The Samsung Galaxy Nexus has been one of the most popular smartphones on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network. It received excellent reviews and appeared in the top ten best smartphones of 2011. ABI research has revealed what is inside the first Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich superphone.
The Galaxy Nexus has a money-saving secret the modem that is a combination of a Via Telecom CDMA/EVDO Rev. A integrated circuit and a Samsung LTE baseband integrated circuit. The Galaxy Nexus has a new version of the LTE baseband chip that costs 50% less than previous chip’s $23 price tag.
You may also noticed that the Verizon has been reducing the prices of its 4G LTE smartphones. Amazon Wireless cut the price of the price of Samsung Galaxy Nexus for new customers down to $99.99 and to $229.99 for renewing customers.
Major Samsung Galaxy Nexus inside circuitry includes:
- New Samsung LTE baseband chip.
- NFC support, with NFC antenna embedded in the battery.
- CSR GPS single chip.
- Broadcom Wi-Fi Bluetoot and FM radio on a single chip.
- Avago LTE PA and GPS frontend.
- 1.2GHz OMAP4460 dual-core processor.
The TI OMAP4460 processor runs at 1.2GHz and has matched the performance of the prior handset performance leader (Samsung’s own Exynos running at 1.2GHz). The OMAP4460 matched the performance and power consumption for graphics and video test but consumed significantly more power in computational intensive tests.
The Samsung Galaxy Nexus does draw a lot of battery power which is why we suggested some battery saving tips. Verizon Wireless sells additional batteries and chargers.
The Galaxy Nexus came in fourth place in Wireless and Mobile News top ten best hottest coolest smartphones of 2011. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus was also a top seller in December on Amazon Wireless.
When ifixit took about the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, they found that battery replacement and headphone jack replacement was easy. However, the glass is fused to the screen and the framing making DYI replacement difficult.
Sprint announced that they will offer a Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the future