Hi peeps, just back from molesting my friend's GNex. Apparently, it's engineering set, which means, a lot of stuff are not in there and it's not meant for day-to-day use.
First missing stuff, Market. So I can't test most of the stuff that requires Market to install, while I have attached the rest of the photos I took.
First shot I took when I got hold of the phone. Notice the different look on the 3 soft buttons design, which shows that it's a pre-production unit (or was it ICS 4.0?).
Another shot of it with the screen off. The bezel is quite obvious against the dark background.
Front & back, against my hand. It felt really slim, probably because it was wider and longer than S2. I think it would be best in the hand with a cover, to make it thicker. The gunmetal finishing on the chassis is good for fingerprints repellent, but it is also slippery smooth at the same time. Expect to drop the phone if you have average sized hand, or smaller. Despite the cheap feel of plastic on the back cover, as per S2's design, I prefer this kind of cover against my SGS' one, as this is easier to remove and put back on, and it felt as if it won't be loose after many opening and closing. Maybe just me.
1 of my most anticipated feature of ICS4. Goes away 3G Watchdog and LBE Privacy. Reliability is still a question as I have no time to test it, even don't have time to understand it.
As I said, Market was not in the phone, hence I look for 1 in Google, doing a real quick search. The link to Market 3.3.1.2 FC-ed the browser, hence I took 3.3.1.1. Noticed the switching of places between Cancel & Install? In ICS, all the Accept/OK buttons are on the right, as opposed to the randomly placed one in GB, which is misleading. This is very... Windows-like now.
There's a "Personal dictionary" now, compared to GB and HC, which was non-existent. I guess the dictionary is now global, not keyboard specific. It has its pros and cons, but I personally preferred this, as I don't have to train/define my own keywords for all keyboards used. But this also means, developers might have to develop keyboards specifically for ICS. Just my guess, I wonder how well does Swype Beta works on ICS, if only I have more time. Google IME now shows Chinese names instead, which I think it came pre-installed with the phone.
Wondering about the "Pointer speed"? Remember how FY and GB was able to pair with BT mouse? I guess this is to control the pointer speed. A good thing, but I was satisfied with my GB + Ms BT Mouse 5000's pointer speed. Good to have as well, as different people might have different preferences. Didn't bring my gear to test this. Notice the ugly BT icon up there? I don't like it, too big.
I guess you all have been waiting for this screen, fella flashers. I almost forget about it. Fortunately I remembered. Remember someone said that GNex looks like tuna? I guess the reference was obvious as "maguro" means tuna in Japanese. Volume bug not existent in this f/w version. Or because I was using Digi's 2G mode, which was different frequency?
"Yes!", I heard you all saying? Download mode is easily accessible with VolDown+Power from off phone. The phone vibrates once you entered the Download mode, neat! Ignore the moire effect on Bug Droid, only visible from camera due to pixellation/aa filter. Another issue here, in order to restart the phone from here, have to unplug battery. I held power button for longer than 10 seconds, the phone still won't off.
Another sign where accept button are all consistently placed on the right side. Another plus point for the new browser, which it retains the opened tabs even after you restarted the phone. Something Safari has been doing on iPad2 (not sure about iPad1, iPhones and etc) and I wished it would be on my phone, or at least my HC tablet. Thank god for ICS!
Sorry peeps, I didn't test the maximum number of tabs, the whole browser interface felt too different to be able to use it like I used it. You can try it once you bought the phone.
2 profile shots to show how slim they are, pretty useless shots as you can find it anywhere else. Wanted to capture the curved screen, but it was really difficult with my SGS. Can barely focus and snap properly with 1 hand.
Before I forget, how could I? *#*#1234*#*#. I forgot to test screen capture button, I guess it might not work for this unit.
A shot of the battery
And finally, the back cover, the inside has the phone's model code. There was a rectangular shaped thickness on the rear cover, I wonder if it has anything to do with NFC? Nothing else like cushion to push the battery in place like some older phones.
Oh, I wanted to do the soyacincau back cover bend test, my friend don't allow. lol
Verdict: This version of ICS still feel a big laggy at the home screen. I did not try folders creation. There was no way to add more home screens as well (only 5 now, similar to HC), hopefully the upgrade would include this feature? Running the camera app from lock screen took almost a full second. Zero Shutter Lag was not working, as tested by my friend, not sure if one need to set it to continuous shooting? The camera was in continuous focus mode, which I guess helps in shorten the time to snap a photo as it has already pre-focus. Which means it consumes more battery juice than older versions?
Excitement level was not that high, but I would still get this phone as I want some pure Google experience and latest ROM. There was no "Software Update" option in the About screen, unfortunately. The screen was a tad sticky. If comparing the oleophobic feel of this screen against my seasoned iPad2, I find that iPad2 has better oleophobic coating than this. So, find yourself a really good screen protector. Tested it in a/c environment, meaning I wasnt sweating off the tip of my fingers.
I guess that's all, sorry if I wasn't able to test out some of the stuff you guys needed. I spend the whole time trying it out and taking some photos, no time to check the forum for any additional requests. Anyway, this preview is unjust as it's engineering unit. It's better to have an actual market unit.
On a sidenote, this phone might be priced at RM2099. I heard of this only, so don't hold it against me if it's higher/lower than this price when it's launched. I'm giving it RM2299 top, anything higher, I'd just wait for it to drop then.
Sorry for the lengthy post and thank you for even reading it. lol.
EDIT: Forgot to mention, phone off charging screen still there, now with an Android + a huge battery + lightning in the body of the Android. Screen will comes on when you press power button once.
As for the SAMOLED HD screen, it's superb! You don't need Retina Display, this is already good enough as I tried very hard to look for pixel with my bare eyes, hardly noticeable. Roboto font is really nice, it's more standardize look on browser. I kinda hated how my browser's font looks @ SGS as it has very bad consistency all over, now in ICS, it's just... very "Apple" feel.
Nov 26 2011, 12:17 AM, updated 14y ago
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