My concerns about Galaxy Nexus specs

[kboater]

So this is my take on the Galaxy Nexus right now. I have had, and been an android supporter, since the 1st gen mytouch. I have concerns on the hardware that was decided to put in it. BTW, has the OMAP been 100% confirmed? I know I was hoping for 1.2 to 1.5 duel core exynos or better, better gpu then my current vibrant, expandable SD storage, 8+ mp camera... I really dont think was too much to hope for. Android really could have delivered a blow to apple.

gotta say, im hoping that google is making these sacrifices on hardware for a really good reason... such as how the Omap processor, old gpu, and 8mp camera are somehow going to be amazing on this phone and would be better then newer hardware...? I am really praying they used these specs for a reason. I mean they would have to right?, considering its gotta push the 720p large screen, i cant figure out why that gpu (same as my vibrant).

Im just hoping they used this hardware for a specific reason, and really hoping this thing is buttery smooth and fast as hell. I have friends buying iphones, and this nexus better be damn smooth (on home screen too) to show them that android is not laggy. I know hard ware acceleration was rumered, have we found out?

also, this would have been the perfect time to blow apple out of the water. they released the 4s which is just an updated 4, this was googles chance to grab every one on the fence about which to buy. I, and many others, were hoping that it would have had 1.2 or 1.5 duel core exynos, at least 8 mp camera, SD slot, larger battery; and then add all the ICS benefits to make this the best phone hands down ever made.

I will probably get this if it comes to tmobile, but I think google/android missed a rare opportunity to blow apple out of the water. Why could they just have not given us better specs along with the new OS so that we can convince some of those people on the fence to buy android and not iphone?

I really want to see some more good hands on videos with this device, US carrier release dates, and some really good reviews
frustrating

what are your guys thoughts on these points?

 

[ShinyTop]

Re: My concerns with Galaxy Nexus, what do you guys think?

My thoughts? My friends and I are aware of the phone each has but we don't pull them out to show off features. If one cannot get coverage in one location there are other locations we can. I switched from the iPhone because its coverage was so bad outside of cities. But your average iPhone user is not going to switch if the GN had four cores and 30 hour battery life and a 16MP camera. The average android user would not have switched to a iPhone if it had those specs. I want the GN but the Razr is much better looking and has an SD slot ... but wait, no replaceable battery. Its a crap shoot. If you don't jump on the GN you can get the next phone. If you need bragging rights you have more problems than reception or battery life. And that's the truth!

 

[anon(512898)]

Re: My concerns with Galaxy Nexus, what do you guys think?

gotta say, im hoping that google is making these sacrifices on hardware for a really good reason

They did, there are two very important reasons (and a few less important ones) why the omap is the overall better choice than the exynos despite the fact that the exynos is more powerful.

First the galaxy nexus can now be a true successor to the nexus one, it will provide a reference platform for oems to base their designs off of. This is because it uses off the shelf component in its design. The nexus one used a snapdragon and that became the platform of choice for most oems, moving forward the omap will be the platform of choice and android will see a similar level of uniformity in chipsets that 2.1 and 2.2 devices saw last year and honeycomb devices saw this year. This will make application development easier. The nexus s could not do this because it used samsung's in house chipset, if the galaxy nexus used exynos a similar situation would have arisen.

Another important thing to consider is the gpu. While inferior to the mali in exynos, the powervr in the omap is the same gpu that is currently in upwards of 100 million iphone4s. This means that the application developers are very familiar with this chipset and coding for it will be easy and optimized. the mali will never be in a non samsung device and thus will never see the same levels of support.

There are other smaller advantages, the only one I can think of off the top of my head however is that the omap has good hardware level encryption, which is why the omap is the only netflix certified chipset. This is important for android since aosp android is lacking in software level encryption, the chipset can somewhat make up the difference.

 

[anon(512898)]

Re: My concerns with Galaxy Nexus, what do you guys think?

not the iphone 4s (new model), iphone4s (plural)

As for dated hardware, what else was available on the market for google to use that would have still provided the benefits of a standard platform for oems to follow (not in house chipsets)?

 

[anon(512898)]

Re: My concerns with Galaxy Nexus, what do you guys think?

It is true that the internals are nothing to write home about (its the same as the droid razr), but the samoled hd is not a spec to be taken lightly, and while you remain fixated on the 5mp number I am impressed at the quick shutter time and quality of the shots. While you bring on the dated gpu, I remember that android is built on java, which has a reputation for being cpu intensive and has not been known to heavily use gpus.

 

[Scottatron]

Agree, for a Nexus, this phone really didn't set a new standard or anything....

Can't help but be a bit underwhelmed.

 

[crzycrkr]

Agree, for a Nexus, this phone really didn't set a new standard or anything....

Can't help but be a bit underwhelmed.

Neither did the last two Nexus. Why would this one be different?

 

[Scottatron]

Neither did the last two Nexus. Why would this one be different?

I would say the N1 did, definitely not the S however.

I dunno, I think people are super excited re ICS (myself included!), but spec wise I had hoped Google would do better.

 

[crzycrkr]

I would say the N1 did, definitely not the S however.

I dunno, I think people are super excited re ICS (myself included!), but spec wise I had hoped Google would do better.

I guess the N1 did kind of set a standard for Android phones, but there was nothing groundbreaking about it. The GN can also set a standard, but we need to see what happens after it comes out.

I also think we need to remember that the landscape of Android has changed since the N1. Its no longer the little upstart with a couple phones a year. It is much harder to wow people with specs now. They can't just pull hardware no one has heard of out of thin air. I think the specs on the phone are good. It may be a bit big for me, but the hardware is solid. Add that to how fast a pure Google experience is, and the phone will be incredible. Hell, my NS still keeps up with all the new dual cores, so I'm sure the GN will be top of the line for at least a year.

 

[obi5683]

Nexus is designed to be a baseline, not bleeding edge. It is also a software showcase.

 

[TuxDotKing]

It feels like so many in the Android community think the only answer to performance issues is "throw bigger numbers at it! 6.93GHz Octo-core! 8 GB quadchannel DDR4 RAM! 2,048 MP camera that takes six hours to shoot and is still blurry as hell!"

It's like this, basically:

The specs on the Galaxy Nexus are just fine. They may not be bleeding edge but they are current, and device should perform more than smoothly given the hardware power. If they don't, then the software isn't optimized well enough for the hardware, in which case that should be the complaint.

Also, seriously: Megapixels mean almost nothing, nothing when it comes down to actual picture quality; you should be excited that Google decided not to join the 'numbers game' and instead delivered a much higher quality camera than the competition this time around (well, 'cept maybe the Nokia N9). It takes great pictures! It takes them quickly! Never miss a shot! It takes great video! In 1080p! No more Mr. Blurrycam in those low light situations! What more could you ask for?

 

[oxymoron]

The best thing about a Nexus, is the newest software... ALWAYS.

THAT is why I want/have always wanted a Nexus.

Add to that NFC, HD Super Amoled display, and an improved camera..... come on guys. This thing is a home run. Anyone that doesn't understand that should pass, and get the ZOMG!!! phone that will be rumored shortly.

*customized tapatalk signature*

 

[edoublediz]

you cant put an exynos chip that only samsung uses in a platform development phone!! This phone is the shiz!! if you are only interested in numbers and specs, this is not the phone for you. You have 3 other major carriers to go pick up an SGS2 from. Get that and wait for the ICS update!!

 

[Serial Fordicator]

From what I read exyneos cannot work on VZWs LTE due to frequencies. Be glad its not in the Galnex

 

[edoublediz]

PS, those people concerned or irritated about the 5mp camera need to do some research about mp's. this is a mobile device! not a d-slr. do you understand how much more functional zero lag shutter is than 3 extra mp? not to mention the sizes 99% of most people will be veiwing them, the extra 3 is physically impossible to detect. remember unless you are printing them, you will never see more than 2.2 million pixels, they native resolution of HDTV, 1920x1080 maybe 1920x1200 on some displays. if 2.2 million pixels is good enough to view on a 55" TV 5 will suffice for the camera on my phone.

you guys go get the 8 and while you are waiting for the camera to focus, adjust, write the file to the card, etc. i while be hammering away never missing a shot!

 

[delco714]

I still don't get it... The screen is 4.65 including the on screen buttons... But can the screen ever use the full 4.65, or will it be essentially 4.3?

 

[firelightx]

I still don't get it... The screen is 4.65 including the on screen buttons... But can the screen ever use the full 4.65, or will it be essentially 4.3?

I have no confirmation on this, of course, but I've been assuming videos would hide the buttons until you click the screen.

Was gonna say basically what everyone else has, but well.. everyone else has already said it. So I guess I'll just throw my lot in with them? There is one point to bring up:

ICS specifically comes with support for dual-core optimization AND hardware acceleration. These two things alone are some of the most powerful upgrades, and sadly they'll be some of the most overlooked. What they do is allow the phone to use it's full potential for displaying apps and processing information. In short: every single Android phone before this one hasn't been able to use the hardware put into it properly. ICS allows a phone to finally do that, which means it takes lower specs to accomplish better results than we've ever seen an Android phone do before.

This is why it's important to not get so hung up on specs. There's a reason why iPhone customers only have to worry about storage space. iOS has been perfectly optimized to work with it's hardware. This is how the 4S can launch with an 800mHz processor in it and still be smoother and sleeker to use than any android phone on the market. Now, Android has stepped up to that game, finally. Appreciate that detail for what it is and don't worry so much about numbers.

 

[CynicX]

I still don't get it... The screen is 4.65 including the on screen buttons... But can the screen ever use the full 4.65, or will it be essentially 4.3?

Tablets can use the full screen assuming you are watching a video that doesn't need to be resize (4:3). No reason the Nexus won't.

 

[Asterdroid]

It feels like so many in the Android community think the only answer to performance issues is "throw bigger numbers at it! 6.93GHz Octo-core! 8 GB quadchannel DDR4 RAM! 2,048 MP camera that takes six hours to shoot and is still blurry as hell!"

It's like this, basically:
Click to view quoted image


The specs on the Galaxy Nexus are just fine. They may not be bleeding edge but they are current, and device should perform more than smoothly given the hardware power. If they don't, then the software isn't optimized well enough for the hardware, in which case that should be the complaint.

Also, seriously: Megapixels mean almost nothing, nothing when it comes down to actual picture quality; you should be excited that Google decided not to join the 'numbers game' and instead delivered a much higher quality camera than the competition this time around (well, 'cept maybe the Nokia N9). It takes great pictures! It takes them quickly! Never miss a shot! It takes great video! In 1080p! No more Mr. Blurrycam in those low light situations! What more could you ask for?

+1

The full hardware acceleration on this device is much bigger than the specs.

 

[RapMasterC]

I think the only "weak" part of the Galaxy Nexus was the processor.

Seeing as how the OMAP 4470 is scheduled for release in the 4th quarter this year, it would have been a great time to show the new SoC in action.

It comes with the PowerVR SGX544 (which is essentially a single core gpu that in the A5 chip - and might have been a better balance of power and energy savings) and a dedicated 2D processor.