Google Samsung Galaxy Nexus Review

by Jennifer Johnson — Thursday, December 22, 2011, 12:30 PM EDT

Since browsing the Web is a key feature of any smartphone, we also conducted some formal speed tests to see how well the Galaxy Nexus compares to some of today's hottest smartphones.

Of the Verizon Wireless phones in our test database, the Galaxy Nexus earned the last spot on the Xtremelabs 4G test. Even as the lowest of the Verizon Wireless 4G scores, the Galaxy Nexus still bested most other networks' 4G offerings in this test with the exception of the Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch from Sprint. Upload speeds using this test were excellent compared to many of the phones in our reference chart.

For whatever reason, the Galaxy Nexus struggled with both the Xtremelabs 3G test and the Speedtest.net 3G test. We've heard that Verizon Wireless has acknowledged signal issues with the Galaxy Nexus and is working on a fix. Whether this fix will change the data scores on these tests remains to be seen.

The Galaxy Nexus did well in the Speedtest.net 4G test, coming in fourth place. Upload speeds in this test earned the top spot by a large margin.

Although these tests are designed to put a quantitative score on web browsing performance, it's important to keep in mind that network speeds can vary depending on many factors and the test results can also vary from one day to the next. Overall, we were satisfied with the real-world browsing speeds on the Galaxy Nexus and felt the speeds were in line with other phones we've seen recently.

Tags: Samsung, Cell Phone, Android, Verizon Wireless, smartphone, Google, LTE, wireless, Cellphone, 4G, fourth generation, Ice Cream Sandwich, ICS, Galaxy Nexus, Android 4.0

Jennifer Johnson

Jennifer grew up around technology. From an early age, she was curious about all things related to computers. As a child, Jennifer remembers spending nights with her dad programming in BASIC and taking apart hard drives to see what was inside. In high school, she wrote her senior term paper on her experiences with building custom computers.

Jennifer graduated from the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. After college, she began writing full-time for various PC and technology magazines. Later, she transitioned to the Web. In these roles, Jennifer has covered a variety of topics including laptops, desktops, smartphones, cameras, tablets, and various consumer electronics devices. When she's not playing with or writing about the latest gadget, Jennifer loves to spend time with her family, capture memories with her camera, and scrapbook.

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