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Smartphones and Cell Phones

Matthew Miller
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Samsung and Google announce Galaxy Nexus pentaband Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone

By | October 18, 2011, 7:06pm PDT

Summary: Google is rolling out their next Nexus flagship Android phone soon as the Samsung Galaxy Nexus with LTE support and HSPA+ pentaband support.

It’s not much of a secret, but at least now it is official that Samsung will be releasing the Galaxy Nexus in November. CNET Asia has the details of this new phone where they are covering the announcement in Hong Kong. The Galaxy Nexus runs the latest version of the Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich.

I have regularly ranted on this blog about the lack of pentaband 3G support that currently only Nokia provides in true world phone fashion with support for frequencies in the range. Thankfully, the new Galaxy Nexus is a pentaband phone, with support for the 21 Mbps HSPA+ data network so it is highly likely I will be picking one up to use with T-Mobile USA. Specifications of the Galaxy Nexus include:

  • 4.65-inch 1280 x 720 Super AMOLED HD screen
  • LTE support (likely coming to Verizon first as an exclusive)
  • 1.2GHz dual-core processor
  • Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
  • 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash
  • 1.3-megpaixel front-facing camera
  • 1080p HD video capture and playback
  • 1GB of RAM
  • 16GB or 32GB internal memory versions
  • 1750mAh battery
  • Bluetooth 3.0
  • NFC support
  • Barometer
  • 8.94mm thick
  • 135g (weight)

I just bought my Apple iPhone 4S on Verizon for the full unsubsidized price so I can’t afford to buy the Galaxy Nexus to use with Verizon too and given the way CDMA networks function it is not as easy to swap between two high end devices.

The Nexus devices have always had the latest version of Android, but have lagged a bit in a specification or two, but that doesn’t look to be the case with the Galaxy Nexus as it has the latest wireless radios, latest processor, and latest technologies such as NFC. Check out this comparison of the latest high end smartphones.

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Topics

Google Inc., Phone, Smart Phone, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Verizon Communications Inc., T-Mobile, 1080p, Galaxy Nexus, CNET Asia, Telecom & Utilities, Processors, Semiconductors, Hardware, Components, Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller started using a Pilot 1000 in 1997 and has been writing news, reviews, and opinion pieces ever since.

Disclosure

Matthew Miller

Matthew is a professional naval architect by day and a mobile gadget freak at all other times. He purchases his own devices and then sells them on eBay or Craigslist to buy more. Many other devices are sent for review on a 30-day loaner basis and then returned to the carrier or manufacturer. If any are provided as “long term loaner units” this will be clearly disclosed in his reviews.

Biography

Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller started using a mobile devices in 1997 and has been writing news, reviews, and opinion pieces ever since. He is a co-host with GigaOM's Kevin Tofel on the MobileTechRoundup podcast and an author of three Wiley Companion series books. Matthew started using mobile devices with a US Robotics Pilot 1000 and has owned over 125 different devices running Palm, Linux, Symbian, Newton, BlackBerry, iOS, Android, webOS, Windows Mobile, and Windows Phone operating systems. His current collection includes an HTC Radar 4G, Dell Venue Pro, Apple iPad 2, HTC Flyer, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Nokia N9, Apple iPhone 4S, MacBook Pro, and many more, along with tons of accessories and classic devices like the Apple Newton MessagePad 2100 and Sony CLIE UX50. Matthew can be found on various discussion forums under the user name of "palmsolo".

Talkback Most Recent of 4 Talkback(s)

  • Just donwloaded ICS
    And its truly different. Now going to see if I can place it on my Asus Transformer as well as the HTC Sensation.

    Awesome specs, good steps forward.

    Super Amoled HD is just amazing at 316dpi. It really is a huge difference compared to iPhone 4S yellowish display.

    The barometer was a nice addition. Great to have when you climb, fly or do different tests.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Uralbas
    18th Oct
  • Sorry, but all of these Samsung/Moto 'thinnest' lies are tiresome already
    All of their "thin" smartphones have ugly bulbs of thickness which is thicker than iPhone 4/4S.

    This is why court in UK said that Samsung's claim that they have "thinnest" smartphone on the market is lie. The only honestly thinnest smartphone for now is iPhone 4/4S (thanks for outer/frame antenna design).

    As to specifications of Galaxy Nexus:

    0) the screen is finally does not lag; it is now Retina class in clarity/details/resolution;

    1) obviously too huge to use as actual phone; it is more like small tablet.

    2) you always have to think which side you are going to put the GN in your bag or your huge jacket pocket: because if the side is wrong, it will fit horrible. However, if the side is right, then this device will fit much better than other huge 4.3-4.7" devices.

    3) picture on the screen is always going to be distorted by the "curviness" unless you look at it right from the front;

    4) SoC have weak graphics (it is not new GPU, it was already tested);

    5) photo/video camera is weak (and I do not mean mere megapixel count, which, by itself, does not really mean much);

    6) No support of BlueTooth 4.0;

    7) NFC is a plus, though it is barely usable in practice for now, so not real competitive advantage;

    8) Barometer -- can be useful to some people, though again not a serious competitive advantage.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    DeRSSS
    18th Oct
  • RE: Samsung and Google announce Galaxy Nexus pentaband Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone
    i smell some hating in the block already.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Mohater
    19th Oct
  • RE: Samsung and Google announce Galaxy Nexus pentaband Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone
    Matt, does it support 802.11n (5 Ghz)?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    PhillyIT
    19th Oct

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