Google Galaxy Nexus review

Google's latest own-brand Android smartphone is here. Its massive high-resolution screen and brand new Ice Cream Sandwich operating system left a big impression on Julian Prokaza as our review reveals.

IT Pro Verdict

Slick hardware combined with a seriously refreshed version of Android make the Galaxy Nexus a very capable smartphone. The fact that it’s the only smartphone designed for Android 4 that's also actually available to buy right now only serves to make it more desirable.As good as it is though, we suspect other manufacturers will do better with new models early next year – especially with phones we can actually hold comfortably. So as tempted as we are, we’d hold onto our pennies for now.

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720 x 1280 pixels makes the display marvelously crisp.

Sadly, the AMOLED display isn't as crisp as it could be, thanks to Samsung's use of the dreaded PenTile matrix technology. This gives some faint striations on large areas of solid colour (such as web page backgrounds) and small text looks fuzzier than it should on a screen of this resolution, but the high 316ppi pixel density otherwise prevents the reduced sub-pixel count from adversely affecting the appearance of anything else.

Samsung has equipped the Galaxy Nexus with a full away of sensors, including an electronic barometer that accelerates GPS positioning by providing altitude data. Judging by its inclusion here, Google is also banking on Near Field Communications (NFC) as a key mobile technology, although it's still early days for this short range wireless technology. It can be used with other Galaxy Nexus owners for transferring data without fussing around with emails and as a contactless electronic payment method, but few if any retailers currently support this in the UK.

Sadly, the five-megapixel camera isn't so futuristic. Colours are natural enough, but images are far too soft for this kind of resolution, even when the continuous autofocus manages to do its job properly which isn't often enough.

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