Is the Galaxy Nexus the Best Camera Phone?

As the Galaxy Nexus goes on sale, many phone users will be asking themselves the same question: is my current handset good enough, or do I need to upgrade? For power-hungry users looking from the very best from their mobile phone, we have come up with a brief breakdown of the Galaxy Nexus and what it can offer you. First and foremost, the phone immediately makes an impact with its sheer size. As a general rule, smartphone manufacturers have tended to make their phones as small as possible over recent months, but this phone bucks that trend in spectacular fashion. Clocking in with an enormous curved 4.65" screen, making the most of Samsung's HD Super AMOLED display, the Galaxy Nexus is testament to the fact that big can be beautiful. The processor is a lightning-fast 1.2GHz dual-core offering, supported by 1Gb of RAM - which should make running even intensive applications smooth and painless. The HD Super AMOLED display featured on the phone offers a pin-sharp resolution of 1280x720. Added to this is LTE capability for regions where such networks exist. Unfortunately for UK residents (who are the very first to be offered the new phone), Britain isn't one of them. Perhaps most significantly of all, in the short term at least, is bundling of the phone with the latest version of the Android operating system - Ice Cream Sandwich. As well as unifying the tablet and smartphone versions of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich boasts a number of innovations that have many commentators drooling in anticipation of the final build. So is it the best camera phone 2011? Well, the jury is still out on that one. Whilst the specs of the Galaxy Nexus are certainly impressive, they are not in all respects the highest currently available. The Galaxy S2, for example, sports a considerably newer and more powerful graphics processor. This will be no problem for Nexus users who do not plan to play the most demanding games or perform sophisticated video editing functions on their phones - but those that do may find the S2 better fulfills their needs. Another significant question mark hangs over the decision by Samsung to include a 5MP camera rather than the 8MP model included in the S2. It will take some significant testing before a final verdict can be reached on which of the two cameras offers higher quality photos - but many specification-hungry readers will be offended by the merest possibility that Samsung may have taken a step backwards with its latest phone. Ultimately, whether the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is the 'best' camera phone of the year is a matter of opinion. For users who would rather have the benefits of a larger screen and the latest version of Android than a better graphics processor and higher camera pixel count, the answer will be a resounding yes. At the same time, existing users of the Galaxy S2 are unlikely to see the Nexus as much of an upgrade from their current device. One thing is certain: many mobile phone users who were not thinking about Samsung last week will be thinking about it now.