
A new comparison chart from
Verizon shows the Galaxy Nexus listed as having "No OEM Customization",
the question still remains: will Verizon employees explain why that's a
good thing? Verizon employees receive extensive training, so they
undoubtedly understand the differences between stock and customized
Android, but it is a very different thing to actually explain those
differences to potential customers.
Many of the features of the Galaxy
Nexus are fairly easy to explain, including NFC and Android Beam, the
720p screen or the lack of capacitive buttons. OEM customization is a
much more convoluted idea that many people don't fully understand, and
many potential consumers may not care to understand. We're hoping that
Verizon employees will explain the benefits and drawbacks (yes, there
are drawbacks) of stock Android properly, because all consumers should
be able to make informed decisions.
Benefits
The
benefits side is relatively easy to explain though it could become a
lengthy discussion about faster updates, all features being open and
available, performance boosts over customized phones, and easy
root/unlock options. Faster OS updates not only mean getting the newest
major version of the OS when it is released, but also in getting all bug
fixes and minor feature updates as fast as Google can push them.
Although, there is a chance that those updates will see a delay for
Verizon testing now, they will still be released far faster for Nexus
owners than anyone else.
Having all features
of Android open and available for use has traditionally been by far one
of the best reasons to go with a Nexus device, but we're not sure that
it fits here. In strict terms, we would assume that a device with "no
OEM customization" means that no features have been turned off. The
trouble is that we're not sure if the main target here - free
tethering/WiFi hotspot - is still a part of stock Android. As we've
mentioned before, Google did remove free tethering/hotspot from Nexus S
devices with one of the incremental updates, so there is a fair chance
that it isn't part of stock Android any more. Still, knowing that no
other features will be removed is a benefit to stock.
Custom
UIs take up system resources, some far more than others (HTC Sense).
With the power of today's smartphones, this may not translate to a big
difference in performance, but there will be a difference. Especially
moving forward, because the resource requirements for custom UIs tends
to grow faster than the resource requirements for stock Android.
The
last benefit may not be one that many customers will care about, and if
they do care, it's likely they wouldn't need the explanation of
benefits/drawbacks to stock Android, but easy root access and device
unlocking can be quite useful. As nice as stock Android may be, a lot of
people prefer custom ROMs, which can add features to stock Android
without sacrificing performance. Verizon Nexus owners may not have much
reason to unlock because it's not as if they could swap in a new SIM
card for a different carrier, but root access can be nice. Still, this
is definitely not something Verizon employees would bother explaining
anyway, because rooting/unlocking breaks your warranty.
Drawbacks
The
drawbacks mostly fall under one major heading: do it yourself. With
many OEM UIs, a lot of the things you may want are already there on
screen, and you don't even need to drill into app folders or widgets
lists too much to put what you want on your homescreens. For those who
love the customization options of Android, this is a benefit of stock;
it is a clean palette to work with. However, many people are lazy and
don't want to do that. And, beyond having some customization done for
you, some UIs, like HTC Sense,
offer a number of extra features, like flipping the phone onto its
screen to turn off the ringer, that users would only be able to get by
installing 3rd party apps. Again, maybe you don't want these features
built-in, but many customers won't go digging into the Android Market to
replicate these features even if they want to have them.
Another
drawback of having stock Android is one that most don't consider:
having the newest version of Android isn't always a good thing. Let's
face it, developers can be lazy, and some may not update their apps in a
timely manner to support the new version of Android. We have seen it
with every Android update, and we already know that it will be happening
with Ice Cream Sandwich. When Gingerbread first launched, we had to
switch to a new default keyboard, because one of our favorites, FlexT9,
took months to update for Gingerbread support. Now, we already know that
the Adobe Flash player has not yet been updated for ICS. Adobe has
promised the update before the end of the year, but it still illustrates
the issue. It may be a somewhat minor annoyance, because there are
often alternatives for any app that hasn't been updated for
compatibility, but it is still an annoyance and something that will be a
factor both in purchasing the Galaxy Nexus right now, and as a Nexus
owner a year from now when Android Jelly Bean is released.
Lastly,
there is the general issue with being an early adopter: it can be a
relatively lonely place. Granted, the Galaxy Nexus should sell far
better than any previous Nexus device, but users still won't have too
much practical use for things like Android Beam or even video chat
through Google Talk because the requisite hardware (NFC and front-facing
cameras) and software (Android 4.0 and Android 2.3.4 respectively)
haven't been pushed out to all devices yet. If you do video chat with
friends who are on PCs, that works fine, but unless your friends all
have a Galaxy Nexus or Nexus S, Android Beam isn't too useful right now.
And, with projections putting NFC adoption at just 50% of handsets
within 2-3 years, you may not see much use in it all that soon.
Conclusion
It
is very nice to finally have clean stock Android as a choice on
Verizon, but there is just as much to consider when choosing stock
Android as there is when choosing a device with a custom manufacturer
UI. As always, it comes down to choice. Some want to have full control
over every aspect of their device, and want to be able to start fresh
and choose everything that is put on that device. Stock Android offers
this.
However, many people don't want to
have a clean slate when buying a new phone, and may want some of the
customization and extra features added for them. Of course, there are
drawbacks to this option in overall device performance and speed of OS
updates, custom UIs take care of some of this work for you. Just because
Android offers options for full customization doesn't mean that all
consumers want to exercise those options, and that's where OEM
customization can be a good thing for some users.
Of
course, the perfect option would be if all manufacturer UIs were made
optional, and could be removed from devices. As far as we know, that may
be the biggest unconfirmed benefit of Ice Cream Sandwich, and the new
feature allowing users to remove any app could extend to manufacturer
UIs, but we still need to see about that. Until that happens though,
custom UIs fall under the realm of manufacturer differentiation, and
consumer choice, and that includes the option for stock Android.
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