Google’s Galaxy Nexus smartphone is coming to Sprint soon, with an April 22 release date and a price of $200 with a two-year contract.
As with Google’s previous Nexus phones, the Galaxy Nexus runs an unmodified version of Android–in this case Android 4.0, or Ice Cream Sandwich–without any bloatware from the phone maker or wireless carrier. As such, Nexus phones are usually first in line to receive future software updates.
(MORE: First Look: Galaxy Nexus and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich)
For hardware, the Galaxy Nexus is made by Samsung and has a 4.65-inch 720p resolution display, a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, a 5-megapixel front camera, a 1.3-megapixel rear camera, 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of built-in storage. Although the display is rather large, part of it is occupied by navigation buttons such as home and back, which on other phones are located below the screen.
Sprint’s Galaxy Nexus will include support for 4G LTE, but it won’t have those speeds at launch. Sprint is rolling out its 4G LTE network in the middle of the year, starting with Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and Antonio.
Unlike Verizon’s version of the Galaxy Nexus, which launched last December, Sprint’s version will include support for Google Wallet, the payment service that lets you swipe the phone instead of a credit card at select retailers. Verizon cited security concerns in omitting the Google Wallet application, but it’s worth noting that Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T plan to launch their own smartphone payment service called Isis later this year. Sprint users who sign up for Google Wallet will get $10 worth of instant credit, plus another $40 within three weeks.
The Sprint Galaxy Nexus is up for pre-order now.