[Jerry Hildenbrand]

I don't even try to hide the fact that I'm a fanboy of the highest caliber when it comes to the Nexus S. Sprint and I parted ways a while back when I finally got some choice in 3G providers in my area, and I thought nothing could replace my lowly Hero -- but the Nexus S does it. Feels good man.

Anyhoo, I've been using one since 10 minutes after my local Best buy doors opened on launch day, so fire away with mundane questions (tech stuff might differ slightly between my GSM version and the Sprint version, but not too much) and I'll do my best to answer them.

And welcome to the best phone currently available on any platform, or any carrier.

[rem_kujawa]

What's the quadrant on a stock Nexus S compared to the EVO?

[circleinsidebox]

how does it feel (weight wise) ?
and does the stock mail app allow for multi-delete of emails (in/out/trash...)

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

What's the quadrant on a stock Nexus S compared to the EVO?

Stock Evo -- ~1300
Stock Nexus S -- ~2200
Hacked to hell and back Evo -- ~3100
Hacked to hell and back Nexus S -- ~4500 with zero score added in for 2D and 3D (my quadrant version is old and doesn't support 2.3.3 on the NS, and I refuse to buy again because I'm stubborn like that)

But to be honest, stock NS is as fast as you'll ever need it to be. I don't read much into benchmark numbers. NS hacked quadrant screenie attached for those that do.

[gabbott]

I'm so tempted to go nexus s 4g to replace my evo instead of an evo 3d. Wish the nexus had an led for notifications. Are there ways to do visual notifications when rooted?

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

how does it feel (weight wise) ?
and does the stock mail app allow for multi-delete of emails (in/out/trash...)

It's light. With a Seidio Active X case it's still light.

Sure does. Screenshot attached, mail app is unedited right from AOSP

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

I'm so tempted to go nexus s 4g to replace my evo instead of an evo 3d. Wish the nexus had an led for notifications. Are there ways to do visual notifications when rooted?

Yep. Support for BLN (backlight notification) has been built into several kernels. https://market.android.com/details?i...=search_result It uses the home, back, search and menu key backlights as notification lights. Works great.

[rem_kujawa]

You rock!!!

[Label facing right]

Will this help me do better with "tha ladies"?
Seriously though, do you know if HID security cards can be loaded into the nfc chip?

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[maverick96]

I don't even try to hide the fact that I'm a fanboy of the highest caliber when it comes to the Nexus S. Sprint and I parted ways a while back when I finally got some choice in 3G providers in my area, and I thought nothing could replace my lowly Hero -- but the Nexus S does it. Feels good man.

Anyhoo, I've been using one since 10 minutes after my local Best buy doors opened on launch day, so fire away with mundane questions (tech stuff might differ slightly between my GSM version and the Sprint version, but not too much) and I'll do my best to answer them.

And welcome to the best phone currently available on any platform, or any carrier.

What would you consider advantages of the Nexus S 4G over the iPhone 4, besides the obvious 4G of the Nexus? Those are the 2 I'm racking my brain over at the moment.

[igotsanevo4g]

How is the Google voice integration?
If im not mistaken it has the new sprint google voice with the cell number as your Gvoice number and all the new do dads correct?

And for anyone thinking of grabbing this over an Evo3D, I cant blame you one bit (especially if its locked up as much as the Desire S). A buddy has a tmo NS that he allowed me to hack/root ( ) and its faster than you'll ever need a phone to be, definately kills my overclocked/rooted up evo.

[blu8503]

It's light. With a Seidio Active X case it's still light.

Sure does. Screenshot attached, mail app is unedited right from AOSP

should I worry about getting a case at all and if so which one?

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

Will this help me do better with "tha ladies"?
Seriously though, do you know if HID security cards can be loaded into the nfc chip?

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

AFAIK the hardware supports card emulation. Based on the few apps I've seen so far, it should READ the data, but I'm not sure if the api is built to correctly store it or transmit it back. I've made myself a note to find out at Google I/O

What would you consider advantages of the Nexus S 4G over the iPhone 4, besides the obvious 4G of the Nexus? Those are the 2 I'm racking my brain over at the moment.

No computer connection needed to do anything
No iTunes
No need to worry if an upgrade will bust your jailbreak
No proprietary connectors
Software is subjective.

I have no hate for Apple products (except for their computer OS) but the above keeps me from using any of them.

How is the Google voice integration?
If im not mistaken it has the new sprint google voice with the cell number as your Gvoice number and all the new do dads correct?

And for anyone thinking of grabbing this over an Evo3D, I cant blame you one bit (especially if its locked up as much as the Desire S). A buddy has a tmo NS that he allowed me to hack/root ( ) and its faster than you'll ever need a phone to be, definately kills my overclocked/rooted up evo.

I helped Josh (new blog writer, say hey next time you see him) test out the new GVoice on his Evo. It worked just like he wanted it to. He wrote it all up on the blog last night -- http://www.androidcentral.com/sprint...nd-yours-truly
It should work exactly the same on the NS4G. On my T-Mo NS, G Voice works great. I use it for both calls and texts.

should I worry about getting a case at all and if so which one?

Going to depend on how droppy you are

It's got a small hump at the bottom on the back, and fits pretty good in your hand. But there's no texture to the back, so it could get slippery. I have to take a bunch of phones to Google i/o so I went ahead and got a case. I ended up with this one http://www.androidcentral.com/nexus-...amsung-nexus-s . I usually have a giveaway after I review a case for the blog, but I liked this one enough to keep it.

[maverick96]

Thank you for those EXTREMELY VALID points. I agree, I'm now using Amazon's cloud drive and the Nexus S 4G will be my next device, if Sprint would just release the damn thing already...

[Thrasherx2k1]

Do you know if I will be able to download Sprint Navigation AKA Telenav from the market somehow for the Nexus S 4G? I am not the biggest fan of Google Nav because of the fact the voice directions sound like they are coming from Ventrilo or something of that nature. I have become quite used to Sprint Nav on my Pre as it always finds location fast and has a clear speaking person who doesn't run on sentences like a 4th grader...

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

Thank you for those EXTREMELY VALID points. I agree, I'm now using Amazon's cloud drive and the Nexus S 4G will be my next device, if Sprint would just release the damn thing already...

You're welcome After the Thunderbolt fiasco, I almost hate to repeat rumors. But a friend in a position to know these sort of things says May 8th.

Do you know if I will be able to download Sprint Navigation AKA Telenav from the market somehow for the Nexus S 4G? I am not the biggest fan of Google Nav because of the fact the voice directions sound like they are coming from Ventrilo or something of that nature. I have become quite used to Sprint Nav on my Pre as it always finds location fast and has a clear speaking person who doesn't run on sentences like a 4th grader...

Sprint has said that the Nexus S will come with no Sprint software or services installed, but Telenav will be available. I imagine it will be on Sprint's website as a download.

[vertigosrs]

Im glad to see someone is such a fan of the NS! Theres nothing wrong with being a fanboy and wanting to know everything possible about your favorite device. I'm still on a blackberry, but have been looking at android devices since December. I was looking at an evo, but have totally fallen in love with the NS4G and have found myself looking to learn everything possible about it, and this thread has answered a lot of questions so thank you for creating it!

[heclaboy82]

what is a good video chat app that works well for the nexus s. I want to be able to chat between my phone and my windows pc at home

[orange-man]

The only point of hesitation for me is the lack of LED. You mentioned that BLN is the solution, however I never felt the need to root so I know absolutely nothing about it and feel intimidated by it. I don't want to turn this into a rooting thread, but if I root in order to get BLN, and the next official Android update gets released, is it pretty easy to keep updating?

[ragnarokx]

The only point of hesitation for me is the lack of LED. You mentioned that BLN is the solution, however I never felt the need to root so I know absolutely nothing about it and feel intimidated by it. I don't want to turn this into a rooting thread, but if I root in order to get BLN, and the next official Android update gets released, is it pretty easy to keep updating?

It's no harder updating your kernel the second time than it is the first time. And I'm sure if a new OS version is released, developers will quickly get an updated kernel with BLN support out.

[vertigosrs]

Ok so I'm coming from a blackberry and will be getting the NS4G for my first android phone. I'm not looking to load any custom roms yet, but plan on rooting the phone to take advantage of the wireless tethering and using titanium backup. I'm gonna install clockwork and superuser, but after that will probably not let CW disappear when I reboot it. With that setup and just SU installed will I be able to still receive updates from Google and actually be able to update the phone like that or would I have to go back to stock to update? I'm sure this has been asked a bunch and I'm sorry if it has, the main answers I've seen have been this question from people running custom roms and I didn't know if this would be any different or not. Thanks for the answers!

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

what is a good video chat app that works well for the nexus s. I want to be able to chat between my phone and my windows pc at home

We're all going to have to wait for Google to update Talk with video for phones. The only other service worth a darn that works between phone and PC is Skype, and they sold out to Verizon

Ok so I'm coming from a blackberry and will be getting the NS4G for my first android phone. I'm not looking to load any custom roms yet, but plan on rooting the phone to take advantage of the wireless tethering and using titanium backup. I'm gonna install clockwork and superuser, but after that will probably not let CW disappear when I reboot it. With that setup and just SU installed will I be able to still receive updates from Google and actually be able to update the phone like that or would I have to go back to stock to update? I'm sure this has been asked a bunch and I'm sorry if it has, the main answers I've seen have been this question from people running custom roms and I didn't know if this would be any different or not. Thanks for the answers!

Maybe. But that means you'll have to update, then go through the process of flashing new images and files again.

The NS4G is a developer unlocked phone, so things are going to be a bit different for many of you. There is no need to look for a root exploit, just use the tools built into Android to flash a recovery with all the options enabled. Then you can flash anything you want to flash to the phone, including the files needed to run root as a normal user. Google encourages this. THAT'S what makes the NS4G special, and IMO a much better choice than the Evo 3D.

How things work now, for the GSM version --
Google releases an update.
Folks like myself roll their phone back to stock and apply it.
We flash a custom recovery back to the phone
We flash files needed to run apps as root
People will then pull the files, package them, and provide an update for users that aren't tech savvy/don't have time to do it the long way, and provide a version of the update that's already rooted.
You flash that version, and you're done.

This will all happen the same day, and there's a very good chance you can be updated this way long before the OTA would have rolled out to you. It's easy, and it's the way the phone was designed to work

[indelible5]

The NS4G sounds sexier by the day

@gbhil, thank you for all your knowledge with the NS device. I was already a fan of this phone prior to reading all your posts in regards to it, now I feel I just needed it yesterday.

[mtbykr]

You're welcome After the Thunderbolt fiasco, I almost hate to repeat rumors. But a friend in a position to know these sort of things says May 8th.

That makes sense, since I believe May 7th is when sprints 'instant rebate' goes away and everything falls back to mail in rebates. They are just driving people to Best Buy doing this.

[craigwann]

Which ROM would you recommend for LED notifications? I'm not yet an android user, so I have obviously never flashed a rom before. Will I loose all of my data when I flash a new rom? Will it void my Sprint warranty?