Nexus S or HTC Desire S

[youagain#AC]

Hey everyone. I'm new to the whole Android scene. Currently a Blackberry user so I usually park myself at Crackberry.com.

I've been holding off moving to touchscreen devices because I never managed to get the hang of typing on them and I'm one who doesn't like predictive text. But I suppose you cant improve something unless you give it a go.

Having considered everything I've decided I won't be an Apple fan boy and Android is the way to go. I've narrowed my choice of device to the Nexus or the Desire S. They seem pretty similar spec wise and I'm having a hard time deciding so your input would be useful.

I'm drawn to the Nexus S because quite frankly I prefer a more minimalist style and the stock Android gives me that. The Desire seems to have the better quality product with the alumunium casing. Kinda stuck.

Any advice appreciated.

Newbie out

 

[thedunn805]

Personally I'd go with the Nexus S. You'll get updates first and its vanilla Gingerbread. But if your new to android you might want to go with the Desire S. Sense UI is a much more user friendly Android.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

 

[I Monarch]

90% of people won't be able to tell the difference between FroYo and Gingerbread. I doubt you'll be unhappy with either purchase. The main deciding factors in a comparison such as these should be the screen and UI. Stock vs Sense is a big debate, but most people will like the benefits from HTC's implementations.

The Nexus S' Super AMOLED screen really makes a big difference in color reproduction, and it's definitely my favorite display. Price can also make a big difference, if you can get a subsidy on either one.

 

[youagain#AC]

Price isn't an issue primarily because offline both the Desire S and the Nexus S are retailing at the same price.

Again from what I understood both come with Gingerbread so the OS won't be an issue either. My problem basically boils down to I suppose the fact that I like the Desire S handset but the simplicity of stock android found on the Nexus.

 

[e30ernest]

The plastic case of the Nexus S is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Some people will think plastic seems cheap. However, I can see that the build quality on this device is pretty good. It's very lightweight and it feels good on my pocket. At first I thought I'd hate the plastic, but I've come to like it more than the aluminum uni-body of my previous phone (Nexus One).

I also love how minimalistic the phone's design is. I do not like clutter, and I appreciate how the phone looks like a huge black bar when switched off. I do admit that sometimes I fumble around looking for which is the right side up particularly in dark places.

As for Sense vs stock Android, I've tried Sense equipped handsets (Desire HD) and I do notice that the stock version of Android is faster. However, Sense simplifies a lot of things for normal users. HTC has desktop software (for some of its phones, I'm not sure for the Desire S) which makes it easier for you to sync stuff to your desktop. But I haven't tried that so I can't really comment on its usefulness.

 

[youagain#AC]

Cool. How does the lack of a LED notification light affect things? Plus I've now discovered people moaning about the speed at which it charges. Any thoughts?

 

[e30ernest]

I haven't had problems with charging speeds. I usually charge it at night when I sleep. By the time I wake up, the phone is fully charged.

Note that the Samsung charging system works differently with HTC. It seems that when you reach 100% charge, the phone switches back to battery power. When the battery winds down to 90% or so, the charger re-activates. On an HTC (like my Nexus One) the phone will continue to run on the charger's power supply even with the battery 100%.

Also people seem to be encountering issues where the phone will only seem to charge to 96%. I read a thread somewhere where a Google rep says this is intentional since the Samsung displays actual charge more accurately. That makes sense IMO. One of my other hobbies is flying R/C helicopters. On my chargers I can see voltage peaking out when hitting 100%. Once charging has finished, the voltage will drop down slightly on lithium packs. I guess the Nexus S shows this voltage drop as a drop of charge to 96%.

On the endurance front, I get 17 hours or so with moderate use. That is with some browsing, playing some games, a few minutes of calls per day, several SMS messages and email.

I have to admit I miss LED notifications. On my Nexus S, I only had to glance at the trackball and based on the LED color, I knew which of my emails had a new message or if I received a chat or SMS message. I'm living with it now. I just learned to quickly glance at the status bar.

 

[youagain#AC]

I'm not too concerned about the 96% issue but I've read that phone takes extremely long to charge. I've read a few posts on this forum as well on the issue. I'm not massively dependent on notifications but I suppose if I've missed the sound/vibration having the light there is always useful.

 

[e30ernest]

Some charging tests:

Charging from 67% (1 hour):

USB
+6%

Samsung Power Adaptor
+22%

This lines up slightly less than 5 hours charging time with the device turned on without killing any apps on the phone. This maybe even less since Li-Ion charging isn't linear. It's usually fastest at the middle then tapers off as you get closer to full-charge. Either way, you wouldn't notice this if you charge overnight while you sleep.

If you do need to charge during the middle of the day, you don't need to charge to 100% anyway. Short top-offs should be enough to last you a day. I hope this helps.

 

[youagain#AC]

Thanks for that. Been very useful.

 

[I Monarch]

What kind of battery use are you guys realistically getting on the Nexus S? My LG G2X isn't lasting me more than 11 hours with maybe 40-60 texts and 5 minutes of phones calls.

 

[e30ernest]

According to my battery usage stats the past 3 days, I was getting around 17-19 hours. When I had Google Latitude turned on I could only manage 10-12! :S

 

[youagain#AC]

I cant say I am any better off in terms of making my decision. The biggest sticking points for me is really the plastic case and the the reports that the Nexus takes a long time to charge. Plus the lack of led notifcations is a bit of a bummer.

 

[TadMorose]

I cant say I am any better off in terms of making my decision. The biggest sticking points for me is really the plastic case and the the reports that the Nexus takes a long time to charge. Plus the lack of led notifcations is a bit of a bummer.

Mine doesn't take too long to charge. As for the lack of led, just use NOLED from the Market. Very cool app.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk