A few questions from a (future) GSM Galaxy Nexus owner

Posted by mr sack on April 6, 2012 11:19 am 14

I will hopefully be picking up a GSM Galaxy Nexus from Amazon by the end of this month or beginning of next month (prices are hovering around $475, not sure if it will go much lower by then), and I had a few questions for current owners.

Warranty

Since I live in the US and will be buying the unlocked GSM version, it won't be coming with a warranty. I'd like to have some protection just so I don't have to be stuck with a defect if I discover it a month or two after I get the phone, so it looks like Squaretrade's $70 one year Android warranty (also covering accidental damage) wouldn't be a bad idea. Thoughts, or other recommendations?

Extended Battery

I've heard that the GSM batter life is much better than Verizon's so I'm not terribly worried about battery life out of the box, but there is an official Samsung extended battery for the GSM version going for $37 on eBay (only place to get it atm I think) that increase the battery capacity from 1750 mAh to 2000 mAh with very little size increase (see or click the image below). Anyone with the GSM version have this extended battery and can comment on battery life with and without it? Should I wait and see how battery life is first? I'd also be curious if the contacts would still work with the official dock with the small size increase, but it doesn't look like the dock is available in the US now anyways.

(Click to see animation of thickness difference with and without the extended battery) via cdn.androidcentral.com

Updates from Google

I've heard that it's kind of a lottery whether you get a Galaxy Nexus that is actually updated by Google as opposed to Samsung, YAKJU or something? Is there anything I can do to increase my chances when ordering (pick a particular seller from Amazon) or do I just have to hope? If I don't get a YAKJU phone, I'll probably convert before I start to really use the device, it looks like there is a guide over at XDA.

Thanks, any other tips or advice would be welcome too!