Well here we go, folks; it’s that time again when I’m looking for yet another phone. This time, it’s more of a ‘political’ thing rather than me specifically needing a Nexus S. After all, it will most certainly be a downgrade from my current phone (HTC’s Incredible S) in terms of specs. So why am I selling a high-end HTC for a one-year-old, rather cheap-feeling Samsung? 

The main reason I’m pretty sure I’m going to the Nexus S is software updates. I am sick of HTC cutting their customers off after eight months. My phone was released earlier this year and it won’t get an update to Ice Cream Sandwich. To me, that’s outrageous. One of the main problems with Android is the fact that manufacturers like to install custom UIs, which slows down the update process for certain devices, and in some cases prevents an update from being available. 

The logical choice of Android phone in this situation would be the Galaxy Nexus, but as I’m a broke student, the Nexus S will have to do. I can’t sell my Incredible S for much, so the cost of me selling it will cover the cost of a brand new Nexus S off Amazon perfectly. The Nexus S will get ICS within the next few months, and it’ll probably get the next release of Android after that (most likely another eighteen months away); this makes it the only future-proof phone that I can realistically consider buying. The only real issue I originally saw with the Nexus S replacing my current device was the lack of HD video capture on its five megapixel camera, but the amount of phone photography I do is minimal, and for decent shots I’ll just use my Fujifilm S1600. 

I’m also fed up of HTC Sense slowing my phone down; something that was previously aesthetically-pleasing for me has just turned into a CPU hog/graphical nightmare of a UI. Stock Android is so much faster, and the Nexus S also has some pretty powerful graphics processing power. 

So at the end of the day, I’m happy to slightly downgrade my device for something that I feel will last me longer, and that will give me less grief. My current phone is like a Ferrari - powerful, but has a lot of flaws; the Nexus S is more of an Audi R8 - a sensible, slick, and reliable alternative. As a daily driver, I’ll happily take the R8 over a Ferrari. 

Look out for my final decision on Twitter over the next few weeks. 

Since this phone came out, I’ve always been drawn toward it more than anything else. It certainly lives up to its name. 

The Incredible S features a 1Ghz 2nd Gen Snapdragon CPU, with 768MB of RAM and 1.1 GB of internal storage. On front there’s a 4 inch SLCD display and a 1.3 megapixel camera; on the back there’s an 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash and 720p HD video recording. The phone runs HTC Sense 2.1 on top of Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread.

I love the design of this device. It features a sort of rubbery soft-touch plastic all round, and the ‘plateau’ on the back (under which sits the battery) gives the phone a rugged and industrial feel. I have a case on mine (not pictured), but even without that it feels pretty sturdy; with it on, the phone feels absolutely indestructible. 

The screen is breathtaking, and I honestly thought that the lack of an AMOLED display (present in my previous device, the Legend) would set the Incredible back, but the Super LCD really is super. One of its strongest points is colour reproduction; the screen presents colours in very high contrast and everything looks very natural. 

It’s fair to say that the screen dominates the front of the Incredible. Comparing it to the Legend, you can see that HTC have wasted no space on the front of the device, and really have made the screen as large as possible. On the Legend, the screen didn’t really feel like the ‘centrepoint’ of the phone; it certainly is on the Incredible. 

With the addition of that huge RAM and fast processor, the Incredible is incredibly (!) fast. Where this phone excels in terms of performance is web browsing; multitouch gestures are buttery smooth, and Adobe Flash content loads and runs perfectly. This is a testament to the new browser in Gingerbread, but also shows up just how good the combination of RAM and processor speed is in this device. 

Despite only using it for about a day at the time of writing, the Incredible S has been fantastic so far. Look out for continued coverage of my lovely new device. 

Seeing as everyone is talking shit about HTC following MWC, I thought I’d give them some praise. The Incredible never made it to the UK, for some strange reason, but I really liked its design. The square and chunky form factor made it look like something solid; a contrast to the flimsy all-glass feel of the iPhone 4 (Apple fanboys, abuse me in the comments below). One of the main HTC shit talking points following MWC was the fact that they didn’t bring out any dual-core handsets. Big deal! Who sits down with an Incredible S, powered by a single-core 1Ghz processor, compares it to a dual-core LG and complains about the Incredible being too slow? Nobody will. 

Yes, I know, the fans of dual-core smartphone chips will play the ‘it will improve 3D gaming’ card. I agree; dual-core will make gaming on these Android phones incredible (no pun intended), but I’m not a gamer. The Incredible S doesn’t run Gingerbread, but I don’t particularly care as with HTC Sense running on top, I won’t notice much of a difference. It also has Sense 2.0, which adds Sense themes, as well as a bunch of other cool features not present in the current Froyo Sense build I have on my Legend. Also, I’m pretty certain the Incredible S will be upgradeable to Gingerbread in due course. 

The other thing that people have criticised the Incredible S for is its screen resolution, of ‘only’ 480x800 pixels. Come on, people, it’s a super LCD display that will look amazing. Full stop. Incidentally, screen and device size is the only thing that’s concerning me: 4 inches is pushing the boundaries of what I’m comfortable with holding in my hand (that’s what she said). 

A feature of the Incredible S that I’m looking forward to is the 8MP camera with HD video capture. I was considering investing in an HD camcorder this summer, but this phone might just replace that for me. I say ‘might’, because previous HTC Android devices that had HD video capture didn’t seem to be able to record it that well. 8MP stills will be incredible, though (again, no pun intended). The 5MP camera on the back of my Legend takes pretty good shots, so with 8MP on the back of my Incredible S the phone might also replace my digital camera. 

I like my phone to feel indestructible in the hand, and the Legend absolutely does. For the past 9 months I’ve used it, it’s been dropped on the floor countless times, and survived two pretty bad cycling crashes. There isn’t a single scratch on it, and the all-metal construction makes it feel bombproof. The Incredible S is blacked out completely, and it looks like they’ve built an Otterbox Case into the phone itself. 

So, the Incredible S is sexy, strong, powerful, and feature-packed. I love HTC Sense, and this is arguably the best Sense device you’ll be able to buy. 

P.S: The ‘Intelligent Buttons’ are a small addition, but the fact that HTC has paid attention to such a small detail makes me smile.