The good: The Samsung Nexus S 4G offers a brilliant display, WiMax support, and agreeable performance. It gains a number of usability improvements from the Gingerbread OS, and its straight Google interface will appeal to Android purists.
The bad: The Samsung Nexus S 4G feels rather fragile, and it lacks a memory card slot and LED notifications. We were hoping for more new features over the Nexus One, and its 4G connection was spotty at times.
The bottom line: The Samsung Nexus S 4G offers a great combination of design, features, and performance. The 4G connection could be more reliable, but the Gingerbread OS, stock Android UI, and admirable call quality make for a satisfying smartphone.
Design
You wouldn’t be able to tell the Nexus S 4G from the Nexus S if you put them side by side. And that’s mostly a good thing. Like its predecessor, the Nexus S 4G is shiny and pretty with a gorgeous 4-inch display and a thin profile, but the device feels rather fragile in the hand. This isn’t new in a Samsung phone-many of the company’s Galaxy S phones also felt too slick-and we recommend taking good care of the handset just in case. You’ll also recognize the "contour" design that gives the handset a slightly concave shape to complement the curve of your head, although we don’t consider this much more than a gimmick.