In this comparison, we will be comparing two Android flagships. The Galaxy Nexus was announced recently in All Things D event in Hong Kong on October 19. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S II was announced in February 2011 in Barcelona Mobile World Congress.
The Galaxy Nexus is an Android phone that is co-developed by Google and Samsung, while the Galaxy S II is solely developed by the Korean manufacturer.
Featuring its trademark contour display, the Galaxy Nexus appears to be slightly curved like its predecessor, the Nexus S. It is designed in such a way so it feels natural to hold on the phone on your hands or place it against your face when listening a call or keeping it into your pocket. In contrast, the Galaxy S II has a monotonous black thin candybar design. The Galaxy S II stays flat on the front, but has a little bump at the back of the phone to fit in the loudspeaker, similar to the Galaxy Nexus.
Speaking of dimension and weight of these two devices, the Samsung Galaxy S II stands as the thinnest and lightest Android phone. However, it is hard for anyone to notice the different, as the Galaxy Nexus only misses about 0.44 millimeters and 19 grams (approximately the weight of a standard AA battery).
One of the advantages of the Galaxy Nexus is it has a stunning 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display. No doubt the 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display on the Galaxy S II is able to show brilliantly vivid colors, but the Galaxy Nexus is able to push it further with its 720 x 1280 HD resolution. Higher resolution means you are able to see things sharper and clearer on the screen. Unfortunately, the Galaxy Nexus does not come with the scratch resistant Gorilla Glass like the Galaxy S II.
Theoretically, the Galaxy Nexus and the Galaxy S II are powered by the same dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor with 1GB of RAM. However, the Galaxy S II opts for an Exynos chipset which developed and manufactured by Samsung. The Galaxy Nexus uses a TI OMAP 4460 chipset from Texas Instruments instead. The Galaxy S II is equipped with a newer and more powerful Mali-400MP GPU than the Galaxy Nexus PowerVR SGX540 GPU. Both phones could run any applications smoothly and swiftly, but when comes to graphical intensive apps such as games, the Galaxy S II is able to perform better.
It is quite obvious that the Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) preloaded in the Galaxy Nexus would be able to offer what's the best on the Android platform with the new user interface, new features and performance improvements. Nevertheless, the Galaxy S II Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) with TouchWiz 4.0 user interface still works well without a glitch. It should be a matter of time when before Samsung decides to announce the Android 4.0 update for the Galaxy S II.
Both devices support HSDPA 21Mbps, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS. Additionally, the Galaxy Nexus supports LTE connectivity (region dependent) and NFC (Near Field Communication). Both devices come with 16GB or 32GB internal storage, but only the Galaxy S II accepts microSD cards up to 32GB. On paper, Galaxy S II has higher megapixel cameras compared to the Galaxy Nexus. The Galaxy Nexus is equipped with a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and 1.3-megapixel front facing camera whereas the Galaxy S II is equipped with an 8-megapixel camera with LED flash and 2-megapixel front facing camera. The plus point of the Galaxy Nexus is it comes with the zero shutter lag feature. This means you snap continuous photos without any lags. There is a one to two second of delay when taking the photo from the Galaxy S II. However, it is uncertain the zero shutter lag feature would be applicable to the Galaxy S II when Android 4.0 (ICS) is installed in the phone. Both devices are capable of recording 1080p full HD video at 30fps.
To wrap-up, the Galaxy S II is the overall winner in terms of hardware specification. The Galaxy S II offers a faster Exynos chipset, GPU and a higher megapixel camera. The main attractions of the Galaxy Nexus would be the 4.65-inch HD display, Android Ice Cream Sandwich and NFC.
Pricing-wise, the Galaxy Nexus is about 10 percent more expensive than the Galaxy S II. If you really can’t wait for Android 4.0 to arrive for the Galaxy S II, go for the Galaxy Nexus. Otherwise, the Galaxy S II seems to be more budget friendly than the Galaxy Nexus.
Galaxy Nexus (£429 approx. RM 2100)
HSPA+ 21Mbps + WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n + Touchscreen candybar + 5.0 MP camera + 16GB/32GB Internal Storage + Android OS 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
The Google Galaxy Nexus has a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED HD display with 1280 x 720 resolution pixels, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and the first device to run on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). It boasts a 5-megapixel camera which is capable of capturing videos at full HD 1080p at 30fps and promises a zero shutter lag experience. The Google Galaxy Nexus also has HSPA+ (21Mbps) network support, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 as well as GPS. The Galaxy Nexus will be available in the US, Europe & Asia beginning in November and gradually rolled out to other global markets.
Samsung Galaxy S II (RRP RM 1899)
The Google Galaxy Nexus has a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED HD display with 1280 x 720 resolution pixels, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and the first device to run on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). It boasts a 5-megapixel camera which is capable of capturing videos at full HD 1080p at 30fps and promises a zero shutter lag experience. The Google Galaxy Nexus also has HSPA+ (21Mbps) network support, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 as well as GPS. The Galaxy Nexus will be available in the US, Europe & Asia beginning in November and gradually rolled out to other global markets.
Samsung Galaxy S II (RRP RM 1899)
3.5G HSPA + WiFi 802.11 b/g/n + Touchscreen candybar + 8.0 MP camera + 16GB Memory + microSD (Up to 32GB) + Android OS 2.3 (Gingerbread)
The Samsung Galaxy S II has a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display with 480 x 800 resolution (which is an increase of screen size, though it retains the same resolution seen in its predecessor), a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and running on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) with TouchWiz UI 4.0. It boasts an 8-megapixel camera which is capable of capturing videos at full HD 1080p at 30fps. The Samsung Galaxy S II also has HSPA+ (21Mbps) network support, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 as well as an HDMI-out with mirroring and DLNA for media sharing.
The Samsung Galaxy S II has a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display with 480 x 800 resolution (which is an increase of screen size, though it retains the same resolution seen in its predecessor), a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and running on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) with TouchWiz UI 4.0. It boasts an 8-megapixel camera which is capable of capturing videos at full HD 1080p at 30fps. The Samsung Galaxy S II also has HSPA+ (21Mbps) network support, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 as well as an HDMI-out with mirroring and DLNA for media sharing.
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