Hello there readers, how are you all going this fine day? Good? Good to hear. As you may know, Team Ausdroid is fairly crazy for new devices (who would have guessed?) and with the Galaxy Nexus from Samsung & Google the latest piece of Android tech in the country — along with it being a Nexus device — has sent our team into a state of euphoria. But I’m sick of hearing from just them, I want to hear from you, the tech savvy readers.
- Where did you get your Galaxy Nexus from?
- How much did it set you back?
- How long have you had it for?
- At what point in time did you set your mind on getting one?
- Are you happy with it overall? If not, what would you like to see changed?
If you aren’t an owner of a Galaxy Nexus and you’re just here to read about what other people think of the device, I have a question for you (oh, read our review as well).
- Would you like us to try to give a Galaxy Nexus away?
We haven’t got a competition lined up, but if there’s enough demand we might be able to get a third-party to help us out! So go get everyone you know and tell them to get onto Ausdroid!
Bought it. Like it. But like others, the speaker volume is weak sauce. Also, gmail notification is inconsistent. Although the notification light works consistently, audio and vibrate notification stops working after a few minutes until I use the phone again – almost as if it partially goes to sleep. All in all, I like the phone and ICS very much.
I would buy it. The spec’s are great… too bad they released it with a 5MP camera. What a waste.
wonderful. im with telstra
Got one yesterday from virgin – phone is great but virgin unable to get MMS working. Have tried all APN possibilites and still nothing. Only other option may be the sim needs replacing – anyone else have any ideas?
I’ve had mine for nearly two weeks now. Had an odd issue with my market account not being able to download apps, now resolved. Also had vodafone send me a microsim to put in the phone, and then the replacement Sim was faulty. My wife has a iphone 4s so could compare her coverage and guessed it was sim issue. Since it has been replaced the GN has been great! Reading RSS feeds is sublime on this device, the font and the screen are just great. I had a Nexus One before and the reading experience is incomparable. I also… Read more »
OK Google Listen stops if face unlock is being used. I’ve turned face unlock off, as I rarely found that I put my face in the oval at the right angle/distance for it to be recognised. It was easier to to do the pattern unlock.
I think the interface is an improvement, but the positioning of the settings button seems to be random per application which is annoying.
i bought from Vodafone, 59+5 .. 10 days already .. not really bad phone ,,,, nice screen . good size , high resolution .Great clearity even in outside in sun , face unlock work perfectly ,sometime does not work like if light is too low, or face is unclear .overall good features .. but battery life is not really good,, but its charge very fast , its get updates app. very fast and download speed is incredible.. couple of days i felling its getting slow after download many apps… like if i am playing any game and i suddenly press home screen… Read more »
One really annoying thing about the galaxy nexus and ics is that google has merged the volume control for notifications and ringing volume.
With my old nexus s i was able to silence my notifications for emails , what’sapp etc so i wasnt disturbed at night by beeping , but i could still hear any incoming emergency phone calls.
Thanks to google i now have to decide between either a good nights sleep or missing a potential emergency call.
Thanks for nothing google.
when you click the volume rocker, and tap the phone icon, another icon pops up so you can change them independantly
Josh I appreciate the advice, but i couldnt seem to get this too work.
Im very sure that the volume control for notification and ringing cannot be unlinked anymore since its now built into ICS.
I have read about this on many forums and websites. Even app developers and Google employees have admitted that is situation (i would say a problem) exists since ICS.
There are plently of people complaining on google’s mobile forum, so hopefully google see the error of their ways and get this problem fixed.
Got Mine from Expansys. Cost $715AU, took 2 days to arrive. had it just over a week now. decided to get one after ICS was taking longer than i wanted to port onto sensation. Very happy with it, getting as good battery life as my custom rom sensation with extended battery, ICS is incredibly polished, in iphone smoothness territory. browser is amazingly fast and screen is brilliant colours, beautiful inky blacks like an amoled should be. screen is very crisp, silly all the people going on about pentile layout, high resolution negates any pentile problems. only complaints i would say i have, is… Read more »
fuck em
I’ve just bought it after a lot of time spent on reading articles and playing with all available phones out there and i can tell you, it’s the best, probably better than king Iphone. Check this out: Best 2012 phones
I have had no isse with my speaker, mine is actually quite loud
my only complains is verizons crappy 3g network and the rear speaker theats not even half as loud as the rear speaker from its little brother the Nexus S
Picked one up yesterday from Vodafone, free on an 80 dollar a month plan (infinite calls and txt to land and mobile in Australia + 3 gigs data per month). So far I’m am so chuffed. It’s literally a beautiful phone.
Just Wondering i have a 3gs and have had i for 2 and a bit years now and need a new phone. I was keen to switch to android when is saw the sgs2 but now it might get the Gnexus. What one is a better overall phone?
I reckon galaxy nexus is better overall. Screen is beautiful. Stock android so you get updates quickly and no telco bloat. I think sgn looks nicer design and screen. S2 is great value now though if price is a factor. Not much difference with specs.
AS I got mine Galaxy Nexus through Optus, unless I change the ROM, I have to wait for Optus. Although there really isn’t any Carrier Bloat on it
There is no doubt in my mind that the SGSII is the better phone, but not by much, and I have been using one for a few months now. The primary things are the better screen (albeit a tiny bit smaller), allowing a MicroSD Card, better camera, better included software and a better process (Samsung Exynos Processor vs TI OMAP) although clearly having ICS for the GAlaxy Nexus is superior over Gingerbread. Despite this, I have just decided to get the Galaxy Nexus as I do love the slightly bigger screen, deperately wanted ICS and also to try using a stock Android… Read more »
Actually there can be no doubt whatsoever that the GN is far superior to the SGSII. ICS is enough in itself to qualify that, but also:
No gross touchwiz
No carrier bloat
Immediate updates
MUCH better screen (720p HD, and bigger)
Lighter
Better looking (sleek and curved and sexy)
Google badge
NFC
etc…
Overall just a MUCH nicer experience. Hands down better in almost every way than the SGSII, which IMO is the 2nd best phone available. That’s how amazing the GN is!
I didn’t buy one, I figured I’d get the Galaxy S2 for now, as it’s still pretty high-spec’d and it takes a microSD card (and Telstra were basically giving it away on their $59 freedom connect plan)
I wouldn’t knock back a free Galaxy Nexus though!
I encourage everyone too complain to samsung and google about the low speaker volume. We might be able to encourage them to supply a fix.
I got mine from Mobicity. It arrived is exactly 49 hours after i ordered. Amazing service ! This is my second phone. First was a nexus s.Pros – The look of the phone is a HUGE improvement on the nexus s. The grey back looks much more sophisticated. The curved front is less pronounced on the GN, which is a good thing. Who wants a curved screen as it looks stupid and feels uncomfortable in your pocket.- Screen is is very bright and high res. Best ive seen on a phone. Similar to iphone 4s but different. – Performance is amazing… Read more »
Bought mine from Mobicity for $819. Ordered late Nov, received early Dec. Decided on getting one when I had a look at an early prototype of it in Oct. Was planning on upgrading to a SGS2 until I saw it. I think the phone is awesome overall, however I dont think Im the most suitable user for it. Its probably a bit raw for me. But it’s really quick, amazing screen, camera is good once you get used to it, and the OS is super smooth. Loving all the apps I got for 10c so that was good timing also. One issue… Read more »
See http://androiddeveloperz.blogspot.com/2011/12/re-android-developers-appwidgets_5054.html?showComment=1325753658426#c2233172512229375478 and related.
Fixed in 4.0.2 but it seems you cannot upgrade since the Australian telcos did not give us a “google” (ie unbranded) phone, but a custom version. Very evil. I wanted an unbranded one so I could get updates when release from Google and not have to wait until Telstra/Optus/Vodafone/etc made them.
Also http://ausdroid.net/2011/12/23/who-will-be-updating-the-galaxy-nexus-from-australian-carriers/
I purchased mine through work on the 15th. Cost me $480. I had an iPhone prior and decided to swap after about 10 minutes of playing with it and selling a few. I’ve since sold all of the stock in our store. I am loving the handset. ICS is so refined compared to other versions of Android which i think just look messy. Definitely a fantastic handset. Lovely to look at, great feel about it with its lightweight, yet durable feeling plastic unlike the S2. Anyone who hasn’t used an Android device before, this is definitely the one to get,… Read more »
Where: Expansys.com.au (Shipped from Hong Kong)How much: $715 (phone) + $30 (shipping) included Aus plug adapater for free.Time I’ve had it: Purchased: 9/12/2011, delivered 14/12/2011 and been playing with it since.When I set my mind on it?: October 19 unveiling of ICS and the GN, simply amazed by the effort that had gone into this Android version, so it was a definite purchase from then on, just waited for a good deal.Am I happy with it?:I’m happy with the phone in almost all aspects. The screen is amazing and the key selling point as far I was concerned. The build… Read more »
Also got mine from Kogan as soon as it was up on their website ($799). Was pretty annoyed that we got it well passed the promised date and two weeks after Mobicity started shipping their stock. Not to mention the price drop pretty soon after it shipped. It really doesn’t pay to pre-order anything in my opinion. Either way, I have it now. I upgraded (for want of a better word) from my Samsung SGS2 which was a great phone but the battery life absolutely sucked. Also, I hate with a passion the skinning that the manufacturers/carriers do. Had a… Read more »
I got my phone from Optus on a crappy little $49 plan. I got it in the mail or rather by courier on Thursday last week at 9:30 am. By 10:30, it was rooted and overclocked to 1.4Ghz. Since then i have been playing with custom roms, kernels and radios. The battery life on all of them is the same. Average to say the least. I chose the phone based on the fact that I’m a Google junky. I get on every bandwagon Google produces, I was on gmail about a month after it came out and was invite only. Nothing has changed :D. I got… Read more »
Got mine from Mobicity for $799 about 2 weeks ago (just before they dropped it to 769). I’ve been wanting one ever since I watched its first preview (a couple of videos ‘The Verge’ posted on youtube from the Google Event in HK). The phone is everything I was hoping it would be; very happy with it. I was dreading its battery life but I get about 2 days of normal usage so cant complain especially with that mega gorgeous ultra clear screen. I’m not much of a funtertainment-based-apps person, all I use (sync) is a couple of Google services… Read more »
Good to hear. Have you tried Volume+ for slightly louder sound?
I got mine from Telstra on plan. Turned up the day after launch at our place in the country (very fast delivery). Telstra’a NextG network has blown me away, no comparison at all to Vodafone where we are living. I have upgraded from an N900 and miss some of it’s functionality like it’s physical keyboard and contacts system. Love the big screen, but very unimpressed by it’s terrible wifi reception. I have to keep wifi turned off at home because it is far less usable that 3G in 90% of my house. My N900 and my partner’s iphone 4 don’t… Read more »
Interesting, this is one of the first times I’ve heard about bad Wi-Fi. I usually stick to 3G at home anyway because of how good NextG is.
Hey all, Got mine from Mobicity, $770 very happy with but a bit of a learning curve having used iphone for the past 3 years. Bloody BIG screen, great for reading emails and messages. Great colour. Very happy with it. Still on version 4.01 have no idea how to update to latest versions.
Tez
Glad to hear you’re happy with it!
You’ll receive updates OTA when they become available in Australia.
Funds are the big thing for me personally…
I’d have one if they were available to burn on a new phone that’s for sure.
This is THE phone to have, WOW!
Same here, Phil. I”m sticking to my Galaxy S II for the time being — at least until the Galaxy S III launches.
Where did you get your Galaxy Nexus from? Optus pre-order. How much did it set you back? $16 per month on the $29 cap + $80 early contract termination fee. How long have you had it for? 2 days At what point in time did you set your mind on getting one? October. Are you happy with it overall? If not, what would you like to see changed? Major concern is that twice it has crashed/frozen already. The first time it froze, then blanked out, and would not restart until I took the battery out and reinserted. The second time… Read more »
Upgraded from an HTC Hero running CM7 on Virgin Mobile to a Galaxy Nexus on Telstra. The difference is unbelievable. The responsiveness is phenomenal, data heavy apps are quick and ICS is well polished.
Very happy with it.
I got mine from Kogan. I pre-ordered it as soon as it appeared on the Kogan website. But I got it on the promised (altered) 9th of December. Shipped from HK. $799. I wanted to get a SGS2, but thought I’d wait and get the Google Developer phone so I could have ICS phone, with all the latest updates, (already had 3 OTA updates), no touchwiz overlay. I was coming from an i9000, which was great. Running MIUI with the ICS skin. It was really nice, but honestly this phones is so much smoother, crisper and just so much better… Read more »
Got mine from Telstra two nights ago!$10 a month for 24 months. Definitely worth it, I won’t mind sitting with this for two years after buying my Desire outright and owning that for about 18.Wanted from the moment it was announced, but only decided to get it last week. I was over having to worry about storage space on my Desire.Stoked with it, apart from the dent in the glass I got today. Hoping to swap it over for a brand new one if Telstra is nice enough! Looks like I’d have preferred Gorilla Glass, but the screen is the… Read more »
Wow, who forgot to use shift+enter! Sorry for the wall guys.
Anyone considering getting one from Mobicity, you can use the following discount code for $25 off. Any phone actually. 500F25B
16Gb on >>any<< high end phone without an SD slot is a major failure in my books. Why is Verizon so special for Google? Their phones come with 32Gb flash unlike all other Galaxy Nexus phones.
Shame on Google!
I currently have Google Nexus One and refuse to buy another Google phone unless it has at least 32Gb flash.
My N1 has 32Gb and it's just enough. A single Nandroid backup uses 1Gb of storage!
you might be waiting awhile, it appears that google dont want to put sd cards in the nexus phones anymore. Kinda makes sense when you look at the fact they use MTP(i think thats what its called) now, and they want to push you to cloud services
Have had mine for a few weeks now, bought fron Handtec for around $715. Massively happy with my first Android powered phone. Everything i hoped for swapping from iOS to Android is here!
As a lot of others mentioned the 1 fault i had was the external speaker volume – listening to youtube vids etc is a strain. But they sure looked gorgeous!
No comp for Nexus! Run a comp for the official Nexus accesories! They look awesome but are extremely difficult to find anywhere.
Definitely have a giveaway!
Got mine from Mobicity. Overall very happy but ICS & resolution breaks many apps. Swype not available 🙁 Has NOT got 1 GB ram, more like 650 🙁
Using SlideIT keyboard now but not as good as Swype. Actually some things better.
Contact and calendar handling not broken like on my HTC Desire HD. Notificafion LED works well except white looks pretty average.
Installed ram and free ram are totally different things…. You do know this right?
Got mine from mobicity, running on optus I’m loving ICS, to the point where im not sure if i will end up rooting it like i did my previous androids. The hardest part was figuring out what the 4 main icons meant (back, home, menu, swap app) and even that is easy. alot of my old games from the G1 era don’t work tho, maybe thats because i have 2D hardware acceleration forced. The load speaker is not as loud as i would like, the camera how ever is amazing, the time it takes you to get out your phone and take a… Read more »
Got mine from a telecom retail provider 756$ after a discount on the handset outright. Had for just over 24 hours. Recent 10c apps and the okayyyy performance and a big night on the piss made me splurge out on one. The real incentive was the price tho. Overall very happy, big screen is good although have to use two hands sometimes. Dislikes include Inconsistent keyboard implementation. Posting this no dictionary auto correct but other apps have it. Not a galaxy issue but the facebook app doesnt have the soft buttons on some screens, so it means resetting your phone… Read more »
Mobicity for $791.95 inc postage. 2 weeks on monday. 6months ago, after my hero was too old and the nexus s was such mediocre hardware. love it.
Got mine from Mobicity. The thing I love most is the consistency of the interface. Android has been all over the shop until now but is not yet as polished overall as an iPhone or Windows Phone but it’s so much more powerful. The recent apps list which allows you to multitask and dismiss apps with a swiping gesture is better than any other platform for a power user. The swiping continues over into browser tabs which have an easier access system now. Swiping has also added polish to notifications allowing you to dismiss individual messages easily. With the gorgeous,… Read more »
Got mine with a Telstra plan. The best way to sum up my feelings would be: The SGSII wowed me, the Nexus not so much.
It’s just not the leap that one would expect. The camera performance and speaker volume are both lacklustre. I think I know how the iPhone 4 to 4s people feel. For a phone that’s come out so much later than the SGSII and is “The Google phone” I really don’t think it was unreasonable to expect more.
got mine from Kogan (i wont be shopping with them again – highest price in aus, didnt get first shipment, mobicity sells for less and gives 2year warranty, foreign power adapter).
$799…a price they never dropped unlike everyone else.
Whats good? No more pain in waiting for 4.0 emulator to budge, native browser HTML5 bugs seem to be all gone (compared to honeycomb), xhdpi screen is awesome, developer setting, lots more.
i had a little play with one the other day in a telstra shop, although the guy seemed more interested in playing with it himself then letting me have a look…But it looked super slick. Despite my i9000 already running ics, it would be nice to have it running on nice hardware, (that screen is amazing) but the lack of sd card slot is a bit of a let down as i have a somewhat hefty music collection and is the only thing standing in the way of an ista-purchace. From experience ics is amazing with the keyboard second to… Read more »
Got mine from mobicity . Decided to get it once i saw the ics google release … Things i am happy with: Ics- android for the mainstream is finally here. Stock ics is awesome. In saying that i rooted and installed mcr as soon as i got it..mcr is very close to stock though. Stock ics keyboard is awesome..nearly worth using instead of swiftkey etc. The screen is beautiful .. videos look amazing.. nice to relive the 2011 granny again in hd on my phone! I love the soft keys, now that paul from mcr has added a search button… Read more »
Having purchased the galaxy note 2months ago i was eager to see the galaxy nexus in the flesh to make up my mind but havent been able to justify buying this as well…as much as i want to! to be honest i really need the micro sd expansion the satisfy my tech nerdy needs…and the screen on the note is every bit as beautiful as the nexus so that wasnt gonna swing me.
id love to have one because ive had SGS 1, SGS 2 and SGNote and feel almost incomplete without SGNexus…competition??? Yes!
How are you finding the note battery life??
Better then expected dude. 10x better then the Desire HD/ EVO 3D
Nice!!! I was hoping you would say that as a real life user…..
It’s a damn fine phone, and a really great OS. Got mine from MobiCity. While there may be phones out there that are better in one or two features (e.g. the 8mp camera of the SGSII, etc), this phone seems to have the strongest *combination* of higher-end features. The screen, as I’m sure almost everyone else says, is amazing, build quality is great, it feels terrific in the hand, light and easy to hold (considering its size). ICS is definitely a big step up from Gingerbread, it’s slick, refined, simple to get your head around. I still see a little… Read more »
I would LOVE there to be a competition for a Galaxy Nexus, only way I could ever possibly manage to get one! Sucks to be an android fan a generation behind forever :/
Where did you get your Galaxy Nexus from?Mobicity, was lucky enough to be in the second batchHow long have you had it for? A few weeks now At what point in time did you set your mind on getting one? When did we start posting leaks and rumours? Around that time. Long before the official announcement anyway. I had a Nexus One and was going to get this Nexus unless it was horrible Are you happy with it overall? If not, what would you like to see changed?Love it! Would change a few things but they will be addressed in… Read more »
got mine from handtec.co.uk for about $700 delivered. got my hands on it on the 25th of november. i decided on getting it when rumoured specs were released (under the prime code name) and then definitely decided on it after the launch presentation which i watched online. right now i’m very happy with the phone. a few thinks like speaker volume being low (fixed with using volume+ app) and not all developers updating apps to ICS platform yet. otherwise everything is great. screen is gorgeous, have tested out android beam with a friends nexus S and the ICS OS is… Read more »
Were you as disappointed as I was when you found out it wasn’t going to be called the Nexus Prime? I almost shed a tear.
I think the developer update-rush will happen when there are more phones going to ICS. I’m guessing most of them are waiting to get their hands on an ICS device to get the update right. Hopefully that hardware acceleration will speed all the apps up.
I completely forgot about the camera effects, I guess it’s something I wouldn’t use regularly (or at all).
I love my Nexus, Ice Cream Sandwich is probably the best feature of it, I keep discovering new features every time I use it
Ah yes, having quickly played with Matt’s GN I can’t go too in-depth, but it looked really nice.
Do you notice it’s more polished than previous versions?
The polish on ICS is excellent, there was a slight learning curve which I was able to get through, little things such as the settings menu is now really well laid out. The widget menu has also been really well looked at as well. I`ve been watching my Niece play with it for the last hour, having never used Android before she picked it up played around with all the Camera functions in the video camera and she is currently going through all the 10 cent apps I purchased during the Google sale. The Camera is awesome in terms of… Read more »