the latter. The drag and drop USB style enables you to quickly
save and delete your stuff from the phone, something I never worked
out on i tunes. The side lock key also is annoying for about 2 days
if you have been used to the i phone 3 & 4. Day 1 unsure, day 2 shopping
with wife impressed, day 3 alone with the handset - blown away and would
need to be very impressed to move back to apple.
Rating:
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Reviewed by karl from uk on 11th Jan 2012
not amazing but pretty good. screen is pin sharp and it almost hurts
your eyes, and the touch screen is fluid and responsive. i find web
browsing an utter joy on this phone, again due to the gorgeous screen
but also as it loads web pages pretty quick. but the phone has a couple
of niggles. one, u pay a price for having a large pin sharp screen the
battery life isnt that impressive, im hoping this will improve over
a few charges, but with moderate use im having to charge it twice over
24 hours. with my 3gs i was doing this once a day, and getting alot
more use out of it with the ipod part of the phone. secondly, the virtual
home back and task buttons are cool, but whilst text messsaging u can
accidently hit the home button instead of the space bar which takes
you out of whatever u r typing. i suppose thats i minor niggle but it
can become frustrating. other than that its a great phone and im happy
with it.
Rating:
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Reviewed by JohnnyBluewood from Thailand on 3rd
Jan 2012
Oh... dear... god... This phone tops my chart of best phones out there.
This phone draws with my Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S. It is simply fantastic!
When waiting in an airport or dentists, this is the phone to have. Lovely
colouring, sensitive touch and excellent memory. A must have phone XD
Rating:
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Reviewed by Tony Crawshaw from uk on 16th Dec
2011
Well i have this phone a week and all i say is wow. Big hd screen, slim
phone and good camera. I was going to get a iphone but the battery put
me off. My son watchs movies on my mobile so the iphone would be a nightmere.
Ive got a a replacement for a online shop and thats all i need. The
phone is simply amazing . Even the camera is good quilty and the shutter
lag is zero. Buy it now u wont regret it. Only downside is the lack
of micro sd but hey u get 16 or 32gb which is enough.. The new isc is
easy to use and the app groupin is cool too, just waitin on thr dock
to come out for it. Oh and two more things the sound problem has been
fixed and also it now has flash player Trust me buy it now...
Rating:
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Reviewed by Martyn Phillips from UK on 2nd Dec
2011
I have been an iphone user for some years, but felt rather annouyed
when Apple just churned out a "fixed" version of the 4 that should of
been correct in the first place! When I saw the "dark side" Nexus I
was sceptical, but this phone is not just everything the iphone 5 that
never was should have been, it is a landmark for Android. The Nexus
doesn't even try to compare to the iphone 4s it's just ignored it and
jetted off leaving it in it's wake! The Nexus will play any movie you
want, any music type you want, install apps from non market sources,
er all of which itunes wouldn't do, and this does it all on a 4.65"
AMOLED HD SCREEN!!! The default apps are very good, even the default
music player is one of the easiest I've used. Everytime you think this
phone can't do something you want, you try a different setting & and
it's done! I particularly like the way the browser tabs work and especially
the option to touch the side of the phone to control tabs rather than
having a menu bar at the top. So many little features have been thought
of, that set this phone apart. It's fast, slim, light and it has no
buttons so it uses all of that lovely screen. The battery has been great
(AKA HTC) and I have had no issues at all with volume. I also particularly
like the way it updates over the air, no need to download updates to
your computer and plug in. We should recognise here though that the
iphone pushed the rest of the world to do better, but it rested on it's
laurels for too long, assuming that just being an iphone was enough,
it was..., until it got in the ring with Samsung (and it's trainer Google)....now
it isn't.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Huzrat Imam Ali from UK on 22nd Nov
2011
Good phone but big time issue for all users in 2g areas, the phone goes
to silent and you will not hear the person on the phone as the phone
automatically lowers the phone volume to zero! Known issue / bug with
the phone and a patch is to be released soon!
Rating:
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Reviewed by JustinL from UK on 19th Nov 2011
By far the best phone I have used bar none, I have got the Iphone 4S,
had a Galaxy S2, Sensation XE and loads more, this beats them all. Excellent
build quality, screen quality is superb and the Pentile matrix is not
noticeable. Sound quality is excellent and the camera has virtually
no shutter lag at all with decent focus and colours. I'm still getting
to grips with ICS but it is a quantum leap over FroYo and Gingerbread.
Only negatives so far are the screen is quite dim with the autobrightness
enabled and the volume button currently seems to have a life of it's
own. If you need or want to get a new phone you MUST look at this one
before deciding what to buy!
Rating:
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Reviewed by facekicker from Ireland on 18th Nov
2011
This is simply the best phone I've ever owned! Face recognition works
a treat, the screen is HUGE and crystal clear! the battery is on 67%
at the minute, despite the fact I've been using it (sorry, playing with
it) since 11 am this morning (it's now 6pm). Camera is unreal, even
rivals my sgs2 (maybe its just the photos look so much better displayed
on this screen?) This phone is also one of the most comfy phones I've
ever held, fits easily in my Jeans pockets. My friend had an iPhone
4s,, I've been showing him this for the last few hours and he is not
a happy chappy lol. (think he's ready to kick me in the face lol) Get
this phone for Christmas folks, you will NOT regret it!
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