After the long wait, the Verizon Galaxy Nexus is finally here and we got our hands on the first Ice Cream Sandwich phone and it’s quite a site to behold.
We’ve already reviewed the international version and we’re not expecting too much different with the Verizon version. It’s a little bit larger thanks to the LTE module but it’s still quite a slim device.
Make no mistake, the Verizon Galaxy Nexus is a large phone and it kind of has to be with that 4.65-inch screen. It has a 1280 x 720 resolution and it’s a beauty, as pictures and videos look crisp and clear and it makes text highly readable. I’ve heard some complaints about it being difficult to operate with one hand but I haven’t had any problems with that yet. Like most Samsung products, it’s made of plastic and your opinion on that may vary.
The Verizon Galaxy Nexus also sports a dual-core processor, Verizon 4G LTE support, 3G for fallback, Bluetooth, GPS and a Near Field Communication chip for things like mobile payments and Android Beam, even though this doesn’t have Google Wallet at launch. The 5-megapixel camera may disappoint some who are used to 8-megapixel cameras but it still can take some great shots.
The hardware on the Galaxy Nexus is really good but the most important thing about this phone is that it runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. You can read our full review of the 4.0 version here but you should know that it’s a critical revamp of the platform in many ways. Along with improvements in the camera, revamped Google apps and a People hub, it refined interface that will be familiar to those who have used Honeycomb.
Look for our full review early next week but we’re not expecting it to be too much different from the international version we reviewed here. I’m going to keep an eye on how the 4G LTE data impacts battery life though.
