$100 will nab you Verizon's sweet Samsung Galaxy Nexus through Amazon

Soon after it made its official arrival on Verizon’s lineup, the sole Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich packing smartphone in the US, the indomitable Samsung Galaxy Nexus, went through the usual Amazon ritual of being graced with a significant price drop. Well, there’s no arguing that its previous $150 on-contract pricing was a killer thing, but it’s naturally being lowered to make it even more affordable.

With the usual routine, Amazon has chopped the price of the 4G LTE equipped Samsung Galaxy Nexus by another $50, this, bringing its cost of ownership to new customers to $99.99. Simply, all you’ll need in your pockets is a single $100 with good old Benjamin Franklin smiling inconspicuously, though, you’ll probably be using it later on to pay off the credit card you’ll be using for the purchase.

Needless to say, that’s a fantastic price point for this top shelf smartphone, but for those upgrading customers, the love isn’t quite as great – well, that’s because they’ll need to shell out a whole lot more. Specifically, they’ll need to plop down $259.99 to pick up the handset, which is substantially more out of pocket, but it’s still cheaper than the full $299.99 you’ll need when buying it from Big Red.

$100 will nab you Verizon's sweet Samsung Galaxy Nexus through Amazon
Of course, free shipping is included with the purchase, so all you’ll need to worry about is the upfront cost for the smartphone. Sure there are newer devices on Verizon lineup right now, like the LG Spectrum, but when you take into account that the Galaxy Nexus is still the only one running ICS, and priced remarkably at $99.99 through Amazon, it’s easily a steal in anyone’s book!

Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs Apple iPhone 4S

Introduction:

Some things ln life just have to happen. Kids have to grow up, car tanks have to be filled with gas, Santa has to put presents in our stockings (thank God phones fit in there!), Lady Gaga has to top the charts, and the Galaxy Nexus has to be compared to the iPhone 4S. It's inevitable! And since we happen to not be so concerned with Gaga, and (most of us) don't have kids yet, how about shifting our focus towards that smartphone comparison thing?

Now that we've closely examined the Galaxy Nexus and the Galaxy S II side by side, and determined that Google's latest and greatest does indeed set new standards with its redesigned software platform and beautiful screen, it seems like the next logical step for us is to set the stage for a nice tactical fight between the new Nexus and the overly-polished iPhone 4S.

Which one will come out on top? Read on to find out!

Design:

Place these handsets next to each other and it immediately becomes obvious that much more thought has gone into the design and execution of the iPhone 4S. This phone continues to be one of the very best offerings in terms of appearance and construction. Not only does it look beautiful, but it's also made from premium materials like glass and steel – no plastic whatsoever.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy Nexus is a typical Samsung phone, being made from plastic, and having this characteristic bump on the bottom of its back side. It is pretty light for its size, but this doesn't make up for the fact that the handset doesn't have a classy feel when held. Thankfully, it doesn't feel cheap either.

One of the most obvious differentiating factors in terms of design are the dimensions of the Galaxy Nexus and iPhone 4S. Honestly, if you don't like having to carry around a very large smartphone, the iPhone 4S will be the better option due to its significantly more compact body.

On the other hand, the large dimensions of the Nexus allow it to have this giant 4.65” HD Super AMOLED screen, which dwarfs the 3.5” panel of the iPhone 4S. Both screens employ different technologies – on the Nexus there's Super AMOLED, while on the iPhone 4S we have IPS-LCD. Both feature nicely saturated colors and good contrast, although the Nexus leads in this respect. The situation with screen clarity is very interesting. On one hand, the Nexus' has an HD (720x1280) resolution screen, which offers more pixels compared to the iPhone 4S' 640x960 pixel resolution, but in reality, the pixel density on the iPhone 4S is slightly higher at 326 ppi, versus 316 on the Nexus. This is because the screen of the iPhone 4S is much smaller, but still, this difference in pixel density is almost unnoticeable, so both handsets will offer you amazing image quality.