Just want to hear your thoughts plus I can't find any reviews post jellybean 4.2 for the galaxy nexus so I can see what's been improved with the phone overall
I can't give a solid comment on behalf of the Verizon GNex users but I have read plenty of threads still stating there is ongoing issues with radio/battery life on 4.2 for the Verizon GNex. I don't believe it really has anything to do with the software, its hardware related issues that have plagued the GNex since it was released.
I have the Sprint GNex and while 4.2 runs nice it still has a sub par radio and battery life isn't very good even running custom ROM's and kernels to try and improve my battery life.
I found a brand new 32 gig Galaxy Nexus on eBay for $200. I was excited. It's a nice phone, great screen. But the battery life sucks balls. I'd say it's about 1/3 that of my iPhone 5.
I bought my Verizon GN the day it came out and still have the same phone. I guess I'm lucky because I have not had to many issues with my phone. I will say the LTE radio seems to be weaker then my wife's iPhone but I have done no real test. The one thing that is bad is the battery, with heavy use I can kill it in 2 hours easy, trying to save the battery with very little use it may last a little over 6 hours. Just because of that if I was buying on of those two phones today I would get the SIII.
Really depends on whether being "stock" and Nexus is important to you. If you really like being on the bleeding edge (and we still are and will be for a while) and you like to try custom ROMs GNex is still a great choice. What's improved is what's improved in 4.2 so any review of the new AOSP version will let you know what's up. iirc there is a ton of comparison vidoes. For a more up to date look I recommend the Pocketnow After the Buzz reviews on both phones.
SIII will have have better graphics performance and a better camera. SIII is still a VERY nice phone and there is ROM support and it can be taken to near stock via CM or the like if that's your bag.
As far as battery - sure it's not that good, but I say spent $11 and get a couple spare batteries and an external charger and just carry around a spare and then don't worry about battery life any more.
It really depends what is important to you. I love stock android, and coming from a galaxy nexus and nexus 7, touchwiz isn't terrible, just not quite as fluent, and is more bloated down. The one thing I really disliked about the nexus was the battery life, it was really bad. Also, the processor is getting outdated fast, and if you plan to play anything other than angry birds, you should get the s3
I have both the s3 and the galaxy nexus. I stick to the s3.
The Nexus seems a little slow, with only a 1.2ghz dual cortex a9.
And the 8mp S3 camera makes nicer pics than the 5mp Nexus camera.
If you like vanilla android, there's always the option to use the S3, root, and install a custom ROM on it for the Vanilla experience.