I don't really like the Galaxy Nexus as the screen is to big, and it doesn't have removable memory. It also has a 5Mp camera which is outdated. And if your thinking about Ice Cream Sandwich, HTC Sense 3.5 is as equally as good as it if not better, as it has all the features that ICS already has. And if you really want ICS you can get it on any device that you listed up there with CyanongenMod 9.
The screen is large, but the bezel is small and the phone is thin, it's easily pocketable and is a great size once you get used to it. It has a 32GB and 16GB version, with no SD Card slot, that's true, but it's not really something most people need. Consider all of the iPhone users who don't care about not having a SD Card slot.
I do agree that the camera is dated, not because it's 5MP, but because the sensor is average, it's not as good as the Galaxy S II's camera or the iPhone's camera for that matter.
HTC Sense 3.5 is nothing like Ice Cream Sandwich, is absolutely does not have all of the features, nor is it equally as good if not better. That is your opinion, and not one shared by many people.
Yes, you can get hacked ROMs onto any device, but it's always going to work best with the device that it was designed for. The Galaxy Nexus is the new standard for Android specs, and everything will conform to 720p screens with no buttons over time, the Galaxy Nexus is the most future proof and will run the best for a long time to come.
That is exactly why I am telling the OP to get the HTC Rezound, as the device has 720p. Again lets review some of ICS core features and compare them to HTC Sense 3.5.
Resizable Widgets- Sense 3.5 doesn't have this but it has a lot of different kinds of widgets for one thing with various sizes.
New lock screen actions- Have you ever seen the awesome lock screen of HTC Sense 3.5? This looks like shit compared to it.
Swipe to dismiss notifications, tasks, and browser tabs- Alright that is one new feature, and you can easily dismiss a notification if you press on it.
New keyboard- Crap compared to the HTC Input keyboard. And the voice thing oh well... We can get that by downloading the ICS keyboard from the market.
Control over network data- Thousands of apps in the market for that.
People and profile- HTC Sense 3.5 is much more easier to use. And it also has smart dialer so you just type the first letters of a persons name, and it pops up for you.
Camera- Instant shutter was introduced to HTC sense on version 2.1. HTC Sense 3.5 has Panorama mode.
Live affects for transforming video- There are apps in the market for this.
Powerful Web Browser- Idk what to say about this, the browser that I have on my phone is already good.
Face Unlock- Totally pointless.
And don't forget most HTC phones with a Dual-Core processor is getting ICS in 2012 anyways.
First of all, Sense 3.5 is not based off of android 4.0 and comparing Ice Cream Sandwich to Sense 3.5 isn't really fair. That said:
Resizable widgets and iOS style notifications: Both are great features and Sense 3.5 has neither
Lock Screen: The sense lock screen is better because you can launch directly into some (4 I believe) apps, however all of the visual flair that goes along with that such as the floating stocks etc. are just eye candy.
Swipe to dismiss notifications, apps, and browser tabs: You can dismiss a notification by clicking on it, but the app has to fully load up, and then you have to open the notification drawer again, it's not intuitive, and the swipe to dismiss action is a key feature considering all of the notifications that you will get in a day that you don't care about. Also the whole multitasking UI shows screenshots of all of apps, and apps can easily be killed, it's far more intuitive than the existing multitasking UI in android (when you hold the home button).
New keyboard: Both the Ice Cream Sandwich keyboard and the Sense keyboard are inferior to Swype/Swift Key. As for voice typing, it's cool, and apparently works very well, however it doesn't have many use cases except for the car.
Control over network data: There are thousands of apps, but none that are elegant and built into the system (without root anyway). The network control lets you track the data usage overall and of every app is easy to follow charts, and it allows you to only block background data from specific apps as opposed to killing them (TASK KILLERS ARE BAD).
People and profile: This is what the whole Sense experience is built around, and I can't really say because i haven't dug deep into the whole Sense social experience. However, this is where stock android built social elements directly into one app that comes pre-installed.
Camera: Yes, sense had those features, and now Ice Cream Sandwich is up to feature parity if not better.
Video: There are apps in the market that do it, but you don't want to have 5 camera apps that all have different functions that you want. Along with live affects, it also has video snapshots and time lapse.
Powerful web browser: Just because the browser is good doesn't mean an even better browser is pointless. It adds incognito, better tabs, chrome-phone bookmark syncing, saved pages, a switch for getting to the desktop version, and just an overall smoother experience.
Face Unlock: A cool feature, not really practical.
Also some features you missed:
Dual-core optimized
Roboto font
Completely new interface with new, intuitive actions such as horizontal swiping, an action bar with more readily available actions, and copmletely new core apps, such as music, youtube, gmail, calender, etc.
Quick response texts
Free visual voicemail
Android Beam (sharing by touching two phones)
The ability to disable an application, including preloaded bloatware
Power + Vol down to take a screenshot
