Advantage of unlocked Nexus from Google?

[dr4stic]

what carrier is your $60 plan with?

I'm on T-Mobile's $60 Monthly 4G plan (the post I quoted mentioned going to T-Mobile). This includes taxes, although if you pay with your credit card they will charge state taxes on top of that for buying "credits" I suppose. You can get around that by buying refill cards on eBay (I usually find $100 cards for $98 or less).

Been happy with the service. Only had to give up conditional call forwarding, but I can live with that for $250 a year

 

[mbj8448]

I'm about to switch to tmobile (from sprint) and if I go through Costco I can get the galaxy s 3 for about the same price as the nexus. As much as I want the stock google experience it seems like a bad idea to pass up on brand new hardware when the price is virtually a wash?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I just did this about 2 weeks ago. Left Sprint after 9 years for TMo. The data speeds are MUCH better and the plan itself is cheaper but the main reason I did it is in anticipation for the next Nexus (Nexii?). I'm ready to go stock Android but I just couldn't do it with the mediocre camera on the Gnex. I bought the GS3 from TMo and I will sell it and buy a Nexus later this year. That way I can just switch the SIM card right over. Loving the GS3 but I'm excited to go Nexus later this year.

 

[dadds27]

I use straight Talk with at&t and service has been great. Also 45 a month is nice

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[Acelx]

So are you saying that once the global abilities of the Rezound is unlocked, it will not function on say, att 4g LTE? Just 3g or hspa+ or what?



Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

Any phone on any carrier today will not work on a different carrier other than its own. You can take a T-mo phone and use it on ATT but u wont get 4G.. and vice versa..

a VZW LTE phone will not work on Sprint LTE network..

Same goes for ATT and vice versa..

The only way you that would be possible is on a Pentaband phone.. a phone with all network bands.. or just a many of the popular ones like the galaxy nexus has..

we have phones with GSM and CDMA radios in them (Blackberries for exp) But the GSM bands mostly only use EDGE..

i would love to see someone make a universal phone other than the galaxy nexus

 

[dr4stic]

Any phone on any carrier today will not work on a different carrier other than its own. You can take a T-mo phone and use it on ATT but u wont get 4G.. and vice versa

i would love to see someone make a universal phone other than the galaxy nexus

The blaze 4g is quadband hspa, supporting hspa on both t-mobile and at&t... AND it has a faster radio than the gnex.

 

[hodan]

Most people with skinned phones, well particularly Samsung w/ touchwiz, barely notice the difference version to version of Android. And frankly most don't care.

But if your the type to watch the whole 2 hour Google IO intro speech and go "oooooooo and ahhhhhh" then at some point your going to want to experience stock android.

Couple of things:

1. Skinned phones suck compared to vanilla android. To say otherwise means you haven't used both.

2. Did you really use more than 1 BB on purpose?

 

[mrboba]

I'm about to switch to tmobile (from sprint) and if I go through Costco I can get the galaxy s 3 for about the same price as the nexus. As much as I want the stock google experience it seems like a bad idea to pass up on brand new hardware when the price is virtually a wash?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Don't forget about these Value plans: Unsupported Browser

For 64.99/month (pre-tax) you can get 500 anytime minutes, unlimited text, and 5GB of High Speed internet.

If you only need 2GB of internet then it's 49.99, great fricken deal~ however with taxes it nears 60 dollars in which case it would be a better option to get the 60/month plan monthly prepaid instead of the post-paid Value plan.

The thing is that you're in a 2 year contract with these value plans, and in order to qualify you have to bring your own phone (which would be the Nexus). But really, with such a great price and other carriers charging more and more for less and less service, you wouldn't really be disappointed in choosing a value plan if your coverage is good. But like I said, Value plans are only worth beginning with the 500talk+text w/ 5GB deal. Anything beneath that the monthly 4G is worth not being on contract just in case.

The savings REALLY add up if you are buying multiple lines and want a family plan. I pay only 120 dollars a month for 4 lines:

Shared between everyone: 1000 Whenever minutes, unlimited text for everyone. Unlimited nights and weekends
Line 1 (me): 5GB data
Line 2 (sister): 5GB data
Line 3 (sister): 2GB data
Line 4 (mom): no data

I may be in a contract, but considering that I bought 3 galaxy nexus for the three data users at 300 flat each, and my mom uses whatever old flip phones with big buttons I can find, this is a SCREAMING deal. For family plans, there is also an unlimited whenever minute option available.

 

[jian9007]

Stock android and frequent updates are the benefits. Now let's be honest here. There are a few things that are considered downsides for some people. Like no removable storage (16GB on board on GSM version and not all is available for storage), sub-par camera (compared to other top of the line phones), on-screen buttons taking up a bit of the screen (yes, even when you're playing games), smaller battery, older tech in the phone, no mass storage mode, and no FM radio (though most people probably don't care about that).

 

[EnMod]

No mass storage? Then how does one transfer files onto the internal card from a computer? Through recovery only?

 

[Lanhoj]

Drag & drop.
Simple as that.


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[salpiche]

I use straight Talk with at&t and service has been great. Also 45 a month is nice

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

any comments on data speeds? I am taking ST as a consideration for the very near future.

 

[eagle63]

Don't forget, the Gnex would be on prepaid. I'm on the $60 w/ taxes prepaid plan, the equivalent contract plan (unlimited everything, 2GB high speed) is $80 + taxes. That $20+ difference becomes more than $500 ($480 + your cell taxes) after your 2 years is up.

Costco shows me the T-Mobile S3 at $200 on contract, that places you at $700 all in, or twice as much as the GNex. And with the GNex you can end your service whenever you like, or switch to a cheaper plan, etc. Not so much so with the S3 on contract, you'll have to pay ETF's.

If this were the S3 w/ the quad core and 2GB RAM, then it might be worth it, but it isn't. A wash? I don't think so.

I should have clarified my Costco statement. I'm switching to the $50/month "Value plan" which is a no-subsidy plan. (you buy the phone, but enjoy generally cheaper monthly rates) Generally speaking, this would lend itself extremely well to the Gnexus since I could buy that outright for $350 and have a solid device without spending $600+ as most new smartphones go for.

NOW, here's where the debate emerges: If you do the switch through Costco, the GS3 is available to people on the value plan for $370. If you didn't have a value plan and got that phone via subsidy on any carrier, you'd end up probably spending $600 - $650. So $370 is a bit more than the Gnexus, but not much - and you're getting a brand new phone with substantially higher specs.

Yes, I could just buy the Gnexus and then use that for the next 6 - 12 months and see what the next Nexus phone looks like, but then I've squandered my Costco "deal". In other words, Costco only gives you the big discount on phones once. I can't come back to them in a year and decide I'm going to buy the next great thing and expect to take advantage of their pricing. So it's either use it or lose it.

My hunch is the GS3 probably has the best odds of getting CM9/CM10 running on it before most other carrier-sold/locked phones. Though obviously there's still some hassle involved there.

I realize I'm going to get a biased answer in this forum but that's ok, I don't think there a wrong decision for me to make but I just am nervous about paying roughly the same for the Nexus as I would for the brand new SG3 given the wide spec variance between the 2. Were it not for the Costco deal, my choice would be the Gnexus for sure.

 

[trbayth]

I got my GNex at IO a few weeks ago. I went with T-Mo's $30 plan. 5GB data, unlimited texts, 100 min of talk (I don't talk on the phone much.)

Unlocked, rooted with JB 4.1.1 so no matter what Apple forces Google to remove there's a pretty good chance it won't affect me. I doubt I'll ever buy a subsidized phone again.

 

[crankyd00d]

I LOVE my Nexus, best money I ever spent on Android, and I've had a lot of them, but with the community support the GS3 gets I would buy that instead and flash an AOSP ROM ASAP. Best hardware and best software

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[mech1164]

I was on with Sprint and had an upgrade last month and got the Evo4GLTE from my previous Evo. Personally I loved alot of the phone. The Bugs and lack of update and LTE not until Q1 2013 had me sending it packing. Now I'm saving over 60.00 a month on the Tmo/Walmart 30.00 plan. Yes the minutes are a concern. Even if I used the minutes I had with my Sprint allotment I was still 30.00 cheaper than Sprint.

I have the Gnex and yes the camera isn't as great as it could be. That being said the rest of the phone makes up for it. Jelly Bean makes this phone a top contender with the best of them. Esp that puny 4S out there.

 

[pete1118]

I'm about to switch to tmobile (from sprint) and if I go through Costco I can get the galaxy s 3 for about the same price as the nexus. As much as I want the stock google experience it seems like a bad idea to pass up on brand new hardware when the price is virtually a wash?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Posted before I saw your clarification..

 

[dadds27]

any comments on data speeds? I am taking ST as a consideration for the very near future.

I live in south Jersey and work all over the region for work and never dropped hspa+. Coming from Verizon lte, I have been very happy with the speeds. I average between 4 and 7 every where and occasionally it will be faster. Overall I'm very happy to be contract free

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[Sammy2010]

What everyone said is only postive-no bs, straights google experience. I bought mine today w/ a 2 yr contract w/ tmo

 

[chiporlee]

you might be forgetting that with the nexus unlocked you can have unlimited hspa+ with straighttalk for $45/month! NO ANNUAL CONTRACT!! for me there's no contest. The best deal in android is $350 nexus from google+ straighttalk

 

[zrxoa1]

you might be forgetting that with the nexus unlocked you can have unlimited hspa+ with straighttalk for $45/month! NO ANNUAL CONTRACT!! for me there's no contest. The best deal in android is $350 nexus from google+ straighttalk

Well, from what I have been reading, Straight Talk does not give you truly unlimited data, but will close your account if you go over 200mb in a day or 2gb in a month. People have been reporting that Straight Talk will simply dump you.

Someone posted a snippet from straight talk that said no streaming of media was allowed...



Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2