Google’s Nexus S, their flagship smartphone meant to show off what Android 2.3 Gingerbread is capable of delivering when it isn’t mucked up by operators and handset makers looking to differentiate themselves, recently started shipping America, but it’s only now coming to the UK. Carphone Warehouse has an exclusive distribution deal and when they first started taking preorders they charged £550 or roughly $855. That’s a lot considering you can pick it up from Best Buy for $530 before taxes. Whether Carphone Warehouse is responding to consumer complaints about the outrageous price tag or would rather push more units, the world may never know, but they’re now offering the Nexus S for £430 or $665; that’s more like it.
We reviewed the Nexus S and found it to be nothing short of amazing. It’s the first smartphone to feature near field communication (NFC) support, and while the current implementation can only read tags, future firmware updates will enable us to simply tap our phones and exchange contact information. The Nexus S is made by Samsung, so if you’ve seen a Galaxy S then you’ve already got a rough idea of what it’s going to look like. Build quality is OK, but doesn’t quite achieve the same level to detail that the Nexus One recieved back when it launched during the start of 2010.
Do we, scratch that, do I recommend the Nexus S? Absolutely not. Mobile World Congress, the mobile industry’s largest trade show, is due to take place in less than 2 months. You can be sure that we’re going to hear about the latest advances in hardware and software there, and there’s undoubtedly going to be a handset that you’ll be lusting after. Sure, the Nexus S is faster than the Nexus One thanks to the improved graphics processor, but I’m not switching back to Android from my iPhone 4 until I see something with the same screen resolution and dual core processors inside.