By 
The Nexus S has been out for a day now and folks likely can’t put the thing down. We all know of the big features in Android 2.3 and the device itself, but there are still new bits and pieces sprinkled throughout that could easily go unnoticed. One such feature is a Macro focus mode for the phone’s camera. It’s not a huge revelation by any means, but every little bit adds up to making for a great experience. It got me thinking though: have any of you found anything you didn’t expect to find in Android 2.3? I haven’t gotten a chance to play with the device for myself, so I’m at the mercy of reviewers and fine folks like you conversing. Let us know if you’ve found anything else in the comments section. [via AC]
I haven’t really had chance to play with it yet. I am also coming from the G1 so a lot of things are different for me even though I have played around with later versions then 1.6.
Nice!
Would be a nice addition to Gingerbread on my Nexus One too.
that SHOULD be possible? Right?
Ummmm…The original droid has Macro mode too.
Why does this phone have 5 stars?
@Scott it was likely a custom addition by Motorola. The version of Android straight from AOSP has never had Macro mode.
@JAMES cause it obviously deserves 5 stars
Macro mode is not new
The Nexus S camera also responds to voice recognition. While in the camera, long press search to get voice recognition.
Camera understands the following commands:
track left
track right
center in
pull back
stop
hard copy
enhance
@Ben Are you kidding me? Nothing about this phone is above average. Nothing makes it stand out above any other phone. The only thing it has going for it is priority updates and completely stock android; that shouldn’t make it 5 stars. Hardware sucks.
The camera is nice, but it was advertised as HD recording. 480p is hardly even worthy of being called HD. The camera is good enough to do 720p recording. Why is this not in there?
to anyone who has it, can you go landscape within calls now?
@jerry
Brilliant. Just brilliant.
The ua string has new options including a froyo option, so it seems there has been changes to the browser after all.
I am with James, although I won’t say the phone sucks, I will say it looks to be a solid phone and 6 months ago, I would have been all over it, especially with stock Android. However, I am going to wait for the hardware specs of the dual core phones with Android 2.3 or 3.0
Hey everyone,
Has anyone else noticed while sending or receiving MMS messages with the Nexus S, pictures are compressed to “thumbnail” size quality? All my MMS messages are coming in super blurry and super small!160×140 resolution at 4K file size to be specific. I tested it out with my Nexus ONe and that phone was receiving the same MMS and texts fine at better resolution.
-Chuck
@mw Thanks; I do think it’s a nice phone but I don’t think it’s a 5 star phone. Maybe 3.5 or 4*
Also the Camera is decent but the sound quality when recording is awful. This isn’t the 1890s, we shouldn’t have to make silent films anymore.
I was wondering, since the NFC is on the battery cover of the phone, would it be possible for a company to release attachable NFC on to phones that don’t currently have them???
the droid X also has macro mode. big deal. this phone should have been out 2 or 3 months ago.
The Nexus S in no way deserves the nobility of the name Nexus. Do you guys remember the release of the Nexus One? It set a par for android phones.
For example: It was the first android phone with a 1ghz processor. Which made it the fastest phone in the market and set the standard for upcoming android phones.
Now The Nexus S… The only benifit it has is 2.3 (gingerbread), which the Nexus One will get shortly. It comes with the same processor as the galaxy S phones ( which is 4 months old). It still only has a 5mp camera. They’ve DOWNGRADED the Bluetooth to 2.1.
I currently have the Nexus One, which for me, manifested the qualities and the nobility of the Google “NEXUS” branding. I’m sorry to say but the Nexus S isn’t a phone that shows a great leap. Im sorry Google but I’m okay with my Nexus One.
@waqsis300
As a current Nexus One user, I agree that this is not the bar-setter that the Nexus One was. However, it is setting the bar in other was. It will probably pave the way for more NFC support in phones. It will also probably start a contour screen craze. It has a better quality screen, and a CPU that is better on battery life, and probably the most important thing — it has 16GB of memory for apps, as opposed to 512 MB. As a fellow Nexus One owner, I’m sure you’re constantly having to remove apps to make room for new ones, especially with gaming starting to take off on Android now. Had Google thought to put more app storage in the Nexus One, I probably wouldn’t be considering giving it up for another year or so. But unfortunately with the tiny app space on N1 and my desire for pure Android, the Nexus S will probably be my next phone.
The Nexus S was never supposed to be the Nexus One replacement. Google has said all along that they would not make it the Nexus 2. So the Nexus S is just another phone in the Nexus line. When the Droid came out for Motorola they didn’t call their next phone the Droid 2 it was the Droid Incredible then Droid X then the official Droid 2. Nexus S is just the next phone in the lineup.
I like how the screen rotates in both directions now. It would be more beneficial id there was a track ball.
@magicmike
You list many great points. But wouldn’t u wait another month or so until they come out w a phone that significantly changes the device hardware?
@James. Actually the Nexus S could still be considered the top Android phone. Yes the hardware of the phone is nothing new (Samsung Galaxy S Family hardware that has been around since summer). But believe it or not the hardware on the Galaxy S phones are still in line with being at the top right now. With that said, since I said top Android phone, although it has hardware in line with the other Galaxy S phones, it software is much better utilizing it JIT kernel. This makes this phone the top android phone right now. But in a few months that title will be gone. Samsung already has in stall a dual core with super Amoled 2 or super super Amoled screen.
@MagicMike- I feel you- totally. But with the lack of a notification LED, external storage (SD cards, trackball/trackpad, and 4G, this phone is a real letdown. Let’s not even talk about the build quality. The myTouch 4G smokes the Nexus S on all fronts except updates and batter life. I’m really struggling in parting with my Nexus One for a phone that can’t take advantage of T-Mobile’s 4G network. The myTouch is $49.99 on Amazon. I just might jump the Nexus ship.
this made me get the G2 thank you samsung =o)
@waqsis300
There is hardly anything revolutionary in a couple months of development. Yes, phones with dual-core processors and more memory will come, but they are, essentially, just faster phones. If you wait all the time, then the next big thing will always be just around the corner.
@moii Makes it sound like you are dissapointed in the G2. Nothing wrong with the G2 – one of the best phones out there today.
And as Engadget put it,
“This is the Best Android phone you can get”
All phones will be outdated within a couple of months. Why not pick a fairly ubiquitous platform (Galaxy S) and make Android work really well for it.
Seems like a winning move for Google and avoids some of the “fragmentation”.
Sorry if you misread I meant to say that I was thinking about getting this phone untill I saw nothing really changed and now I’m a happy G2 and Nexus One owner :)
@Jr.:
Look closely at the iFixIt teardown linked here; although the NFC is on the battery cover, it communicates with the phone via two contacts just above the battery; since phones not built for an NFC don’t have these, the NFC can’t be swapped into them.
A USB NFC might be possible, though…
Macro mode…? Big whoop, my DroidX has a Macro mode.
Sorry, but T-Mobile still has awful f#cking service in Atlanta. So, I’m NOT going back, just for some whoopdeedoo re-branded GalaxyS lol :)
cause of hardware.. this phone should be 3 stars.. its not the only phone with 2.3. my cousin got the update on his DX already!
@Chris93036…
2.3.340 is NOT Android 2.3 Gingerbread. That is merely the system version. So, the Nexus “S” IS the only Gingerbread phone (for now).
Ordered my Nexus S while at bestbuy yesterday morning and received it this evening… the phone is awesome. I love my nexus one, but the S just feels a lot more fluid, if you know what I mean, and it is blazing fast. One of my favorite features so far is the anti smudge screen – you can hardly leave a print even when your trying to!
Oh and my other favorite feature is when you turn the screen off. That old school TV tube affect or whatever you call it is very kewl, subtle touch but nice.
Having started on the G1 and upgraded through the mytouch, Nexus 1 and now the Nexus S, here are my observations:
1. Curved screen (can hardly tell)
2. 16 gig memory (only 1G for apps and os unless you can move them to SD, which only half of the developers support so far)
3. KB improvements (incorporated many things that Better KB has had for ages)
4. Latest OS (which is hardly noticeable to me (I guess I expected more visible changes)
5. Faster Proc (though N1 clocked at same speed, the NS certainly runs faster)
Samsung has taken away the track device, I hardly used it on the N1 and the ball sucked but where is the optical one like the MyTouch4g? Try scrolling through active links on a web page etc without it and makes editing much more difficult…
Wifi radio seems less sensitive to me so far, still running tests.
After 3 days of ownership, I’m still undecided
Oops, send button in way of editing so unfinished comment…
All in all, I have a Mytouch 4g on the way so I can compare side by side and may return the NS to Bestbuy depending on the outcome (amen for their return policy)
Btw, I love the old school screen/TV shutoff as well…
OK, I’ve had this thing since day one and haven’t put it down yet. I’m not gonna lie, hardware wise it’s truly nothing to write home about and after returning my mytouch 4G I still feel the bad about trading a 4G phone for a non-4G phone BUT I’m a true Android lover so the Nexus S is for me. Stock 2.3 is amazing and so fast, not having a 4G phone is mainly bothering me in my head, not in my hands. As for suprises, I love the MACRO MODE and how many other people have noticed the screen timeout animation!!! IT’S LIKE AN OLD SCHOOL TV TURNING OFF, I LOVE IT!!! New live wallpapers like the MICROBES is awesome and just overall thing phone looks great. Ya, Samsung couldn’t slapped a metal battery door on there like HTC would’ve but once you get a good gel skin that’s obsolete already. THE BIGGEST BENIFIT IS UPDATES 1ST!!! NO MORE ARE THE DAYS OF WAITING FOR TMO TO SEND ME F’D UP, SKINNED VERSION OF ANDROID 6 MONTHS AFTER IT’S ACTUAL RELEASE!!! I will be 1st for once and that is all that matters!!!
I had a mytouch 4g which I replaced with a Nexus S and I did notice that the Nexus S is faster even though it only supports 3g mytouch browsing and even loading some apps seems like would freeze for a second and with my Nexus S moving from different apps is a breeze so really 4g and 3g aren’t really making a difference while browsing at this point at least to me it’s not and my city does support HSPA+
Vignette from the Apps Market, has had Macro Focus on my Droid X 2.2 for quite a while now.