Battery/LTE: Every phone has its tradeoffs - Nexus 4 General

I am reading a lot of bemoaning with regards to what is considered poor battery life on the Nexus 4 based on comparisons made by Anandtech's review, and I feel that people are forgetting the golden rule of smartphones. That rule being that every phone has at least one 'fatal flaw' that you have to accept when you finally purchase that device. I feel like this thread will put things into perspective for those who just want to have it all. Reality is what it is, I'm not saying you should settle and give in to sub-ideal phones, but hey if you need a phone you need a phone, ideals and wishes won't make phone calls or grab your emails for you.
Let's start with the iPhone 5. Firstly, it's iOS and all its annoying ecosystem that surely every Android enthusiast has distaste for in some way or another. I'm pretty sure that rules it out alone and causes us think "Well who cares how long the battery lasts if I hate using the thing. Pass." It does have great battery life on LTE, quality construction, more accessories than you can shake a stick at, etc etc, but it's still iOS. No LTE in my area either but hey not the phone's fault.
Onto the HTC One X, which is a good phone in many regards but still has those 'fatal flaws.' It costs $465.50 (6 months after launch) unlocked which isn't too heinous but it isn't pentaband GSM keeping you from 3G/HSPA+ on T-mobile or whatever random 1700 band International carriers there are in the world. Also has frequent wifi antenna problems for many. It only sports 1 GB of ram. It is not pure Android, HTC Sense is hated by many, can be replaced with a custom rom, which is very good. Curious how the HTC one X (1800 mah) did better than the S3 (2100 mah).
Motorola Razr M. I rather like the physical feel of this phone, but with 4.0 ICS, nowhere to buy it unlocked, 1 GB of ram, and less dev support than these other phones I wouldn't consider it strongly.
Next the Motorola Razr i. Only has 4.0.4 ICS, 1 GB of ram, $498.50 unlocked also with no 1700 band support. Screen is probably not in the HTC One X leagues either.
Skipping a few brings me to the Motorola Photon Q. Obviously this thing is only for QWERTY lovers, of which I am not. Hey it probably kicks ass though if that's your thing. Oh but wait, you can only get it from carriers which means you'll be signing a contract. Wuh-oh no dice, that ain't nice.
LG Optimus G... Locked bootloader. (I held one and went "eww" but that's a personal thing), A year after ICS was released, Jellybean has been out for months, and yet LG releases this 'flagship' phone with ICS, tsk tsk. No 1700 band, 545.50 Unlocked. Only one of the versions has a micro-sd slot too, bizarro.
Galaxy S3! Personally the T-999 T-mobile Galaxy S3 is my personal choice over the Nexus 4. BUT Problems?!!? For me it was price at $550, the build quality of the phone, and the physical big home button. I've read too many reports of them cracking on their own (while in Otterbox Defender cases or whatever other big boxy tank armor people buy) because of the crappy plastic used and also overheating during usage or charging. A phone's screen shouldn't break on it's own sitting on your desk. Those issues are rather personal so really the problem is price for a 6 month old phone.
Anyway enough of this, there are many things which aren't negatives to some and other things that definitely are negatives that I haven't included, such as motorola camera quality or something along those lines.
Honestly, where can you buy a 299 or 349 dollar unlocked smartphone with the latest hardware (except that 5" panel on the HTC DNA), latest Android OS which is also vanilla, predictably tons of dev support, and isn't a plastic pile of junk? Although the Nexus is lacking LTE, enough storage for many, less than best battery life, and whatever other gripes there are out there. Also the benchmarks are meh, personally I could care less how fast it runs a benchmark. There gets to be a point where speed no longer matters, sort of like the difference between 100 FPS and 400 FPS when playing a video game or watching a movie. I mean if the phone can load apps faster than the Optimus G by .001 seconds who really cares? It's about real world usage to me, not benchmark scores. That's me though and I realize that isn't everyone's opinion.
So anyway if someone wants more storage and awesome battery but doesn't care about being forced into a contract, they won't mind getting a Razr Maxx HD. But if another person wants to avoid contracts, have the freedom to use their phone internationally even, with the latest operating system the Nexus 4 is the best bet because of the price with the S3 tailing behind it due to custom roms.
Someone could assign a point value to every category and rate phones across the board, but the amount of points per category, or rather the importance of certain traits over others, is totally independent for each person out there shopping for a device.
Long story short here, every phone has its drawbacks and issues, it's a question of which has the least amount of flaws when weighing the needs/desires of the consumer.
The Nexus 4 does the best job of fitting my needs, but it isn't perfect. I doubt any phone ever will be, but that's beside the point. The point is what is here and now available to chose from. The point is that battery benchmark graph that I can't link due to lack of posts. I would have never bought a Nexus 4 like I did if the price wasn't so good. If it were 600 dollars I would have passed and held out for custom roms to keep me afloat on the latest version of Android.
(If you're pissed I made a thread about this don't reply telling me that. Just let it sink to the bottom of the forum to rot and die.)
Thanks and happy phone hunting.

The optimus g has basically the same hardware specs and gets great battery life. Is it wrong to expect the n4 to get somewhere in the same ballpark? N4 appears to have just average battery life which is odd. I still plan on getting it.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

I wish I could want an iPhone because honestly I'm tired of rooting and tweaking and iPhone gets great battery no matter what you do.
But I love stock android and honestly I feel like I am chasing a dream. First android phone was epic touch 4g then I rooted awesome battery and ICS skins. Then ICS came out battery life was crap and issues. Ran that way for months. Then jellybean waiting for Samsung kernel horrible performance. Sprint data slow as crap. Then got a gal nex no 4g now slower 3g. LTE is a mile away and it is slow.
Then nexus 4 announced no sprint version leaving sprint for T-Mobile now trying to buy four nexus 4's for the family must wait again.
So at this point if battery life sucks so be it I'm stuck chasing a dream.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Fataldesain said:
I wish I could want an iPhone because honestly I'm tired of rooting and tweaking and iPhone gets great battery no matter what you do.
But I love stock android and honestly I feel like I am chasing a dream. First android phone was epic touch 4g then I rooted awesome battery and ICS skins. Then ICS came out battery life was crap and issues. Ran that way for months. Then jellybean waiting for Samsung kernel horrible performance. Sprint data slow as crap. Then got a gal nex no 4g now slower 3g. LTE is a mile away and it is slow.
Then nexus 4 announced no sprint version leaving sprint for T-Mobile now trying to buy four nexus 4's for the family must wait again.
So at this point if battery life sucks so be it I'm stuck chasing a dream.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
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Trust me, the iPhone sucks without jailbreak. Especially when you are used to Android (even Stock Android) you will miss so many options. You will miss the tweaking (just because iOS sucks already). And btw, the iPhone is small as sh**.. so no wonder it's battery will last longer. How ever, browsing/writing textes is a pain in the ass on the iPhone.
Had the iPhone 3G (omfg) and the 4S.... glad I could sell them on ebay to some brainfart.
And btw: Once you get to jailbreaking your iPhone it's all problems and annoying work.

Battery is a pretty big one for me, as well as storage.. lte not so much, waiting a while to decide but I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a note 2 little more expensive but I can prolly get the woman to let me spend my own money on it :good:
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Don't really need 4G.
See, the problem with the iPhone is, that it's an Apple product.
Apple-Hate aside, what people must realize, if they are in an area that offers 4G connectivity, it will also offer FULL 3G connection. The hypothetical max of HSPA+ is 42mb/s which if you're lucky, you can get close to. Also, TheVerge got 5Mb/s in a Metropolitan area, which is more than sufficient. I leech off StarBucks wifi, getting 450 KB/S and can watch HD video and anything I realistically need.
Please tell me someone, who uses 100% of their 4G.

Yeah once your used to android its hard to leave but my thing is since the iPhone 4 apple has had a smooth working phone with great battery. I have used about 10 android phones and honestly the iPhone 4 runs better than most and it is three years old.
Now things are getting better because the specs are crazy in all these phones. But sometimes I envy the apple sheep because they think they have the best and are satisfied with it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Related

Droid X to Bionic or iPhone 5?

So I know a lot of you hate any Apple product and I'm with you for the most part, but I'm starting to thing that maybe the iPhone 5 might be a good deal.
I have the Droid X and it's cool and all, but I'm getting tired of having to do soft resets multiple times throughout the day just to keep it at a bearable speed, and the screen not responding to touch and having to cycle the screen on and off to get it to work, and just bugs in general.
I have had the Blackberry Curve :barf:, VZW TP2 (I liked it, except for it being slow), and now DX. I get tired of having to do full SBF reloads every 2 months to keep it speedy and the screen thing is getting to me along with the bugs (like android music player trying to play music half the time when I hook up a 3.5mm cord to it).
I'm looking for a dual core LTE phone that I won't have to crack and hack and load custom roms to get rid of many bugs and expand functionally. I just kind of get tired of it. I used to work in IT, but now I'm a flight instructor full time and have to use a lot of aviation apps for weather, flight plans, etc. I'm hesitant to jump to the iPhone 5, but I just get tired of the lack of support and updates from VZW for the X. I feel that with the iPhone being so prevalent and with such a following that Apple might provide better support since they don't have to keep track of so many platforms like Moto, HTC, Samsung, etc.
Even if they don't have a LTE iPhone 5, I might be ok with that. I am fairly happy with my X overall, but I feel like I have outgrown it.
Any thoughts on the matter? I'm not posting this on the sister site, because I know how hardcore and unwavering some of those kooks are. (Xtra-normal iPhone 4 video comes to mind).
spudsmac said:
So I know a lot of you hate any Apple product and I'm with you for the most part, but I'm starting to thing that maybe the iPhone 5 might be a good deal.
I have the Droid X and it's cool and all, but I'm getting tired of having to do soft resets multiple times throughout the day just to keep it at a bearable speed, and the screen not responding to touch and having to cycle the screen on and off to get it to work, and just bugs in general.
I have had the Blackberry Curve :barf:, VZW TP2 (I liked it, except for it being slow), and now DX. I get tired of having to do full SBF reloads every 2 months to keep it speedy and the screen thing is getting to me along with the bugs (like android music player trying to play music half the time when I hook up a 3.5mm cord to it), and the screen thing.
I'm looking for a dual core LTE phone that I won't have to crack and hack and load custom roms to get rid of many bugs and expand functionally. I just kind of get tired of it. I used to work in IT, but now I'm a flight instructor full time and have to use a lot of aviation apps for weather, flight plans, etc. I'm hesitant to jump to the iPhone 5, but I just get tired of the lack of support and updates from VZW for the X. I feel that with the iPhone being so prevalent and with such a following that Apple might provide better support since they don't have to keep track of so many platforms like Moto, HTC, Samsung, etc.
Even if they don't have a LTE iPhone 5, I might be ok with that. I am fairly happy with my X overall, but I feel like I have outgrown it.
Any thoughts on the matter? I'm not posting this on the sister site, because I know how hardcore and unwavering some of those kooks are. (Xtra-normal iPhone 4 video comes to mind).
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If you're past flashing, then I'd say do it. However, don't count on the 5 having LTE. I guarantee you it won't have it. Apple will wait 6 months to a year before they add it. It's too 'new' for Apple to put in their phones. Expect a quasi 5 upgrade around summer (at best) to have 4g.
Having said that, I do agree with you on the updates and support. Plus the app store has a very stringent approval process - so you can expect the apps to be bug free for the most part.
Regardless of all that, I'll stick with my bionic. Very impressed. I haven't even considered tweaking it much because I'm so blown away with it out of the box. I'm a crack flasher (back to my OG Droid) so this is big for me.
Best of luck.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium
^^^ Everything he said and more. Apple is not guaranteed to have any 4g, let alone LTE. That and all the work that is currently going into custom ROMs for bionic.
I for one am a big mac fan. Between my wife, 2kids and me, we have 2imacs, 3 macbooks, and a macbook pro. But for smartphones its android for me. Much more customizable. And a user replaceable battery. Just think, if mr. Jobs had not given at&t exclusivity for so long, android may not have gotten off the ground.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium
i've never had an iPhone, but i did just move from a Droid X to the Bionic, so i can compare the differences there...
Bionic is noticeably faster than the Droid X when starting apps, moving through menu settings, etc.
i am torn over the loss of hard keys on the Bionic - while i definitely prefer soft keys over hard keys, there are two disadvantages that bug me:
(1) false alarms (i.e., i occasionally hit one of the soft keys by accident which interrupts whatever i'm doing)
(2) can only use the power button to wake up the Bionic (home key also works on Droid X)
4gLTE is ridiculously fast but highly geographically dependent. i live in a full 4g area. typical downloads 1 mile from my house are 20,000 kbps. at my house, i get maybe 1,200 kbps (vs. around 600 kbps in 3g).
Battery life on Bionic is almost as good as Droid X with similar usage/apps in 3g mode. turning 4g on definitely uses more battery, but it is easy to turn on/off.
i like the Bionic screen, no idea what folks are complaining about
as for bugs, the Bionic has a few:
(1) Phone occasionally locks up solid and requires a battery pull to get it going again. this is affectionately referred to as the black (or maybe it's Bionic) screen of death - BSOD. this has happened to me 4 times in two weeks.
(2) the phone appears to have some difficulty holding a 4g signal over extended periods (but this may have more to do with the signal in my area than the phone itself).
but my Droid X has a few bugs too:
(1) phone always turns itself on after power down (started with Gingerbread)
(2) phone reboots itself typically once daily
(3) screen backlight "flickers" when paging through menus (this started with Gingerbread and actually annoys me more than the first two issues)
bottom line, i am very happy with the Bionic, can't see myself going back to the Droid X (even though i still love that phone), but i will definitely pay close attention to the BSOD.
Just thought that I would let you know that you are comming from a droid X.
Switiching over to IOS isn't going to be much of a step forward but rather a step back for you.
I say that because of what you wrote. You said you feel as if you've out grown it.
The BIONIC would be great for you because of that, but switching over to IOS is going to leave you in regret.
"I was wondering the desert and didn't have my Droid, but rather an Iphone 4. I spent those months wishing I had that instead. I felt limited, but as soon as I got my hands on my Droid again, I became whole. I felt like there was nothing I couldn't do."
Those were the words of one of my co-workers. I was a BB user at the time and thought he was nuts.
He was... but I could understand that feeling of power he got when weilding an android phone today.
I'd go bionic also, but only because i'm biased, and wont come off Android.
Having had the phone for 3 days now, i'm definitely impressed. It was worth every bit to trade my Evo3D in and grab a Bionic. Even the interface is nice.
Never had an Iphone, and never really thought about getting one. Few of these guys above have given great points as to why you should get the Bionic
Thanks for all the replies. I REALLY want LTE and live in Phoenix, where they have good coverage. I guess I'll wait till Apple announces the specs and make my decision then. I imagine that worse case scenario, if I get the 5 and don't like it, I can probably sell it on eBay and get a Bionic with the money. I do like how much you can customize android devices though.
spudsmac said:
Thanks for all the replies. I REALLY want LTE and live in Phoenix, where they have good coverage. I guess I'll wait till Apple announces the specs and make my decision then. I imagine that worse case scenario, if I get the 5 and don't like it, I can probably sell it on eBay and get a Bionic with the money. I do like how much you can customize android devices though.
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Click to collapse
Good idea, but I promise you - no LTE this round.
If I'm wrong (we'll find out Oct. 5th) then I'll eat crow...

Droid4? LTE...

I'm going to be pissed if this comes out soon. I just got my D3 a few months ago
http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/27/motorola-droid-4-exposed-to-our-wandering-eyes-comes-with-lte-i/
If this is true my D3 will hit ebay and I'll buy a nexus. This is just bad business, asinine.
I don't see how they can do this to consumers and think it's okay. I signed an additional 2 years onto my 1 year for this phone, just to be ****ed in the ass 3 months later. I will not buy anything but nexus in the future. One phone a year, like it's supposed to be.
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/10/27/exclusive-first-pictures-of-the-droid4-by-motorola/
Can see VZ bloatware on one of the pics -- would assume this is fairly close. Moto/VZ appear to be really jerking around customers these days - I am sure Bionic customers are upset that the Droid RAZR came out so quickly (although the gap between Bionic and RAZR is much smaller), and now us Droid 3'ers have this Droid 4 coming out. I am more interested in how much RAM this thing has - LTE still sucks down too much battery life for my taste, and non-removable battery is non-ideal - I like the the slim Motorola extended batteries - the 1900 mah one for Droid 3 adds essentially no thickness and lasts a lot longer than stock 1500.
Rlin5741 said:
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/10/27/exclusive-first-pictures-of-the-droid4-by-motorola/
Can see VZ bloatware on one of the pics -- would assume this is fairly close. Moto/VZ appear to be really jerking around customers these days - I am sure Bionic customers are upset that the Droid RAZR came out so quickly (although the gap between Bionic and RAZR is much smaller), and now us Droid 3'ers have this Droid 4 coming out. I am more interested in how much RAM this thing has - LTE still sucks down too much battery life for my taste, and non-removable battery is non-ideal - I like the the slim Motorola extended batteries - the 1900 mah one for Droid 3 adds essentially no thickness and lasts a lot longer than stock 1500.
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Non removable battery is an instant do not want from me also, but I'm just pissed about this ****. I will never buy another motorola phone, I'm done. Give me Nexus or give me death.
I paid full retail for this phone right when it came out, I'm pretty pissed. If that comes out within the next few months (from the looks of it, it will) it'll be goodbye moto and hello nexus for me.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
Yeah ill be pretty frustrated @ moto too.... problem is I can't live without a keyboard and for some reason moto is the only company willing to put out higher end keyboard phones
Well, the Nexus looks great (as long as you are ok with something that big - I am not), and I do love the idea of a pure Google experience, but nobody has actually used one; we have no idea how good or bad it will be. And, this is a Samsung phone, and is coming out even closer to the launch of the Samsung Charge than any the presumed D4 is coming to the D3. This is the reality - you reach a point to get an upgrade, you get the upgrade, and you stop worrying whether something slightly better is coming out in a few months - because it is.
I'm ok with a thinner device with non-removable battery - I have chargers everywhere, including in my car, and there are plenty of great portable charging devices that you can get for phones like that. After tons of issue with the Bionic over two weeks dropping data (3G, in areas where I know I have a solid 3G signal), I'm happy to have the D3 for the next 19.5 months, and give plenty of time to Moto and VZW to get LTE truly ready for prime time - because it's not quite there now. The D3 is a great phone and I'll be fine with it; not a single data drop since I've had it, and battery life is about the same as the Bionic (when it was running CDMA only).
I do think that this angle-cornered design of the Razr and this prototype is a bit on the unattractive side, though, compared with the Bionic/D3.
I don't mind that they are putting out another version of the Droid soon. It's a losing battle to have the latest and greatest phone. What bothers me is what will happen to OS updates. Will phones get abandoned quicker?
Also did anyone else notice non-removable battery, looks like I wouldn't buy it. I pay an and a leg for a phone along with a plan and both Verizon and Motorola act like they own your phone. Do they not realize why people buy Android phones? I can upgrade/swap batteries, I can run whatever programs I want, I can add a memory card, etc.
for people like sims and whitty who have been doing a lot of work on the d3 and are being ostracized, i firmly believe this is an idiotic move on moto's side. I'm probably gonna go the nexus route if the d4 drops as soon as everyone is speculating it is. This is some major bs.
At least I have the Transformer Prime to look forward to....
But seriously. Ugh. Waco has no 4G of any kind and won't for years to come so this doesn't affect me too much, but still. This will take away a huge amount of potential users and will piss off all the D3 buyers, especially the ones like me who bought it on full retail.
I hope the D4 will have no global radio, so I will not be tempted. ;-)
Most people won't have 4G for at least another year. By then, that phone will be obsolete, I wouldn't sweat the small stuff.
*If you're not on Gingerbread, you should be shot*
Really, who cares about 4G when the 3G part is not on par with a 3 years old Sonyericsson phone ?
Good God some of you are getting worked up over a phone. It is not a big deal just let it go.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
MrObvious said:
Good God some of you are getting worked up over a phone. It is not a big deal just let it go.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
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It is a big deal because if someone wants a qwerty are they going to buy the 3 or the 4? We'll be left behind with a smaller community, as great as it is. It's just frustrating and I've had it with moto's bull****.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium
rweb said:
I hope the D4 will have no global radio, so I will not be tempted. ;-)
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Click to collapse
Interesting point, if it does have a GSM radio, this will be the first Global capable phone with LTE. How wold that even work, 2 SIM cards?
Non-replaceable battery will keep it off my list too. I'm in the NYC Metro Area and I know a few people with LTE phones, Bionic, Charge and TB. All have the same complaint, the battery life is horrible and they have constant connection issues. I'm waiting until next year summer-fall when the 2nd or 3rd generation LTE chips come out.
i was pissed then i saw no removable battery the i was like i dont care lol. i choose unlimited 3g over limited 4g any day i got grandfatherd over so its all good
Motorola can't be serious, Droid 3 is only about 4 month old.
And I don't really like the curved design
jellman said:
i was pissed then i saw no removable battery the i was like i dont care lol. i choose unlimited 3g over limited 4g any day i got grandfatherd over so its all good
Click to expand...
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If you're on unlimited data now (using 3G), when you switch to a 4G phone you stay on unlimited data (now using 4G).

Do you think the there are too many android phones

I really like my d3 but I feel like its old already with rumors of the d4 so quick and the samsung nexus coming out. It seems that the market is flooded with android phones. Even my friends that have the iphone ask " why are there so many android phones that come so quickly" and I agree with them. I love android and will always have one. When I read things that say android has the market share I can't but wonder if its do the the huge number of android phones. I wish google would grow a pair and stop this. I would love to see just a few android phones " all stock " come out and show people that don't reallly know what a stock android phone is. I think its moto and htc, and samsung messing it all up with there ui's. And because of this is why the d3 will get lost. And its a great phone. Their are a lot of great phones but you buy one and a month later 3 more that are faster bigger come out. The only good thing about all the phones is that they all try to out do the other. So the technology gets better faster. But I would love to see less and more stock phones. Im tiered of explaining moto blur to people. My friends that have the iphone are right when they say what's wrong with stock android that the manfactures have to hide it. They have a good point. But anyway I just thought this needed to be said and now I wait 8 months till my upgrade and then I will get my samsung nexus and im back on stock forever. Also I know that we have roms and your phone can be stock with these but its still not the same.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
Google has little control over whether an OEM skins Android or not - Android is open source, and whuile I believe that they have specific requirements to get the Google market and apps, the OEMs are free to alter the framework. Of course, it is not the OEMs who simply make the phones - they are trying to sell to carriers, who also have specific demands for specific features (i.e., locked down bootloaders, so users will not be able to install apps that do things like offer hotspot service for free, plus carriers get money from software companies to pre-load specific software on the phones.) It is surely not Google who is controlling when specific makers are offering specific models (with the exception of the Nexus models.)
Google does contract with OEMs roughly once per year to make the Nexus devices, which are pure Android phones (Nexus One January 2010; Nexus S in December 2010; Nexus Prime November 2011.)
Are there too many phones? I would rather have too many great phones coming out frequently than too few phones coming out less frequently. Seriously, even with a Droid 4 coming out 6 months after a Droid 3 (if the release is indeed that tight), the Droid 3 hasn't suddenly become a terrible phone. It's a dual-core OMAP 1 GHz phone with 512 MB of RAM and a very high dpi high resolution display with reasonable battery life. This phone will remain usable for all of a typical 20 month Verizon contract commitment, just as the Droid Incredible remains entirely usable now 18 months or so after its first release.
That's my opinion, anyway. I think it's healthier to be happy that there are so many great phones pushing the envelope so frequently than the alternative - having to wait and try to guess the perfect time to upgrade to a new device. Choice can be hard, but I'd rather be able to choose between many, many models of cars than have Chevy, Ford, Toyota, etc. come out with a single model each every year.
Apple's way is very smart for them, but they do not have to compete with other OEMs making iOS phones. Android OEMs do need to be mindful of each other, and I think both ways are fine. If you are worried that too many phones are being released too fast, then by all means, switch to an iPhone and you'll be able to relax more, or simply buy whichever Nexus device is available at the time you are able or want to upgrade, as they are also now on an approximate yearly cycle. If you have to switch to another carrier to do so, that will surely send a message to the carrier that you are using that if they wanted to keep your business, they should have offered a Nexus device of their own.
Very good points. Just makes me a little mad that I get a phone and and one that I would rather have comes out a few months later. But then again I did not know that at the time. I just nee to maybe wait before jumping in. I do think that the samsung nexus will be the best selling phone of all time. I think that will send a measage to the carriers that stock it always better. I would like to think that stock it better now that 4.0 is out.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
This is the point that technology is at man. Every company is going to make devices that cater to each type of person. These smartphones really haven't been out long if you think about it in relative terms. I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years we start seeing the smartphones get narrowed down into a few types of droids and of course 1 or 2 ugly step cousins made by that Apple company.
So to answer your question, yea, there may be a big selection of phones out there and by the time you get used to using one it is already outdated, but that's part of the fun of being at the edge of how far technology has gotten us.
I don't think the problem lies with too many phones but personally I think the carriers and OEMs are taking way too much advantage over the position that they are in.
When I bought my OG Droid, I went with a one year contract because I knew that soon enough a new phone would be out to replace it. This turned out to be incorrect as that was when Android phones were still in their adolescence.
In July, when I finally decided it was time to upgrade to the Droid 3, Verizon no longer offered a one-year contract and there was no sign of a QWERTY slider coming out for awhile. So I felt confident in choosing the Droid 3...
Here I sit, 4 months into a 2-year contract, the Droid 4 is on the horizon and my only option when it comes out is to buy it at full non-subsidized price. Which brings me to my next point...
Why are the non-contract prices SO high for these devices?! The cost of production and materials cannot be THAT high to warrant such a price. Add in the fact that the Operating System (Minus Blur/Sense/Etc) is "free" (to an extent).
To me it just seems like if we want to go with a prepaid, non-contract carrier we have to pay a really high price for a good phone. But when we go to a contract carrier, we are stuck for two years (unless you pay $300+ to cancel the contract) and when a new device comes out we must simply ignore it or cough up $600-700.
Am I wrong or is this the truth? Pardon my rant.
I think Android phones are being released insanely fast. There was a time when I'd read about all of them but now it seems like 3-4 new phones are announced every damn day. And they're ALL the same. Dual-Core, 4G, Gingerbread.
Ya they are all the same for the most part. That's what I don't like. Just wish the carriers would slow down, and focuse on one or two phones. Just can't wait till my upgrade comes. Just afraid that the different ui's will be not be good for android. People need to know what android looks like. Its not blur or sense and those ui's slow phones down a bit aswell.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
spacecasespiff said:
Ya they are all the same for the most part. That's what I don't like. Just wish the carriers would slow down, and focuse on one or two phones. Just can't wait till my upgrade comes. Just afraid that the different ui's will be not be good for android. People need to know what android looks like. Its not blur or sense and those ui's slow phones down a bit aswell.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google needs to put it's foot down and say no more skins. Skins should come as flashable roms from Moto or HTC, etc.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium
Androidsims said:
Google needs to put it's foot down and say no more skins. Skins should come as flashable roms from Moto or HTC, etc.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it doesn't. It completely goes against what makes Android so good. Developers like being able to brand their phones, something they can't do under Windows Phone and obviously IOS. Flashable roms would just be confusing and potentially unstable for the average consumer.
Ya but people don't know what android looks like because of these skins. People think that blur is android and its not. Goggle should at least tell then to have more phones that are stock. Why hide android? Most people put roms on there phones to get rid of the skins. I know that's what I do.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
spacecasespiff said:
Most people put roms on there phones to get rid of the skins.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is probably true of people who mod their phone, but definitely not true of Android users as a whole. I would guess that less then 10% of Android users actually mod their phones. While it's a small sample, out of the 9 people I know personally that own Android phones, only 2 of them have modded it, and they only did it because I did it for them because they complained of the phone being too slow (Droid 1's). Although both recently upgraded to iphones.
The bottom line is the majority of Android users don't care about what their phone looks like or what Android truly looks like. The same way I don't care about whats under the hood of my car. A car gets me from point A to point B, what makes that happen is irrelevant to me. All I care is if the car is visually appealing to me. And maybe more recently MPG, because of the cost of gas is so god damn high.
Well the nice thing is, as long as XDA exists then we will always have a more current phone. If my Droid 3 would have not crapped out on me because of the screen I would still be using it at 1 GHz with the latest Gingerbread. Once we figure out how to mod the D3 better and better and if we do ever get the unlocked bootloader then our phones will still be just as current as the Nexus Prime or whatever is newer and better.
The specs of this phone despite not being 4G are good because the CPU and RAM are up there with the currently released high end phones (except the RAZR). We already have some good custom ROMs out there and I'm sure we will get ICS soon enough thanks to Hash.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
MrObvious said:
Well the nice thing is, as long as XDA exists then we will always have a more current phone. If my Droid 3 would have not crapped out on me because of the screen I would still be using it at 1 GHz with the latest Gingerbread. Once we figure out how to mod the D3 better and better and if we do ever get the unlocked bootloader then our phones will still be just as current as the Nexus Prime or whatever is newer and better.
The specs of this phone despite not being 4G are good because the CPU and RAM are up there with the currently released high end phones (except the RAZR). We already have some good custom ROMs out there and I'm sure we will get ICS soon enough thanks to Hash.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The processor is good but the RAM is definitely lacking. 512MB is just not enough, the phone with stock stuff installed has a pretty terrible multi-tasking experience. Honestly I think the 512 is the reason why Motorola hasn't flagged it for an ICS update yet, because other than that it's basically the same phone as the Bionic/Razr and probably wouldn't be too hard to port.
i4mt3hwin said:
The processor is good but the RAM is definitely lacking. 512MB is just not enough, the phone with stock stuff installed has a pretty terrible multi-tasking experience. Honestly I think the 512 is the reason why Motorola hasn't flagged it for an ICS update yet, because other than that it's basically the same phone as the Bionic/Razr and probably wouldn't be too hard to port.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No the software is just that bad.
i4mt3hwin said:
The processor is good but the RAM is definitely lacking. 512MB is just not enough, the phone with stock stuff installed has a pretty terrible multi-tasking experience. Honestly I think the 512 is the reason why Motorola hasn't flagged it for an ICS update yet, because other than that it's basically the same phone as the Bionic/Razr and probably wouldn't be too hard to port.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
512 MB will be fine for ICS, I am sure, as the Nexus S will be getting ICS with worse specs than the D3 (i.e., single-core CPU).
It's very possible that Moto and/or VZW will not want to take the time to develop ICS for the D3, or push it out, but it won't be because it has "only" 512 MB of RAM.
doogald said:
512 MB will be fine for ICS, I am sure, as the Nexus S will be getting ICS with worse specs than the D3 (i.e., single-core CPU).
It's very possible that Moto and/or VZW will not want to take the time to develop ICS for the D3, or push it out, but it won't be because it has "only" 512 MB of RAM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Nexus S doesn't have a ton of bloatware on it. Verizon will have to port all the applications that are stock loaded with the Droid 3 2.3.4 build over to ICS. I'm going to go ahead and assume that ICS probably uses more RAM than gingerbread. Couple that with the crap software Verizon loads on the phone and there is definitely a case for ram being an issue. I mean the stock phone blows as is, run maps and music and it slows to a crawl.
I think the over abundance of Android phones can be disheartening at first glance, but when you think about it, remember back a few years to when the original razr was the hot phone. After owning it for two years, you go in to get an upgrade to find that the best phone on the market is still a razr, but now it can play mp3s. If you use your head, you realize that all of these people who are worried about having the latest and greatest phone and go out to buy it as it is released still have a perfectly good "last month" phone. Hello Ebay. I saved my upgrade and bought a one month old D3 off ebay for $300. Use your upgrades when the RIGHT phone comes out, until then pick up the scraps from ebay at half price. Remember, even a used phone from ebay still carries a mfg warranty.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
I agree with OP that there are too many Android phones and not enough variety. i think the main difference is that while the iPhone was originally locked to one market, Android phones were everywhere. Each carrier had their own version of each phone made by each manufacturer, not to mention their individual contracts for certain phones that ended up getting out to other carriers eventually (i.e. Evo). My issue is there isn't much variety, yeah they have small upgrades here and there and small differences but the main thing is once a 1ghz 4.3" screen came out, every company made one. Once dual core came out, every company made one. Not much innovation imo, just keeping up with the competition. And I still don't understand why there are barely any QWERTY keyboards, another reason why it seems like most of the phones coming out are the same.
For me it all has began to come down to the looks department. I know I want a QWERTY so i had limited options, but even if it was an all touch screen you look for one that you can live with looking at every day and bite the bullet. Chances are everyone else will have one with similar specs just different body design.

Confessions from a Nexus 5/former Galaxy Nexus User

When I got my Galaxy Nexus (GN) it was sheer happiness. I was using a legacy Nokia Symbian candy bar and this was my first foray into unmolested Android. While all was not perfect with the GN, I was still mostly pleased. Then the fateful day occurred when I dropped the GN a little too hard and the screen shattered even though the phone was protected by a Diztronic TPU case. I now needed a new phone, but I knew the Nexus 5 (N5) would be out soon, so I kept using my shattered GN until the N5 was available and when it arrived, I realized cracking my screen was a blessing in disguise.
Without further ado, my quick major comparisons to the GN:
The N5 is FAST. REALLY FAST. It makes my GN feel like an unfinished prototype/research model that should have never been brought to market.
The N5’s GPS locks on quickly. REALLY quickly. My GN could take a minute or more at times to get a lock and, by then, my wife, annoyed, would whip out her iPhone and tell me my phone sucks.
The N5 has “awesome battery life.” While its battery life is average in general, compared to the GN it is legendary. The GN’s screen and data connection would kill the battery and it would rarely last till the afternoon if I frequently used both. With the N5 I can make heavy use of my screen and data connection and my battery will likely last the day.
Qi support. This makes number 3 above even better and there’s no jamming of Micro-USB ports into the phone and hoping I didn’t have the port upside-down (particularly when it’s dark/at night). When I’m at my desk, my phone is always charging. When a call comes in, I simple pick up the phone and then put it back down to charge when I’m done—nothing to plug in/I’m untethered. When I leave my desk for an hour or three, I have no fear of using or pushing the phone as hard as I’d like as I know I’m probably fully charged, because the phone was sitting on the charger, and I’ll have more than enough battery life for whatever I might encounter. Qi is simply elegant and something the iPhone can’t do.
LTE. While I got decent “4G” speeds on the GN—around 8Mbps down—the 20+/30+Mbps I get now alongside far better PING times is a great improvement.
The N5 has almost zero lag. It’s really that fast. My GN was almost all lag. Project Butter improved things, but the GN still has lag all over the place. I’m sure the N5 will start to slow down as newer software makes greater demands of the hardware, but, for now, this thing flies.
If you’re still using a GN, stop. It sucks, particularly when compared to a modem smart phone. Get the N5 and stop having your wife/girlfriend tell you your phone sucks, because it does.
Cheers.
lol, i loved my galaxy nexus! it demolished my nexus s i speed. but when i got my nexus 4, it just blew away the gnex in speed and performance. but then i got the nexus 5.. it makes the nexus 4 feel like a childs toy
Amen to all that.
But to be fair, the GNex was pretty good for its time--it was roughly in the same class as its contemporary, the Galaxy S II (just as the N5 is with the LG G2). But of course the N5 is so much faster and smoother and an all round better smartphone. A few things that I still feel the GNex is better though--it feels more comfortable holding the GNex than the N5 because the GNex is more rounded while the N5 has sharper edges. I still prefer the audio jack placement on the GNex. And I miss slightly the removable battery--my GNex had the official extended battery. But these are small issues compared to the vast improvements that the N5 brings.
I also agree with all of this. I came from a Galaxy Nexus as well, and I loved that phone. Even now, it was "fast enough" and the battery lasted "long enough" and it was a solid working device. I had a Nexus One before that, so I was starting a pattern of skipping every other Nexus phone, so it was time to buy the Nexus 5.
My experience exactly matches every one of your points. Battery life and overall speed are by far the biggest differences I've noticed. I'm as happy with this phone as I was when I upgraded to the GNex two years ago.
I actually was very happy with my gnex, i did end up getting the nexus 5 and very happy i did, cant go wrong with stock android kit kat
Better than my nexus 4
Having never owned the gnex, or its predecessors, the N4 was my first Nexus device. That being said I was shocked at how much better the N5 is. particularly in signal strength. on H+ there wasn't a single place in Toledo that I could get above 95 dbm. and my house was regularly 117Dbm or lower. Now (after flashing back to the xxx.xxx.17 modem) I see about 100dbm in my house on LTE and consistently around 80 on H+!!! The .23 modem that came with 4.4.1 KILLED MY SIGNAL!
I really think Lg/ Google skimped with the hardware on the N4. Yea the processor was great for the time and the phone will hold its own for another couple of years.
But after about a week of enjoying that flashy glass back i was too paranoid about walking around with a piece of fine china to enjoy my device. I always thought the back was more suited for a girl anyway, besides the fact that after armoring your phone in a rugged case to protect the stupid glass back, you couldn't see it anyway.
All in all the N5 is a joy. People complaining about the speaker must not have had a nexus 4. And who cares about "loose" buttons the ceramic tactile feel of them makes up for it.:laugh:
simms22 said:
lol, i loved my galaxy nexus! it demolished my nexus s i speed. but when i got my nexus 4, it just blew away the gnex in speed and performance. but then i got the nexus 5.. it makes the nexus 4 feel like a childs toy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this post. I was EXTREMELY proud of my nexus 4...until I got the nexus 5...the size difference and battery life make the nexus 4 feel like a toy. Very well put Simms.
Agreed on all counts. The galnex spec sheet was outdated within four months. I'm just glad I rode my vzw contract out and gave them the bird for t-mobile (pre-paid) and the nexus5.
good day.
Having owned pretty much every Nexus device since the GNex ( GNex, N4, N5 and N7) the N5 simply blows them all away, and I really loved the N4.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
The GNEX was garbage even when it was current!
The N5 is a rocking piece of kit.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Well... I have both phones and can agree with most of this, but how about this "awesome battery life" and LTE?
It is really not bad... except when LTE mode is activated and LTE network is found. It looks like battery drain on LTE is almost the same in active use and in sleep - and phone is warm all the time. Almost like some kind of hand warmer - handy at winter.
Better Battery stats and everything else confirms, that phone is in deep sleep, but battery graph falls with same speed in active use and deep sleep state - and this is on almost "bearable" LTE signal (-80...-90 dBm). Drain stops immediately, when mobile network mode is switched to 3G.
Will try out other network when I go to christmas vacation. Maybe this is some kind of network issue.
nmt1900 said:
...and phone is warm all the time. Like some kind of hand warmer - handy at winter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Weird. My phone is only warm when charging.
Good riddance to this POS phone. Can't wait to activate my n5 on T-Mobile!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
BinkXDA said:
Weird. My phone is only warm when charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It might be some network issue. Will know little more next week, when phone can be tested with other operator in another country.
Switch from iP4 to GNex -- I was happy to switch over to android
Switch from GNex - N5 -- insanely estatic and sheer satisfaction -- blazing speeds, HD screen
I have the Galaxy Nexus and to be quite honest with you I still use the sh*t out of it. I found it to be a great device. I wonder when Samsung gets the Nexus contract again what they will have in store for us.
I have a soft spot for it since it was my first Nexus and it had a good amount of storage space 32gb. Since I have tabs and phones I use them all for different things. I use my Nexus 7 for gaming, my Galaxy Nexus for audiobooks and multimedia, and my Nexus 5 for everything else. Overall I love my Nexus 5 and Galaxy Nexus..heck I'm downloading a ROM for them now!
Cheers
---------- Post added at 01:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:03 AM ----------
I have the Galaxy Nexus and to be quite honest with you I still use the sh*t out of it. I found it to be a great device. I wonder when Samsung gets the Nexus contract again what they will have in store for us.
I have a soft spot for it since it was my first Nexus and it had a good amount of storage space 32gb. Since I have tabs and phones I use them all for different things. I use my Nexus 7 for gaming, my Galaxy Nexus for audiobooks and multimedia, and my Nexus 5 for everything else. Overall I love my Nexus 5 and Galaxy Nexus..heck I'm downloading a ROM for them now!
Cheers
I also had a GN but I was always annoyed by it's overall slowness. For me there was only minor improvement compared to my former Nexus One.
After just half of a year later I got my N4 and was much happier with it, than with Gslug Nexus.
The N5 is even better than the N4, but compared to the Change from GN to N4 the change is not that dramatic. The only advantages of the GN were its look and feel (which is in my opinion the best out there) and its robustness.
The only disadvantage right now is, that there are only a few usable and very limited Custom Roms for the N5 because of KitKat but this is only a temporary problem.
BinkXDA said:
When I got my Galaxy Nexus (GN) it was sheer happiness. I was using a legacy Nokia Symbian candy bar and this was my first foray into unmolested Android. While all was not perfect with the GN, I was still mostly pleased. Then the fateful day occurred when I dropped the GN a little too hard and the screen shattered even though the phone was protected by a Diztronic TPU case. I now needed a new phone, but I knew the Nexus 5 (N5) would be out soon, so I kept using my shattered GN until the N5 was available and when it arrived, I realized cracking my screen was a blessing in disguise.
Without further ado, my quick major comparisons to the GN:
The N5 is FAST. REALLY FAST. It makes my GN feel like an unfinished prototype/research model that should have never been brought to market.
The N5’s GPS locks on quickly. REALLY quickly. My GN could take a minute or more at times to get a lock and, by then, my wife, annoyed, would whip out her iPhone and tell me my phone sucks.
The N5 has “awesome battery life.” While its battery life is average in general, compared to the GN it is legendary. The GN’s screen and data connection would kill the battery and it would rarely last till the afternoon if I frequently used both. With the N5 I can make heavy use of my screen and data connection and my battery will likely last the day.
Qi support. This makes number 3 above even better and there’s no jamming of Micro-USB ports into the phone and hoping I didn’t have the port upside-down (particularly when it’s dark/at night). When I’m at my desk, my phone is always charging. When a call comes in, I simple pick up the phone and then put it back down to charge when I’m done—nothing to plug in/I’m untethered. When I leave my desk for an hour or three, I have no fear of using or pushing the phone as hard as I’d like as I know I’m probably fully charged, because the phone was sitting on the charger, and I’ll have more than enough battery life for whatever I might encounter. Qi is simply elegant and something the iPhone can’t do.
LTE. While I got decent “4G” speeds on the GN—around 8Mbps down—the 20+Mbps I get now alongside far better PING times is a great improvement.
The N5 has almost zero lag. It’s really that fast. My GN was almost all lag. Project Butter improved things, but the GN still has lag all over the place. I’m sure the N5 will start to slow down as newer software makes greater demands of the hardware, but, for now, this thing flies.
If you’re still using a GN, stop. It sucks, particularly when compared to a modem smart phone. Get the N5 and stop having your wife/girlfriend tell you your phone sucks, because it does.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest, none of the custom roms are impressive or better than stock on a Nexus device. There are many custom roms but that's only cause it's way easier to develop for a Nexus device than it is for non stock Android devices. And unfortunately most of the roms are identical with very minor variances as well as being pure garbage.
The roms that add features are worth looking at but so far non are as stable as stock.
I used to own 2x GNEX at the same time. One flashed with every top custom rom available and the other pure stock. As nice as some of the added features the custom roms had and as fast as the custom kernels seemed to be, the roms weren't stable and the kernels started bogging down in a few days.
The stock phone never slowed down and performed consistently till the end.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that on a Nexus, stock is best cause it's built by the best developers already....
I've used custom roms on all my other Android phones but will not be on my N5 based on my custom rom experience on the GNEX!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Elisha said:
To be honest, none of the custom roms are impressive or better than stock on a Nexus device. There are many custom roms but that's only cause it's way easier to develop for a Nexus device than it is for non stock Android devices. And unfortunately most of the roms are identical with very minor variances as well as being pure garbage.
The roms that add features are worth looking at but so far non are as stable as stock.
I used to own 2x GNEX at the same time. One flashed with every top custom rom available and the other pure stock. As nice as some of the added features the custom roms had and as fast as the custom kernels seemed to be, the roms weren't stable and the kernels started bogging down in a few days.
The stock phone never slowed down and performed consistently till the end.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that on a Nexus, stock is best cause it's built by the best developers already....
I've used custom roms on all my other Android phones but will not be on my N5 based on my custom rom experience on the GNEX!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like you never tried Franco Kernel.
Gesendet von meinem Nexus 5 mit Tapatalk
tr1cky1 said:
Seems like you never tried Franco Kernel.
Gesendet von meinem Nexus 5 mit Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have. I even bought the app when I had the GNEX.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Q] Is the nexus 6 amazing/worth it? I'm close to buying one..

Okay well. Right now i have the oneplus one. Its a great phone and i like it and all... But no android l support yet (no cm12s), my touch screen is going bad, support is eh... and im just wanting to buy something that has been improved over many years... And is reliable. opo is kinda new.. with a single device.
So i thought of the nexus 6. It looks and feels amazing (as i have held/saw one) scores really nice on benchmarks despite the quad hd display.
My opo currently has the bamboo back (swap cover) and its in perfect condition, should be worth a good amount, and i get paid soon. So now i am tempted to buy the nexus 6.
Afew questions.
Firstly, I am all about having fast/latest hardware, so here is where my concern comes in. Is this nexus 6 a first of a soon soc snapdragon 805? Because i remember when the nexus 5 was out, half a year later there was a much better soc snapdragon 801. I know the nexus 6 will be fast, but i am just thinking ahead..
Next, is $700+ (as i would get the 64gb one) worth it?.. Its a HUGE jump from the previous $400 32gb nexus 5.. I thought nexus devices were always going to be cheap.. I mean, a bigger screen, a better build quality and snapdragon 805.. that's about all.
Middle, Will it be worth alot by next year when the next nexus arrives? (for resale purposes)
And lastly, should i just go for the nexus 6? And stay in the nexus line.. Or wait for a snapdragon 810 model phone to release.. As 64bit is arriving this year.
PS: Is metro PCS supported?
That's about all i am wondering..
Thanks for anyone that can help me.
Snapdragon 810 is just around the corner, the LG G Flex 2 will be using SD 810. You can have the best hardware possible but if the software is not optimized for it then that hardware is not fully utilized to its fullest potential. In my opinion, get a phone with good development support from the community, not a phone because it has better specifications.
The question of the N6 being "worth it" is subjective and no one can answer that but yourself. You posting a thread in here will attract people say "yeah its worth it, get it ASAP" because you're in Nexus territory but if you're in the OPO territory, they would say no because OPO has a better value. Both phones have its pros and cons, the decision of whether the "N6 is worth it" is not as black and white.
Will it be worth a lot? I don't predict the future, but it most likely will retain a large % of its value. Nexus 5 is still a popular phone and people are still buying them.
Should you go for the N6? I already answered this. I personally was using the OPO and switched to a N6, the OPO community is great but it was no where as good as the Nexus line of devices. Snapdragon 810, don't really care about it unless a Nexus has its name to it.
If development is something you care about when it comes to a phone, a Nexus won't disappoint.
MetroPCS... do the research on your own and compare bands.
zephiK said:
Snapdragon 810 is just around the corner, the LG G Flex 2 will be using SD 810. You can have the best hardware possible but if the software is not optimized for it then that hardware is not fully utilized to its fullest potential. In my opinion, get a phone with good development support from the community, not a phone because it has better specifications.
The question of the N6 being "worth it" is subjective and no one can answer that but yourself. You posting a thread in here will attract people say "yeah its worth it, get it ASAP" because you're in Nexus territory but if you're in the OPO territory, they would say no because OPO has a better value. Both phones have its pros and cons, the decision of whether the "N6 is worth it" is not as black and white.
Will it be worth a lot? I don't predict the future, but it most likely will retain a large % of its value. Nexus 5 is still a popular phone and people are still buying them.
Should you go for the N6? I already answered this. I personally was using the OPO and switched to a N6, the OPO community is great but it was no where as good as the Nexus line of devices. Snapdragon 810, don't really care about it unless a Nexus has its name to it.
If development is something you care about when it comes to a phone, a Nexus won't disappoint.
MetroPCS... do the research on your own and compare bands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You sir should write books thanks!
TeChNoC4AzY said:
You sir should write books thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not going to lie though, the opo is a great value phone where the specifications don't compromise. It's a very hot phone and the development is pretty good as I've owned one. The development is better than some of the other non nexus devices.
Essentially you're paying to have a bigger screen and front facing speakers as well as a number of other features such as turbo charger.
But you're losing, notification led (can be enabled on n6), ips for a amoled, battery life.
Opo battery life is much better than n6 by 1 hour sot in my personal experience. I still prefer the n6, I love the big size phone and I can't see myself using a screen that isn't as wide.
Ultimately, the choice is up to you. My recommendation is go to a t mobile store and play with the demo. Although, the size isn't a problem once you've used the phone for week, you get used to it.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
zephiK said:
Not going to lie though, the opo is a great value phone where the specifications don't compromise. It's a very hot phone and the development is pretty good as I've owned one. The development is better than some of the other non nexus devices.
Essentially you're paying to have a bigger screen and front facing speakers as well as a number of other features such as turbo charger.
But you're losing, notification led (can be enabled on n6), ips for a amoled, battery life.
Opo battery life is much better than n6 by 1 hour sot in my personal experience. I still prefer the n6, I love the big size phone and I can't see myself using a screen that isn't as wide.
Ultimately, the choice is up to you. My recommendation is go to a t mobile store and play with the demo. Although, the size isn't a problem once you've used the phone for week, you get used to it.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright! Thanks again
If you can wait for a device that you like (form factor, screen, brand) that has the 810 processor in it, I would wait for that. But if you want a phone this second then the Nexus 6 is a decent choice. With that being said you have a few things to consider.
1)Curved back - For some people this is a deal breaker. Don't ask me why it just is.
2)Large size- At a whopping 5.96" it is large in the average person's hand. I have large hands so this was actually fine for me.
3)Battery life- Because of the screen size the battery life isn't best in class. I will say that it is decent though. You can check threads with users posting their SOT. I on average get about 5.5-6 hours screen on time over the course of a day. (If I ever have time to use it that much.)
But with all those things considered there are a few benefits too, which I'm sure you've heard. When it all comes down to it if you are considering the Nexus 6 the other phone you might want to consider is the Note 4. It is close to the same screen size, same processor, and same battery size. I for one thought the Nexus 6 was the better option because of the Nexus phone support and that it has a bone-stock version of Android. I can't stand Samsung's bloatware.
TL;DR:If you want a phone right now it's a good choice. If you can wait a few months, wait a few months.
melgibson666 said:
If you can wait for a device that you like (form factor, screen, brand) that has the 810 processor in it, I would wait for that. But if you want a phone this second then the Nexus 6 is a decent choice. With that being said you have a few things to consider.
1)Curved back - For some people this is a deal breaker. Don't ask me why it just is.
2)Large size- At a whopping 5.96" it is large in the average person's hand. I have large hands so this was actually fine for me.
3)Battery life- Because of the screen size the battery life isn't best in class. I will say that it is decent though. You can check threads with users posting their SOT. I on average get about 5.5-6 hours screen on time over the course of a day. (If I ever have time to use it that much.)
But with all those things considered there are a few benefits too, which I'm sure you've heard. When it all comes down to it if you are considering the Nexus 6 the other phone you might want to consider is the Note 4. It is close to the same screen size, same processor, and same battery size. I for one thought the Nexus 6 was the better option because of the Nexus phone support and that it has a bone-stock version of Android. I can't stand Samsung's bloatware.
TL;DR:If you want a phone right now it's a good choice. If you can wait a few months, wait a few months.
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There's no point waiting for a few more months, just a couple months later. the Nexus 6 will be even better because the development will be more mature in terms of custom ROMs and kernels.
Going to a phone that is a non-Nexus will have less development and the software will be more bloated with carrier apps and manufacturer skins. Once you go to a Nexus, you stay a Nexus. If a user is wanting something that works outside of the box and doesn't care too much about development then by all means go to a non-Nexus but if you care about custom ROMs and kernels then Nexus devices are the way to go.
I came from a G3 and before that a Note 3
. the Nexus 6 is by far my favorite phone. The development for it is far beyond any other device I have seen, we have kernels, ROMs and everything in between.
The size isn't bad in fact I really like how big it is. It only took a day or two to get used to. Note when I use my wife's Moto X 2014 or S5 its like looking at a iPhone 4. While here may be other devices out there shortly with the SD810 its not going to be as good without devs working on making it better. I had the G3 F460S which had the SD805 and it was much slower than the Nexus with the same processor. LG didn't optimize the chip set well enough to make it worth the upgrade over the regular G3. My antutu score with it was ~46K which is the same as the Moto X that my wife has which is 100% stock. While my G3 was rooted and tweaked with some mods at the time.
The AMOLED display looks great compared to a LCD and its very responsive.
It boils down to preference and I love my Nexus and will buy the next one as well.
zephiK said:
There's no point waiting for a few more months, just a couple months later. the Nexus 6 will be even better because the development will be more mature in terms of custom ROMs and kernels.
Going to a phone that is a non-Nexus will have less development and the software will be more bloated with carrier apps and manufacturer skins. Once you go to a Nexus, you stay a Nexus. If a user is wanting something that works outside of the box and doesn't care too much about development then by all means go to a non-Nexus but if you care about custom ROMs and kernels then Nexus devices are the way to go.
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Nexus phones aren't the end all be all. Usually they have the most developer support but buying something just because it's a Nexus branded phone sounds an awful lot like those "Fruit" buying fanboys that will buy anything their cult favorite company puts out.
zephiK said:
Not going to lie though, the opo is a great value phone where the specifications don't compromise. It's a very hot phone and the development is pretty good as I've owned one. The development is better than some of the other non nexus devices.
Essentially you're paying to have a bigger screen and front facing speakers as well as a number of other features such as turbo charger.
But you're losing, notification led (can be enabled on n6), ips for a amoled, battery life.
Opo battery life is much better than n6 by 1 hour sot in my personal experience. I still prefer the n6, I love the big size phone and I can't see myself using a screen that isn't as wide.
Ultimately, the choice is up to you. My recommendation is go to a t mobile store and play with the demo. Although, the size isn't a problem once you've used the phone for week, you get used to it.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
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i would also add that battery life is the most subjective issue. it literally depends on how you use the phone. if you're playing games or generally playing around with your phone, your battery life will suck. i use mine as a phone and tool for work and music in the gym and i get 2+ days of use.
Comes down to this....
TeChNoC4AzY said:
Okay well. Right now i have the oneplus one. Its a great phone and i like it and all... But no android l support yet (no cm12s), my touch screen is going bad, support is eh... and im just wanting to buy something that has been improved over many years... And is reliable. opo is kinda new.. with a single device.
So i thought of the nexus 6. It looks and feels amazing (as i have held/saw one) scores really nice on benchmarks despite the quad hd display.
My opo currently has the bamboo back (swap cover) and its in perfect condition, should be worth a good amount, and i get paid soon. So now i am tempted to buy the nexus 6.
Afew questions.
Firstly, I am all about having fast/latest hardware, so here is where my concern comes in. Is this nexus 6 a first of a soon soc snapdragon 805? Because i remember when the nexus 5 was out, half a year later there was a much better soc snapdragon 801. I know the nexus 6 will be fast, but i am just thinking ahead..
Next, is $700+ (as i would get the 64gb one) worth it?.. Its a HUGE jump from the previous $400 32gb nexus 5.. I thought nexus devices were always going to be cheap.. I mean, a bigger screen, a better build quality and snapdragon 805.. that's about all.
Middle, Will it be worth alot by next year when the next nexus arrives? (for resale purposes)
And lastly, should i just go for the nexus 6? And stay in the nexus line.. Or wait for a snapdragon 810 model phone to release.. As 64bit is arriving this year.
PS: Is metro PCS supported?
That's about all i am wondering..
Thanks for anyone that can help me.
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If you like to tinker and have the time to spend doing so, the Nexus is the obvious choice. If on the other hand you spend more time doing things, working, recreation, socializing, then another phone will probably suit you better. Unfortunately this was my first Nexus device, and I got it thinking that it would be great to have a phone without all the carrier bloat. After getting it I found that many things I've come to consider standard in a phone, settings, options, etc. are sadly not present and probably will be in time with tinkering and trial and error, but I no longer have the time nor the patience to experiment on a device that I paid a large premium for that just seems to not only be crippled by sloppy software but also with possible hardware inconsistencies. I am lucky that I can jump any time I want and probably will here as soon as more devices come to market. But one thing the Nexus will do for you is help you to appreciate the care that other manufacturers put into their devices to support many features and options that a pure android device does not. So, with that in mind, make your won decision and live with it.
IMO, it's overpriced based on the quality of screen and some parts they used + poor QC.

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