Samsung GALAXY Nexus CDMA Pro Reviews

As I said when I reviewed the GSM version of the Galaxy Nexus — this is one of the best smartphones ever made. The addition of Verizon's killer 4G service makes it almost undeniably awesome, though those improved data speeds obviously come with a price. Namely, battery life. There are also other knocks, like the fact that the camera produces uneven results, and the size of the phone won't be to everyone's liking. Still, the combination of solid hardware, the fantastic new Ice Cream Sandwich software, and the speed and stability of Verizon's 4G service is intoxicating. For those of you who've been waiting for a true, pure Google phone on Big Red, this will be a dream come true. For users who have been thinking about the other LTE offerings on the network, such as the Droid RAZR or Bionic, there really is no comparison. You get the same fantastic network without any of the software tradeoffs. At the end of the day, when you're spending $300 on a phone (and far more in monthly fees over two years), you need to love the device you get, and it needs to get the job done for you. The Galaxy Nexus exceeded (and continues to exceed) my expectations as a smartphone. It's an extremely capable and surprisingly fun piece of gadgetry to have in your pocket, and as a first-rung Google phone, it will likely reap the benefits of the company's innovations long before other handsets do. Ultimately, you have to make the decision of what you want out of a phone, and there are excellent choices on the market right now. Personally? Verizon just got themselves a new customer.

We already knew more-or-less what we were getting with the Verizon rendition of the Galaxy Nexus, and ultimately it delivers. Yes, battery life predictably takes a hit compared to the HSPA+ when you enable LTE, and it's safe to say this version of the phone has a bit more to love than the earlier release, but neither of those are deal-breakers. This, like the other version, is a great phone. At $300 with a two-year contract ($650 without) it is not cheap, but if you must have the best, it's well worth it.

In terms of hardware, the Galaxy Nexus is certainly up there on the high end. Everything feels fast except for when you have to wait for an application to load, though it doesn't feel significantly faster than anything else. If you're an Android fan and love everything Google does (and never use Facebook), then the Galaxy Nexus is the latest and greatest that you're sure to want, just as long as you don't mind having to compromise on battery life and photo quality.

With thunderstorms of anticipation surrounding this device and a stack of specifications that didn’t seem to be all that much of a jump from the current top tier of smartphone devices in the market already, I was skeptical that this Nexus would impress my day to day mobile life the way the Nexus S did. I’ve also got the greatest smartphone I’ve ever used sitting here, that being the Galaxy S II, also made by Samsung, so how on earth could a device with a lower-clocked processor and what appeared at first to be a facia that’s slightly too big for my hand have any chance of being the new best? The culmination of the display, the comfort in using the device with two hands (especially in gaming situations), and the undeniably smooth and high-powered software experience have convinced me. This is the new hero for Google and Samsung, and not just because it’s running Ice Cream Sandwich. It’s worth the cash you’re going to pay for it hardware-wise, it’ll get updates to its software first when it comes time for Google to update, and the whole Android development underground will have their fingers busier on this device than on any other for the coming year or so – or between now and the next Nexus from Google running Jellybean, that is. On the other hand, if you’re the sort of person that wants to be absolutely sure that all the applications you’ve already got working on Android are able to work here right out of the box, buyer beware. While the biggest of the big and the most basic apps are working already, there are quite a few apps that won’t be compatible with this device until some months into the future. Now that the Galaxy Nexus is released here in the USA, development for most of these apps will be quicker than its been already, but the fact remains: I can’t play Grand Theft Auto III yet.

While all of the early reviews of the GSM/UMTS version of the Google Galaxy Nexus out of Europe were full of superlatives and the written equivalent of high-fives, I had only modest expectations for the Galaxy Nexus on Verizon. I dislike Android 3.x Honeycomb that much. But I'm floored by Ice Cream Sandwich, to be honest. I'm also in love with the the HD resolution display on the Galaxy Nexus. I could certainly do with better reception performance, but I have some hope that Verizon's promised software update will deal with that. I'm also pleased that the battery life seems to be basically as good as most non-4G Android smartphones, even if that still falls somewhat short of what I really desire. It's pricey, at $299.99 on-contract, and the reception issues bug me a bit, but I have not had so much fun playing with a smartphone in a long, long time. You'll find Google Galaxy Nexus sample photos as well as a recorded 1080p HD video sample on the following page.

Undeniably, Verizon Wireless customers are surely lucky because the Samsung Galaxy Nexus managed to make its landing this year – as opposed to being delayed to next year. Who cares that the carrier missed out with a Galaxy S II model of its own, well, customers have consolation knowing that the Galaxy Nexus makes for a wonderful alternative seeing it’s the first device stateside to land with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Yes, its pricing is still remarked as being on the pricey side, but as we’ve come to expect, a $299.99 on-contract device represents the best of the best. Obviously, its incorporation of a 4G LTE radio is what differentiates this model apart from the previous one we reviewed – and with that, it provides us with an unrivaled experience in chomping down data lightning fast!

With Ice Cream Sandwich, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus for Verizon has the best software of any Android phone, but that doesn't make it the best phone there is.

Let's not beat around the bush. The Galaxy Nexus is definitely the best Android phone available today -- it's possibly even the best phone available today, period. Sure, it's not perfect -- we're disappointed that the camera doesn't deliver the same wow factor as the rest of the handset. It's an alright shooter, but it's just no match for the state-of-the-art. There's also room for improvement in terms of build and materials quality. Still, there's no denying the satisfying look and feel, the stunning display, the impressive performance, the excellent battery life -- the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. Ice Cream Sandwich is phenomenal -- it represents a giant leap forward for Android and brings a whole new level of style and substance to Google's mobile OS. Still, while the design is more refined and the user experience more polished, we're not sure it's intuitive enough for first-time users. At the core, it's clear that Android remains targeted squarely at tech-savvy, power-hungry folks like us. No matter -- the Galaxy Nexus is proof that we can have our Ice Cream Sandwich and eat it too.