Smartphones and Cell Phones

Matthew Miller

Sprint Galaxy Nexus: Will LTE come to you before the next Nexus is released?

By Matthew Miller | May 8, 2012, 4:30am PDT

Summary: Sprint is the last major carrier to get the Galaxy Nexus and it comes with support for a network that isn’t even yet available. It’s a great device and when LTE launches it will make many people happy.

Using the Sprint Galaxy Nexus is currently an act of extreme frustration that makes me feel like I am driving a Porsche through a never ending 25 mph construction zone. The Galaxy Nexus runs on Sprint’s EVDO network at a paltry 1-3 Mbps, if you are lucky, while having a LTE radio inside that won’t be able to show its stuff for some time across much of the country. I suppose if you want to future proof yourself this is the phone to get and with no fast 3G network it doesn’t make a lot of sense for smartphone enthusiasts to be using a Sprint device without WiMAX inside.

You can check out the excellent ZDNet Galaxy Nexus image gallery for shots of this sleek device and see it is essentially the same as the Verizon and GSM models. I actually am in the process of trading my Apple iPhone 4S for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus and also have a GSM one I use on AT&T and T-Mobile.

Specifications for the Sprint Galaxy Nexus include the following:

Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0 operating system
LTE, EV-DO Rev A
1.2 GHz dual-core TI OMAP processor
4.65 inch 1280×720 pixels Super AMOLED display with contoured glass (316 ppi)
Preinstalled 32GB internal storage
1 GB RAM
5 megapixel camera with LED flash
1.3 megapixel front facing camera
Proximity sensor, light sensor, gyro, barometer, NFC and digital compass
Integrated A-GPS
Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n)
Bluetooth 3.0
3.5 mm headset jack
1850 mAh lithium-ion battery
Dimensions: 5.33 x 2.67 x 0.37 inches and

It’s great to see that Sprint left the Galaxy Nexus alone and doesn’t include any bloatware on the device. This fact and the still unlimited data option makes this a pretty compelling device for Sprint customers who are willing to wait for LTE to come their way. The only hesitation is that this phone is now 5 months old and the next Nexus will launch about the time that many customers are getting LTE on Sprint.

LTE is expected in the next couple of months in Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and San Antonio. I look forward to seeing LTE from Sprint, thanks to their unlimited data plans, but it’s kind of tough to buy a device now when you can’t take advantage of the fast network for some unknown period of time.

You can pick up the Sprint Galaxy Nexus for $199.99 with a new 2-year contract. If you activate Google Wallet, included, within a week of activation then you will get $10 instantly and an additional $40 within three weeks. That means your cost could be considered to be $149.99 if you use Google Wallet.