Database Develop

"Upgrade" to a Nexus S and sell my N1?

Hopefully someone here can better explain the differences, pros, and cons of each.
I've been doing some quick research and looking around, even played with the Nexus S at Best Buy, and it seems the main (and ONLY) difference is that the NS has a bigger screen than the N1.
It's my understanding that they both share the same processor, both have the same amount of RAM, both have the same camera, etc.
The only "advantage" to the Nexus S would be the bigger screen and more on-board memory for apps and such, correct?
I can get the Nexus S for $200 through Best Buy and could in turn sell my N1 with it's dock for $400 (already have a buyer lined up). My biggest question, however, is what does the N1 do that the NS does NOT do? Would this be a logical thing to do or is there something that the NS would be lacking by comparison?

Well the NS does not have an SD slot so your stuck with the 16GB of storage.
The NS does have a FFC.
The CPUs are both 1GHz but the NS' is of a newer architecture and is a bit faster especially with games.
The NS touchscreen is better.

I only have an 8GB SD card in my N1 and it's been more than enough, so the "limited" 16GB that the NS has shouldn't be a problem for me.
I'm not sure what "FFC" is...can you define/explain?
Faster or even equal speeds in the processor is fine. I just knew it was close and wasn't inferior to the N1 like a lot of other phones that have come out recently.
And what exactly makes the touchscreen better on the NS? Better resolution or just better responsiveness?
EDIT: I think I just figured out "FFC" means "front facing camera", correct? Not something I'd use, but doesn't hurt either.
It seems that there really isn't a reason NOT to do this exchange. Everything that the N1 can do the NS does and then some. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything that I'd be missing out on if I got rid of my N1 after having gotten used to it for so long. Seems like it would be an easy and smooth transition.
How easy is it to obtain all Google Market apps that have already been purchased when switching devices like this? They're all tied to the account, correct?

Tenacious Steve said:
How easy is it to obtain all Google Market apps that have already been purchased when switching devices like this? They're all tied to the account, correct?
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Pretty much, yes. You can get some exceptions - eg CoPilot Live is fiddly to transfer, but the Android licence is valid cross-device (you need to deactivate the old device first). In general, if you've purchased from the market and use the same account on the new phone your apps should be available without issue.
I've transferred from G1, to Magic, to N1 without losing any apps to date (although I've sworn a bit at CoPilot )

Keep in mind the Nexus S doesn't have a notification led.

Apart from the glossy plastic i think the Nexus S is a good device. If it doesn't have the screen inaccuracy or power button failure issues of the N1 it could be a worthwhile upgrade.
Depends how affluent you are feeling right now

I asked myself the same question and I came up with these answers.
N1 is better built
upgradeable sd slot
has a notification led
has less a tendency of sliding out of your hand
same specs
and samsung is notorious about never releasing any updates for any of their phones.

Don't forget the nexus s does not have 2 Mic's. There have been some reports of bad call quality on it in noisy environments with background noise.

Having owned them both...
NS has the NFC (near field communication), which one day may be nice.
The 16gb limit does not really present a problem.
The screen is bigger and is supposedly better, but I didn't see anything that really made the new screen stand out, it is nice. It is curved slightly, which is kinda nice.
NS does not have the same build quality, and does not have the unibody, metal design. The Nexus S does feel cheap next to the N1, but it is not showstopper. N1 has a much cleaner design and looks much 'sexier' IMHO.
NS does not have the trackball, much less the lighted trackball of the N1. NS does not even have a charge indicator.
NS does not come with a case or dedicated charger (has the brick and a data cable)
NS with gingerbread is fast, but does not yet have the dev support of the N1.
I felt the cameras were about similar.
NS does not have the second mic (as someone else pointed out). Not sure about call quality of the listener on the other end. I had problems with reboots, but Google knows there is a problem and is working on it.
Why o Why did they change the order of the home/search/menu/back keys in the NS -what a pain.
NS no SD slot.
NS does not have the dock pins on the bottom to use with a car/desktop dock.
NS has a front camera and more RAM
I would wait until Gingerbread comes out for the N1 before you jump ship. You have 30 days to send the phone back to best buy if you don't like it...
Just felt that the new NS was not 'Google' enough for me. Just missing too many little things. It is like they were trying to make a new Nexus that is *more* like the iphone. Kinda a sellout thing to do in my opinion.
My opinion is to keep your N1, the NS is not a real upgrade in my mind.
EDIT:
another difference... Both have 512 of RAM. N1 has 512 of "ROM", while the NS has 16gb of storage, 1gb reserved for apps and OS.

Thanks for all the replies, guys! After reading some and doing quite a bit more research, including watching comparison videos on YouTube, I have decided to wait.
The only "new" feature that I'd use with the NS is the bigger screen, but I don't really feel that should stand alone as a reason to "upgrade".
The speed differences in the comparison videos were very, VERY minimal and it appears that the N1 has better graphics handling than the NS. It's possible that the minimal speed differences were simply due to the NS having Gingerbread, so hopefully I'll see an increase with the upcoming update for the N1 although if I don't, it's no big problem since it's still the fastest phone I've messed around with.
Another reason is the battery. I've gone as long as 36 hours on my N1 with a single charge and normal use and usually have 60-70% battery life left after a full 15 hour day of being in use. I hear the NS is barely lasting a day for most people which is more than likely in account for the larger screen.
The MAIN reason I've decided to wait, however, is simply because I don't want to be locked into a 2yr contract for the same phone with a bigger screen when the inevitable dual-processor and expanded function phone(s) come out. The N1 does absolutely everything I want/need out of a phone so I'll be waiting until something comes out and totally blows it away and makes it obsolete.

Tenacious Steve said:
..The N1 does absolutely everything I want/need out of a phone so I'll be waiting until something comes out and totally blows it away and makes it obsolete.
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Me too
Hopefully it'll be a new Nexus, made by HTC, with great specs!

I sold my nexus one last week and got a nexus s the same day. I loved my nexus one but my logic for selling my phone is deprecation of the phone when i sell it. Sold the nexus one and dock for 370, not great. So that means I payed $200 for the nexus s. If you are in the market to sell it later you will get less for it. In the next couple of months dual core and 4g is coming out and the value will drop for both phones but i feel that the nexus s will be valued higher. It also seem that the resell market for Galaxy S is bigger then the nexus one, due to the fact that more people know what a Galaxy s phone is.
Some thoughts about the nexus s. The phone seems the same on paper but in actuality its much faster compared the nexus one running gingerbread, this could be that the roms didn't have the drivers. The screen is amazing and i like the look of the nexus s, but miss the dock. NS is a lot lighter in the hand but feels cheap when you're pressing the volume and power buttons. The BIGGEST difference is the responsiveness of the touchscreen.
I have ZERO REGRETS on my purchase of the nexus s.

I have purchased the Nexus S and am still on the fence of whether or not to return it. My previous phone is the Nexus One. The reason that I am on the fence is for the same reason why some people are still trying to decide whether or not to purchase the phone such as there is no led notification, missing sd slot, NFC not really popular at the moment and probably will not be for the next year or two at least in the US, not a dual core phone.
But I will admit it is a nice phone, does have a nice feel, beautiful display, sexy all black face giving it that stealth look, the touchscreen is responsive I don't get all of that wonkiness I used to get with the Nexus one and even with the capacitive touch buttons, those work the way they should. Very responsive in terms of apps seem to respond and open more quickly compared to the N1. It would be nice for google to explain why they chose the phone they chose for there N1 successor, instead of trying to come up with reasons for them.
I have 30 days to decide whether or not to keep the phone. Since I am a T-mobile customer, from as long as I can remember they never really had the hot phones, it was always places like verizon or sprint that had phones that seemed more appealing. And even if t-mobile did end up getting a hot phone it would be like months later after the other networks had that phone for a while ex. razr.
If i had neither an n1 or nexus s and both phones were for sale, I would go for the Nexus S.

About to upgrade

I am about to upgrade my phone. Currently on a Touch Pro 2 and Xrom. This will be my first Android phone and obviously I am considering the Bionic. I know nothing about Android and since Microsoft seems to have abandoned the smartphone world and very few phones are on 7, it seems like a good time to make the move.
I have read the reviews, scoured this forum and it looks like the Bionic is everything it is supposed to be. I am a noob, just an old one, this phone is my b-day present to myself, will be 48 in a few days. I do have a few questions...
Is the Bionic really the shiznit phone or should I wait for a while for a better phone on the horizon?
I can get this phone for $220 bucks through Amazon or $250 through Verizon. Is there any reason to not get it from Amazon?
I am not quite ready to get into flashing new rom's on Android as I have a lot of learning to do first, but I hate bloatware. With the TP2 getting off the stock rom was a good thing, I can go two days on a battery charge, but is it as important with Android? I know the Bionic can be rooted and bloatware removed, but does it slow the phone down if it is left there?
Thanks in advance, this forum rocks!

I upgraded from the TP2. Couldn't be happier. Didn't have many problems with the TP2, but it's old and outdated. This thing is just a beast. You could wait for something better, but I decided that it was time. If something else comes out and I want it, I'll just use a different upgrade.

Thanks, actually I have had zero issues with my TP2 that I got right after it's release. I wasn't sure I wanted to give it up, but I will have it as a backup phone so that works out. My only apprehension is the Motorola phone, I swore I would never have another after the MotoQ that got replaced 4 times in 4 weeks before I demanded a Touch Pro 1 and Verizon coughed it up to keep me happy.
I like new and learning Android will be fun. I just don't want to go through what I did with the MotoQ, what a pc of crap that was. Motorola used to be awesome, but I haven't had a good Moto phone since the StarTac.

Regarding buying it thru Vz vs. Amazon....a couple things come to mind
1) Who has a better return/exchange policy? Vz has 14 days to return and $30 restocking fee. If the phone is defective in the 1st year I believe Vz would give you a Factory Refurbished Phone. How does Amazon stack up to that? Brick and mortar store gives you same day service, pretty important if you can't live w/out your phone.
2) Are you planning to get any accessories? I don't know if it's still going on but when I bought my Bionic with the HD Dock, the dock ended up being $54. Normally I get a corporate discount of 25% on accessories, but this must have been some other promotion. So you may want to shop your complete purchase and get a total out the door price.
I had some buyer's remorse initially with the Bionic but overall I love the phone. I came from the HTC Incredible. The colors were more vibrant on the Incredible, but the Bionic looks OK. Reds, blues, and greens all reproduce nicely, yellow and orange leave something to be desired tho. But if you spend any time at all outdoors, the screen on the Bionic is amazing...it's very visible outside, something I'm not used to with my Incredible.
So far my only serious complaints with the phone is the issues it has switching networks, this is a known issue as you're probably aware and should be fixed with an OTA. Also, I haven't heard this from anyone else so it may be an issue specific to my location, but I exchanged my 1st Bionic b/c the voice quality over 4g was horrible. I could hear fine, but others couldn't hear me very well. The new phone had the same issues so I leave 4G off unless I know I need it. It very well could be an issue with my being on the outer fringe of 4G reception but I'm not sure. When doing speed tests over 4G I was getting 20Mbps down and around 6-8Mpbs up...so it would seem like I have OK signal.
Testing the demo at the store the pentile screen was very noticeable for some of the things I wanted to demo on the phone. I still see it from time to time, but it doesn't bother me, the text is clean and crisp and easy to read so that's good enough for me.
I have a little heartburn over the HD playback capabilities. Being that the phone comes with an HDMI output and offers an HD Dock to connect to your HDTV, I expected a little more with HD playback. I was hoping to throw a bunch of 720P movies on an SD card for when we travel and be able to play back the movies at the hotel. However the only HD playback I've seen from the phone that's smooth is video shot thru the onboard camera. Now I'm trying to figure out how to convert my existing movies to playback better on the Bionic.
None of these issues were dealbreakers for me. I keep in touch with what's on the horizon as far as other devices and aside from 720p resolution screens coming out, there's nothing that's really going to make the Bionic seem outdated. The only other phone I considered holding out for was the Nexus Prime. I like the idea of a brick phone that's just a large touch screen and the function buttons are built in to the app instead of being phsyical buttons...but I'd rather wait until we have a plethora of Ice Cream Sandwich O/S phones to choose from...I didn't want to put all my eggs in Samsung's basket only to be left disappointed.
Also something else to consider regarding 1280x720 screen resolutions...all of Verizon's 4G phones have struggled with battery life, I'd have to imagine a 1280x720 screen is only going to eat that up faster.

I would recommend against the Bionic, but only because of the locked bootloader situation. Not being able to load what I wanted was the reason I left the iPhone -- I don't want to settle for a half-baked solution with a rooted-but-unlocked Bionic.
Overall, the phone performs well (with the exception of random data connection loss and battery drain). But, for $200 or more, I ought to be able to do with the phone what I want.

There is no difference in buying from Amazon or Verizon directly, except with Verizon you have 14 days to return it for a 30% restock fee, Amazon will let you have 30 days. After 30 days you get a refurb from Verizon for the remainder of a year.
I understand battery life, the TP2 I had to charge after about 8 hours until I went with a custom ROM. I don't see much that it can do that I want to do that I can't already do with my TP2, except a better camera and movie playback. I do take pics with my TP2, but I am not sure I would take or play many movies with the Bionic, so that isn't much of an issue. I have a real camera and blue ray players all over the house. I know I would miss my physical keyboard, and every new phone I have touched with a physical keyboard feels like lightweight junk and nothing has the solid feel I am used to. The current Droid phones from Verizon leave little to be desired, with the exception of the Bionic. At least I can say the Bionic has a good feel, I will just have to learn to type on the touchscreen. The screen is large enough that my fat fingers can, I demo'd the phone at a VZ brick and mortar. I will miss my Bing Navigation but can adapt to Google, my old 7 series BMW is not BT capable, but does have Navigation that works, though I am so used to my Bing voice app that I rarely use it. I may get the Nav cradle for the Bionic, it has some appeal.
As far as unlocked phones go, the current trend from Moto seems to be locked bootloaders. I do believe that the awesome people here will crack that code or Motorola will give it up. Though I don't really see much reason to upgrade, my phone is getting old and I am a tech junkie at times. I think the time is now.
I am still interested in other peoples opinions, your experience has value, at least to me.

[Q] Finally jumping to the Nexus 6.

Verizon contract is up in a couple weeks so I'm jumping to T-Mobile (costs less) and getting the Nexus 6. I just have a few questions.
Are there any weird quirks with the phone? Anything I won't find out by playing with the phone in store for 10 minutes? Is the phone as powerful as the specs say it is?
I saw some of the older battery life charts in the other thread and they aren't terrible. Is battery life still decent? I'm looking for 4-5+ hours of screen-on time ideally.
Does the "quick charger" that comes with it work well?
Tl;dr Do you recommend the phone?

It's a loaded post, which is why a lot of views, but nary a reply.
However ....
Your title to me is better than jumping on a N6, which could be disastrous to the phone.
If you have looked over the threads, you'll get varying opinions, and mostly IMO it depends on two things:
What they had/came from
What they expect out of the N6.
I will only speak for myself; I came from a VZ GNex I hung onto for 3 years - anything I may have gone to would be a worthy HW upgrade, however I want to tweak my phone when I'm ready to, and that means a Nexus.
I love the phone, it was a bit of a letdown, as I was already running 5.0 on my GNex, so the experience was to a larger, faster smoother phone than what I had. Other than that, I'm loving every minute of having it, plain and simple.
I have one other person who transitioned to one, and he loves it as well.
I'm not going to tell you to get it, you have to go play with it and decide for yourself.
To your specific questions:
quirks - no more so than any other phone, I haven't found any yet myself - most who post I think have to do with not knowing what they set in Lollipop, I've already had it for a bit, so I'm used to it.
Yup, its fast and powerful, whether or not you decide to go unencrypted is up to you, which goes to what you had and what you expect - are you going to unlock root, mod? You can enjoy this phone for quite a bit of time before maybe even needing a reason to go mod it.
Personally, I haven't yet, nor have a lot of members here (check the what rom are you running on VZ thread) because again, I haven't (other than wanting to change my softkeys) had a good reason (to me) to invest the time to do it.
I'm sure it will happen, but not right now. right now I'm just enjoying the hell out of having it.
Batt time is always subjective, whether or not we care to admit it. No two devices are going to run the same, have the same app load outs, some have different memory it appears, and some may actually (gasp) have a bad batt on arrival.
Mine has ran terrific (remember again - what I had and what I expect), and the QC runs great to recharge if need be. I can say that I love not worrying about the batt right now on it daily, but that's for me and my usage.

Battery is fine and its quick. The fast charger works well. I'm not really a fan of them but its what it comes with. I came from a m8 which was a nice device but I like this one better.

Raikalo said:
Tl;dr Do you recommend the phone?
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My wife and I jumped from Sprint to T-Mobile, handing off our Evo 4G's when the Nexus 6 was released, and wouldn't look back. The Nexus 6 has been nothing short of awesome... the camera, speed, screen, everything - is awesome. We keep ours in thick iBlason "Armorbox" cases, and still enjoy our QI charging (I'm unsure how QI isn't a requirement in modern phones these days!). A lot of friends complained about the size, but those that got it anyway, ended up "getting over it" and now won't go back to the smaller screens, heh! It still fits nicely in my (male) jean pockets -- with the large case -- but you'd be hard-pressed to get it safely in female pockets (sorry ladies... you're not allowed to put stuff in the pockets!).
Quirks: one big thing jumped out at me, but isn't a big deal for most. The phone does have built-in RGB LEDs that sit underneath the top speaker, yet, they chose to block access to this functionality. I guess they reused the underlying board but didn't want the LEDs, but nonetheless, they are invaluable to me: I enjoy knowing if I have something waiting for me *without* having to look at the screen - whether while in bed, sitting on the desk, riding the bike, etc.! The plus, you can get at these LEDs if you're rooted. So... if that's possibly desirable to you, I'd recommend unlocking the phone as soon as you get it, so you can avoid the data wipe down the road. The Lightflow app can handle them quite well (though I believe it requires the "Pro" version, for a couple bucks). ...and as of now, the LEDs are "on or off" - no flashing... but hey, I'll take what I can get!
Oh, and not really related to the phone itself, but a Google-Nexus 6 quirk -- quite annoying at the time, for me -- Google's "My Tracks" app was broken for awhile (unable to acquire the GPS signal). There are a gazillion alternatives out there, but I'd been a long-time daily user of the app, and Google broke it!...for months. It was disappointing that they would break core app functionality on their *current* flagship device, for their own app, and choose to ignore it for such a long time. I think the 5.1 update fixed whatever problem they had, but that was a pet peeve.. On the plus side, I've enjoyed the feature-rich alternatives that I was forced to explore, ha!
We haven't messed with de-crypting ourselves, as the phones are super-duper-fast as-is, but we love them. These are our introduction to the Nexus world, and we love the fact that they no-bars-hold permit unlocking, and that the updates are, of course, front line.
Tl;dr I highly recommend the phone! Phone size is the only recurring complaint among friends.

Thank you everyone for the replies. Yes, battery life is subjective ...so long as most of the reviews say the battery is good enough, that's all I care about. First-hand reviews from users are always the best because I know everyone isn't just trying to sell me a phone . As far as the LEDs being unusable when not rooted, that isn't a big deal for me. My current phone (Razr Maxx HD, xt926 verizon) has the LEDs and fantastic battery life through various mods, but is simply not cutting it anymore for what I need. I've never heard of the My Tracks app, so I guess it's a good thing since I didn't know it was broken lol.
This will be my first Nexus phone... I have the Nexus 7 (2012) tablet that is currently running CM12 nightlies, so I'm familiar with the "Nexus experience" and Lollipop already. I like it quite a bit, but it did take a little getting used to. I was very much planning on unlocking and rooting the N6 immediately, but I'll play with it a bit and enjoy the stock experience first.
@vormund Do you like T-Mobile, now that you switched from Sprint?
@RW-1 Can you explain the encryption you're talking about a little more? This is the first I've heard of it.
Again, thanks everyone for the replies. I'm pretty much sold on the phone at this point.

Raikalo said:
Thank you everyone for the replies. Yes, battery life is subjective ...so long as most of the reviews say the battery is good enough, that's all I care about. First-hand reviews from users are always the best because I know everyone isn't just trying to sell me a phone . As far as the LEDs being unusable when not rooted, that isn't a big deal for me. My current phone (Razr Maxx HD, xt926 verizon) has the LEDs and fantastic battery life through various mods, but is simply not cutting it anymore for what I need. I've never heard of the My Tracks app, so I guess it's a good thing since I didn't know it was broken lol.
This will be my first Nexus phone... I have the Nexus 7 (2012) tablet that is currently running CM12 nightlies, so I'm familiar with the "Nexus experience" and Lollipop already. I like it quite a bit, but it did take a little getting used to. I was very much planning on unlocking and rooting the N6 immediately, but I'll play with it a bit and enjoy the stock experience first.
@vormund Do you like T-Mobile, now that you switched from Sprint?
@RW-1 Can you explain the encryption you're talking about a little more? This is the first I've heard of it.
Again, thanks everyone for the replies. I'm pretty much sold on the phone at this point.
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I am currently using MeanPop 2.11 on my Nexus 6 and it has a blinking LED light for notifications, a blinking red light for while your phone is charging and a green light for when the device is fully charged. I had the phone a couple of hours tops before I rooted it, so I can't really provide an opinion on the device out of the box. My brother is using a non-rooted Nexus 6 and he loves it as well. We both came from the Note Edge, but enjoy the Nexus 6 more than any device we have used up to this point. Out of the box, the device is encrypted (which some people have stated that their performance suffered compared to being unencrypted). You can easily unlock the phone and decrypt it. There is a solid guide for this in the development section. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me or ask them here and I'll assist where I can.

slimc84 said:
I am currently using MeanPop 2.11 on my Nexus 6 and it has a blinking LED light for notifications, a blinking red light for while your phone is charging and a green light for when the device is fully charged. I had the phone a couple of hours tops before I rooted it, so I can't really provide an opinion on the device out of the box. My brother is using a non-rooted Nexus 6 and he loves it as well. We both came from the Note Edge, but enjoy the Nexus 6 more than any device we have used up to this point. Out of the box, the device is encrypted (which some people have stated that their performance suffered compared to being unencrypted). You can easily unlock the phone and decrypt it. There is a solid guide for this in the development section. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me or ask them here and I'll assist where I can.
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That solves the LED issue. I will probably decrypt the device since I don't know why I would need it encrypted. Thank you. I will definitely message you with any questions, but I won't have the phone until closer to the end of April (24th or so), so it will be a bit yet. I'm just glad the phone is shaping up to be as great as I am expecting it to be.
Out of curiosity, what are the benefits of leaving the phone encrypted?

Raikalo said:
@vormund Do you like T-Mobile, now that you switched from Sprint?
@RW-1 Can you explain the encryption you're talking about a little more? This is the first I've heard of it..
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Click to collapse
T-Mobile has been equal-to-or-better than Sprint in Tucson, AZ... their customer service is dreadful (store reps are absolutely useless), but if you're persistent, you usually come out alright - which I'm happy to do with the difference in cost (+$10 to join my sister's plan versus $30+ for Sprint's split... among the other (contract, discount, etc.) considerations! Data is hit-or-miss on the outskirts of the city, but so is Sprint (and ATT)...Verizon seems to have solid service out there, though...(then again, you pay for it!)...
Data speeds are almost always slower when compared to Verizon (a friend with Verizon did some speed tests with me...we're both usually LTE, but he'd consistently get 3-4x faster speeds...this probably varies greatly by locale and their networks), but it's sufficient for me. If you're one to watch Netflix or download a ton, it'll probably be quite the downgrade.. but me - I'm on wireless for any big data usage, so network-wise, I'm just mapping, a little music streaming, geo tracking and such.
Encryption: For the extra paranoid or those with ultra-sensitive information on their phones, perhaps?
I suspect it would make things a little more difficult for law enforcement, too... depending on backdoors and such? Actually, yeah, that looks to be the case!
After seeing the speed comparisons, I'd definitely switch over now, even though the phone is fast-as-can-be as it is, ha. One of these days maybe... but for now, it's a few more minutes in a already-crazy day.
slimc84 said:
I am currently using MeanPop 2.11 on my Nexus 6 and it has a blinking LED light for notifications...
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Thanks great to know, thanks for the info! +1 for a custom ROM. I think the reason Lightflow can't do it directly - with rooted stock - as it'd have to keep the phone awake. There well may be ways around that by now... I just wish they'd enable direct access without (there's just no good reason to take away a hardware feature... disabled by default, but come on! ).

vormund said:
T-Mobile has been equal-to-or-better than Sprint in Tucson, AZ... their customer service is dreadful (store reps are absolutely useless), but if you're persistent, you usually come out alright - which I'm happy to do with the difference in cost (+$10 to join my sister's plan versus $30+ for Sprint's split... among the other (contract, discount, etc.) considerations! Data is hit-or-miss on the outskirts of the city, but so is Sprint (and ATT)...Verizon seems to have solid service out there, though...(then again, you pay for it!)...
Data speeds are almost always slower when compared to Verizon (a friend with Verizon did some speed tests with me...we're both usually LTE, but he'd consistently get 3-4x faster speeds...this probably varies greatly by locale and their networks), but it's sufficient for me. If you're one to watch Netflix or download a ton, it'll probably be quite the downgrade.. but me - I'm on wireless for any big data usage, so network-wise, I'm just mapping, a little music streaming, geo tracking and such.
Encryption: For the extra paranoid or those with ultra-sensitive information on their phones, perhaps?
I suspect it would make things a little more difficult for law enforcement, too... depending on backdoors and such? Actually, yeah, that looks to be the case!
After seeing the speed comparisons, I'd definitely switch over now, even though the phone is fast-as-can-be as it is, ha. One of these days maybe... but for now, it's a few more minutes in a already-crazy day.
Thanks great to know, thanks for the info! +1 for a custom ROM. I think the reason Lightflow can't do it directly - with rooted stock - as it'd have to keep the phone awake. There well may be ways around that by now... I just wish they'd enable direct access without (there's just no good reason to take away a hardware feature... disabled by default, but come on! ).
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A wakelock is triggered with the flashing LED even in the custom Rom (burns 1-2% per hour that the LED is flashing). It's definitely worth having though. The ROM is solid and I haven't had a single issue with it yet.

After reading the benchmarking for encryption vs decryption, I'm definitely decrypting the phone when I get it. I'm not overly worried about the LEDs (does seem weird though that it's not like all of the other android phones I've had, where they just work, regardless of ROM). I'm in the middle of the East Coast where (according to coverage maps) 4G is more available, so I'll definitely run some speed tests and see how T-mobile's data speeds stack up on this side of the country. I really just need a fast browser with good, stable internet speeds. I won't complain if it's faster than 3G.

Upgrade from D4 to... Samsung Relay 4g?

Does anyone had an experience with the relay T699? i've never had any close up experience with it since i'm in Brazil and probably will import from the US.
Does the relay is worth the hassle? i would put my D4 for sale since Blackberry will come out with a new android powered device with hardware keyboard and the relay seemed like a nice cheap device for a while. Or should i just wait and get a Priv?
Thanks!

Just looking at the specifications, compared to the D4, the Relay S has:
Lower-resolution screen
Better screen technology
Slightly better CPU
Significantly better GPU
Worse camera
No GLONASS support (GPS is usually enough anyway)
Marginally bigger battery
The keyboard layout (specifically some of the key sizes) looks slightly non-standard, may take some getting used to.
I don't know...if you can get one for very cheaply, it may be a slight upgrade. You might to check to make sure that there's support present for the phone if you intend to flash a newer ROM over stock.
Personally, I would wait and see what Blackberry is going to do, if your D4 is working fine. It's entirely possible (though maybe not highly likely given their design history) that they will make a landscape slider, should the Priv be successful.

i really don't mind the priv not being landscape, i've owned a Dell Venue Pro, and it was kinda cool.
I've got my hand on the passport but it's just so weird...
I've checked the relay community, there's a debloat rom, cm stopped at KK and some other lolipop(5.0) roms but it's slower than here. Still a better community than Galaxy Stratosphere 2 which is non existent.
The weigh and bulk of the D4 is getting on my nerves, i've usually carried around in my backpack, but now on the pocket and also the slowdowns. I've changed the launcher, 1.4Ghz Kernels, try to keep the phone without un-needed apps but it's showing it's age.

Did I make a mistake?

Just picked up the G6 yesterday. I hadn't done much research, but I wanted a newer LG device (my 2nd V10 fried).
I offered $300 and the phone is like new. The guy hadn't used it since January. So far my impressions are as follows
Cons:
-Most obvious the non-removable battery!!!
-Volume buttons are on the side (like any average phone, but apparently this is what LG's doin' now since the G5)
-Headphone jack is at the top (I didn't know I had a preference, but I guess now I do!)
-Phone feels very small, but probably because I always grab an extended battery
-32GB internal storage
-No DAC
-ZeroLemon is basically a power bank. I suppose the phone will always be "charging" while the bank is active. (Thinking about it now, it might be convenient to have the ability to charge the bank separately and still have the oem battery powering the phone. Sort of like modular devices.)
-I definitely don't feel the "wow" factor I usually get when I upgrade to a new device. I remember starting since the Optimus G Pro, the screen blew me away! Then the G2, G3, V10 etc etc
-This is a big one. No root yet! And by the looks of things, root might not ever come? I really feel like I'm walking around missing a finger. I always root my devices, customizing shortcuts, colors, modded apps... I truly need root.
-I forgot to mention, all this glass stuff. Like the back cover, why was this done?! I miss having a 'sticky' cover like the V10!
Pros:
uh... to be determined? I can't think of any positives at the moment.
Anywho, the question I pose is this: Should I keep it? Sell it? Trade it? Burn it? Eat it?
I'm not exactly hurting for money, but I do have my sights set on a V20 and a G5. Would be nice to make the money back... And if I do sell it, better sooner rather than later because the phone won't look this new for long. Also, considering that the G6+ is finally getting around...
What are your guys' impressions, the people who have been using it for awhile now? What phone did you come from? I wanna stay away from Samsung because ever since the Note 2 I've noticed that Sammie is more gimmicky, and maybe geared toward a "teenage" mind while LG was more "business in front, party in the back." And don't get me started on Apple. What a joke.
Maybe I should look into this "Pixel" I keep hearing about. Or Oneplus?

Well since you have no good assumptions about the phone, I would say sell it. I came from a 3t to this phone and it's pretty good without the root. The phone is supposed to feel small. that was the whole point of the design, 5.7in screen in a 5in screen body. You will get used to the volume buttons being on the side since they have multiple programmable functions besides just volume. If your screen looks blah, you might want to adjust your settings. Since it was bought used, i'm not sure what may have happened to it. Think of the 32gb as a hybrid ssd. You want it to run fast for programs and use your SD card for storage. Bigger the space, longer the process. Dac? I'm not a big headphones person, my phone connects to Bluetooth.