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I was very excited about this phone when AT&T announced that they would be adding it to their lineup but now I'm starting to have some reservations because of its size. I've seen some videos on youtube comparing the size to the SGS II, Nexus, Skyrocket, etc. It looks freaken huge.
I know the HW wise the AT&T version and the European version are different. I don't care about that, I only care about the size. Does anyone find the phone to be too cumbersome or bulky?
deeken said:
I was very excited about this phone when AT&T announced that they would be adding it to their lineup but now I'm starting to have some reservations because of its size. I've seen some videos on youtube comparing the size to the SGS II, Nexus, Skyrocket, etc. It looks freaken huge.
I know the HW wise the AT&T version and the European version are different. I don't care about that, I only care about the size. Does anyone find the phone to be too cumbersome or bulky?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my honest opinion, no. It's big, no doubt about that, but I have never felt that it's too big. I have slightly larger hands than normal, but many of my friends have tried it and none of them complained about it being too big to hold. My girlfriend on the other hand can't even hold it in one hand, so it's probably not a good phone for people with small hands.
It's thin so it goes down into my normal sized jeans pockets without any problem.
My recommendation: If you have normal sized hands and pockets, buy it, you won't regret it.
i find the size to be perfect, in fact, i would happily go up to 5.5inch or even 5.7 if they made it! after a day, you wont notice any difference and you'll wonder why you never had a huge screen phone before (because no-one made one, but thats not the point).
deeken said:
I was very excited about this phone when AT&T announced that they would be adding it to their lineup but now I'm starting to have some reservations because of its size. I've seen some videos on youtube comparing the size to the SGS II, Nexus, Skyrocket, etc. It looks freaken huge.
I know the HW wise the AT&T version and the European version are different. I don't care about that, I only care about the size. Does anyone find the phone to be too cumbersome or bulky?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only way to find out is to try it out your self. I remember thinking my sgs2 was too big until I actually held it. But it does boil down to personal preferences. Also I don't think anyone here will tell you it's too big(It's NOTE FORUM)
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
Akerskuuug said:
My girlfriend on the other hand can't even hold it in one hand
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, that can't be a bad thing
Sorry couldn't resist above comment.... On a serious Note (pun intended), you will probably get used to the handset within a couple of days after seeing everything on a larger screen and then wonder how you got by all this time with smaller screens.
Just to be clear the screen size is 5.3 inches but the phone from top to bottom is 5.8 inches correct?
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
yeap that's correct. I had doubts Note would be too big for me but after i get used to the large screen now i'm really happy with dimensions. It's big but not bulky and heavy. It's actually very light and slim. I didn't know that galaxy tab 7" plus has phone capability on honeycomband os. I thought to myself after i learnt it today if 7" would be even better. But i checked the technical spesifications and learnt that it is twice heavy (360g) with lower cpu power (1.2 GHz) and wider chasis around screen. So i'm pretty happy with weight and dimensions for now. Just longing for ICS official release to take full benefit of the hardware and use tablet mode like HC software wise.
I was using S2 and when Note launched , I thought what the hell is this ?
thought it's too big! one day I was shopping with me mate, he after the Note and he got it.
putting my S2 aside his newly acquired Note, My S2 was like a toy and was amazed by how much the screen looks better than my S2 .
Then we go back to the shop to get myself a Note as well.
Its big, obviously but after 3 days of use, I found the size is perfect.
except for sometimes one hand operation is virtually impossible.
it is awkward at best as a one handed since you can't reach the far Corners or the other edge of the screen. but outside of that it's fantastic
I just received my white note literally 2 hours ago and when I opened the box and first saw it sitting there I said out loud "wow"
I played with it for an hour and then put it on charge, while i do some work I need to do
I have since made and received 3 or 4 calls and I am used to it already and I do not consider it too big. But I am a person who always considered phone screens to be too small for anything useful, and until this phone haven't been motivated to change my HTC Touch HD. yeah I know sort of out of the arc.
Also I was considering buying a tablet, purely for aeroplanes and trains as to use my 18.4 inch laptop in a plane etc is a bit inconvenient. (but needed for how I use it generally). now i shall no longer buy a tablet as even with my short play i can see it can do what i was considering a tablet for.
But you really need to go and hold one and try it for yourself as other peoples and my opinion is always going to be from our perspective, which may not suite yours
seeya Ian
p.s the call quality was superb just like a phone should be and as far as I remember better than all my other phones
Thanks for the opinion guys. I'm getting real excited about it now. Only a few more days before we can pre-order. I know the specs aren't the same but I hope the AT&T version performs just as good as the international.
I was like you and had some concerns about the size, but I ordered the international version anyway. I've had it for about a week now and I find the size to be a non factor.
I have small hands. I can still use the phone with one hand with some maneuvering, but I don't find it too distracting. Sometimes the bottom of my thumb joint hits the applications button by accident when I try to reach for something in the far left top corner but I learned to adjust to it.
I love the phone and its size. I got used to it very quickly and don't even think about it now. It fits fine in all my pant pockets. The screen is beautiful and makes reading, watching videos such a joy. I don't think I'll be able to go back to a phone with anything less than 5" now.
It's just a wonderful phone.
Had the Galaxy Note for 4 days and it gets smaller by the day.
I'm on my second day with the Note, and am still adjusting to the size. By no means do I regret getting it, but it does mean that I need to walk a bit more carefully with it in my front jeans pocket (yes, they're a rather slim pair). I wouldn't dare sit with it in that pocket.
This is the first phone that can legitimately replace 98+% of my need for a laptop on-the-go, so I'll gladly live with that sacrifice.
Was doubting the purchase until I first inserted the battery, oh the gorgeous screen!
Nope, its the perfect size (this is 3 months into owning one).
Best phone I've ever had. (and I've had quite a few)
Seems large at first, but now! Now I get my iphone friends asking to see videos on my phone-"cause it looks better"
Size you get used to!
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App
Yeah it was BIG the first time ... now everything else is just too small
lol
On a serious "note" .... The 5.3' Screen size is amazing. So much on screen real estate for browsing, gaming drawing. There is a reason Samsung is selling so many Galaxy Notes. I was just typing something on my iPhone 3GS (Which i use for iPod purposes in the car) and damn that screen felt like a calculator hahah ...
deeken said:
I was very excited about this phone when AT&T announced that they would be adding it to their lineup but now I'm starting to have some reservations because of its size. I've seen some videos on youtube comparing the size to the SGS II, Nexus, Skyrocket, etc. It looks freaken huge.
I know the HW wise the AT&T version and the European version are different. I don't care about that, I only care about the size. Does anyone find the phone to be too cumbersome or bulky?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can always check out the device when it stocks arrive, Initially I thought it was very big for a mobile phone but after testing out the dummy phone I found that its actually a perfect size for a mobile phone for either landscape or portrait use.. I use it mainly in portrait. Also going back to a smaller phone might be hard for me which Im going to do eventually.
hackerboi said:
Yeah it was BIG the first time ... now everything else is just too small
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 jajajaja
Galaxy Note it's not too big, the other phones are too small. Screen size on the phones have been increasing for years. I remember my Nokia with a 2" 176x220 screen, and thinking that you can really read some text there (previous phones had monocrome, 2 text lines screen). Then it went to 3.5" screens (the same as the iPhone, jajaja, it has the same size I had in 2006).
I remember the times when people said that 4" was too big, and now only the iPhone has a screen below 4" (and it will be solved on the iPhone 5). So 4.3-4.5" is normal for many people. 5.3 just makes it better, more glass and more pixels to work with. I can type in portrait mode without pressing 4 keys at the same time. Playing a 720p video on this screen impresses everyone.
Just my 2 cents as information for folks who are pondering to switch from the Galaxy Nexus to the Nexus 5:
I used my Gnex for 2 Years or so and were quite happily. After reading through the threads i was a little bit worried about the speakers and other things - but all in all i can say the Nexus 5 is worth the switch!
First impressions after 1 day playing around:
- it is fast as hell - even with all the same apps installed again!
- the camera is very, very ok! Not as good as the first published pictures promised but a lot better than the old one - especially in dark areas.
- the hdr mode is very cool!
- the loudness of the speakers is clearly louder than on the Gnex! And for my ears its not a "tin can sound"!
- the battery lasts longer than the gnex - even with its first loading!
- no clickering sounds from the power / volume buttons
- display is great, no angle problems - surfing is fun with that!
- UPDATE: Played around with the GPS (Sygic and GPStool) -> fixes are clearly faster than with the GNEX and navigation is nearly "realtime". The N5 doesnt get so hot as the GNEX too!
- UPDATE: Display colors: brighter and black is "more black" than on gnex!
Drawbacks so far:
- had some fc's when starting the camera
- i am too stupid to let the notification led do its job together with K9 mail, calendar and sms/hangouts
- I liked the center of weight better on the Gnex which was more on the bottom side than exact in the middle like Nexus 4, 5, G2 etc...
UPDATE: use light flow for the led - and everything is fine!
UPDATE: unfortunately my pics cannot back up my subjective display impressions
hope this infos are helping someone...
Good information for the small minority of people who still own a Galaxy Nexus and wanting to switch to a Nexus 5.
Worth a new thread? Probably not.
RedBlueGreen said:
Good information for the small minority of people who still own a Galaxy Nexus and wanting to switch to a Nexus 5.
Worth a new thread? Probably not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a bit harsh.
Small minority?
A lot of people who got a gnex signed up for 2 year contracts so it's around the time they'll be looking for a new handset.
I'm one of those and i know of a couple more who have already upgraded from gnex to N5
From GNex to Nexus 4 to Nexus 5
Here's my additional comments to those possibly thinking of upgrading - From GNex to Nexus 4 to Nexus 5
Users coming from GNex -
The difference between Gnex to Nexus 4 was amazing. Definitely worth the upgrade in every aspect. Users coming from the GNex to the Nexus 5 directly will notice a night and day difference in every aspect also. Speed speed speed!
Users coming from Nexus 4 -
I just received my Nexus 5 yesterday and am experiencing mixed emotions on whether it's worth the upgrade from the Nexus 4. First observations aren't overly impressive. I like the overall build of the n5 except for the camera ring sticking out. I've already read a few reports of it scratching/chipping simply from placing it on a table. I've never used cases on previous phones but this one might need something to protect it. However, cases take away from the look and feel of the phone so it's a tough decision.
I'm disappointed the screen edges aren't slightly rounded like the n4. It made swiping feel nice and comfortable and that's somewhat lost with the n5. My n5 'whites' seem washed out or 'yellowish/creamy' compared to the n4. "Same IPS screen", maybe just need to give this a day or so to settle in. It took a while between my Gnex and n4 to get used to. I don't know enough about screen technology to know if any of this is normal or not.
Possibly my biggest annoyance with the phone is on the bottom right back of the phone (on the speaker side) I seem to have a small raised surface, almost as if the back wasn't fully snapped in. Pressing down with force doesn't snap anything further into place though - this feels like a defect and something that'll annoy me if I keep the phone. I compared to a friend's and it's definitely less to almost not there on his. Not sure if this is the clip/glue/material or whatever is holding the device together that's causing the slight raised surface.
I can't comment on battery life to much yet. This morning I left the house on a full charge and got to the office at 78% (45 minute commute door to door - normal use, just reading G+ and reddit). On the n4 I'd be down to about 70% with the same use. Not much better but needs more testing. A big deciding factor will be whether the phone gets as hot as the n4 did from moderately heavy use. I haven't given the camera or speakers a test yet but will later on.
The s800 doesn't feel THAT much faster than the s4 pro when comparing side by side in the OS. Yes, it is (obviously), but only slightly during navigation and loading apps. There isn't enough of a WOW factor coming from the n4 here as I was hoping.
Overall, I'm going to give the phone a few days before deciding whether to keep it or return it.
bleets said:
That's a bit harsh.
Small minority?
A lot of people who got a gnex signed up for 2 year contracts so it's around the time they'll be looking for a new handset.
I'm one of those and i know of a couple more who have already upgraded from gnex to N5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Disregarding if its a small minority or not.. I personally don't think its worth a new thread because there is enough information on this phone on this forum.
It doesn't need a N5 VS Gnex thread to find out if the N5 is better then the Gnex.
Thats all I'm gonna post on this thread. I don't want to spam/ Off Topic any more.
Good to hear and thanks for the thread. There's plenty of GNex folks still coming off contract the next few months.
I should be getting mine tomorrow. I too am switching from a GNex. I have home, bills, kids, etc and don't buy each new phone that comes out. I really didn't see the need. My big rationale now is dumping VZN. The N5 should be a nice update for a carrier switch!
---------- Post added at 07:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:40 AM ----------
RedBlueGreen said:
Disregarding if its a small minority or not.. I personally don't think its worth a new thread because there is enough information on this phone on this forum.
It doesn't need a N5 VS Gnex thread to find out if the N5 is better then the Gnex.
Thats all I'm gonna post on this thread. I don't want to spam/ Off Topic any more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that's the case why read the thread let alone respond to it? It's senseless.
RedBlueGreen said:
Good information for the small minority of people who still own a Galaxy Nexus and wanting to switch to a Nexus 5.
Worth a new thread? Probably not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
everyone should switch phone every 2 years to notice the "upgrade"
Tomorrow should have many new Nexus 5 owners with the big November 8th deliver wave.
Haven't played around with it much, but I can vouch for the speed. I'm currently in the process of rooting the device with the Nexus 5 Multi-Tool, and it got me in a bootloop (yay).
Pretty impressed too
I too came from the Galaxy Nexus. Naked, the Nexus 5 is way more grippy but I still learned my lesson and bought a case for this phone. The GNEX would constantly slip out of my hands and pockets with no case. The speed increase is nuts. The GNEX was never a slouch but man this thing screams. Apps, webpages load almost as fast as my desktop PC with a SSD in it. I feel like I gain minutes a day doing the same things I used to do on my old phone.
The one thing that blew my mind with Android 4.4? I wake up almost daily before my alarm goes off. So when I woke up early I was fiddling with my phone and I noticed a alarm notification. Dismiss alarm 30 minutes before its set to go off. How amazing, normally I would wait until it went off to do my morning routine, because I'd forget to turn my recurring alarm back on. More minutes saved everyday...
I currently own a GNex and my N5 is sitting at the local UPS depot. Hopefully I will get it tonight. In any event I am excited to start using the the phone. My GNex has the volume bug and so I cannot have conversations longer than 5 minutes without losing the ability to hear the other person. In addition, my battery life has become terrible and the screen is degenerating (lots of burn in). Not that the screen was of the greatest quality to begin with, but I can definitely see the difference with age.
In any event I will post my comparison when I receive my new phone.
Agree on the speed difference. Night and day - even versus an over clocked GNex. Chrome now actually works well as it should.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 4
I owned a GNEX for a little bit a few years back and what a terrible phone that was. The screen was crap, the camera was one of the worst I have seen and the battery life.....OH THE BATTERY LIFE!
Going to an N4 from the GNEX might put you into a small acoma but going from the GNEX to the N5, let's just say be sure to breath slowly and have someone near you who can call you an ambulance if you start feeling chest pains.
Coming from the Galaxy Nexus myself, Chrome and its stupid, stupid "font boosting" is my biggest gripe with the Nexus 5. Can't wait for the AOSP Browser at least until an option (I would be happy with a chrome://flag...) arrives. But I'm waiting for 1,5 years now and still this simple option isn't there.
Enough Chrome rant, I loved my Galaxy Nexus but so far I've not looked back. The Nexus 5 is a great phone and it addresses my biggest problems with the Galaxy Nexus: speaker loudness and GPS accuracy and speed. My GPS problems were only minor but now I see that it can be much better. Also I can finally hear the navigation announcements AND listen to the radio!
I've been searching for gnex vs nex 5 comparisons and finding none. I'm glad to hear that battery life and speaker volume aren't things that I have to worry about.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
RedBlueGreen said:
Good information for the small minority of people who still own a Galaxy Nexus and wanting to switch to a Nexus 5.
Worth a new thread? Probably not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Spamming troll
Don't like it don't read it. Useless post in a good thread.
Thanks OP!
rokfor2000 said:
Spamming troll
Don't like it don't read it. Useless post in a good thread.
Thanks OP!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think their only point was, if you start having comparison threads, where does it end?
But I like reading threads like this, cause I am also in teh 2 year upgrade club. I am coming from the HTC Sensation, very similar specs to the GNex, and I am loving life on the 5.
I also think that is the big split, on Nexus 5 performance on this forum. Some people are comparing it to a 2 month old phone, for their perception. While others are comparing it to a 2+ year old phone. I can imagine if I had the G2 or S4 and bought the Nexus 5, I wouldn't be nearly as impressed as I am coming from a dual core 768 MB of Ram phone.
Thanks for the comparison! I'm coming from a Gnex as well. The N5 is sitting in my desk drawer right now, I hope to sneak out at lunch and get a sim card for it. My biggest concern is the screen. I love the GN's screen and I'm not sure I'm ready for a screen where the blacks aren't black. I loved the GN, it's a great phone. We'll see tonight how I feel about the switch.
Blown 89 said:
Thanks for the comparison! I'm coming from a Gnex as well. The N5 is sitting in my desk drawer right now, I hope to sneak out at lunch and get a sim card for it. My biggest concern is the screen. I love the GN's screen and I'm not sure I'm ready for a screen where the blacks aren't black. I loved the GN, it's a great phone. We'll see tonight how I feel about the switch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You serious about the GNEX screen or you trolling?
Zandeer said:
I think their only point was, if you start having comparison threads, where does it end?
But I like reading threads like this, cause I am also in teh 2 year upgrade club. I am coming from the HTC Sensation, very similar specs to the GNex, and I am loving life on the 5.
I also think that is the big split, on Nexus 5 performance on this forum. Some people are comparing it to a 2 month old phone, for their perception. While others are comparing it to a 2+ year old phone. I can imagine if I had the G2 or S4 and bought the Nexus 5, I wouldn't be nearly as impressed as I am coming from a dual core 768 MB of Ram phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The point is that Mr. Big Shot doesn't have GNex and doesn't care if anyone else will find it useful, but has to say something anyway. I believe that's called trolling. It was useless spam in context of this thread. It's not for him to decide if the thread is worth it or not (once again well done OP and BIG Thanks!).
There was number of threads comparing it to N4 and G2 but non to GNex. If you ask me this one is more useful than comparison to N4 (locked in 2 year contract as well). Other people read it. G2 vs Nexus5 on the other hand makes sense as it help you choose the right phone for you now.
Other comparison threads mention bad/quiet speaker on Nexus5. It made me worried because Gnex was really quiet. But this one say that it's way better than GNex which gives me a reference point and I know I can live with it
Hey guys, so I'm sitting on my $150 promo code while I consider dumping my Note 3 for a Moto X. Good idea?
I also have a couple questions. Do the active notifications keep breathing until you attend to them or does it stop breathing after a while? I heavily rely on the notification light on my Note 3 so I hope it keeps breathing.
My other question....I am on at&t. Can I root the phone?
Thanks!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
WizeGuyDezignz said:
Hey guys, so I'm sitting on my $150 promo code while I consider dumping my Note 3 for a Moto X. Good idea?
I also have a couple questions. Do the active notifications keep breathing until you attend to them or does it stop breathing after a while? I heavily rely on the notification light on my Note 3 so I hope it keeps breathing.
My other question....I am on at&t. Can I root the phone?
Thanks!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you need to ask yourself what dont you like about the Note 3. Also, why not just go and try the phone at any AT&T store?
As for rooting, yes, an AT&T phone can be rooted (I have the AT&T model myself) and yes, the notification keeps breathing until you either a. Unlock the phone, b. read the notification or c. dismiss it
anirudh412 said:
As for rooting, yes, an AT&T phone can be rooted (I have the AT&T model myself) and yes, the notification keeps breathing until you either a. Unlock the phone, b. read the notification or c. dismiss it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is very difficult to root. Pretty complicated and not for any but the most experienced, IMO.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
anirudh412 said:
I think you need to ask yourself what dont you like about the Note 3. Also, why not just go and try the phone at any AT&T store?
As for rooting, yes, an AT&T phone can be rooted (I have the AT&T model myself) and yes, the notification keeps breathing until you either a. Unlock the phone, b. read the notification or c. dismiss it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the input. The size of the Note 3 bugs me a little bit and the horrible wifi reception are my two main reasons. I went and played with the Moto X today and I was digging it.
Cubfan99 said:
It is very difficult to root. Pretty complicated and not for any but the most experienced, IMO.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah? How hard are we talking? I'm a pretty seasoned android user. Can you link me to the process?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
WizeGuyDezignz said:
Thanks for the input. The size of the Note 3 bugs me a little bit and the horrible wifi reception are my two main reasons. I went and played with the Moto X today and I was digging it.
Oh yeah? How hard are we talking? I'm a pretty seasoned android user. Can you link me to the process?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its in the original android development. There are two posts. One is for 4.2.2 and the most recent 4.4.
There is a 3rd one but your phone will probably not be on 4.1.
It is not hard.....I don't know squat and was able to nail it. Just follow the instructions to a T and you'll he fine.
Sent from my XT1058 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
WizeGuyDezignz said:
Hey guys, so I'm sitting on my $150 promo code while I consider dumping my Note 3 for a Moto X. Good idea?
I also have a couple questions. Do the active notifications keep breathing until you attend to them or does it stop breathing after a while? I heavily rely on the notification light on my Note 3 so I hope it keeps breathing.
My other question....I am on at&t. Can I root the phone?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My wife has a note and I have an X. My first inclination is to say they are vastly different phones. I assume you are looking at the overall experience and not so much the cost of the phone.
If the losing the larger screen isn't a deal-breaker for you, then it's not a bad move as long as you are OK with what you are giving up. For multimedia, streaming and all the S-pen "jazz" it's a great device, it really is. I tend to think of the X a little more like a workhorse. Day in and day out it just keeps knocking it out of the park for normal, everyday tasks. Lesser specs, yes, but with all the optimizations it is smooth as butter across the board. In all the years I've had smartphones, I've *never* had one I trust to get me through the day until now (I work until midnight some times and don't always have convenient access to a charger).
I think you'll love the notifications on the X. They keep going as long as you have unaddressed notifications. From that screen you can dismiss them, jump straight into the app the notification is from or just unlock the phone. It's fantastic for dealing with a multitude of work emails, or other things like that.
Cubfan99 said:
It is very difficult to root. Pretty complicated and not for any but the most experienced, IMO.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually all it needs you to do, is go through all pages in the thread. Every single problem has been addressed. And if that's still too complicated, one can always stay on 4.2.2 (Camera OTA) and use the One Click RockMyMoto
I recently sold my Note 3 to pick up a Moto X. I ended up getting a white TMO 16GB Moto X on Cyber Monday that I've had since last Wed. The primary reason that I wanted to get rid of the Note 3 was the overall size. I'm a pretty big dude (6'5 280) so I've got pretty large hands and it still was too much phone to deal with on a daily basis. My hand would literally start hurting/cramping and having a burning sensation all through my knuckles and that gradually worked it's way down my arm. So I got fed up and decided to get rid of it on Craigslist. I will say that the screen quality, expandable storage and battery life on the N3 are the primary things that I missed initially. What I don't miss is the fire burning in my hand and forearm that I felt everyday using it.
So now that I've had my Moto X for a few days now I can say without any doubt that I made the right decision to switch. The ice storm here in Dallas has afforded me the opportunity to have three solid days of quality time with this awesome phone.
Here are some specific points:
The in hand feel is fantastic and I haven't experienced any discomfort at all. The build quality and fit and finish are top notch as well. The N3 just feels cheap and fragile compared to it. It also has a great weight to it that makes it feel very solid. I'm not scared to drop this phone and have it shatter into a million pieces. Even still I ended up ordering a case for it to preserve its pristine condition.
I will definitely say that the difference in screen resolution isn't nearly as noticeable as I thought that it was going to be. The screen on the Moto X is very sharp an vibrant while being extremely responsive. Very deep blacks and somewhat warm whites. The colors absolutely pop with vivid contrast. I can't complain at all about the screen.
The battery life on the N3 was simply insane. The best screen on time that I ever got was right at 8hrs. It was a beast when it came to battery life. That being said I can pull down 5:30-6hrs screen on time with my Moto X. So I can definitely notice a difference but it's not a deal breaker for me. I can live with the battery life that I'm getting with the Moto X. Plus it charges crazy fast.
Expandable memory is probably the biggest issue that I've had. I opted for the 16GB version with the intent of utilizing the 200GBs of cloud storage that I have at my disposal. I've also stopped keeping music stored on my device and use streaming services like Play Music All Access, Spotify and Google Drive via the Beat app. It's been mostly painless but there was some adjusting initially. I had a 32GB N3 with a 64GB SD which is a ton of local storage. Believe it or not I just had to slightly adjust what apps and games to install instead of just installing everything. It has actually had the added bonus of streamlining and focusing my gaming attention. Now I'm having to play a game and beat it to get to the next one. I tend to try and look at the positive side of things.
Now lets get to the best aspect of the Moto X and that's the Motorola software tweaks onboard. I don't know how I ever lived without Active Notifications. It's such an elegant and logical way to handle notifications that it should just be baked into Android. I love that I can just glance over to see quickly what it is without touching my device. Then if I want to get more info I can just press the icon and it displays more detail. Then if I want to address it just swipe up to jump directly respond to it. Simply fantastic! I also like that if I just want to see the time or use my device it knows that I've picked it up and lights up the Active Notifications screen.
I've only recently started using Moto Assist so I can't comment in depth but I can say that its been very useful thus far.
Always listening is also insanely awesome and more useful than I'd imagined. I've never really used voice controls on a phone before simply because they've never been very intuitive or useful. What the Moto X has to offer is completely different beast all together. I've started using it more lately and its really amazing software to have at your disposal. I love that if I want to do a Google search or play some music or respond to a text I can hands free with there simple words... Ok Google Now.
I know... I know, TL; DR.
Bottom Line:
The Moto X is an amazing device out the box and only continually gets better and more useful the more you use it. I don't miss my Note 3 at all. Not even a little bit and now look back on it and think how I ever went without these features. I highly recommend this device and love that I've already got Kit Kat running on it. It makes me excited to see what's next as far as updates and tweaks are concerned.
I hope this somewhat helps someone who is on the fence.
Sent from my XT1053 using xda app-developers app
I moved to the Moto X from the Note 3, no regrets at all. I hated Touchwiz. I do miss the SD slot a bit, but I'll live. The active notifications make up for it though, I freaking love them.
tnt118 said:
My wife has a note and I have an X. My first inclination is to say they are vastly different phones. I assume you are looking at the overall experience and not so much the cost of the phone.
If the losing the larger screen isn't a deal-breaker for you, then it's not a bad move as long as you are OK with what you are giving up. For multimedia, streaming and all the S-pen "jazz" it's a great device, it really is. I tend to think of the X a little more like a workhorse. Day in and day out it just keeps knocking it out of the park for normal, everyday tasks. Lesser specs, yes, but with all the optimizations it is smooth as butter across the board. In all the years I've had smartphones, I've *never* had one I trust to get me through the day until now (I work until midnight some times and don't always have convenient access to a charger).
I think you'll love the notifications on the X. They keep going as long as you have unaddressed notifications. From that screen you can dismiss them, jump straight into the app the notification is from or just unlock the phone. It's fantastic for dealing with a multitude of work emails, or other things like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for the feedback! It's funny because the active notifications are the #1 thing that I'm most excited about.
For some reason I'm a notification junkie. I really rely on them to the point where I won't even consider a phone without at least an led notification light. As a matter of fact, I passed on the HTC One because you simply can barely see that tiny pinhole light that it has.
calmlydefyinglogic said:
I recently sold my Note 3 to pick up a Moto X. I ended up getting a white TMO 16GB Moto X on Cyber Monday that I've had since last Wed. The primary reason that I wanted to get rid of the Note 3 was the overall size. I'm a pretty big dude (6'5 280) so I've got pretty large hands and it still was too much phone to deal with on a daily basis. My hand would literally start hurting/cramping and having a burning sensation all through my knuckles and that gradually worked it's way down my arm. So I got fed up and decided to get rid of it on Craigslist. I will say that the screen quality, expandable storage and battery life on the N3 are the primary things that I missed initially. What I don't miss is the fire burning in my hand and forearm that I felt everyday using it.
So now that I've had my Moto X for a few days now I can say without any doubt that I made the right decision to switch. The ice storm here in Dallas has afforded me the opportunity to have three solid days of quality time with this awesome phone.
Here are some specific points:
The in hand feel is fantastic and I haven't experienced any discomfort at all. The build quality and fit and finish are top notch as well. The N3 just feels cheap and fragile compared to it. It also has a great weight to it that makes it feel very solid. I'm not scared to drop this phone and have it shatter into a million pieces. Even still I ended up ordering a case for it to preserve its pristine condition.
I will definitely say that the difference in screen resolution isn't nearly as noticeable as I thought that it was going to be. The screen on the Moto X is very sharp an vibrant while being extremely responsive. Very deep blacks and somewhat warm whites. The colors absolutely pop with vivid contrast. I can't complain at all about the screen.
The battery life on the N3 was simply insane. The best screen on time that I ever got was right at 8hrs. It was a beast when it came to battery life. That being said I can pull down 5:30-6hrs screen on time with my Moto X. So I can definitely notice a difference but it's not a deal breaker for me. I can live with the battery life that I'm getting with the Moto X. Plus it charges crazy fast.
Expandable memory is probably the biggest issue that I've had. I opted for the 16GB version with the intent of utilizing the 200GBs of cloud storage that I have at my disposal. I've also stopped keeping music stored on my device and use streaming services like Play Music All Access, Spotify and Google Drive via the Beat app. It's been mostly painless but there was some adjusting initially. I had a 32GB N3 with a 64GB SD which is a ton of local storage. Believe it or not I just had to slightly adjust what apps and games to install instead of just installing everything. It has actually had the added bonus of streamlining and focusing my gaming attention. Now I'm having to play a game and beat it to get to the next one. I tend to try and look at the positive side of things.
Now lets get to the best aspect of the Moto X and that's the Motorola software tweaks onboard. I don't know how I ever lived without Active Notifications. It's such an elegant and logical way to handle notifications that it should just be baked into Android. I love that I can just glance over to see quickly what it is without touching my device. Then if I want to get more info I can just press the icon and it displays more detail. Then if I want to address it just swipe up to jump directly respond to it. Simply fantastic! I also like that if I just want to see the time or use my device it knows that I've picked it up and lights up the Active Notifications screen.
I've only recently started using Moto Assist so I can't comment in depth but I can say that its been very useful thus far.
Always listening is also insanely awesome and more useful than I'd imagined. I've never really used voice controls on a phone before simply because they've never been very intuitive or useful. What the Moto X has to offer is completely different beast all together. I've started using it more lately and its really amazing software to have at your disposal. I love that if I want to do a Google search or play some music or respond to a text I can hands free with there simple words... Ok Google Now.
I know... I know, TL; DR.
Bottom Line:
The Moto X is an amazing device out the box and only continually gets better and more useful the more you use it. I don't miss my Note 3 at all. Not even a little bit and now look back on it and think how I ever went without these features. I highly recommend this device and love that I've already got Kit Kat running on it. It makes me excited to see what's next as far as updates and tweaks are concerned.
I hope this somewhat helps someone who is on the fence.
Sent from my XT1053 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for the detailed info! It was very helpful. Yeah I think I'm really ready for a smaller phone that I can use one handed and feels comfortable in the hand.
Like you said, I'm sure I'll miss the battery life of the Note 3, but I will be ok if I can get 4-5 hours of screen on time.
I'm very curious to see if I will miss any of the Touchwiz features or stock apps. I've owned mostly Samsung phones in the past so it will be interesting to see how well or if I will want to adjust.
I am honestly keeping my expectations very realistic and subdued. I am thinking of this as a 30 day test and rental at worst. I checked and I guess California gets a 30 day return policy rather than the normal 14 day policy which is odd, but I will take it lol.
I see 3 possible conclusions here:
1. I love the phone enough to make it a daily driver and dump my Note 3 and probably make a little money in the process since I got the Moto X for $350.
2. I like the phone enough to keep it but I still prefer my Note 3 as my daily driver and keep the Moto X as a backup phone.
3. I like the phone or just think it's ok but can't find a reason to even keep it as a backup and I return it for a full refund.
As you can see it's no risk for me and a win-win situation.
Thanks again for the input!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Hey guys,
So today was preorder day for the Oneplus one. I have an order in for both the Nexus 6 and a One Plus. I have not really decided which one I will keep. If I keep the Nexus, I will probably give the One plus to my little sister for her birthday (because she is still rocking an iPhone 4s).
I know all the specs of the two phones and there are certain details about the N6 I like over the OPO. For instance I like the curved screen on the N6 (like on the MotoX) and the wireless charging and the better camera. Both my brothers have OPO's and they love them.
But the price difference is HUGE! 350 vs 700. (Though to be fair I still like that I bought both of them for about the same price as a 128gig iPhone 6+.
Anyway, I was wondering if there was anyone out there that has gotten their N6 and also has a OPO that has any opinions on the matter.
Cheers!
CowboyNick
CowboyNick13 said:
Hey guys,
So today was preorder day for the Oneplus one. I have an order in for both the Nexus 6 and a One Plus. I have not really decided which one I will keep. If I keep the Nexus, I will probably give the One plus to my little sister for her birthday (because she is still rocking an iPhone 4s).
I know all the specs of the two phones and there are certain details about the N6 I like over the OPO. For instance I like the curved screen on the N6 (like on the MotoX) and the wireless charging and the better camera. Both my brothers have OPO's and they love them.
But the price difference is HUGE! 350 vs 700. (Though to be fair I still like that I bought both of them for about the same price as a 128gig iPhone 6+.
Anyway, I was wondering if there was anyone out there that has gotten their N6 and also has a OPO that has any opinions on the matter.
Cheers!
CowboyNick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I owned the OnePlus One. Price is awesome for the specs, but CM11S (At least 38R, the last verison I had before I sold it) is so buggy it's a deal breaker for me.
I also owned a OnePlus One. I was not impressed with the screen on it and the bugginess of CM11s. I tried swapping ROMs but overall the phone just didn't feel as solid as my Nexus 5. I ended up selling it and going back to my Nexus 5 until the Nexus 6 came out. After playing with a display Nexus 6 at T-Mobile yesterday, I think I'm going to pick one up. Keep in mind that it feels SIGNIFICANTLY bigger in hand than the OnePlus One, don't let anyone try and tell you otherwise. But if you think you can deal with the size, the Nexus 6 is a much better phone, in my opinion.
I hope to find out by 12\2 when my Cloud White 32gb is set to arrive From Motorola. I have been using a OnePlus One since July and to be honest it has been a great phone. Maybe I got lucky but I have bought and sold a Nexus 5, Note 3, Moto X 2013, Sony Z3 Compact and most recently a G3. Oneplus is just a great overall package. I have no reason to switch to the Nexus 6 but I just couldn't resist and my only hope is that battery life is better than the Nexus 5 as that really was the only downside of owning it.
radeon962 said:
I hope to find out by 12\2 when my Cloud White 32gb is set to arrive From Motorola. I have been using a OnePlus One since July and to be honest it has been a great phone. Maybe I got lucky but I have bought and sold a Nexus 5, Note 3, Moto X 2013, Sony Z3 Compact and most recently a G3. Oneplus is just a great overall package. I have no reason to switch to the Nexus 6 but I just couldn't resist and my only hope is that battery life is better than the Nexus 5 as that really was the only downside of owning it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, please let me know when you get the Nexus. Mine has not come yet, and my One plus wont be here for another four weeks, so If I like the N6 I think ill just cancel my OPO pre order.
Have both phones. 44S is solid stable. Oneplus has better battery life. The 6 is a great phone, just different. Still getting used to the size. I'm having a wifi issue with the nexus that is ticking me off. The phone shows connected, but there is major lag on the device navigating to pages. Turning it off and the pages come up as fast as you can click them on LTE. Don't have issues with any other device in the house. Toggling WiFi can help, bit the issue returns...
I have all three(including the Note 4) and if you want the best purchase for your money then go with the OnePlus One. It has the best battery life, the best performance at the moment since it's still on KitKat, and I feel I don't get significantly better experience on the Note 4 and Nexus 6 than the One. CM11 is a little buggy every update fixes bugs and Cyanogen Mod is dedicated to bringing Lollipop to the One in three months. Personally, I think the OnePlus One is the best phone you can get in 2014 at a very affordable price.
jairusz said:
I have all three(including the Note 4) and if you want the best purchase for your money then go with the OnePlus One. It has the best battery life, the best performance at the moment since it's still on KitKat, and I feel I don't get significantly better experience on the Note 4 and Nexus 6 than the One. CM11 is a little buggy every update fixes bugs and Cyanogen Mod is dedicated to bringing Lollipop to the One in three months. Personally, I think the OnePlus One is the best phone you can get in 2014 at a very affordable price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bringing lollipop and a bunch of new bugs... CM was better when it was non caf
CowboyNick13 said:
Hey guys,
So today was preorder day for the Oneplus one. I have an order in for both the Nexus 6 and a One Plus. I have not really decided which one I will keep. If I keep the Nexus, I will probably give the One plus to my little sister for her birthday (because she is still rocking an iPhone 4s).
I know all the specs of the two phones and there are certain details about the N6 I like over the OPO. For instance I like the curved screen on the N6 (like on the MotoX) and the wireless charging and the better camera. Both my brothers have OPO's and they love them.
But the price difference is HUGE! 350 vs 700. (Though to be fair I still like that I bought both of them for about the same price as a 128gig iPhone 6+.
Anyway, I was wondering if there was anyone out there that has gotten their N6 and also has a OPO that has any opinions on the matter.
Cheers!
CowboyNick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The screen on the N6 is NOT curved, just the back. Common misconception.
jairusz said:
I have all three(including the Note 4) and if you want the best purchase for your money then go with the OnePlus One. It has the best battery life, the best performance at the moment since it's still on KitKat, and I feel I don't get significantly better experience on the Note 4 and Nexus 6 than the One. CM11 is a little buggy every update fixes bugs and Cyanogen Mod is dedicated to bringing Lollipop to the One in three months. Personally, I think the OnePlus One is the best phone you can get in 2014 at a very affordable price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That doesnt even apply to people on sprint or verizon.
Sold my OnePlus and note 3 for Nexus 6 and not looking back. Both were great phones with great batteries but I like having the latest greatest phone.
Ian B
OnePlus wins hands down but I have one caution, if you're on T-Mobile there is no band 2 or 12 support. If the OnePlus had that I wouldn't have even considered a new phone. Other than that the on plus is a awesome phone.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
I feel that the OPO has a better battery life as well. But Turbo Charging... can't live without that now. It just charges so fast and impressive.
Well if you like the One + camera this has the same sensor with OIS which is good. The IMX214 is a good sensor so hopefully we can get devs to have the software follow.
Source:
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus+6+Teardown/32877
zephiK said:
I feel that the OPO has a better battery life as well. But Turbo Charging... can't live without that now. It just charges so fast and impressive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah but if you don't need to charge then the turbo charger isn't as important. Of I find myself needing a little boost for good measure on the one plus a charge while I shower before going out for the night always gets me enough juice and then some.
Man itd be nice if the one plus had those bands I need.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Nexus 6 VS One Plus One
Hey Guys,
So here goes my story...
I ordered my One Plus (during the preorder with no Invite) maybe a week after I ordered my Nexus 6 and got the OPO two days before my Nexus arrived. However, at that time I refrained from opening the OPO because I didn't want to lose the resale value of the OPO. In the end the chrome N on the back of the Nexus fell of and I decided to open the OPO to compare the two. I decided to keep the OPO and return the Nexus, below are some of the reasons I made that choice.
I opened the Nexus 6 and was stunned by the phone. Watching the videos and reading reviews you get a sense of the size of the phone, but never having held it before this I was not really sure what to expect. This phone is HUGE. I was stunned by the build quality and the size. I loved the curved edges of the screen and the resolution was amazing. I was okay with the size because it could still fit in my (skinny) jeans pockets, but I was not in love with it. I was originally gunning for the Cloud white, but couldn't get my hands on it. Got the Midnight Blue in 64 gig and ended up loving the color. I loved the color until I touched the back of the phone and realized that my fingerprints got everywhere. Seriously, this phone is a smudge magnet. However, since I am not a fan of cases, this was something I could live with.
Similarly opening the box of the One Plus One I was very impressed. The packaging was very nicely done. I know it does not have any impact on how the phone is used, but it is a very nice presentation that I appreciated none the less. The phone itself has very nice build quality. It does not have as many curves and subtleties as the Nexus, but I like the way it feels in my hand and equals the 6 in quality, even if it is a simpler design.
I used the Nexus 6 for three weeks and am on my sixth day with the One Plus. Here are my impressions of the devices after that period mainly focusing on what stands out during MY use of them.
Ergonomics:
As far as the feel of the Nexus 6 is concerned at first I was worried about how big it was. I was coming from a 4 inch screen of the iPhone 5 and was a bit scared about how it was going to work. After three weeks I was no longer worried about it. I have gotten used to it. However, I was not sold on the 6 inch screen. It was never 100 percent comfortable for me to use and I always had to use two hands. I have hands on the smaller size, but not freakishly small, however I was always scared to use it one handed, even just opening up my twitter feed and scrolling through gave pause because I was afraid to drop it and crack that beautiful screen. One thing that I found particularly difficult was texting. If I were in bed with the phone above my head, it was so hard to text because the screen was so wide. My fingers did not have enough range of motion to hold the phone in a secure way and also reach the outer edges of the screen to reach letters such as A or L, O and P. It was a weird experience that I remedied by installing the Swype keyboard app and condensed the keyboard to one side of the screen.
Using the One Plus One immediately felt more comfortable. It seems to fit my hand better and I am a huge fan of the “sandstone” texture of the back. I can use it more easily with one hand and am able to text using one hand as well.
Screen and Media Viewing Experience:
As for that Nexus 6 screen. What can I say. It is beautiful. The colors are great and its sharp as a tack. I loved watching videos on it and reading kindle books on it. It was noticeably sharper than the OPO's 1080p screen. It's not a day and night difference, and if the two weren't sitting next to each other on the table, I probably would not have noticed anything. But when the two phones are next to each other you can tell which one has a higher resolution display. I used the Nexus to watch a lot of youtube videos and loved the experience. With the front firing speakers, this was a great media consumption device. I loved being able to use this instead of my computer or tablet to watch videos and read books or news articles. Six inches was a great size to view everything on.
The One Plus One also has a great screen. The colors are accurate and it is very pleasing to look at. I can watch youtube videos here also, however the overall experience is not as nice because the speakers are not forward firing. Though they have great volume, the speakers are not as good to use as the Nexus simply because of their orientation. With this phone I am more predisposed to watch videos on my tablet or TV. Reading is a very similar experience and I have no problem reading for more than an hour on either device.
Usability:
This section is where the One Plus really starts to pull away. For those who don’t remember the specs (lets be real though, I’m just putting them here so we can all revel at the fact that both of these phones have more power than my current work computer) the Nexus 6 sports the new quad-core Snapdragon 805 clocked at 2.7 GHz with 3 gigs of ram while the One Plus One has the one generation older quad-core 801 chip clocked at 2.5 GHz with the same amount of ram. For reference my “vintage” 2012 Macbook Air has a 2GHz i5 intel chip with 4 gigs of ram.
I don’t know if I had a bad Nexus (or a spectacularly good One Plus), but it always felt like the Nexus was taking a tenth of a second more to think about the things it wanted to do. The One Plus, on the other hand feels zippier in everything I do. I don’t do crazy things on the phones. I twitter and Facebook and tinder a lot, but just opening these apps seemed to take a fraction of a second longer on the Nexus 6. If that were the only issue, then it would be less of a deal breaker than an annoyance, but I felt (at least on my particular phone) that the Nexus – and maybe Lollipop - had stability issues. Every now and then – maybe three times a week – the phone would do something weird which would require a restart to remedy. For instance on the last day I had the phone I was trying to open the phone app which is in my Dock on the very bottom of the screen. However, every time I pressed the app it would open something else that was in my dock instead. So instead of opening the phone, it would open up the messaging app or the email app. It happened like ten times in a row after I would get into the wrong app and press the home button. It required a complete reboot, then it would function normally. It was a weird thing that happened intermittently. However, It required a reboot a few times a week (this is what leads me to believe that maybe I had a defective unit?)
The One Plus, so far, has not had any stability issues (maybe because Kit Kat is much more mature than Lollipop). It is great and feels significantly faster than the Nexus. Everything I want it to do it does on command without hesitation. I think this more than anything else is the reason I decided to keep the One Plus instead of the Nexus, it just feels better to use.
One thing that I did like better about the Nexus (and even my old iphone) was the scrolling ability. The One Plus one just does not have as good scrolling in apps such as facebook or twitter. The Nexus has great sensitivity and response. The One Plus feels like it’s a generation behind with its scrolling capabilities.
I also liked Lollipop over Cyanogen Mod Kit Kat because 5.0 has beautiful themes. Material Design is something that I already miss going to the One Plus and I cant wait for the 5.0 Cyanogen Mod update. The one feature I really miss is lock screen notifications. I had that on my iPhone and on the Nexus, but will have to wait for 5.0 on the One Plus.
Camera:
Another area that was very important to me was the Camera. I am not a professional photographer, but I love taking nice pictures. I am a DSLR guy and used to try to tote mine around whenever I could. However, now that camera phones have gotten so good I have been doing so less and less, just using my phone camera for the majority of my day to day shooting. The iPhone 5 camera was great for me. I used it all the time (for snapchat and Instagram) and loved the low light shooting characteristics.
The Nexus 6 camera was great. It was sharp and I loved that it shot video in 4k, making for great impromptu jam session with my brother. When the light was good the camera produced sharp and vibrant images. It was great for anything I wanted to snapchat or Instagram. and even candid’s that I wanted for later, which I what I usually use my phone camera for. However, lowlight shooting was awful. I couldn’t get lowlight images at all. Living in NYC there are streetlights everywhere, but even in that environment I was not able to get any good nighttime shots that are even useable for snapchat (for which I have very low critera). Even compared to my two year old iPhone, it was awful. The front facing camera was doubly bad. Everything that I took with the front facing 2mp camera was poorly exposed and very soft. There was no definition to the shots and it was very splotchy.
Having the same sensor (but without optical image stabilization) I was not holding out much hope for the One Plus One. However I was pleasantly surprised with its low light shooting capabilities. In places where the Nexus was just unable to get any kind of image (often producing just a black shot with different intensities of light) I was able to get useable shots with the One Plus. The front facing camera is ten times better than the Nexus 6 camera.
Battery Life:
Here is another place that the One Plus pulls away from the Nexus. The battery life on the One Plus is phenomenal. One reason I got rid of my old iphone was that the battery life was down to four hours. I was literally carrying around a charger with me wherever I went because it wouldn’t last half a day. Now the OPO will last me 1.5 days of regular use. For me regular use is about 3.5 hours of screen on time. I will last from 7 am until about noon the next day. This is amazing battery life. I never have to worry about it. With the Nexus I would get about 2.75 hours of screen on time. This translated to a day of use. If I unplugged my phone at 7 am, I would be at 5 percent battery around 10:30 pm. Normally this would be okay, unless I was going out with my friends at night and had to stay out past midnight (which I normally do on weekends). With turbo-charging this was largely a non-issue. However, psychologically I don’t really like plugging in my phone for fifteen minutes and then unplugging when the batter is not full. I hate the feeling that I am ruining the battery (even if that’s not how batteries work anymore…). Personally having a great battery like the One Plus One is a huge win and is one thing I don’t have to worry about. It makes my life less stressful (I understand that this is a side affect of being too dependent on technology and am working to fix this in myself, haha).
Conclusion:
All in all I liked the Nexus 6. It was a good “pocket internet device” however as something that I want to use every day, I was not in love with it. And thus, comes the OPO trump card. Its price. If I was in love with the Nexus I would have had no problem spending $771 on the phone. However, I was not in love with it, so paying that much for a phone I didn’t love was out of the question. Futhremore, the thought of paying more than double the price of the One Plus One ($361) which I liked better was Ludacris. So in the end it was an easy choice.
I tried to like the Nexus 6. I did love the screen and the experience I had while I was watching youtube. I love material design and lock screen notifications. I loved being able to talk to the phone (“OK Google”) when the screen was off. In the end, however, it fell short. The One Plus One is a great phone and I am smitten with it. It offers everything I want for a very low price and that is why I am keeping it.
Sorry for that long rant, and hope some of you stick around to read the whole thing.
Cheers,
CBN
CowboyNick13 said:
Hey Guys,
So here goes my story...
I ordered my One Plus (during the preorder with no Invite) maybe a week after I ordered my Nexus 6 and got the OPO two days before my Nexus arrived. However, at that time I refrained from opening the OPO because I didn't want to lose the resale value of the OPO. In the end the chrome N on the back of the Nexus fell of and I decided to open the OPO to compare the two. I decided to keep the OPO and return the Nexus, below are some of the reasons I made that choice.
I opened the Nexus 6 and was stunned by the phone. Watching the videos and reading reviews you get a sense of the size of the phone, but never having held it before this I was not really sure what to expect. This phone is HUGE. I was stunned by the build quality and the size. I loved the curved edges of the screen and the resolution was amazing. I was okay with the size because it could still fit in my (skinny) jeans pockets, but I was not in love with it. I was originally gunning for the Cloud white, but couldn't get my hands on it. Got the Midnight Blue in 64 gig and ended up loving the color. I loved the color until I touched the back of the phone and realized that my fingerprints got everywhere. Seriously, this phone is a smudge magnet. However, since I am not a fan of cases, this was something I could live with.
Similarly opening the box of the One Plus One I was very impressed. The packaging was very nicely done. I know it does not have any impact on how the phone is used, but it is a very nice presentation that I appreciated none the less. The phone itself has very nice build quality. It does not have as many curves and subtleties as the Nexus, but I like the way it feels in my hand and equals the 6 in quality, even if it is a simpler design.
I used the Nexus 6 for three weeks and am on my sixth day with the One Plus. Here are my impressions of the devices after that period mainly focusing on what stands out during MY use of them.
Ergonomics:
As far as the feel of the Nexus 6 is concerned at first I was worried about how big it was. I was coming from a 4 inch screen of the iPhone 5 and was a bit scared about how it was going to work. After three weeks I was no longer worried about it. I have gotten used to it. However, I was not sold on the 6 inch screen. It was never 100 percent comfortable for me to use and I always had to use two hands. I have hands on the smaller size, but not freakishly small, however I was always scared to use it one handed, even just opening up my twitter feed and scrolling through gave pause because I was afraid to drop it and crack that beautiful screen. One thing that I found particularly difficult was texting. If I were in bed with the phone above my head, it was so hard to text because the screen was so wide. My fingers did not have enough range of motion to hold the phone in a secure way and also reach the outer edges of the screen to reach letters such as A or L, O and P. It was a weird experience that I remedied by installing the Swype keyboard app and condensed the keyboard to one side of the screen.
Using the One Plus One immediately felt more comfortable. It seems to fit my hand better and I am a huge fan of the “sandstone” texture of the back. I can use it more easily with one hand and am able to text using one hand as well.
Screen and Media Viewing Experience:
As for that Nexus 6 screen. What can I say. It is beautiful. The colors are great and its sharp as a tack. I loved watching videos on it and reading kindle books on it. It was noticeably sharper than the OPO's 1080p screen. It's not a day and night difference, and if the two weren't sitting next to each other on the table, I probably would not have noticed anything. But when the two phones are next to each other you can tell which one has a higher resolution display. I used the Nexus to watch a lot of youtube videos and loved the experience. With the front firing speakers, this was a great media consumption device. I loved being able to use this instead of my computer or tablet to watch videos and read books or news articles. Six inches was a great size to view everything on.
The One Plus One also has a great screen. The colors are accurate and it is very pleasing to look at. I can watch youtube videos here also, however the overall experience is not as nice because the speakers are not forward firing. Though they have great volume, the speakers are not as good to use as the Nexus simply because of their orientation. With this phone I am more predisposed to watch videos on my tablet or TV. Reading is a very similar experience and I have no problem reading for more than an hour on either device.
Usability:
This section is where the One Plus really starts to pull away. For those who don’t remember the specs (lets be real though, I’m just putting them here so we can all revel at the fact that both of these phones have more power than my current work computer) the Nexus 6 sports the new quad-core Snapdragon 805 clocked at 2.7 GHz with 3 gigs of ram while the One Plus One has the one generation older quad-core 801 chip clocked at 2.5 GHz with the same amount of ram. For reference my “vintage” 2012 Macbook Air has a 2GHz i5 intel chip with 4 gigs of ram.
I don’t know if I had a bad Nexus (or a spectacularly good One Plus), but it always felt like the Nexus was taking a tenth of a second more to think about the things it wanted to do. The One Plus, on the other hand feels zippier in everything I do. I don’t do crazy things on the phones. I twitter and Facebook and tinder a lot, but just opening these apps seemed to take a fraction of a second longer on the Nexus 6. If that were the only issue, then it would be less of a deal breaker than an annoyance, but I felt (at least on my particular phone) that the Nexus – and maybe Lollipop - had stability issues. Every now and then – maybe three times a week – the phone would do something weird which would require a restart to remedy. For instance on the last day I had the phone I was trying to open the phone app which is in my Dock on the very bottom of the screen. However, every time I pressed the app it would open something else that was in my dock instead. So instead of opening the phone, it would open up the messaging app or the email app. It happened like ten times in a row after I would get into the wrong app and press the home button. It required a complete reboot, then it would function normally. It was a weird thing that happened intermittently. However, It required a reboot a few times a week (this is what leads me to believe that maybe I had a defective unit?)
The One Plus, so far, has not had any stability issues (maybe because Kit Kat is much more mature than Lollipop). It is great and feels significantly faster than the Nexus. Everything I want it to do it does on command without hesitation. I think this more than anything else is the reason I decided to keep the One Plus instead of the Nexus, it just feels better to use.
One thing that I did like better about the Nexus (and even my old iphone) was the scrolling ability. The One Plus one just does not have as good scrolling in apps such as facebook or twitter. The Nexus has great sensitivity and response. The One Plus feels like it’s a generation behind with its scrolling capabilities.
I also liked Lollipop over Cyanogen Mod Kit Kat because 5.0 has beautiful themes. Material Design is something that I already miss going to the One Plus and I cant wait for the 5.0 Cyanogen Mod update. The one feature I really miss is lock screen notifications. I had that on my iPhone and on the Nexus, but will have to wait for 5.0 on the One Plus.
Camera:
Another area that was very important to me was the Camera. I am not a professional photographer, but I love taking nice pictures. I am a DSLR guy and used to try to tote mine around whenever I could. However, now that camera phones have gotten so good I have been doing so less and less, just using my phone camera for the majority of my day to day shooting. The iPhone 5 camera was great for me. I used it all the time (for snapchat and Instagram) and loved the low light shooting characteristics.
The Nexus 6 camera was great. It was sharp and I loved that it shot video in 4k, making for great impromptu jam session with my brother. When the light was good the camera produced sharp and vibrant images. It was great for anything I wanted to snapchat or Instagram. and even candid’s that I wanted for later, which I what I usually use my phone camera for. However, lowlight shooting was awful. I couldn’t get lowlight images at all. Living in NYC there are streetlights everywhere, but even in that environment I was not able to get any good nighttime shots that are even useable for snapchat (for which I have very low critera). Even compared to my two year old iPhone, it was awful. The front facing camera was doubly bad. Everything that I took with the front facing 2mp camera was poorly exposed and very soft. There was no definition to the shots and it was very splotchy.
Having the same sensor (but without optical image stabilization) I was not holding out much hope for the One Plus One. However I was pleasantly surprised with its low light shooting capabilities. In places where the Nexus was just unable to get any kind of image (often producing just a black shot with different intensities of light) I was able to get useable shots with the One Plus. The front facing camera is ten times better than the Nexus 6 camera.
Battery Life:
Here is another place that the One Plus pulls away from the Nexus. The battery life on the One Plus is phenomenal. One reason I got rid of my old iphone was that the battery life was down to four hours. I was literally carrying around a charger with me wherever I went because it wouldn’t last half a day. Now the OPO will last me 1.5 days of regular use. For me regular use is about 3.5 hours of screen on time. I will last from 7 am until about noon the next day. This is amazing battery life. I never have to worry about it. With the Nexus I would get about 2.75 hours of screen on time. This translated to a day of use. If I unplugged my phone at 7 am, I would be at 5 percent battery around 10:30 pm. Normally this would be okay, unless I was going out with my friends at night and had to stay out past midnight (which I normally do on weekends). With turbo-charging this was largely a non-issue. However, psychologically I don’t really like plugging in my phone for fifteen minutes and then unplugging when the batter is not full. I hate the feeling that I am ruining the battery (even if that’s not how batteries work anymore…). Personally having a great battery like the One Plus One is a huge win and is one thing I don’t have to worry about. It makes my life less stressful (I understand that this is a side affect of being too dependent on technology and am working to fix this in myself, haha).
Conclusion:
All in all I liked the Nexus 6. It was a good “pocket internet device” however as something that I want to use every day, I was not in love with it. And thus, comes the OPO trump card. Its price. If I was in love with the Nexus I would have had no problem spending $771 on the phone. However, I was not in love with it, so paying that much for a phone I didn’t love was out of the question. Futhremore, the thought of paying more than double the price of the One Plus One ($361) which I liked better was Ludacris. So in the end it was an easy choice.
I tried to like the Nexus 6. I did love the screen and the experience I had while I was watching youtube. I love material design and lock screen notifications. I loved being able to talk to the phone (“OK Google”) when the screen was off. In the end, however, it fell short. The One Plus One is a great phone and I am smitten with it. It offers everything I want for a very low price and that is why I am keeping it.
Sorry for that long rant, and hope some of you stick around to read the whole thing.
Cheers,
CBN
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Very informative, thanks!
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
As the topic title states - should I get a retail unit of the beastly N6?
I am currently a long-time Xperia user, and feels like I want to try something additional to play with - that also got a huge development support, specially on the kernel side (FLASH-O-HOLIC GUY HERE!!!). Great development rates in general for Xperia units varies a lot between the unit, as expected..
Guys, please. Point me in the proper and correct decision.
Any benefits from a Nexus unit? Huh?
*curious as *****
Destroyedbeauty said:
As the topic title states - should I get a retail unit of the beastly N6?
I am currently a long-time Xperia user, and feels like I want to try something additional to play with - that also got a huge development support, specially on the kernel side (FLASH-O-HOLIC GUY HERE!!!). Great development rates in general for Xperia units varies a lot between the unit, as expected..
Guys, please. Point me in the proper and correct decision.
Any benefits from a Nexus unit? Huh?
*curious as *****
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have one coming to me tomorrow, I like new toys and this is 1 to add to my collection, plus there is a lot of things to try on it..
Only you can make the decision.
(desire + dev support) / known issues.
treo4life said:
I have one coming to me tomorrow, I like new toys and this is 1 to add to my collection, plus there is a lot of things to try on it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hope you'll like it
rootSU said:
Only you can make the decision.
(desire + dev support) / known issues.
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Click to collapse
What is the known issues with the Nexus 6? How high fail-rate does the device have in general?
Long time lurker, I just saw this thread and wanted to comment. After going through 2 of the nexus 6's, I would wait and see if Google announces anything at the end of may. There are many issues that can plague the phone:
1. horizontal or vertical banding
2. uneven "lighting" (one part of the screen appears darker than the rest
3. crackling in sound
4. battery back coming loose and popping off
5. un-even screen (the screen is not aligned properly)
On my 2 devices I had the battery back issue and the lighting issue where the top 1/3rd of my screen appeared reddish pink while the rest had a standard tint. The device is roughly 7 months old now so its almost towards the end of the life cycle. I'd hold off and see if anything else comes out that you may be interested in.
backdown00 said:
Long time lurker, I just saw this thread and wanted to comment. After going through 2 of the nexus 6's, I would wait and see if Google announces anything at the end of may. There are many issues that can plague the phone:
1. horizontal or vertical banding
2. uneven "lighting" (one part of the screen appears darker than the rest
3. crackling in sound
4. battery back coming loose and popping off
5. un-even screen (the screen is not aligned properly)
On my 2 devices I had the battery back issue and the lighting issue where the top 1/3rd of my screen appeared reddish pink while the rest had a standard tint. The device is roughly 7 months old now so its almost towards the end of the life cycle. I'd hold off and see if anything else comes out that you may be interested in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
An Nexus6+ or Nexus 8?
I got a Nexus 6 last week, coming from Nexus 5. After the first 'wow this thing is like a tablet' the phone ist getting really fast comfortable. One hand usage is possible.
With the best community here you get tools like sweep2wake or doubletap to sleep. Its blazing fast, really nice screen (but only inside) and fells really light.
And playing games/watching movies is so nice :good:
If you're a flashaholic like you say it would be a yes.
Went from a note 3 to this device and I have no regrets. It's fast, smooth and the stereo speakers rock.
Yes sir.
Destroyedbeauty said:
As the topic title states - should I get a retail unit of the beastly N6?
I am currently a long-time Xperia user, and feels like I want to try something additional to play with - that also got a huge development support, specially on the kernel side (FLASH-O-HOLIC GUY HERE!!!). Great development rates in general for Xperia units varies a lot between the unit, as expected..
Guys, please. Point me in the proper and correct decision.
Any benefits from a Nexus unit? Huh?
*curious as *****
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only if your a flashaholic would I say yes, this is the phone for you. If you have the time, the phone can become a monster that eats other phones for lunch. :laugh:
backdown00 said:
Long time lurker, I just saw this thread and wanted to comment. After going through 2 of the nexus 6's, I would wait and see if Google announces anything at the end of may. There are many issues that can plague the phone:
1. horizontal or vertical banding
2. uneven "lighting" (one part of the screen appears darker than the rest
3. crackling in sound
4. battery back coming loose and popping off
5. un-even screen (the screen is not aligned properly)
On my 2 devices I had the battery back issue and the lighting issue where the top 1/3rd of my screen appeared reddish pink while the rest had a standard tint. The device is roughly 7 months old now so its almost towards the end of the life cycle. I'd hold off and see if anything else comes out that you may be interested in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What the hell are you talking about
Every device has its quirks but you make it sound like these are widespread issues because some users reported these defects. I have non of the above defects so for me the device is perfect. And a 7 months old device is not at the end of its lifecycle. We`ll still get 2 major updates at least, try that on a Sony, HTC or Samsung
I can wholehartedly recommend this phone for its speed, good camera and other hardware and great developers support. The N6 is the best device i ever owned hands down :good:
Destroyedbeauty said:
FLASH-O-HOLIC GUY HERE!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can buy a N6.
Since the beginning of this year a N6.
I've had only issues with Lollipop and Google apps.
The light material design and the kernel were causing battery drain. The text in the Gmail app is hard to read (grey text on white background; these colors can't be changed). After flashing Franco's kernel and a black Google Now Launcher and disabling not used apps and services the issue 'battery drain' was solved and that made the N6 great for daily use.
I changed the lcd-density to 384 and the font size to huge. That turns the N6 in tablet mode.
For a better grip I use a cheap ultra thin hard case from eBay. I carry the N6 in a vertical belt case.
(Still looking for a black alternative for Gmail)
I got this device and I really like it but I'm a little disappointed. i have had the nexus 5 and a note 4 also. i really like the nexus 6 for its big screen and speakers. but both of my previous devices were faster and smoother. i gave my dad the nexus 5 and my mom the note 4 and since i still use them occasionally I can fairly judge all of them. My dads nexus 5 is running cataclysm and it is a perfect experience with no bugs. the recents screen and all the animations are super smooth. My moms note 4 is running firekat and everything is smooth with no lag either. but i have the nexus 6 on chroma which is supposed to be the best rom and its not nearly as smooth. recents widows still lag and stutter and with every release there is something new wrong with it.
tonio14545 said:
I got this device and I really like it but I'm a little disappointed. i have had the nexus 5 and a note 4 also. i really like the nexus 6 for its big screen and speakers. but both of my previous devices were faster and smoother. i gave my dad the nexus 5 and my mom the note 4 and since i still use them occasionally I can fairly judge all of them. My dads nexus 5 is running cataclysm and it is a perfect experience with no bugs. the recents screen and all the animations are super smooth. My moms note 4 is running firekat and everything is smooth with no lag either. but i have the nexus 6 on chroma which is supposed to be the best rom and its not nearly as smooth. recents widows still lag and stutter and with every release there is something new wrong with it.
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Click to collapse
Did you do a clean flash with Chroma?, i`am not xperiencing any lag or stutters on the latest version tbh.
gee2012 said:
Did you do a clean flash with Chroma?, i`am not xperiencing any lag or stutters on the latest version tbh.
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Click to collapse
yeah i clean flashed and i have so many problems on it. expanded desktop doesn't work and the notification panel won't even pull down lol. the other problems i have i have had with every release of it. the recent windows just don't pull away smoothly they always stutter a little bit at the end. google play music will randomly stop working and i have to reboot the device to listen to music again. and for some reason chrome beta takes super long to open too. i tap on it and wait at least 5 seconds for it to open... oh and sometimes auto rotate messes up my wall paper too
tonio14545 said:
yeah i clean flashed and i have so many problems on it. expanded desktop doesn't work and the notification panel won't even pull down lol. the other problems i have i have had with every release of it. the recent windows just don't pull away smoothly they always stutter a little bit at the end. google play music will randomly stop working and i have to reboot the device to listen to music again. and for some reason chrome beta takes super long to open too. i tap on it and wait at least 5 seconds for it to open... oh and sometimes auto rotate messes up my wall paper too
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Click to collapse
Try to reproduce these issues and post a logcat in the Chroma thread or PM them to @zephiK so he can deal with it. Thats how issues are solved
I just got one to replace a Note 4. It reminds me a lot of the Moto X, but bigger and better. Which is a wonderful thing. The Note 4 will be why I'll never buy another Touchwiz device again though, so I feel like I've been let out of a crappy prison. I'm so sick of tech reviews that use a phone for 11 days and try to tell you what's worth owning. Never again.
guthrien said:
I just got one to replace a Note 4. It reminds me a lot of the Moto X, but bigger and better. Which is a wonderful thing. The Note 4 will be why I'll never buy another Touchwiz device again though, so I feel like I've been let out of a crappy prison. I'm so sick of tech reviews that use a phone for 11 days and try to tell you what's worth owning. Never again.
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Click to collapse
I think for everyday users, the note 4 has a lot to offer.. Great caner a hardware and software for example. Also it has that great default notification tone.. It just never gets old...
But for modders, its a no go.
gee2012 said:
What the hell are you talking about
Every device has its quirks but you make it sound like these are widespread issues because some users reported these defects. I have non of the above defects so for me the device is perfect. And a 7 months old device is not at the end of its lifecycle. We`ll still get 2 major updates at least, try that on a Sony, HTC or Samsung
I can wholehartedly recommend this phone for its speed, good camera and other hardware and great developers support. The N6 is the best device i ever owned hands down :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Within another 5 months the new line of nexus devices will be out. I am not saying the nexus 6 won't be updated, but it wont be "the" device anymore. After visiting about 12 verizon wireless stores and checking out their display model, I can say I found many of the same defects I listed on all 12 models. Including my 2 that makes a sample size of 14 devices that all have some form of defect.
I am not saying this phone is not great, as I really did like it. The question was should he wait or buy now and I simply suggested wait as the next best thing is almost here already (nexus line wise) and he has waited this long, whats the difference for another 4-5 months. Since he is also buying this retail (I assume full price), the money would be better well spent on a more refined piece of hardware. The nexus 6 was google's first try at a large phone, i'm sure the next google device that comes out will perfect this.
backdown00 said:
Long time lurker, I just saw this thread and wanted to comment. After going through 2 of the nexus 6's, I would wait and see if Google announces anything at the end of may. There are many issues that can plague the phone:
1. horizontal or vertical banding
2. uneven "lighting" (one part of the screen appears darker than the rest
3. crackling in sound
4. battery back coming loose and popping off
5. un-even screen (the screen is not aligned properly)
On my 2 devices I had the battery back issue and the lighting issue where the top 1/3rd of my screen appeared reddish pink while the rest had a standard tint. The device is roughly 7 months old now so its almost towards the end of the life cycle. I'd hold off and see if anything else comes out that you may be interested in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmmmmm, I have had none of the described issues written here, maybe you got a Lemon? I was on the HTC phone for the past few years until they came out with the (IMHO) pathetic M9, after looking at that in one of the VZ stores, my attention drifted elsewhere. The VZ rep said sales of the M9 are real slow, at least here so it will be interesting to see what HTC does, or doesn't do.
If someone want to get ride of note 4 to get one nexus 6, I would trade for sure xD.....hate my nexus 6 lol