Rezound vs Galaxy Nexus

[tony bag o donuts]

both are solid devices.

 

[JeffDenver]

1) I'm worried about being able to see the Rezound's LCD display outdoors. I've seen very little confirmation or denial on this issue. Can any of you guys help me out? How well can you use it outside? On a sunny day? As a device? As a camera?

I personally have not had any problems seeing it outside. The screen is pretty bright. The glass is reflective, but it isn't any worse than the Droid 1 I had before.

I have been told that it is significantly brighter than the GN, but I have never used a GN during the day (the only times I have seen it have been inside the store at night). I know that one of the weaknesses of the Pentile display was a lack of brightness compared to the version used in the Galaxy S2.

As for the Verizon reps...I would not trust their knowledge with much. They seem to be hired primarily as sales people. I would call Verizon's 800 number instead.

 

[JeffDenver]

Wont there be ICS roms out for the Rezound before ICS comes out?

Almost certainly.

I really dont want a Sense version of ICS...I would rather root and get the real thing.

 

[humpagardengnome]

...I can definitely see the oversaturation and cartoonish look of the Gnex.

That was the big clincher for me, one of the few aspects I hated about the GN.

1) I'm worried about being able to see the Rezound's LCD display outdoors. I've seen very little confirmation or denial on this issue. Can any of you guys help me out? How well can you use it outside? On a sunny day? As a device? As a camera?

Don't worry about this factor. The backlighting has a very dynamic range from 0->100. Perfect low light and absurdly bright at it's maximum. You have to live on Venus before glare would be an issue on the Rezound when using outdoors. Some have said the camera outside can be difficult when shooting into glaring sunlight but that holds true for most phones, I've owned, anyhow.

2) In-store speed test. 4G speeds were nearly identical. But in CDMA-only, my Nexus showed -85dB, indicated "3G" with 3 bars, and pulled 370kb/s down. The Rezound showed -75dB, but indicated "1XRTT" with 4 bars, and pulled only 120kb/s down. Can anyone offer me an explanation of this difference? What's the difference here between "3G" and "1XRTT"?

There are many factors aside from this one but this one fits your situation best, IMO. What you see in a store is not indicative of overall connectivity w/ devices on their network. Devices are all working to connect on the way it's being routed by the signal they have. Which varies greatly across the spectrums at any given moment so there aren't huge logjams from devices while using the same access points. Which unforunately causes some devices to get the short straw in data speeds. If you went back to the store and download the open signal mapping app, in the market. Run them simulataneously, you will see why they are different. Just because 2 phones are in the same place does not automatically mean they are being funneled to the same cell for connectivity. That app explains different network modes/speeds, as well..

3) I was told by the (seemingly inept) VZW rep that if I exchanged for the Rezound, I'd have no further options if I didn't like it. He said that if I instead returned the Gnex, then waited 30 days before buying the Rezound, my return option would be restored. I'm not sure I believe him. Can anyone confirm or deny this? I'll head over to another VZW store today to see what they say.

I'm not sure, on the 30 day part but I do know that if an updraded phone is returned within the return window. Under most circumstances you will pay the $35 restocking fee. Whatever new phone you choose will be the final subsidized phone on the ensuing 2 year contract. After that, if you switch to a different phone during that span, it will be full retail. If you return the GN, you don't have to go home w/ a new phone. You can reactivate your previous device but you will pay the $35 restocking fee.

 

[bimbert84]

You have to live on Venus before glare would be an issue on the Rezound when using outdoors. Some have said the camera outside can be difficult when shooting into glaring sunlight but that holds true for most phones, I've owned, anyhow.

I'm not worried about shooting into sunlight as much as having the LCD wash out (with the sun behind me) when held in the position normally used for taking pictures.

download the open signal mapping app, in the market. Run them simulataneously, you will see why they are different.

I just found this app this morning, so I'll probably do exactly that. I also found an app called "No Signal Alert" which notifies me when I lose a signal. Since I fired it up, every minute or two I've lost the signal for a duration of 1-2 seconds, after which it reconnects. Granted, I'm in the basement, but I've never noticed any problems down here with my old (dumb) phone. I'll see if this behavior continues as I find my way to the VZW store.

If you return the GN, you don't have to go home w/ a new phone. You can reactivate your previous device but you will pay the $35 restocking fee.

I'm not worried about the $35. I'm worried I'll switch to the Rezound, be unhappy with it for some reason, and be unable to return to my dumb, but reliable, technology.

<rant>I once heard a tale of a computer guy that said "if cars had progressed technologically as fast as computers, we'd all have vehicles that cost only $1000 and got 500mpg. To which the car guy replied, "yes, but every half hour the engine would cut out, and we'd have to pull over to the side of the road, roll down the windows, and flash the lights before we could restart the car. And for some reason, we'd all find this acceptable." I digress....</rant>

Thanks for the response.

 

[tony bag o donuts]

I'm not worried about shooting into sunlight as much as having the LCD wash out (with the sun behind me) when held in the position normally used for taking pictures.

This would occur even using a 4000.00 camera. So no issue there.

<rant>I once heard a tale of a computer guy that said "if cars had progressed technologically as fast as computers, we'd all have vehicles that cost only $1000 and got 500mpg. To which the car guy replied, "yes, but every half hour the engine would cut out, and we'd have to pull over to the side of the road, roll down the windows, and flash the lights before we could restart the car. And for some reason, we'd all find this acceptable." I digress....</rant>
Thanks for the response.

Wasn't this car released this year? It was called the chevy volt but cost 40,000 lol.

 

[bimbert84]

I just got back from the VZW store where I ran Open Signal tests with LTE+CDMA as well as CDMA only. With my Nexus, I saw signal strengths from -75 to -85 dBm. With the Rezound, from -59 to -73.

In other words, the Rezound consistently bested the Nexus by 10 to 20 dBm. That's a significant difference (note that the dB scale is logarithmic, so a difference of 10dB means 10 times the signal; a difference of 20dB means 100 times the signal).

Now if I had -75 to -85 dBm all the time with my Nexus, I wouldn't fuss. But I don't. Normally, I see -90 to -110, sometimes worse. And often both 4G and 3G disappear altogether. I'm seeing enough evidence here to warrant an exchange for the Rezound, but the second VZW store confirmed there's only one exchange allowed per customer. I'm going to head to Costco tonight to see if their return policy is any more liberal. I just don't want to risk getting stuck with a device that doesn't do what it's supposed to.

 

[VidJunky]

I'm seeing enough evidence here to warrant an exchange for the Rezound... I just don't want to risk getting stuck with a device that doesn't do what it's supposed to.

Isn't that what happened when you bought a GN? Haven't you been reading posts in this thread? I think you'd be much happier with the Zound. 9.5 out of 10 former GN owners are.

 

[bimbert84]

Isn't that what happened when you bought a GN?

Not exactly, since I knew I had the option for a return/exchange. If I exercise that exchange, though, I'll be stuck with whatever I choose, whether I like it or not.

 

[humpagardengnome]

I just got back from the VZW store where I ran Open Signal tests with LTE+CDMA as well as CDMA only. With my Nexus, I saw signal strengths from -75 to -85 dBm. With the Rezound, from -59 to -73.

In other words, the Rezound consistently bested the Nexus by 10 to 20 dBm. That's a significant difference (note that the dB scale is logarithmic, so a difference of 10dB means 10 times the signal; a difference of 20dB means 100 times the signal).

Now if I had -75 to -85 dBm all the time with my Nexus, I wouldn't fuss. But I don't. Normally, I see -90 to -110, sometimes worse. And often both 4G and 3G disappear altogether. I'm seeing enough evidence here to warrant an exchange for the Rezound, but the second VZW store confirmed there's only one exchange allowed per customer. I'm going to head to Costco tonight to see if their return policy is any more liberal. I just don't want to risk getting stuck with a device that doesn't do what it's supposed to.

To get the best results, rather than just test the signal, you really should install the OSM app., start them and let them run the time elapsed graph, wander around for 10-15 mins. Then return, that wayto get a more accurate set of results. That's just, IMO, of course.

 

[Egnix]

2) In-store speed test. 4G speeds were nearly identical. But in CDMA-only, my Nexus showed -85dB, indicated "3G" with 3 bars, and pulled 370kb/s down. The Rezound showed -75dB, but indicated "1XRTT" with 4 bars, and pulled only 120kb/s down. Can anyone offer me an explanation of this difference? What's the difference here between "3G" and "1XRTT"?
.

I'm pretty sure 1XRTT is "2G". I just can't remember what they called 1G.
I'm thinking you just got unlucky. I've never seen 1XRTT on my Rezound, but I have seen it on 3G when it could have been on 4G (Just needed to go in and out of Airplane Mode to fix).

Sent from my HTC Rezound.

 

[humpagardengnome]

I'm pretty sure 1XRTT is "2G". I just can't remember what they called 1G.
I'm thinking you just got unlucky. I've never seen 1XRTT on my Rezound, but I have seen it on 3G when it could have been on 4G (Just needed to go in and out of Airplane Mode to fix).

Sent from my HTC Rezound.

EDGE=2G, 1xRTT is actually 2.5G 3G varies up to 3.75G. You never saw 1xRTT at any point during the past 3g/4g outages. Lucky duck.

 

[mstraw9379]

I made my choice today and went with the Rezound. I love the phone, I still hate the stupid name. Oh well, all day playing with it ad getting things set up on it.

Great phone so far.

 

[tony bag o donuts]

Good choice.

Can't go wrong really with any of the three out there.
Took me a while to decide I wanted the Nexus, but would be happy with the rezound.

 

[bimbert84]

the second VZW store confirmed there's only one exchange allowed per customer.

As for the Verizon reps...I would not trust their knowledge with much. They seem to be hired primarily as sales people. I would call Verizon's 800 number instead.

Calling Verizon's 800 number turned out to be excellent advice. The woman on the line was very helpful and indicated that even if I exchange for a new device, I'll get a new 14-day return/exchange window. She further stated they'll keep allowing exchanges (each new device gets a new 14-day window) until I settle on a device that makes me happy. She also notated this verbage on my account.

So today I'm off to exchange my Nexus for a Rezound. I'll post my impressions afterward. Thanks to everyone for all the help so far.

 

[Lodingi]

Calling Verizon's 800 number turned out to be excellent advice. The woman on the line was very helpful and indicated that even if I exchange for a new device, I'll get a new 14-day return/exchange window. She further stated they'll keep allowing exchanges (each new device gets a new 14-day window) until I settle on a device that makes me happy. She also notated this verbage on my account.

So today I'm off to exchange my Nexus for a Rezound. I'll post my impressions afterward. Thanks to everyone for all the help so far.

I would check again. I don't believe that's accurate information. I was always told you get one exchange and that's it.

 

[bimbert84]

I would check again. I don't believe that's accurate information. I was always told you get one exchange and that's it.

I'm not sure what good it would do since it's really just he-said/she-said at this point. FWIW, the woman at customer service expressed dismay over the way store reps often misquote the return/exchange policy. What's important is my account has a written notation indicating I was told I can exchange devices until I'm happy. I suspect I won't need to exercise that, but if I do, it's good to know it's there.

 

[Jaycemiskel]

I would check again. I don't believe that's accurate information. I was always told you get one exchange and that's it.

It's not accurate. You only get one exchange. Hopefully he doesn't need it because there have been plenty of times that a rep told me they were going to notate something but didn't.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[humpagardengnome]

It's not accurate. You only get one exchange. Hopefully he doesn't need it because there have been plenty of times that a rep told me they were going to notate something but didn't.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

+1
On both counts, he'd be better off using the Verizon chat support, and having the transcript emailed post chat. That is if by some miracle, he gets 2 clueless reps. in a row. That's about the only option that might hold water.

 

[Lodingi]

It's not accurate. You only get one exchange. Hopefully he doesn't need it because there have been plenty of times that a rep told me they were going to notate something but didn't.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Totally agree. Hopefully he has detailed contact information from the rep mentioned. Who's to say this rep isn't misinformed or possibly a new hire. Notation or not, I doubt he will be allowed to keep trying new devices until satisfied. Best of luck though.