First Impressions: Galaxy Nexus

Tired of my HTC EVO 3D, I made a huge list of pros and cons of getting new phones on each of the networks (except AT&T). Long story short, I decided to get the unlocked GSM Samsung Galaxy Nexus through Google's Play Store and use it on T-Mobile. I'd talked to a lot of people and the awesomeness of a new Samsung Galaxy S III couldn't match the awesomeness of getting guaranteed OS updates first from Google before everyone else. This seemed to make sense to me after my EVO 3D's official Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) port was delayed over and over again, from its original "early 2012" release date to June to early August. Also important was that that a brand new GSM Galaxy Nexus was super cheap, compared to other similarly-spec'ed smartphones.

Since I'm avoiding AT&T because of their crap reception and anti-tethering policies, the only option was T-Mobile. This was perfect because I'd read that T-Mobile, unlike every other national carrier, had no-contract plans that were cheaper than the contract plans. The reason: contract plans come with that ~$400 phone discount so customers can get ~$200 phones. But I was bringing my own phone. I bought the phone and got T-Mobile service the day after the phone arrived.

Initially, this experience was met with disappointment. While the Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) update came to my phone soon after I turned it on, it is a pretty insignificant upgrade. While the phone does seem very zippy and I don't notice any lag, I barely used it while the phone was still on Ice Cream Sandwich, so it's hard to say definitively if Ice Cream Sandwich was any slower than Jelly Bean. Google Now, which seemed to be billed as Google's answer to Siri and S-Voice, seems to be little other than an app to display commute time and the weather.

There were more issues: I was once told that rooting a Nexus was simple: you just check a box. This appealed to me. As technical as I am, I would prefer a phone that didn't require jailbreaking or hacking to get it to do what I want. Jailbreaking my iPhones and rooting my EVO 3D were tedious, scary processes that could've easily resulted in me turning my phone into a brick. I looked forward to a simple rooting process that was sanctioned by my phone. But I was misled. Rooting even a GSM Nexus is a process filled with many steps and involving a PC.

Then, while I have complained about the manufacturers' skinning of Ice Cream Sandwich, it seems that stock ICS/Jelly Bean is still a little barebones. Google's apps just aren't there yet. I miss Swype and the EVO's trace keyboard, which I didn't realize weren't available on stock Android. I hate that Google's contacts app (People) doesn't let you filter out your Google+ contacts and other people without phone numbers. I cannot believe that you are stuck with 5 pages on the home screen; no more no less. I will probably end up using some sort of 3rd party launcher, if I don't use a different ROM entirely.

The T-Mobile experience is also somewhat lacking. I found out in the store that my no-contract plan is actually more expensive than the contract plan. I wanted 500 minutes, unlimited text and 2 to 5 GB of fast 4G data. Both the 2 GB and 5 GB plans are cheaper on contract. I had been looking at the Value plans at T-Mobile, which require a 2-year contract. Instead, I needed a Prepaid/Monthly plan, which has a different website and a different set of rules. I've always been scared of prepaid carriers, but the sales rep assured me that I'd be using T-Mobile towers and would have the same reception, although she mentioned that 4G wasn't as good.  I soon would find out that prepaid and monthly customers can't use T-Mobile's visual voicemail app.

Lastly, T-Mobile's 4G claims are a little off.  They have many posters in the store and online that claim "42 MBPS SPEEDS ON T-MOBILE."  I now realize they write these claims in all caps so people will think they mean "42 MBps" or megabytes per second, instead of "42 Mbps" or megabits per second.  42 MBps is 8 times faster than 42 Mbps.  That didn't matter much, because 42 Mbps is still pretty fast and is over 4 times faster than my home internet connection.  But my max speed on T-Mobile's HSPA+ is 7.22 Mbps.  Definitely better than my Sprint WiMAX max of around 5 Mbps, but hardly 42 Mbps.

However, everything else about the phone is awesome. It's super fast, the SAMOLED screen has a beautiful contrast and is brighter in direct sunlight, the gorgeous HD display looks like a Retina Display to me, the back camera is better and super fast, using MTP to transfer files instead of mounting as an SD card seems to be better in most ways, and the battery is better than the EVO 3D.  Even without 4G turned on, my EVO 3D consumes battery life quicker than the Nexus does with 4G turned on.  So, better battery life and 4G speeds to boot.  I also like the build of the phone.  I was a little uneasy about the rapidly increasing sizes of phones these days, but the Galaxy Nexus feels and looks awesome in my hand.  Even the monthly plan is technically cheaper, as long as I leave T-Mobile in less than 12 months, because of the lack of an early termination fee.  I miss visual voicemail, a feature I've enjoyed since my first iPhone in 2009, but supposedly Google Voice will allow me to get visual voicemail again.

Is the Galaxy Nexus better than the Galaxy S III?  Probably not.  Is T-Mobile better than Verizon? The 4G is definitely slower, but the 4G is less battery-consuming and the plans are definitely cheaper. Will this do until I can get a new phone in a year or less? Definitely.