Galaxy Nexus Impression

[Odiseous]

Sooo, call me crazy, but I actually wasn't all that impressed with the Galaxy Nexus or for that matter ICS.

Not trying to start fights with Galaxy people, just giving my opinion...

This first impression was based solely off of 15 minutes of playing around with the display model at a local VW store, which I know really isn't saying much.

First I'll start with the build quality. The battery door looked like it was about to fall off from the way the security wire and charger were attached too it, not too promising. The phone itself felt light and good in my hand, but somehow the Bionic seems sturdier to me.

The screen: Again, expecting to be blown away and it was just "alright". I was one of those people that absolutely HATED the pixelation on the Bionic's pentile display, but over time, it must have really grown on me. Side by side and with the GN's brightness turned down to that of my Bionic's (about 25%), the GN didn't look all that much better. The reds and greens on a webpage looked a little crisper on the GN but it really wasn't THAT big of a difference.

4G Speeds: Ran a Speed Test app side by side on both GN and my Bionic and the GN smoked my phone! Only ran it the one time but the GN did like 16mb down and 10mb up, where my Bionic only pulled 11mb down and 4.5mb up. I was actually pretty surprised by this.

ICS: Not sure how big of a fan I'm going to be of ICS, even when it's ported to the Bionic. Something about the lack of a physical or virtual "menu" key doesn't sit very well with me. I felt like I was fumbling around trying to figure out how different screens worked and couldn't figure out how to get into advanced functions within those screens. Maybe I just don't know how to use it yet, but it didn't really feel all that "intuitive" to me.

Camera: The camera was pretty sweet and took really nice fast pictures. A welcomed changed from the original Bionic's software. Since the update though, my Bionic's camera has been functioning much better.

Bottom line, I really think that with our most recent update (which has helped resolve connection issues for me and camera issues), and with further updates in store, including a port to ICS, I don't really feel that the Bionic is that far behind the Nexus. I'm actually really happy with my phone lately but thought I was going to have a whole lot of Nexus Envy.... but after this most recent trip, I can say I'm still very satisfied with the Bionic, which is a really nice feeling.

Thoughts? Comments? Flames?

 

[dave1812]

re speeds on the bionic. i used to be lucky to get even 7Mbs. Since the outage, and now that I have a replacement phone, I'm getting over 24Mbs down and around 7Mbs UP. blows my mind. it's faster UP than my Comcast connection. downloads speeds usually are around 22-24Mbs on Comcast, at my house. I'm even getting those speeds I just mentioned, inside my house, where data connections have always been marginal in the past, on any phone. I'm thinking MAYBE, just MAYBE, Verizon tweaked something in my area. It can't ALL be the replacement phone, because my wife's Bionic didn't get these high speeds inside the house, (until recently) IIRC.

 

[almahix]

Sooo, call me crazy, but I actually wasn't all that impressed with the Galaxy Nexus or for that matter ICS.

Not trying to start fights with Galaxy people, just giving my opinion...

This first impression was based solely off of 15 minutes of playing around with the display model at a local VW store, which I know really isn't saying much.

First I'll start with the build quality. The battery door looked like it was about to fall off from the way the security wire and charger were attached too it, not too promising. The phone itself felt light and good in my hand, but somehow the Bionic seems sturdier to me.

The screen: Again, expecting to be blown away and it was just "alright". I was one of those people that absolutely HATED the pixelation on the Bionic's pentile display, but over time, it must have really grown on me. Side by side and with the GN's brightness turned down to that of my Bionic's (about 25%), the GN didn't look all that much better. The reds and greens on a webpage looked a little crisper on the GN but it really wasn't THAT big of a difference.

4G Speeds: Ran a Speed Test app side by side on both GN and my Bionic and the GN smoked my phone! Only ran it the one time but the GN did like 16mb down and 10mb up, where my Bionic only pulled 11mb down and 4.5mb up. I was actually pretty surprised by this.

ICS: Not sure how big of a fan I'm going to be of ICS, even when it's ported to the Bionic. Something about the lack of a physical or virtual "menu" key doesn't sit very well with me. I felt like I was fumbling around trying to figure out how different screens worked and couldn't figure out how to get into advanced functions within those screens. Maybe I just don't know how to use it yet, but it didn't really feel all that "intuitive" to me.

Camera: The camera was pretty sweet and took really nice fast pictures. A welcomed changed from the original Bionic's software. Since the update though, my Bionic's camera has been functioning much better.

Bottom line, I really think that with our most recent update (which has helped resolve connection issues for me and camera issues), and with further updates in store, including a port to ICS, I don't really feel that the Bionic is that far behind the Nexus. I'm actually really happy with my phone lately but thought I was going to have a whole lot of Nexus Envy.... but after this most recent trip, I can say I'm still very satisfied with the Bionic, which is a really nice feeling.

Thoughts? Comments? Flames?

My experience and impressions are the same as yours. Didn't do the speed test because we don't have 4G here yet, and the 3G was turned off and the rep couldn't make it work. The wifi was enabled so I could still fuss with the browser and market. Nice, but nothing to get excited about,not even the display. Had 32Gig fixed, but no sd card. Surprising.

 

[almahix]

P.S My wifi speeds here at home is 30124kbps/22882kbps. That is with my FiOS 25/25 broadband service and an actiontec wifi-n router using speedtest.net. (My wireless-n laptop in the same room gets 31.06bps/22.86mbps also with speedtest.net)

 

[dave1812]

P.S My wifi speeds here at home is 30124kbps/22882kbps. That is with my FiOS 25/25 broadband service and an actiontec wifi-n router using speedtest.net. (My wireless-n laptop in the same room gets 31.06bps/22.86mbps also with speedtest.net)

that's awesome! what's your ping? mine's around 21. I game a lot (PS3) and the fastest ping games I usually get into in a lobby are over 75ms and often 100ms. Sure wish we had dedicated servers with fast pings.

 

[johnlgalt]

I'm seeing this more and more. And I'm betting now that VZW didn't delay the Galaxus b/c of network problems, but because it simply was not that great o a phone.

I'm passing on Galaxus and getting a new video card instead

 

[Shroomz]

Does anyone on a regular basis get upload speeds that blow away download speeds?

Like i'll get 5mbs dl but 11mbs up? like wtf. and sometimes like 11mb down 18 up

my single fastest has been 46.65 down and my fast up has been 22.7 with a down of 9.82 ???? i do not understand. I have a bunch more outliers as well...7.56 down 19.26 up?

I'm in the Seattle area btw.

edit: 1 more... 5.21 down 18.16 up... how are these numbers possible?

 

[beefyy]

Just did three speed tests and consistently hit 18+mbps. 4g is sick!

 

[johnlgalt]

It will be sick for me when I get it.... lol.

At least my home WiFi gives me 21+....

 

[bryan.allen]

What would you think if you don't have the bionic update like me. I called verizon and they said it hadn't been released in my area.....sigh

 

[twistedlim]

I must say I was underwhelmed when I checked out the gn. Same issues with the back cover, could not keep the flimsy piece on when attached to the saftey wire. I would not say it is really any smoother than the bionic. It is larger and somewhat lighter but the build is nowhere near the quality of the bionic or razr. It seems to me as another samsung update dressed up in ice cream sandwich. With the battery life of the bionic being about 20 percent better than the razr and the plastic feeling of the gn I still think the bionic is at the top of the heap.

 

[BubbaNexus]

i dumped my buggy bionic yesterday (still buggy after update), and now have the galaxy nexus. it's not a life changing phone, but it beats the bionic by a mile.

no more motorola phones for me after they jerked me around on the bionic.


the GN screen is better than the bionic's. not night and day, but without a doubt better. there is no lag when navigating the GN, everything works. no black screen of deaths or freezes.

the GN also gets a stronger signal for me, and the ICS keyboard is by far the best android keyboard to date. mistakes are few and far between and text prediction is spot on!

 

[krouget]

I picked up my GN, yesterday, and passed the Bionic on to one of my family members. Both phones are great, but I do like the GN a lot more, especially coming from Honeycomb on my Xoom (where ICS borrows many of its influences).

First I'll start with the build quality. The battery door looked like it was about to fall off from the way the security wire and charger were attached too it, not too promising. The phone itself felt light and good in my hand, but somehow the Bionic seems sturdier to me.

I'd say the build quality is fine. Mine feels solid and has no fitment issues. The battery door is about as sturdy as the Bionic was, as they are both made of similar (or same) material. It is lighter and has a good feel with the textured backing. I think the Bionic would last longer in the long run, but I wouldn't want to see either take a fall from any good distance. For now, I'd be nitpicking if I said one was clearly built better than the other.

The screen: Again, expecting to be blown away and it was just "alright". I was one of those people that absolutely HATED the pixelation on the Bionic's pentile display, but over time, it must have really grown on me.

I never really had an issue with the Bionic's display, myself. To me, the pentile was most apparent when looking at greens, but I still found the display to be great and worked well in sunlight. In fact, I preferred it over Samsung's oversatured displays, but it looks like they tuned that down for the GN. Overall, I'd say the GN display appeals more to me now, since it's been toned down, but while it boasts a higher resolution, the Bionic was fine.

ICS: Not sure how big of a fan I'm going to be of ICS, even when it's ported to the Bionic.

My opinion is the polar opposite of this. I'm loving every bit of ICS and have done away with many 3rd party apps, thanks to many of their functions being natively included in Android. I have less reason than ever to root, for the first time in my Android experience. Most of all, it seems to be less of a burden on battery life, as it seemed to draw very little power as it sat idle over the course of the night.

In a nutshell, it's a great time to be an Android user, period. There are a lot of great premium devices being released, and the GN is another one to add to the list.

 

[x026092]

It will be sick for me when I get it.... lol.

At least my home WiFi gives me 21+....

Agreed. I get 4G on my way to work, but not at home or work. Wifi is good to great at home. My speedtest results for wifi at home are all over the place, depending on the day, any where from 24 to 6Mb down & 11-5 Mb up. I'm pleased so far.

 

[x026092]

Are there any quirks/bugs been found in the GN yet? Just curious.

 

[BubbaNexus]

Are there any quirks/bugs been found in the GN yet? Just curious.

the only one i've noticed on mine is the contact widget doesn't show the incoming text from that contact as it should. that's the only one.

that beats the laundry list of bugs my bionic had lol

 

[John_Roger]

IiPhone vs Bionic vs Desktop (comcast high speed)

 

[Odiseous]

What would you think if you don't have the bionic update like me. I called verizon and they said it hadn't been released in my area.....sigh

No, I don't think I would feel the same way if that was the case. I actually think I would be pretty unhappy with the phone and really pissed at the carrier.

Sorry man, I hope you get your update soon and I really hope it helps resolve your issues!

------------------------------------

BionicBubba & krouget; thank you both so much for your honest replies about your experiences. Obviously you have had your phones for about a full day now and have had the time to put it through it's paces. I'm very glad to hear you both enjoy them so much and really do hope you guys are happy with them.

Question for you both, how are you managing without the use of a dedicated "menu" button? I think that would have driven me the most nuts out of everything. You don't realize how much you use it until it's gone. Or did I just miss where it was in my quick use of ICS?

It's refreshing to read thoughtful and insightful replies to an initial post like this, which could have easily invoked responses like "you're stupid, you're too dumb to use the GN or ICS". So again, it's appreciated. (also probably helped that I posted this in the Bionic forums and not trolling for a fight in the GN forums!)

 

[krouget]

Are there any quirks/bugs been found in the GN yet? Just curious.

I haven't really seen any, but the most noticeable thing I've experienced thus far, are the force closes coming from some apps, which aren't quite working yet on ICS. Its been most apparent with widgets, for example.

The speaker volume could be louder, though I'm not sure if that's intentional or not.

As it hasn't been 24 hours, I can't comment too much, but if ICS remains mostly consistent, it will be a good thing for Android.

 

[krouget]

Question for you both, how are you managing without the use of a dedicated "menu" button? I think that would have driven me the most nuts out of everything. You don't realize how much you use it until it's gone. Or did I just miss where it was in my quick use of ICS?

Well, Honeycomb didn't have a dedicated menu button, either, so for me, ICS isn't a huge departure from that. That said, it still does take time to adjust to, as ICS is still different in areas, but I can see where it's more tricky coming from GB or Froyo, for example.

What they did was add a context menu button, which typically shows up to the right of the new "task switcher" button. To be honest, I wouldn't call this the most intuitive approach, but for the limitations inherent in smaller smartphone displays (ironic when talking about the GN), I see why they chose this option. I'm pretty sure they could dream up a more elegant solution, but for now, this is what we have.

It's refreshing to read thoughtful and insightful replies to an initial post like this, which could have easily invoked responses like "you're stupid, you're too dumb to use the GN or ICS". So again, it's appreciated. (also probably helped that I posted this in the Bionic forums and not trolling for a fight in the GN forums!)

Lol, just the same, I don't want to infuriate any Bionic owners. Though various OEMs compete, to us consumers, it should still just be considered one big Android family.

The Bionic is still around, so I'm continuously lurking in this part of the forum, as well as others. Cheers!

 

[jestexman]

What would you think if you don't have the bionic update like me. I called verizon and they said it hadn't been released in my area.....sigh

Sorry OT here but what do you mean has not been released in your area?? They rolled it out to everyone?? You should have it by now and if you dont they need to send you a new phone.. My OG droid never received the first OTA.. They sent a new phone..

 

[Somniferum]

Sorry OT here but what do you mean has not been released in your area?? They rolled it out to everyone?? You should have it by now and if you dont they need to send you a new phone.. My OG droid never received the first OTA.. They sent a new phone..

Also, if you look around the forum you can find the OTA posted where you can download it and install manually, root not required. I don't mean the leaked updates, I mean the actual OTA file that someone copied off their phone before it rebooted. I used this method and it worked great -- afterwards I compared all the version numbers to my wife's Bionic which had the OTA pushed, and they all matched exactly.

 

[Thom]

What would you think if you don't have the bionic update like me. I called Verizon and they said it hadn't been released in my area.....sigh

What area are you in? Like many I assumed it had been released everywhere. I can't figure out the algorithm for when the server notified people. For me it was like 14 hours after others had reported they got it.

... Thom

 

[BigCiX]

You guys are lucky. I'm at Knotts Berry Farm right now in Anaheim and I get 3.5 mbps on at&t's hspa network. Sucks cause the highest I've ever gotten was 7 mbps.

 

[almahix]

that's awesome! what's your ping? mine's around 21. I game a lot (PS3) and the fastest ping games I usually get into in a lobby are over 75ms and often 100ms. Sure wish we had dedicated servers with fast pings.

Ping 22ms.