I received my Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Friday, so I've been using it solidly for a little over 36 hours as I write this. I'm loving it, and it's lightyears beyond previous versions of Android. For perspective, my history among smartphones goes back to a <a title="Cingular 8125" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Wizard">Cingular 8125</a>, progresses to a Verizon <a title="Samsung SCH-i760" href="http://www.gigatrike.com/i760.jpg">Samsung SCH-i760</a>, takes a bold leap to a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_pre">Sprint Palm Pre</a> (WebOS was robbed!), a lateral move to a Sprint <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Evo_4G">HTC Evo 4G</a> - which became a true upgrade once I discovered <a href="http://www.cyanogenmod.com/">CyanogenMod</a>!, and finally a very satisfying step forward to a Verizon Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Here's my "first weekend and a workday" impressions:<!--more-->
<h3>Highs</h3>
<ul>
	<li>Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich</li>
<ul>
	<li>New browser app (more on this later), new dialer, new contacts, new settings layout, new launcher with new handy shortcuts (Market in the app drawer, settings in the notifications pulldown), swipe to clear notifications in pulldown shade, widget gallery in app drawer.</li>
</ul>
	<li>Beautiful high-res screen (720x1280 in 4.65")</li>
<ul>
	<li>It's OLED, it's huge, and pretty. Leaving the brightness on "auto" leans just a tad dim for my taste, but for now I'm leaving it in the interest of battery life.</li>
</ul>
	<li>32GB of storage</li>
<ul>
	<li>I was actually pleasantly surprised to see so much internal storage space. I think this was a smart move on Google's part since it offsets the sticker shock of paying $299 for a new on-contract phone. $299 puts it at price and storage parity with the 32GB iPhone (except Verizon isn't getting the 16GB model and there isn't a 64GB).</li>
</ul>
	<li>Accurate digitizer</li>
<ul>
	<li>My Evo had a large screen (4.3") but the digitizer had a learning curve before I was able to accurately tap small things on-screen</li>
</ul>
	<li>Quick sharp-focusing camera with rapid shooting</li>
<ul>
	<li>The camera can utilize the flash as an auto-focus assist light when necessary. The lens supports tap-to-focus. You can take pictures about as fast as you can tap the button on-screen.</li>
</ul>
	<li>NFC</li>
<ul>
	<li>I'm not using this yet, but you'll never use it in a phone that doesn't have it.</li>
</ul>
	<li>Responsive on-screen keyboard</li>
<ul>
	<li>My standard tactic of "tap as fast as I can and correct typos later" works great here. If I rapidly tap out a sentence or two, I normally only have 1 or 2 typos. Note: my soft keyboard typing skills are probably below average due to a long history of using Swype.</li>
</ul>
	<li>Very thin</li>
<ul>
	<li>Here's some comparison shots next to an iPhone 4S and my Evo 4G.</li>
</ul>
	<li>Slightly textured battery cover</li>
<ul>
	<li>It's a nice texture and fun to hold. Slightly slick (will slide off your jeans if you place it at an angle).</li>
</ul>
	<li>Type-as-you-speak speech dictation</li>
<ul>
	<li>Under Gingerbread and earlier versions of Android, dictated text would be recorded and sent up to Google servers for transcription. Under ICS, text is sent in much smaller bursts, maybe per word or per syllable. The end result is that text appears on-screen as you speak, much like using Dragon Dictation or iPhone 4S Siri dictation.</li>
</ul>
	<li>Multiple desktop dock options</li>
<ul>
	<li>Vertical and horizontal desktop docks, and the horizontal uses the charging contacts on the side so it's easy to dock and pick up (I hope!)</li>
</ul>
	<li>Browser can remember user-agent preferences</li>
<ul>
	<li>I just found this feature as I wrote this blog post.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<h3>Neutral</h3>
<ul>
	<li>Slight Android launcher redesign</li>
<ul>
	<li>Apps in app drawer are paginated in a 4x5 grid. Swipe sideways to go from page to page. My understanding that this is a standard convention for Samsung TouchWiz launchers, but I won't swear to it since I've never carried a TouchWiz phone.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<h3>Lows</h3>
<ul>
	<li>No microSD slot</li>
<ul>
	<li>This really isn't terrible since there's 32GB of storage onboard.</li>
</ul>
	<li>Battery life (130 emails, 4G disabled)</li>
<ul>
	<li>So here's the ugly truth. Battery life ain't pretty. Here's my raw stats from today (4G disabled, screen birghtness set to auto): off the charger at 7am at 100%, received 130 emails over the course of the workday (I was away from my desk all day, so I read a slightly above average amount of emails on the phone itself), was at 34% at 1:45PM, and was at 4% when I plugged it back in to charge at 6:15PM. So it's definitely not pretty. I'll be keeping my eyes on extended batteries, but so far the only one I've heard about only extends the stock 1850mA battery to 2100mA, which doesn't sound like a huge increase to me.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
Overall, I'm thrilled with the phone, and I'd buy it again in a heartbeat. I'm also looking forward to the next major CyanogenMod release (CM9) based off the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich code.