Returned GNex, back to DROID

[JeffDenver]

You must never want a new device ever again then because every single phone will always have some sort of issues at the very beginning.

My Rezound has no issues that I can see. Just sayin...

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

My Rezound has no issues that I can see. Just sayin...

Well, neither does my Galaxy Nexus, just sayin...

I would hope the Rezound wouldn't have issues, they've been able to perfect things with the Thunderbolt. You don't think the Rezound will have some bugs here and there when they update it to ICS? Good luck with that. I had the Thunderbolt and since it was their first LTE phone there were issues.

Guess what the Galaxy Nexus is? It's Google's first LTE phone and their first ICS phone. Now it's not Samsung's first LTE phone, however Samsung just got the Charge to become a decent phone after it's last update and guess when that happened? Right before the Galaxy Nexus was released.

 

[ohiomoto]

Ironic that you of all people says this. I've read a few threads by you complaining . Over the most trivial things too.

Why because I'm honest about my experience? Like I said before, there is much that I love about the phone, but it's not perfect. Maybe it's working for you, that's great, but don't get mad when people don't have the same view as you. It's a phone. Don't take it so personally if other people don't feel the same way about it as you. And for the record I've probably posted more honest, positive, humors and helpful replies on this forum than negative so don't try to label me as a whiner.

 

[Ken7]

What are you basing this perception on? Is it based on how many bars are displayed, or did you do some real world testing?

I ask because it's been proven the Nexus, with ICS displays the LTE network. All other 4G phones on Verizon display the 3G network.

I'd be willing to do some testing. I have the Nexus and my wife has a Rezound. Let me know what the best way to test these devices. Thanks.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Yeah, we've been over this signal strength thing a million times in other threads. I think most people know that by now and they, like me, are concentrating on real world reception, not bars or dbm. My experience with the Rezound proved that the Rezound was able to get a usable signal in marginal 4G areas where my Nexus got nothing.

What do I mean by that? I mean that I was able to successfully load web pages on the Rezound in exactly the same areas where the Nexus would say 'no data connectivity'. I was able to stream radio where I couldn't with the Nexus. So I could care less about the 'bars' or the 'dbm', it the actual reaching out to a server and getting a response. In marginal areas the Rezound can and the Nexus can't.

If you want to test, that's what I would do, seek out marginal 4G signal areas and watch the difference. I should add that many people who have had experience with both phones report the same results. Right now the Rezound is king of 4G reception.

Fortunately for me, my instances of no data are not too frequent. I have certain known areas like a few movie theaters and a shopping mall. But if my experience was like others, with frequent drops in areas where other 4G phones had no issues, I'd be swapping out my Nexus too.

Regardless of how fantastic the Nexus is, if you're in an area where you just can't get a usable 4G signal where another phone can, it is not a good phone for you. If you look at the latest poll results, approximately 53% of Nexus owners are having signal issues. That sure as hell isn't a 'small vocal minority'.

Let's all hope it gets fixed.

 

[Ken7]

And you've made only 2 posts since joining September 2010? I am just going to call SHENANIGANS on this post. That's just a nice way other than saying B to the S!

I mean what is the purpose of saying this in a forum?!? "Oh Poo, this phone is so terrible. Wah Wah Wah" Save it.

I remember people coming into the forum when the DX was out telling everyone they were going back to their sacred Blackberry because the DX was an epic failure. The DX was also terrible on battery life, yatta yatta, etc, etc. But things panned out and I was loving mine, flashing ROMs, right up until the GNEX arrived.

Why even bother going back to your old Droid? Evidently, you were unhappy with that one because you snatched up the GNEX so quickly. Son, you need an iPhone because apparently you demand perfection. The fanboy crowd could use another whiner. Hurry along now...

And this is precisely the kind of post that would prevent the Nexus from improving. Could you imagine if nobody with issues complained because of fear of receiving responses like this? The manufacturers would assume everything is AOK and continue along their merry way.

It just never fails to amaze me how 'offended' the fanboys get when anyone has something negative to say, even though it is PRECISELY on target. Once again it's the "I've got no issues, so get lost".

The Nexus is a fantastic phone, but one that is plagued with reception issues as reported by 53% of it's owners reporting here!

 

[Ken7]

My buddy just upgraded from his Droid Incredible to a Galaxy Nexus and we've been talking about how he's hating the volume on his speakerphone. He's telling me how he's missed phone calls and such and I'm like "Dude, I had a Thunderbolt and that sucker had a big a$$ speaker on the back and I would still miss phone calls with that thing in my pocket". He was considering taking it back and getting either the Razr or Rezound and I wasn't going to convince him otherwise. His choice, I can only advise him somewhat, and both phones are pretty solid choices also. I've had nothing but a great time with my GNex. The signal issues can be controversial, but my reception has been rock solid. My calls are clear as day, speakerphone volume is acceptable to me (in quiet areas) and in loud areas, what do you expect? Gotta rock headphones in loud areas. All in all, I know I didn't make a mistake when upgrading from the TBolt to the GNex. I wish every GNex owner was experiencing the same enjoyment, but that's not a reality. However, I'm not going to give people crap if they aren't experiencing the same enjoyment I am. Get what you like and enjoy!

There are a few apps that help with the Nexus speaker volume. The one I tried that seems good is something like "Equalizer"...or something close to that.

 

[Ken7]

Well, neither does my Galaxy Nexus, just sayin...

I would hope the Rezound wouldn't have issues, they've been able to perfect things with the Thunderbolt. You don't think the Rezound will have some bugs here and there when they update it to ICS? Good luck with that. I had the Thunderbolt and since it was their first LTE phone there were issues.

Guess what the Galaxy Nexus is? It's Google's first LTE phone and their first ICS phone. Now it's not Samsung's first LTE phone, however Samsung just got the Charge to become a decent phone after it's last update and guess when that happened? Right before the Galaxy Nexus was released.

Samsung should have learned long ago what to do to put out an LTE phone with good reception in marginal areas. I had the Charge and it was truly abysmal from a reception standpoint. Granted I got rid of it prior to the big update (mine did get a few, but none helped with reception), but my friend still has one and even with the big update his reception is still lousy.

Samsung continues with its history of 'less than stellar radios'.

 

[JeffDenver]

I would hope the Rezound wouldn't have issues, they've been able to perfect things with the Thunderbolt..

Samsung could have done the same thing by staying with the Galaxy S2 and adding a better screen. The Galaxy S2 was already very polished and fast. (and it had an SD slot and hardware nav buttons...just sayin).

You don't think the Rezound will have some bugs here and there when they update it to ICS?

I doubt it, but it wont matter since I plan on being rooted by then. HTC is allowing me to unlock the bootloader without hassles.

I had the Thunderbolt and since it was their first LTE phone there were issues.

I never understood the big deal about the Thunderbolt either, or why people had such a boner for it. Its specs were not that exceptional when it came out.

I thought I would have buyer's remorse by now. When I bought my Droid, I did regret not buying the original Nexus instead. It was better than the droid in most ways and ended up having a longer life. I dont feel that way about the GN though. It has restrictions I never would have been comfortable with.

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

Samsung could have done the same thing by staying with the Galaxy S2 and adding a better screen. The Galaxy S2 was already very polished and fast. (and it had an SD slot and hardware nav buttons...just sayin).

I doubt it, but it wont matter since I plan on being rooted by then. HTC is allowing me to unlock the bootloader without hassles.

I never understood the big deal about the Thunderbolt either, or why people had such a boner for it. Its specs were not that exceptional when it came out.

I thought I would have buyer's remorse by now. When I bought my Droid, I did regret not buying the original Nexus instead. It was better than the droid in most ways and ended up having a longer life. I dont feel that way about the GN though. It has restrictions I never would have been comfortable with.

The 2 bolded statements make absolutely no sense. The whole thing is that Google wanted a phone based off of their requirements. They didn't want hardware buttons or an SD card slot. You seem to be mistaken in belief that this is a Samsung phone. Yes, Samsung made the hardware, but it is a Google phone built to Google's specifications.

What restrictions are you talking about? The camera? I'll concede that, but it's not important to me and since I actually know how to take pictures properly, I get really good pictures from the camera. The lack of an SD card and hardware buttons? Um... okay, I guess whatever floats your boat because those are the only 3 things that the Rezound has over the Galaxy Nexus and to me the other hardware and software outweighs those 3 things for me.

 

[Ken7]

What restrictions are you talking about? The camera? I'll concede that, but it's not important to me and since I actually know how to take pictures properly, I get really good pictures from the camera. The lack of an SD card and hardware buttons? Um... okay, I guess whatever floats your boat because those are the only 3 things that the Rezound has over the Galaxy Nexus and to me the other hardware and software outweighs those 3 things for me.

I find the camera takes very nice pictures in outdoor lighting...actually some can be excellent for a camera phone. But indoor shots are pretty poor. I'll never understand why the majority of phones that are not IPhones can't have cameras that perform as well as an IPhone's camera. I don't know if it's a cost consideration or something else, but throwing in a good camera with decent low light performance isn't rocket science in this day & age.

But I certainly don't pick my phones based on their cameras since any lousy P&S digicam can do better.

I agree the lack of an SD card is no biggie. But you've left out what I consider by far to be the most import differentiator between the two, reception.

 

[Magnious]

Everyone has their opinion, which is fine. I just find it funny..people are jumping ship after the first two weeks the phone has been out. They fail to realize, with their old phone they won't be receiving updates, and they are pretty much stuck until they decide to update. With the Nexus, they will be getting updates, and the phone will continue to improve over the next two years.

Edit: If your switching phones, no need to make a thread about it. It's one thing if your switching to a Droid3, and you goto the Droid3 section and go: "Hey Guys, I am back..and this is why", other than coming to the Galaxy Nexus thread and going "Hey guys, your phone isn't good, and I am switching because your phone sucks." We know there are bugs, and we know they are being worked on. It's been discussed to death. Your thread doesn't help or improve anyone's experience, and is not useful in any way. If we didn't expect bugs, we would have waited 2 months after release to get the phone. This is the first ICS phone period, and it has LTE + dual Core. Like every launch device, it has bugs. The difference with the Nexus, is that Google actually works on these and fixes them..and this device will actually receive updates in a timely manner.

Edit2: And for what it's worth, my phone is virtually bug free. The only issue I have is with Google listen, but that is a problem with the App..not the phone. Google listen hasn't been updated since October 2010, and it makes the phone reset. I've since switched to Pocket Cast, and I am LOVING my device, and haven't had any issues at all.

 

[mrsappleseed]

I will be the first to admit that while I'm hardware savvy on most phones, I have no problems admitting that I'm a pretty clueless on the workings of different networks, dbm, asu and all of that (and reading the article mentioned many pages back "andaget..??" about not being able to find a signal problem didn't exactly clear it up). I like a lot of things about my GN, but like the PP, I do have a list of issues that annoy me, although, I can overlook them. What I cannot overlook, however, is being in the largest city in the Southeast (by population, towers, {insert other metropolitan measurement here}) and can't load a freaking website, or the Market can't make a connection over a few hours in various locations around the city, inside and outside buildings. I'm not an idiot, I know it isn't "bars," but I know a timed out website when I see one.

As much as my OG was going to drive me to an early grave with all of its idosyncracies toward the end of our "relationship," it could at least load a website. I didn't realize dbms couldn't be compared between phones (so I now realize they probably aren't equivalent measurements), but I took a few pics to compare my OG and GN signal in case I needed to show some joker at Verizon. I guess there's no harm in trying to replace with another GN. I mean, if I were to buy say, a PS3 that didn't connect to the internet when other things in my house did, I'd probably try to replace it with a new PS3 than buying a completely different item, like a Wii. (Sorry, that's one of the only relatable things in my line of vision right now.)

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

I find the camera takes very nice pictures in outdoor lighting...actually some can be excellent for a camera phone. But indoor shots are pretty poor. I'll never understand why the majority of phones that are not IPhones can't have cameras that perform as well as an IPhone's camera. I don't know if it's a cost consideration or something else, but throwing in a good camera with decent low light performance isn't rocket science in this day & age.

But I certainly don't pick my phones based on their cameras since any lousy P&S digicam can do better.

I agree the lack of an SD card is no biggie. But you've left out what I consider by far to be the most import differentiator between the two, reception.

The only issue with reception I've had is that I don't stay on 4G when I'm in my house even though I did on my Thunderbolt. However, that's not a huge deal to me as I use WiFi anyway since my internet is 18Mbps and I'm going to upgrade it today to 30Mbps. Phone calls have been really good and when I get 4G signal, I still get good speeds.

 

[JeffDenver]

What restrictions are you talking about? The camera?

No, I was talking about no SD expansion and the fact that you cant get more then 32 gigs of memory.

Its Camera isnt as good as the Rezound quality-wise, but it is still a great camera IMO. I've seen pictures taken with it in the photo thread of the GN forum and they all seem good IMO...comparable to the Rezound and Razr. I have problems with the GN, but the camera isnt one of them.

 

[JeffDenver]

Everyone has their opinion, which is fine. I just find it funny..people are jumping ship after the first two weeks the phone has been out. They fail to realize, with their old phone they won't be receiving updates, and they are pretty much stuck until they decide to update. With the Nexus, they will be getting updates, and the phone will continue to improve over the next two years

There is no update that will ever give the Galaxy Nexus an SD slot, or more memory than 32 gigs (or 16 gigs if you made the mistake of buying the cheaper model), or hardware Nav buttons. Those limitations are written in stone. If those are things you would miss (as a new buyer), then yeah, there is a reason to avoid the GN.

 

[Magnious]

I was refering to the OP's reasons why he switched back to Droid. Again yes, if you want hardware buttons, and an SD Slot...then the G.Nex isn't for you. Just like if you want a car that has good gas mileage and a sunroof, a Grand Cherokee isn't for you. I wouldn't say those are limitations, I would say that those are options that the G.Nex doesn't come with. If you are looking for hardware buttons..etc...then you shouldn't even give the Nexus a though. BTW, Hardware buttons are a preference, the on-screen buttons work just fine..and are not a limitation.

And with the addition to Google Music, I no longer keep any music on my phone..so I don't need to expand the SD slot for more than 32 gigs. If I needed to (again), I wouldn't have gotten or even looked at the Galaxy Nexus.

It's all about educating yourself before you pick out a phone. If you pick a phone out that doesn't have the options that you want, then that's your fault and isn't the Nexus' fault.

 

[JeffDenver]

I was refering to the OP's reasons why he switched back to Droid. Again yes, if you want hardware buttons, and an SD Slot...then the G.Nex isn't for you. Just like if you want a car that has good gas mileage and a sunroof, a Grand Cherokee isn't for you. I wouldn't say those are limitations,

I would say a better analogy would be a car that doesnt come with a spare tire. Does the car run without it? Yeah. But it isnt normal and most people expect it and would consider it a limitation.

I find it odd that some GN people consider a lack of SD to be a "feature". That seems weird to me. I dont get how this makes the device better than if it had SD.

I would say that those are options that the G.Nex doesn't come with. If you are looking for hardware buttons..etc...then you shouldn't even give the Nexus a though. BTW, Hardware buttons are a preference, the on-screen buttons work just fine..and are not a limitation.

That was not my experience. I played with a GN at the Verizon store and found myself annoyed when the buttons occasionally disappeared. They also take up part of the display itself.

And with the addition to Google Music, I no longer keep any music on my phone..so I don't need to expand the SD slot for more than 32 gigs. If I needed to (again), I wouldn't have gotten or even looked at the Galaxy Nexus.

I guess that was one of the reasons I went to Android instead of the iPhone...because I wanted expansion options.

It's all about educating yourself before you pick out a phone.

I totally agree. Thats why I like pissing contest threads on forums like this...because I get the real story (both good and bad). Not the propaganda the commercials or the braindead sales reps at the store tell me. Combine posts from both fanbois and haters and you get a much more accurate picture of what the product is really like.

 

[Magnious]

It seems that we are going to agree to disagree on the word "Limitations". But in no way can I say that you are wrong.

But I still say it's about education. If those are features that you expect in a phone, then get a phone that has those features. If you want Hardware buttons plus an expansion slot...then there is a phone out there called the Motorola Razr. That's the phone for you.

If you want all that, plus ICS..well then your out of luck. Your going to have to wait for the Razr to update (which could be 6 months to a year from now), or wait for another phone to come out that has those features.

If you want a Google Experience, with the latest software (updated regularly), and want to stay on top of the software game, then the Nexus is for you.

In the end, what I am trying to say is educate yourself on what you want before purchasing a phone. If you made the mistake, then don't come to the G.Nexus thread and piss on the G.Nexus users because you made a bad decision.

 

[Premium1]

There is no update that will ever give the Galaxy Nexus an SD slot, or more memory than 32 gigs (or 16 gigs if you made the mistake of buying the cheaper model), or hardware Nav buttons. Those limitations are written in stone. If those are things you would miss (as a new buyer), then yeah, there is a reason to avoid the GN.

Apparently too many do not care about not having an sd card look how well the iphone sells....

 

[JeffDenver]

If you want all that, plus ICS..well then your out of luck. Your going to have to wait for the Razr to update (which could be 6 months to a year from now), or wait for another phone to come out that has those features.

I think a better option would be to hold off on ICS until there is wider developer support for it.

In the end, what I am trying to say is educate yourself on what you want before purchasing a phone. If you made the mistake, then don't come to the G.Nexus thread and piss on the G.Nexus users because you made a bad decision.

Expressing an opinion about the limitations of a phone (real or perceived) is not "pissing" on anyone. Many people on here really need to grow up and separate themselves from their phones.

I think people are fully entitled to express their annoyance with a company over a product they didnt like. I personally would WANT to hear all the negative things about the products I am considering buying. Why would I not want that information? Haters and Fanboys both have their place.