1. I have an sgs2 if anyone has had one did you make the switch and why?
2. Is the camera really as bad as some reviews?
3. Is there a way to get the official google updates on the ones that receive it from samsung?
4. Does anyone regret their purchase ?
Any info would be much appreciated
1. My Android journey -> N1, DHD, SGS2, GNex. I made the switch purely because I was madly in love with ICS ever since seeing it on a colleague's GNex, and the improved screen resolution on the GNex. The lack of fixed capacitative buttons have made for a nice added layer of personalisation (with custom ROMs of course).
2. I've taken a few shots with the GNex and am generally satisfied. I think for day to day point-to-shoot moments, it isn't bad at all. The zero shutter lag actually helps capture "the moment" well. But yes, I do miss the superb clarity of my SGS2's pics...
3. I won't even pretend to know the answer to this one, but will instead link you to this : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1391881
4. Hell no. Although if the rumoured Galaxy Nexus "Plus" is coming (faster OMAP4470 CPU @ 1.5GHz and 8MP cam) then I will... but this is just a rumour...
AndreaCristiano said:
1. I have an sgs2 if anyone has had one did you make the switch and why?
2. Is the camera really as bad as some reviews?
3. Is there a way to get the official google updates on the ones that receive it from samsung?
4. Does anyone regret their purchase ?
Any info would be much appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2. No. Like all cameras on phones it is fine in good light.
3. All updates are exactly the same whether they come from Google or Samsung.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Thanks guys if anyone else has anything to add I would appreciate it
2. If you focus the Nexus before you shoot, it'll take good photos. That's all it takes really. Pretty much the same with all other phones. If you dont focus, it'll take okay pictures but if you make it focus first then it'll take good photos.
3. Yes, just flash yakju on your GSM nexus then you'll be good. It worked for me.
4. No regret at all.
I just wanted to say something about the camera.
"Capturing the moment" has not really been there for me because I use a pattern lock to secure my phone so I can't go to the camera app as quick as I wanted to. So if you use any type of lock screen that is not the slide one, I wouldn't think that would be that great.
Also about the quality, I would just recommend that you get a friend or go to a store with the galaxy nexus and compare it. I personally don't take many photos so I didn't really care about the quality but I gotta say... its worse than my sgs captivate in my opinion. So I would recommend trying it out for yourself.
Overall, if I had a sgs II I wouldn't switch because that device is still a great device and it will get ics sometime in the future. I would just save my money...
That was just my own personal opinion on the whole thing. Hope you make a good decision!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
I'm leaning towards the switch but I would like to actually use a unit before I make the final call so I might swing into a Verizon store and check one out.
Don't the hardware is a downgrade. The only thing it has is the screen and that's it.once the s2 gets ics it will be much faster and better
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App
I have spent 2 days with the nexus as a replacement for my water soaked SGS2(exynos) version. Before the haters get on me, i just want to give my honest opinions.
The Nexus is not as bad as many make it out to be. It does have a great screen and does feel nice in the hand. It is also pretty responsive as well.
Things i dont like coming from an sgs2...
-camera is terrible no matter how u put it-im sorry, it just is compared to sgs2
-micro stutter are quite frequent. There is a fair bit of lag throughout the whole phone. Whether it be scolling through web pages, homescreen, gallery or contacts, it just always has a bit of lag. Not crazy lag but again, coming from an SGS2 you never saw it anywhere.
-talking to people on the phone doesnt sound as clear
-speaker is weaker
-no SD
-battery is ok but not as good (could be because i have had it only for 2 days and also might need updates)
-browsers very fast but not as smooth in scrolling, pinch to zoom or playing videos
-apps not completely compatible yet (not nexus' fault)
Again, this is just my take on what i have seen. The phone just seems like a bit of a "work in progress". Also, i think sammy really put their full attention on the sgs2 and its software when they made it.
If you have a choice between the two, definitely go for the sgs2 unless you absolutely cant wait for ICS.
I like my Nexus but...
...i hear better reviews about the Galaxy S2 (better display)
Is that true? Better or worse in other ways?
the nexus screen is sharper and larger. the sgs2 screen is more vibrant and more contrast.
Infuse > SGS2 > GNex.
When I pick up my friends SGS2 to play around with it a bit, I gladly give it back to him.
The crisper and sharper screen with the noticeably higher resolution allows ics to shine. Don't listen to those who simply down play it's screen; it's pretty much *the* fundamental component of a touch screen device.
Good luck!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
I forgot to add one thing in my response to OP... I dearly, madly miss the ability to mount as USB storage in my GNex.
Potterified said:
I forgot to add one thing in my response to OP... I dearly, madly miss the ability to mount as USB storage in my GNex.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I might be the only one on the planet who actually likes that it uses MTP. I like not having to worry about whether the phone or my computer has mounted the SD card while it's plugged in.
esuohe said:
Infuse > SGS2 > GNex.
When I pick up my friends SGS2 to play around with it a bit, I gladly give it back to him.
The crisper and sharper screen with the noticeably higher resolution allows ics to shine. Don't listen to those who simply down play it's screen; it's pretty much *the* fundamental component of a touch screen device.
Good luck!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the input but how can you say that out of those three phones the infuse is the best? That baffles me
So after reading reviews from tech crunch T3 engadget BGR etc etc I'm at 90% going for Nexus especially with the pure google experience and at least two years of updates ala nexus S rocking ICS
AndreaCristiano said:
Thanks for the input but how can you say that out of those three phones the infuse is the best? That baffles me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think that was meant as "greater than" signs, but rather arrows to show his device history.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
Camera quality
I had a Nexus and returned it, primarily because I didn't feel the camera quality matched my HTC Thunderbolt's (running Skyraider).
HOWEVER.
After a week without the Nexus, I got the bug to get ICS again, and all the bells and whistles that came with Samsung's device and the newest phone on the market. I use the camera for work, and after spending some time with it - I now feel it's every bit as capable as HTC's - and surpasses it in many ways. I think it was just dealing with something different that turned me off. Sure, it's 5 megapixels v. 8 ... but that's not an accurate comparison, since lens quality and picture-processing algorithms play such an important part. As others mentioned - the no-lag shutter is great, there are some fun built-in features, and video quality is outstanding. The ONLY thing I don't care for is that the photos are not in 16x9 format. That seemed odd to me, and I was discussing it with a friend who's into photography. He pointed out that the pix the Nexus is taking are in 6x4 format (I think that's right -- definitely not 4x3). He says that's an industry standard for printing photos -- that 16x9 presents a problem if you're trying to have a photo printed professionally. I'd still like the option to shoot 16x9 (if it's in there, I can't find it) -- but the camera is far better than some reviews (and my initial experience) would have you believe.
Stadsport said:
I might be the only one on the planet who actually likes that it uses MTP. I like not having to worry about whether the phone or my computer has mounted the SD card while it's plugged in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love MTP when connected to my Win7 machine, but my netbook runs Linux, and I'm still figuring out getting MTPFS to automatically mount the phone's filesystem when I connect it. I can write a shell script to mount and unmount, but that isn't as nice as it "just working" on Windows.
Stadsport said:
I might be the only one on the planet who actually likes that it uses MTP. I like not having to worry about whether the phone or my computer has mounted the SD card while it's plugged in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Related
Have been using it for 2 weeks and runs it under Mobilicity. Everything works fine with a little bit issues. Generally speaking it's a great phone.
Cons:
1. When I go to somewhere that has no coverage and come back to somewhere that has coverage. The phone keeps stay in roaming. I have to reboot it in order to make phone calls. (i think that has to do with my carrier mobilicity)
2. Too many useless apps built in, mainly t-mobile apps. Forcing me to learn how root phones and delete them... Not a very pleasant experience though.
3. The phone doesn't naturally support tethering because tmobile locks it. You have to root it and freeze or uninstall the ''tethering manager'' for tethering.
4. Poor video qualities (HQ) when watching youtube compares to my iphone 4S. When both of them in full brightness, the Hercules' brightness is dimmer and blurrier. However, this issue doesnt appear in my other video apps such as PPS.
5. Laggy front camera. Maybe it has to do with the cpu, when i try to take pictures using the front camera, it's laggy enough to make you don't want to use it anymore...*
6. No physical home key. It's kinda annoying when you are cutting fruits and always accidentally touch the sensitive home key then have to restart the game again.
7. Too ''round''. I don't get it why tmobile will make a custom designed phone that relatively uglier than many other new galaxy phones such as galaxy infuse or even the original s2. I personally can stand the plastic case, but not really with the round shape.
8. The music app. I don't know if this is because i came from iOS, but I am really having a hard time getting used to the music app of the phone. I can't change the volume as precise as i want. There is certain ''level'' i have to choose(1,2,3..) I don't really enjoy it because sometimes it's either too loud or too quiet. Another thing is that it will be quite laggy when you try to drag the little circle to a specific part of a song you want to listen.
9. Not many languages are supported. Unlike iphone which has most of the languages installed, this phone only comes with 7 or 8 languages. Korean is the only asian language supported.10.
Lastly, why everything is in a BLACK background color???????? Whether in email, music or settings it's ALL BLACK background! It will be much much nicer if we can change the background color. (yeah i kniw it can save some battety, but....)
Oh one more thing.......With it's 1.5GHz processor, why is the benchmark score still lower than Galaxy s2. I got around 2500 in average for 4 times testing. Whereas galaxy s2 can get around 300.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
jasonqw1 said:
Have been using it for 2 weeks and runs it under Mobilicity. Everything works fine with a little bit issues. Generally speaking it's a great phone.
Cons:
1. When I go to somewhere that has no coverage and come back to somewhere that has coverage. The phone keeps stay in roaming. I have to reboot it in order to make phone calls. (i think that has to do with my carrier mobilicity)
2. Too many useless apps built in, mainly t-mobile apps. Forcing me to learn how root phones and delete them... Not a very pleasant experience though.
3. The phone doesn't naturally support tethering because tmobile locks it. You have to root it and freeze or uninstall the ''tethering manager'' for tethering.
4. Poor video qualities (HQ) when watching youtube compares to my iphone 4S. When both of them in full brightness, the Hercules' brightness is dimmer and blurrier. However, this issue doesnt appear in my other video apps such as PPS.
5. Laggy front camera. Maybe it has to do with the cpu, when i try to take pictures using the front camera, it's laggy enough to make you don't want to use it anymore...*
6. No physical home key. It's kinda annoying when you are cutting fruits and always accidentally touch the sensitive home key then have to restart the game again.
7. Too ''round''. I don't get it why tmobile will make a custom designed phone that relatively uglier than many other new galaxy phones such as galaxy infuse or even the original s2. I personally can stand the plastic case, but not really with the round shape.
8. The music app. I don't know if this is because i came from iOS, but I am really having a hard time getting used to the music app of the phone. I can't change the volume as precise as i want. There is certain ''level'' i have to choose(1,2,3..) I don't really enjoy it because sometimes it's either too loud or too quiet. Another thing is that it will be quite laggy when you try to drag the little circle to a specific part of a song you want to listen.
9. Not many languages are supported. Unlike iphone which has most of the languages installed, this phone only comes with 7 or 8 languages. Korean is the only asian language supported.10.
Lastly, why everything is in a BLACK background color???????? Whether in email, music or settings it's ALL BLACK background! It will be much much nicer if we can change the background color. (yeah i kniw it can save some battety, but....)
Oh one more thing.......With it's 1.5GHz processor, why is the benchmark score still lower than Galaxy s2. I got around 2500 in average for 4 times testing. Whereas galaxy s2 can get around 300.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Um you most have the tmobile version if you have to many bloatware apps im assuming the telus version has only 1 bloatware app.
Tethering isn't free on any carrier. Iphone you either need to pay or jailbreak your phone.
Um the sg2 has to be one of the brightest phone i owned. You need to raise the brightness maximum in display settings and uncheck auto adjust screen power. My friend has the iphone4s and his brightness pales in comparison he said. It doesn't look as good because its a lower resolution to the iphone4 but the colors look much better on the samsung galaxy s2
Front camera is not laggy. You may need to get that checked out. Might be defective.
Physical keys are dead with android and capacitive will be to. Only virtual keys on home screen it will be worse for you then in the future with an android device.
Design is preference wont argue with you there.
Music has dsp manager built in. When your in the music app press settings sound effects and equalizer customize how you want. For best sound quality.
That to i like a choice to choose background colors buts that's alright.
You score lower because Qualcomm processor is weaker than the exynos processor. But gets better connectivity to data services also capable of faster speeds. Apparently by anandtech are phone has better browser peformance than
standard exynos sg2.
Wow! ... all of that sounds a bit off, most of what's described seems like software issues that can be easily fixed once rooted
Reception wise this phone is waaaay better than any other phone I've used before
no problem picking up signal on its own on Wind
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
This all just sounds like your personal wants aren't satisfied. Almost everything you mentioned is because "you" don't like it. Sounds to me like android was not meant for you my friends. Rooting is super simple on this device. Camera issue may just be your device and quadrant? Really? That's an issue?
Sent from my Galaxy S2
Phone can be used as is with any issues. Personally while you sound like you have complaints it sounds like your quite happy with the phone as you are able to do what you want not what someone else wants.
Reason why Android OS is mostly black for its been proven that darker screens help save battery life.. is there truth to that I don't know.. Run a phone with all white and see.
Personally I love the fact that you can root an Android phone and do as you damn well please!
You are correct this phone SUCKS!
But I can help!!!
I'll buy it!
How much do you want for it?
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
LMAO +1
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
I agree with you on some things, but if i only look at the negative aspects of this phone, you bet I will start to feel dissatisfied. Minor gripes will be had with any consumer products.
I think I'd rather be pretty stoked that I'm holding the hottest piece of pocket tech available right now.
Dude just checked again my front camera is really laggy... And i cant exchange it because i bought it through craigslist without receipt...
Just want to double check, is your phone's front camera as smooth as he back one? How about compare to iphone/itouch's front camera? Same? Or laggier?
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
jasonqw1 said:
Dude just checked again my front camera is really laggy... And i cant exchange it because i bought it through craigslist without receipt...
Just want to double check, is your phone's front camera as smooth as he back one? How about compare to iphone/itouch's front camera? Same? Or laggier?
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i dont know about your carrier and if you have phone insurance, but for t-mobile if you have insurance, a problem with the camera would be covered and you could get a replacement..regardless of where you bought it (from a retailer or a 3rd party, ebay/craiglist etc..)...insurance follows the line not the device
---------- Post added at 02:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:20 AM ----------
you are entitled to your opinion, however, it seems like a lot of the "cons" you have are nitpicking...not real issues...people are going to find something wrong with every device...but the overwhelming thought is that this phone is awesome and doesn't have any real major flaws
jasonqw1 said:
Dude just checked again my front camera is really laggy... And i cant exchange it because i bought it through craigslist without receipt...
Just want to double check, is your phone's front camera as smooth as he back one? How about compare to iphone/itouch's front camera? Same? Or laggier?
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My front facing camera is laggier than the back also but it don't bother me.
no lag in my cameras on T989
it's practically instant shoot, non stop, just as advertised in the ICS 4.0 Galaxy Nexus event
back with the old phones i couldn't do non stop shooting, as it takes a while for the camera to react and safe file to storage
but in T989 it's so fast, like instant.
so, for those that says it's lagging, it's definitely a software issue, something other App is slowing down your phone
AllGamer said:
no lag in my cameras on T989
it's practically instant shoot, non stop, just as advertised in the ICS 4.0 Galaxy Nexus event
back with the old phones i couldn't do non stop shooting, as it takes a while for the camera to react and safe file to storage
but in T989 it's so fast, like instant.
so, for those that says it's lagging, it's definitely a software issue, something other App is slowing down your phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was like that before i root it. But is there any difference between your front camera and back camera in terms of smoothness??
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
haha howd i know this was an iOS user before he stated it
jasonqw1 said:
It was like that before i root it. But is there any difference between your front camera and back camera in terms of smoothness??
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the front camera seems more pixelated, and the auto light condition is not as great as the back camera
otherwise it's smooth natural movements (not jittery), more than adequate for any video conferencing chat
my old Nexus S was jittery (lag) using the front camera
Also i find that the 'HQ' mode in youtube is not really 'HD'. Anybody knows how do you watch really hd stuff??
The only way i know is go to the desktop verison and manally click 720P... 1080P will be laggy though...
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
No point in streaming 720p or 1080p unless you have plugged your phone into an HDTV: the phone only has 480 lines of resolution. Waste of bandwidth.
on top of that, our 3G / 4G in Canada is extremely slow compared to other places
jasonqw1 said:
Also i find that the 'HQ' mode in youtube is not really 'HD'. Anybody knows how do you watch really hd stuff??
The only way i know is go to the desktop verison and manally click 720P... 1080P will be laggy though...
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hq means higher quality not hd... Which most phones only have a 800x480 resolution. So it amps it up to 480p
Killbynature said:
Hq means higher quality not hd... Which most phones only have a 800x480 resolution. So it amps it up to 480p
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah but i do find big difference between the hq and 720P!!!
Try it yourself...
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Deal breaker
The dealbreaker for me was
1-People in the USA complaining about when going in dense places the network drops out.
I'm always in parks and on the outskirts of the networks so this is not good for me.
2-Pages and pages of complaints + New upgraded OS
These complaints may not end for months and I don't want to be a ginnypig for google
3- 5mp camera.
Can't see myself downgrading from 8mp to 5mp Camera, Close up is OK but zooming is not good
for somone that seen what the difference would be, A 12mp will be out in 3-4 months
I could ADD more.
Well I was all for the whole thing, except for less codec (audio/video) support than the SGS2, less app compatibility, worse media player, no SD card slot, worse camera...
I can't really see any benefit for an upgrade from the SGS2 for me... Other than the novelty of ICS of course
TheSobadef said:
I can't really see any benefit for an upgrade from the SGS2 for me... Other than the novelty of ICS of course
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Superior screen
Forums are designed to hear more complaints than gratification...people spend more time trying to find something wrong with their devices instead of just enjoying them. All forums are full of this OCD behavior. You have to face it that majority of the owner who enjoy thier devices are not posting how much they love them. They are rooting, adding Roms, or just nothing and letting it be a friggin phone.
I love my GN...sure it has a few bugs but if you keep waiting for the next best thing then you will never buy anything. Just buy what you like try it out and form your own opinions.
Lcrkz0023 said:
Forums are designed to hear more complaints than gratification...people spend more time trying to find something wrong with their devices instead of just enjoying them. All forums are full of this OCD behavior. You have to face it that majority of the owner who enjoy thier devices are not posting how much they love them. They are rooting, adding Roms, or just nothing and letting it be a friggin phone.
I love my GN...sure it has a few bugs but if you keep waiting for the next best thing then you will never buy anything. Just buy what you like try it out and form your own opinions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was told to try the Pure google phone experience because I didn't care for the SGS2 touch wiz or the UI either way I tried the Nexus S at Sprint yerterday and today again to make sure what my feelings were about it and it had the same old specs 5mp camera and it was slow as **** and dull dull dull
justabrake said:
I was told to try the Pure google phone experience because I didn't care for the SGS2 touch wiz or the UI either way I tried the Nexus S at Sprint yerterday and today again to make sure what my feelings were about it and it had the same old specs 5mp camera and it was slow as **** and dull dull dull
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus are 2 very different things.
justabrake said:
I was told to try the Pure google phone experience because I didn't care for the SGS2 touch wiz or the UI either way I tried the Nexus S at Sprint yerterday and today again to make sure what my feelings were about it and it had the same old specs 5mp camera and it was slow as **** and dull dull dull
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nexus s has gingerbread for the time being unless you root, and the UI is way different from ICS. All of the reviews I have read say the interface changes in ICS are for the better.
If you have a SGS2 then there is no reason to upgrade. I passed on the SGS2 because I wanted Google to be in charge of my updates instead of Samsung. Considering the galaxy s only went up to gingerbread and they're not gonna update it even though it's capable of running ice cream sandwich I don't see any compelling reason to leave samsung in charge of my updates. The development community will pull through but you have to admit the roms would work a lot better if they had a nice stock kernel to pull from as well as the source code provided by OEM.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
justabrake said:
Deal breaker
The dealbreaker for me was
1-People in the USA complaining about when going in dense places the network drops out.
I'm always in parks and on the outskirts of the networks so this is not good for me.
2-Pages and pages of complaints + New upgraded OS
These complaints may not end for months and I don't want to be a ginnypig for google
3- 5mp camera.
Can't see myself downgrading from 8mp to 5mp Camera, Close up is OK but zooming is not good
for somone that seen what the difference would be, A 12mp will be out in 3-4 months
I could ADD more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well your talking about the GSM version. What about Verizon. See I heard the opposite, that it was getting better reception then some of the newer phones out... razer and rezound.
There really aren't lots of complaints about the phone itself outside the, already fixed, volume bug.
Just like the volume bug, see how quickly it was fixed? This is why we choose the Nexus phones. Other phones would have gone for weeks or months before a new fix. This is the reason.
As far as the camera... 5mp with instant shutter > 8mp with 5second shutter. Sure I'd rather have a 8mp with instant shutter, but whatever. Out of all the photos I take, 5% end up on Facebook and the rest go to waste in a folder.
I dunno. I have different reasons for getting a Nexus. I would keep my G2x otherwise until quads come out. The Nexus is the one phone on Verizon that isn't locked down by their BS policies and bootloaders... and work pays for my Verizon line. Galaxy Nexus = +$80 a month I save.
G2x - 2.3.7 CM7
Transformer - 3.2 Revolver OC/UV
justabrake said:
I was told to try the Pure google phone experience because I didn't care for the SGS2 touch wiz or the UI either way I tried the Nexus S at Sprint yerterday and today again to make sure what my feelings were about it and it had the same old specs 5mp camera and it was slow as **** and dull dull dull
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apples vs Oranges....
Lcrkz0023 said:
Apples vs Oranges....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At least it's not Apples vs. Blackberries
I find your points invalid. Not to argue but just throwing out my opinion considering I've had the device for the day and have compared it to my friend's 4S and a GS2.
1) The network problem that people have been having doesn't seem to be a problem. It's not because of the device to say the least as no one outside of the US has whined about it.
2) ICS has got to be the best Android OS to date. Not because it's new, but because it is the most refined and by far the smoothest experience for any mobile OS. I prefer it over iOS 5.
3) For any regular person, 5 MP is great. Especially with the zero-lag shutter which I have to say worked amazingly in my test. Compared to 8 MP you can honestly barely tell the difference. If you require that much quality from a digital camera then you should invest in an actual decent camera.
player911 said:
Just like the volume bug, see how quickly it was fixed? This is why we choose the Nexus phones. Other phones would have gone for weeks or months before a new fix. This is the reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm as big of a stock Nexus fan as the next person (own the Gnex, sold the SGSII for it, for example) but the search button bug is still not fixed on the Nexus S.
So, Google isn't held to a "do no wrong" standard...they are faster than regular manufacturers for updates, but we are never guaranteed perfection.
My first sgn has most definitely had reception / no signal in low cell service areas. However any other phones in the area whether its an iPhone or an android are still able to make calls when my nexus cant. I have a replacement device coming to see if its a radio issue.i will say though that any where there is a good signal the thing screams. However the signal also drops in those areas and doesn't recover. Hopefully its just mine.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Lcrkz0023 said:
Forums are designed to hear more complaints than gratification...people spend more time trying to find something wrong with their devices instead of just enjoying them. All forums are full of this OCD behavior. You have to face it that majority of the owner who enjoy thier devices are not posting how much they love them. They are rooting, adding Roms, or just nothing and letting it be a friggin phone.
I love my GN...sure it has a few bugs but if you keep waiting for the next best thing then you will never buy anything. Just buy what you like try it out and form your own opinions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, couldn't of said it better myself
My point to the OP is that if you into each & every phone thread here on XDA, you find that every phone has pages & pages of complaints. Therefore, no matter if a new phone is released today or 6mos from now, this will continue to be the case for those too. I guess I dont understand what the OP really want anyone to say. I try things for myself and base my opinion. I certainly dont base my buying decision solely on what forum posters say because going into it i alrdy know that most posting are going to be negative. That is the case in EVERY phone thread.
This phone rocks. Period. I am loving it more every day.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
If the OP has a problem with #2 on his list, then google nexis devices aren't for him. Tech geeks buy these phones cause they come with the bleeding edge of android OS technology. And with that comes bugs, things that may not be finished, ect. Plus we usually like to tinker with stuff, break and fix it
If you don't want to be a guinea pig for Google, then don't get a Nexus.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda premium
it's good that OP doesn't like the GN, then all the more stock for the rest of us!
This was made on the go, just some quick thoughts and my opinion.
T989
Pros:
Camera Quality
Extended Memory
Battery Life
Double Development(Can flash skyrocket roms)
Pentaband
1.5 GHZ Processor(Can OC to 1.7/1. 8)
Quick Bootup
Mass Storage
Fast GPS Lock
ICS Coming
More Choices Of Launchers
Sound Quality
9-11 Hrs Of Battery Life
Price
Cons:
No Voodoo
Some Devs Jumped Ship
Running Gingerbread
Graining/Blobbing
$20 For Unlock Code
Plastic Feel
I9250
Pros:
Screen Resolution
Comes With ICS
Camera Capture Speed
Development
Pentaband
Fast Charge Up
Standby Time Is Awesome
Quick Boot Up
Cool Accessories
LCD Mods Play Better With Display
LED Notifications
Constant Google Updates
Download Speeds
Fast GPS Lock
Awesome Video Capture
Face Unlock
Softkey Mods
Awesome Call Quality
Android Beam
1 Click Everything
Task Manager
Will Hold Value Better Over Time
Build Quality(Better feel without case)
Cons:
Battery Life
Grainy Pics
Some Apps Aren't Compatible
Processor(Highest OC is 1.4)
16GB Storage
Have To Use Wifi Explorer To Drag/Drop Files
No Mass Storage
$50 For Battery That Should Have Launched W/Device
Sound Quality Sucks
Now this was in a recent course which was 2 weeks of use. Had one briefly during launch and traded it because of the demand. Saw development picking up so I got one back and gave it a longer try/go.
The Galaxy Nexus is awesome don't get me wrong its just that it seems like they put more into the interface looking pretty than basic elements running smoothly. It has cool features which will definitely be a upgrade to people that haven't tried it but some of your favorite apps may not work and if your someone that likes to use your device day in and day out be prepared to bring a charger with you. The only 3 things that amazed me about the phone was the face unlock,the screen resolution and the softkey mods. Battery life was lacking and those three features weren't enough to make me want to keep this device. Tried everything from rom, radio, baseband combos and it just didn't make it better. Some other people may disagree. I don't buy phones to have them sit on a desk so showing me screenshots with 75% display(meaning standby/lack of use) won't convince me otherwise.
Now when it comes to the T989 I feel like it's a overall better device. Even though we are on GB we will have a ICS rom soon whether if it's OTA or Leaked. Better battery life with rom and kernel combos that actually show improvement, great storage for pack rats, and development from both sides of the fence. Not to mention we have a new addition to the Devs I feel like the Sgs2/T989 is a strong enough device to hold me or anyone over till the Sgs3, but I'm sure I will try out the Blaze as well.
2 Galaxy Nexus owned/traded and I don't feel like I'm missing out by coming back to the Sgs2. In my eyes they both have strengths and weaknesses but it's far from a slaughter.
:-D
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA Premium App
I feel like the Skyrocket is a better device too, it's the reason why I haven't grabbed the GNexus.
And with the CPU/GPU thing, the S3 just about destroys the OMAP4460.
Adreno 220 is much faster then the SGX540, and even though the OMAP has the same tech as the Exynos, it just doesn't seem nearly as fast, and the Snapdragon feels much quicker.
Also, on the GNexus, could you still see pixels because of the PenTile display? On my friends GNexus, I have no problem noticing the pixels, but I can't see them on my Skyrocket.
Longcat14 said:
I feel like the Skyrocket is a better device too, it's the reason why I haven't grabbed the GNexus.
And with the CPU/GPU thing, the S3 just about destroys the OMAP4460.
Adreno 220 is much faster then the SGX540, and even though the OMAP has the same tech as the Exynos, it just doesn't seem nearly as fast, and the Snapdragon feels much quicker.
Also, on the GNexus, could you still see pixels because of the PenTile display? On my friends GNexus, I have no problem noticing the pixels, but I can't see them on my Skyrocket.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From every angle the display was crisp. Didn't notice any pixels. Watching movies on it was AMAZING.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA Premium App
charlieb620 said:
From every angle the display was crisp. Didn't notice any pixels. Watching movies on it was AMAZING.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, guess it's just my eyesight then, or it's his screen, because I could EASILY see pixels without a problem.
And I agree, I watched a movie on it, looked ****ing AMAZING.
I'm glad to have another perspective on this. All I can say is glad to have another fan back.
Message relayed from the dark side.
Good decision, the gs2 battery life is no joke. And especially now that TDJ has his hands on a device, expect greater things to come. Eugene, not sure how great he is, but other people can vouch for him, so i can't wait! But RK and TDJ is an amazing combo, they finished strong at the mt4g dev section. Made it imho the best single core device.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
I love the Nexus. Battery life has been the biggest surprise for me....though I came from a charge....
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
mkarps said:
I love the Nexus. Battery life has been the biggest surprise for me....though I came from a charge....
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you think your battery life is good, ask us Skyrocket's and T-Mo SGS II users.
Thanks to the GSM/LTE combo in the Skyrocket, I use battery at the same rate as they do, so there's no battery drain.
I do 12-14 hours on a charge with heavy usage (I mean, constant texting, web browsing, gaming, listening to music).
I use my phone constantly. On the Nexus I was getting 4-5 hrs. I don't see how that is acceptable. In time I'm sure a kernel will give it more juice. The phone has only been on the market for 2 months.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA Premium App
charlieb620 said:
Cons:
No Voodoo
Some Devs Jumped Ship
Running Gingerbread
Graining/Blobbing
$20 For Unlock Code
Plastic Feel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm.. while i agree with some, most of them i don't, and the unlocking fee is not applicable in the equation
firstable what do you mean by Graining/Blobbing?
Voodoo is not applicable to our device
ICS is guaranteed so the GB part is only partially applicable until we get 4.0
the Plastic Feel is subjective to each person feel, to me the T989 is one of the better quality Samsung has ever build to date
the Galaxy Nexus actually feels more plasticky, i like our back cover more than the one that came with the i9250
AllGamer said:
Hmm.. while i agree with some, most of them i don't, and the unlocking fee is not applicable in the equation
firstable what do you mean by Graining/Blobbing?
Voodoo is not applicable to our device
ICS is guaranteed so the GB part is only partially applicable until we get 4.0
the Plastic Feel is subjective to each person feel, to me the T989 is one of the better quality Samsung has ever build to date
the Galaxy Nexus actually feels more plasticky, i like our back cover more than the one that came with the i9250
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I included the unlocking fee because i buy my phones for full price and i have to have them unlocked which most of the time it cost me money since none of the unlocker apps work and tmobile wont give them to me. I travel alot and being as though the nexus comes factory unlocked i figured i would list it as a con on the sgs2 side and a pro on the GN for myself.
The Graining/Blobbing is from a thread i read which most people have been experiencing which runs more in the category of lines running vertical in some screens. I experienced some but its not a big issue. That was in comparison to the 720p screen of the GN which i found no screen issues viewed from any angles.
I know Voodoo isnt functional with our device but i saw several people mention it and i was one of the people that miss it. Just from back in the Vibrant days. I think it is or was more effective than Volume+.
ICS is coming we all know that, but trying out ICS and than coming back to GB to me is a downgrade. Not just based on the OS #, but because ICS has more cooked in, and it will be great once we have it officially on the Sgs2. It was listed as a con for me because we have to wait on it for some time. May not be a biggie to other people.
The feel of the GN felt more nice is the hand to me with or without a case. The sgs2 in the color black feels nice in the hand maybe more so because of the door material , but the white model feels more cheap. I have a white on the way as im selling my black because I like the full look of the white but i know i have to add a white body glove to it to get a better feel of it.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA Premium App
very interesting regarding the white vs black model of the T989 i didn't know the back cover was different on the white
i was under the impression it was just the color.
re: unlocking fee, well in that case i do agree if you compare it as the total Cost of the phone, but that being said, the i9250 is still more expensive even with that included into the total of a T989
i'm indifferent about the Graining/Blobbing as it happens on both devices, actually all new AMOLED devices seems to be suffering from the same thing from what i've read across devices (Nokia, G Note, G Nexus, T989, i727, the new HD version of skyrocket, etc)
it'a factory production thing... not much we can do
that being said, i don't see the problem when using it normally, it only shows up when you have brightness all the way to Zero, otherwise is not noticeable
any brightness setting of 20% of more will just make it go away
AllGamer said:
very interesting regarding the white vs black model of the T989 i didn't know the back cover was different on the white
i was under the impression it was just the color.
re: unlocking fee, well in that case i do agree if you compare it as the total Cost of the phone, but that being said, the i9250 is still more expensive even with that included into the total of a T989
i'm indifferent about the Graining/Blobbing as it happens on both devices, actually all new AMOLED devices seems to be suffering from the same thing from what i've read across devices (Nokia, G Note, G Nexus, T989, i727, the new HD version of skyrocket, etc)
it'a factory production thing... not much we can do
that being said, i don't see the problem when using it normally, it only shows up when you have brightness all the way to Zero, otherwise is not noticeable
any brightness setting of 20% of more will just make it go away
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive read that as well, but i only noticed it so much on the devices i had.
The door on the black t989 is more so like a carbon feel sort of with more grip, and the white t989 is more glossy/slippery.
Also thanks for editing my OP. I was mobile at the moment of post.
i usually get the best phones available.. glad i have the s2.. the camera/sd card on the nexus is a deal breaker..
ive been using the same sd card for years and i wouldnt want it any other way.. its the easiest way to move ur music/pics/info quickly to a new phone.
magnum_touchpro said:
i usually get the best phones available.. glad i have the s2.. the camera/sd card on the nexus is a deal breaker..
ive been using the same sd card for years and i wouldnt want it any other way.. its the easiest way to move ur music/pics/info quickly to a new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup a quick swap and your done. Real convenient.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA Premium App
I wonder why all these GN vs GS2 threads are here? No need to justify your purchases. We all like and want different things. I can appreciate a new POV, but in essence its all the same. I can find thousands of people who can say the GNs pros outway the cons. To all their own I say.
Sorry, if it feels like I am targeting you, it's just these threads just seem like people trying to convince themselves more than anyone else that their phone is better than the GN...which is very subjective.
There is enough hate in the world. Why can't we all get along here ...?
I seen the gn and hated it its so ugly the missing buttons r ugly too
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Well this thread is more reasonable than the others because at least he listed a whole list of pros and cons. While the other ops are like "gs2 ftw" or something along those lines. He's not necessarily bashing either phones. he's listing some things that will help others decide if the cons outweigh the pros for either phone. Like if you're a battery user, immediately you would want to stick with the gs2.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
I agree with your points.
I just traded my white gs2 for a galaxy nexus and I plugged it into my computer and couldn't even transfer files to the sd card -.-. After installing drivers I can do it through MTP but I feel like out of the box internal sd card support was one of the major advantages of having an android device.
I might be interested in trading back for a gs2 but.... the screen is just... AMAZING on the nexus. I can't notice any pixels like someone else stated earlier but the screen quality is great. I had a sensation and was complaining about the ppi when I moved to the gs2. It would be hard to readjust to the galaxy s 2 if I do decide to go back to it.
Another point is the camera quality on the galaxy s 2... it completely blows away the nexus. I don't think the nexus is horrendous but for a 700 dollar phone you would think they could make some improvements. I also think that a better camera app would help, the native camera app in ICS isn't that much of an improvement from AOSP gingerbread.
The last and final point that would make it difficult for me to move back to the gs2 would be the operating system. Ice cream sandwich took a bit to get used to but after playing with it, its definitely a more fluid experience than the galaxy s2. Even if the gs2 gets the update.... I find it hard to believe that the update would be as anywhere as stable as the nexus. There are major bugs in the CM7 build from a couple months ago.... I just wonder how long would it take to get a stable ICS one. Also I would assume that the ics update for the t989 would come with touchwiz. Touchwiz sort of kills the beauty of ICS for me, I tried it out on the i9100 and it wasn't very impressive--it didn't add many pros over the gingerbread build.
I think its a toss up... if camera/internal hardware/specs is important def go with the t989
If updates/support/screen quality is important then go with the nexus.
I'm back with the nexus but i want a att note now that it can get tmobile 4G.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Premium App
Now that you have your G'Nex, (and isn't it the ish?!!) Is there any functionality of it, or ICS, that was a bit of a let down?
I've had mine a little over a week and I'd have to say, that for me it's the camera. Panorama is VERY cool, and impresses everyone, and zero shutter lag is great. But I notice that the quality of basic snapshots is lacking. Colors look unnatural, strange tinting, etc. It may all be in the settings, which I have just now started tweaking. Hopefully I can come up with the right combo, because what's the point of all of the rest, if the pictures come out bad?
Other than that's it's been a major lovefest with the new "baby", complete with frequent battery changes, and late night chargings.
McDizzle said:
Now that you have your G'Nex, (and isn't it the ish?!!) Is there any functionality of it, or ICS, that was a bit of a let down?
I've had mine a little over a week and I'd have to say, that for me it's the camera. Panorama is VERY cool, and impresses everyone, and zero shutter lag is great. But I notice that the quality of basic snapshots is lacking. Colors look unnatural, strange tinting, etc. It may all be in the settings, which I have just now started tweaking. Hopefully I can come up with the right combo, because what's the point of all of the rest, if the pictures come out bad?
Other than that's it's been a major lovefest with the new "baby", complete with frequent battery changes, and late night chargings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMO nothing let me down in regards to the specs and quality of this phone/ICS. I came from the SGS so everything with the GNex was a big improvement for me.
Some will probably say that the battery is a letdown, but given the sheer size and resolution of the screen i'd say it is OK.
/PS: I have the GSM version.
I was letdown there wasn't a hidden micro sd slot. That's it.
Sent from my Nexus in Texas.
I would also say the camera, but I will also say the speaker on this phone is a piece of crap!! I can't believe they shipped the phone with such a low ass speaker! Unbelievable!!! But I still like the damn phone
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Letdown:
1. Camera produced out-of-focus quite a lot
2. Speaker is too low
That's all ...
Battery is great, no problem with that (more than 2 days standby with more than 4 hours screen on time).
Gripes
The screen-capture function must have been designed by a complete sadist. For me it works. 1 out of 10 times....
No Scandinavial dictionary. Never thought I'd miss spell-checking, but I do! With a vengance.
Other than that I''m seriously satisfied.
/M
gogol said:
Letdown:
1. Camera produced out-of-focus quite a lot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is actually a bug in the Google ROM and is fixed in 4.0.3
None. The speaker is a bit of a let down but that wasn't a highly-touted feature.
I dislike the fact that the camera requires a tap to focus and another to take a picture. Why can't I just tap the shutter button and it focuses for me?
EP2008 said:
I dislike the fact that the camera requires a tap to focus and another to take a picture. Why can't I just tap the shutter button and it focuses for me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mine works fine, using 4.0.3 AOKP ROM
McHan said:
The screen-capture function must have been designed by a complete sadist. For me it works. 1 out of 10 times....
No Scandinavial dictionary. Never thought I'd miss spell-checking, but I do! With a vengance.
Other than that I''m seriously satisfied.
/M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Geez you are so right! It soo easy on my iPhone compare to the nexus!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Whine, whine, whine.
I must be a sadist, because the screencap feature works for me, EVERY TIME.
The only thing I find to be a letdown is the lack of official Google Wallet with the Verizon version. I don't trust putting a hacked app on my phone that pays with credit cards. Other than that this phone rocks!!
In the original reveal for the GNex, the presenters had mentioned a 'manual white balance.' I got really excited for this, thinking we'd be able to set a custom WB or at the very least manually set the color temperature (in K) to whatever we wanted. Turns out they just meant it was the same as the previous iterations of Android, and that we were limited to Daylight/Tungsten/Fluorescent/etc.
A true manual white balance would alleviate a ton of issues that people complain about in regards to color reproduction. Oh well -- maybe one of these days.
The speaker, like many claim, sucks quite some donkey balls.
The option, or rather not to have the option, to slot a micro-SD card, but we knew that when we bought it . Still 16g should be enough for your phone (imo).
A feature of ICS I never use though is faceunlock... highly featured and beloved, but I don't use it.
It's a nice add-on though but I like to have no lock at all, had my company mail on my older SGS1 and always had to unlock through letter/digit combo.. meh so just slide away for me
Overall, this is the best phone for me, still gonna get the SGSIII aswell to play with.
Or maybe 'encourage' my girlfriend to get it when her contract has to be renewed so I can claim it
the overall smoothness was a huge let-down for me, initially, as most of my previous droids were smoother and faster in comparison. 4.0.3 took care of that once and for all though. Everything's close to perfect now.
This is pretty much the best smartphone on the market right now.
Sometimes I'm amazed by the reading comprehension (or lack thereof). He asked what advertised features of the phone ended up being a let down.
-Couple of things here...nobody ever said the phone would have a SD slot.
-Yes they advertised NFC but don't recall them claiming Wallet would be installed, the highly touted NFC stuff was Android Beam.
-The speaker also was not any kind of advertised feature...we all know its a gamble on any phone.
Anyways..while the face unlock feature works its hardly secure as has been demonstrated, I'd complain a little about the camera but I don't believe phones should be expected to take good pictures that's what DSLRs are for.
derrelicte said:
In the original reveal for the GNex, the presenters had mentioned a 'manual white balance.' I got really excited for this, thinking we'd be able to set a custom WB or at the very least manually set the color temperature (in K) to whatever we wanted. Turns out they just meant it was the same as the previous iterations of Android, and that we were limited to Daylight/Tungsten/Fluorescent/etc.
A true manual white balance would alleviate a ton of issues that people complain about in regards to color reproduction. Oh well -- maybe one of these days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
couple of things here. if the picture i want to take is that important that i need to worry about wb i will use my 5d and shoot in raw. also a lot of people seem to be having issues just taking a picture with the gn if you think these same people are going to be able to figure out setting a manual wb thats a hella stretch.
Really I think it's a matter of the nexus not living up to the hype. For months people have been hyping up this phone. My last phone was a Evo 3d, going to the nexus was really a blah kinda upgrade. ICS is really nice and having it be fully functioning is a very good selling point, but on the 3D they pretty much had everything except the camera and wimax. I would say it ran almost as smooth as my nexus. Don't get me wrong the nexus is a great phone and would recommend it to others. It's just not a huge upgrade from a modern dual core phone.
Also the speaker is kickass compared to the Evo 3d's! And this phone should of been named the Nexus Prime!
adrynalyne said:
Whine, whine, whine.
I must be a sadist, because the screencap feature works for me, EVERY TIME.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really??? With on/off button and then vol-down? 45% of the time I get the Phone Options menu, 45% the phone goes to silent. I'm not being facetious, I REALLY want this to work. As Big Samm says; on the iPhone it's dead easy and works 100%. On MY Nexus; hardly ever.....
Any ideas what can be wrong on our phones?
So guys I'm in a dilemma here I have both phones right now sealed in the box I don't know which one to keep and which one to sell. I'm in Canada so lte works on the nexus 4. What do you guys suggest ? Thanks
One for work one for play ;p
sent from outside ur window
twanskys204 said:
One for work one for play ;p
sent from outside ur window
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was in the same dilemma as well. If you don't mind the size, the Note 2 is the better choice. The Nexus 4 may get the faster updates but we're on xda anyway so pretty much any phone with a good community will get updates.
Personally, if I had a choice between those 2 phones, I would prefer the Note 2. I'm a bit biased because I've been with Samsung for so long and I don't trust any other brand other than them. LOL. But from an unbiased point, the Nexus 4 provides faster updates (as mentioned), the Krait processor, and it's Google. Note 2 has a bunch of useful features and now we have some very reputable and brilliant developers in our community which will jump start our development. There's even an Android 4.2 (WIP) coming for us!
offwiththeface said:
So guys I'm in a dilemma here I have both phones right now sealed in the box I don't know which one to keep and which one to sell. I'm in Canada so lte works on the nexus 4. What do you guys suggest ? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note 2 hands down...more features and great dev support.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
I've used both and ended up sticking with the note 2 there's nothing out there right now that can compare to its specs not even goggles own baby
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium
Did you ask this same question in the Nexus 4 section? lol...It's gonna be hard to get an unbiased opinion when you ask a question like that in a section specifically for one of the phones
Having said that, I had the LG Optimus G, and aside from the LG skin (which wasn't TOO horrible) it was a good phone, but I still promptly exchanged it for a Note 2 and don't regret it one bit. I have never had good experiences with LG phones. The display was beautiful though.
I have a note 2 and my buddy has a nexus 4. I thought the nexus 4 screen looks way better then note 2 screen hands down in my opinion. The build quality and feel of nexus 4 is also much better. However no removable battery no lte, and no sd card support are major deal breakers. 16gb is just not enough with games and apps installed. At least if they made a 32gb version.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium
The nexus 4 has some attractive points. LTE maybe less of an issue if you in Canada. The screen is nice and it's a fast performer.
But for me the lack of MicroSD and non-removable is a no go for me. Not only is battery life on the Note 2 awesome, but I have a spare battery i can use if every needed. I also really like having the s pen and the 5.5" screen i greatly enjoy. The size of the note is not for everyone, I'm OK with it.
You have to decide how important each of these factors are to you. Once you do that I'm sure you'll be happy with your choice.
If note 2 was made by LG and nexus 4 by Samsung, I'd say go for nexus 4...
Personally I'm staying away from anything LG, I had enough gray hair with LG Nitro HD, thank you very much.
[email protected] said:
If note 2 was made by LG and nexus 4 by Samsung, I'd say go for nexus 4...
Personally I'm staying away from anything LG, I had enough gray hair with LG Nitro HD, thank you very much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're lucky you never tried the Thrill then...
I need more time before trying LG again. The guy at the AT&T store tried to get me to buy the Optimus G when the Note was not in stock yet. The nexus might be okay if LG isn't responsible for the software.
Sent from my Note ][
When you ask such question in Note 2 forum, my feeling is that you are going to get some bias answer.
I have both phones, and I think both phone are top notch in their own way. Here's what I think:
Nexus 4
- Very solid build, the construction is as solid as iPhone. Feels great in hand.
- The display does produce some relatively accurate colour compare to my IPS displays. I do a lot of photo editing/viewing. On the other hand, the sAMOLED does throw the colour off a bit by over saturated (nature of AMOLED), with the "natural" profile on Note2, it does become closer to real colour. Pixel density on the N4 is also better, but it's not critical as the Note 2 display is pretty sharp with the sAMOLED HD.
- AOSP, AOSP, AOSP! If you aren't a fan of Touchwiz, this is what you should keep. Not just the updates, as they don't come everyday. It's the user experience. Samsung does add a lot of neat feature that many can't live without, but in my honest opinion, AOSP does provide a nice layout and great feature out the box. I am also not a huge fan of Samsung's oversized UI, either.
- Believe it or not, the on screen button is a very important "feature" of N4 - You now have a place to put your thumb when you hold the phone, especially when passing the phone to people to show them stuff...without accidentally touching any of the buttons. However, also because of the on screen button, you do lose some screen estate.
- Buttery smooth, yes, smoother than the "more powerful" Note 2
- The price - You are indeed getting a lot of phone for the price that you are paying.
- Battery is medicore, partially due to bugs of 4.2 I believe. Dead locks are draining the battery.
- Lack of SD card might be a deal breaker for you. It isn't for me.
- Camera sucks.
Note 2
- Huge display, this is probably the max that you can carry with the borderline portability. The display is beneficial for reading stuff, browsing, sharing contents with friends
- The battery is ridiculous. The size, with the power management of the software makes it unreal. I get average 2 hours of light/moderate usage per 10%, on LTE.
- Touchwiz - To use the full features of the Note2, you probably don't want AOSP. The S-Pen works well with touchwiz, and I find touchwiz works well with large displays due to the oversized UI elements
- Size - It's pocketable, but it's not extremely comfortable. Taking in and out, using it in public, talking on it looks very awkward. No matter how big your hands are, how big of a person you are, this IS larger than your average phone by a lot
- One hand usability - Samsung does have some one hand accessibility but in general, reaching for places around the screen is a struggle with one hand
- Great sound - Speaker, and headphone jack.
- Strong vibrator
- S Pen - Unless you have a use for it, it's a gimmick. It's fun to fool around with it, but the hype tends to die off quickly
- FAST charging. Nexus 4 is fast, but Note 2 is even faster consider it's massive battery. This is a very important feature to me.
- Impressive camera, but not that it's any/much better than that of SGS3
- Oh, if you don't have a 7" tablet yet, this should fill that gap a bit.
As it stands, Note 2 has some very attractive points to me, such as the large display for reading and the insane battery life that makes me not to worry about being close to a charger. However, I don't feel comfortable using it on a daily basis due to the size. WIth that said, I am using a Note 2 now as I gave my Nexus 4 (8GB) to my other half. I have a 16GB coming in a month, and I will re-evaluate it again by then.
These two phones are pretty much Android in it's best form in today's market, and they are not substitutable for each other due to the different nature of them. The phone war has evolved to beyond to the specs-war just like computing world. The "better specs" of Note 2 doesn't necessary determine whether the phone is better or not, and with that said, Nexus 4 specs is pretty impressive too. You need to pick your own base on your need
Hope it helps a bit with your decision! Any more specific questions you have that can help with your decision, just ask. It's a tough one to make.
Awesome thanks for the input its a huge decision I think of will end up keeping the note
Sent from my SGH-T879 using xda app-developers app
The Nexus 4 ultimately had too many drawbacks for me to consider it. The thermal throttling issues with the S4Pro processor, the non-swapable battery with less than stellar battery life, the limited storage without microSD expansion, the glass back prone to cracking, and no LTE. And now we find out that the Nexus 4 cannot support USB-OTG, so all those who bought one thinking they could move files over to an external drive are SOL. No USB keyboards/mice/Dualshock etc. Not a big deal if you have bluetooth peripherals, but I want to have as many options as possible. The Note II is a superhero in that regard...
I have the Note 2 and personally love it, but if you don't need the size, then nexus 4 is a much better option. I love the vanilla 4.2 JB and the screen is much crispier, any build quality is top notch [I have both phones]
If note 2 had a 1080 display then, I would so Note 2 hands down.
Get a quality BT headphone and you won't have to worry about how you look to other people...personally I really could give a rats behind how others think...but hey that's just me...
Nexus vs Note II...to me it all comes down to do you want the biggest best phone or a smaller phone that doesn't offer as much.
S-pen is there if you need it...and it's always better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
ASOP...http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2046616..it has a few minor glitches...but if this is your thing...then enjoy it.
Smoothness...drop this one in...http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2028661 add Nova launcher and tweak it...and your golden...
Memory card...your going to want one...just to fill up with all of the videos you'll be watching and music you'll be rocking to...
My advice...prop them both up side by side and watch any video on it...browse the internet..then ask yourself...which offers you what you want/need to enjoy it with
Mac
Mac11700 said:
Get a quality BT headphone and you won't have to worry about how you look to other people...personally I really could give a rats behind how others think...but hey that's just me...
Nexus vs Note II...to me it all comes down to do you want the biggest best phone or a smaller phone that doesn't offer as much.
S-pen is there if you need it...and it's always better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
ASOP...http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2046616..it has a few minor glitches...but if this is your thing...then enjoy it.
Smoothness...drop this one in...http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2028661 add Nova launcher and tweak it...and your golden...
Memory card...your going to want one...just to fill up with all of the videos you'll be watching and music you'll be rocking to...
My advice...prop them both up side by side and watch any video on it...browse the internet..then ask yourself...which offers you what you want/need to enjoy it with
Mac
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Mac,
No offense but I think your post is pretty bias.
- Yes, you can always bring a BT headset, but shouldn't you be able to hold a phone comfortably on your face instead of having to depend on a BT headset in order to not look silly? Also, how about the people that don't like bluetooth headset in general?
- S-Pen, yes, it's better to have but at what cost? Size of the phone?
- Touchwiz isn't without it's own glitches, whether AOSP or not is a pure preferences whether it has bugs or not. I actually find touchwiz works well with GN2, AOSP won't.
- Smoothness, sorry, Note 2 just isn't as smooth as a N4 no matter what launcher you put in. It could be due to settings, but out the box even with Nova, it's not there.
- Memory Card - why must he get one?
I do agree with Note 2 having better specs, but the cost is the size. If you can live with the size and Touchwiz, there isn't a reason not to get Note2....but only if you can live with the size.
Cheers.
cy88 said:
shouldn't you be able to hold a phone comfortably on your face instead of having to depend on a BT headset in order to not look silly?
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Caring about what other people think of you holding a phone to your face reeks of insecurity to me. "Looking Silly" is the last thing that would sway me from buying an excellent device.
Remember how small phones used to be ten years ago? It wasn't that long ago when people also thought 3.5" smartphones were huge.
cy88 said:
Mac,
No offense but I think your post is pretty bias.
- Yes, you can always bring a BT headset, but shouldn't you be able to hold a phone comfortably on your face instead of having to depend on a BT headset in order to not look silly? Also, how about the people that don't like bluetooth headset in general?
- S-Pen, yes, it's better to have but at what cost? Size of the phone?
- Touchwiz isn't without it's own glitches, whether AOSP or not is a pure preferences whether it has bugs or not. I actually find touchwiz works well with GN2, AOSP won't.
- Smoothness, sorry, Note 2 just isn't as smooth as a N4 no matter what launcher you put in. It could be due to settings, but out the box even with Nova, it's not there.
- Memory Card - why must he get one?
I do agree with Note 2 having better specs, but the cost is the size. If you can live with the size and Touchwiz, there isn't a reason not to get Note2....but only if you can live with the size.
Cheers.
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Cy8888, that's funny you said Mac's post was biased because that's exactly what I thought when I read your long post above.
Remember, the OP asked what people thought and the reply's have been, for the most part, just that. Almost every statement you made in your lengthy post was "your opinion", certainly not facts. For example, I use the S-Pen daily and love it's added benefit and it, in my opinion, is not a gimmick as you stated.
So, no need to call out another forum members post when he is doing the same as you...giving his opinion as requested by the OP.:angel:
andrawer said:
Cy8888, that's funny you said Mac's post was biased because that's exactly what I thought when I read your long post above.
Remember, the OP asked what people thought and the reply's have been, for the most part, just that. Almost every statement you made in your lengthy post was "your opinion", certainly not facts. For example, I use the S-Pen daily and love it's added benefit and it, in my opinion, is not a gimmick as you stated.
So, no need to call out another forum members post when he is doing the same as you...giving his opinion as requested by the OP.:angel:
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I was bias because I love/have the Note 2 so much but the size, right?
What I said: "S Pen -Unless you have a use for it, it's a gimmick." - You do, so it's not a gimmick for you for sure. I know a few people that do have a use for it and I am impressed with how they make use of it for work purposes.
Which other point of my post is pure bias? I simply listed out the things I from with using both devices, I never said one is better for another for everyone. However Mac did say that "you are GOING to want one", "BUGS with 4.2", etc etc to just praise the Note 2. OP is trying to make a decision, and words like that aren't going to make his choice easier is it?
UCLAKoolman said:
Caring about what other people think of you holding a phone to your face reeks of insecurity to me. "Looking Silly" is the last thing that would sway me from buying an excellent device.
Remember how small phones used to be ten years ago? It wasn't that long ago when people also thought 3.5" smartphones were huge.
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Click to collapse
I might have worded it wrong, but the fact that it's bigger than normal does draw attention. Yes, you can choose not to care about anyone thinks at all, but there are some actually "dont" want to draw that type of attention with a device. It is a fact that Note 2 is humongous, and that's ALSO it's selling point. Unless you have a need and can live with the size, otherwise you might want to look at other alternatives like SGS3 (which i have one sitting here also if you want comparison) that offers something in the middle.
I apologize if I've rubbed anyone the wrong way, wasn't the intention.
Cheers!