Mobile Phones: Verizon Galaxy Nexus Review

Sunday, 8 January 2012

Verizon Galaxy Nexus Review

It's hard to talk about the Verizon Samsung Galaxy Nexus without talking about the relative mess that was its road to launch. The Galaxy Nexus was announced (after a brief delay) in Hong Kong on Oct. 18. At the time, no carriers were announced. Verizon finally made it official on Oct. 21, saying the first phone with Android 4.0 "will be available later this year." And that's all we got, until Dec. 15, when it finally and unceremoniously went on sale.

Never mind that we told way back on July 25 that Verizon would get it. But we digress.

And you know what? Now that the phone's out, none of this matters. Old news.

And never mind that for all intents and purposes, we've already thoroughly reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, thanks to Alex Dobie's stellar look at the unlocked GSM version that's been available in Europe for some time and for importing to the States. While the Verizon Galaxy Nexus is new to those of us in the United States, and new in the sense that it's a 4G device with a bit of hand-holding from Verizon in the software department, we're hardly looking at an all new phone from the GSM model.

So here's where we stand: Read on for our complete Verizon Galaxy Nexus review. I haven't yet really weighed in on my thoughts about the Galaxy Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich. So I'm going to forgo some of the usual spec talk (again, read Alex's GSM Galaxy Nexus review if you haven't already) and concentrate more on the Verizon Galaxy Nexus differences, and my thoughts on Android 4.0 and how it all fits together.

And with that, we present our Verizon Galaxy Nexus review.

It's a Nexus, so it's got the full weight and attention of Google behind it. I'll get upgrades before other devices. The screen is gorgeous, as is Ice Cream Sandwich.	The camera is woefully disappointing. The speakerphone is all but unusable on phone calls. There are some Ice Cream Sandwich UI hiccups.

If you have to have the latest and greatest version of Android, this is the phone to get. If you have to have a phone that's easily hackable, this is the phone to get. If you want the best overall hardware? Might want to look elsewhere.