[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] thekurrgan:
Quite a nice device

When it comes to an Android, the GNex is still at the top IMO. The fact that google supports it directly is very nice, and while it may be a bit behind others in stats, it performs quite admirably. The build quality of the device is on par with other samsung devices such as the S3. The camera is probably its weak point, with only 5mega pixels and run of the mill optics, its not going to win any awards for its pictures. However, it is in line if not better than many other smart phones. The only ones that beat it by a large margin are the s3, iPhone 4s/5, and the OneX. Also, I've noticed that when recording 1080p it can occasionally have the odd stutter. I typically use 720p for space constraints, so it doesnt really bother me, but it is something of a bummer. This is seemingly corrected when using a custom kernel and overclocked a bit, but I typically just run the stock rooted ROM now, as the pure "google" experience is what drew me to the phone in the first place.

it offers a smooth ui with JB that is easily as good as the iPhone 4s, and beyond any other android device i've used, bar none. The battery is *decent*, and by that I mean that I have killed it in less than 10 hours, but I use it quite heavily. 95% of the time it goes from 5:30AM to 11pm-ish and has 25% or so starting at 100.The back speaker that serves as the ringer / notification / speaker phone is not up to snuff IMO, leaving a lot to be desired. In some data centers I am unable to hear it when in my pocket, however the otter box w/ belt clip fixed that pretty quick. The proximity sensor occasionally will allow the screen to come on during a call, but the case interestingly enough solved that too (I think it had to do with adding the bulk to the phone, changing how I hold it.)

The ear buds included are quite satisfactory for both music and phone calls, and are very clear, and have a good range for music, most notably the lower end for bass. As to the USB problem, I do notice that it has a hard time with some of the cheaper car chargers, and acts as if it has a short as it wont stay charging until you wiggle the plug just right. But using a decent car charger fixed that. (Dont buy the 5 dollar wal mart special, I use a motorola cable that came with my Atrix 2 and my car stereo's USB port to charge it and it never screws up)

Thats the only USB related issue I ever had, and it seems to be on the chargers end. The bluetooth radio is quite a bit better when compared to anything else I've used, as typically my ear piece when worn on my right ear with my phone in my left pocket would get a poor quality connection, but this has never been the case with the gnex.

As far as signal strength goes, its antenna is quite decent, however if you are (and it appears you are NOT) in the US and using AT&T, a UG baseband brings it in line with the S3 for signal strength (in dBm) as well as band preference, which with the stock XX baseband 1900 seems to be the preferred band, which in a lot of places wont matter, but in the mountains it can introduce some voice quality / data speed issues when it is clinging to that 1900mhz band like glue when it gets 10x the signal on the 850 bands. The screen is fantastic, and I've never noticed any little dots on it. I've never seen it struggle with any video related app or game, but I have a limited array of games on my phone, not really my thing.

About the only thing it doesn't do (but probably can be made to do) for me is AT&T visual voicemail. I have it on my plan but dont get to use it since the gnex, Also, while it has a pretty good list of APN's, be sure to get the correct one from your current phone if keeping the same carrier, just in case you need to manually create it.

A word on customization: If you plan to do anything with this phone, I recommend doing a fastboot oem unlock right out of the box, THEN set the phone up. unlocking the bootloader requires it to completely wipe itself, which is annoying if you played with the phone for a week and THEN unlock it since at that point you're stock and have no decent tools available yet. Also its really hard to brick the thing, but not impossible: Do some searches, backup the efs, dont use odin and you should be good for all the playing you want to do.

Happy trails and hope you enjoy it as much as I have!