HTC Incredible considering upgrade to GNex

[elwray]

Hello GNex community!

I have had an HTC Incredible (ADR6300) for about two years now, and I think it's about time for me to jump on to the 4G bandwagon.

As is usually the case with anyone even remotely tech savvy, I'm hesitant to actually "pull the trigger" on a new device for fear of picking the wrong one, or missing out on the bigger, better device coming out in the imminent future.

I understand that if I was just to wait for the "next awesome device" to launch, I'd never get a new phone since they're always coming out with new ones. But I'd really like some peace of mind when it comes to picking a 4G android VZW device from the current market.

From what I've read, the Galaxy Nexus looks to be quite a solid phone. I like the idea of ICS, as well as the potential for software updates not taking forever-and-a-half as it did with my Incredible. And based on friends in my area with 4G devices, the service is available in many of the locations I spend time in.

Would you say that going from an Incredible to a GNex is a positive jump? Rooting is important to me, if for nothing more than the ability to appease my short attention span when it comes to software in general. I don't need a physical keyboard - between Swype and Swiftkey I've become accustomed to touchscreen keyboards with no problem.

That said, I have heard the rumors of the HTC Incredible 4G - though I'm not convinced it's worth waiting for because 1), who knows when it will actually be released, and 2), there's no guarantee that it will be able to be rooted.

Right now I'm considering the Galaxy Nexus vs the Motorola Razr Maxx. The battery life on the Razr Maxx is of course awesome, but as long as the GNex is at least equal to what I'm getting on my Incredible now, it's fine. I'm rarely in a situation where I am using my phone heavily and have no access to a charger.

All in all, I suppose I've already made my mind up for the GNex, but I guess I'm really just looking for people to validate my opinion or give me some first hand experience that might sway me away from the GNex, if necessary.

Thanks!

 

[breadnatty08]

Well, I never owned the Incredible but know it was a very developer friendly phone. If there's one more friendly and supported, it's the Nexus. Even the OG Droid didn't have this much support.
For its downfalls, battery life isn't the best, the camera is okay in the right conditions and the radio isn't as solid as my previous Motos. That said, I don't think Verizon will be releasing a new 4G anytime soon. The Incredible 4G may be coming out, and if it's anything like the One X, I'd seriously consider it.
I still highly recommend the Nexus, it's a fantastic phone and once you experience 4G, you'll wonder why you hadn't done it sooner.

 

[elwray]

The One x is exactly what I was thinking of when I was considering waiting for the new HTC. But I think it might be worth just grabbing the g nex. I think I might get it tomorrow. I mean, my mom has a 4g phone.. A stratosphere. So I need to get one too ;-)

 

[trophynuts]

Personally I will not recommend anyone to get the Nexus at this point. That's my opinion. Take it how you want.

 

[elwray]

Personally I will not recommend anyone to get the Nexus at this point. That's my opinion. Take it how you want.

Bad experience with yours, or waiting on something new?

 

[The_Chief]

I'm with Trophynuts. With the ONE X and the Galaxy S III coming out this summer and even more rockin' phones coming out this fall, I wouldn't jump on technology that's several months old at this point... even if it's still the best thing on Verizon.

Just too many better phones on the horizon. If you absolutely can't wait: go ahead and pull the trigger, but know that unless you're sandbagging an update or two on a family plan (like some of us are ), you'll have that phone for 2 years, well after 1080p quads are the norm.

If you are a patient person, I think it will pay off to wait... just as we waited last fall when the Bionic and SGS2 were all the rage.

 

[DannyJSlone]

I had the original Incredible and I loved it. I had it rooted and running sense 3.5. It was amazing. I then switched to the Nexus and I love it. I have it rooted and running liquids rom and I updated the radios to 4.0.4 and it is totally awesome. I have the extended battery which adds a little weight but not much size and the phone lasts me all day with medium use. At this point I doubt I would ever go back to a phone with a skin on it even though I did love sense. I also enjoy Google wallet on the phone. People are always shocked when I use my phone to pay for things. There will always be better phones coming out but if you like to root a nexus is the way to go. It is so easy on this phone to root and have fun.

 

[The_Chief]

I also enjoy Google wallet on the phone. People are always shocked when I use my phone to pay for things.

One of my favorite things to do with Nexus... it really freaks people out on both sides of the counter!

 

[elwray]

While there may be better phones on the near horizon, I'm just not sure they will be adding features that will necessarily be something I want/need.

I hardly ever do any video recording, and never use the HD out. I do wish my phone was a bit snappier sometimes, but even my mother's Stratosphere seems to take the cake on that, so I'd imagine the Nexus would not leave me wanting more.

The only thing I would hate to miss out on would be the potential for greater battery life developments due to the more demanding quad processors, but at the same time I don't really see the need for something more than a dual processor for me personally. It seems that the advances in battery technology are being offet by more demanding display and processing power, so the end result is approximately the same total battery life (except for the Maxx it seems).

Additionally, if a new high quality device was to come out soon, the prices are typically quite high - hence why I didn't get a Galaxy Nexus when they were released. It's a bit more attainable now for me. So waiting for the price to drop on a new one will probably put me in the same position as I am now.

I realize I'm coming across as asking for advice and not taking any, but this isn't the case - I'm just trying to explain what features are or are not important to me I really do appreciate all of the input I've gotten so far!

I had the original Incredible and I loved it. I had it rooted and running sense 3.5. It was amazing. I then switched to the Nexus and I love it. I have it rooted and running liquids rom and I updated the radios to 4.0.4 and it is totally awesome. I have the extended battery which adds a little weight but not much size and the phone lasts me all day with medium use. At this point I doubt I would ever go back to a phone with a skin on it even though I did love sense. I also enjoy Google wallet on the phone. People are always shocked when I use my phone to pay for things. There will always be better phones coming out but if you like to root a nexus is the way to go. It is so easy on this phone to root and have fun.

I ran many ROMs mine, but lately have settled on switching between MIUI and CM7 - I really liked Sense until I started using some AOSP ROMs and then I couldn't look back. I was hoping CM9 would be a possibility for the Incredible, but it doesn't look like it's in the cards.

 

[artman540]

I'd wait for the Galaxy S3 announcement first. If the S3 is coming to Verizon, I would get that. If not, pull the trigger on the Nexus.

 

[Sandroidfan]

I think Nexus is still very solid phone and we don't know if/when verizon will get the next nexus phone.

But if you are looking at other phones, Incredible 4G seems like the first major phone after Gnex on verizon. 4" qHD SAMOLED screen is a little downgrade from nexus, but it's the first phone on VZW with 28nm S4 snapdragon/LTE in one chip. So it should be the fastest phone on VZW for some time. That is if HTC can pull it off without any major bugs/issues. After that, summer will be interesting time for One X and GSIII.

 

[nateap87]

I see some of you posting about the one x. Has it been announced that it will be coming to Verizon?

 

[jkc120]

I am a former dinc owner (loved that phone btw), and let me tell you despite being in a bad signal area at work (basically in a Faraday cage), my gnex lasts me with minimal use all day and I'm still at 75%. With the same usage pattern on the dinc, I was down below 50%. This is with both on wifi. I tried it out without wifi on my gnex and was still above 60%. I think it largely depends how much screen-on time you have. The gnex is quite efficient in standby, so as long as you don't have rogue apps keeping it awake and burning CPU, it's going to idle much more efficiently than the dinc did. How many hours of screen-on time do you get with the dinc? Even with mine set to 40% brightness 99% of the time, I regularly get 2.5 hours of screen on time.

 

[Droid.Incredible]

I still have the original Incredible. I personally will wait to learn a bit more about the HTC One X and SGIII - whether or not they'll be coming to Verizon in one form or another. After that, I'll make my decision.

 

[breadnatty08]

I see some of you posting about the one x. Has it been announced that it will be coming to Verizon?

Nope but the rumored Incredible 4G may be a variant.

 

[ALurker]

I can no longer recommend the GNex either. Between the random reboots, poor signal, lack of pogo docks after FOUR MONTHS, and absolutely horrible battery life (worse than my OG Incredible), the GNex just didn't cut it. This phone has SO much potential and obviously there are a lot of happy GNex owners out there, but I'm on my third one and my phone still does not work. Just yesterday I purchased a used Razr Maxx and I will be switching to that.

 

[trophynuts]

I can no longer recommend the GNex either. Between the random reboots, poor signal, lack of pogo docks after FOUR MONTHS, and absolutely horrible battery life (worse than my OG Incredible), the GNex just didn't cut it. This phone has SO much potential and obviously there are a lot of happy GNex owners out there, but I'm on my third one and my phone still does not work. Just yesterday I purchased a used Razr Maxx and I will be switching to that.

Pretty much my exact thoughts on why I won't recommend one. Battery has been ok on mine but everything else is what you said. Most days I feel like throwing mine against the wall just based on the signal reception.

 

[zerocool79346]

Pretty much my exact thoughts on why I won't recommend one. Battery has been ok on mine but everything else is what you said. Most days I feel like throwing mine against the wall just based on the signal reception.

Just to offer the counter opinion, this is hands down the best phone I've ever owned and the first that I'm reasonably sure I will stick with throughout my contract. I've had none of the above issues and it in fact has been better signal wise than my Incredible ever was (and I've been in what I would bet it far worse signal than 99% of the rest of the forum ever sees for extended periods of time). That said, its hard to recommend something like this when the S3 is right around the corner (One X=locked bootloader + Sense which are 2 absolute no gos for me). I would at least wait for that and see if VZW officially says they'll offer it.

 

[trophynuts]

@zerocool79346

yeah there are lots of people out there like you that have experienced no issues at all. But then there is the rest of us lol. I still believe an update will fix most things i'm just getting tired of waiting on it. lol

 

[elwray]

Hey everybody, thanks for the info. Looks like it's worth waiting to at least hear some announcements coming down the pike.

 

[Proph]

i came from an incredible, the nexus is the best phone i have ever had (one of those people who have great battery life). doing the same things on average i used to plug the incredible in around 6pm, the nexus i don't plug in until i go to bed at 11 or midnight and i still have 30 %. the nexus is amazing coming from the incredible but like others have said. i would wait the week to see what the galaxy S3 is all about.

you have an idea what is coming from HTC now, wait for the S3 announcement and if it doesn't blow your socks off pick up the nexus on the cheap (prices are starting to fall) you won't be dissapointed with the nexus but you would do yourself a disservice to not wait 1 week to see the S3 first.

 

[trophynuts]

at least if you get the nexus soon you won't be as impatient as some of us lol. that have been waiting since December for an update.

 

[Old Member]

Late to the party but I'd hold out to see if there's going to be a CDMA GSIII before I jumped. I love my GNex but there's always the next best thing.

 

[kg2128]

It could be worth waiting for the next gen phones since you waited this long, The Nexus is still the best phone for Verizon by far if you are dying to upgrade now (IMO of course ). Rumors are the Galaxy s3 has a 1080p screen to go along with the quad core, it should be pretty amazing. Of course that is if Verizon decides to get it at all. Last I heard the incredible 4g is the same as the Htc One S not the X, so the hardware isn't quite flagship status more of a mid range bang for the buck.

 

[Androidcurious]

I just don't see VZW getting the S3 anytime soon. Hell, I'd be shocked if any carrier in the states get it earlier than late summer/early fall.