Samsung Nexus S 4G
Average Ratings
Nexus S 4G
I had the EVO and was pleased with it, but I really like the Nexus S. It is lighter and does not feel heavy in my pocket. It seems about the same speed as the evo, but I think the battery lasts longer with the Nexus S. I did download the app killer and run it in extream mode.
Pros
Lightweight
Great Screen
Good Camera
Excellant call quality.
Cons
Would have liked a tacky back.
Overall an excellant phone, with all the great android apps.
Samsung Nexus S 4G
This phone is simply AMAZING! Considering what I'm used to (Metro PCS- bad phones, sliggish service) this is a BIG upgrade!
I'll start with the pros:
-The screen is amazingly clear and vivid
-Easy to use
-Great sound quality
-Decent battery for an Android
-Fast processor
- Alot of memory - the phone's internal RAM comes with 1G (I'm used to having about 150 MB) and internal storage is 16 GB (about 13.5 GB really)
-No typical bloatware (though I miss Sprint TV)
Now the cons:
-The sound isn't very loud at all
-For some reason (I'm guessing defective battery) my battery won't charge past 95% but it says its fully charged.
-Heats up occassionally
-Youtube app is MIA
Overall, this is a really good phone. I would definitely recommend it.
Great phone with a few glitches
PROS:
Display brightness and quality
Call quality and reception (I live in rural Delaware County, Ohio)
Speed
Did I mention the display?
CONS:
On-screen keyboard is sometimes laggy
4G and WiFi never hit full strength
USB plug falls out of jack
Full disclosure: I'm coming to this phone from a Palm Pre, so maybe everything looks good by comparison, but I do love this phone!
The display is a joy to behold: bright, clear and crisp, with just a hint of pixelation. The camera app is very nice, although a dedicated shutter button would be better. There is no optical zoom, but I don't mind. Call quality is very good, enough that I can use this phone in place of my land line, even though I live in a semi-rural area. Your experience may vary, of course.
My biggest complaint is probably the 4G. It never seems to hit its full potential, even when I'm in the city where there's supposedly full coverage. I have a similar issue with wifi. Even several feet from my router, I never see all bars filled. I guess this is a known Samsung issue. I was unable to get the Nexus to connect to my router until I updated the router firmware, but after that, all was OK.
Some other issues: sometimes the on-screen keyboard resists presses of the spacebar. I have to touch it several times before it responds. No other keys do this. I hope a future update fixes it. A couple of times I have lost all internet connectivity and Sprint wasn't much help, but removing the battery for several minutes fixed things. I wish the battery took a charge more quickly, but it's not a big issue. The USB cable tends to fall out of the jack, which if you don't notice it means the battery runs down. This is mainly a problem in the car.
On the whole though, I've been really pleased with this phone.
First Smartphone ever...best choice ever...
This is my first smartphone ever, and I'm so glad I picked this one.
To start this off, I must say I had to exchange my first unit due to a defect (the touchscreen would not respond to input at times). However, once I realized it was a hardware issue and not software, I completely fell in love with this phone.
Pros:
- Quite fast in all aspects
- As a software developer, I love the pure Google feel to the phone. It's nice not having a bloated OS.
- OLED screen is amazing, and looks quite beautiful even in the sun.
- The native Google apps are amazing and run silky smooth
- Google Voice Search is basically the coolest thing since sliced bread.
- NFC/Google Wallet will be absolutely amazing once it's more widespread.
Cons:
- Software seems a BIT buggy at times, and will require a force close. However, this is more than likely due to poor programming of those applications, rather than with the phone itself.
- Battery life. Perhaps I just do many intensive tasks on the phone, but I can't seem to get this phone to last a day without needing to recharge.
- Plastic-y feel compared to other smartphones. This isn't a huge con, it just means you need to be a lot more careful with it.
The only reason why I'm not giving this a 5 is because no phone is absolutely perfect. However, I did a lot of research before I purchased this phone, and I'm very, VERY glad I did. I would argue that this is by far the best Android phone on the market today.
I highly, HIGHLY recommend this phone! :)
Great Device
I've made the move to the Nexus after having the Evo for about a year. I have nothing against the Evo, its still a great phone, but I really appreciate having a phone with just about zero bloatware and wifi hotspot capabilities without having to pay extra for the functionality.
I agree with others who state that you're probably better going with another device if this is going to be your first Android phone. I spent a lot of time customizing the phone to obtain the same feel as what the Evo and HTC Sense provides out the box. I knew that was going to be the case going in and don't look at it as a downside but it definitely helps to be familiar with the Android OS.
Pro's
Google only apps out the box
Unlocked WiFi Hotspot at no cost
Fast and reliable
16 gigs internal memory (some say this is a con but that's a ton of space for apps and with things like Pandora, Audio Galaxy, Jango etc there's no reason music should be eating up a ton of storage these days-for those trying to figure the math its 15 gigs usb storeage-1 gig internal and then subtract the amount of memory needed to power Android hence why the phone displays 13.31 as the available space)
Ultra-crisp SuperAMOLED display
Fairly decent battery life, draws as much as the Evo with actual usage but handles standby better
Cons-
The phone has some kinks that need to be worked out with its wifi. The hotspot works good but it just won't stay connected to my home router for very long at all.
That's the lone negative I can say about it as everything else works great, though Google could use a design team to step up the quality of their widgets. That HTC clock is missed especially with access to the timer/alarm etc one touch away. Downloads kinda make up for it....but not quite.
The Nexus is still a great phone regardless and will be loved by anyone seeking a pure Google experience in their device.
Amazing Phone
The Nexus S 4g is an amazing phone. I switched to the Nexus S 4G from the HTC Evo 4G (still an awesome phone) and Im astound how fast the phone is compared to my Evo. I got this phone mainly based on Pure Google and being a 4G phone, I had to root my Evo to get a Pure Google experience(CM7). )Phone has good camera, hotspot works well, very responsive, easily rooted, great screen. Havent tested 4G yet, 3G works good, battery life is similar to most current smartphones. Now patiently waiting for either Galaxy S II (Samsung Within), Evo 3D or Moto Photon 4g
Best Phone I've owned
Simply Amazing ... I had the Evo and was unhappy with the battery life. So had to go with something better. All I can say about the Nexus is that I love it WOW thanks Google and Samsung for creating a winner :)
Nexus S 3G
Phone is very fast and has a nice screen. Netflix works great.
4G signal seems to not work much at all even in a major coverage area. I'm more likely to use WiFi at home anyway. Does not work with MLB At Bat for streaming video like T-Mobile version. Was kinda excited about this and Netflix. Speaker is kinda quiet.
Google voice is pretty terrible. It starts taking over your text messages so the only way to get messages on just the SMS app and not Google voice is to turn off Google voice integration. I went back to dialing 1 for voicemail. Really miss the Sprint visual voicemail.
The phone is so nice though despite those things. The simple form factor, screen, and speed are great. I already have a car mount, an there's tons of accessories since the T-Mobile versions been out for a while.
The Hero got so old so fast it could not run every day stuff like Angry Birds. I actually really like the built in 16 gb of storage. When I had a phone with an SD card I never once took out the 16 GB SD card and hated having to pay extra for it.
An outstanding device with more awesomeness than not!
I replaced my HTC EVO 4g with the NEXUS S 4G.
PROS-
-Brilliant display very bright and crisp.
-Camera takes excellent pictures and videos.
-Smooth body very easy to hold and handle.
-Gingerbread OS with no BS apps!
-4G is FAST!
-Snappy response for browser and apps.
-Keyboard is improved on the new OS.
Mediocre-
-Battery life isn't too bad considering what the phone has to power.
-Signal was better on HTC EVO but that phone also seemed to generate more heat during calls, the Nexus S 4G does not seem to do this.
Cons-
-Hot keys on bottom of phone are easy to accidentally hit.
-No SD card slot.
-Only 16GB of non-expandable storage space.
The Nexus S 4G is a vanilla Android device on a more secure CDMA network. It has great appeal for users of all types from the novice to ultra-geek. The Nexus has many positives and few negatives. Much easier to handle with no sharp corners as compared to the HTC EVO 4G. I highly recommend it!
Love it
I noticed a previous reviewer just bought one of these as their first android phone. I would advise against this, I believe having the HTC Sense or Motorola software overlay helps to get used to the android platform. I also just switched from an EVO, and love the vanilla android!
I was always running out of space on the on board RAM on the EVO, I don't think that will be an issue here! Though I noticed that it lists the total memory of the usb drive as 13.2 GB, as opposed to 16, and .96 GB memory on the device. Still doesn't add up to 16GB on my calc.
In any case, I will miss the Sense keyboard, but there's apps for that. I won't miss having nearly two of everything, as in pre-installed apps from Sprint. Some of the features of Sense will be missed, but not enough.
4g reception is great here in Burbank, and the speed test shows well against the EVO 4g in a side by side drag race.
There's kinda like a Goldielocks experience going on with the size. I liked the EVOs size, and the nexus is just a touch smaller, but it feels just right, and I also like the layout of the keys on the bottom of the screen.
I already have a camera, so I didn't buy it for that, although I do appreciate the front facing camera for Qik, Skype, and Fring, which I use.
So, all in all, I think it's a keeper, I am very pleased. Lighter, a touch smaller, and outperforms the EVO in a lot of ways. I must add, I don't think this is a phone for first time Android users, but for the experienced, it's a wonderful device!
Pro's:
beautiful screen
Lightweight
Vanilla OS
Speed
stereo and usb jack on the same side of the phone
Con's:
5 MP camera? Really?
Pricing differential between Sprint and Best Buy
