Questions for those that went from a GNex to the S3

[xxtdxx]

I'm about to the point that I think my nexus is ready to retire (or be the nexus of somebody else) and have been considering the S3. I have a couple questions I'm hoping somebody can answer for me. First off, how has the battery life been on the S3 compared to the GNex? That has probably been my #1 complaint. Sucks to take it off the charger and in 5 minutes put it back on to see that it's dropped 4% already. Question #2 is signal reception. I live in a great signal area. When I'm at the office (still in the great signal area) I have to switch the network to CDMA only to keep it on 3G, otherwise it will keep trying to switch between 1 bar of LTE and 2 or 3 of 3G and it just won't work. Question #3 is if anybody has rooted their phone and added jellybean to their S3? That's the 1 thing I will miss about the nexus and I've been holding out as long as I can for a native JB phone. If you have any other comments regarding your experiences with both phones (pros, cons, etc) please include those. Thanks.

 

[jlibis]

I'm about to the point that I think my nexus is ready to retire (or be the nexus of somebody else) and have been considering the S3. I have a couple questions I'm hoping somebody can answer for me. First off, how has the battery life been on the S3 compared to the GNex? That has probably been my #1 complaint. Sucks to take it off the charger and in 5 minutes put it back on to see that it's dropped 4% already. Question #2 is signal reception. I live in a great signal area. When I'm at the office (still in the great signal area) I have to switch the network to CDMA only to keep it on 3G, otherwise it will keep trying to switch between 1 bar of LTE and 2 or 3 of 3G and it just won't work. Question #3 is if anybody has rooted their phone and added jellybean to their S3? That's the 1 thing I will miss about the nexus and I've been holding out as long as I can for a native JB phone. If you have any other comments regarding your experiences with both phones (pros, cons, etc) please include those. Thanks.

Well JB is running really good on my S3 the only bug I've found is that my alarm volume won't work. Otherwise it is really smooth. Stock CM10 JB on the s3 has poor battery life(10-12 hours moderate use), but yesterday I flashed the lean kernel and I'm well over 18 hours with it 3 being on screen. Also stock s3 is very fast its not a huge jump in speed to JB but you still can tell, plus Google now is awesome!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

 

[Cyber Warrior]

Never had signal issues on either phone so I can't comment on that. Battery has been better on the GS3 for me.. surprisingly better. I haven't tried JB ROMs on this phone yet just because I love how the phone is straight out of the box. This is actually the first Android phone to where I've been completely happy using a stock ROM. The only thing I possibly miss from the GNex are the on-screen buttons but overall I'm more happy with the GS3 over the GNex.

 

[eric3316]

Battery life sucked on the GNEX and that was with the 2100mAh battery. The S3 blows it away. I can go 16 hours with 3-4 hours on screen time and still have battery by the end of the day. It is in a league of it's own and makes the GNEX look really really bad.

There are still kinks in JB. I thought I was going to miss it to but I was more concerned about my device being as stable as can be. The S3 delivers a great experience even stock on ICS that makes you forget about the GNEX and JB. Then if you root, you can install a full working version of Google Now on an ICS Rom which to me was one of the best features of JB. Only thing it is really missing now is the new notifications but I can wait for a more stable JB leak for that.

I do want to say that a lot of people do run JB Roms and are quite pleased with it.

 

[smitty24]

Battery life sucked on the GNEX and that was with the 2100mAh battery. The S3 blows it away. I can go 16 hours with 3-4 hours on screen time and still have battery by the end of the day. It is in a league of it's own and makes the GNEX look really really bad.

THIS. Im still funning factory ICS, but dang, this 2100mah battery is way more impressive than the GNEX. Along with it being lighter too.

 

[PsYcHoNeWb]

I had the Galaxy Nexus and I still consider it one of the best phones that I owned. I still have it here as a backup device for my GS3. Both devices are great in their own way and both have their flaws. Anyway... time to answer your questions.

The battery life on the Nexus was its weak spot, I will whole heartedly agree with that. With the 1850 or 2100 battery the battery life never came close to the GS3. I love the battery life on the GS3 compared to the GNex but its all relative. Yes it drained from 100-90 insanely quick but once it got to 89 it drained much slower and seemed to even out. With phones, I am perfectly happy if I can unplug my phone from the charger in the morning and have enough to make it through a full day and plug it in at night when I go to sleep and both phones have allowed me to do that. GS3 gave me extra juice at night but the Nexus was on life support by then lol.

I have never had an issue with signal on either phone. I will say though for sure that the GS3 handles the 4G 3G handoffs much better and quicker. I have tried the new Jelly Bean radios on the Nexus and they have improved the signal issues but I still think the GS3 is better in the signal reception area. This will all come down to where you are during the day obviously but if you are in good signal areas the majority of the time then you wont have any issues at all. If you don't get 4G in an area and you are going to in that area for a while (like you mentioned work) I would turn off 4G for that period of time and you will be fine.

I have flashed Jelly Bean on my GS3, running AOKP B3 and loving life. I love this phone with Jelly Bean on here but I agree with Cyber Warrior on that I could stay with the stock OS ROM on here and be completely happy. This stock TouchWiz ROM is great, but I just love JellyBean and while it is still buggy on the device there are many quick fixes that improve the performance. Battery life has been slightly effected but I am still getting more than a full days use out of the phone.

Either way, you have a good phone in your hand. Personally I would take the GS3 at this point but the GNex isn't that far behind especially with Jelly Bean now.

 

[BBSeattle]

I can answer 2 of your questions.
GNex Battery and reception and were the worst of any phone that I have ever owned (and I have owned plenty).
S3 is as good a stock battery as I have ever had. Reception is very good, no issues but my Bionic and X2 had phenomenal reception.
With an S3 your battery and reception concerns will go away.

 

[DriveEuro]

I've actually owned both the GNEX and the currently the S3. Also had a RAZR MAXX in between.
GNEX battery life and reception was horrible. RAZR MAXX was completely opposite.
Now that I'm on an S3... I'm mixed on it.
Signal (for me at least) seems to be about the same as it was on my GNEX. Random drops of data all together. 4G showing low signal strength, then switching to 3G. Constantly bouncing back and forth. This is happening in areas that my RAZR MAXX would be solid 4G all day long.
Battery life... well, remarkably better than the GNEX. I'm not getting the 3-4 hours of screen time that others are... 2-3h maybe. Not sure why yet. I'm on CM10 though. Where my RAZR MAXX would get me 4-6 hours consistently. Granted, its a bigger battery.

So in short... I honestly don't think there has been any increase in signal strength/integrity. Battery life has definitely been increased. But, if you're a heavy user (3-4h screen on time), this phone still won't get you through a full day. It doesn't for me. 5am - 10pm... never makes it.

 

[ItnStln]

I can answer 2 of your questions.
GNex Battery and reception and were the worst of any phone that I have ever owned (and I have owned plenty).
S3 is as good a stock battery as I have ever had. Reception is very good, no issues but my Bionic and X2 had phenomenal reception.
With an S3 your battery and reception concerns will go away.

So you'd say that the Galaxy S 3 gets better reception than the Galaxy Nexus?

 

[BBSeattle]

Without question the S3 reception is better than my Gnex.
I have always had phenomenal reception in my office with every phone I have owned.....except the Gnex (went through 2 of them).
Granted there are some that say their reception with the Gnex is/was good; great for them, didn't do me a damn bit of good for me.
Verizon admits there are issues, Samsung tech admits there are issues.....
Google "Nexus reception issues"; you will be quite busy reading through the complaints.

My favorite quote from many Gnex fans, "reception is marginal and battery sucks but it's a great phone". ????????

So you'd say that the Galaxy S 3 gets better reception than the Galaxy Nexus?

 

[HalizDad]

I agree with everything the Super Mod above here said. Word for word. Get an S3...you won't regret it. My GNex was horrible. I had the same issues you had, and more..

 

[ItnStln]

Without question the S3 reception is better than my Gnex.
I have always had phenomenal reception in my office with every phone I have owned.....except the Gnex (went through 2 of them).
Granted there are some that say their reception with the Gnex is/was good; great for them, didn't do me a damn bit of good for me.
Verizon admits there are issues, Samsung tech admits there are issues.....
Google "Nexus reception issues"; you will be quite busy reading through the complaints.

My favorite quote from many Gnex fans, "reception is marginal and battery sucks but it's a great phone". ????????

Awesome! I'm thinking about getting the Galaxy S 3, and was just curious.