Like its predecessors, the Galaxy Nexus is shaping up to be an impressive flagship phone and Android 4.0 is a significant step forward for Google.

The Galaxy Nexus is the best Android phone ever made. ItÂ’s one of the best smartphones ever made, and with a couple of minor tweaks (particularly to the camera), it could be the best smartphone ever produced.

Still, thereÂ’s really not much to knock here. The hardware is elegant and smartly designed. The software is beautiful and useful. Google has cleaned up a lot of the bad, and replaced it with a serious amount of good. ItÂ’s faster, smarter, and a lot more friendly than any of its predecessors. Ice Cream Sandwich easily gives iOS and Windows Phone a run for their money, and in many ways, itÂ’s a superior operating system than either of them. If thereÂ’s a bone to pick, perhaps itÂ’s with the size, which could be off-putting to some [...] Since day one, IÂ’ve been waiting for an Android device that lived up to the promise of such a powerful OS. I think I can stop waiting now.

The phone is huge. It is thin and very light, and it doesn’t feel bulky, per se. But I find myself doing finger gymnastics as I use it: sliding my pinkie beneath the device when I need to tap the ‘Back’ button at the bottom of the phone, then sliding it back up the side when I need to tap on the search box, which is at the top of the screen. II can’t navigate the UI without moving my hand around. … Thankfully, the device’s giant screen has an upside: it’s a beauty to look at. Text looks fantastic. And the relatively vast screen real estate means that applications can fit in more buttons and content without feeling cramped. Oh, and remember the three software nav buttons I discussed earlier? When you’re watching a movie, those vanish entirely, which means nearly the entire front of the phone becomes a video display. It’s really nice.

The good: The Samsung Galaxy Nexus brings a ton of new and very welcome features with Ice Cream Sandwich. The design is sharp, the screen is gorgeous, and the internal performance is fantastic.

The bad: Ice Cream Sandwich has eliminated some of AndroidÂ’s learning curve in some aspects, just to re-create it in others. There was some static on calls, and like other Samsung Galaxy devices, the Galaxy Nexus feels rather fragile.

The bottom line: The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is a big step forward for Android, but itÂ’s not the giant leap you may have been expecting. As impressive as it is, Ice Cream Sandwich can be messy, and without it, the Galaxy Nexus is just another Android device.

After all of my fawning over the hardware, I must admit: However compelling the Galaxy Nexus is at first sight, the star of this show isnÂ’t made of glass and plastic. No, itÂ’s the software underneath.