Related
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
I'm currently on a Samsung SIII with KitKat (omnirom), but because my daughter's phone broke down it's going to her after I get my new phone. I wanted to buy a Nexus 5, but it's sold out in the Netherlands even though it's € 400,- instead of € 350,- Because I was in a hurry I opted for an S4-active. I had some water damage with a HTC HD2 in the past and this one is probably better equipped in that respect. I already read enough to avoid putting it under water on purpose.
But...
I did get a bit of a scare when I looked for custom ROMs in this thread. Why are there so few options? Is this phone so different?
Maybe I should have waited a bit longer or even try to get a Nexus 5 from Germany.
Can someone give me an advice what to flash when my phone arrives? I don't like all the Samsung bloatware and don't mind to run cyanogenmod.
Cheers
I find this phone to be an almost perfect match for me.
I don't take underwater photos, but I love watching online content while I take a bath. I would never do this with any other phone. It's decided to take a few dips in the tub with me, but just pulling it out and drying it off it doesn't miss a beat.
The lack of custom roms/kernals is a bit disappointing, but I find that with the safestrap and Google stock rom I'm able to reach an experience that I can enjoy.
The screen was a sell for me hands down. I hate the new pentile style screens that cause blurriness in the display. Despite many people telling me it's not humanly possible to tell on such a small screen. When I see a flat red/blue color on the normal S4 screen it looks absolutely disgusting (Think 540p resolution because of the 1:2 ratio of pentile to rgb)
Thanks for your elaborate reply. I went to the safestrap thread. Is this only for the AT&T version or is it for my international version as well?
You're talking about Google stock.. do you mean cyanogenmod?
I hope to hear more from you
Cheers
The limited ROM development is quite disappointing but I think it's because the market that would've normally bought this device had already largely bought the s4.
I use the CyanogenMod ROM. It works quite well. The camera works but it's unstable. LTE is great .
I agree with Celeste, the display is amazingly good, especially considering it is LCD based. The phone is also the only device I know of that combines both the features of Exynos 5 (which features the BIG.little CPU design) and LTE in one package.
Sent from my GT-I9295 using Tapatalk
I don't use Cyanogen, just the Stock Google 4.2 Rom that's in one of the development threads.
I haven't seen any of the features of most customized roms to be appealing enough to me, and I'm always afraid the features will end up adding larger overhead to the system.
I really enjoy 60fps content whenever I'm playing around and the jitter that happens whenever other processes get in the way of displaying the next frame always seem to irk me a bit.
I'm actually about to sell my active to buy a nexus 5, due to the limited rom development. Just waiting for the 32Gb model to reach Sweden.
I've got the international version as well, and as you've noted we don't have much to choose from - safestrap won't work for us. I run cyanogenmod and it mostly works, has a few quirks particularly when it comes to the camera that has me rebooting now and then. I don't think anyone can answer if you bought the right phone or not, it really comes down to if you can live with one of the existing roms or not - because there isn't likely to ever be many roms to choose from. This phone just didn't get a breakthrough and there just isn't enough users out there to get the development really going. The hardware is good, the screen is phenomenal, but that's not all there is to a phone for me.
Try out the roms, and if they don't scratch your itch... sell it and get something else.
Thanks for all the info...
I already have the files in place to flash when it arrives tomorrow.
I think I'm going to flash it to Google's
If only we would have the same deals as our German neighbours...
€ 350,- is still even much more than $ 350,-
They could at least have given us the 32 MB model for that price.
Otherwise I would have waited for the Nexus...
Hey everyone (particularly those I previously interacted with in the - now much less active - Note 3 forum )
My fist post in this forum signifies... pretty much a complete 180 wrt my interest in the Note 4, altering it from "ehh, no thanks" to "I wonder if the Tmo store down the street has any in stock?"
First, my current Note 3: I freaking love it, easily my #1 fav out of the many phones I've owned. It's running Tweaked 3.9, leanKernel 3.11.3 and themed with @cbucz24's B&W Tweaked theme and a sick themed stock Samsung keyboard that he made. Run's like a dream (Antutu benchmarks always in the mid 40k's with an all time high of about 47.5K), Nova Prime, any otherwise heavily customized software-wise (most significant example: I've basically totally altered the stock S pen function via GMD S-pen / no auto Air Command, but launch-able via GMD and significant progress towards my goal of doing literally anything (access obscure settings / direct dial, etc.) just by scribbling a path on the screen. Also, froze flashbar service, replaced with sidebar launchers of Flppr - access pre-configured widgets, divided into categories, from ANY screen via swipe gestures (awesome in general, but particularly useful for "remotes" such as Smart Remote, Yatse, Ultimate Remote...), OmniSnitch (grabbed from the ROM flashed on my "week or so NEW" Note 10.1 2014, T-mo lte variant (p607t, which is actually just a carrier branded P605 - international lte variant, thus completely compatible with p605 ROMs :good, and PIE. Last example (maybe most significant) example, replaced Pen Window, which is rather slow, clunky, and functionally limited AND split window with the far superior XHalo module. Really the only "native" function that I use is handwriting recognition, which IMO works amazingly well). Also, I'm pretty good storage-wise, with the 32GB internal, a 64GB external (must have root app: FolderMount!) AND a few of those tiny USB / USB OTG drives - two of them being USB 3 / 64 GB (but the first Corsair one I got was "misplaced" (read: very likely lost forever) - replaced it with the equivalent Patriot drive which has the fastest transfer speeds I've EVER seen on a flash drive, but via PC USB 3 and phone micro usb 2! Oh, last thing, tons of accessories, most of which incompatible with the Note 4 (ex. cases... so many cases! and a micro USB 3 4 port hub).
So while, having the 'old' JUMP program and not yet using it, it makes more "sense" to trade my Note 3 for a 4, then do the same when this period of "transitional" phone releases passes, and the 64-bit "phone of my dreams" (yes, to confirm, phone ownership CAN affect sleep ) becomes available. However, given my exceptional "fondness" for my N3 & it's extensively customized tweaks, I am somewhat concerned about ditching it for its (currently, at least) less customizable successor.
Keeping my N3 AND getting an N4 really is not an option - I don't really have the cash to buy it straight up, and wouldn't be particularly compelled to if I did. However, having the 'old' JUMP, which I haven't yet used, I feel like, logically, I should go for upgrade 1 of 2 / year, and swap the N3 for a 4, which would be sort of a "transitional" device, until something that I NEED to have released.
SO Note 4 owners (JUMPers... first and last time I'll ever be using that adjective ), where any of you in a similar situation, but decided to go for it anyways? Are you happy to have done so? Any regrets?
Last (any peripheral) question: is anyone aware of the current availability of the N4? Is it typically available in stores yet (particularly in Chicago - the store near me is in Lincoln Park on Clark, if I have any neighbors around here )? Or is the best (fastest) way to JUMP via ordering online (if so, would it be a pre-order and if so, how long of a delay should be expected?) I do know a really cool / helpful guy at the T-mo store (who I talked EXTENSIVELY about root etc., explicitly making sure the new tablet wasn't locked down before buying it, and even straight up asking him if he thought that it would be cool to flash alternative firmware on my new deposit-less AC1900 if I flashed it back to stock before returning it, to which he surprisingly responded "yeah, I'm pretty sure that's fine"!) so he could possibly help me out if availability is still an issue (he also ordered a LTE booster, sent to my house, since I told him I wanted both but was told I could only have one or the other shipped. Paid the deposit for that one, but just got tracking info: delivery date = tomorrow )
So I can / plan to roll by the store to check it out, but just wondering if anyone has bought / ordered one recently and has any info re: current availability.
Really looking forward to discussing / exploring the mod potential for this device with you all! Thanks in advance - mostly hoping to resolve the matters that are making me hesitant to JUMP over to this device and it's MUCH more active discussion :good:
For me, the Note 4 is everything I've ever wanted in a phone (minus dual front facing speakers, but oh well)
I LOVED my Note 3. LOVED it. It was hands down the best device I've ever owned. Until now. I didn't use my JUMP (even though I have JUMP 1.0) kept the Note 3 so I could give it to my friend who would never be able to afford a beastly phone like that.
The Note 4 is the best phone money can buy right now (IMHO). No regrets, and I got it on release day. I baby it and it already has a couple of minor scratches on the aluminum bezel but I could care less. I never dropped it, ever, and I'm ultra careful with my phones (the Note 3 is still flawless, I mean literally looks brand new). So keep that in mind, you will get scratches on the bezel, but honestly even with that, still THE best phone in the world.
That tweaked 3.9 is a GREAT rom, but the note4 is an all around better device. Battery life, camera focus speed, processor speed (once tweaked a little), and the s-pen does function better.
And that fast charger makes anything else obsolete. Charging to 75-90% in 1hr is just crazy.
Screen is pretty nice too :wink:
I was pretty bummed about the rear speaker, and the non wolfson dac, but I guess only a few media people even care about sound quality lol.
If it's a stretch money wise, just skip this iteration, it's improved but not mind blowing
Hey thanks a lot man! Just called the store, and the guy made it pretty clear that online order was the way to go (specifically, they had one white one at 6PM Thurs., and he said it'd likely be gone within 10 mins!) Additionally, with the online JUMP, I have 30 days to give my N3 a :crying: proper goodbye :laugh: )
I'm going to go ahead and find + order a case (slim but protective w/ built in port covers / tempered glass saver. Would welcome recommendations on that :highfive:
Amd4life said:
That tweaked 3.9 is a GREAT rom, but the note4 is an all around better device. Battery life, camera focus speed, processor speed (once tweaked a little), and the s-pen does function better.
And that fast charger makes anything else obsolete. Charging to 75-90% in 1hr is just crazy.
Screen is pretty nice too :wink:
I was pretty bummed about the rear speaker, and the non wolfson dac, but I guess only a few media people even care about sound quality lol.
If it's a stretch money wise, just skip this iteration, it's improved but not mind blowing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah yes, the speaker; meant to address that. Placement / quality of a device's speaker(s) is probably the lowest priority criteria for device selection. By that I mean, if I'm doing anything on the phone where I care about sound quality (media, gaming (occasionally, but not usually), pretty much anything aside from ring / notification tones) I'm going to be connecting either headphones, APTX BT speaker, or even my 7.1 AVR. Any of those is going to produce better sound than even the best built in speakers on any mobile device, for which I would do the same. The lack of the Wolfson DAC is a drag or rather a "wtf sammy".
Situation seems to be that N4 is unquestionably "better" overall than the N3, and I basically have the choice of walking around with one or the other in my pocket, or burning 1/2 JUMP upgrades. Now that development for this phone has picked up, it seems to me that grabbing an N4 vs. holding onto my N3 would be an "emotional rather than logical" decision.
When you get your phone, you will love it. I switched from an AT&T S3 to this T-Mobile N4. A tad pricey, but oooh so worth it. I've wanted a Note phone for years and I finally have one. I'm tempted to root and tweak but worried about tripping Knox and any unforseen warranty hassles.
Anyway, glad you love your N3. Hope the N4 is everything you want it to be.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Premium HD app
jazzmachine said:
Hey everyone (particularly those I previously interacted with in the - now much less active - Note 3 forum )
My fist post in this forum signifies... pretty much a complete 180 wrt my interest in the Note 4, altering it from "ehh, no thanks" to "I wonder if the Tmo store down the street has any in stock?"
First, my current Note 3: I freaking love it, easily my #1 fav out of the many phones I've owned. It's running Tweaked 3.9, leanKernel 3.11.3 and themed with @cbucz24's B&W Tweaked theme and a sick themed stock Samsung keyboard that he made. Run's like a dream (Antutu benchmarks always in the mid 40k's with an all time high of about 47.5K), Nova Prime, any otherwise heavily customized software-wise (most significant example: I've basically totally altered the stock S pen function via GMD S-pen / no auto Air Command, but launch-able via GMD and significant progress towards my goal of doing literally anything (access obscure settings / direct dial, etc.) just by scribbling a path on the screen. Also, froze flashbar service, replaced with sidebar launchers of Flppr - access pre-configured widgets, divided into categories, from ANY screen via swipe gestures (awesome in general, but particularly useful for "remotes" such as Smart Remote, Yatse, Ultimate Remote...), OmniSnitch (grabbed from the ROM flashed on my "week or so NEW" Note 10.1 2014, T-mo lte variant (p607t, which is actually just a carrier branded P605 - international lte variant, thus completely compatible with p605 ROMs :good, and PIE. Last example (maybe most significant) example, replaced Pen Window, which is rather slow, clunky, and functionally limited AND split window with the far superior XHalo module. Really the only "native" function that I use is handwriting recognition, which IMO works amazingly well). Also, I'm pretty good storage-wise, with the 32GB internal, a 64GB external (must have root app: FolderMount!) AND a few of those tiny USB / USB OTG drives - two of them being USB 3 / 64 GB (but the first Corsair one I got was "misplaced" (read: very likely lost forever) - replaced it with the equivalent Patriot drive which has the fastest transfer speeds I've EVER seen on a flash drive, but via PC USB 3 and phone micro usb 2! Oh, last thing, tons of accessories, most of which incompatible with the Note 4 (ex. cases... so many cases! and a micro USB 3 4 port hub).
So while, having the 'old' JUMP program and not yet using it, it makes more "sense" to trade my Note 3 for a 4, then do the same when this period of "transitional" phone releases passes, and the 64-bit "phone of my dreams" (yes, to confirm, phone ownership CAN affect sleep ) becomes available. However, given my exceptional "fondness" for my N3 & it's extensively customized tweaks, I am somewhat concerned about ditching it for its (currently, at least) less customizable successor.
Keeping my N3 AND getting an N4 really is not an option - I don't really have the cash to buy it straight up, and wouldn't be particularly compelled to if I did. However, having the 'old' JUMP, which I haven't yet used, I feel like, logically, I should go for upgrade 1 of 2 / year, and swap the N3 for a 4, which would be sort of a "transitional" device, until something that I NEED to have released.
SO Note 4 owners (JUMPers... first and last time I'll ever be using that adjective ), where any of you in a similar situation, but decided to go for it anyways? Are you happy to have done so? Any regrets?
Last (any peripheral) question: is anyone aware of the current availability of the N4? Is it typically available in stores yet (particularly in Chicago - the store near me is in Lincoln Park on Clark, if I have any neighbors around here )? Or is the best (fastest) way to JUMP via ordering online (if so, would it be a pre-order and if so, how long of a delay should be expected?) I do know a really cool / helpful guy at the T-mo store (who I talked EXTENSIVELY about root etc., explicitly making sure the new tablet wasn't locked down before buying it, and even straight up asking him if he thought that it would be cool to flash alternative firmware on my new deposit-less AC1900 if I flashed it back to stock before returning it, to which he surprisingly responded "yeah, I'm pretty sure that's fine"!) so he could possibly help me out if availability is still an issue (he also ordered a LTE booster, sent to my house, since I told him I wanted both but was told I could only have one or the other shipped. Paid the deposit for that one, but just got tracking info: delivery date = tomorrow )
So I can / plan to roll by the store to check it out, but just wondering if anyone has bought / ordered one recently and has any info re: current availability.
Really looking forward to discussing / exploring the mod potential for this device with you all! Thanks in advance - mostly hoping to resolve the matters that are making me hesitant to JUMP over to this device and it's MUCH more active discussion :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool story bro. So cool I couldnt finish it.
Yup
I thought i was the only one,
The UI feels a bit clunkier And the battery life isnt nearly as good for me as a heavy user i could get almost a full day and a half, on the note 4 i might get barely a day same use.
If i couldve taken the note 3 software multi window UI and put it in the note 4 body it would be the perfect phone.
tmotechsupport said:
I thought i was the only one,
The UI feels a bit clunkier And the battery life isnt nearly as good for me as a heavy user i could get almost a full day and a half, on the note 4 i might get barely a day same use.
If i couldve taken the note 3 software multi window UI and put it in the note 4 body it would be the perfect phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to agree. Turned my note 3 on last night to play with it and it's smooth. Still on stock rooted and animation is smoother with less lag.
Battery on my note 4 i would say lasts 15% less. I've only disconnected my phone for 5 hours with 2:15 screen time and I'm already at 55%. I'm losing about an hour total screen time compared to my note 3.
Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
Yes, Note 4 is worth the JUMP....
I loved my Note 3, but I love my Note 4 more.
There are only two things that I miss about my Note 3.
Temperature sensor
Humidity sensor
If none of these matter to you, the Note 4 is a no brainer. Even if those things mattered to you (like it matters to me ) the Note 4 is still a no brainer.
Those are great AnTuTu benchmakrs for the Note 3, but the SD800 in the N3 is no comparison to the N4 SD805. If you look in my sig, I've hit 50K+ on stock kernel running FireKatv2.
JUMP on over! :good:
It's boiling down to the last gasps for my Droid 4 on Verizon. I love the hardware keyboard and docking accessories. But lots of new apps and their updates are really pushing the limits of my beloved D4.
That and, on a lark, I picked up an LG android watch. I'd like to fiddle around with it a bit but Android Wear won't load on my D4.
I don't use the D4 for a lot. Google Maps, text SMS of course, the camera, and the Amazon apps (store, music, echo, kindle, etc). But MOST IMPORTANTLY, I use the tethering feature. I've got an older Verizon account that has unlimited data. I've used the D4 as a hotspot for ages and it's great. Being able to tether has lightened the load on the D4 as I use a Nexus 7 or other tablet for most other apps.
I really don't want to move up to keyboard-less phablet. I really do prefer the smaller form-factor of the D4 (and the D3 and D2 units I had before). I'd welcome advice on which of the newer phones would be a close second to the D4 size-wise.
So I'm wondering, out of all the custom ROMS out there, what's a good 'daily driver' that supports Android Wear and tethering as reliably as the stock ROM?
Well, the control service for it loads under CM12, and the app seems to run fine after it completely installs, but I don't have any devices to test it with.
Unfortunately, CM12 seems to still have a long-standing issue with tethering...reboots when it's turned off iirc.
A CM11/KitKat-based (4.4) ROM like SlimKat or such should work fine, there's a pretty good chance that you'll find proper Wear support there and it's still a better daily-driver at this point than CM12. I'm not sure if Google has fixed up the Play Services battery drain under KK like they did with Lollipop; if they have, then it's wins all around.
Unfortunately, I only have Cm12 installed at the moment to actually check, sorry. Were I given the choice, I'd check a KK-based ROM first, since again it's still faster/more reliable.
If you find the battery drain too bad and don't want to mess with disabling a couple dozen services to "fix" it, CM12 is decent to good with some minor tweaking.
I loaded the last CM11 build for maserati and, ugh, battery drain was brutally bad. Tethering worked out of the box, fwiw.
I'm going to punt and bail on the D4. I've already had one battery go bad. That wasn't unexpected, as I got several years out of it. But the replacement is starting to bulge only after 6 months. Granted, it's likely due to tethering through the phone (which REALLY heats it up).
I'm going to retire the D4 and give it to my broke-ass brother to upgrade his D3 (which was also mine, once upon a time). He doesn't do anything on the phone that'd require more than the stock ROM. That and he's entirely un-technical.
The replacement will be a Galaxy S6, as that's about the closest in size to my D4 without migrating up to one of those beastly phablets.
And tethering should be minimized by having ordered micro-SIMs for my Nexus 7 and iPad 4.
Yea, I've heard about the heat issue. Unfortunately there's no way around it, that I'm aware of...aside from opening the back up and letting the battery swing out slightly so the EMI shield can "breathe", anyway. Less than ideal.
Sorry to hear it didn't work out. I guess it's sort of better this way though, I remember stock being pretty quick and aside from not supporting the very newest apps, perfectly functional...someone who doesn't need any more than that should be quite happy with it.
Something to look out for: there've been some quiet rumors of the Droid 5 being a thing later on this year. I'd imagine it would be about the same size as what we have, perhaps a bit bigger/thinner, with more modern innards which weren't scrounged from the back of a warehouse somewhere. I haven't seen or heard anything substantial enough to suggest holding out for...just something to be aware of.
Edit: and looking now, I can't even find where I saw the above rumor. Definitely not worth holding out for.
Yeah, well, if/when the next slider releases I'll consider another upgrade. But until that unicorn arrives I'll be trying an S6.
You're correct, the last stock D4 firmware is reasonably decent, but does lack newer app features. Since he won't be pushing it he ought to be able to get some decent use out of it. If I don't sell it instead. He's got an annoying tendency to drop things and I'd hate to see the D4 get cracked.
I've found mine to be reasonably durable. The plates for the slider assembly add a ton of rigidity, so danger of glass breakage due to landing on a corner and the phone "twisting" should be minimal.
To protect the glass directly, you could grab him a Skinomi screen protector. It's made of a somewhat rubbery material, so above being pretty much scratch-proof - I think you'd literally have to use a knife or some other slicing/tearing point or edge under deliberate pressure to leave a permanent mark - it'll absorb some impact. Under $8 on ebay.
To protect the rest of the phone, it shouldn't be too hard to find a basic silicon stretch cover to wrap it in. I've heard that Verizon gave them away with the phones once upon a time.
Meanwhile the Verizon Content Transfer app won't pair between the D4 and S6 phones. Nor does their Cloud app. WTF?
In case anyone still around is unaware, Blackberry has just released the closest thing to an upgrade in a long time for us physical keyboard users: the Priv.
Brief specs of interest, use your Google for specifics:
A "security-hardened" version of Lollipop (with Marshmallow in the works)
Snapdragon 808
3gb of RAM
32gb of storage, 22gb of which is user-usable
5.4" AMOLED screen (QHD, ~540ppi), Samsung-esque curved edges for doing fun things with
3410mAh battery
18mp back camera, 2mp front camera
NFC
Stereo, front-facing speakers. The first part of that sentence may have been an unintentional lie.
MicroSD slot - yes, in this day and age
Notification light - yes, apparently a proper one
And of course, a physical keyboard - that is not only backlit, but also doubles as a trackpad
Caveats:
The keyboard is a portrait slider rather than a landscape one as we're used to, but apparently it's fairly well-balanced and isn't as horribly awkward to use as it looks like it should be
It's a phone with a 5.4" screen and slider plates, not exactly small or thin - though I would argue the latter isn't a negative
No fingerprint sensor, in case that's your thing
Probably no built-in inductive charging, or at least I've seen no mention of it The US is at the moment receiving model STV100-1, which has inductive charging; the STV100-3 is for the Canadian market and lacks inductive charging but has more LTE bands unlocked
Micro-USB only, and apparently only transfers at USB 2.0 speeds, so that'll be fun
And finally, possibly the greatest negative considering where we are: not only is the bootloader locked, it actively verifies system files at boot to try and prevent tampering. That's gonna be fun to figure out how to root, let alone get CM going on...
Unfortunately, BB has decided to make the bafflingly terrible choice of launching it as an AT&T exclusive, but have said that they intend to release for all major carriers, so (assuming sales are decent enough) we should see a Verizon version around the end of the year/going into next. The radio in the 808 is completely capable of doing Verizon CDMA and LTE, but you know how they are these days. Edit: Verizon has confirmed both via twitter and their site that the phone is "coming soon", so it looks like we'll almost certainly get at least a short run even if things don't go well.
There's also the pricepoint problem: it's expensive at $700, or $250 with a contract.
It's out of my price range for the moment even if it were available on VZN, but it has definitely piqued my interest, and I'll probably find a way to pick one up when/if it's available.
I've been waiting for Droid 5 for a long time so It's not gona happen and I love my new pocket computer, the BlackBerry Priv.......I left Verizon after 8 years to get one. I'm glad they are getting them soon to But I really hope that the QWERTY board will survive cause I Hate typing on a flat screen more then sitting in mindless traffic ...
I love that they released it, hate the security model. My response to the poll would be "Once the price goes down & root and CM is possible."
I prefer smaller phones and I think that landscape slider is much better than portait. The biggest deal breaker for me is the price. That is why I'm not going to buy Priv. I decided to make Android qwerty slider myself. Take a look: Qwerty Keyboard Slider [DIY]
No Blackberry phones. I want a DROID 5.
Maybe a Samsung slider phone, but specs would have to be good. MicroSD card slot. 4G. Not the dollar store variety.
I've had Motorola phones since before the v3 RAZR. and a Samsung slider when the first iPhone came out. But other than that.. I'm on the DROID wagon.
I would if it was landscape, I don't care for portrait much.
i really cant see myself ever getting a priv because of the locked down system. as a vzw unlimited data user i tend to use hotspot quite often and having to go through hoops to get around verizons paywall is a huge con for me.
theres also the portrait keyboard which really doesnt do it for me so maybe if its as cheap as a droid 4
at least i know theres a device i can go to if the world runs out of replacement droid 4s
Still Waiting
Do not like the portrait profile of the Priv. Have a Passport as a secondary phone and it is a solid phone but still prefer my Droid 4 as the best UI and size for a phone. Luckily have Asurion and am on my 10+ replacement Droid 4. One of these days the marketeers of all these "me too" cell phone companies will realize there are some of us out there that prefer this form factor with a slide out keyboard. Looks like Apple just figured out that there is a whole market out there for smaller form factor phones and I think it will be a solid seller. Just cant get used to the glass being the only area you can type in. And when others see me typing on the Droid 4 they realize the superiority of this UI. The keyboard on the Passport is OK but does not hold a candle to the Droid 4 keyboard. It just does not play well with the Google Play store so is only half compatible. The Priv is a full Android phone but it is not build as solid as the Passport. Also the phone on the Passport is incredible.
Can't root the Priv, way too expensive and no cursor keys - nope, definitely won't buy it.
usernoob said:
I've been waiting for Droid 5 for a long time so It's not gona happen...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
synpse said:
No Blackberry phones. I want a DROID 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, Motorola got eaten by Google (which was actually potentially promising), then practically given away to Lenovo, and Lenovo appears to have no interest in physical keyboards at all. Given that most consumers seem perfectly happy with typing on glass and trusting autocorrect to catch any mistouches, I don't think the Droid 5 is ever going to be a thing : \
It's sad to see one of the device lines that really helped get Verizon-driven Android on the map just sort of...peter out quietly. It deserved more.
Price is down to ~$400 for a new unlocked unit now, occasionally on sale for around $300. Verizon's CDMA flavor is still around $500 used, looks like. So hey, the pricing situation is sorting itself out fairly quickly.
Blackberry still has a wonky portrait slab with a fixed keyboard and a rebadged all-screen slate coming out, perhaps they'll throw the rest of us a bone and produce a landscape slider if things go well with those...