Galaxy Nexus or Galaxy S3

[radar320]

I have had nothing but trouble with my nexus. I have had it for 3 days and have not been able to maintain a signal with it. Replaced sim card and everything. Can't make a phone call let alone try to send a text or anything of that nature. It is going back as soon as the SIII hits the store.

 

[davey11]

S3 smesh3 who needs a s3 when we got the best phone. No stinkin touchwiz.
EVERY other phone owner is whining about Ice cream sandwich....we be on the jelly bean train. Nuff said.

 

[EJT]

I have had nothing but trouble with my nexus. I have had it for 3 days and have not been able to maintain a signal with it. Replaced sim card and everything. Can't make a phone call let alone try to send a text or anything of that nature. It is going back as soon as the SIII hits the store.

Your phone is defective. It's a known issue. If you want to stay with the nexus, have it swapped out. Since you're inside the 14 day window, you can certainly swap to another phone as well.

 

[eharty]

My Nexus running Jelly Bean is awesome! My only complaint with the GNex is that the signal strength is a bit weak. I have exchanged mine a few times and now have one that does not drop data or calls but the signal is still weak...usually -105dBm or worse so the battery takes a hit. Since I am still within my 30 day return period from Best Buy I am going to open a new line and try a S3 and keep whichever one works best.

 

[swissguy591]

So I ordered a g nex from amazon for $50 with an upgrade. Thanks for all the input, it's helped a lot. I'll let you know if I'll stick with it.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Android Central Forums

 

[FishPharm]

If you like nice pictures get the GIII, the only way to really get nice shots with the nexus is if you restrict your picture taking to outside on a bright day. Also, if your Nexus is from Verizon I highly doubt they will release JB anytime soon. I hope I'm wrong on that, it took mine 6-7 months to get an OTA update...which is ridiculous. Of course, I could have rooted my device but why should I have to do that....its a Nexus. I'm holding on to my upgrade until I see what the next Nexus device is. Don't get me wrong, I like my Nexus but I think with so much hype and launch delays it really killed it for me once I finally got it.

 

[Murph5150]

GNex 4 sure. Rooted and lovin it.

 

[craigrn16]

I love my Gnex but I'm gonna keep it real with you. Buy a GS3 because of the better hardware and I'm pretty sure stock JB will be ported to it soon.

 

[bigdaddytee]

I love my Gnex but I'm gonna keep it real with you. Buy a GS3 because of the better hardware and I'm pretty sure stock JB will be ported to it soon.

This is the conclusion I've come to as well, as long as I can unlock and flash, the only consideration is finding the hardware that makes me happy. Good call!

Sent from my (pretty awesome) SCH-i515

 

[VAVA Mk2]

Jelly Bean is quite tasty so GNex all the way!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[ultravisitor]

If you buy your GSIII from Verizon, I wouldn't expect JB anytime sooner

Indeed. It will take even longer to get the GSIII's version of JB because of TouchWiz than it will take for the Nexus version to come out. If the radios don't need changing for JB for the Verizon Nexus, then I don't think it'll take long at all.

 

[swissguy591]

http://www.androidcentral.com/

This just showed me that I made the right decision with getting the verizon galaxy nexus.

 

[FishPharm]

If you buy your GSIII from Verizon, I wouldn't expect JB anytime sooner

Very true but if you have to root the Nexus to get JB or timely updates then why not do the same thing with the S3 ... its just my thought though...I hope I'm wrong. I love the Nexus its just I can't get over how bad the camera is....a good phone camera is important to me because I always have my phone with me. I've also noticed that with my recent (and only) update that it takes forever for the GPS to connect with a satellite....other than those two things I love it.

 

[eharty]

Very true but if you have to root the Nexus to get JB or timely updates then why not do the same thing with the S3 ... its just my thought though...I hope I'm wrong. I love the Nexus its just I can't get over how bad the camera is....a good phone camera is important to me because I always have my phone with me. I've also noticed that with my recent (and only) update that it takes forever for the GPS to connect with a satellite....other than those two things I love it.

I think many were planning to root the S3 and install some nice JB ROMs/kernels but then Verizon locked the S3 bootloader. While progress has been made with a work around it still remains to be seen if we will be able to flash different kernels. There are some great devs working on this so I am hopeful they will find a solution.

 

[menschmaschine5]

The better hardware isn't that big a deal. The negligible difference in processor speed won't matter much in the long run. It really depends on what's important to you. Reportedly, the SIII has pretty good battery life, so that may be a factor. However, if software is important, GNex all the way. First of all, we'll see an official Jelly Bean update LOOOONG before the GSIII will (pretty much whenever Verizon approves it, whereas Samsung actually has to overlay TouchWiz, which takes a while).

Also, the dev community is and always will be more robust, since it's a Nexus device, and the Verizon GSIII has a locked bootloader, meaning it will be more difficult for devs to develop for it, whereas rooting and unlocking the Nexus is a piece of cake.

Although people whine about the Gnex's camera, it's actually not half bad. I generally get decent photos out of it, and quite frankly, as I've always said, if you need high quality photos for something, get an SLR, don't depend on your cell phone camera. Also, some people were saddled with defective phones, but if you get one of those, just trade it in for another and keep in mind that not all of them are defective.

 

[asmallchild]

Just got my S3

I miss the Nexus

The battery life is definitely much better but I feel Jellybean is smoother than ICS, the stock experience is highly underrated (it is so much cleaner than Touchwiz), and I do miss the onscreen buttons

I plan on keeping both devices but will likely revert to the Nexus as my daily driver

 

[Mooem]

They both have their advantages. I bought the GSIII as a gift for my partner, so I was able to handle it and use it some (although not long enough to warrant a thorough review).

My initial impressions:

It is a very nice device. Pictures are good. It's thin and light. The display is decidedly improved a bit over the Galaxy Nexus. It's fast and the software features on it is enough that I can say your average person wouldn't really need to tinker with it much out of the box.
Now as far as the bad...there were some decisions taken with the Verizon GSIII that absolutely irk me. 1) There is no apparent way to completely disable WiFi notifications (that tells you when you're in a wifi enabled area). So you'll get these nagging popup notifications even if your WiFi is "off". 2) Bootloader is locked. This is the only carrier GSIII that has a locked bootloader which is absolutely absurd. So if your aim was to flash custom ROMs and get the latest and greatest...well, you more than likely will be in it for a wait. 3) It's a bit too slick to hold. The blue GSIII, while a beautiful device, is a bit slippery in the hands, and I found it annoying trying to hit the physical home button. Also I found myself accidentally hitting the capacitive buttons frequently, but that's probably because I'm so used to my Nexus on-screen buttons.

So after having held it and used the GSIII (and after AOSP dropped yesterday for JB), I decided that I'm not really missing much in the GSIII. The camera is in all honestly pretty decent for a phone and I've been able to get some nice stills with it even in darker conditions. Jelly Bean has breathed new life into it and it feels like a refreshed experience. My only cons with it are the stock display (meaning non tinkered) could definitely be better and battery hasn't been that great.

Essentially what I think it boils down to is what's more important to you? A device that works out of the box that is packed full of features? Or a device you can tinker with and truly make it "your own"?

EDIT:
And just as I said that, they come out this a developer edition of the GSIII.
http://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-offer-hacker-friendly-developer-edition-galaxy-s-iii

Which is great if you're willing to pay full price.

 

[asmallchild]

The fact that there's a developer's edition SGS3 only irritates me further

I have a good mind to sell mine now.

 

[eharty]

Best Buy emailed me to say that I could pick up the S3 tomorrow. I am going to keep the Gnex and try the S3 for a few days and see if the S3 has stronger signal. The weak radio/antenna on the Gnex is the only reason I am thinking about the S3.

Anyone have any other thoughts as the S3 should be available in stores tomorrow?

 

[green27614]

don;t get either phone from Verizon. They are both plagued with problems. and be forewarned..if you upgrade to the SGNSG3 you will LOSE your grandfathered data plan.
I am going on my 4th SGN from verizon now for the same problem on all phones..F' em I will send the thing back once a week until I get one that works. I will keep my unlmimted data plan. When my contract next expires I will go to sprint..I hear they take CARE of their customers.