Background: I have had the EVO 4G, Nexus S, Galaxy S II, VZN Galaxy Nexus.(to name a few) Love Android.

Hardware design: Hubba hubba it's good lookin' and feels great to boot. Tired of black slab phones. Its got curves, color gradation, and different textures.

Screen: I was scared of the resolution coming from the GNex but I love it the 720p kinda made everything smaller and amplified the short comings of the Pentile display technology. With this (Super AMOLED qHD display) i dont see the Pentile problems like I did with the GNex. The biggest thing about the screen is how alive the colors are compared to other AMOLED screen not sure what makes it that way but I describe the GNex's display as depressing not the resolution but the visual experience.

Software: Back when Android was on like 1.5/1.6(Cupcake) OS it needed Sense...And I loved it, but buy the time 2.X(Froyo & Gingerbread) came around the stock Android experience was good enough to stand alone and with the uprising of better apps and widgets Sense became more like extra baggage. Now with ICS which I have been running for some time on both my old GS2 and my GNex it was a welcome change and it broadened Androids abilities, but it left me feeling a bit empty. There wasn't a lot of of "wow, watch this!" moments. With the new Sense 4.0 i feel like there are a lot of those "wow, watch this!" moments. The overall experience with Sense 4.0 is not overly heave like it once was.

the Short: Best Android device I have played with.