Samsung Galaxy Nexus & Ice Cream Sandwich Review
by Brian Klug & Anand Lal Shimpi on January 18, 2012 1:34 PM ESTBattery life remains the other big axis on which smartphones are judged, and here we've turned to our regular 2011 suite of battery life tests to see how the Galaxy Nexus shakes out. Our battery life testing consists of a page loading suite which loads through a few dozen pages endlessly on both WiFi and cellular data until the phone dies, with the display set at 200 nits. For the cellular tests, we're always careful to test in cellular environments with decent signal (at least -75 dBm or higher) as well, since that's a factor. Next is a simple call test where we play music at both ends of a call until the device under test dies, and our final test is a WiFi hotspot workload which consists of four page loading tabs and a 128 kbps streaming MP3 station that runs until the phone dies.
First up are the web browsing tests over cellular 3G; this means EVDO Rev.A for the CDMA/LTE version, and WCDMA T-Mobile for the GSM/UMTS device.
The Galaxy Nexii both do surprisingly well. I'm actually very impressed with how long the devices lasted subjectively on 3G and this definitely backs that up. Of course, both devices include beefy batteries, but Samsung has done a nice job thus far including big batteries without making devices bulky or heavy.
Next up is the same test, but on 4G LTE for the CDMA/LTE variant.
The Galaxy Nexus doesn't post numbers very far in front, but manages to come in the top of the pack on 4G LTE at just under 4 hours. This is a pretty impressive result, honestly, considering that CMC221 is likely made on the same 45nm manufacturing process as CMC220. Again, I'm impressed with the Galaxy Nexus' longevity even on 4G LTE.
Surprisingly, the Galaxy Nexus can't break past that 6 hour mark even on WiFi, however, which does lead me to think we might be constrained by driving that display.
If you ever wanted to see how much difference having a different cellular architecture makes, see above. The GSM/UMTS Galaxy Nexus lasts impressively long on a voice call, at over 11 hours, yet its CDMA/LTE brother lasts just over half that.
WiFi hotspot on 3G tells the same story - I'm not sure what Via Telecom's CBP7.1 draws in its active state for EVDO or 1x voice, but it seems to eat up more power than the XMM 6260 (X-Gold 626) in the GSM/UMTS Galaxy Nexus.
As a 4G LTE WiFi hotspot, the Galaxy Nexus loses its edge over the Revolution, but does come in just ahead of the rest of the 4G LTE herd.
The story of battery life on the Galaxy Nexus unsurprisingly depends on which variant you're talking about. For a phone with a 4.65" display, I'd say I'm impressed with the battery life on both devices - remember that the area that needs to get lit up goes as r^2 - increasing that and not killing the battery is a big feat. In addition, I'd wager that using the OpenGL ES renderpath (and accelerated browser in 4.0) definitely helped both Galaxy Nexus devices post impressive scores. As for the two variants, the GSM/UMTS device has impressively long battery life pretty much across the board. Playing with that phone, I was rarely wanting for more on my regular use schedule (I charge at night on my nightstand). We've seen XMM6260 before in numerous devices where it seems to be a pretty good citizen.
The CDMA/LTE variant, on the other hand, depends strongly on what air interface you end up using most - on 4G LTE the device comes in at the front of the pack usually, and its 3G web browsing test is above average. However, if you make a lot of voice calls, the phone might not cut it. Unsurprisingly the CDMA/LTE Galaxy Nexus does nothing to dramatically change 4G LTE battery life - for that we're still waiting for upcoming 28nm LTE basebands.
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JohnJackson - Wednesday, February 8, 2012 - link
You mean the one where the devices were running the benchmarks at the respective device's NATIVE resolution? 960x640 has 60% more pixels than 800x480...http://www.anandtech.com/show/4064/glbenchmark-20-...
Subzero0000 - Thursday, January 19, 2012 - link
Where do you get "lag" in iPad 2?I use it everyday and the only lag I found is when I slide to the spotlight screen, or browsing webpage (while rendering).
sonelone - Thursday, January 19, 2012 - link
Seriously, where do you get lag on the iPad or iPhone? With the SGX543MP2 rendering nothing but a grid of icons, getting lag would be ridiculous.augustofretes - Thursday, January 19, 2012 - link
Pseudo power users, judging mobile operating systems based on their home screens since 2007.audioman83 - Thursday, January 19, 2012 - link
LOL agreed. So sad.Owls - Thursday, January 19, 2012 - link
blah blah blah I don't like my iphone/ipad being compared so let me make fun of that person for being objective.I know the gnex is not perfect but guess what, neither is your apple product. We all live with compromises and this is no different. However, I refused to be ripped off by apple AND be forced to use itunes.
sorry mr apple user.
Subzero0000 - Friday, January 20, 2012 - link
Firstly, I think you are over-reacting (so did augustofretes).See, I wouldn't complain if someone finds a few lag on Android, because I appreciate the fact that Android is running true-multitasking, with all the widgets and background tasks give us the flexibility that iOS can never dream of.
But then, you cloud your judgment with hatred...
For example, I use Windows 7 at home, Android for phone, iPad for everything else (reading, browsing, gaming, etc...).
I use Google account to sync calendar+contact between Android and iPad.
I buy books in Amazon, and read them through Kindle app on iPad.
I upload my own mp3 to iPad through iTunes, no problem.
Mobile games are better quality on iOS (the truth), so I am happy to buy in AppStore.
There is nothing forcing you to use iTunes.
and "ripped off"? I actually think iPad is cheap, as a outstanding CONSUMER product.
So, calm down, it's just a product. And have a nice day :)
medi01 - Friday, January 20, 2012 - link
Yeah, nothing is "forcing" you to use iTunes apart from the fact that many Apple's products won't even switch on for the first time without itunes.Subzero0000 - Friday, January 20, 2012 - link
Well, what is the matter with one-time activate with iTune?If you find that annoying, then how about the procedure to root/flash your Android, or jb your iOS.
How on earth would a tech-savvy find it annoying/difficult for such a easy task (iTune) ???
I am really confused.
Do you ever forget about the brand-hate and not being stubborn for a second?
btw, I remember I got my iPad activated at the store, their staff open the box and do it for me anyway. I could have done it by myself, but hey, it's "customer service".
oh, and if you think iTune is crap, wait till you try Samsung's "equivalent" (KIES)...
medi01 - Saturday, January 21, 2012 - link
Oh, now easily you've switched from "nobody is forcing you" to "what's the deal".It's not one time activate with most devices it's "one time activate and this PC is your only way to put stuff on your device, unless you are using yet to be closed internet way of doing it".
@@@If you find that annoying, then how about the procedure to root/flash your Android, or jb your iOS.@@@
Could you get a clue, before whining about stuff about which you have very little idea? The only reason I had to root android device, was bacause it was rather old OS with fonts that didn't contain glyphs I needed.
And one thing you're completely missing, dear "I'm not an apple fanboi", YOU DON'T HAVE TO ROOT YOUR ANDROID DEVICE TO GET ACCESS TO IT. You don't have to root it to access it as a hard drive. Neither do you have to root it to install whatever you want on it.
@@@oh, and if you think iTune is crap, wait till you try Samsung's "equivalent" (KIES).@@@
I've never used KIES (even though I have a phone and a tablet by Samsung), so it's hard to compare them. But unlike apple "customers", android users have absolutely no need in using KIES.