Google Nexus S – iPhone 4′s latest rival

Today, Google finally announced the long awaited sequel to the Nexus One. The Nexus S has been manufactured by Samsung, and is home to the newest version of Android software, Gingerbread, or Android 2.3. So, why is it being mentioned on an iPhone blog? Well, I think it’s only right that we take a look at the iPhone’s competitors as, quite clearly, the iPhone isn’t as far ahead of the game as it was back in the early days. First of all, the form factor is a bit unusual. It’s almost like someone with ridiculously strong hands has grabbed hold of a Nokia 5800 too tight.

So, what does the Nexus S have that could be a threat to the iPhone 4? To start with the touchscreen isn’t flat. It’s got a concave piece of glass on it, which supposedly helps make it easier to use. To quote Google’s launch page: “…it is the first smartphone to launch with a Contour Display. The curved glass screen fits comfortably in the palm of your hand and along the side of your face.” I’ll have to take a look to see if this is the case, because I’m not convinced yet. The best thing about the display for me is that it has an anti-fingerprint coating. Man, would I love one of those on my iPad.

Although the resolution may be lower than the iPhone 4′s at 480×800, the Super Amoled display will show some serious color. The display is reported to have a crazily high contrast ratio, which makes everything look sharper. It turns out resolution isn’t everything, let me explain a little. Check the image below:

The picture on the left has a resolution around twice that of the image on the right, but because of the increased contrast the right image looks a lot sharper (at first glance at least). So, the Retina display may be more pixel packed than our eye can handle, but it could turn out that we perceive the Nexus S screen as being sharper. Weird huh? This may come in handy with the pixels being stretched over a 4 inch display. (For more info on resolution vs. sharpness check out this article.)

Apart from that the Nexus’ 1Ghz Cortex A8 hummingbird processor should be zippy. It also has a 5mp camera with 720p video recording, plush an LED flash, same as the iPhone 4. And has a front facing camera for video calls. (Strange how these have come back in to play after FaceTime was released right?)  It’s battery boasts almost 7 hours of talk time on 3G, and 14 hours on 2G, with a standby of up to 30 days on 2G. (Seriously?! 30 Days?I’d love to field test that.) It also has a 3 axis gyroscope, like the iPhone 4, proximity and light sensors, plus some noise cancellation during calls.

Some cool new features include NFC (Near Field Communication), a tool that enables your phone to read “smart tags” and store information from posters, stickers etc. It can also be used as a mobile WiFi hotspot for up to 6 other devices. The effectiveness of this will be determined by your carrier’s performance in your area. One interesting exclusion is the option to expand memory. The handset comes with 16GB of flash memory, with no MicroSD slot. This could be a bit of a sticking point for those who normally enjoy the freedom of adding their own memory to their smartphones.

So, all in all, specs are pretty similar with the added few bonuses on the Nexus. As there are no published figures by Apple on how fast the A4 processor is, there’s no telling how the two compare, but, I wouldn’t bet on the Nexus S being slower. With the hardware and features being so evenly matched, it boils down to carrier and OS preference. Out of the box the device is unlocked, so that any GSM carrier pretty much worldwide will work on the Nexus S.

In my opinion it’s an even match with the iPhone 4.  Any of you tempted to ditch your iPhone 4 in favor of this unlocked Android device? What about you who are still waiting on the white iPhone, would you rather jump ship to the Nexus S? Comment below

Posted by Jagz SingH on 13:12. Filed under Apple, iPhone killer . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0