back to article Samsung Android 4.0 smartphone priced for Blighty

UK mobile phone seller Clove has priced up the Samsung Galaxy Nexus at £515 sans Sim lock. That's for the 16GB, HSPA+ version of the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich-running Samsung announced last night alongside a 32GB model which, Clove told us, won't be coming to the UK. Neither, of course, will the LTE version of the Galaxy …

COMMENTS

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  1. spencer

    too much!

    doesn't the Iphone cost £499?

    1. Giles Jones Gold badge

      I can only imagine Samsung are torn between pricing it fairly and pricing it high so it looks more expensive and thus better.

      1. jai

        they've gotta pay the wages for all those lawyers somehow

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      £25

      I would happily pay £25 to not be chained to iTunes and jobs walled garden, I'm guessing iPhone users will have to throw way more than that away when they finally wake up that they are locked to a single hardware supplier and want to move to a multi-supplier ecosystem like Android.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Typical freetard/lintard FUD.

  2. JasonW
    WTF?

    Closed minds at work?

    >>Neither, of course, will the LTE version of the Galaxy Nexus, since there are no commercial LTE services in Blighty yet.

    People from Blighty have been known to travel, I've heard, beyond the oceans to lands where LTE is available and they might wish to use it...

    1. WonkoTheSane
      Facepalm

      It's possible LTE would displace one of the older technologies like say, EDGE.

      Have you checked how often folks are stuck using EDGE instead of GPRS or 3G in the UK?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        "It's possible LTE would displace one of the older technologies like say, EDGE.

        Have you checked how often folks are stuck using EDGE instead of GPRS or 3G in the UK?"

        I think you mean GPRS - which is the slower technology. EDGE is essentially GPRS with compression (it's more complex than that, but the result is the same.)

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        I don't know, I've not had an iPhone in a while.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Headmaster

        Stuck using EDGE instead of GPRS? Stuck using EDGE instead of 3G I'll give you, but EDGE is better than GPRS.

  3. JDX Gold badge

    Blimey

    As title.

  4. Simon Buttress

    Do they not get it?

    Apple can charge a premium because they are Apple, Samsung phones running Android can't because, quite simply, they aren't Apple. Everyone knows Apple makes hench cash off their hardware so why not settle to take a realistic profit from the hardware and still undercut the iPhone by a substantial margin to gather a lot more sales and revenue than the Apple-istic price point they announced.

    I was interested in this before the price was announced, now it has been announced I am not. I'll stick with my DHD

    1. dotdavid
      Joke

      But Samsung *is* a premium brand...

      ...sorry, I couldn't keep a straight face ;-)

      Samsung really are muppets. I (and quite a few others) would be really quite interested in this smartphone if it cost less. You can get low-end Android handsets for as little as £60 on PAYG now - I can't see why even a "high-end" handset like this would be priced at that amount.

      I'm guessing the price will plummet when sales suffer or with competition from other handsets.

    2. MaximumJed
      Facepalm

      You are aware that a SIM-Free Desire HD was £500 when it came out right?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    hmmm...

    Comments section surprisingly quiet given the firestorm that kicked off when the iphone 4S was launched at the 'ridiculously expensive' price of £499. Also, Interesting features list for the new build of Android too:

    New lock screen features - the ability to access camera and notifications.

    Ability to group apps and shortcuts by dragging icons onto each other.

    Redesigned multi-tasking screen

    Enhanced voice input

    Sound familiar? What about all the "Apple is only playing catchup to Android with iOS5" comments lol

    1. Paul M 1

      Hmmm, I *think* what you've listed there are more to do with a new release of Android or something rather than the Samsung phone itself...

      Of course I can't be sure what's in this fabled release as I get my tech news from The Register which seems to have ignored it completely for some reason.

    2. HMB

      re: hmmmm...

      Well I suppose when you distort it like that it does sound that way.

      Lock screen.. Don't know who got there first. Probably jailbreakers, not Apple.

      Android had the ability to do folders before iOS, it just looked worse.

      Android multi tasked before iOS, it just ate more battery.

      Android has had voice input since the Nexus One. They've improved it beyond Apple's Siri as Siri appears to send off the the cloud, something that didn't work well on the Nexus One and I don't see working well on the 4S. Sending a few Kb of recorded speech over GPRS can be painful.

    3. Craigness
      FAIL

      Here's a hack from January showing how to get an HTC-style lock screen onto an iphone.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igtGRARqPnQ

      Apple took months to get out an official version of a competitor's feature. Same with multitasking, folders, notifications and more. Apple plays catchup whereas none of what you mention is new to Android, it's only enhanced.

      No need to wonder why you went anonymous for that FUD trolling.

      1. Mark 65

        "Apple plays catchup whereas none of what you mention is new to Android, it's only enhanced."

        If you wanted to play devil's advocate you could argue that they waited until the feature was the final polished article rather than just release what they had so far.

        1. MikeS
          Big Brother

          >If you wanted to play devil's advocate you could argue that they waited until the feature was the final polished article rather than just release what they had so far.

          oh no i hope you arent suggesting that apple copied something from a competitor

          their lawyers will be onto you before you know it, because we all know they think of everything first and have exclusive rights over everything that was ever though of.

          meanwhile .....im stil wondering when apple are going realise that other mobile phones can make phone calls too and when theyre going to start legal precedings to ban any other phones from copying them for that...

  6. Fishy

    lots of money

    I just couldn't justify more on a phone than I'd spend on a laptop.

  7. Matt_V
    Stop

    Hmm

    Still be getting the Desire S for my birthday then.... Would quite lilke to pay off the mortgage at some point!

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Blimey indeed...

    ... I usually find Clove to be a bit pricey generally.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    ROTFL

    Biggest selling point of the phone: HD Playback at 720p

    But then: no SD expansion, UK version limited to 16GB.

    Come on, it's pathetic.

    1. Paul M 1

      Many would argue that the biggest selling point is that it's not an Apple product...

      And the lack of SD expansion is only disappointing to Android users. Apple and WinPho fans take it for granted.

  10. Joe Harrison

    No SD-card slot

    Just 16GB or 32GB take it or leave it. And let me guess.... you can't replace the battery? I think I heard this before somewhere.

    1. Arctic fox

      I have to say that I agree.

      When you consider what one values about the Android OS I have to say that no available memory expansion and you cannot change the battery on a phone that is priced over five hundred pounds (we are supposed to throw it away when the battery's knackered?) does rather take the shine off the system's flagship. I was interested to see what the latest Nexus would be offering but I have to say that my interest headed south rapidly when I saw these aspects of the specs.

  11. The Taft Hotel
    FAIL

    just plain silly

    I was all set to get one until I saw the price.

    When it was announced I thought, well, I was expecting a bit more. Other than the screen the hardware is pretty tame. But I though I'll still get it as it's a nice upgrade from my trusty old Nexus 1.

    But then this price! crazy!

    They have priced it as if they delivered the mega phone people were expecting; 1.5mhz, better GPU, 8mp camera, card slot. This only had 16GB in the uk too, my N1 had more than that on SD.

    I hope clove only got a dozen or so, as that is all they should sell.

    Now that 4.0 is back to being AOSP again, I think I'll just wait until we see a customer ROM come out for the S2 or maybe something else and use that.

    Will be pretty much all the GN is other than the screen, might be better in some areas too and be way cheaper.

    stupid, stupid, stupid.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Ah...

      But is it really AOSP? ...

  12. En_croute

    Clove had the Galazy S2 for similar prices at launch. Now you can get one for free, on £25-£35 per month. Give it 3 months and there will be plenty of offers.

    1. sheep++;
      Unhappy

      Exactly

      Many phones are "free" once you tie youself into a 2 year contract at £30 a month. Not exactly free. Mobile companies piss me off and they are all pretty much the same. COME THE REVOLUTION! (please).

      1. Arctic fox

        @sheep++; Carriers should indeed be the first up against the wall etc etc.

        However, the unlocked price will undoubtedly come down some in the months after release although for the reasons I have already posted on this thread I will not personally be buying one.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Yeah but those get realistic options like 32 or 64GB. 16GB for HD video isn't going to last very long.

  14. Yves Kurisaki
    FAIL

    Bonkers

    My Nexus S was complete shit. A plastic case that scratched when you looked at it and a battery that drained faster than any phone I've ever owned, even after weeks of hacking and installing ROMs and it was god damn slow compared to my iPhone on top of that. So for the redesigned plastic with 4 year old GPU and a slower CPU we now have to pay £25 more than an iPhone. An iPhone which isn't made of crappy plastic. Absolutely bonkers.

    If you have ever experienced the Nexus S you will take 'walled gardens' any time.

    Let's at least hope that Icecream Wanky is not as shite as Gingerbread is.

    1. Craigness
      Thumb Down

      Gingerbread

      Gingerbread is awesome and the videos of ICS look even better.

  15. Steve Evans

    Unfortunately...

    Samsung have obviously been copying Apple, there's no removable storage, so as a UK user you'd only have 16gig for your apps and those 1080p video recordings.

    Muppets.

  16. Craigness

    Polished

    Do you mean Apple waited until they had a finished product? Why did they stick with a piss poor notification system for so long if they had something better which they could offer? And do you really think they'll never improve any of the stuff they recently introduced? They were late to the game because they were behind, not because they were achieving perfection. Apple doesn't wait until it's perfect, they release it with no MMS and no copy + paste, no front-facing camera etc, then get it right in version 2.

    More importantly, I couldn't say they were working on a perfect solution because there is no evidence that they had anything like what Android offers before Android released it.

    1. Craigness

      That was

      a reply to Mark 65.

      Something went wrong with the logging in process.

    2. Simon Grierson
      FAIL

      No evidence?

      Apart from the patent Apple filed in 2008, before Android 1.0 was even introduced?

      http://www.zdnet.com/blog/cell-phones/apple-files-notification-screen-patent-is-this-really-that-unique/122

      So care to rethink your post?

      1. Craigness
        FAIL

        Android was unveiled in November 2007. Following some links from your link took me to a post dated September 2008 says that the patent was applied for the previous December.

        http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/09/18/potential_iphone_usability_and_interface_improvements.html

        It's weird that they did hold back until they were ready though, and leave their users with a naff notification system for 4 years. I know they've been slow with security updates in the past and have been known to release generation 1 devices which lack the sort of features you'd expect to see in such devices, but sticking with such a bad notification system when they've already seen a better one, and even considered remaking and patenting it as their own, is odd.

        The fact they patented it is the most interesting aspect. It really gives an insight into how they work. As the guy said,

        "It is a bit strange that a patent would be needed for something like this that even basic feature phones already use in some manner."

        Care to rethink?

      2. gort
        FAIL

        That patent (filed in 2007, not 2008) was for notifications on the lock screen, not a pull-down shade containing notifications.

  17. Prag Fest
    Stop

    Ouch

    This thing is dead in the water at that price. I like Android, it fills a great niche, there are a lot of people who don't really have any money yet still, understandably, want something that looks like and works a bit like an iPhone. A cheap Android handset caters to this nicely, but at this price? Who in their right mind would buy one when they could get the real thing for less?

  18. Wang N Staines

    Too expensive

    I think £150 is the right price for a top end Samsung phone.

  19. Miek
    Linux

    Has anyone checked ...

    ... that their SIM is actually locked down to a particular network? I sold my previous (android) phone from voda and it was more than happy to accept SIMs from other networks.

  20. DEAD4EVER
    Go

    android 4.0

    yay nice google cant wait to see it on handsets soon ive looked at some of the specs that they released of the changes and improvments looks good. im sorry but apple is wearing thin why pay for a phone like an apple when you can buy an android phone cheaper. sure its not apple but at least your not locked in to there rubbish hardware and software where its all buggy. il never touch apple ever

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