Nexus S Questions Before I Take The Plunge?

**jaystang** · 01-10-2011, 08:59 PM

Hey Guys,
Long time lurker here. Have a few questions about both the Nexus S and T-Mobile before I move forward with this.

I'll start off by saying, I'm a big anti-apple guy, however I'm also a software engineer so I just HAD to have an iPhone since at the time there was really no other phones that could compete. My contract has ended with AT&T back in July (yes long time to not upgrade), and I've just been sitting back and waiting for the next big thing to come along. I truly wanted a verizon phone. After having so many different issues with AT&T I was convinced I would never buy another phone that wasn't on verizon. I waited and waited, stalked these forums like crazy, followed the Thunderbolt from the minute it was leaked back in Aug. I thought this would be my next phone. Well of course CES was a big let down. Cool phone, not so new technology, terrible battery life, and not coming out until March? No thanks! So now I'm looking closely at the Nexus S. I went to best buy tonight and played around for a while. I guess none of my questions pertain specifically to the phone. It is a great piece of hardware, I am convinced of this. My questions are more around T-Mobile. My only experience with T-Mobile was back in high school (errr, long time ago) and I don't really remember how it was, as well as I'm sure they've done a tone of upgrading with their network. Anyway, honestly how is T-Mobile? How is it with dropped calls? How is it compared to other carriers? I live in Boston so being in a city I'm sure that helps. But then again I get dropped calls with AT&T and my crappy iPhone all the time so maybe I shouldn't make that assumption. Do the T-Mobile plans still come with the my-favs (pick your fav 5 numbers to call free)? I don't see it listed on their website. Can you upgrade with T-Mobile earlier then every 2 years while under contract? Do the offer any type of 1 year contract where the phone is a little more expensive (not talking $529 more expensive)? I'd love to hear everyone's opinion. I don't want to make another 2 year mistake like I did with AT&T, but I do love this phone.

Thanks guys, appreciate the input!

**Smokexz** · 01-10-2011, 09:33 PM

Don't know about my faves, I doubt you will get the device with a lower price if you go with a 1 year contract, its either 2 years or no contract( keep in mind, those 2 years you are paying for essentially, the rest of the phone). Now, about the dropped calls, I had a BlackBerry 8320, christ did the calls sound terrible and dropped amazingly fast. Now with my Nexus S, calls were nice and clear, never had a dropped call and the nice thing about T-Mobile is, the plans cannot be beat. Honestly I still think the Nexus S is better than the dual core stuff and even the dual core stuff doesn't go anymore faster( at least not as fast as people think). I would so get a Nexus S over an iPhone any day.

Sent from my Nexus S

**jaystang** · 01-11-2011, 09:50 AM

Thanks for the response!

Anyone else have any input here?

**big_time2** · 01-11-2011, 10:00 AM

I'm in a different city and state but I don't have as many problems as I thought I would. I have a blackberry on Verizon for work and nexus s on T-Mobile as a personal phone and I would say dropped calls are about the same on both. Again, I'm in a different city/state so that may or may not matter much.

**rb81** · 01-11-2011, 11:46 AM

I live in Dallas and I have no problems with tmobile. Very rarely do I have a call dropped and the clarity is excellent. I have been getting great speeds on their data network as well (consistently around 3.5 mbps but up to 5.5+).

As far as upgades are concerned I got the nexus s on a full upgrade December 22nd and my two year mark would have been the end of march 2011. In my experience you can upgrade about 3-4 months early for full discount. Also they do have a partial upgrade available after a year (never used it but I know it is more than $100 off on a top of the line phone).

I don't use my faves and don't know if it is still available, but they do offer some great plans that are very competitive. Definitely worth a look, go to a t-mobile store and discuss plans before you go to best buy as bb has no clue about whats available for Tmo.

**jaystang** · 01-11-2011, 12:19 PM

Thanks for all the feedback!

I'm now reading about the phone restarting during calls issue. Is anyone here experiencing this? Yet another concern to ponder over... hmm....

**rb81** · 01-11-2011, 01:18 PM

It has only happened to me once in almost a month. I wouldn't stress about it though, most people that had the issue frequently fixed with a factory reboot. Additionally Google has ackowledged the issue suggesting that it is a software bug, likely to be fixed in an update. Gingerbread has some kinks to work out but I find it to be an excellent os.

**big_time2** · 01-11-2011, 01:25 PM

I haven't had this problem yet. Granted I make fewer than 10 calls per day, so that may not be enough to see whether I have the problem or not.

**The Hustleman** · 01-11-2011, 01:26 PM

I had t mobile and I opted to paui the etf to get out, got sick of the huge amount off dropped calls

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

**jaystang** · 01-11-2011, 01:36 PM

Thanks for the reply, if you don't mind me asking, where are you located? Near any major cities?

**Smokexz** · 01-11-2011, 02:16 PM

I haven't had that restart on a phone call, a lot Pele have complained about that, but from the 2 I have owned, they made calls just fine. Still hope the updates fix the SMS issue and the home screen locking up.

Sent from my Nexus S

**jaystang** · 01-11-2011, 02:22 PM

What's the home screen locking up issue? How often does the SMS issue occur?

**Baconator** · 01-11-2011, 05:26 PM

The phone is great! Get it if you like it. Try it out if it doesn't work for you return it.

**jaystang** · 01-11-2011, 07:30 PM

Thanks for all the help guys. Just picked up the phone tonight. So far so good.

One question. I read that the phone restart issue during calls might be related to 2.3.1. I'm currently on 2.3 out of the box however it's telling me I have a system update available. Am I better off waiting on this update since it may be whats causing the phone restart issue?

**Baconator** · 01-11-2011, 07:34 PM

I never have had an issue with the restart during call. Maybe just SOME have it.

**pathfinder3** · 01-11-2011, 08:28 PM

I got the 4G Web Unlimited EM+ bundle which is unlimited calls, text and data without a 2-yr contract. As for the service in my area, it's decent. Sprint and AT&T are horrible here. I haven't experience any drop calls yet!

**Baconator** · 01-11-2011, 08:39 PM

In my area ALL carriers are horrible. T-Mobile has really good EDGE. I am in a Sprint dead zone (why do they have a store here if on their coverage map my town is a dead zone and they don't even have coverage. Their costumers are always unhappy here because they always are losing signal.) AT&T is roaming here and so is Verizon. (At least verizon has a patner 3G.) The best carrier right now in my area is Alltel. (I think that is who Verizon is roaming on) They have REALLY fast 3G. AT&T bought them out but won't switch everything until this summer (it was supposed to be last month but they had conflicts). Now we will have AT&T 3G and hopefully 4G (which I doubt). I hate my town when it comes to carrier signal. Hopefully AT&T will get the next Nexus so I can switch to them and use their 3G. The only good thing about T-Mobile is that we are ALWAYS out of town and we live around BIG cities with 3G yay

**BartmanJax** · 01-11-2011, 10:22 PM

Don't know how much this will contribute to the conversation since you've already picked up your phone, but here goes.

Back in 1994, a new GSM carrier started up (ar maybe appeared is a better word) here in Jacksonville called Powertel. When they first started offering service, you could sign up with no-contract and you had unlimited calling for $40 a month (no texting or internet back then). Coverage was spotty but the call clarity was amazing. The phone was a Nokia 2190 (I still have it).

Several years later, Powertel became VoiceStream and the network continued to grow. Because I was "grandfathered in", I got to keep my $40 a month plan. VoiceStream didn't offer upgrade plans at the time so if you wanted to get a new phone, you bought it. I did upgrade to the "new" Nokia 5190 and I still have that one too.

Finally T-Mobile came into the picture offering more phones, upgrades and as technology permitted, I continued to upgrade. I got a Motorola V66, then a V3 Razor and finally a Samsung Gravity (which I've been using the past couple of years). And yes, I still have those oldies as well.

The Nexus S was my first Android smart phone, although I did have a jail-broken iPhone 3G for a few weeks to play with.

And after all this time, I'm still with T-Mobile/VoiceStream/Powertel. Great signal, service and very few dropped calls. I travel to Atlanta a lot, usually by car or on my bike and always have service. And if I'm outside T-Mobile's coverage area (northwest Texas and Steamboat Springs, Colorado comes to mind) I can usually get a signal from another provider.

After having the same phone number for almost 17 years and having an umlimited Talk/Text/Data plan for only $54/month (loyal customer thing), I'll probably stick with T-Mobile till I die.

Frankly, I like their product!

My $.02

**dadds27** · 01-12-2011, 09:08 AM

i made the jump on dec 16th from verizon to tmo. i had verizon for 10 years and never had a service problem but their billing was always wrong. i also hate their customer support with a passion and they dont seem to care about you. moving to tmo (i live in nj about 5 miles outside philly) i was worried about service. i havent had any drop calls and the 3g is really fast.

i just drove yesterday from louisville, ky in the snow and my gps and calls stayed locked in the whole ride. which btw is something verizon didnt do because i would lose calls in parts of pa and ohio. so in terms of coverage for calls and text messing i would say im covered better then verizon. (i travel a lot to see my friends and work all over the mid atlantic region). but it terms of 3g the coverage is less but faster when i have it.

i hope this helps and if you have any other questions i can answer them for you.

**KU Kitch** · 01-14-2011, 03:00 PM

I jumped from the iPhone to the N1, Vibrant and now NS, after having been with T-Mo for 5 years before that. Service in KC and now Wichita has been good, and the price is much better than AT&T was. Honestly, I don't know why you'd get a contract plan since the increase over EM+ to EM seems to cost more than the phone discount you get with any phone over the life of the contract ($20/month for 24 months higher price, vs. max of say $350 savings to a discounted phone). Additionally, with that no interest way to pay off your phone over 20 months or whatever, it seems like there's no reason to have a contract at all. Personally I always get them and pay outright, but that's an option. I'm jealous of the Atrix 4g, but this is a good phone, and I think currently the best on T-Mo even without "4g" and a removable SD card.