The Samsung Nexus has been anticipated for quite a long time, ever since the original Nexus which was one of the more popular smart phones back in the day. Many people on the internet are buzzing about the newest version of the Android’s operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich, will be like. The Samsung Nexus Prime is the very first phone that will have 4.0 installed.
Look and Feel
The Prime and the Galaxy have similar designs. The Galaxy wins for being more durable, with the famous gorilla glass that is known to be real tough and break-resistant. The screen sizes are similar, and both have similar weights, with the Nexus Prime being a little heavier at 135g as compared to the Galaxy’s 116g.
Software Comparison
The biggest difference in software, since both phones are running Android, is the version of Android each runs. The Samsung Nexus will be running the brand new “Ice Cream Sandwich†version of Android, or Android 4.0. The Galaxy will still be running Android 2.3.3, called “Gingerbread†due to Android’s affinity for sweet sounding names. To be fair there will be an available update for the Galaxy to its operating system to the new 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), which will more than likely happened after they have run at least one or two updates to the 4.0 software. However this is all dependent on your cellular service provider, and when and if, they decide to release this update to their customer base. So that is a good piece of news for the people who have just recently purchased the Samsung Galaxy S2 LTE, or are still deciding on which to buy.
This means that the software advantage clearly goes to the Samsung Nexus. Ice Cream Sandwich has a number of completely new features not known to the older Gingerbread version. Among these is “Face Unlock.†This is a feature that makes people think the future is finally here. The Samsung Nexus Prime will actually have facial recognition software for its lock screen. This means that you can set the phone so it won’t unlock unless the camera recognize the face of its owner.
Ice Cream Sandwich also has real time voice to text dictation as an alternative to the touch screen keyboard. This makes it far easier to do tasks like texting and searching for things online if you need your hands for something else, like driving. If you do have hands to help, you can fix any mistaken words with the usual word fixing feature by tapping the word on the screen. This is also not androids first attempt at voice dictation, android developers have been working at integration of this feature in past generations.
Android Beam and WIFI Direct are also new features for 4.0. These features let phones communicate with each other directly, without having to send files, YouTube videos, or any other kind of information across the entire Internet. It’s a little silly to have to do that when you’re right next to someone, right?
Hardware Comparison
Both Samsung phones have dual-core processors, and are about the same speed processor wise. The Galaxy has more options for storage, with 16 GB and 32 GB SD card options compared to the Nexus’s 16. With the Samsung Nexus has gone the other way here and not allowed for the add on MicroSD. The Nexus takes the prize for display screen by a long stride. It had a 4.6 inch Super HD AMOILED screen with a resolution of 1280×720 for one of the crisper views in the business. This is compared to the Galaxy’s 4.3 inch Super AMOILED Plus screen of 800×480, which is still very good.
Both phones have a front-facing video camera. They also both have 1080p HD video, and a Megapixel camera, though the Galaxy has 8MP to the Prime’s 5MP, however I have to say, the 5MP is nice and doesn’t matter unless you’re blowing up a picture to poster size. I must say, they have done a great job, at review time looking at the screen. Taking pictures, there was almost no lag between shots, very fast. The phones are very similar when it comes to other capabilities, such as the 4G connectivity with maximum internet speeds of 21Mbps, and the capacity of their batteries, with an average of around 8 hours each for talk time.
Price
The Galaxy will run you up to 200 dollars with contract in the U.S., whereas the Galaxy Nexus is a goodly amount pricier at around 300 in U.S. These prices will change rapidly in the coming months after release. However if you are willing to lock into a 3 year contract you can see the price below that in Canada
Bell Canada is the first to get hold of the new Galaxy Nexus and is taking pre-orders for December 8th 2011 Delivery. I hope they will be able to stick to this time table, as a little bird has told me there could be delays on product actually getting into customers hands at the announced time. The rumour is it could be delayed closer to end of December, possibly just shortages, so the sooner you get your orders in. The sooner you will be one of the few to receive your new Galaxy Nexus, with Ice Cream Sandwich.
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$159.95 On a 3 year term when activating a minimum voice and data plan combination or smartphone plan of a minimum of $50 or more per month.
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Bell Canada will have an exclusive for 1 month before the Galaxy Nexus is released through Rogers stores.
Rogers is now offering pre orders of their Samsung Galaxy Nexus with a $40.00 Deposit to be delivered for January 2012.
Again these dates are not iron clad, Bells release date is November 7, 2011, as I mentioned there is a possibility of delay or shortages. Regardless, if you pre-order with Bell or Rogers. You will be the first to get yours, regardless of when it gets here, and the word is, worst case scenario, it should not be delayed more than 30 days at most.
Conclusion: Which is the Better Phone?
There’s no question that Nexus is a phone with more advanced features, especially in the software department. The question will always be, buy now, or wait for the next, newest version. The Galaxy is certainly a very advanced smart phone with a good display, and Gingerbread is no joke for advanced software. The question is looks, with the Galaxy you have the possibility to have 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich O/S with in the year, that will certainly be enough for some.
But if you yearn for those great futuristic features for Ice Cream Sandwich, like real time voice transcription, and facial recognition unlock screens, speed, new software interface that makes much more sense than the previous versions of Android, making the change shouldn’t bother you at all.
For me, the software, and well matched hardware, this is a product that is a major jump ahead of what we have seen so far from the Android camp, and I would say this has them solidly eating Apples lunch. If I may say… in some case, if the only vending machines available to dispense lunch are using NFC technology, iPhone won’t even be able to get lunch at all, unless they ask an Android user to buy it for them… I for one can’t wait. I want my Ice Cream Sandwich, and want to talk, email, chat, make movies and watch, Facebook, and twitter on it now!
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