Benefits and drawbacks of Galaxy Nexus having "No OEM Customization"

The drawbacks mostly fall under one major heading: do it yourself. With many OEM UIs, a lot of the things you may want are already there on screen, and you don't even need to drill into app folders or widgets lists too much to put what you want on your homescreens. For those who love the customization options of Android, this is a benefit of stock; it is a clean palette to work with. However, many people are lazy and don't want to do that. And, beyond having some customization done for you, some UIs, like HTC Sense, offer a number of extra features, like flipping the phone onto its screen to turn off the ringer, that users would only be able to get by installing 3rd party apps. Again, maybe you don't want these features built-in, but many customers won't go digging into the Android Market to replicate these features even if they want to have them. 

Another drawback of having stock Android is one that most don't consider: having the newest version of Android isn't always a good thing. Let's face it, developers can be lazy, and some may not update their apps in a timely manner to support the new version of Android. We have seen it with every Android update, and we already know that it will be happening with Ice Cream Sandwich. When Gingerbread first launched, we had to switch to a new default keyboard, because one of our favorites, FlexT9, took months to update for Gingerbread support. Now, we already know that the Adobe Flash player has not yet been updated for ICS. Adobe has promised the update before the end of the year, but it still illustrates the issue. It may be a somewhat minor annoyance, because there are often alternatives for any app that hasn't been updated for compatibility, but it is still an annoyance and something that will be a factor both in purchasing the Galaxy Nexus right now, and as a Nexus owner a year from now when Android Jelly Bean is released. 

Lastly, there is the general issue with being an early adopter: it can be a relatively lonely place. Granted, the Galaxy Nexus should sell far better than any previous Nexus device, but users still won't have too much practical use for things like Android Beam or even video chat through Google Talk because the requisite hardware (NFC and front-facing cameras) and software (Android 4.0 and Android 2.3.4 respectively) haven't been pushed out to all devices yet. If you do video chat with friends who are on PCs, that works fine, but unless your friends all have a Galaxy Nexus or Nexus S, Android Beam isn't too useful right now. And, with projections putting NFC adoption at just 50% of handsets within 2-3 years, you may not see much use in it all that soon. 

It is very nice to finally have clean stock Android as a choice on Verizon, but there is just as much to consider when choosing stock Android as there is when choosing a device with a custom manufacturer UI. As always, it comes down to choice. Some want to have full control over every aspect of their device, and want to be able to start fresh and choose everything that is put on that device. Stock Android offers this.