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[REVIEW] Howord Forums

Howard Forums review
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1742376-My-Galaxy-Nexus-Review?p=14622588#post14622588

God I haven't been there in years! Great Review btw.
Super Glad the screen displays normal whites compared to the junk Samsung has been putting out lately. Just look at the difference between the SGSII and the Galaxy Nexus. I couldn't deal with that nasty hue all day every day. This is what turned me off from the Nexus S.

"The only USB modes in ICS are MTP and PTP modes. There is no mass storage mode. MTP lets you both read and copy files. MTP’s advantage over mass storage mode is that a) you no longer have to pull the notification area down and select mass storage mode and b) you can still view the contents of the card on the device while it is still connected to your computer. The disadvantage is that mass storage allows you to copy and read multiple files simultaneously."
mmm... :/

Screen close-up definitely shows it's sharper than GS2 and no sign of pixels.
So much for the "oh it's pentile" argument.

ptscon said:
Screen close-up definitely shows it's sharper than GS2 and no sign of pixels.
So much for the "oh it's pentile" argument.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. I was expecting it to not be noticable but nice to have proof to back that up now.
I still find it kind of funny that many reviewers have no idea about some major Android features. In this case it was when he mentioned in the video about there not being any Facebook or Twitter options available in the Accounts settings. Have people really no idea that it's something developers of the apps add via an API? The fact that neither the Twitter or the Facebook app was included should've been a good enough clue. Well, nobody is perfect.

blunden said:
Agreed. I was expecting it to not be noticable but nice to have proof to back that up now.
I still find it kind of funny that many reviewers have no idea about some major Android features. In this case it was when he mentioned in the video about there not being any Facebook or Twitter options available in the Accounts settings. Have people really no idea that it's something developers of the apps add via an API? The fact that neither the Twitter or the Facebook app was included should've been a good enough clue. Well, nobody is perfect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That, or "What’s different now is that you can also add folders. I guess it’s only fair: Apple stole the Android notification area so Google stole the folders."
Android has had folders for ages now... they just revamped how you create them. Yes it's like iOS now, but that's good. Easier is better.

did he say 8MP camera?

yes he did. seems like this review isn't really a good review...

Pictures speak louder then words. Most important thing I got from the review is the +1 on the screen and -1 on the lack of Facebook integration... which sucks. I like being able to snap a shot and post it to facebook. Sure Google+ kinda competes with Facebook but just make Google+ a default, not remove Facebook completely.
I guess this also removes Facebook contacts from the phone (which I think they did that on previous builds). I figured it would only be a matter of time. Even more reason for CM9.

player911 said:
Pictures speak louder then words. Most important thing I got from the review is the +1 on the screen and -1 on the lack of Facebook integration... which sucks. I like being able to snap a shot and post it to facebook. Sure Google+ kinda competes with Facebook but just make Google+ a default, not remove Facebook completely.
I guess this also removes Facebook contacts from the phone (which I think they did that on previous builds). I figured it would only be a matter of time. Even more reason for CM9.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Surely this will come simply by installing the facebook app?

Anyone else notice he said the battery life sucked?

i also noticed he kinda didn't know what he was talking about

player911 said:
Pictures speak louder then words. Most important thing I got from the review is the +1 on the screen and -1 on the lack of Facebook integration... which sucks. I like being able to snap a shot and post it to facebook. Sure Google+ kinda competes with Facebook but just make Google+ a default, not remove Facebook completely.
I guess this also removes Facebook contacts from the phone (which I think they did that on previous builds). I figured it would only be a matter of time. Even more reason for CM9.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't that become an option when you install the Facebook App? I don't remember Facebook just "being there" on anything other than Sense/Blur/Touchwiz...

oscillik said:
i also noticed he kinda didn't know what he was talking about
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hah, well that's what you get for a review from a group that isn't hardcore Android focused.
I think maybe the only important takeaway that I got from that review was the close-up screen comparison with the Galaxy S2. Rather allays my concerns over Pentile-Gate 2011.
Oh, and also confirmation of pentaband support for both AWS and standard frequencies.

divinewisdom said:
did he say 8MP camera?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He did say 8MP, however he wrote this:
"Curiously the Nexus only comes with a 5mp camera while all it’s competitors now come with 8mp ones"

nomisunrider said:
He wrote this:
"Curiously the Nexus only comes with a 5mp camera while all it’s competitors now come with 8mp ones"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you watched the video you'd hear that he says it has an 8mp camera...

HideYoKids said:
Anyone else notice he said the battery life sucked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He also said he had the Phone just for a few hours and the Battery usage showed 63% Display usage. Guess this is just the "it's new" effect where people play around with it for hours - then every phones battery will go down pretty quick. Some other Review reported a good battery life and the processor in the Galaxy Nexus usually known for a good power management.

s.m.knipe said:
Doesn't that become an option when you install the Facebook App? I don't remember Facebook just "being there" on anything other than Sense/Blur/Touchwiz...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup it's added by the app through an api(both the account in settings and the option to share), indeed this guy isn't too educated on this specific part of android But a good review in my opinion.

MysteriousDiary said:
He also said he had the Phone just for a few hours and the Battery usage showed 63% Display usage. Guess this is just the "it's new" effect where people play around with it for hours - then every phones battery will go down pretty quick. Some other Review reported a good battery life and the processor in the Galaxy Nexus usually known for a good power management.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
or since the guy doesn't seem to have a clue, it could very well be down to him not charging the phone fully, and just whacking in the battery and turning it on as soon as he opened the box.

oscillik said:
or since the guy doesn't seem to have a clue, it could very well be down to him not charging the phone fully, and just whacking in the battery and turning it on as soon as he opened the box.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I'm pretty sure he did. Especially looking at the battery usage graph, which I attached here.
If you start at ~70%, probably not gonna get stellar life.

Camera quality (lack of)

Who has got the GN and is happy with the camera quality.
I took the plunge on this phone based on some sample pics i had seen but my first pics are awful. My htc desire took much better pics, in fact my Nokia N97 was better than this.
I took some pics today but it was quite dull but the pics came out wishy washy and out of focus.
Will the camera be improved with an update? Or am I stuck with it? I was going to sell my previous phone the S2 but I think I might hold fire a couple of weeks because i can't live with this.
Otherwise the Nexus seems great.

its the NexusOne camera

Can you post some of the pictures you took up please?

Look ate these, not good. :-(

Very bad... any other shot from anyone?
Maybe without resizing them...

That definitely looks like the photographer's fault. The first picture clearly has motion blur, and the second one is poorly focused.
Are you sure you're tapping the screen to focus before taking the picture?

low light and (to be fair) not the most photogenic of subjects ....
much better than my HTC Desire would have managed.
please note i dont claim to be a photographer

Yes tried to tap to focus but if anything, this makes it worse.

i noticed much better results using the tap to focus .....

Camera on mine is pretty good, I cant complain. Just took a quick one for you
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

.....oh and the image resize doesnt really do them justice. a lot of the detail is obviously lost.

Mh, saw this on G+ today which looks pretty good in my opinion.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/113273913706138669399/posts/3AtgttXQHK6

MysteriousDiary said:
Mh, saw this on G+ today which looks pretty good in my opinion.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/113273913706138669399/posts/3AtgttXQHK6
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That does look good.
Im pleased with the camera. im old enough to remember early attempts to put a camera on a phone

http://i.imgur.com/8JhuK.jpg random spider. I'm happy with the camera.

alsex87 said:
http://i.imgur.com/8JhuK.jpg random spider. I'm happy with the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol..... if thats a 'random spider' im glad i live in the UK

wilbur-force said:
low light and (to be fair) not the most photogenic of subjects ....
much better than my HTC Desire would have managed.
please note i dont claim to be a photographer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha those pictures are awesome. Cool pets
MysteriousDiary said:
Mh, saw this on G+ today which looks pretty good in my opinion.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/113273913706138669399/posts/3AtgttXQHK6
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That really is a nice photo.
alsex87 said:
http://i.imgur.com/8JhuK.jpg random spider. I'm happy with the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Holy jeebus. Gives me the creeps... Something about those lanky ones. Up in WA we have 'Hobo spiders'... kinda look the same.

here's my comparison article: http://www.freeyourandroid.com/inthenews/sgs2-vs-galaxy-nexus-camera-comparison

wilbur-force said:
lol..... if thats a 'random spider' im glad i live in the UK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll be glad to know that this is in the UK hahaha.

alsex87 said:
You'll be glad to know that this is in the UK hahaha.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK.... ive just lifted my feet up from the floor and checked under the sofa

just our regular toilet spider

Camera?

Has anyone found a good camera for the nexus? I can't seem to get the stock one to give me a good crisp picture.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

Vignette.
If you don't it, you wont like any camera app.

djgdroid said:
Has anyone found a good camera for the nexus? I can't seem to get the stock one to give me a good crisp picture.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you tapping the screen on the focus point you want? if you dont, it wont focus on that target.

stock app is fine. you just need some practice on how to take pictures.

Yes i've found one - it's Nikon D3100. Now i'll try seriously. Google has damn good coders and if it was posible to simply write better camera app they've had it done already. No offence for other developers.
If camera is very important for you shall get some other phone with better camera, it isn't hard to find one. Or buy a proper DSLR camera (yes, i'd be fruity happy if they were as compact as mibile phones).

MS. said:
Yes i've found one - it's Nikon D3100. Now i'll try seriously. Google has damn good coders and if it was posible to simply write better camera app they've had it done already. No offence for other developers.
If camera is very important for you shall get some other phone with better camera, it isn't hard to find one. Or buy a proper DSLR camera (yes, i'd be fruity happy if they were as compact as mibile phones).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
idk about that; google can't even get gmail contact images to be above 96x96, despite us asking them since 2009.
google wouldn't have done anything with this camera, samsung would have. the camera hardware on the nexus just isn't good compared to the competition, as you alluded to

MS. said:
Yes i've found one - it's Nikon D3100. Now i'll try seriously. Google has damn good coders and if it was posible to simply write better camera app they've had it done already. No offence for other developers.
If camera is very important for you shall get some other phone with better camera, it isn't hard to find one. Or buy a proper DSLR camera (yes, i'd be fruity happy if they were as compact as mibile phones).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could hit the middle ground and get a Micro 4/3 camera. That's my choice.
But really, the GNex doesn't take awful photos. Compose properly and take 2sec and you'll get a good enough photo for things you're taking pictures of with a phone (posting to Facebook, G+, Twitter, etc.).

jayochs said:
idk about that; google can't even get gmail contact images to be above 96x96, despite us asking them since 2009.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sometimes it takes a lot of effort and time to convince a developer to add a simple button on a web site and once it's done, then everyone wonders how could they live without it so long. There's loooooong story behind this from my own experience
jayochs said:
google wouldn't have done anything with this camera, samsung would have. the camera hardware on the nexus just isn't good compared to the competition, as you alluded to
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that GNex has bad camera. It's just not as good as some others. And those people who actually need a good camera on their smartphones, usually going trough few reviews before buying it.
Martonikaj> absolutely agree with you, but i'm not one of those who complaining about GNex camera. I saw sample pictures/videos before i bought this phone and even more to that - take a look at my signature (the last three owned phones)

From my experience with this camera so far.
1) If you have a good light source, your fine.
2) For indoor shots, they work best when the light source is coming from behind you. Cuts down the pixelation.
3) Tap the screen at the focus point you want.
4) For night shots, I find they work best when you disable the flash. Don't use night scene mode, never had much luck with that.
Outdoor this camera can take some great shots, but indoors you have to handle it a certain way.

I was pretty sure when I decided on the nexus that the camera was going to be the weak spot. I just loved that it was pure Android. I've tried camera fx and have noticed a slightly better quality picture but I'm just not loving the interface. I was hoping someone had tried a camera app that I hadn't and liked it. I really liked the camera on my old HTC incredible but that was the only thing better than my nexus.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

3rd Party Camera Apps

Knowing that the week part of this phone is the camera (beyond low light photography)...
Is it better with third-party camera apps?

NYC Coyote said:
Knowing that the week part of this phone is the camera (beyond low light photography)...
Is it better with third-party camera apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really... I don't think the camera is weak at all... Well to each their own..
Sent from my HTC6500LVW using xda app-developers app

I am taking great shots with the stock camera... Vignette is a good app...
Sent from the One phone to rule them all!

thanks... and excuse the typo on "weak"

NYC Coyote said:
thanks... and excuse the typo on "weak"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was going to bite, but I did that once and someone pointed out something I misspelled years ago lol.
Sent from my HTC6500LVW using xda app-developers app

Sheldor1967 said:
I am taking great shots with the stock camera... Vignette is a good app...
Sent from the One phone to rule them all!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what does vignette do that the stock camera can't? It has lots of manual settings and has filters.
Also, I think someone said that 3rd party camera apps lower the resolution to 3.2mp.

Weak?
Sent from my HTC6500LVW using xda app-developers app

I purchased Camera Zoom FX during one of those Google sales, never used it on the S3 but like you I've not been entirely satisfied with the camera on this phone. I have tried it and keep going back and forth from it to stock. I have also tried Camera JB+, Camera Pro, HDR Camera+, Vignette and a few others. Ultra-pixel aside, it is still just 4 megapixel. though I have read that that detail alone does not mean that the camera is superior or inferior. I am by no means an expert in photography, probably don't qualify as amateur. but I know there is a difference however slight between the S3 and this one. BTW, I have still not determined if a 3rd party is better.

Mine certainly seems weak. I can't seem to get it to focus on what I'm trying to get it to focus on. My kid is holding a teddy bear, I click on her face.. it grabs focus on the bear. Every once in a while it'll nail focus and get a beautiful shot but I have the issue with the screen turning red in low light too. So maybe it's the photo sensor or a firmware thing. I'm praying it's firmware because I obviously don't want a replacement device because I'll lose S-OFF.
Verizon, naturally, is no help. "Never heard of it. HTC hasn't told us anything about it. Deal with them." ... So it could just be a 'some devices' kind of thing.. but I can understand why some might think the camera is weak. Coming from an iPhone 5, which took fantastic pictures, I've been very disappointed to say the least. Obviously, YMMV.
And since I'm sure at least someone is thinking 'go back to iPhone then', I'll add. Those shots I mentioned where focus is nailed.. the pictures are great. This camera has potential. I'M just not getting the results yet.

I just got my phone replaced because my camera couldn't focus on anything further than 3 feet away. The majority of my pictures were blurry and unusable, so I went to Verizon and a rep compared it to their floor model and agreed with me. Got it replaced (although they sent me a DNA at first...) and am loving the camera now. Yea the zoom is weak, but I don't mind.

And OP, you're not crazy. But help is on the way...
http://bgr.com/2013/09/12/htc-one-camera-bug-fix/
http://www.techradar.com/us/news/ph...issues-coming-with-android-4-3-update-1181125
Google "htc one camera issues" .. It appears those pleased with the camera are in the gross minority.. but that's lucky for them.
One of the blurbs from the article: "In fact a poll was taken recently where 328/388 users said “Yes” to their HTC One having camera problems like the one described above." For the record, that issue was the covering the lens and seeing your screen go red or blue or purple.

Fyi we can install the camera from the Google edition phones via this link
http://www.adrive.com/public/EtV5jj/com.google.android.gallery3d.apk
I've installed it and I'm getting nice pictures with the limited testing I did.
It's also got the 'photosphere' which I haven't tried but from what I read it's pretty cool sounding
Sidenote, my other half got the iPhone 5S and I played with the camera for over an hour taking pictures around the house and outside of my dogs... I wish I could rip the camera out of the 5S and put it in my HTC One...it's that good :-/
Sent from my HTC One.

one4thewings said:
And OP, you're not crazy. But help is on the way...
http://bgr.com/2013/09/12/htc-one-camera-bug-fix/
http://www.techradar.com/us/news/ph...issues-coming-with-android-4-3-update-1181125
Google "htc one camera issues" .. It appears those pleased with the camera are in the gross minority.. but that's lucky for them.
One of the blurbs from the article: "In fact a poll was taken recently where 328/388 users said “Yes” to their HTC One having camera problems like the one described above." For the record, that issue was the covering the lens and seeing your screen go red or blue or purple.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll agree with some but in the end people who don't have problems won't be looking for polls to complain. Same way to put a bias on stats by making sure you're only getting the people who will prove your point. Not saying that its great but for my person use it beats anything I've used. You can prove anything right or wrong for the main reason that the vocal ones are almost always the ones with issues.
Sent from my HTC6500LVW using xda app-developers app

Thanks for this. I miss the stock Android camera. And I like the gallery layout better too.
josh995 said:
Fyi we can install the camera from the Google edition phones via this link
http://www.adrive.com/public/EtV5jj/com.google.android.gallery3d.apk
I've installed it and I'm getting nice pictures with the limited testing I did.
It's also got the 'photosphere' which I haven't tried but from what I read it's pretty cool sounding
Sidenote, my other half got the iPhone 5S and I played with the camera for over an hour taking pictures around the house and outside of my dogs... I wish I could rip the camera out of the 5S and put it in my HTC One...it's that good :-/
Sent from my HTC One.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

josh995 said:
Fyi we can install the camera from the Google edition phones via this link
http://www.adrive.com/public/EtV5jj/com.google.android.gallery3d.apk
I've installed it and I'm getting nice pictures with the limited testing I did.
It's also got the 'photosphere' which I haven't tried but from what I read it's pretty cool sounding
Sidenote, my other half got the iPhone 5S and I played with the camera for over an hour taking pictures around the house and outside of my dogs... I wish I could rip the camera out of the 5S and put it in my HTC One...it's that good :-/
Sent from my HTC One.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it possible to install this camera alongside of the HTC One camera? It would be nice to have both. I don't want to lose some of the features of the HTC One camera.
Thanks!

Frankie1588 said:
Is it possible to install this camera alongside of the HTC One camera? It would be nice to have both. I don't want to lose some of the features of the HTC One camera.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup! I've got it installed alongside the stock HTC camera. It also adds the stock Google "gallery" app too. Very awesome
Sent from my HTC One.

josh995 said:
Yup! I've got it installed alongside the stock HTC camera. It also adds the stock Google "gallery" app too. Very awesome
Sent from my HTC One.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohh that's cool. Didn't know that part... hmm...

Stitching
Anyone able to get their photosphere pictures to stitch together properly with the GPE camera app? Mine are totally jacked! The stitching cuts out big parts of the pictures.

nrfitchett4 said:
what does vignette do that the stock camera can't? It has lots of manual settings and has filters.
Also, I think someone said that 3rd party camera apps lower the resolution to 3.2mp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blue image is the HTC Camera app, The other is Vignette... Vignette is extremely flexible, but not at all easy to use...I like it's filters. But, by and large, I am getting great shots with the stock app...I really hope that update fixes the purple/blue issues because it obviously is a software issue. If Vignette can get it right, then HTC should be able to...
I did not like the results of the google edition camera...too bright and oversaturated...

Focal now in Beta in Google Play Store
For those interested, the recently removed Focal App from CM is now in Beta in the Play Store.

Video Recording Quality

There are a few negative reviews about the video capture quality on the M8 which include dropped frames and focus issues. watching samples on YouTube doesn't really demonstrate the best it can be due to the compression.
If you're an M8 owner, how do you rate the video capture? Is the lack of IOS an issue?
If you can you share a raw file so it can be viewed without any YouTube compression and artifacts that would be great.
Thanks

mwatson said:
There are a few negative reviews about the video capture quality on the M8 which include dropped frames and focus issues. watching samples on YouTube doesn't really demonstrate the best it can be due to the compression.
If you're an M8 owner, how do you rate the video capture? Is the lack of IOS an issue?
If you can you share a raw file so it can be viewed without any YouTube compression and artifacts that would be great.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been happy with it. I even recorded my kids on a zip-wire at the weekend, and it didn't seem any "shakier" than any of my OIS enabled phones. I'll upload a sample if I get chance today via dropbox or something.

Thats good. Thanks, any other user experiances?

I'll step outside and record a video for ya real quick, gimmie a few minutes.
Uploading now, kinda overcast skies @ 7pm on the east coast so not a whole lot of daylight, u will see. About 3 minutes to upload and I'll add the link in this post.
::EDIT::
Here is the drop box link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/odzrtefbzvckyfh/VIDEO0002.mp4

LaGgY_42o said:
I'll step outside and record a video for ya real quick, gimmie a few minutes.
Uploading now, kinda overcast skies @ 7pm on the east coast so not a whole lot of daylight, u will see. About 3 minutes to upload and I'll add the link in this post.
::EDIT::
Here is the drop box link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/odzrtefbzvckyfh/VIDEO0002.mp4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for uploading that. It seems to suffer from motion stutter when panning. This doesn't happen on the M7. Colours look quite dull too. This is what i'm seeing elsewhere. Maybe it can be improved with an update?

mwatson said:
Thanks for uploading that. It seems to suffer from motion stutter when panning. This doesn't happen on the M7. Colours look quite dull too. This is what i'm seeing elsewhere. Maybe it can be improved with an update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope the OTA can fix it cause I found that the camera didn't close very smoothly when returning to the lockscreen with the phone locked.

Any more thoughts on this? I've bumped as I'm keen to buy this today, but a bit put off by the video capture. Many thanks!

mwatson said:
Any more thoughts on this? I've bumped as I'm keen to buy this today, but a bit put off by the video capture. Many thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi! as you would like users to rate the video recording quality, wouldn't be better to add a poll in the thread? this way it would be easier to rate and understand the result, as we can "see" them without looking for ratings in the thread... just my opinion

lukes91 said:
hi! as you would like users to rate the video recording quality, wouldn't be better to add a poll in the thread? this way it would be easier to rate and understand the result, as we can "see" them without looking for ratings in the thread... just my opinion
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tis done! give it a click

mwatson said:
Tis done! give it a click
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when i will buy my M8

Yesterday i was on a concert and it was pretty dark. The quality was great and the sound even better.