[KenjiS]

(Decided it warranted a new thread for others who perhaps are considering an unlocked Nexus)

As most people here now know, I went and got myself a Galaxy Nexus HSPA Unlocked to replace my iPhone 4, For others in the same boat (Or the curious) I decided to type up my impressions for all of you....

+++Positives+++

First off, the screen, Holy crap the screen, I dont really see the "newspaper" look that some people talk about, i have it set at about 50% brightness though so thats perhaps why (I HAD it at 75% but when i woke up this morning and went to check messages it practically seared my eyeballs from their sockets), Its gorgeous, its reminds me a lot of a Plasma TV actually, so long as you're in relatively normal light its holy crap fantastic, very contrasty, colors pop off the screen, Also motion is very smooth and fluid on it, I think it looks much better than the Retina display on the iPhone (And im going to get shot for that comment) In BRIGHT daylight sun then yeah, i admit, its kinda hard to see it and read it, but i still managed just fine, and to be honest, most phone displays struggle there.... Not a huge issue to me however as i just shaded the phone with my body to read it

The next thing that impressed me was how fast this thing is, Everything loads and runs VERY fast, its kicks my Eee Pad Transformer to the curb in overall snappiness, which was surprising to be honest, but definitely a good surprise, Also its been rock solid stable, havnt had a single app on the phone crash or stop working (Like happens on the transformer occasionally) Flash performance is smooth and buttery and i honestly cant say I want a quad core processor or anything

The audio quality is quite good, Im not hearing a huge difference between my iPhone 4 and my Nexus using Klipsch Image One headphones, which are pretty good cans for a mobile device, the differences im hearing are more equalization settings than an actual deficiency, Which is fine by me, if i want absolute quality thats why i have a Pioneer Elite SC-27, Polk Audio RTi-8s and Grado SR125s...

I've only made a handful of actual -phone- calls, but so far, call quality is better than the iPhone, people on the other end are nice and clear and understandable, whereas all my iphones were always a little muffled sounding at times and i strained to hear

Data speeds, Im not getting HSPA+ speed on it (Despite having the coverage in my area) probubly due to the fact i had a non-HSPA+ iPhone 4 before, so my SIM card/plan is likely not correct for it, That said, in practice my speeds are still very good, Roughly the same as my old iPhone, and when i tested it out today against my mother's 4S my Nexus actually beat it in the tests repeatedly, Despite her 4S being HSPA+ and the fact I've gotten 7.5mbps on it I was finding that most of the time, its only pulling in about 1.8-3, and my Nexus was usually a good 1mbps faster in just about every test (Using multiple servers) Actually using it, i dont really "feel" like i need to talk to ATT about getting myself setup on a HSPA+ thing either, its VERY quick online, Even loading videos takes a few seconds, So i also question if the Speedtest app is actually reporting correctly (I saw one review with the One X where the speedtest app didnt work at all despite the phone working great it reported 0mbps for some reason..so it can happen)

Signal strength is a hard thing to judge(As the iPhones meter lies), But so far, its working just as good as the iPhones, So cant really knock it, I do live in an area where there really arent any "bad" spots however... That said, i cant kill my Nexus' signal strength by holding onto it without a case, So there is that!

One of the largest surprises for me has been the camera, which most reviews trash and say is garbage, I'm not really finding that to be true, its a cell phone camera but i was honestly stunned by how good it is for a cell phone camera, Sure its not replacing my 7D but out of boredom i decided to experiment a little, Straight from the stock camera app i bring you a selection of 4 photos i shot with it


Galaxy Nexus 1 by Kenjis9965, on Flickr


Galaxy Nexus 2 by Kenjis9965, on Flickr


Galaxy Nexus 3 by Kenjis9965, on Flickr


Galaxy Nexus 4 by Kenjis9965, on Flickr

I dont call those "flat" "lifeless" and "grey" personally, They're nowhere in the same league as my 7D, but i dont think they're garbage or that the One X is necessarily -better- Beyond that, i love having face detection on the AF now, makes taking a self portrait a whole ton easier, and the fact the front camera is AF as well also adds to my enjoyment of the camera system

I love the little notification LED at the bottom of the phone to give me a visual "Hey you have a notification" thing... Thats neat!

Ergonomically, with the stock battery i loved it, it took me a bit to get used to the lock button being on the right, and at first i was constantly hitting the volume rocker, but after about an hour i stopped having any issues whatsoever, With the extended battery on it, i actually find the ergonomics improved for me personally, it gives you a nice "ledge" to grip onto and makes working with the phone even more of a joy, For me, the ergonomics are a LOT better than the iphone, it doesnt hurt my hand to hold onto it for long periods of time, and i can comfortably lounge to watch a video on it without it hurting my arm.. So yeah...

I love stock ICS so far, No desire to change it yet, works great for me, and as i said above, is far more stable than the ICS on my Transformer, So theres that... Compared to iOS i just love how it works a lot more, Who wants just a home key that does EVERYTHING when i have THREE nicely sized soft buttons that are there when i need them and disappear when i dont (Say when im watching a video) This is great as soft buttons wont stop working on you (Well, theoretically they shouldnt..) like a mechanical button would... Given my iPhone 4's home button started acting funky on me a few months ago, this is a nice reassuring thing...

The keyboard works GREAT for me, i can type a LOT quicker on it than on the iphone with fewer errors, Also the voice recognition actually recognizes my voice and i was downright impressed with how well it transcribed what i was saying, Oh, and for those who like the idea of Siri, the Nexus does basically the same tricks without the phone talking back to you from what i can tell, I can ask it for instance "Where can i get a salad" and it pulls up google and finds me restaurant listings, just like it does if i ask Siri on my mom's iPhone 4s (With the added benefit of my Nexus actually understanding me)

In terms of other software, I find the android version of Textplus superior to the iOS version so far, with neat option pop ups that let me immediately reply without even going into the program if i want, VERY cool, it also notifies me -reliably- unlike on iOS where id find iOS killed the thing on me and id have to restart it

I love QuikPic as an alternative to the stock Gallery app that lets me create folders and organize my photos nicely, Something which I didnt like on iOS (I didnt like their "albums" stuff as it really wasnt "organizing" it to me, it was more "labelling" them... I know im being weird but i like folders and stuff!)

I like the stock texting app, with the pictures of people and such in it, Really nice looking and no lag or anything if people send me like 5 texts at the same time...

Of course google chrome is awesome, loads fast, pulls up desktop sites with the touch of a button, and renders the sites beautifully... I like it a lot more than Safari, and the Youtube app is a lot nicer too...

And because its all MTP you get 13.3gb free on it, which is more than most other 16gb Android devices

----Negatives----

Music syncing is kinda an issue, I have to say the iPhone just works better here, I found Doubletwist + Airsync ($4.99) the best option for my Nexus, and while it works well, you are limited to syncing over Wi-Fi.. Which can take a while if you sync large amounts of music back and forth, Until Doubletwist adds MTP support thats pretty much the best option (Unless you like living IN DA CLOUD..) Some of my problems were just misunderstanding -how- Android organizes music compared to iOS, Overall though, it works well but its just not as intuitive or "simple" as iOS

Battery life is Decent, Dont expect iPhone-like battery life from it, and honestly, if battery life is a concern, the One X LTE, HTC EVO 4G LTE, Razr Maxx or iPhone 4S should be at the top of your list, That said, you CAN switch batteries on the Nexus, whereas the above phones do NOT have a replaceable battery, Get 2 batteries for your Nexus and you will get roughly the same life as the above, Personally? I got the Seidio Innocell 3500mah battery, while pricey, it does retain the NFC chip for Google Wallet fun, and personally i found the extra little "bump" to be a welcome feature on the phone, Its easier to hold with it for me (I dont have big hands, just hands that struggle to hold small/thin things) Overall it made my phone about as thick as my old iPhone with the Morphie Juicepack i had stuck on it....But i do understand thats not an option for some people out there

For the record, it should easily get you through a day unless you do nothing but watch video on it for hours, I pulled it out of the charger at like 1:30am and it was at 20% at about 4pm today, That was after doing a bunch of web surfing, video watching, music listening, and all sorts of other stuff on it, with the screen set at 75% brightness for most of it... So yeah...16 hours or so before it really ran down... I'm not disappointed in this performance as the big gorgeous screen is whats eating the battery up in big huge chunks, but it might affect other people so im throwing it out there

Speaking of the stock battery cover is a bit "flimsy" feeling to me, i was concerned i would break it, the Seidio one is actually nicer in my opinion and went in better... it also had a nice finish that felt nice and grippy to my hand (before i stuck it in the Seidio case i bought)

The ringer/notification volume is a little low it seems, Even with the sliders fully maxed... That said, i found it hard to hear my iphone sometimes, That said it didnt wake me up when someone texted me this morning, Thats good AND bad (since sometimes i DO want to reply to those texts) Oh well

===Conclusion===

Overall, it puts a grin on my face everytime i use it, the combination of the Nexus' still very good hardware with ICS and the guarantee of constant updates makes for a perfect combination, is it perfect? no, but for me, the negatives are very minor things I found ways to get around.. I think the last phone I had that made me this happy was the original iPhone... So thats saying something

I havnt found one thing on it that it doesnt do better than my iPhone used to, I feel its more of an upgrade than a 4S would have been (Maybe because some of the biggest problems I had with the iPhone that made me go to android are things the iPhone wont be getting... Like less reliance on ONE button for everything.. and the multitasking sucking at its job..and the fact i wanted a bigger screen)

Would I take a One X over it now? Heck, No... even if i had LTE here I dont think Id get it... What about the Galaxy S3? Nah, I think it looks a bit too... gimmicky, and I hate the look of it (as shallow as that is) Plus the fact ATT will likely heap on the bloatware when it comes to the States... Yeah.. Not really interested...

Feel free to ask questions

 

[Bobotheklown]

Nice write-up!

I really enjoyed it until you thrashed on my soon to be S3

Nonetheless, I'm glad you're enjoying your Nexus, I've gotten to play with one and it's a great phone

 

[KenjiS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobotheklown

Nice write-up!

I really enjoyed it until you thrashed on my soon to be S3

Nonetheless, I'm glad you're enjoying your Nexus, I've gotten to play with one and it's a great phone

Lol, wasnt my intent to "thrash" it, I think its a nice phone, But the things it offers over the nexus like the voice stuff/keeping the screen on while you read i just dont have much of an interest in, Im not sure a Quad Core is really necessary in an android phone yet, and im not a huge fan of TouchWiz

I guess i should amend something, i just took a short trip to walgreens and i lost my signal completely down next to it, Never happened before with any of my other phones.. Reset the cell network on it which brought it back and also downloaded a signal meter widget that shows me my signal strength in db, So if it happens again i can try to track the culprit, I know some others with the Nexus and ATT have reported problems sometimes and its usually a SIM issue, So if i notice things i might have to get my hands on a different SIM card... Gonna probubly spend the weekend going as many places as i can go, especially the mall, to make sure i still have coverage and such

-edit- Just now wondering if an App can kill your signal strength, Cause I had the Skype app on, I just quit skype and noticed my signal strength jump 10db, Which is a significant thing...

 

[Miki]

Loved it, nice write up. ^_^

 

[wierdo124]

Low volume is a documented issue. Have a look at this for a solution:
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/12/26/low-volume-levels-driving-you-nuts-with-the-galaxy-nexus-volume-is-here-to-save-the-day/

Nice writeup tho, rep+

 

[xJavontax]

Good mini-review! Have you tried out the NFC yet? It's pretty sweet. I see people's jaw's drop whenever I use it.

I'm not using the Galaxy Nexus, I'm using it's older brother, the Nexus S.

 

[KenjiS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wierdo124

Low volume is a documented issue. Have a look at this for a solution:
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/12/26/low-volume-levels-driving-you-nuts-with-the-galaxy-nexus-volume-is-here-to-save-the-day/
Nice writeup tho, rep+

I expected something like that would exist! I was actually about to go looking for one, Free version works well, so im about to drop the $1.99 to get it (Somehow i feel really good about doing that lol)

Quote:

Originally Posted by xJavontax

Good mini-review! Have you tried out the NFC yet? It's pretty sweet. I see people's jaw's drop whenever I use it.
I'm not using the Galaxy Nexus, I'm using it's older brother, the Nexus S.

Not yet! i went to a dunkin donuts but that location didnt have the PayPass thing for me to do it! Really depressing as im quite excited to try it out! Hopefully this weekend ill hit a starbucks or something where they're more likely to have it

 

[KenjiS]

BTW heres my home screen

 

[xxgamxx]

Gnex ftw. Yesterday I was having 2.3mps on my phone, today just hit a record. 7.5mbps. Not bad for $30 plan and awesome coverage.

 

[KenjiS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxgamxx

Gnex ftw. Yesterday I was having 2.3mps on my phone, today just hit a record. 7.5mbps. Not bad for $30 plan and awesome coverage.

The best i've done is 5mbps, I feel its a limitation of my SIM not the phone itself...

But that said as i pointed out, i am getting better speeds than the 4S my mom has in the same areas FOR THE MOST PART, only when its late and the network is mostly dead can it get up to 7.5mbps and beat my Nexus

 

[stRodda]

I have a gnex too, and I love it!

If you're rooted or will root... look in to the transparent bar mod and the nav bar delete. I use both and it opens up the screen a lot. Gives you the full 4.65". Ill post some screencaps so you can see what Im talking about.

 

[xJavontax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KenjiS

I expected something like that would exist! I was actually about to go looking for one, Free version works well, so im about to drop the $1.99 to get it (Somehow i feel really good about doing that lol)
Not yet! i went to a dunkin donuts but that location didnt have the PayPass thing for me to do it! Really depressing as im quite excited to try it out! Hopefully this weekend ill hit a starbucks or something where they're more likely to have it

There's an app that shows you the location of places that accept the PayPass thingy near you or in whatever vicinity you specify. Helped me out a lot lol.

 

[KenjiS]

^- I'll have to download that later

Gotta say loving this thing, I spent a bit this morning streaming 720p HD stuff off youtube's desktop site, Was very pleased there was no stuttering, no slowdown, just perfectly smooth gorgeous video(so long as you stay in fullscreen, playing it "windowed" on the site tends to be a little choppy but still...how do i put this... stable and smooth? ie it still works and responds right the video is just a little choppy) The youtube app's HQ setting seems to be a bit compressed on mobile data, it looks worse than my tablet does, This could be because of the uber-high pixel density on the screen comparatively or because Phone Youtube HQ is lower quality..

Anyways, Heres some screenshots from today showing a few things:

Unlimited data FTW:

Battery use so far (Seidio 3500mah)

And heres a listing of speedtest results:

Its worth mentioning on the speed side the only way my Nexus can really get faster than this around here is if it was on Verizon's network, as they have LTE, However if you lose the LTE coverage you're going to drop WAY slower than this(And I'll be stuck with Tiered data), and Sprint is about as fast on a good day as my worst result there (The .06mbps, No clue what was going on there, Network issue however) Though I'm not sure about T-Mobile (supposedly theres "Strong 4G Coverage" over most of my area from them)

Moving on, I dropped screen brightness more, I'm to about 25% now, but it still looks fantastic, The screen is drawing more power than anything on this phone lmao... So worth it though... I cant get over how gorgeous the AMOLED display on it really is, its got that "Plasma" saturated and contrasty look to it...

 

[xxgamxx]

Did you root your phone yet? Or are you using some app to take screenshots?

 

[xJavontax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxgamxx

Did you root your phone yet? Or are you using some app to take screenshots?

Ice Cream Sandwich has a native way to take screen shots. If you have an Android phone and you haven't upgraded to ICS yet, do it. The upgrade is totally worth it in every way and it's just gorgeous.

 

[xxgamxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xJavontax

Ice Cream Sandwich has a native way to take screen shots. If you have an Android phone and you haven't upgraded to ICS yet, do it. The upgrade is totally worth it in every way and it's just gorgeous.

I have a Gnex, just an extremely novice android user. If I ever want to root, I'll have some huge researching to do.
Ok, so here's my speed test. Again, not bad for Tmobile $30 plan. I live in So-Cal fyi. I have no clue to tell if this is HSPA+ or just HSPA.

 

[KenjiS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxgamxx

I have a Gnex, just an extremely novice android user. If I ever want to root, I'll have some huge researching to do.
Ok, so here's my speed test. Again, not bad for Tmobile $30 plan. I live in So-Cal fyi. I have no clue to tell if this is HSPA+ or just HSPA.

7.42mbps is most certainly HSPA+ VERY nice there man

Anyways, I think i need to have a little talk with ATT because I think my SIM is having some issues....Went over to Friday's to pick up some dinner, my signal strength dropped a bit, but i remained on HSPA+ and the phone worked, Got in the car and drove home, Suddenly my Nexus will only pickup an EDGE signal, Even when i get back home where i get a solid HSPA+ signal all the time I was still stuck on EDGE until I "Reset" the APN a few times, then HSPA+ came back

I'm pretty damn sure the problem is with my sim card, I verified the network is in fact working and 3G is in fact up by pulling out my mom's 4S and checking it out, Also these are all places/areas i've been to before with my iPhone and i know that while my signal strength might drop a little, i still maintained a good solid 3G signal in these places, So its not a coverage issue, I should NOT be throttled as, at worst, I've used 1.5gb and they should NOT cap you until 3gb, So thats not the issue either (Besides i DID get my 3G to come back)

In fridays:

Back at home, Showing EDGE:

What would you guys suggest? I'm thinking give ATT a call explain things and see if they can get me a new SIM card or something

 

[SC2pro]

i also went from a iphone 4 to a galaxy nexus and i gotta say i think im never going back to iphone. This amazing phone just keeps impressing me day after day. i cant imagine how much im gonna love this phone when i root it!! LOL

 

[KenjiS]

I love it to pieces, I'm just hoping i can get the signal issues worked out... Sadly the Nexus is worthless if everytime i walk out my door it cant get a bloody signal (Which makes absolutely NO sense) That said i think im more tempted to walk over to T-Mobile and get one of their no-contract deals ($65/month for 500 minutes, unlimited text and 5gb of data before throttling) and see if that works better on my nexus...

One thing to note, it WAS working just great with the original battery and no case on it, For now i tried removing the case and seeing if i get better signal strength, So far that seems to be helping

The other thing i did a little research on is that some of the unlocked ones have the European radio software in them, Sure enough, mines one of them, Which means it could affect some things

 

[KenjiS]

Chucked my original stock battery in it and no case now, Going to stick with that and run around tomarrow to check how my signal stuff is...

if i still have issues, i will have to decide what to do...

I will say its strange, because when i first got it i did not have a single issue with signal strength and that.... so it just might be the battery causing interference or something.. i dunno