After the dismal results of the Nexus One experiment, we honestly thought Google was done with putting out their own phones. That's, apparently, not the case, with the Google Nexus S gracing store shelves late last year.
Physically, we love the sleek design, which has more in common with the Galaxy S line than its Nexus One predecessor. Build is almost entirely plastic, which kept its profile light; however, the same doesn't inspire much confidence when it comes to surviving drops (we didn't dare try -- sorry). The curved profile should keep the screen from hitting ground, though, if it drops face down. Display is a 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen pimping 800 x 480 pixels of resolution. As with other Super AMOLED phones we've seen, everything looks sharper, richer and deeper than conventional LCDs.
As a phone, the Nexus S made for excellent calls, with loud volume, clear signal and absolutely no background noise. This was true on both ends of the calls. Speakerphone performed in a similarly admirable manner. In our testing, battery should hold you up at close to seven hours of talk time.
Since this is the first Android phone running Gingerbread, it's a step up in terms of the actual OS. Most of the usability improvements (e.g slicker UI, redesigned keyboard, revamped app manager) should be well-received by longtime Android users, while purists will, undoubtedly, appreciate the straight Google experience. For a showcase device, however, it falls a little flat. Other than the enhancements brought about by Gingerbread, features run along the same lines as most Galaxy S devices.
You get the usual smartphone essentials, like a variety of calling options, robust messaging, some PIM tools and a boatload of Google mobile apps. Connectivity options are well-stocked, with 3G, WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth. It's worth noting that the Nexus S has NFC support, which means you can use it for stuff like mobile payments (only when available, of course). Another notable: it doesn't appear to suffer from the GPS problems Samsung's Galaxy S line has become notorious for.
While the Hummingbird processor running here has the same clock speed as the Nexus One, Google's new phone runs noticeably faster. As a result, it ran apps and played media seamlessly. Media player is roughly the same as in Froyo, so it still has some improvements to go. That experience, however, is made worse by the lack of a microSD card slot (you're restricted to the 16GB of internal storage).
The Nexus S has two cameras: a 5.0 megapixel in the rear that can take 720p videos and a VGA webcam for video calling. The latter is serviceable for the purpose, while the former actually manages excellent captures (both stills and videos).
Overall, the Nexus S is a great phone. While it underwhelms as a showcase phone for Google (something like the Atrix would have been more fitting), it's certainly one of the top Android offerings in the market today. It's available for $529 without a contract and $199.99 on a two-year agreement with T-Mobile.
