Gotta play the Devil's advocate here, but people aren't complaining because it's not a great phone, they're complaining because it's not the Best Phone Ever.
Remember the Nexus One? That was an awesome phone! Google looked at the smartphone world and said "Now, that's how you make a phone.". It was the best phone at the time, and it stayed at the top for a long time.
Now, remember when people were excited about the Nexus S, waiting for the first dual-core smartphone, and Google and Samsung served us an almost 6 month old hardware (Galaxy S) in a shinny "contour display"? Even though it was a great phone, people were pissed because it looked as if Google changed the Nexus brand from "leading the industry with the best phone ever" to "making a good phone".
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And I agree, but I think the people that want the best phone ever are forgetting what the Nexus line is for. It's not (all) about the hardware, it's about Android. And it always has been.
Google wants the Nexus line to showcase the latest Android OS and the select hardware to compliment the OS.
Yes you are 100% correct, the Nexus One was a BIG jump above everything that was available at the time, but it needed to be. The Android OS needed that horsepower to run how Google wanted it to run. So Google made sure it had what it needed.
Jump to the Nexus S, it wasn't a huge hardware leap and yes, you are 100% correct again, it disappointed many people who were expecting that. But for not being a big jump my Nexus S is still by far faster than any phone out there even today. I pitted it against a Bionic and for general day to day use the Nexus S is still more responsive and quicker. That's saying something for a phone that's been out for almost a year.
Now we're at the Galaxy Nexus and yes, the specs seem to disappoint if you wanted the latest and greatest. But I can promise you in 1 year, it'll still be one of the fastest and best Android phones on the market and THAT is why I would buy one (if I didn't win one...Thanks AC!).
I'm a developer (not an Android developer) and I know first hand that great software can make good hardware run better much easier than great hardware can make software run better. That's why sensed, blured and touchwized up phones need the beefer specs, they are compensating for bloat that's bogging down the phone. The nexus line doesn't have that problem.
That's why spec comparison is inaccurate, you need to use the phone to judge what's better.
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