Smartphone review: Nexus S

One for the Android lovers


Smartphone review: Nexus S

by May Chua
04:46 AM Apr 20, 2011

THE Samsung Nexus S (picture) has big shoes to fill. Its predecessor, HTC's Nexus One, had one of the fastest smartphone processors available on the market when it was first introduced, and is still a well-loved handset in some countries.

Like the Nexus One, the Nexus S runs on the "pure" version of Google's Android operating system (OS), meaning the phone's memory does not get cluttered with pre-installed apps (other than Google services) that some may never use and cannot uninstall, and the user experience is exactly what Google intended. The latter, however, may not be a pure advantage.

Many Android phone manufacturers add tweaks to the platform to make it more user-friendly. For example, Samsung added a portable hotspot function to its Galaxy S phones so that the phone's data connection can be used as a WiFi hotspot for portable gadgets - a feature it would not otherwise have gained before the phone had its platform upgraded to Android 2.2. That said, some tweaks also make the interface feel clunky.

The Nexus S is powered by a 1GHz Cortex A8 processor, which zips right along. I estimate its performance to be slightly faster than my Galaxy S when it was brand-new. At 140g, it is light and the bump on its lower back seems to improve its grip in my hands.

The Nexus S runs on the latest version (for now) of the Android platform - version 2.3, which offers little improvements to the user interface in general. But all the normal operations like launching an app seem sleeker and faster, for one, and the browser loads pages quicker as well.

Typing is a pain, at least for the first few days until you get used to it. The text prediction helps a lot. It's a pity that Swype, the text input service which helps you type faster (preloaded in the Samsung Galaxy series of phones), could not be incorporated into the phone.

With normal use (3G connection on for most of the day, WiFi on at night, push mail on, short calls and messages throughout the day), this smartphone lasted for about 24 hours before displaying the low battery notification.

The Nexus S has a beautiful 4-inch LCD display which makes images look sharp and clear. Its 5-megapixel autofocus camera (which comes with flash) produced washed-out colours with auto white balance. Fortunately, you get better colours when you select a more suitable mode for the white balance setting. Video resolution was a disappointment, at a mere 480p - quite a few smartphones which debuted before this model offer high-definition video-recording at 720p and above.

Users of this phone will have to settle for its 16GB of internal memory as it has no microSD card slot for additional space.

Another gripe I have about the phone is that its proximity sensor does not seem to work every time - I accidentally ended two calls in a row because the touchscreen was not disabled when I was holding it to my face. Also, the lack of a shortcut to the messaging app in the dock on the home screens is a small but perplexing oversight.

The Nexus S (S$828, without contract) is a speedy performer which incorporates some small but handy new touches in the Android 2.3 OS. Coupled with its "pure" version of the platform, it is a potential crowd pleaser among Android lovers.

May Chua

Source: www.todayonline.com