Dubbed by Google as “one of the fastest phones on the market”, the Google Nexus S has enjoyed reasonably positive sales figures in the first few months following its release. But, as Android technology hurtles forward and other manufacturers seek to push the mobile boundaries with innovative new handsets, will the Nexus S remain at the cutting edge?
The Google Nexus S was developed by mobile manufacturing giant Samsung in conjunction with Google itself, as a successor to the Google Nexus One. Its arrival sparked excitement amongst technoholics who were keen to put the Nexus S’s pure, unskinned version of Android’s 2.3 Gingerbread operating system through its paces. On the speed front at least, it didn’t disappoint.
With a 1GHz Hummingbird processor and 16GB of memory, the Nexus S is lightning fast, rivalling the iPhone for its ability to open web pages, apps and other functions with minimum response time. The swiftly-loading pages and functions are displayed on a four inch Super AMOLED screen, offering a more superior image quality and brightness than the Nexus One.
There have been some criticisms of the Nexus S, with users reporting bugs in its text messaging capabilities and automatic reboots after telephone calls. Some have said the Nexus S is better at behaving like a computer than it is a telephone – perhaps unsurprising for a phone produced by the Internet’s most successful organisation.
But the clinchers for the Nexus S are its vastly increased storage and its dedicated Android operating system. Compared to a paltry 200MB on the Nexus One, having 1GB of storage, makes a world of difference, and vastly increases the scope of what the Nexus S can be used for. Placing that 1GB of storage on a handset that is pure Android through and through – no skins and no other software tagged on to it – makes the Nexus S an instant choice for anyone looking for a pure Google phone experience.
However, the Nexus S will, like all other handsets, have a limited reign at the top before it’s inevitably knocked of its perch by the next device that will do everything faster, more efficiently and at the right price.
That’s most likely to happen when Google lets loose its Android 2.4 operating system – thought to be known as ‘Ice Cream’ in May. Already, tech heads around the net are tipping the HTC Pyramid 4G to be the handset that best harnesses the new Android system when it launches in June.
But the Nexus S will retain the lure of being able to offer pure Android, in all its incarnations, and that could keep it at the top of the pile until Google decides to enter the fray once more with another of its own handsets.
