Hi everyone, long time reader, first time threader. I've been reading alot about the Nexus One and without going into a ****load of detail, as you all know, the forums do attract alot of negative reviews, only because, obviously, the masses of people out there who are happy with their shiny new handset are sitting back, playing with their gadget, probably laughing at the world.
My phone arrives tomorrow, so I thought it would be interesting to start a thread that everyone can post their positive, satisfied testimonials in. If this thread fails I will take that as a fail over all.
Nothing negative here, if you're happy with your new Nexus let everyone know here. Over 9,000 pages.
I think that is a very good initiative !
In a couple of hours my phone should arrive.. i'll post my first-hand thoughts !
Mine is awesome. I have none of the issues everyone is talking about. In particular, I like the battery life compared to my last htc, and how easy it was to pair to my 3 cars.
Very happy
As a mover from WinMo to the N1 I am very happy. I still have plenty of learning to do about Android and will root when I think the community has enough tools to make it really worth it, but my first impressions are that this is a good quality handset that feels good in the hand and is very responsive.
I have been using it for 10 days and wouldn't consider any of the small challenges I've had anything more than an ignorance of what Android is possible of.
I hope you have as good an experience as I have
I've been a long time iPhone (jailbroken) user and have just got into the Android scene with my Nexus One.
I must say,...I'm absolutely loving the device,..my 3GS feels dated in comparison! I'd still say the iPhone OS has more polish then the current iteration of Android 2.1, but know that won't be for too much longer.
Loving the Android community too!
Time to sell that 3GS on ebay
Very Very Happy
I would like to say that I am very happy with the phone having played about with it for the last 3 days. It is everything I expected it to be and the more apps/widgets I add the more impressed I am with it.
Being a smart/internet phone it heavily relies on a good connection. On 3g/WIFI it is easily the best phone I have used and in terms of ease of use and speed it matches the iphone.
I had to set up the APN settings after I got the phone and ever since then the connection has been fine. Please note that on GPRS the speed is not that great - which is not a fault of the phone.
It surpasses the iphone in terms of customizability and the fact that you can have a number of apps running at the same time without ANY slowing down! ON a Jail broken iphone everything bugged down due to multiple apps being used.
I only need a decent case now as it has slipped out of my hand several times due to its slick design!
Overall - very impressed, very happy, absolutely no regrets about not getting the iphone which was the only other alternative I was considering.
Great phone
I went from having a G1 since February last year over to getting the nexus last monday (ordered it a couple of hours after the press conference). All i can say is... wow!!!
Well, actually i can say some more things ;-) This piece of aluminium and glass is lightning quick. It's slim, it has the best phone-screen that i have ever seen, Android 2.1 looks extremely nice (like what they replaced the drawer with). Not having physical buttons is no problem since it have tactile feedback (takes a couple of minutes to get used to but after that you don't really reflect over it).
My friend has the IXXXXX 3gs and we have compared web loading speed. Let me just say that the NE is always faster when it comes to loading the entire page. Sometimes it is twice as fast (we tried several urls of which neither of us had visited before - they were not cached). When you flipped the G1 over to the side, it sometimes took several seconds for the image to flip with it. On the NE it is instantanious.
As for the problems you guys have had with 3g->2g and back, i can't really say i've had these issues. Where i live (Sweden) it have worked rock solid since the beginning.
There exists one issue with the screen on the NE right now, but since is the praise-thread where we are all positive, i will save that for another thread
Kind regards
Daniel
I've been a long time WinMo and Blackberry user here, and the N1 is my first Android device.
I'd have to say, I'm definitely impressed. The hardware is slick and fast, I've had absolutely no issues with the phone other people have had (except no 3g coverage when I'm at work, but life goes on). Pictures are good for a phone, everything is just nice.
Once an N1 with a hardware keyboard comes out, I'll give the current N1 to the boyfriend as he's smitten with it and -hates- hardware keyboard, whereas I have to have a device with a hardware keyboard (work-related, I send emails like a fiend).
It plays Pokemon Ruby perfectly. And...it just works.
On a positive note as well, yesterday in my office with had a Blackberry (Tour), WinMo (Imagio), WebOS (Pre), iPhone (3gs) and of course my Nexus One. iPhone, WinMo and Blackberry users were aaall jealous (especially the iPhone user). The Pre guy likes it a lot as well, but not quite smitten.
Just see these videos and watch your juggernaut fight keys and scissors!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpGAW6L5x8U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfqwKa4bT74
(via snoopstah)
This is my and the n1'a one week anniversary and we will be celebrating tonite over wine and and a movie. Everyone make sure to tell your nexus how much you love it.
I have had nothing but good experiences with this phone, I don't even have to use the Keyboard!
If you want a breath of fresh ait go check out Twit.TV.
Specifically the Daily GizWiz #1007
http://twit.tv/dgw1007
**** DeBartolo and Leo Laporte both got N1's.
And on this one when they a don talknig about Google.cn they talk uo the N1 one for a while and it's features.
http://twit.tv/twig
Just thought I would share!
Lovin' it
Again - I have absolutely no complains about the nexus at all. It is the device that I have been waiting for so long, and it does not disappoint in any way. Had it for 2 weeks now and still can't stop playing with it. Can't think of any other bit of tech where the novelty hasn't worn off after a couple of days
So I received the phone 10 hours ago, and only let it out of my hand because I had to go to the toilet and eat.
Its fantastic.
Ditto, Ditto, Ditto to all the comments.
1 week old for me, moved from a Symbian. This is much better. Sorted out the sync process for my emails and calender (from Outlook - I love the fact I don't need to connect the phone to my PC to sync, I know it may well be days before I need to turn the PC on with this phone). No manufacture issues. Lots of looks from iphone droids (incl my gf!). Loads of Apps.
Can't wait for flash, because when that arrive, there will be no beating this sweet bit of kit - oh yes, and the price, for a SIM free, £360 delivered (subject to possible VAT) is an awesome price!
I can't praise this enough! I simply see it as a HTC with a google ad/logo on it!! Nothing wrong with that in my eyes.
My Nexus One is really fun to just poke at the background of.
Well I mean it just does everything my myTouch 3G did except better, and that's really what I wanted
I use mine on the toilet! (I know; that is grody.) It is that hard to part from the phone. I'm coming from a rooted G1 that I spent a lot of time playing around with.
In comparison to the iPhone, Android + Nexus One hardware makes it far superior. Not saying the iPhone isn't a great piece of hardware in its own respect, I just think the marketing that went behind it has implanted the idea that it is the most superior phone out there. To me, the Nexus One has disproved that. I can actually have a phone with a background (live wallpapers, FTW) and not populated with a bunch of squares (widgets, FTW). I can actually view all my notifications and have quick access to them via simple swipe of the notification bar.
I use text-to-speech on this phone as I did on my G1. SayMyName is quite useful (despite some bugs on the N1, it reads the contact number not the name). On my G1, SayMyName would slow my calls down and it would ring 4-5 times before actually giving me a chance to pick up. Not so much on the N1. It is instant.
Camera takes nice pictures. Navigation works great (used it on the G1, but should be same on the N1, just faster). The screen is pretty, very pretty. Simply put, this phone is awesome!
I apologize for my ramblings; I've been getting a lot of flak from iPhone users. I hope everyone enjoys their Nexus One as much as I do.
I've used WinMo devices for the past five years or so (Since O2 XDA). Latest one was a HTC Touch Diamond.
I've been using my Nexus One now for a week and it never stops to amaze me. I thought my Touch Diamond was pretty neat, but compared to the speed and ease-of-use of Android on this blazingly fast N1... it's just awesome. And (unlike my Touch Diamond) it doesn't need soft resets three times a day....
Mine is really awesome. I have none of the issues some are talking about. In particular, I like the Speed, UI, Design, Flexability, Customizing, etc...Did I mention Fast
Got mine ~4 hours ago. After reading through these forums the past day to see what problems I might expect, the only issue I saw, but was prepared for, was one edge of the screen wasn't sealed. Turned the hairdryer on it for ~30 seconds, pressed down and the screen stuck. No dust was under the screen straight out of the plastic protector. No 3G swapping issues (T-Mobile).
Impressive piece of kit, especially coming from a Dash where some keys weren't working and sound quality had gone to crap.
Compared to my wife's MyTouch 3G, the Android keyboard is waaaay easier to get keys on the outer edge to register. It usually takes me a few tries on the wife's, but the N1 keys register on the first try.
Very happy ~4 hours in.
Had it around a week and a half now. Absolutely love it! After spending so many years with WinMo I can't describe the difference. Such a great piece of hardware too.
Related
So I am looking to purchase a Nexus One sometime within the next month or so. I'm an AT&T user and currently am using the FUZE with a custom ROM and running the Eclair XDAndroid build, which obviously doesn't compare to a real android device in any way, shape, or form. I'm completely aware of the features and abilities of both the iPhone and the N1, so this isn't really a feature comparison thread. On paper I know what the N1 is capable of, and everyone I know (literally) has a freaking iPhone so I know what that is capable of in the real world with real use.
Getting to the point, since you folks have been using the N1, may I ask what you like about your N1 over the iPhone? I'm following threads and seeing people with dust complaints, tinted screens, horrifying battery life, the touch sensitive buttons at the bottom not responding... and I'm just struggling on convincing myself to spend over $530 USD on a phone that could cause me problems over spending $300 USD on an iPhone that I know performs very well and already has a ton of memory built in, but lacks everything else that I want in the N1. Are most of these issues from earlier models of the phone? Do they occur more in say the T-Mobile version over the AT&T version (or vice-versa)?
I know this probably seems like a dumb thread, but I've searched and I've heard all the comparisons for features, but I just want to hear your comparisons through actual real world experience with the device (even if you haven't use the iPhone. Oh, and I did see the CNET video of the iPhone vs N1 brawl and that definitely is helping me lean more and more towards the N1.
Any advice would be great. Just please don't turn this into a flame war, both phones are fantastic in their own ways.
lostinbeta said:
So I am looking to purchase a Nexus One sometime within the next month or so. I'm an AT&T user and currently am using the FUZE with a custom ROM and running the Eclair XDAndroid build, which obviously doesn't compare to a real android device in any way, shape, or form. I'm completely aware of the features and abilities of both the iPhone and the N1, so this isn't really a feature comparison thread. On paper I know what the N1 is capable of, and everyone I know (literally) has a freaking iPhone so I know what that is capable of in the real world with real use.
Getting to the point, since you folks have been using the N1, may I ask what you like about your N1 over the iPhone? I'm following threads and seeing people with dust complaints, tinted screens, horrifying battery life, the touch sensitive buttons at the bottom not responding... and I'm just struggling on convincing myself to spend over $530 USD on a phone that could cause me problems over spending $300 USD on an iPhone that I know performs very well and already has a ton of memory built in, but lacks everything else that I want in the N1. Are most of these issues from earlier models of the phone? Do they occur more in say the T-Mobile version over the AT&T version (or vice-versa)?
I know this probably seems like a dumb thread, but I've searched and I've heard all the comparisons for features, but I just want to hear your comparisons through actual real world experience with the device (even if you haven't use the iPhone. Oh, and I did see the CNET video of the iPhone vs N1 brawl and that definitely is helping me lean more and more towards the N1.
Any advice would be great. Just please don't turn this into a flame war, both phones are fantastic in their own ways.
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they're both amazing.
the nexus one is great. features and all. but after like three months, you kinda want your iphone back.. or i do at least.
depending on the 4th Generation iPhone, i may upgrade.
for the time being though, i LOVE my nexus one..
buy it if you are having any doubts. you wont be sorry.
all those issues only apply to a select few or to people that have major ocd..i did like my iphone but i didnt love it..i love my nexus one its a really great phone..i love that i can use it to tether too my laptop, use it as BRIGHT flash light, customize it too my liking, and not having to deal with iphone.
The one thing i did miss when i went back to android from my iphone was the games..iphone games are really really nice but that feeling has gone away since now alot of the 3d games on the iphone are being made for android.
the iphone is a great phone but the UI is sooooooooooo boring..i hated that 4x4 icon page on it.i love having widgets
so to sum it all up get a nexus one......and a ipad ahah
That's kind of my worry. I don't have that kind of money to throw around every couple of months, I don't want to invest all that money and in a couple of months just be jealous of all my friends with iPhones. But it is nice to hear you love your N1, the only apple fanboy thing I'm into is their operating system, anything outside of that I'm not really a huge fan of Apple (I stuck with WinMo just because I could customize it without hassle, unlike the iPhone which is a risk to brick every time you jailbreak it and there's a firmware update)
lostinbeta said:
That's kind of my worry. I don't have that kind of money to throw around every couple of months, I don't want to invest all that money and in a couple of months just be jealous of all my friends with iPhones. But it is nice to hear you love your N1, the only apple fanboy thing I'm into is their operating system, anything outside of that I'm not really a huge fan of Apple (I stuck with WinMo just because I could customize it without hassle, unlike the iPhone which is a risk to brick every time you jailbreak it and there's a firmware update)
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ya i love my macbook its the best thing that ever happened to me ahah..and honestly the chance of bricking and iphone while jailbreaking is slim to none but its a pain when apple is constantly sending you updates to unjailbreak it..trust me you will not be jealous of their iphones
bobdude5 said:
all those issues only apply to a select few or to people that have major ocd..i did like my iphone but i didnt love it..i love my nexus one its a really great phone..i love that i can use it to tether too my laptop, use it as BRIGHT flash light, customize it too my liking, and not having to deal with iphone.
The one thing i did miss when i went back to android from my iphone was the games..iphone games are really really nice but that feeling has gone away since now alot of the 3d games on the iphone are being made for android.
the iphone is a great phone but the UI is sooooooooooo boring..i hated that 4x4 icon page on it.i love having widgets
so to sum it all up get a nexus one......and a ipad ahah
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Click to collapse
Awesome note with the games though, I don't play games on my phone much (sadly I'm horribly addicted to solitaire...haha) so I never really got into the games aspect, I only have one or two on my iPod Touch, most of the time I use the basic Apps which are also available on Android (twitter, facebook, shazaam, things like that). So that's a good thing to keep in mind.
I think one of my biggest worries is battery life. I don't work a job where I can charge my phone at all throughout the day, and there are times I leave at 8am and don't get home until 7pm or later, and I don't want to have to worry that my phone won't make it. My WinMo phone always ends at around 60% with standard/moderate use so I never have to worry about running home to get a charge if I get hung up after work.
idk man, by far the best phone i have ever owned so far. (may be contradicting to what i just said but i literally do not care)
features list is just BOOM!
battery is amazing for me. no dead pixels. saturated screen. bright flashlight (nexus one torch).. idk so many to list.
if you wanna buy RIGHT NOW. go for the nexus one,
but
if you can wait til July...... wait. becuase you may regret it if you dont have the money to buy the newest badass thing, like maybe the 4Gen iPhone, and new product from HTC, or anyone... really its all so hard to tell but if you can wait, i think that'd be in your best interest.
and the only thing i miss about the iphone thats slowly sucking me back in (happens about twice a year, ive owned all the iphones and sold them too haha) is the slickkkkkk UI. the LARGE community and the apps that actually work clean, and flawlessly. the iphones' transition between homescreens is definitely smooth as butter. nexus one? smooth as sand paper.. the ability to take screen shots on the iphone with ease... idk.. haha
nexus one last me a whole a day with heavy usage (texting, internet, games, music, calling) i disagree with the slick UI..iphone has a HORRIBLE UI in my opinion its too plain and transition is just as smooth..the community for android is also huge and screenshots is easy too..just shake the phone (shootme app on market)
bobdude5 said:
nexus one last me a whole a day with heavy usage (texting, internet, games, music, calling) i disagree with the slick UI..iphone has a HORRIBLE UI in my opinion its too plain and transition is just as smooth..the community for android is also huge and screenshots is easy too..just shake the phone (shootme app on market)
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Click to collapse
slick as in quick and easy i guess?
and my nexus easily lasts me 1.5+ days under HEAVY usage.
cool i didnt know about that app! thanks!
although you dont need an app for the iphone haha
lol well i never really got a chance to test past 1.5 days lol i charge it when im go to bed but it usually has 40 percent at the time ( i got to bed like at 1-2 am lol)
bobdude5 said:
lol well i never really got a chance to test past 1.5 days lol i charge it when im go to bed but it usually has 40 percent at the time ( i got to bed like at 1-2 am lol)
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i totally agree.. just one night i forgot to plug it in. died later that day though (didnt necessarily let it "die" i just shut it off at like 2%)
My phone is simply perfect. No issues whatsoever, apparently I am one of the lucky Nexus owners. The only thing though, I do like about the iPhone more - is the UI polish. Apple is simply great at designing things. I'm ok though, as long as I have a Desire ROM. HTC Sense is quite nice.
Youll be happy with the nexus. It is great now and stands to realize much of its latent potential if Google wants it to. If you've had an iPhone you will definitely be disappointed in the touch screen. It's possible though that Android might be able to iron out some of the jittery, jumpiness of the nexus touch screen. But its a decent screen,those who have never used an iPhone think the nexus has the best touch screen there is so its definitely not a deal breaker.
Also, the nexus has higher resolution but I don't think there's and denying that the iPhone just looks crisper, especially the browser. But the nexus gpu definitely loads pages faster. I think I'm just rambling now...
lostinbeta said:
Getting to the point, since you folks have been using the N1, may I ask what you like about your N1 over the iPhone? I'm following threads and seeing people with dust complaints, tinted screens, horrifying battery life, the touch sensitive buttons at the bottom not responding... and I'm just struggling on convincing myself to spend over $530 USD on a phone that could cause me problems over spending $300 USD on an iPhone that I know performs very well and already has a ton of memory built in, but lacks everything else that I want in the N1. Are most of these issues from earlier models of the phone? Do they occur more in say the T-Mobile version over the AT&T version (or vice-versa)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Multitasking
The fact that it's unique and NOT an iPhone that everyone and their mother has
Customization
Live wallpapers
High resolution (2.5 times the iPhone)
Flash Lite
DMaverick50 said:
Also, the nexus has higher resolution but I don't think there's and denying that the iPhone just looks crisper, especially the browser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, what?
No denying that? I 10000% heartily deny that. Disagree to the nth power.
lostinbeta said:
So I am looking to purchase a Nexus One sometime within the next month or so. I'm an AT&T user and currently am using the FUZE with a custom ROM and running the Eclair XDAndroid build, which obviously doesn't compare to a real android device in any way, shape, or form. I'm completely aware of the features and abilities of both the iPhone and the N1, so this isn't really a feature comparison thread. On paper I know what the N1 is capable of, and everyone I know (literally) has a freaking iPhone so I know what that is capable of in the real world with real use.
Getting to the point, since you folks have been using the N1, may I ask what you like about your N1 over the iPhone? I'm following threads and seeing people with dust complaints, tinted screens, horrifying battery life, the touch sensitive buttons at the bottom not responding... and I'm just struggling on convincing myself to spend over $530 USD on a phone that could cause me problems over spending $300 USD on an iPhone that I know performs very well and already has a ton of memory built in, but lacks everything else that I want in the N1. Are most of these issues from earlier models of the phone? Do they occur more in say the T-Mobile version over the AT&T version (or vice-versa)?
I know this probably seems like a dumb thread, but I've searched and I've heard all the comparisons for features, but I just want to hear your comparisons through actual real world experience with the device (even if you haven't use the iPhone. Oh, and I did see the CNET video of the iPhone vs N1 brawl and that definitely is helping me lean more and more towards the N1.
Any advice would be great. Just please don't turn this into a flame war, both phones are fantastic in their own ways.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It all comes down to your personal preference. You can read all types of reviews and you'll see that Nexus One wins over iPhone 3GS. The features of the phone are outstanding. Just ask yourself what you want in your phone. If you want lots of applications, music, go for iPhone but if you want free applications, customizations, widgets, great camera, blazing fast web experience, go for Nexus One. Its just a matter of time before android applications touch the mark set by iPhone. Once you root your Nexus One, its going to be a whole world of possibilities....
For the issues you read about Nexus One, I want to tell you that the tinted screen is only present in the newer devices which would be very soon fixed by an update. The capacitive buttons work perfectly when pressed on the upper half of the button. The dust problem is present in a very small no. or hardwares and if you live in US, then you can call for a replacement if it happens with you.
Android would very soon be taken up by most of the mobile makers as its open sourced and free. I read somewhere that the phone companies who have taken up android OS have to pay very little in comparison to Windows Mobile.
So go for Nexus One, you wont be sorry....
Here's what I wrote in another forum regarding this question:
Having thought about it I realised that the choice to go for an N1 is easy if it fits your needs. Since it has been released all the focus has been on how it compares to the iphone. Understandable as apple set a high bar with many features such as the apps, the graphical physics and ease of use. The n1 more or less matches them and comparing many of these features doesn't get you far. They both are fantastic bits of hardware, great screens, amazing computing power, touchscreens etc. In some ways the N1 performs a bit better in others the iphone but the differences between them are small.
However I think the N1 has gone to a new level with features the iphone simply hasn't got. I don't have to open an app to access the information I want. My calender, agenda, weather, news, daily Bible reading, personal photo's, music player (and playlists) one touch dialling to favourite contacts (and many other thing I don't use) all run on my home pages. And here's where it moves mobile information on; all these widgets update automatically and wirelessly. I don't have to plug my phone into my computer to update my agenda, it happen without hassle right onto my homescreen. Furthermore these services are free - and yes I did pay for mobile me and no its not worth it.
Bottom line is that both the iphone and the N1 are great bits of kit, you won't notice many gains in function between either hardware as far as I can tell but the software has moved on from simply apps. Unfortunately the press just focus on the things that you can compare but the how can you compare widget on a N1 to nothing on the iphone? The N1 is in a different class to the iphone because it does things the iphone can't dream of doing, try to keep up apple!
Thank You everybody. Your advice has been helpful. I actually feel that the Android UI is nicer than the iPhone, to me the iPhone seems plain. Though I will admit that the iPhone is probably a little more user friendly, I don't mind the extra clicks on Android, and it's not like it's difficult to figure out by any stretch of the means. And it's good to know that the issues people are having are only occurring in a small percentage of devices, I was really worried that I would throw down that kind of money and have a jacked phone that only lasted me half a day and had a dusty mis-tinted screen...haha. Hopefully I'll be able to get my N1 ordered by the end of this month.
The next step would be rooting. I don't think I'll root it until after the warranty is up, but I don't know, I said the same thing about ROMing my FUZE and that didn't happen. Though on an unrelated question, how come so many N1 ROM threads don't have screenshots of the ROM. The ShootMe app works great, I use it on my FUZE with Eclair. It just seems like a big risk to install a ROM without knowing what you're supposed to be getting.
actually its less clicks for android lol you know with the widgets and all..with the iphone it takes four clicks to modify your brightness for android it takes one, it takes 3 clicks to turn on wifi and bluetooth on iphone and on android it takes one, it takes 4 clicks for gps on iphone and android 1, it takes 3 clicks to post something on facebook and 1 on android (same for myspace), it takes takes 2 clicks to search on iphone and none on android..you see my point lol
lostinbeta said:
The next step would be rooting. I don't think I'll root it until after the warranty is up, but I don't know, I said the same thing about ROMing my FUZE and that didn't happen. Though on an unrelated question, how come so many N1 ROM threads don't have screenshots of the ROM. The ShootMe app works great, I use it on my FUZE with Eclair. It just seems like a big risk to install a ROM without knowing what you're supposed to be getting.
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Warranty is 1 year, you will get hot feet by then. There should be desire screenshots around. CyanogenMod's UI is identical to stock, extra features being the selling point.
zachthemaster said:
slick as in quick and easy i guess?
and my nexus easily lasts me 1.5+ days under HEAVY usage.
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Click to collapse
Are you running on the HTC Li-Ion battery or some new U-235 battery?
The Nexus One is great. I don't have complaints so far other than the tiny loudspeaker. Heard that the Desire ROM gives it a louder volume. Anyway, like someone has pointed out, if you can wait until June, I would wait. I think Apple sees the Android OS as a thread so they must be building something big for the iphone 4Gen. The iphone 4Gen will probably be better the Nexus One... BUT I am confident that the Nexus Two or whatever Google wants to release in the future will take over eventually
Not saying the Nexus One will lose to the 4Gen for sure. Remember FroYo and Flash 10 are coming to the Nexus One.
Currently rocking a captivate, love the phone but thinking about getting a galaxy tab and downsizing my phone to aria with CM and overclocked to 850. I can make about 200$ towards the tab purchase selling my cappy and picking up a aria.
Any input? anyone make the move from a bigger screen?
The Aria's size and build is really great, with a lot of nice hardware features.
I'm not sure about overclocking though, it's reasonably fast without it, and would likely result in about 26 minute battery life.
I actually just posted a big long comparison on another forum for a debate between the two. I'll copy & paste the whole thing for ya, if you care to read it.
----------------------------------
So I'll lay my full opinion on the table, as its a pretty recent experience for me. It's a long story, so if you're patient enough to read it, here it goes:
I pre-ordered an iPhone 4, and when I got it, it was defective. Not one of the reception issues or other things people were complaining about at the time... it was just defective. Being that stores hadn't even filled all of their pre-orders, there wasn't a chance in hell I was getting a replacement any time soon. I decided, since that had been my 3rd iPhone (had an original 2g, and a 3G-S before it) that I'd head to the Android side and try it out.
I don't remember how I found out about the Captivate, but I think a friend mentioned it and we started looking into it. It seemed like a great phone, but it wasn't being released until about 2 weeks down the line at this point in time. I spoke to some folks at Best Buy where I had bought the iPhone 4 and expressed my interest in the Captivate. I was able to get the Aria for the time being, and return it with no return fee and exchange it for the Captivate when it was released.
My first reactions with the Aria were mixed. I was blown away by Android from the start, but knowing (spec's wise) that the Captivate was a better phone I never took the time to fully appreciate it. I was also naive to many things about it since I was new to Android and hadn't fully wrapped my head around it yet. So, then I got my Captivate and dove head first into Android. At first I loved it. It's a powerful phone and does a lot of things real well. It has its downsides, though. My biggest gripe at first was the GPS. I use a GPS pretty frequently for various things, and I hadn't bought a new standalone GPS unit because I had this phone. So it not working mattered to me. It rarely connected at all until the over the air update. Then I randomly had problems with it turning itself off. My first one was fine for months, then one day I pulled it out of my pocket to check the time and it was off. Then it happened again the next day... and then twice the next. I got a warranty replacement. That one did the same thing after a month. Got that one replaced... lasted about 2 weeks, same problem. I charge the phone once a night when I get home from work until it's full, and unplug it afterwards. The battery usually lasts me to at least 40% even with heavy use on the average day... so can't see it being that I messed up all 3 batteries some how. Also, when I'd turn it back on the battery was never dead. I've never had a similar problem with any of the smartphones I've had in the past.
So, I went back to AT&T and told them I want an Aria instead. I had done some research on the Andriod phones available on AT&T currently and I thought it would be my next best option. I went on different forums, read reviews, went into stores and played with the different options, etc. I knew I would be making some concessions and giving up some things, but at this point I just wanted a reliable smartphone.
So I've had the Aria for a few days now (less than a week), but I already realize so many things that I hadn't noticed in comparison to the Captivate at first because I was new to Android and didn't know better. Here's my list:
1. I love Sense. I was ready to load up ADW right away because I was use to using it, because TouchWiz sucked. I can't see myself replacing Sense anytime soon.
2. The GPS works perfectly. Connects just about instantly, and is way more accurate than any of my Captivate's were.
3. I actually appreciate the small size more now after having a big 4" screen for a while. While it was weird to type on the smaller screen at first, SwiftKey made that all better. Now I don't want a big screen phone anymore.
4. Based off of the dBm and asu numbers, I actually get a little better reception on my Aria at the places I frequent most.
5. A lot of my favorite apps run generally less buggy on the Aria then on any of my Captivates. Handcent is one of them, for example.
6. Now, I don't know or care why, but stock vs. stock my Aria seems smoother, snappier, and faster navigating around general apps and such. No, games don't play better on it for obvious reasons. Everything else that I use, though... not laggy at all.
The bad:
1. Storage... not a lot of room for apps (though, I haven't run out yet). I stuck my 16gig stick in it for pictures and such, but without Froyo on it yet, the low internal storage thing kinda sucks. Yes I know I can put a froyo rom on it and store apps to SD. I may, but right now I don't have any need to.
2. The camera doesn't compare. The only thing it matches up to is megapixels, which mean nothing really. The Captivate camera, even without a flash, is amazing. The Aria camera still does the trick for simple stuff, though.
3. The optical wheel can be finicky, but maybe I'm just not use to it yet.
4. I wish the screen was a little bigger for certain websites and things... but its really not as bad as I'd thought it would be.
In all honestly... those 4 things are the worst I can say about it so far. It's a great phone, and its changed what I thought I "needed" in a smartphone.
sportedwood said:
Currently rocking a captivate, love the phone but thinking about getting a galaxy tab and downsizing my phone to aria with CM and overclocked to 850. I can make about 200$ towards the tab purchase selling my cappy and picking up a aria.
Any input? anyone make the move from a bigger screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Captivate and my wife has the Aria.
Captivate rocking Cognition FroYo
Aria rocking Cyanogen FroYo
The Aria is a great little phone and I'm always tinkering with it BUT the difference in screen size and resolution is so many worlds apart that I don't think I could ever downgrade on the screen. It's like the difference between high and standard def tv. Now that I have a nice HD TV I cannot stand to watch standard definition anymore. The Super Amoled screen cannot be beat.
Besides the screen size, from a Captivate point of view, the keyboard can be a little cramped but i can still use but just not as easy.
It sounds like you will be using the Aria for normal phone stuff and your Galaxy Tab will become your surfing and gaming machine. That would be a pretty cool setup if you didn't mind carrying 2 devices. The ultimate setup if you could afford it would be the Captivate and the Galaxy Tab!
I know the Captivate has gotten a bad rap, but I have not had any issues with mine. GPS is weak but it does work but then again I have GPS in my vehicles so I don't really use it.
Thanks for the replies guys, I just want a smaller phone.. I think im going to pick up a Aria on craigslist and give it a go for a few days, can always sell it again.
Thanks again!
All these hater threads being posted about "I'm returning the Atrix" , "The Atrix Screen is horrible" and "The Atrix doesn't do this..." I decided to show this device some love. We all know it's an electronic device/phone first and sometimes things are broken or just not working right...I get that! However, let's not let the VERY FEW bad things out weigh the MANY GOOD things about the Atrix. Let's enjoy our new toy and give props when props is due.
So I wanted to start this thread for people like myself to post reasons why you bought the Atrix, what you like about it and why you might decide to keep it past your 3o day return period.
I'll go first:
What I like about the Atrix is the sleekness of it. The light weight feel in the hand. and The snappiness of it. One of the reasons I think I may keep the Atrix past my 30 day period is because I feel that if Motorola does allow the bootloader to be unlocked the devs will make this phone one of the most powerful devices out if used to the best of it's ability. And if they don't release the bootloader, I'll still be happy with it and still keep it.
I like that I don't have to have a charger at my desk, car, home desk, couch, night stand, etc. the battery life is great for me.
I like that the screen practically fills the face. I like the resolution and crispness.
I love the form factor. I like how it fits in my hand, the placement of the fingerprint sensor works perfect for me.I like that it's light but doesn't feel cheap or fragile.
I like that it's not tied to a pc like my iphone.
I love how fast it is, I have no issues with lag or un responsiveness.
I love that it isn't an iphone. I like iphones..I love my atrix
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Ill join in.
I love the weight of this phone, its not heavy like most other phones. Its more like what you expect it to be like.
The phone fits your hand VERY well. The finger print reader is positioned so that if you cradle the phone correctly, your index finger is resting on the finger print reader a good portion of the time.
I have yet to have any problems of this phone slowing down.
The battery life is AMAZING! Now I might not be the uber smartphone user that has the phone in front of his/her face 24/7 (driving/walking down halls running into people) but I still use this phone a lot and it easily lasts a full day on 1 charge.
The screen is perfect, everyone saying that the screen sucks need to wait till software comes out that utilizes this resolution. A good 90% of the stuff on the market right now was not made for the resolution on this phone. Also the real estate of this screen is amazing. They utilized all the screen space they could on this phone.
I will also be keeping this phone past the 30 day return period since I feel that the phone flat out works right out of the box. Yea a custom rom would be cool but this phone does everything I need it to do and more without breaking a sweat.
+1 for the Atrix
I really love the battery life. I got home from work tonight at 6:30 and still had 50% and I used it a ton today.
Speed. Silly speed for days. I've not seen any of the lag I hear about and it never locks up on me.
Games are insanely good, especially Tegrazone approved games. Samurai 2 and Dungeon Defenders is sick.
I dig the size and weight. It doesn't feel like a brick in my pocket.
Love the fingerprint reader as unlock.
The screen is fantastic and realistic.
Camcorder has taken some really great videos for me. I recorded almost an entire live concert with it from the send row and it looks and sounds fantastic. I recorded from the car dock to test it and at 45mph the video was crisp and didnt' stutter.
The car dock owns.
This one even surprises me: I don't hate blur. Yes, I said it.
I like the blur widget options along with the standard Android widgets. I find that with the power of the phone that blur doesn't offer any slow down. I wouldn't like it with a 528mhz processor, but it screams on the Atrix so I'm good with it.
Wow, it is nice to see a thread in which people want to say positive things!
Just to add to what everyone has already said (I'm a big fan).
I already love the device. If the bootloader is ever unlocked... holy 'smokes'... it will just be like another christmas - in the middle of the year.
no dropped calls
better signal (probably helps the no dropped calls stat too)
much better battery life
good hi def screen
great speaker
fast as hell
The Bishop said:
no dropped calls
better signal (probably helps the no dropped calls stat too)
much better battery life
good hi def screen
great speaker
fast as hell
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like having alerts, ringtones, and battery life as proficient as blackberrys.
acPIZZA said:
Wow, it is nice to see a thread in which people want to say positive things
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Click to collapse
I know right....I got tired of seeing all these negative threads about people returning the phone, they expected certain features that's not here so they're gonna return the phone etc. It was getting crazy.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
I love how i dont have to root it to to get rid of the lag isues tht other phones have.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
This is my first smart phone, so I have no prior experience to compare my Atrix experience to. Because of my lack of experience with such devices, I know I am not taxing it, putting it through the rigorous paces that others do, or even utilizing much of its potential. But I like it, and I'm pleased with it.
It is very light, easy to pocket, and it fits my hands well. Sheathed in the Body Glove Mirage TPU case, it is secure in my grasp.
It has a great screen. Even small text in web pages is crisp and readable.
I love having an internet browser with me all the time. I used it today in my garden to look up information on soil preparation.
Texting on this phone is a dream. It has a great virtual keyboard. The screen is wonderfully sensitive to a quick and light touch, which makes typing very fast and accurate.
The phone is fast and delightfully responsive. There is virtually no latency when accessing menus and apps.
The battery life is excellent. I can use it all day without running it down completely. Recharging overnight is all that's needed.
LOVE my Atrix
FAST, absolutely no lag, 1 gig of RAM, great quality construction, GREAT screen despite what others think (just look at a hi res video), a pleasure to play with!!
The phone is great out of the box compared to how the Captivate was. This phone is a smartphone on steroids. Plenty of power, RAM, and internal storage for applications for daily use. The fingerprint lockscreen is pretty nifty. 4in is the perfect size in my opinion and the phone is nice and loud.
The drawbacks are the screen isn't as good as SAMOLED, Motoblur is kind of a bummer, and white notification bar is annoying. I am really nitpicking but there isn't too much to complain about the phone.
ok honestly, i just got mine yesterday and didn't see any of the complaints that people are making about it that would make somebody wanna return it, either u got a defective device or u just complain entirely too much(easy fix, return it for another one that works duh). they talking about speed test this and that compared to the iphone/inspire/evo/etc. but no phone is perfect and honestly this phone is better then all of them. Yea it's running motorola Blur, but motorola blur isn't bad at all, the phone that made it look bad was that weak backflip that had sooooo many bugs, i kno cause my sis has it. Another thing, people are complaining about the bootloader, the devs are currently working hard to crack it, and very soon will from looking at their thread. Just wait til this thing is rooted, it's gonna shock a lot of people that returned it for these future phones that come out, so please(not everybody) stop complaining so much and making people seem like this phone is horrible just because u don't like it and it's not 2 seconds faster then your ROOTED device or inspire, u may just have a defective device......
sorri about the rant but after playing with this phone for a day it kinda frustrated me seeing people giving up on this phone soooo quickly, but i like everything about the phone nothing has disappointed me yet
Coming from a (stock) Nexus One that was the best phone I EVER used, this phone is:
- sexier
- faster
- lasting longer
- much nicer to watch videos on
- impossible to fill up with apps (!!!)
It is in general an awesome phone! Sure, glitches here & there, however nothing that will not be fixed in an imminent update.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
G1-8701 said:
sorri about the rant but after playing with this phone for a day it kinda frustrated me seeing people giving up on this phone soooo quickly, but i like everything about the phone nothing has disappointed me yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1; I understand Motorola has a history of locking down their phones, and the Xoom is a different device entirely...but the fact they're giving that the option of a lockable/unlockable bootloader gives me some hope.
It took some time for the Captivate development to take off, but once people were able to utilize i9000 ROMs/kernels, there were a ton of ROM/kernel options, and almost all of those piggybacked i9000 development from people outside of the United States. So I'm planning on sticking with this phone for a while, unless the Atrix part of the XDA forums here becomes a desolate wasteland and the phone gets abandoned. As somebody mentioned in another thread, once this phone comes out on different carriers in different countries, there should be a lot more people plugging away on the development side.
That said, I love the hardware portions of this phone; it feels solid, the battery cover looks nice, the camera is fantastic, the GPS works great, the screen is solid (if not spectacular, yet), I missed having a flash on my camera and LED notifications, and even with the Motoblur bloat still there...it's snappy.
battery life, battery life, battery life. and did i mention battery life?
over 40 hours on my last charge. im pressed.
i was thinking about returning due to locked bootloader......but the fact of the matter is, i can still do far more customization to this phone with a locked bootloader than i could on a jailbroken iphone (what i came from). i loved the roms/kernels for the captivate that i had for 3 weeks, but even with that phone supercustomized and overclocked, it still didnt perform as well as the atrix.
I like when chicks see me with this badass phone. I usually get laid. This phone is a chick magnet.
D1rk said:
I like when chicks see me with this badass phone. I usually get laid. This phone is a chick magnet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny as hell...lmao...Good Post!
I'd like to second everyones opinions about the phone. Coming from a iphone 3g ill never go back. I believe when froyo catches up with better apps to support the atrix's dual cores's and att finally upgrades there cell towers' and the phone has only been out for a little more then 2 weeks I'm sure the devs here need more time to play around with the phone. As I'm not rooting yet ill wait for the gingerbread update and att to upgrade there cell towers before I start rooting. But anyway back to subject I am very pleased with the phone as I agree with all comments that members have posted about the positive things.
Ps. I am pleased to live beside a att cell tower mainantance worker and he has said that middle-eastern southern U.S. towers will be updated to the LTE network no later than this years 2nd quarter and he also made a comment about att working with verizon getting everything going?? But he couldn't provided any hard prof.
Now my fingers hurt thanks swype.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
First of all, I've never used a phone that some people didn't hate. The Atrix is the best Android phone. It beats the Nexus S and it beats the oversized, overhyped Desire HD. It beats all the plastic Samsungs. The form factor is perfect. The weight and balance are perfect. The screen is excellent. Call quality is excellent. I like it. I write about smartphones and I use them all. This beats all Androids as far as I'm concerned. And like all Androids, it isn't a boring iPhone, and let's face it that is a boring device.
Just posting this in case anybody is tossing up purchasing a 1 year + old phone - I certainly was, and don't regret the decision at all.
Just received my HD2 I bought last week. New definition of frustration - having your SD card arrive a few days after your handset so you can't install Android yet. Anyway, just on hardware alone... woooow...
Even in WinMo 6.5, the screen appears to be relatively clean and crisp. The handset itself feels incredibly good to hold, is amazingly thin (everybody I've shown it to remarks about that) and somehow manages to feel slight despite packing a screen large enough to have your breakfast on.
I've handled every phone HTC has put out for the past two years, and this by far feels the most solid and premium. One of my biggest bugbears about the Android stable is I haven't found build quality to match Apple's iphone efforts, but the HD2 does - I was especially impressed with the rear battery hinge mechanism and just the general feel in your hand. The thing is gorgeous.
Why did HTC abandon this minimalistic design direction? The Desire HD looks like it has several growths coming off of it, the Desire looks like some kind of quasi-purple alien sex toy, and the Legend - which I currently own - is far too blingy for my tastes. This is understated, space-defying and restrained. Even the HTC logo on the back is a reasonable, unflashy size, as if they recognise that not everybody likes feeling like a giant billboard.
As I say, I can't flash Android for a few more days yet, but based on hardware alone this thing is a real winner. Very impressed. To me, it feels better made than any handset on the market that I've played with: more solid than an iPhone 4, more expensive than a Galaxy S, more restrained than a Desire HD and thin enough to make Tom Brady's wife want to go and have a vomit.
If you're tossing up whether to buy an HD2, do it. I'll let you know how I get along with flashing Rafdroid HD (I'm a total noob, so it'll be interesting to see if I manage it).
Cheers,
Zuka
zukа said:
Just posting this in case anybody is tossing up purchasing a 1 year + old phone - I certainly was, and don't regret the decision at all.
Just received my HD2 I bought last week. New definition of frustration - having your SD card arrive a few days after your handset so you can't install Android yet. Anyway, just on hardware alone... woooow...
Even in WinMo 6.5, the screen appears to be relatively clean and crisp. The handset itself feels incredibly good to hold, is amazingly thin (everybody I've shown it to remarks about that) and somehow manages to feel slight despite packing a screen large enough to have your breakfast on.
I've handled every phone HTC has put out for the past two years, and this by far feels the most solid and premium. One of my biggest bugbears about the Android stable is I haven't found build quality to match Apple's iphone efforts, but the HD2 does - I was especially impressed with the rear battery hinge mechanism and just the general feel in your hand. The thing is gorgeous.
Why did HTC abandon this minimalistic design direction? The Desire HD looks like it has several growths coming off of it, the Desire looks like some kind of quasi-purple alien sex toy, and the Legend - which I currently own - is far too blingy for my tastes. This is understated, space-defying and restrained. Even the HTC logo on the back is a reasonable, unflashy size, as if they recognise that not everybody likes feeling like a giant billboard.
As I say, I can't flash Android for a few more days yet, but based on hardware alone this thing is a real winner. Very impressed. To me, it feels better made than any handset on the market that I've played with: more solid than an iPhone 4, more expensive than a Galaxy S, more restrained than a Desire HD and thin enough to make Tom Brady's wife want to go and have a vomit.
If you're tossing up whether to buy an HD2, do it. I'll let you know how I get along with flashing Rafdroid HD (I'm a total noob, so it'll be interesting to see if I manage it).
Cheers,
Zuka
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congrats on your new phone/pda.
as for me ive had it with HTC anymore. yes the hardware is awesome but HD2 software freezes just annoys me. I hope you will not encounter such problems but i doubt it.
Regards.
i too purchased an hd2 last week...i got the touch pro2 when i came out and deliberately put off purchasing the hd2 untill i got bored with the tp2...also i wanted a winmo device as opposed to the wp7
as far as the freezing issues goes...once i updated the software at http://www.t-mobile.com/wmupgrade/ that reduced the freezes on the device nearly 95%...the only "mini freeze" i get is when listening to music when a text message comes through...prior to the update it froze approx 5 sec and about half a sec post update...
i went to tmo yesterday and all their hd2 accessories were 30% off and and they took off and additional 35% i got a data cable, screen protectors and the clear case w/ kickstand for 8 bucks n change...
da9th_one said:
i went to tmo yesterday and all their hd2 accessories were 30% off and and they took off and additional 35% i got a data cable, screen protectors and the clear case w/ kickstand for 8 bucks n change...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off I am glad you got yourself an HD2, I hope you find it as great a device as I do. The HD2 is one sweet HTC device that will be talked about in the history books and looked at as a one of a kind device forever more. I also feel like it might be something of a pioneering device as it has shown what can be acomplished if one puts their mind to something.
Secound you wreak sooooooooo lucky. I bought my body glove cover in like Oct. for $20.00 USDA, and the last screen protectors I bought like four mounths ago I payed $15.00 USDA. Your lucky #@$&?#@$&?. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha ..........just playin man
zukа said:
Just posting this in case anybody is tossing up purchasing a 1 year + old phone - I certainly was, and don't regret the decision at all.
Just received my HD2 I bought last week. New definition of frustration - having your SD card arrive a few days after your handset so you can't install Android yet. Anyway, just on hardware alone... woooow...
Even in WinMo 6.5, the screen appears to be relatively clean and crisp. The handset itself feels incredibly good to hold, is amazingly thin (everybody I've shown it to remarks about that) and somehow manages to feel slight despite packing a screen large enough to have your breakfast on.
I've handled every phone HTC has put out for the past two years, and this by far feels the most solid and premium. One of my biggest bugbears about the Android stable is I haven't found build quality to match Apple's iphone efforts, but the HD2 does - I was especially impressed with the rear battery hinge mechanism and just the general feel in your hand. The thing is gorgeous.
Why did HTC abandon this minimalistic design direction? The Desire HD looks like it has several growths coming off of it, the Desire looks like some kind of quasi-purple alien sex toy, and the Legend - which I currently own - is far too blingy for my tastes. This is understated, space-defying and restrained. Even the HTC logo on the back is a reasonable, unflashy size, as if they recognise that not everybody likes feeling like a giant billboard.
As I say, I can't flash Android for a few more days yet, but based on hardware alone this thing is a real winner. Very impressed. To me, it feels better made than any handset on the market that I've played with: more solid than an iPhone 4, more expensive than a Galaxy S, more restrained than a Desire HD and thin enough to make Tom Brady's wife want to go and have a vomit.
If you're tossing up whether to buy an HD2, do it. I'll let you know how I get along with flashing Rafdroid HD (I'm a total noob, so it'll be interesting to see if I manage it).
Cheers,
Zuka
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The HD2 its a great phone. I hope you get to enjoy it as mush as I do. Its truly amazing
Just to report back after the laborious process of installing Android...
I had a few problems flashing HSPL and MAGLDR, but people in the community helped me quickly and without judgement, which I really appreciate. HD2 owners seem to be committed to the cause of helping other people out with hacking, and it's a nice change to not be called dumb for asking a question
Anyway, I installed Rafdroid HD 4.0.2 and it's amazing. I've used a stock Desire HD extensively and there's no doubt in my mind that this is a) quicker day to day, b) smoother in animations/reflows, c) better in benchmarks (for what they're worth) and d) kinder to battery life.
This phone is actually amazing. Somehow, a 4.3 inch screen manages to feel smaller in the hand than an iPhone 3G/S, and a hell of a lot better built as well. I've already talked about how great the hardware is, but I'm really, really impressed with how well Android runs from NAND. The people that say it's better than a stock android device aren't lying - it's the bomb.
The best thing is, if I get sick of it, I can flash WP7, which is also in my opinion a great OS. If in doubt, buy an HD2 - it's half as expensive as a Desire HD, runs five times as many OSes and is twice as good.
da9th_one said:
as far as the freezing issues goes...once i updated the software at <t-mobile> that reduced the freezes on the device nearly 95%...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had my Leo for 6 months now, and for the past 2 I had been dealing with the constant freezing. It was to the point where it wouldn't even make calls, it would just freeze, then go into a loop of rebooting.
Earlier today I snagged the upgrade from t-mobile, and although my phone almost melted from overheating in the process, it instantly fixed all of my problems.
Granted, I had spent 2 hours trolling around these here forums looking for a solution, so after I finally got my phone working again, I was so excited to try out all these new exciting things I had been reading about, so I flashed Cruzer-5th WWE, and updated my radio to 2.14.50.04.
After several hours, I got everything working, and suddenly my phone is fast, stable, and I get an HSDPA signal! No more overheating, and try as I might, I can't crash it.
Long story short, the t-mobile upgraded ROM works like a charm, and I went from wanting to drill a hole through the middle of my Leo to loving it all over again.
I have noticed quite a few Galaxy Note II users online that are close to pulling the trigger on a new phone. I have been in that camp for a few months and finally did. I really don't have and major complaints about the Galaxy Note II but rather small quibbles about the device. So you have a basic idea of where I am coming from I'll let you know what I like and dislike about the Galaxy Note II.
GNOTE II Pros:
Good Specs - The phone has specs that are still considered above mid level and should still be a viable phone for at least a couple more years if properly updated...if.
Camera - I get pretty fair image clarity from the phone and when I need something better I'll break out a DSLR or my Galaxy Camera.
Voice - Very clear and loud.
S-Pen - Oh how I'll miss thee.
Capacitive Buttons/Physical Buttons - Well thought out for one-handed use.
Weight Its a bit heavy but I actually like the weight of this phone and could probably use it as a throwing-star analog to get the drop on somebody if I hit them square in the temple. But that really is not a concern for most people.
Hardware - Its well made and very resistant to drops with a simple TPU case.
GNOTE II Cons:
Updates - I'm on T-Mobile which has taken any chance it has to kill the possibility of future updates. Occasionally an errant voice on a messageboard out of T-Mobile Customer Support stating they have seen this in the works wafts across my screen but I have yet to see it come to fruition.
Samsung Ideology - Samsung products are good for a year then they release a new one as if you really need a new product from them. Samsung makes great products but rarely do they fix glaringly obvious mistakes after a year past its original creation. I currently am working on a Samsung monitor with a color calibration issue that has been reported and known by the company for years but never fixed but they fixed it on the new model of this monitor. My Galaxy Camera, while nice, suffers from insane Touchwiz lag and could use an update on fixing that but we won't see it because they released the Galaxy Camera 2. I am in the game for technology to last a minimum of 3 years running well. I realize the market is bleeding edge but the edge has gotten far less bloody than the G1 days. I shop for phones like I do TV's or computers now.
S-Pen Manufacturing - I've been through four S-Pens. I use it a lot for taking notes throughout the day as it feels more natural than typing on a computer screen. The S-Pen tends to randomly stop working without provocation. Then if you order a "100% OEM Samsung Factory S-Pen" most likely its a Chinese knock-off. I can't find true S-pens anymore which is a concern for owning a new Note.
Lack of Stable ROMS - Nearly everything I have tried causes issues with NFC or Bluetooth. I use bluetooth all the time for music to various speakers, headphones, or my car.
Knox - It does its stinking job too well. SU can run but it can't hide. I have lost SU so many times on this stupid phone it is ridiculous. Let alone the every 10 minutes my phone lets me know that Triangle Away is being activated. I don't do a lot of coding or tinkering but I do like finding ROM's with good utilitarian purposes. I remember swapcache back in the G1 days and enjoyed finding the next cool thing to do with my phone! We are past that time now, honestly, but if it isn't Samsung branded then Samsung doesn't want you to do it.
Samsung Services - "You have started S-Voice" NO I DIDN'T. "Saving contact to Samsung Contacts" Bad Samsung, stop it! I insanely dislike...nay..HATE how Samsung will not let you get rid of its version of things. My contact list was a thing of beauty running in the 100's with every person I needed to work with (I'm a teacher that does coordination work and administrative work for a school of 600+), their room numbers, email addresses, and everything you could think of until I bought a Samsung product. I have some names with 20 duplicates due to the way this beast handles contacts. I eventually just had executive function overload and decided to give up on being organized. I might bring that back to life soon.
Now that you have an idea of where I'm coming from this is what I think of the Nexus 6....
I like it!
The first thing I really enjoyed about this phone was the speed. I'm running it Stock, Rooted, and Encrypted (for now...maybe forever...I work at a school where my kids know how to build robots and get linux running on projectors so I wouldn't mind encryption on my devices) and loving the heck out of it. I was so impressed by simple things at first such as animations from opening folders as soon as my finger touched the screen whereas my Note II would lag for a good time without animations. In fact, turning on the device is so overwhelmingly stupidly simple to turn on. I can check the time by just pulling it out of my pocket without touching buttons where if I wanted to check the time on my Note I would have to wait 5 - 10 seconds after pressing the power button while pondering the ever present question, "Did I press that button?" which inevitably leads to "#$&(*, I pressed it again and turned it off!"
The next thing I noticed was the size and weight. It is a bit harder to use than my Galaxy Note II with one hand. I think if they reversed the capacitive Back button it would be a lot easier to use for us right handers. I may look in to figuring that out. Honestly, I almost feel like this thing is too thin and light. It feels well built and solid. Even with the SUPCASE I bought it still feels a little odd in my hands but that may be due to the weight being very centered in the deep area of the curve opposed to being consistently weighted. As a personal aside this is the first phone I have ever put a screen protector on WITHOUT BUBBLES....I..AM...A ....GOD!!! Well..maybe demigod. Needless to say, Spigen makes a fine screen protector.
Unlocking and rooting this thing was a breeze. Once I get paid in a couple of weeks I plan on donating to @WugFresh for at least a case of beer for his amazing Toolkit that will even walk you through setting up Windows 8 drivers! You can find that at http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/development/toolkit-wugs-nexus-root-toolkit-v1-9-8-t2947452
The camera is better than my Note II by simply being clearer which I'm assuming is to the better camera sensor. I haven't messed with it that much.
The screen and adaptive lighting are by far my favorite thing on this phone. I am probably in the minority on this but adaptive lighting is brilliant. I have seen a lot of people talking about how AMOLED is causing the reddish/purple/yellowish hues to blacks and grays at low light levels. I do not believe that is the fact. It seems like they are using some sort of blue light filtering for this in low light. As an insomniac I tend to send the wee hours of morning which I consider night perusing XDA, Twitter, and various other odds and ends of the internets and am so happy the screen actually gets dark. My Gnote II on the lowest setting was annoyingly bright. I thought I was a genius one day when I thought to use a blue screen filter and made it darker but lo and behold the backlit capacitive buttons attached directly to the stinking hardware on the Gnote II. Its like having someone flash their brights at you when you use one of those programs on the Note. Its annoying. The Nexus 6 takes no part in this and I would 100% recommend it for fellow insomniacs. It has helped me to get sleep a little bit quicker over the last couple days which is a nice benefit. Lets see if that keeps up though. I'm pretty immune to sleep.
Also the screen is really nice quality and reproduces blacks amazingly well. I'm an art teacher and art history buff so I usually check out different high quality images on my phone to see how good it looks. It seems to work very well at recreating the color and light of some of the paintings. My favorite to use for this test is Van Gogh's Starry Night Over Rhone. Eventually my phone gets used in the classroom when a student needs to look up an image and put on an easel (or kickstand case but haven't seen one I like yet) to display when my tablet or laptop is in use.
Battery life and charger! Its great. 'Nuff said.
I think the biggest negative so far is the volume of calls. My wife said I sound quieter than usual. I also can't hear people as loudly as I used to. The speakerphone does not travel as far as the Note when it absolutely should seeing as the speakers are fairly decent for a cell phone. I could see someone fixing this pretty easily in a ROM.
The other negative is the lack of some multitasking programs that Samsung had and of course the lack of S-Pen. I use a Huion H610 Pro at home for digital art and graphic design so I loved the fact that Samsung phones used similar tech but I absolutely abhor using capacitive styluses (styli?). I'll have to figure out something I can carry with me that will work like that with a similar feel.
Anyway, as of right now I'm extremely happy with this phone. I have had no issues as of yet and luckily no burn in however I do not like my phone to cause sunspots when I look away from it so I'm not expecting to have a huge problem with it. If you have some similar issues with the Galaxy Note II (which T-Mobile amplifies) then I would suggest jumping ship especially if you have crackflashing tendencies because there is no Samsung product without a Nexus name attached to it that will be as easy to deal with as this.
-Travis
Let me go ahead and apologize for the poor grammar and lengthy sentences. I'm sitting home from work sick today (XDA fun time does not happen between the hours of 7am to 5pm at work normally) with bronchitis. The medicine(s) I'm on must really like run-on sentences after I re-read that wall of text. I hope it helps someone after deciphering it, haha.
From one educator to another (I'm a school administrator and former classroom teacher), let me say 'well done!'. Before the Nexus 6, I was a proud Note owner for the last three years - Note 1 and Note 3 to be exact. After finding out that the Note 4 would be even more locked down than the 3, and deciding that I was getting really really tired of TouchWiz and truly loved what Lollipop's UI brought to the table, I made the jump. And I am just as pleased with my choice as you are. No more crazy contacts lists or S-Voice intrusions, amen. ......I do miss my old S-Pen though....
I'm using the Note 2 atm and I "really want" the Nexus 6 (64gb infact, hard to come by in Australia otherwise I probably would have one by now).
Using SlimKat now because the stock ROM was absolutely dreadful!! (Laaag!) The S-pen does not work out of the box on the current rom and I'm not missing it either... I'm ready for the Nexus and looking forward to using "modern speakers" on a phone.
PerthSGS2 said:
I'm using the Note 2 atm and I "really want" the Nexus 6 (64gb infact, hard to come by in Australia otherwise I probably would have one by now).
Using SlimKat now because the stock ROM was absolutely dreadful!! (Laaag!) The S-pen does not work out of the box on the current rom and I'm not missing it either... I'm ready for the Nexus and looking forward to using "modern speakers" on a phone.
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I also came from the note2 on tmobile and like the OP said, there was a lack of ROMs for the phone.
i ended up pulling the trigger on a white 32gb nexus 6 (i was looking for a 64gb but they were hard to find) the other day and like it very much. I think i rooted and unlocked the bootloader within 30mins of having the phone.
just trying to enable tethering on it right now is the only obstacle for me.
simplyTravis said:
Let me go ahead and apologize for the poor grammar and lengthy sentences. I'm sitting home from work sick today (XDA fun time does not happen between the hours of 7am to 5pm at work normally) with bronchitis. The medicine(s) I'm on must really like run-on sentences after I re-read that wall of text. I hope it helps someone after deciphering it, haha.
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I had a Note 4 from T-Mobile for a few days and I didn't care for it at all & I was coming from a S4 before getting the Note 4, So I decided to return it and got the Nexus 6 which is way better. I'll also be paying less then I would of been with the Note 4.
How does the screen brightness compare between the two?
How's the focusing speed compared to the note 2?
I'm trying to decide between this and the HTC m8. I have small kids so I need something with a quick focus and overall good durability. (I'm not really concerned with megapixel count.)
Thanks!
lschuman said:
From one educator to another (I'm a school administrator and former classroom teacher), let me say 'well done!'. Before the Nexus 6, I was a proud Note owner for the last three years - Note 1 and Note 3 to be exact. After finding out that the Note 4 would be even more locked down than the 3, and deciding that I was getting really really tired of TouchWiz and truly loved what Lollipop's UI brought to the table, I made the jump. And I am just as pleased with my choice as you are. No more crazy contacts lists or S-Voice intrusions, amen. ......I do miss my old S-Pen though....
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I plan on getting things back to normal now thankfully. My contacts are so much easier to get through now. Right now I'm in the midst of dealing with starting up after school programs for our school and will be editing Google Docs with this thing next week so I'll get a real test of how it works. I work at a charter school (part of the biggest charter school system in Texas: Harmony Public Schools) and since we don't have a bus system our after school clubs tend to be in the hundreds daily. I run around circles making sure everything is going right and people are in the right place so its helpful to be able to pull up a list on a decent size screen to find information on the go. Our school has been around 7 years and I've been there 6 years of that with only 2 people there longer than me so I tend to be the guy to ask about anything.
Tubgirl said:
How does the screen brightness compare between the two?
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With adaptive brightness off the Nexus 6 is noticeably brighter with better black levels and a warmer tone (not yellowish.) I keep it on most of the time and haven't had any problems seeing things. It has been raining here in South East Texas since I've owned the phone so if it ever clears up I'll let you know how it compares outside but I'm assuming it will be a bit better than the Note II.
anrkee said:
How's the focusing speed compared to the note 2?
I'm trying to decide between this and the HTC m8. I have small kids so I need something with a quick focus and overall good durability. (I'm not really concerned with megapixel count.)
Thanks!
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Ok, I did a couple of tests. First from picking it up off of a black countertop and letting it autofocus on its own in a decently lit room. The Nexus 6 won by like less than half a second to a second.
The next test was when I would tap the screen to set white balance and autofocus in a decently lit room. From the tap the Note II won by less than half a second.
The last test was in a dark room looking then picking it up to focus on a computer screen to test white balance setting and autofocus. The Nexus 6 won this hands down by a bit over a second. I think it simply achieves much quicker white balance but autofocus is slightly slower. I'll try to do some comparison shots tomorrow when I get home from work if you want.
Thanks for that. No need for test shots. You answered my question perfectly.
Totally off-topic from the Nexus 6: if you enjoy the extra duties in addition to your classroom, please consider administration! Keep up the good work for our kids.