Develop Bugs

cant decide s2 or nexus

Hi,
Ive owned the s2 and a sensation xe , i liked the s2 however all the ones i tested had a pink spot on camera and yellow tint on screen left side, this was a month ago.
Anyhow i can get this phone on a super deal the lack of micro sd does not bother me and tbh im i dont think im to bothered about the camera either. That being said im eager to know if anyones upgraded over the s2 and what there views might be in relation to size and the new screen. Also iw as curious how much of the 16gb memory you have free for to actually use upon first boot ?
Im sorry if these questions have been asked but i have searched here and been watching endless youtube vids as well as reading various reviews. And would appreciate the feedback of people here

Depends how much you can get the Galaxy Nexus for?
The $700+ price tag is what drove me off and i just opted for the white Galaxy S II for about $400+ and saved the money to fund a future purchase.
The Galaxy Nexus is more of a side upgrade than a full upgrade, the Galaxy S III will be the full upgrade.
If you can get it cheap, then go for it. If not, its not really worth upgrading from an SGS II. Considering we should get ICS stable port soon hopefully with the great dev community we have and it would run better than on the GN in terms of plain hardware speed.
The GN screen can't be matched though, its beautiful

GN SGSII
I just got my GN a few days ago and my impressions are:
The phone feels slightly bigger, but only because it's thicker. But it feels much better in your hand.
the screen clarity is insane. I thought SGSII was amazing, but this is really something else.
I think having had a lot of time using a SGSI, I can totally tell that the screen is pentile/super AMOLED, not PLUS. But the resolution more than makes up for it.
Camera is acceptable. It's definitely no SGSII but it's not totally dismal either.
1080p is awesome. And the funny distortions that you get with google talk/video recording is a fun feature.

QUOTE=fade1d;19778180]I just got my GN a few days ago and my impressions are:
The phone feels slightly bigger, but only because it's thicker. But it feels much better in your hand.
the screen clarity is insane. I thought SGSII was amazing, but this is really something else.
I think having had a lot of time using a SGSI, I can totally tell that the screen is pentile/super AMOLED, not PLUS. But the resolution more than makes up for it.
Camera is acceptable. It's definitely no SGSII but it's not totally dismal either.
1080p is awesome. And the funny distortions that you get with google talk/video recording is a fun feature.[/QUOTE]
pewpewbangbang said:
Depends how much you can get the Galaxy Nexus for?
The $700+ price tag is what drove me off and i just opted for the white Galaxy S II for about $400+ and saved the money to fund a future purchase.
The Galaxy Nexus is more of a side upgrade than a full upgrade, the Galaxy S III will be the full upgrade.
If you can get it cheap, then go for it. If not, its not really worth upgrading from an SGS II. Considering we should get ICS stable port soon hopefully with the great dev community we have and it would run better than on the GN in terms of plain hardware speed.
The GN screen can't be matched though, its beautiful
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really appreciate the feedback thanks , i can get this phone for free same as sII with no increase to my line rental or contract , the main thing thats doing it for me on this phone is the resolution i wasent to keen on the gsII previously due to the yellow tint screen issues and pink spot. That being said im sure if you can get a working one it would be great.
fade1d can i ask you please how much memory you have free of the 16gb when you first boot ...

you have around 13gb on first boot.
If you can get either one free with your contract, go for the Galaxy Nexus.
Simple choice when you put it that way.
Camera won't be a problem, you should be using a point and shoot or DSLR if you want to take real photos anyway.

Since this is the Galaxy Nexus Forum, I'm going to say go with the Galaxy S II

I'm going for the GNex because of the awesome screen and it's on Verizon.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App on UNL3ASH3D R3BLURR3D V2.3 and will continue to be sent from here until I buy the Galaxy Nexus 32GB

pewpewbangbang said:
Depends how much you can get the Galaxy Nexus for?
The $700+ price tag is what drove me off and i just opted for the white Galaxy S II for about $400+ and saved the money to fund a future purchase.
The Galaxy Nexus is more of a side upgrade than a full upgrade, the Galaxy S III will be the full upgrade.
If you can get it cheap, then go for it. If not, its not really worth upgrading from an SGS II. Considering we should get ICS stable port soon hopefully with the great dev community we have and it would run better than on the GN in terms of plain hardware speed.
The GN screen can't be matched though, its beautiful
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That more than likely won't be the US retail price, that's only through Best Buy, and usually they're around 200 over verizon price.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App on UNL3ASH3D R3BLURR3D V2.3 and will continue to be sent from here until I buy the Galaxy Nexus 32GB

lol....your on verizon. Im pretty sure we're talking about the GSM version as the OP states he had the SII and Sensation.
To get the GSM version, you have to import it and the cheapest price is from handtec which is $700

How the hell are you getting a Nexus for free?

I have the SGS II and for me it was clear the Galaxy Nexus was for me. The camera is the only thing I will really miss for the extra details but will love the zero shutter lag from the Nexus.
Don't play that much games on the phone so nothing major there either for me.
I'm going to love the faster updates and all the small details of what the Nexus really is.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

pewpewbangbang said:
Depends how much you can get the Galaxy Nexus for?
The $700+ price tag is what drove me off and i just opted for the white Galaxy S II for about $400+ and saved the money to fund a future purchase.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how did you get the gs2 for around 400? last I checked it was selling closer to 550
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium

pewpewbangbang said:
you have around 13gb on first boot.
If you can get either one free with your contract, go for the Galaxy Nexus.
Simple choice when you put it that way.
Camera won't be a problem, you should be using a point and shoot or DSLR if you want to take real photos anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Russellmania said:
How the hell are you getting a Nexus for free?
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Click to collapse
again thanks for replys all 13 GB first boot is a bit of a wounder most my mp3 from other phone would fill that so i will have to think about that point and how important that could be be. On another note i can get samsung nexus for free becouse i have been given extra allowance in my upgrade due to getting messed around by my current phone providor they sent me 4 sII all refurbished when they was supposed to be brand new (it was a massive mess about).

Reason I would go for the GN is updates direct from Google and not having to wait for Samsung to get them and integrate them with there touchwiz crap.
Hated touchwiz on my GS2 and for me this is the first version of android you don't need a different launcher and stock Android is the dogs.

I got one off someone in the selling section of this forum.
And as for touchwiz..............thats why your on XDA developers, to root the phone and put custom roms on etc so you don't have touchwiz. But the thing i will say is, the reason why the GS II was so fast and still it when it came out was because of touchwiz and all the hardware acceleration samsung implemented.
The browser is probably one of the smoothest if not the best out there right now.

pewpewbangbang said:
I got one off someone in the selling section of this forum.
And as for touchwiz..............thats why your on XDA developers, to root the phone and put custom roms on etc so you don't have touchwiz. But the thing i will say is, the reason why the GS II was so fast and still it when it came out was because of touchwiz and all the hardware acceleration samsung implemented.
The browser is probably one of the smoothest if not the best out there right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You didn't have to root though did you just install launcher pro or Go launcher for example, my point is I don't need those launchers with ICS.
I can't say I come across any problems with the browser on this phone, its fast and smooth and I never used Flash anyway always disabled it.

Jabbypants said:
You didn't have to root though did you just install launcher pro or Go launcher for example, my point is I don't need those launchers with ICS.
I can't say I come across any problems with the browser on this phone, its fast and smooth and I never used Flash anyway always disabled it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol...whats the fun of not putting customs roms on. They usually make the phone run better anyway. People with Nexus phones still root and put custom roms on their phones.
I never said the galaxy nexus browser was slow. It's definitely smooth and fast because ICS implemented hardware acceleration finally and the ICS framework totally reworked the browser so that its loads better than the old ones. In terms of speed and loading, it's the fastest out there, it has the lowest sunspider scores of any phone right now and in terms of smoothness, its probably on par with the GS II but i haven't used one.
Reviews said ICS in terms of perceived speed its a tad slower than the GS II and galaxy note

pewpewbangbang said:
I got one off someone in the selling section of this forum.
And as for touchwiz..............thats why your on XDA developers, to root the phone and put custom roms on etc so you don't have touchwiz. But the thing i will say is, the reason why the GS II was so fast and still it when it came out was because of touchwiz and all the hardware acceleration samsung implemented.
The browser is probably one of the smoothest if not the best out there right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The custom hardware acceleration was one of the reasons for SGSII being so fast, but ICS brings this natively, so both the GN and SGSII are the same.
I'd pick the GN just for the beautiful HD screen. Outside of that, there isn't much difference.

I recently had to make this choice and went GN.
I haven't seen comparison pics but at the end of the day bumping up the megapixles doesn't equal better photos.
Yes there are custom roms and what not but I know from having my SG1 that the amount of closed source things samsung include in the phone makes it more difficult for people to get things like cyanogen running (of course thanks to awesome people they did it anyway )
Its just looks a really polished device and i heard so many people say if you hand tried a pure android device you should... so I am

well as i've said......galaxy nexus is the way to go if your upgrading from something thats not an SGS II. Otherwise its more of a sidegrade than an upgrade. And doesn't seem worth the money as of right now (it will get cheaper of course)
Just note many people get this wrong, even though the Galaxy Nexus is a pure android phone.....doesn't mean all the things are open sourced. Some of the hardware in it may still be closed source like audio or something. The Galaxy S phones are open sourced but some of the parts in the hardware aren't which is why it's not always easy to do AOSP on the phones. Just a note

Galaxy Nexus compared to AT&T Galaxy Note...Nexus wins out IMO

It's funny to me, when I first took my Galaxy Nexus out of the box when I first bought it, I thought that was a large phone (though I didn't think it was too large). Well once I took the Galaxy Note out the box, I no longer consider my GNex to be large. The screen of the Note is almost the size of the whole GNex. Depending on how you look at it, that's a good thing or a bad thing. All in all, after playing with both of them side by side for a while, I've come to the conclusion that the GNex is better due to it being faster in essential things like browsing and GPS. I just wish the GNex got as loud as the Note does.
Here's a link to my brief comparison:
http://thesmartphonechamp.com/smartphone-heavyweight-bout-galaxy-nexus-vs-att-galaxy-note/

I also have both and like both! I love the Gnex because of ics , 0 crapware installed pure google experience.
But i love the note because of the big screen, long battery life, and lte. The screen of the gnex looks a little better because it's smaller. The gnex might be better for you and the note might be good for someone else... It's all about taste!
Sent from my iPad 3G

big samm said:
I also have both and like both! I love the Gnex because of ics , 0 crapware installed pure google experience.
But i love the note because of the big screen, long battery life, and lte. The screen of the gnex looks a little better because it's smaller. The gnex might be better for you and the note might be good for someone else... It's all about taste!
Sent from my iPad 3G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right, it's definitely all about taste. I think the Galaxy Note is an awesome device. That screen is tremendous, but for me it is a little bit too big. I value one-handed operation, and I don't really think the Note is very well suited for one-handed operation. For a person that doesn't mind two-handed operation I think it's a fantastic device. For example, my uncle is geeked about that phone and intends to buy it. I took it over his house yesterday so he could see it and now he's in love with it lol. He likes two-handed operation, so yep it's like you said, it's a matter of preference. Just wish they had toned it down with all the bloatware (the phone has a massive amount of bloat). Also, the Gnex shines with ICS and the optimizations really show up in the browser, as it blows the Note away in browsing speed. It really isn't close. I'm curious to see how much improvement the Note's browser speed will see once it gets ICS. I just hate how they will "uglify" ICS with Touchwiz on the Note.

The international note is faster than the Gnex due to the Mali 400 GPU but on the AT&T version it has an adreno GPU which is probably the worst GPU series of all major ARM processor families
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

Faster is relative to what function you are speaking.

cordell507 said:
The international note is faster than the Gnex due to the Mali 400 GPU but on the AT&T version it has an adreno GPU which is probably the worst GPU series of all major ARM processor families
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
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Click to collapse
I think too much is made about GPU's. None of the GPU's are incapable and run software and games just fine. They only matter in benchmarks...which really don't mean anything at all besides message board bragging rights. I think if there is fault to be found in the AT&T Galaxy Note's hardware it would be the processor. They went with the S3 Snapdragon which definitely isn't in the upper tier of dual core processors. The S3 has less than half the memory bandwidth of the OMAP 4460, A5, and Exynos 4210. Then don't forget it isn't even an A9 chip either. BTW the OMAP4 thus far (the S3 has already been counted out) is the only current gen chip that will be compatible with the upcoming wifi display feature that will be added in an update later this year. Heck the Tegra 3 isn't even compatible.

I'm curious how the battery life compares between a Nexus with the 2100mah battery and a Note with the 2500mah battery.

I wouldn't even look at a SGS3 if the Note had stock ICS and NFC. Otherwise it's worthless with TW barfed on it. The Note is a fantastic mobile otherwise. I do miss the notification light though.
(I'm talking about the international version. That 4 button abomination just released doesn't count.)
(I know I can flash it to whatever I want. I want stock ICS OOTB.)

bmstrong said:
I wouldn't even look at a SGS3 if the Note had stock ICS and NFC. Otherwise it's worthless with TW barfed on it. The Note is a fantastic mobile otherwise. I do miss the notification light though.
(I'm talking about the international version. That 4 button abomination just released doesn't count.)
(I know I can flash it to whatever I want. I want stock ICS OOTB.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you that Touchwiz is definitely not the greatest. I've seen the leaked ICS Rom and you can barely tell the difference between it and Gingerbread visually. As for the US version of the Note, I think it looks much better than the international version with its giant ugly PHYSICAL home button. Besides, that one home button is a little too iphone-ish for me.

I have yet to play with note but I have a feeling I will trade this guy for a white note.
It looks super nice and eventually they should have cm9 and that's close enough to aosp for me.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

"Eventually."
Let us not forget it is LTE. That ALWAYS makes for a fun time with new devices to aosp.
"Eventually" may be by the time of EOL of the LTE Note

True true... I wonder how many people left this device for it and are happy
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

Well I just played with the Note at an ATT store last night, it was beautiful.
The case didn't feel as premium as nexus, but ahmigawd the screen!
I originally wanted a Note but it didn't support T-mo properly so didn't import it. No way in hell I'd get it for ATT or VZ (both can diaf).
However I don't feel you can really compare the Nexus to a Note, it's in its own category, the size will basically polarize people. The interesting thing about the Note is that, pretty much the only complaint about it is that it's "too big", reviewers list that as a con - which imo is just dumb, considering it was intended to be a big phone.
I'm going to hold out for the Note II

Is the note 2 for sure happening?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

claud_face said:
Is the note 2 for sure happening?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
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We should know in a couple days, I would assume.

Had the Note (international) now have the GNEX. Don't fall for the Note. It's neat, but it's still a Touchwiz-y typical device. AOSP forever. I'm done with non Nexus devices. It's just not worth the agony of always feeling left behind on the software/functionality front.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium

bmstrong said:
I wouldn't even look at a SGS3 if the Note had stock ICS and NFC. Otherwise it's worthless with TW barfed on it. The Note is a fantastic mobile otherwise. I do miss the notification light though.
(I'm talking about the international version. That 4 button abomination just released doesn't count.)
(I know I can flash it to whatever I want. I want stock ICS OOTB.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow at&t really went hard on disabling features. First i ear that you can't disable lte, and now you're saying nfc is also disabled?
I have a bell version unlocked here in Canada and non of these feature are disabled.
They are terrible!!
Sent from my SGH-I717M

claud_face said:
Is the note 2 for sure happening?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
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Click to collapse
of course there's nothing absolute.
But Note was a success, except that the release is akin to the disaster that was GSII.
There's no reason samsung won't make another Note.

claud_face said:
I have yet to play with note but I have a feeling I will trade this guy for a white note.
It looks super nice and eventually they should have cm9 and that's close enough to aosp for me.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
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Click to collapse
You'll like the note. I loved mine. The 5.3 inch is huge at first, but warms up to you real quick. I just traded my international note for a gnex. But it wasn't because I was dissatisfied with the device, I just needed a phone that I can wear in a holster for work. Besides, no matter how much I like a device, I can't hang on to just one, I have to try em all . I haven't received my gnex yet, but lord knows how long I'm gonna be able to hang onto it once I get it.

I just played with the att note, brand new just arrived today. Its bigger than i thought! One thing i noticed is that thing is laggggy compared to my nexus. I did side by side comparisons in many major apps and the nexus spanked it in every instance. Lists just had low frame rates and stuttered a bit. But the nexus was silky smooth for example both scrolling the same search in the market, or youtube or a webpage. Must be due to lack of exynos? Thank goodness i love my nexus.

HTC One or Samsung Galaxy S4? Anyone upgrading?

I got really disappointed when Samsung released the gs4 and it looked basically the same as the galaxy s3 just with a bigger screen and a few new bells and whistles. So I'm opting for the HTC one cause that thing is sexy all around. What about you guys?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

If you like having a device completely locked down go for HTC. Biggest reason I switched away from them
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda premium

Spastic909 said:
If you like having a device completely locked down go for HTC. Biggest reason I switched away from them
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda premium
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What do you mean exactly? Cause my dad has a htc one s and it was pretty easy to root the phone and install a rom on it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

Are you choosing a phone based on looks alone? Cause the HTC isn't even up to par with the current Euro SIII, let alone the S4 in terms of specs. I guess its about preference but personally I'm pretty intrigued by the S4 eight core processor in a frame slimmer then the SIII, not to mention the 13mp camera features, 5.0 SAmoled (yay no more pen tile) I just don't see a comparison IMO.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app

boystuff said:
Are you choosing a phone based on looks alone? Cause the HTC isn't even up to par with the current Euro SIII, let alone the S4 in terms of specs. I guess its about preference but personally I'm pretty intrigued by the S4 eight core processor in a frame slimmer then the SIII, not to mention the 13mp camera features, 5.0 SAmoled (yay no more pen tile) I just don't see a comparison IMO.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
First of all, the HTC one has a qualcomm 600 processor which is that the same as the Samsung Galaxy S 4 has in USA, except that the s4 is .2ghz faster in terms of clock speed. Second of all, I'm currently on a contract with t mobile and I was talking about upgrading to the Galaxy s4 or the HTC one, so there's no way I can get the eight core s4. The galaxy s4 has a pentile display. Plus I don't really care about the megapixels or ultrapixels of the camera as long as my pics turn out good and not look like they were taken from a potato.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

adil17 said:
What do you mean exactly? Cause my dad has a htc one s and it was pretty easy to root the phone and install a rom on it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
The source codes take sooo long to be released.
Look at the Amaze 4g and youll see what im talking about.
An awesome phone treated like crap lol.

When it comes to phones and tablets i will not use anything other than Samsung or a nexus. I just can't do it. HTC is a lot harder to root and it takes longer for development and i don't see anything else competing with Samsung.
----------------------------------------------
Phone: Galaxy s2 t989
Rom: SOA Build 2
Kernel: SOA
I'm full of great idea's, but don't have the time to create them or learn the coding to create them. If you want to make one of my ideas a reality just message me and I will give you my idea as specific as possible.
ideas:
-launcher/lock screen
-line rider type game where you control the character
-2d fighting game like art of fighting for the SNES
-multiplayer fps where you create your own map with a creative mode (minecraft style)
-roller coaster tycoon style game
-get phone out of sleep mode
-many more!
Just message me which idea you want info on and I'll tell you!
----------------------------------------------

I'd hold out for the note 3 personally, that's what I'm doing. But then again it's a very long and very impatient wait because I don't think it'll be released until September. It's all on you though bud, there's a bunch of ill phones coming out this year.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

I had an HTC VIVID before this phone (cracked the screen), and it was a pain. Unlocking the bootloader, then flashing boot image and blah blah blah just to root and rom it. And then the development thread was WEAK (at the time ) so it was like for no point. I agree with the 2 above mentioned posts regarding source code & development. Its seriously ridiculous & sad!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

If I had to pick one of those 2 I would probably go with the HTC One, build quality is way ahead of the S4, I'm tired of plastic phones. My S2 has survived its fair share of drops without no significant damage though so I'm happy with that. Processors are nearly the same unless you're comparing the international S4 and HTC One. The One also has a nicer screen (more ppi). It seems like the biggest knock on the One is the fact that it doesn't have upgradable storage and battery but 64GB is more than enough for me and I never carry an extra battery for my S2 so that is pointless. When it comes to camera quality, the S3 with its 13MP will take better pictures when zoomed in since it has more pixels but the HTC One will blow the S4 out of the water when it comes to night pictures or anything with low light (someone correct me if I'm wrong). I was honestly disappointed with the S4, it seemed like all Samsung talked about at the news conference was all the bloatware they added onto the phone that I'm never going to use.

This is a laughable question. S4 stands head and toe over the crap HTC is throwing out nowadays.

S4 doesn't look like it will get any love from too many dev's
cm-developers-passing-samsung-galaxy-s4-should-you
from android central (cant link yet)
:crying:

adil17 said:
I got really disappointed when Samsung released the gs4 and it looked basically the same as the galaxy s3 just with a bigger screen and a few new bells and whistles. So I'm opting for the HTC one cause that thing is sexy all around. What about you guys?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you can get your hads in the developer edition, then go for the HTC One, but i you like big,big,big etc, go for the SG4

MacerHD said:
S4 doesn't look like it will get any love from too many dev's
cm-developers-passing-samsung-galaxy-s4-should-you
from android central (cant link yet)
:crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe that will be the international s4 with the Exnyos processor that probably wont have much development from what i have read. the North American version
still uses Qualacom, so i am thinking the development will be just as good as the S3.
As for which one i will choose, I will need to see them side by side first before I make any decisions.

MacerHD said:
S4 doesn't look like it will get any love from too many dev's
cm-developers-passing-samsung-galaxy-s4-should-you
from android central (cant link yet)
:crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are one of those people who root and flash away from Professionally built phone software in favor of barely working featureless lackluster crap produced by CM and it's near relatives there is no point worrying about having the newest phone anyway cuz you clearly are not going to use it for anything other than looking at your reflection. honestly you kids would be just as well off with a flip phone and a be-dazzeler.
I could understand the CM worship if this was a walmart prepaid phone with some lame flavor of aosp on it then CM might be a slight improvement but leaving Touchwiz for CM is a huge downgrade every time, all Tochwiz needs is some speedtweaks and a tweaked kernel.
Anyway +1 going to the S4 when It's here, might add a note 3 or even the note2 if I can get a good deal on it!

Wow makes me regret getting the Nexus 4 after what I saw in the GS4. Should have waited. But one this is having Google's latest and greatest code feels awesome. GS2 also has outstanding support and CM10.1
I really miss HTC's look and quality. But they have always been terrible battery life phones. Each one I've had except for the G2. My GS2 is still a champ and love that samsung releases the CODE that makes CM even possible.
And at the presentation I really have to reconsider no SD support and no removable battery. Just this week my old myTouch 4G I gave to my cousin, the battery can't hold charge. He got it replaced and its good as new. To me, having a removable battery just makes it easier to replace it when it does go bad.
I can kinda live with 16 gig and no SD Card, unless you are a heavy media user. But having a removable battery makes it possible to replace it. I don't mind the Samsung plastic. It is cheap and got a mini dent that I can't figure out how it happened on my GS2. I should have put a screen protector to prevent that. Still a mystery how it happened.
My LG G2X, I've never ever ever used at screen protector and its still flawless. Samsung **** is sensitive. They could at least use better plastics if they are sticking with that material.

Iconic24 said:
If I had to pick one of those 2 I would probably go with the HTC One, build quality is way ahead of the S4, I'm tired of plastic phones. My S2 has survived its fair share of drops without no significant damage though so I'm happy with that. Processors are nearly the same unless you're comparing the international S4 and HTC One. The One also has a nicer screen (more ppi). It seems like the biggest knock on the One is the fact that it doesn't have upgradable storage and battery but 64GB is more than enough for me and I never carry an extra battery for my S2 so that is pointless. When it comes to camera quality, the S3 with its 13MP will take better pictures when zoomed in since it has more pixels but the HTC One will blow the S4 out of the water when it comes to night pictures or anything with low light (someone correct me if I'm wrong). I was honestly disappointed with the S4, it seemed like all Samsung talked about at the news conference was all the bloatware they added onto the phone that I'm never going to use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its mainly software on Samsung side but the HTC sense and their new features don't compare to the new temp and face tracking on the snapdragon S4 ImO get a lg optimus pro ..lg seems to be opening up to GPL
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda app-developers app

If you even read the news... htc is yesterday's news...an exact quote "it's not in the kids club anymore" and that is why they pushed the date back for the htc one release...it's not even that it's hard to root, it's that it leaves traces for the carriers and htc to know you've rooted...
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

I was waiting for the One but the battery life is poor. Going to hold off for the next Nexus. Have no interest in the S4
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using XDA Premium HD app

This time i will go with HTC.

Anyone coming from gnex (Samsung galaxy nexus)?

Hi there,
Anyone coming from gnex (Samsung galaxy nexus)?
Just need some feedback on software support, size handling and personal impression.
Thank you

The Note 2 is better at everything, screen, battery, and if you like aosp, there are a lot of those roms for you. The only thing we are missing from a nexus, as far as I can tell, is photoshpere. The devs for this phone are fantastic, so many roms to choose from. The size of the phone should not bother you. Oh yeah, the camera on the Note 2 blows away the Galaxy Nexus. I've had the Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus 4, and the Note 2 when running an aosp rom is just as smooth as the Nexus 4, IMO.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

Touchwiz is bearable on the gnote2 because most of the features are actually useful AND work. Great all around phone. Reception, form factor is great for its size, put your own launcher like nova to get the aosp launcher feel, volume is great on ear speaker and loudspeaker and the 720p screen is beautiful even when compared to 1080p. And the SD card slot and removable battery are bonus. Oh yeah, can't forget battery life. Battery just doesn't stop. Expect 6+ hours of screen time easily. Only the most demanding of games will put a hurt on it and even then it still does great. All that and you can get this phone for less than $550 currently and it should still hold nicely for at least another year and I wouldn't be surprised if it holds it down another 2. Don't forget to get a wireless receiver to put inside the battery compartment and a compatible wireless charger.
Sent from my GT-N7100

It's definitely worth upgrading. This phone is better in every respect - sure we only have Android 4.1 officially but unless you really need the multi user feature then you actually gain quite a bit from TouchWiz. The launcher itself blows but the rest is great - things like multi window and driving mode. I don't even run custom roms anymore it's that good - rooted stock is all you need on this bad boy.
Sent from the mighty Note II

lyall29 said:
The Note 2 is better at everything, screen, battery, and if you like aosp, there are a lot of those roms for you. The only thing we are missing from a nexus, as far as I can tell, is photoshpere. The devs for this phone are fantastic, so many roms to choose from. The size of the phone should not bother you. Oh yeah, the camera on the Note 2 blows away the Galaxy Nexus. I've had the Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus 4, and the Note 2 when running an aosp rom is just as smooth as the Nexus 4, IMO.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what rom you are running ?

Bn Waheed said:
what rom you are running ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am what you would call a flashaholic. At the moment I'm running Hawkish rom with Perseus kernel. On the days I want aosp I either use Sentinel rom or ParanoidAndroid.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

My friend has a Gnex, He definitely likes the ability to change screentone but didn't feel huge difference between the two screens, He is quite happy with the gaming performance where he said even games like vector would sometimes have framedrop on the gnex, But he is soooo annoyed that we don't have 4.2 yet, he knows it's not an important update but the feeling that he actually needs to "wait" for the update is really annoying him, that alone is making him consider the Nexus 4

Hell Guardian said:
My friend has a Gnex, He definitely likes the ability to change screentone but didn't feel huge difference between the two screens, He is quite happy with the gaming performance where he said even games like vector would sometimes had framedrop on the gnex, But he is soooo annoyed that we don't have 4.2 yet, he knows it's not an important update but the feeling that he actually needs to "wait" for the update is really annoying him, that alone is making him considering the Nexus 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is my main fear! !

albsat said:
That is my main fear! !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Touchwiz hurts my eyes but at least you have the "choice", my advice to you is to go for it at least you can install CM and switch back to TW,Just don't get it new, the Note 3 is on the horizon get a cheap note 2 for now, good luck buddy

Hell Guardian said:
Touchwiz hurts my eyes but at least you have the "choice", my advice to you is to go for it at least you can install CM and switch back to TW,Just don't get it new, the Note 3 is on the horizon get a cheap note 2 for now, good luck buddy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Touchwiz isn't so bad on gnote2. Put nova launcher to get rid of the eyesore on the home screens and the rest is OK.
Sent from my GT-N7100

@rbiter said:
Touchwiz isn't so bad on gnote2. Put nova launcher to get rid of the eyesore on the home screens and the rest is OK.
Sent from my GT-N7100
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coming from a Galaxy Nexus I personally couldn't stand Touchwiz for long. However AOSP roms are pretty much stable by now and almost everything is working correctly. That said the Note 2 is one of the best phones I've ever owned so I highly suggest it or waiting for the Note 3

albsat said:
That is my main fear! !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have no fear my friend. Like I said, I came from a nexus 4 running Paranoid Android. My note 2 running PA ROM is just as smooth and has every feature that the nexus 4 has minus photosphere. The devs that are working with the note 2 will most likely keep working on new ROMs for at least another year or 2, probably longer. You will not be dissatisfied with either the Nexus 4 or a Note 2. My personal opinion would be get the Note 2.
Sent from my Galaxy Note II using xda premium

Have come over to Note 2 from galaxy nexus..I really liked the gnex but couldn't stand the horrible camera and battery life.
I would say the better camera and brilliant battery life on the Note2 should be reason enough. Plus there is some great development work for Note 2 . So no fears. Using the Project AOSP v1.4 ROM by modstorm .. And this makes the Note2 almost perfect.:laugh:

i came over from the gnex too and the battery was terrible. The note 2 is pretty much better in everything. Only thing i preferred on the gnex was the position of the led notification

We may not be on the cutting edge when it comes to Android versions but we do gain several enhancements over stock. Better camera software, driving mode, voice control of apps, and multi window are my favourites. Smart stay and motion gestures seem more gimmicky to me although others my get value from them. Also I prefer having my toggles at the top of the notification window rather than in a separate box.
Oh then there is the micro sd slot, battery life, removable battery, and s-pen.
I don't miss my Nexus 4 one bit.
Sent from the mighty Note II

my impressions after 1-2 weeks with note2 (vs gnex):
better:
- samsung-only (proprietary) features
- battery life
- reading PDFs in landscape possible at last (fonts at least for me in gnex were too small)
- FM radio!!! (last phone from sammy that supports this? such moron assumption that everybody now has/will have limitless data plans)
- much nicer for watching videos
- supernice camera, actually anything better than camera in gnex is supernice
- micro sd
- spen (sam ROM only, yeah i know about apps for aosp...still)
- removable battery (the same actually, just want to stress the fact it is there)
worse:
- samsung-only (proprietary) features, i.e they will never-ever be available for AOSP ROM (BIG ONE for me, means I have to stay on samsung ROM) or suffer tons of features in AOSP simply not there
- btw. camera because of this somehow reported to work a lot better in samsung ROM than AOSP
- touchwiz is a bit painful to use after AOSP, miss the flexibility/configurability of cyanogen...
- shape/size of gnex is ideal for my hand, this one is a bit too much, not a big deal though and apparently getting used to (BUT i will never use armor case, makes it simply far too big)
- unstable WIFI (lots of disconnects) in 4.1.2 by samsung, some fixes available currently testing one to revert 4.1.1 wifi stack (rooted phone needed)
- a bit more gimmicky rooting/custom recovery - not a big deal
- not worse but dont like: handwriting seems to work only with samsung keyboard app? sort of eliminates slide-it,swype etc... need to find some workaround...
- pockets: yeah defo a challenge to fit in shirt's pocket, barely fits in trousers' pockets

@yogi
Thanks man. This was exactly the necessary info needed before taking a decision.

albsat said:
@yogi
Thanks man. This was exactly the necessary info needed before taking a decision.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks, happy to hear...actually I just noticed note2 has also non-AOSP custom ROMs, which after gnex is kind of new category for me. What this seems to mean I will have the chance to get the combined samsung ROM + AOSP-type extra customization, one example seems Hawkish mentioned earlier on this thread -> sounds interesting, I will give it a try in next 1-2 weeks and can report here if you are interested?

KitKat Announced

Google officially announces KitKat release and the Nexus 5 - http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/android-for-all-and-new-nexus-5.html.

Yeah we'll probably get it a year from now. ..
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I have seen absolutely nothing that this release is supposed to do for the Note 3 other than a little more memory efficiency. But hell we have 3gigs of ram (well more like 2.3 but oh well) so i dont really care about that...
Maybe a someone with a little more developing experience knows something I dont?

melead said:
I have seen absolutely nothing that this release is supposed to do for the Note 3 other than a little more memory efficiency. But hell we have 3gigs of ram (well more like 2.3 but oh well) so i dont really care about that...
Maybe a someone with a little more developing experience knows something I dont?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Potentially tap into always on voice sensor (similar to Moto X) -- see http://www.phonearena.com/news/Alwa...standard-with-Qualcomm-Snapdragon-800_id46105...

Yeah. I asked about this in forum. Seems like there is little interest even though our SOC natively supports it. Smdh.
sent from my sm-900t.

Happy Holoween indeed! Hopefully this means we'll start seeing AOSP ROMs porting to the Note 3 soon, can't wait to get off of Touchwiz!
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda app-developers app

melead said:
I have seen absolutely nothing that this release is supposed to do for the Note 3 other than a little more memory efficiency. But hell we have 3gigs of ram (well more like 2.3 but oh well) so i dont really care about that...
Maybe a someone with a little more developing experience knows something I dont?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And more... http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/1...duces-battery-consumption-when-playing-audio/
Don't discount 4.4 as being uninteresting for the Note 3 -- it's still early and people are still picking things apart. Beyond the immediate tangibles, I think this is another step towards making the OS a conduit for services (like 4.3 with unified notifications). There is a lot going on and everyone is in a frenzy -- let's see what people are able to dig up.
Edit: I should point out that this is not a confirmed feature for the Note 3 but a potential one given that it is a function drawing off the Snapdragon 800. I don't think this is evident from the paragraph above -- the point being, we don't know what's possible/useful in 4.4 for the Note 3 until we figure a few things out.

I don't really see the interest in AOSP roms for Galaxy Notes, unless you don't use the S-Pen.

L1Wulf said:
And more... http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/1...duces-battery-consumption-when-playing-audio/
Don't discount 4.4 as being uninteresting for the Note 3 -- it's still early and people are still picking things apart. Beyond the immediate tangibles, I think this is another step towards making the OS a conduit for services (like 4.3 with unified notifications). There is a lot going on and everyone is in a frenzy -- let's see what people are able to dig up.
Edit: I should point out that this is not a confirmed feature for the Note 3 but a potential one given that it is a function drawing off the Snapdragon 800. I don't think this is evident from the paragraph above -- the point being, we don't know what's possible/useful in 4.4 for the Note 3 until we figure a few things out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely confirmed. You can use with s voice. S voice sucks. And Qualcomm has it listed as feature of 800 chip set.
sent from my sm-900t.

lightpsycho said:
I don't really see the interest in AOSP roms for Galaxy Notes, unless you don't use the S-Pen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The S-Pen hardware worked just fine on CM on the Note 1. I don't care about all the software tweaks as long as I can still take notes and draw with the pen which plenty of S-Pen feature capable third party apps do perfectly fine on AOSP ROMs.
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda app-developers app

I'd rather have also but soap doesn't get as good battery life and getting the international touchwiz ROM instead of T-Mobile carrier ROM was a humongous difference. But yeah, sketchbook pro is cheap @ $5 and I am sure there are plenty of note taking apps that don't require s-pen but are better with it. Double edged sword on the note series.
sent from my sm-900t.

I'm still hoping for a Google edition note 3. TW framework + Kitkat so we still retain s-pen tweaks. Biggest appeal of kitkat for me is the unified hangouts/SMS app. The tw sms app along with a lot of the other ui in tw is really beginning to show it's age.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

+1
Sent from my SM-900T.

No surprise since they just launched the Nexus 5.

The biggest thing I see is that Android 4.4 no longer requires a secure element for NFC. Rather, it emulates a secure element at a software level. Which means that even though the Note 3 for T-mobile most likely doesn't have a secure element built-in, Google Wallet tap-to-pay will work! The only way carriers can block it now is if they remove the secure element emulation framework from 4.4 for their phones.
Another cool thing with that emulation framework is that in 4.4, your phone can also receive NFC payments from another phone or card! I'm excited to see how this pans out.

lazaro17 said:
I'm still hoping for a Google edition note 3. TW framework + Kitkat so we still retain s-pen tweaks. Biggest appeal of kitkat for me is the unified hangouts/SMS app. The tw sms app along with a lot of the other ui in tw is really beginning to show it's age.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The new hangouts, as well as many other apks (play services, launcher, search, camera, clock, keep, etc) work fine on my Note 3 (and Nexus 7) right now. The APKs are all over G+ right now. No need to wait for a hybrid to bring these new apps to our phones.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

AOSP has always gotten better battery life than touchwiz. Simply because with AOSP you have less pointless features burning your battery and it is a lighter ROM overall. I came from the note II and once I installed a AOSP ROM going back to touchwiz was like a downgrade in battery, speed and actually useful features like easily customizable navbars and Halo.
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda premium

I agree I am a huge AOSP Rom fan but don't see myself flashing AOSP because I'll loss S-Pen functionality. The S-Pen is a huge plus on the Note 3.
Sent from my Galaxy Note 3

bryanthomas007 said:
I agree I am a huge AOSP Rom fan but don't see myself flashing AOSP because I'll loss S-Pen functionality. The S-Pen is a huge plus on the Note 3.
Sent from my Galaxy Note 3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The hardware functionality of the stylus still works in AOSP. The only thing you lose is the proprietary software (pen window, etc). There are a ton of alternatives on the Play store. I use the stylus everyday but I never use any of the Samsung apps.

truthkillszz said:
AOSP has always gotten better battery life than touchwiz. Simply because with AOSP you have less pointless features burning your battery and it is a lighter ROM overall. I came from the note II and once I installed a AOSP ROM going back to touchwiz was like a downgrade in battery, speed and actually useful features like easily customizable navbars and Halo.
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What? No not always man.. twiz for how heavy it is gets pretty awesome battery life.
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