[Crispy]

Here's the review -

And some quotes which will NOT make you happy -

WTF Google - it STILL has lag ?!

"As to overall performance, we saw a good deal of stutter in the Galaxy Nexus before us. Taps were not always recognized and there were occasional delays in performing an instruction"

"it unfortunately remains the case that Android isn’t as swift and responsive as iOS or Windows Phone (or even MeeGo Harmattan on the N9). Or at least it wasn’t on the demo phone we got a look at. The subtle, pervasive lag that has characterized the Android UI since it inception is still there, which is not a heartening thing to hear when you’re talking about a super-powered dual-core device like the Galaxy Nexus"


Is it a task manager or isn't it??

"The Recent Apps link brings up a visual multitasking overview, which is very similar to the design in Honeycomb and shows a vertically scrollable list of the latest applications you’ve opened. They’re all represented by a screen grab of the last activity you had in each app and can be dismissed by being swiped out of the way. Importantly, that action doesn’t shut down the app, just removes it from the list, turning the Recent Apps into a sort of launcher rather an than actual task manager. The reason for this decision, Google tells us, is that the company believes it knows how to manage apps’ resource usage and doesn’t want you to ever worry about “killing” them. Brave words.

Update: Google misinformed us — swiping away an app does more than just remove it from the list. It turns out it is killing some background processes, etc."


This is stupid - long presses are a highlight of Android. You can't swipe buttons or text but you can easily long press.

" Importantly, Google is saying that it’s moving away from the use of the long press in Ice Cream Sandwich, it’s all about swiping from here on out."



The worst part is Google claim ICS does have hw acceleration, and it still doesn't fix the lag. So gpu support is not the dream solution many have been hoping for for years! No wonder Google didn't say a word about this during the keynote.

[Ricolando]

Engadget said it was "startlingly fast", and their video seems to back it up.

[RoninX]

It's ridiculous for This Is My Next to claim that all Android phones have lag. The SGS2 has zero lag. And even the notoriously pro-Apple reports that the Droid RAZR has "not a hint of lag".

If the Galaxy Nexus has lag, then that's a problem with the phone and ICS, not an immutable characteristic of Android. But I'm skeptical of even that, given that TIMN is the only source that's claiming lag. Every other hands-on report I've seen says that the Nexus is very fast.

[kca2000]

I just watched the whole This is my next/Verge hands on video again to make sure. I didnt see any lag at all. Also looking for mis presses and slowdown. Never saw a hiccup.
To be honest i dont trust anyone at This is my next other then Josh Topolsky. Vlad aint getting it done in HK apparently because his video contradicts what he says. Wait till Josh reviews it.

[Crispy]

It's ridiculous for This Is My Next to claim that all Android phones have lag. The SGS2 has zero lag. And even the notoriously pro-Apple reports that the Droid RAZR has "not a hint of lag".

If the Galaxy Nexus has lag, then that's a problem with the phone and ICS, not an immutable characteristic of Android. But I'm skeptical of even that, given that TIMN is the only source that's claiming lag. Every other hands-on report I've seen says that the Nexus is very fast.

The point is that Android has had lag forever on fast phones. And this lag is due to Java garbage collection, and also not using the gpu. Watch a few review of the SGSII on youtube and you can see it easily (little jerks, response time when hitting home etc). Reviewers typically compare it to other Android phones. No one has ever said Android is as smooth as WP7 or iOS, which is the goal.

I have an Evo 4G and and I really hope Android becomes as fast as the competition, because I know my phone's hardware is damn fast. I am not convinced ICS will do it. And Google certainly hasn't said it will, which I find suspicious.

[The Mad Mule]

Yes, nothing frustrates me more on my Droid X when it doesn't register me tapping on something. From all the videos I've seen, it looks like the Galaxy Nexus still does it as well, albeit not as often.

[jamesbrown33]

No one else has reported lag, in fact engadget noted that it seemed faster than the gs2, and all of the videos I have seen give plenty of support to saying that it is lag free

[mtmjr90]

To be honest i dont trust anyone at This is my next other then Josh Topolsky. Vlad aint getting it done in HK apparently because his video contradicts what he says. Wait till Josh reviews it.

Not even Dieter?! Shame!

Sent from my HTC Evo 3D using Tapatalk

[Crispy]

No one else has reported lag, in fact engadget noted that it seemed faster than the gs2, and all of the videos I have seen give plenty of support to saying that it is lag free

Watch the engadget review and you'll see it not responding to taps. btw, the guy doing the engadget review had no clue what he was doing.

[SpaceHippie]

No lag on the face recognition app. I will def. be using this if it's this fast.

[Crispy]

Here's an obvious troll review -

Crap like this I don't bother with. In contrast, the one from TIMN seems like he spent a decent amount of time and has no obvious bias.

[Crispy]

No lag on the face recognition app. I will def. be using this if it's this fast.

That was awesome! Someone should test this in low light (what happens when I want to unlock my phone when I'm out at night) and also if it can be defeated with a picture.

[sushiglobster]

No lag on the face recognition app. I will def. be using this if it's this fast.

Most impressive!

[6tr6tr]

Engadget said it was "startlingly fast", and their video seems to back it up.

Exactly and if you watch some of the videos, they ALSO have the long press as well as the swipe gesture. Watch the video on Engadget and when he's in the multitask view, he does both swipe and long presses (the long press brings up a popup).

And in the Engadget video, it's smooth and blazing fast. Watch how fast facial recognition is!

[kca2000]

That was awesome! Someone should test this in low light (what happens when I want to unlock my phone when I'm out at night) and also if it can be defeated with a picture.

Yeah im also wondering how this will work (or if at all) at night in a car or somewhere with no surrounding light? Im not switching on the dome light to unlock the phone. If it does not work at night, ill never use it.

[ejaymd11]

Seems like you are purposely trying to find something wrong with it. How about you get an Iphone so you won't have to worry about lag huh?

[_Aurel_]

It looks very smooth to me. I don't care enough if it lags a once in a blue moon. iOS isn't immune to it, just try to fire up universal search from the application screen.

B-b-b-b-b-big deal.

[Andrew Ruffolo]

Yeah im also wondering how this will work (or if at all) at night in a car or somewhere with no surrounding light? Im not switching on the dome light to unlock the phone. If it does not work at night, ill never use it.

You'll have to setup a secondary mode of unlocking in case it cannot recognize your face. When he covered up the camera it almost instantaneously brought up the swipe pattern lock.

[jrdatrackstar1223]

This is why I switched to the Arrive...

Sorry folks, but this will never go away in Android until they re-write the OS from the ground up. iOS and WP7.5 are composite based operating systems...meaning they're pre-developed from the ground up (making them a controlled environment). Android is "free' and "open", allowing widgets and customization and such, and will never be lag free unless it is re-written...

[dcgore]

Yes, i hate how laggie the FB app is for instance.

[qnet]

The looks really smooth in this video. The main thing I was looking for is the home screen transitions. The other reviewers swiped it very quickly and it was hard to tell. In this video, when seen up close, it looks like the transitions from screen to screen flows, just like the iphone.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htbXBGdVVwg[/yt]

[alterbridge86]

Heads up for those with concerns about the missed touchs/responsiveness reported - Engadget updated their initial article:

Update: turns out our demo phone was a bit of an early build; we touched another model later in the day, and our response gripes were gone. Perfectly responsive. Hopefully that's the one that'll ship out.

As a whole, the TIMN "review" is really weird - the words just don't match up with the videos that are flying around everywhere. From what I can see, the device is fast, fluid, amazing, and I want it

Bottom line - don't put too much stake in what these people say, watch videos of the device in use, touch it yourself when possible, and make a solid opinion based on your own personal interaction with the device.

[ottscay]

Here's you answers: The app switcher is also a task killer, although probably one that allows the OS a bit of intelligent flexibility if it needs to keep something in memory to keep operating smoothly.

Long presses really aren't that awesome. My wife mostly lovers he Dinc, but still manages to not find things that require a long press. A long press also takes more time than a gesture. I'm sure long-presses will still be used in places where they are the only practical choice (perhaps to reveal power-user items), but for commonly used actions swipe gestures are faster and more intuitive for the majority of people.

As for "lag", it's BS. Engadget has stated it was an early build, and the TIMN people were referring to watching someone demo a phone (i.e., not the one that was in their video) during their write-up. Everyone else (and all of the videos) from last night say the thing is fast and slick.

So I'm going to have to believe them and my own eyes over John Gruber and TIMN.

[StefanYFC]

I don't 'splore the forums often here at AC, but holy ing trolls!

The videos I've watched last night and since then have been lag free. I was incredibly surprised at how smooth everything was. Now after watching Engadget test the facial recognition I am truly sold. I can't believe how fast it was. As for the task killer/switcher, I rarely 'kill' apps in GB anyways.. Google says it lets Android handle tasks because IT CAN ACTUALLY DO IT. They aren't just lying.. I love that I can swipe them away now, but honestly I'll probably never have to use it.

[Jesse Potter]

It's so hard to believe what any of the other tech blogs say about any Android device. They love to hate Android, and they almost always make mountains out of mole hills.

Sometimes I wonder what reviewers would say if Apple had made Android, and Google had made iOS.

Happy to see the lag rumors put to rest though. If the Epic 4G Touch can be as responsive and smooth as iOS, then there's no reason ICS/GN shouldn't be.