More than a decade later, the Nexus S remains a fascinating study in early Android engineering. It was one of the first mainstream smartphones to include Near Field Communication (NFC), a curved-glass display, and a clean stock Android experience free of manufacturer skins. This article looks at where the Nexus S excelled, where it showed its age, and what it means for collectors and Android history enthusiasts today.

Full Specifications

Network

Launch

Body

Display

Platform

Memory

Main Camera

Selfie camera

Sound

Comms

Features

Battery

Misc

Our Tests

Price and Availability

The Samsung Google Nexus S offers a compelling combination of features and performance. While the base price is around €170, the actual cost may vary depending on your location and retailer. Below, you’ll find the approximate price of the Samsung Google Nexus S converted into various currencies. Please note that these are estimates based on recent exchange rates as of July 9, 2026 and may not reflect the exact price you’ll find at a retailer.

• United States: $194
• Japan: ¥31,538
• United Kingdom: £145
• Australia: A$280
• Canada: C$275
• Taiwan: NT$6,226
• Denmark: kr1.269
• Saudi Arabia: ﷼728
• South Korea: ₩292,526
• Germany: €170
• Brazil: R$1.000
• Vietnam: ₫5.087.315
• Kenya: KSh 25,078
• India: ₹18,531
• Indonesia: Rp 3.493.086
• Nigeria: ₦264,774
• Pakistan: ₨54,029
• Philippines: ₱11,941
• Bangladesh: ৳২৩,৯৩২

A Reference Device Built for Pure Android

The Nexus S was never designed to chase spec-sheet supremacy. Its purpose was to serve as Google’s lead device for Android 2.3 Gingerbread, giving developers and enthusiasts a clean, unskinned platform. Because it launched Gingerbread and later received Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, the Nexus S enjoyed faster and longer software support than most rivals of its era, though Google confirmed it would not move beyond Jelly Bean. That commitment to timely updates is the phone’s defining legacy and the reason it is still remembered fondly.

Design and Build: The Contour Display Curve

Measuring 123.9 x 63 x 10.9 mm and weighing a light 129 g, the Nexus S felt slim and pocketable for 2010. Its most distinctive feature was the gently curved front glass, marketed as the Contour Display, which Samsung claimed made the phone sit more comfortably against the face during calls. Available in black and white, the plastic construction kept weight down while the oleophobic coating helped resist fingerprints. A removable back cover exposed the 1500 mAh battery and Mini-SIM slot, a convenience modern phones no longer offer.

Display: Super AMOLED Ahead of Its Time

The 4.0-inch Super AMOLED panel was a highlight, delivering the deep blacks and punchy, saturated colors AMOLED technology is known for. With a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels and roughly 233 ppi, text and images looked sharp by the standards of 2010, even if the pixel density trails far behind today’s screens. The 58.3% screen-to-body ratio reflects the generous bezels of the period, but the vivid contrast and viewing angles still gave the Nexus S an edge over the LCD competition of its day.

Performance: Hummingbird and PowerVR

Under the hood, the Nexus S ran a 1.0 GHz single-core Cortex-A8 CPU on Samsung’s Hummingbird chipset, paired with a PowerVR SGX540 GPU and 512MB of RAM. This combination was among the fastest available at launch and handled Gingerbread’s smooth animations, web browsing with Flash support, and casual gaming with ease. By modern measures the single core and modest RAM are extremely limited, but in context the Nexus S was a responsive, snappy performer that helped set expectations for stock Android fluidity.

Camera: Modest but Capable

Photography was never the Nexus S’s strong suit. It featured a single 5 MP rear camera with autofocus and an LED flash, capable of recording video at 480p and 30 fps, plus a basic VGA front camera for the earliest days of video calling. The lack of 720p recording was a notable limitation even in 2010, and there is no memory card slot to expand storage for photos and video. Still, in good lighting the sensor produced acceptable snapshots, and the built-in photo and video editor added useful convenience.

Battery and Endurance

The removable 1500 mAh Li-Ion battery offered up to 14 hours of 2G talk time and around 6 hours 40 minutes on 3G, with standby figures reaching up to 713 hours on 2G. For a Super AMOLED device of its generation, that endurance was competitive, and the ability to swap in a spare battery was a genuine advantage for heavy users. By today’s standards the capacity is tiny, but the efficient single-core platform and AMOLED screen made the most of it.

Connectivity and the NFC Milestone

Connectivity is where the Nexus S quietly made history. It was one of the first phones to include NFC, foreshadowing the tap-to-pay and tap-to-share features that are ubiquitous today. Beyond that, it offered Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with DLNA and hotspot support, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, GPS with A-GPS, and microUSB 2.0. A 3.5mm headphone jack and clear audio quality, measured at -90.2 dB noise in independent testing, rounded out a well-connected package. The absence of FM radio was one of the few gaps.

Who Should Consider the Nexus S Today

As a daily driver, the Nexus S is long obsolete, unable to run modern apps or receive security updates. Its real audience today is collectors, Android historians, and retro-tech enthusiasts who value it as the phone that introduced Gingerbread and helped popularize NFC. For roughly 170 EUR at launch, it delivered a clean, forward-looking experience that influenced a generation of devices, making it a meaningful piece of smartphone history rather than a practical purchase.

Conclusion

The Samsung Google Nexus S earns its place in smartphone history as the flagship of pure Android’s early evolution, blending a striking Super AMOLED Contour Display, a capable Hummingbird processor, and pioneering NFC support into a light, developer-friendly package. Its modest camera, single-core chip, and lack of expandable storage clearly date it, but that was never the point. As a reference device it delivered timely Gingerbread and Jelly Bean updates that few rivals could match. Today we recommend the Nexus S only to collectors and Android enthusiasts who appreciate its historical significance; anyone needing a functional daily phone should look to a modern Android handset instead.

References

• Google Nexus S Tech Specs – Official Google product specification page for the Nexus S; useful for baseline hardware specs such as display, processor, memory, storage, cameras, battery, sensors, and dimensions.
• Official Google Blog – Introducing Nexus S with Gingerbread – Primary launch announcement confirming the Google-Samsung collaboration, Android 2.3 Gingerbread lead-device status, release timing, and key features including 4-inch Contour Display, 1GHz Hummingbird processor, 16GB storage, cameras, and N
• FCC Equipment Authorization – Samsung GT-I9020T – Official regulatory filing source for the Samsung Nexus S variant GT-I9020T; useful for verifying model identity, radio approvals, wireless bands, SAR, and certification details.
• GSMArena – Samsung Google Nexus S Full Phone Specifications – Established mobile specification database useful for cross-checking detailed specs, network variants, physical dimensions, display, camera, connectivity, and battery information.
• AnandTech – Nexus S and Android 2.3 Review: Gingerbread for the Holidays (anandtech.com) – Respected technical review source for deeper hardware validation, including display behavior, NFC, storage layout, performance, and limitations such as lack of microSD and 720p video.

The post Samsung Google Nexus S: Full Specifications appeared first on Smartphone.

More than a decade on, the Nexus One is best understood as a collector’s and reference device rather than a daily driver. This article breaks down what made it special, where it falls short by modern standards, and which kind of buyer still gains something from owning one at its now-modest price of about 120 EUR.

Full Specifications

Network

Launch

Body

Display

Platform

Memory

Main Camera

Selfie camera

Sound

Comms

Features

Battery

Misc

Our Tests

Price and Availability

The HTC Google Nexus One offers a compelling combination of features and performance. While the base price is around €120, the actual cost may vary depending on your location and retailer. Below, you’ll find the approximate price of the HTC Google Nexus One converted into various currencies. Please note that these are estimates based on recent exchange rates as of June 18, 2026 and may not reflect the exact price you’ll find at a retailer.

• United States: $139
• Japan: ¥22,243
• United Kingdom: £104
• Australia: A$197
• Canada: C$195
• Taiwan: NT$4,393
• Denmark: kr896
• Saudi Arabia: ﷼520
• South Korea: ₩210,813
• Germany: €120
• Brazil: R$707
• Vietnam: ₫3.631.997
• Kenya: KSh 18,028
• India: ₹13,129
• Indonesia: Rp 2.463.872
• Nigeria: ₦188,135
• Pakistan: ₨38,557
• Philippines: ₱8,398
• Bangladesh: ৳১৭,০১৪

Why the Nexus One Still Matters

The Nexus One was Google’s statement device, designed to demonstrate Android the way Google intended it without heavy manufacturer skins. That pedigree is its biggest draw today. As one of the earliest pure-Google phones, it holds historical weight that newer mid-rangers simply cannot match, and at roughly 120 EUR it sits in the realm of nostalgia purchases and engineering curiosities rather than everyday competition.

Design and Build

Measuring 119 x 59.8 x 11.5 mm and weighing just 130 g, the Nexus One feels remarkably compact and light by today’s standards. The brown teflon-coated finish and the small trackball beneath the screen are signatures of the period, offering a tactile navigation method that has long since disappeared from smartphones. The Mini-SIM tray and the chunky 11.5 mm profile mark it firmly as a product of 2010, but the in-hand comfort remains genuinely pleasant.

Display Experience

The 3.7-inch AMOLED panel was a highlight at launch, delivering punchy colors and deep blacks that LCD rivals struggled to match. Its 480 x 800 resolution works out to around 252 ppi, which still looks reasonably crisp on such a small canvas. The 5:3 aspect ratio and roughly 54.8% screen-to-body ratio feel cramped next to modern edge-to-edge designs, yet for messaging, light browsing, and music the screen does its job without complaint.

Performance and Software

Under the hood sits the Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon S1 with a 1.0 GHz Scorpion CPU and Adreno 200 graphics, paired with 512 MB of RAM. Those figures were competitive in 2010 and helped the phone run Android 2.1 Eclair smoothly, with an official upgrade path to Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread. Today the hardware is only suited to basic tasks, but the device’s clean software and developer-friendly nature make it a favorite for tinkerers and custom ROM enthusiasts.

Camera Capabilities

A single 5 MP rear camera with autofocus and an LED flash handles photography, and it can record video at 480p and 24fps. There is no front-facing selfie camera, which reflects how video calling had not yet become mainstream. By modern measures the output is soft and limited, but for documentation and casual snapshots in good light it remains usable and authentic to its time.

Battery and Endurance

The removable 1400 mAh Li-Ion battery offers up to 10 hours of 2G talk time, up to 7 hours on 3G, and as much as 20 hours of music playback. Stand-by reaches up to 290 hours on 2G. The fact that the battery is user-replaceable is a real advantage for owners today, since a fresh cell can restore much of the original endurance and keep an aging device alive far longer than a sealed modern phone.

Connectivity and Extras

Connectivity covers GSM and HSPA with HSDPA speeds up to 7.2 Mbps, dual-band 3G options tuned for AT&T and Rogers Wireless, plus Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, GPS with A-GPS, and microUSB 2.0. There is a dedicated microSDHC slot with a 4 GB card included, a welcome touch given the limited internal storage. A 3.5mm headphone jack, accelerometer, proximity sensor, and compass round out a well-rounded feature set for the era, and an FM radio can be enabled even though it ships locked.

Who Should Buy It

This is not a phone for someone needing a primary device in today’s app-heavy world. Instead, the Nexus One appeals to collectors of Android history, retro-tech hobbyists, developers who want an early Nexus reference unit, and anyone curious about the trackball era of smartphones. Its low price, removable battery, and expandable storage make it an easy, low-risk pickup for those audiences.

Conclusion

The HTC Google Nexus One is a landmark device that defined the Nexus line and showcased Android at its purest. While its small AMOLED screen, single-core chip, and 5 MP camera place it firmly in the past, its compact build, removable battery, microSD support, and historical significance keep it desirable. We recommend it as a collector’s piece, a developer reference, or a nostalgic secondary device rather than a daily phone, and at about 120 EUR it delivers exactly that kind of value.

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