The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the first smartphone to come with ICS and it is one of the most anticipated Android smartphones, with a lot of expectations to meet, which to a certain exent it does on several fronts.
Design
The Galaxy Nexus has a lot in common with last year's Nexus S. It has the same dark colour exterior, curved shape and tapered edge design. The phone is massive to behold yet Samsung has managed to keep it remarkably thin.
The Galaxy Nexus' large 4.65in Super AMOLED display is certainly eye catching and the rich 1,280 x 720-pixel resolution offers great viewing angles, making it great for web surfing, videos and games.
Interestingly, the Galaxy Nexus does away with all physical buttons on the front panel, leaving the power button and the volume rocker on the side as the only buttons on the phone. The virtual buttons that replace them handle the Back, Home and multitasking functions.
Strangely, the 3.5mm headphone jack is located at the bottom of the phone and right next to it is the micro-USB port.
If there is one thing we can find fault with in the otherwise beautiful design, it's the plastic back which betrays the sturdy build quality of the handset.
Though we liked the phone's textured back panel, the plastic material used still feels cheap and fragile. The very fact that you've got to peel it back to remove the battery and insert your SIM card does not instill confidence.
