Is Google moving forward of backward with their Nexus devices?

[Szabinger]

Each previous nexus device has been a small incremental update. The nexus one had a 1ghz cpu and an amoled screen. The nexus s had a little bit bigger super amoled screen and a bit faster 1ghz cpu. The galaxy nexus had a HD super amoled screen and a dual core cpu. None of the sequels were actually noticably better or faster than the one before. They were all really good phones, but they weren't anything "amazing". It also seemed that they were always a generation behind in the specs department. The cpu's weren't cutting edge, the displays were of the lower quality of the spectrum, the cameras have always been complete crap. The designs were just clones of other devices on the market: The nexus one was the same design and form of a Droid Eris. The nexus S was a Galaxy S with a curved screen. The Galaxy nexus was a Galaxy S2. None of them were truly innovative designs that stood out in the crowd.

This brings me now to the Nexus 7... There was nothing on the market like it. Yes there were several 7" android tablets, but none that it shared any similarities with. The design is unique, minimalistic, and very durable. Also nothing could match the specs of it at the price it is. It was the first truly original nexus design, one that was pleasing and stands out against everything else in it's class.

Next up is the Nexus 10, once again it's design is completely unique to it's form factor. It isn't a clone of any other of Samsung's 10" tablets. It has curves that no other tablet has, it's made out of a material that is on no other tablet. It is a solid and sleek looking device. And lets not forget the absolutely phenomenal screen resolution on this device. Retina? Nope. It makes retina look like an SDTV. There is no equivalent to even compare its to. It's in a class of its own. Samsung and Google spared no expense in the spec department. The absolute first device sporting an ARM A-15 cpu, and it's Samsung's own Exynos design. This tablet is an absolute MONSTER. It is the fastest mobile device EVER. Nothing on the market in Android's corner or any of their competitors can even come close to the power of this tablet. This is really the first serious 10" tablet that can take the iPad head on and beat it in every category. Google did it's homework with this device and unleashed a MONSTER.

Finally, the Nexus 4. Sleek, beautiful, stunning, polished... Words that have never been used to explain the design of an LG phone... I didn't quite think that LG had the capability of creating a device worthy of the Nexus name, especially not a Nexus phone of this quality. I think they surprised the whole world with this one. Glass, beautiful glass. This is the most classy Android device ever put on the market. Not just the most classy phone, the most classy device, period. The HTC One X is a beautiful device, so is the Galaxy S3, but neither of these phones can even hold a candle to what LG has achieved in the design category. Did I mention how beautiful of a phone this is? This phone isn't just a step forward in the right direction... It is a leap, not a leap across a ditch, a leap from one continent to another continent over a humongous ocean. This device deserves the Nexus name more than any device before it. It had taken everything that was good in the previous nexus phones and polished every aspect. It took all the shortcomings of the previous nexus phones, chewed them up, spit them out, and flushed them down the toilet. This is the perfect phone. Once again, Google has unleashed another beast of a device. Housing the fastest, most cutting (bleeding) edge technology available, upgrading upon every previous spec in the past nexus phones, and giving it a layer of polish that is next to none. This phone will not soon be beaten. They nailed it this time. Every shortcoming of the Galaxy Nexus was addressed, modified, tweaked, improved upon and optimized.

I'm very proud of what Google has brought to the table this time around. They have been listening. They have been studying. They have been doing their homework. They have created devices this time around that aren't only competitive, but that have actually raised the bar so high that every single partner and competitor now has a LOT of catching up to do.

AMEN.

 

[badbrad17]

People will vote one way or the other for MicroSD storage....

The reason *I* care about MicroSD storage is that despite the fact that I'm on grandfathered unlimited data on VZW, if I ever were to switch to another carrier (or if Verizon DOES end the unlimited at some point), I would NEED local storage because I'd have a data cap. Music, movies, all this stuff that they want to "live in the cloud" with Nexus devices...but if carrier don't give you unlimited access what's the point. And if they keep NOT releasing 32 or 64GB versions of phones in the US, then it really seals the deal.

A friend of mine just moved from Phoenix to Seattle and streamed music the entire drive to Seattle. It took them 3 days to get there and they used almost 6gb of data. They thankfully have the unlimited data on Verizon, but I got to thinking that for some people who do a lot of driving for work etc. that streaming music from the cloud would never be an option without an unlimited plan. I would assume there are plenty of people in this situation.

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[Woosh]

A friend of mine just moved from Phoenix to Seattle and streamed music the entire drive to Seattle. It took them 3 days to get there and they used almost 6gb of data. They thankfully have the unlimited data on Verizon, but I got to thinking that for some people who do a lot of driving for work etc. that streaming music from the cloud would never be an option without an unlimited plan. I would assume there are plenty of people in this situation.

Sent from my SGH-T989D using Android Central Forums

There are plenty of ppl in the situation of needing to stream music for 3 days straight? I'm thinking probably not. Btw 10GB is roughly 2000 songs....Do ppl rly need a larger library than that for regular usage?

Edit - What happened to radios, didn't they used to put those in cars back in the day?

 

[badbrad17]

There are plenty of ppl in the situation of needing to stream music for 3 days straight? I'm thinking probably not. Btw 10GB is roughly 2000 songs....Do ppl rly need a larger library than that for regular usage?

Edit - What happened to radios, didn't they used to put those in cars back in the day?

Well I used to own a carpet cleaning business and spent around 3 hours a day in my vehicle and also listened to music while I worked. I could easily listen to music for 6 hours of music a day or more. If I am streaming this every day my data would be huge.

Is the solution to just buy an iPod? Seems odd IMO.

The solution is not some crazy difficult thing to deal with. Either provide a sd card, or give us options for internal storage that is 32GB or more.

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[blitzen89]

Why Nexus devices have no SD card | Android Central

Totally agree with this... I do think they should at least offer more internal storage, but I'm all for giving up my SD is it means a faster and more stable file system. If the battery truly does last long I've got no issue at all with it not being removable...

 

[qnet]

Yeah a lot of us get used to what we have and we adapt. Your friend is adapting to his sizes and using all of it. I have a 16gb iphone and i have 9gb free but I dont have any music because I figured if i cant get all my music and videos on here why even put them on at all? So if i had expandable storage, I wouldn't have to live without my music and videos. I have 200mb of data so I try to limit my data usage and can't stream my content without wifi.

I don't think its backwards if they don't do expandable storage since they are pushing the future of "cloud" computing but its definitely not what consumers want.

That's pretty much what I've had to do, adapt. When I had the Note I bought a 64GB sd-card and put all my music and movies on it. I think part of the reason I did it was, because I thought it was fun & cool to do on a phone. Having said that I didn't utilize it to the fullest, I never watched moves on it and, only listened to a handfull of songs.

I agree it's always good to have a option and wish they would have atleast made the N4 32GB but, I can deal with it and adapt. I won't put any movies on it and will only download certain playlist locally. The cool thing about Google music is you can pin and unpin music locally as you see fit. I plan on getting the Nexus 10 also so all my movies will go on that.

As far as the removable battery, that doesn't bother me at all. I agree with those who said it makes it feel like a more solid device. I recently had to replace my battery cover on my Gnex when one of the little clips broke and I couldn't secure the back completly.

 

[Woosh]

Well I used to own a carpet cleaning business and spent around 3 hours a day in my vehicle and also listened to music while I worked. I could easily listen to music for 6 hours of music a day or more. If I am streaming this every day my data would be huge.

Is the solution to just buy an iPod? Seems odd IMO.

Sent from my SGH-T989D using Android Central Forums

Doesn't rly seem odd to me to use a music streaming device as a music streamer and a phone as a phone. That said, you have plenty of options. You can either get T-Mo unlimited plan, deal with a 2000 ish music library, or get one of the many Android phones that have an SD card slot.

 

[badbrad17]

Why Nexus devices have no SD card | Android Central

Totally agree with this... I do think they should at least offer more internal storage, but I'm all for giving up my SD is it means a faster and more stable file system. If the battery truly does last long I've got no issue at all with it not being removable...

I'm okay with this too if we have more internal storage options. But the battery on the N4 has not received stellar reviews so far.

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[madchild3]

Google understands that they, just like Apple, have some dummy users. Those dummy users are mom and dad, kids, granparents, girlfriends, boyfriends, pets, neighbors, me, etc. Those dummies buy phones because they look cool on the commecials, or because it got recommended by them, or because they were on sale.
People like to place they're photos, music, apps, etc on SD cards, take the SD card out because it tickle them fancy, and complain about the phone (hardware or software, your pic,) being broken. They (Google and Apple) know that some users are not familiar with phones (scare to tinker with them,) and let they're tech savvy friend/family mess with them, then the user changes just one thing, and brakes the phone. At times, the "tech savvy" friend is the one breaking things. Google and Apple also know that kids happen, and they (kids) touch stuff. Google is just taking some of the human error out of it.
Most phone users do not fill 16/32/64GB of storage to the brim. Most phone users do not go around changing batteries midday. Most users do place their phones on cases, so changing batteries is kinda dumb. Most users do care about they're pictures, music, and apps working, no matter where those magical things reside. Most users care that when you press a button (physical or make believe,) it works. Simple as that. All others complaining about removable storage, removable batteries, removable magical physical buttons, are the minority. Minorities get ignored because they do not make them (Google or Apple) money, again, simple as that.
Quit your whinning. If you feel the need to flash ROMs three times a day, get cloud storage, carry around your laptop, or stay home and back up. If you need more battery go get you a car battery, wire it to your phone and endure the wrath of people laughing at you. If you need a physical button, go to Staples and get you an easy button. If you need endless data move in to Starbucks. Do understand that big enterprises are not tailors, and do not make one of devices. They make devices that apeace the masses.

 

[jcsugrue]

Every Nexus device that Google has released has moved the entire Android ecosystem forward by leaps and bounds. These are unlocked phones, meaning anybody who owns one can easily get an unlimited data plan for $30. I opted for the $45 unlimited plan through Straight Talk, because it included unlimited minutes as well. This still beats any contract, hands down. Removable storage? Don't need it. Not when I can stream nearly anything I want. Physical buttons? Seriously? I don't see the point in have buttons that wear out, gum up, and can not be customized and reordered. Removable battery? I have a charger on my night stand, a charger on my desk at home and work, and a charger in my car. Really, the only place I can't charge my phone is outdoors. If I were spending that much time outdoors, chances are that I would opt for something like a g'Zone.

Maybe Google is moving away from the type of phone that meets your needs, but they definitely aren't moving backward in any way.

 

[Woosh]

Google understands that they, just like Apple, have some dummy users. Those dummy users are mom and dad, kids, granparents, girlfriends, boyfriends, pets, neighbors, me, etc. Those dummies buy phones because they look cool on the commecials, or because it got recommended by them, or because they were on sale.
People like to place they're photos, music, apps, etc on SD cards, take the SD card out because it tickle them fancy, and complain about the phone (hardware or software, your pic,) being broken. They (Google and Apple) know that some users are not familiar with phones (scare to tinker with them,) and let they're tech savvy friend/family mess with them, then the user changes just one thing, and brakes the phone. At times, the "tech savvy" friend is the one breaking things. Google and Apple also know that kids happen, and they (kids) touch stuff. Google is just taking some of the human error out of it.
Most phone users do not fill 16/32/64GB of storage to the brim. Most phone users do not go around changing batteries midday. Most users do place their phones on cases, so changing batteries is kinda dumb. Most users do care about they're pictures, music, and apps working, no matter where those magical things reside. Most users care that when you press a button (physical or make believe,) it works. Simple as that. All others complaining about removable storage, removable batteries, removable magical physical buttons, are the minority. Minorities get ignored because they do not make them (Google or Apple) money, again, simple as that.
Quit your whinning. If you feel the need to flash ROMs three times a day, get cloud storage, carry around your laptop, or stay home and back up. If you need more battery go get you a car battery, wire it to your phone and endure the wrath of people laughing at you. If you need a physical button, go to Staples and get you an easy button. If you need endless data move in to Starbucks. Do understand that big enterprises are not tailors, and do not make one of devices. They make devices that apeace the masses.

Apple hasn't cornered the market on pets yet? All my dogs use iPhones.

 

[gone down south]

I think he is just trying to say that with the limited space, some people need a little bit of extra space in some situations, along with the cloud. Not too hard to understand me thinks.

It's no different when you look at people who fly a lot. The cloud is useless on a plane. If everyone relied on the cloud we would all need to be carrying an iPod every time we got on a plane. It shouldn't be this way. A 32GB device would correct this. Especially when HTC and Apple are offering 64gb devices.

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Completely agree with you here, but we need to be realistic too - 16GB of movies and music will take you through a lot of flights!

 

[ChromeJob]

... However. I only need 32 GB and that's all the space I ever need. I never use over 10gb on my phones.

I'm okay with this too if we have more internal storage options. But the battery on the N4 has not received stellar reviews so far.

All the reviews have been -- I presume -- early or pre-production models. When reviews start coming out of production, sold units (e.g. long term test drive reviews), then I'll believe their battery complaints.

 

[Biggnaa20]

While each new Nexus signals the release of a new version of Android, it also seems to signal the loss of cherished features, such as expandable storage, physical buttons, and a removable battery.

What is your take on this?

I personally think the Nexus line is moving forward in an attempt to move away from the power that carriers have over our communication choices. I'm looking forward to seeing if this will actually work out in our (the customer's) favor.

And, yeah, I DO miss the things you mentioned. I'd even call them cherished since two of them are reasons that I stayed away from phones (and operating systems
) in the past.

Expandable Storage

16 gb isn't enough for me, and relying on the "cloud" isn't always an option. I don't always have a super fast connection. Restrictions of a tiered data aside, sometimes I'm in basements, sometimes I'm on a plane, sometimes I'm in another country and don't want to buy a sim card. Adding capacity is one thing, letting me chose how much storage I want is better. I understand that there may be a technical advantage to a single point of storage, but I miss this a lot.

Physical Buttons

While I miss the ability to hit things without looking, (ending a call being a good one). I actually do miss the extra space that the on screen buttons take when they have to pop up. Most of all, I really really would love a dedicated camera button.

Removable Battery

I used to not care about this as much, but after the charging port on my Galaxy Nexus died, I started to battery swap out of necessity. After I fixed the port, I noticed that I really enjoyed not having to run to a wall charger for a few hours if I wanted to have a late night. I just swapped and kept it moving. Additionally, the ability to actually have additional capacity is huge. Until these phones start having multi-day capacity like the Nokias and Blackberrys of old, having a exchangeable battery is a big cherished plus.

NB

 

[sfreemanoh]

we are talking about Nexus here. a $30 plan will give you unlimited data..

Yes, for the people that are on T-Mobile, or the tiny, mostly regional companies that still have unlimited data.

I feel 16GB is enough, I broke my hard-drive awhile ago and stopped downloading music. So my old phone had a 16GB only really used it for pics so i had plenty of room left. Well that is just for me i know a few mates which feel the need for all the music but I am not one of them. As for freeing I had a phone with about 256mb ram, they rarely froze, like VERY RARE... with a phone with 2GB ram, about 8x the ram my previous phone had, i think thats an even slimmer chance. The end of the day, if the costumer believes its a step back don't buy it... However I view its a step forward and I AM BUYING IT <3 Google.

More RAM doesn't necessarily equal less freezes...

then 5 Gb is all it need for you. its not like they cut off internet after 5Gb. it will be throttled.

Or, if you're on AT&T, for instance, you could end up with a bill larger than the national debt.

But the last 3 haven't so wasn't it a little expected for this one to not have one?

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Since carriers have only started getting rid of unlimited data plans after the GNex came out, I would personally think Google would realize that people would have significantly less monthly data allowances now, and create phones with that fact in mind. But I guess they don't care.

I disagree. The future is in the cloud. The reason why prices have gone up and gone into tiering is because there is more demand and it is harder to supply the bandwidth. Hopefully, when carriers begin to expand prices will go down again. Plus here is a very good point: many places are starting to provide wifi for their customers, residents, employees, etc. I honestly don't see why any place, be it a business or whatever, doesn't provide free wifi. Soon, almost everywhere you go will have wifi. Unless you drive yourself to work or spend lots of time in the wilderness or anywhere where there isnt wifi, you should be able to connect. Planes have wifi now... Soon we'll get wifi in subways, trains, buses. It might even be possible to get it in your car soon. The cloud is getting cheaper and there is a future there, however it isn't now and thats why I still think its still necessary to give us expandable storage or at the very least, bigger internal storage.

The future, sure. But guess what? We're not in the future yet. You're not going to start developing applications for holographics TV's right now because they might exist in the future, so why would you develop phones with technology meant for "the future", when data is free and plentiful?

Personally, I very rarely have access to WiFi. At home, sure. At work, no, because it's not secure. People have been known to crack WPA-2 secured WiFi networks in less than a minute. While driving? Uh, nope. At the gym? Uh, nope. If you live in a place that deployed WiFi AP's all over, great for you. But not everyone is that lucky, and Google shouldn't be catering to the minority.

 

[Infinite7154]

I have a 32 gb Verizon Nexus and a 16 gb Verizon SIII with a 16 gb sd card. The SIII is what made me realize I don't need all the storage I thought. I have over 120 apps loaded on the SIII. Samsung doesn't allow apps to sd. I have about 500 songs and a couple of movies. And I still have about half of my available storage ready to use. I delete the movies as I watch them and I take the apps off of my phone when I stop using them. I had a Motorola Razr and the removable battery became a non-issue. I soft bricked it a couple of times and was able to get into RSD mode, I was good to go. My only real concern was the lack of LTE but once I did some research on data speeds on AT&T and T-Mobile's HSPA I figure I'll, at worse, get the speeds I get on my home wi-fi network.
I am ordering my Nexus 4 in a week, I'm selling my SIII and the G Nex as well as discontinuing my Verizon account and I'm going strictly prepaid. Nexus 4 life!

 

[combi06]

Wow! 200mb data plan??!! In this day and age?? I mean absolutely no disrespect to you and to each their own BUT c'mon now man!!! What is the point of having a SMARTPHONE if u dont use it with a data plan? Is like 90% of what smartphones can do totally depends on having an Internet connection. I mean if you have Wi-Fi access WHEREVER u go then I'd understand but I want to be able to use my phone EVERYWHERE I go and IMO ur not really taking advantage of your smartphone if you dont have a data plan that can support everything it can do.

What do u want a smartphone for? Just to play games? lol

 

[donec]

I also use a 10000mAh external battery pack so non-removable battery also doesn't concern me. One week left and I'm so ready for the Nexus 4 to be here.

How do you connect your 10000mAh external battery to your device?

 

[donec]

People have been known to crack WPA-2 secured WiFi networks in less than a minute.

There is no way someone can crack a WPA-2 secured WiFi network in a minute if you use an 8 digit pass phrase that includes upper & lower case letters, numbers and special characters.

 

[ConTejas]

My reasoning for wanting an SD slot is not for additional storage, but rather an external memory that is protected from factory resets. I flash a lot of ROMS and I don't want to have to pull all of my backup off the cloud or have to plug into my computer every time I flash a ROM. If there were a way to partition the internal storage and protect it from being erased, then I would be fine with no external storage. Maybe that exists and I'm just an idiot.

As for on screen buttons, I would be fine with them if the lower bezel was reduced. My S3 is almost identical in size to the GNex, but I have a bigger screen and the same size bezel. Its just that my bezel has buttons and I consequently have much more usable screen real estate.

As far as removable batteries, I have had phones in the past, namely the iPhone, freeze up and become unresponsive to the power button. I had an S3 ROM which made the screen turn off and the only way that I could get it back on was with a battery pull.

I love the idea of Nexus devices, but I don't think Google has developed the platform enough to make up for the shortcomings produced by these decisions.

I shall now retreat to a flame proof bunker... :beer:

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

The Nexi communities are ALL about flashing roms. I've flashes dozens if not hundreds of roms and mods in the year I've had my LTE gnex. Flash them at all kinds of random remot places. Only ever used my laptop/pc for the 15mins it unlock/root it. Only time your internal sd card is wiped is when you unlock/root the first time, or if you relock it for some reason. Wiping data/factory reset doesn't wipe your sd card. Hence, it's highly suggested it's the first thing you do. If not, just move your "valuables" to your computer one time, unlock/root, and move them back. Done. I just keep one good nandroid on the "sd card" just in case and it takes up very little storage.

The beauty of software buttons is that they're software. I can make them nearly any shape, text, color, design, heighth, width, etc. you can think of. I can move then to the top, to the side, or completely remove them for your full screen ALL of the time and only appear when I hit the power button. Or just keep them in default manner and realize nearly every app you would like to take advantage of the full screen real estate already does. They disappear and only reapper when you hit the screen. Want 3 default buttons? Done. Want that search icon, too? Done. Want any other icon there? Done. Long press actions to do something else? Done. The advantages are abundant, my friend. Especially if you like tinkering.

I've never had to remove my battery after the SIM card. I do have 2 spare batteries I've bought for camping etc. Non removable battery doesn't bother me at all. Can just get USB power packs if need be. Same for extra storage if you really need it, but most people don't seem to understand "the cloud" is very usable even on limited data plans. It can just require a bit more managing. Download playlists, movies, etc. from the cloud, or upload pics etc, on WiFi only. Don't have WiFi? There has to be a free hotspot close to you or you live somewhere you need satellite phones (or Europe).

Lastly, you can't exactly compare a true AOSP device to something like a GS3. AOSP devices are optimized for the software. I'm a believer software > hardware. I would say this is why my 4.1.2 LTE gnex with all the leaked 4.2 goodies performs much better and more fluid in real world actions than my gf's stock GS3 and also better than my coworker's JB GS3 in the same manner DESPITE a soild hardware advantage of the GS3. He's also complained of differnet bugs on his rooted GS3. I've had none that I can remember on all the roms/mods (not that I'd flash something with known issues). Just something to note. I'm on a very cheap corportate/grandfathered unlimited data plan with VZW, so I'll be holding out on the Nexus 4, but I love what google has done and is doing with it. FU to the carriers, and very affordable. I'm excited to run the rest of the goodies that come in 4.2. Love what I have so far. Seeing as the N4 will be AOSP AND have beastly specs it's really going to be something to behold. At $350...I may get one just for the heck of it