The nice folks in Mountain View, CA were kind enough to shoot us over a Google Nexus S, and we finally have it in our hands. Here are first impressions in addition to a boat load of photos below:
- The Nexus S feels very solid and is extremely comfortable to hold and use in your hand. It’s the greatest Samsung Galaxy S handset to exist — we’re really loving the shape of the device including the “inverted chin” on the bottom of the phone as well as the contoured glass display. With Gingerbread’s slightly refreshed UI and Samsung’s deep, rich black levels on the display, it’s tough to tell where the screen starts at the top — the design works that well together. As far as the rear of the phone is concerned, well, it’s a high gloss black plastic — Fingerprint Productions, Inc.
- This might be the fastest Android handset we’ve used — not necessarily because the hardware is so spectacular (it’s obviously top notch, just not mind-numbing), but because of the speed increases and optimizations Gingerbread brings paired with Google’s stock OS with no customizations — this bad boy flies.
- Touch sensitivity and response on the display makes the phone that much more delightful to use, and again, the screen itself is sharp, vivid, and looks great.
- The four Android keys beneath the display work well, are touch sensitive, and even light down when a key is selected in addition to giving you a mild haptic feedback buzz.
- From our very quick speakerphone test, audio didn’t sound all that great, but audio from the ear speaker sounded fine.
- The way the phone powers off — as rumored, it’s like an old tube TV — is so darn cool we shot a quick video of that and an ultra brief walk through.
Check back for our review of the device in the coming days, and in the meantime, peruse some visuals, why don’t you? We even brought out our Nexus One to meet its new friend. Photos and video after the break!
