How to find out the variant of my Galaxy Nexus?

Question

There have been some Jelly Bean updates for Galaxy Nexus, but most of these are specific to a certain variant of the Nexus. How can I easily find out which variant I have?

Answer 1

Check the firmware version of your device:

1. Open your favourite File Manager;
2. Access the /system folder;
3. Locate and open a file called build.prop;
4. Find the line that starts with ro.product.name.

Whatever comes after the equals sign =, that's the firmware you have.

The different variants and their meaning:

Below there's an updated list of the known firmware variants for the Galaxy Nexus and what models they shipped on:

GSM/HSPA+ Models

┌──────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Firmware Variant │  Model it relates to                               │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ takju            │ USA region and carrier-independent firmware        │
│                  │ released on models sold in the USA through the     │
│                  │ Google Play Store                                  │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakju            │ International region and carrier-independent       │
│                  │ released on models sold throughout                 │
│                  │ western Europe                                     │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakjudv          │ Variant for Australia                              │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakjujp          │ Variant for the Middle East                        │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakjukr          │ Variant for South Korea                            │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakjusc          │ Variant for Japan                                  │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakjuux          │ Variant for Canada                                 │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakjuvs          │ Variant for Brazil                                 │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakjuxe          │ Variant for Russia and the former Eastern Bloc     │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakjuxw          │ Variant for certain carriers in Western Europe     │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ yakjuzs          │ Variant for China and Hong Kong                    │
└──────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

CDMA/LTE Models

┌──────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Firmware Variant │  Model it relates to                               │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  mysid           │ Variant for Verizon in the USA                     │
├──────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  mysidspr        │ Variant for Sprint in the USA                      │
└──────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

---

Source:

XDA-Developers Forum Thread: [GUIDE] Galaxy Nexus Firmware Guide: Variations, Who Updates What, etc. explains very vividly how to get the firmware from your device (model variant), what it means and its origins.

I'll leave a resume of the current thread here just in case the link goes dead:

WHAT IS ALL THIS TALK ABOUT FIRMWARE VARIATIONS?

With every Nexus phone, there has been a "master" firmware, plus other localized firmware variants for certain regions or carriers. Sometimes these variants will contain language packs, additional ringtones, slightly different baseband (radio) firmware to make it work better for a particular carrier's network, etc.

In the case of the Nexus S, Google maintained the master and all the local variants. On the Nexus One and the Xoom, Google only maintained the master firmware while carriers and/or OEMs maintained the local variants. In the case of the Galaxy Nexus, there are three Google-maintained master firmware variants, and many more Samsung-maintained local variants.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT VARIANTS AND WHAT DO THEY MEAN?

Below is a definitive list of all known firmware variants for the Galaxy Nexus, and what models they shipped on:

• GSM/HSPA+ Models

  • takju - USA region- and carrier-independent firmware released on models sold in the USA through the Google Play Store
  • yakju - International region- and carrier-independent firmware released on models sold throughout western Europe.
  • yakjudv - Variant for Australia
  • yakjujp - Variant for the Middle East
  • yakjukr - Variant for South Korea
  • yakjusc - Variant for Japan
  • yakjuux - Variant for Canada
  • yakjuvs - Variant for Brazil
  • yakjuxe - Variant for Russia and the former Eastern Bloc
  • yakjuxw - Variant for certain carriers in Western Europe
  • yakjuzs - Variant for China and Hong Kong

• CDMA/LTE Models

  • mysid - Variant for Verizon in the USA
  • mysidspr - Variant for Sprint in the USA

HOW CAN I TELL WHICH FIRMWARE I HAVE ON MY DEVICE?

Using any file manager app, go into your /system folder and open the file called "build.prop". Find the line that starts with ro.product.name. Whatever comes after the equals sign (=), that's the firmware you have.

WHICH FIRMWARE IS UPDATED BY GOOGLE AS OPPOSED TO SAMSUNG?

Google updates the following firmware variants:

• takju
• yakju
• mysid

Every other variant is updated and maintained by Samsung.

Answer 2

There used to be an app that did just this, but it's been pulled for some reason. You could also download a "system info" type app, but these often come with ads and other bloatware.

The easiest way is to download a terminal app such as Android Terminal Emulator, open it and run the command getprop ro.product.name and you'll get the variant.

Here's an example what the run looks like:

u0_a109@android:/ $ export PATH=/data/local/bin:$PATH
u0_a109@android:/ $ getprop ro.product.name
takju
u0_a109@android:/ $

... and there you have it, takju!

Another way would be to open adb shell and running getprop ro.product.name from there. This is more useful if you already have ADB installed. Otherwise, it's faster to just download the app.