So, I upgraded from the Droid Incredible by HTC into the Galaxy Nexus and these are my thoughts and experiences after a week with the Nexus. Really this shouldn't be a fair experience- The DINC is 2+ years old with a lot of miles on it. P.S. I am on Verizon- in an area that has fantastic 3g coverage and no 4g.
I got the new phone and thought that it would be bigger, but I was happy with the size. It fits in my hands well (I have large hands) and I can use it with ease.
I was very happy with my Dinc, it served me very well and even though I had an upgrade available for almost a year I kept waiting. I saw new phones, but none seemed to be really that much better so i kept rocking the Dinc. When I heard about the Nexus I decided I would give it a go.
First of all, i use my phone as a phone. I make calls on it on a regular basis. This seems silly to say, but a lot of people don't care about the phone part. I have a 45 minute commute to work, and I regularly use my phone to call my wife or a friend during the drive to alleviate the boredom, its a straight road with nothing to see and almost no other cars. I use a car dock, and have it plugged into my cars speakers with an AUX cable. I was using a universal vent based mount on the Dinc, which I didn't love but it worked. With the nexus I got the crappy Verizon official samsung mount (crappy because it doesn't have the 3 pins to charge). With the new mount on my windsheild, its in a great position, but no one can hear me on speakerphone unless I yell at the TOP of my lungs (I'm already considered a super loud person).
Phone in hand- Tie
Phone in car- Dinc
I listen to Pandora a lot (and now google music) on my phone. I have a pair of awesome X Mini II speakers that I rock when I'm getting ready, at work, or doing chores. I listen to music on my headphones when I am mowing the yard etc. It works fine for me, but for some reason the sound doesn't seem as loud when using the Nexus, however before on my Dinc it would make a weird sound on certain high notes, like it was straining or something.
Music- Tie
I am often taking pictures. I have a DSLR, and a handful of point and clicks, but I've used my phone as a camera for on the go. I also take a limited amount of video, but really I take a lot of pics. Most of the time I upload them to G+ and Facebook, and the software on the Nexus lets me do that a little faster than the Dinc. I like how fast the pictures take, but I've got over a 1000 pictures on my Dinc and about 200 on my Nexus so far. The Dinc Camera was simply better. It took much better pictures. You can argue that maybe the new camera requires a learning curve to figure out, but I won't. I've taken some amazing professional looking photos on the DINC, and I can't get even 1 out of 200 pictures on the Nexus to come out as clear, in focus, or color accurate as the DINC.
Camera- DINC
I also play games on my phone from time to time, when I'm stuck in the Dr. Office or somewhere boring where I can't listen to music. Before on the DINC I had a SNES emulator and every game ever... but I could hardly use it because the screen was too small to enjoy that. Also HTC phones wouldn't pair well with Bluetooth controllers so unlike my friends I couldn't use a PS3 or Wiimote. I ended up not playing that many games on it, Words with Friends, Peggle, Bridge building game, some old JRPGs on the SNES emulator. On the Nexus its a lot bigger so it really shines with games and it seems to be much more responsive to certain games. It could also be that with the .10 apps I bought more newer games with the Nexus, but overall it seems to work well. I have not tried to pair it with a bluetooth controller, but I assume I can (anyone done this yet?)
Games- Nexus
My Dinc would last about a day as long as i didn't over use it. If I played some games or did a lot of internet browsing, it would die pretty fast. I got used to this, and I have a car charger and one at work, so I had access to charge it whenever I needed to. However if I was out in the country, like at my in laws- my phone would end up dying pretty fast- really I could only get a few hours of heavy use. Same with the Nexus. I get maybe a little more use out of it. However, my DINC would stay charged when not being used where as the Nexus looses charge like mad even when I'm not using anything. I have wifi and 4g disabled. Today, I got my phone off the charger- no apps were running, and it was at 100%. I got into the car, plugged it into the charger, and put on Pandora. After a 45 minute car ride of nothing but Pandora the phone was at 79%. Even on the charger it lost 21% of the charge in 45 minutes. The screen was off, in case you were wondering. WTF. Now its been an hour since the phone was used, its been in my pocket with no apps running. Battery is at 75%. 4% lost to nothing in an Hour.
Battery- Dinc
The last thing I did with my phone on a regular basis was read google reader, look things up on the internet, etc but each does it just as well.
Interwebs- Tie
I never really even tried to watch movies or shows on my Dinc, the screen was too small and I almost always have access to a laptop or computer. However when my son was crying while getting his haircut or when he got bored when we went out, i could play some youtube videos of tractors or curious george and he really enjoyed it. However, we were out to eat the other night, and i played a video for him, and OMG it looked awesome. I realized I really could put movies on there and watch them and enjoy the experience, so I uploaded a few movies using airdroid and then had to find a player... but it worked pretty well.
Screen/Videos- NEXUS
TL
R;
The nexus is a good phone, but it doesn't blow my 2+ year old Dinc out of the water, which it rightly should. The camera is not only not better, its considerably worse. The battery is awful, but I feel like its possible that a software update will fix 90% of my problems.
I got the new phone and thought that it would be bigger, but I was happy with the size. It fits in my hands well (I have large hands) and I can use it with ease.
I was very happy with my Dinc, it served me very well and even though I had an upgrade available for almost a year I kept waiting. I saw new phones, but none seemed to be really that much better so i kept rocking the Dinc. When I heard about the Nexus I decided I would give it a go.
First of all, i use my phone as a phone. I make calls on it on a regular basis. This seems silly to say, but a lot of people don't care about the phone part. I have a 45 minute commute to work, and I regularly use my phone to call my wife or a friend during the drive to alleviate the boredom, its a straight road with nothing to see and almost no other cars. I use a car dock, and have it plugged into my cars speakers with an AUX cable. I was using a universal vent based mount on the Dinc, which I didn't love but it worked. With the nexus I got the crappy Verizon official samsung mount (crappy because it doesn't have the 3 pins to charge). With the new mount on my windsheild, its in a great position, but no one can hear me on speakerphone unless I yell at the TOP of my lungs (I'm already considered a super loud person).
Phone in hand- Tie
Phone in car- Dinc
I listen to Pandora a lot (and now google music) on my phone. I have a pair of awesome X Mini II speakers that I rock when I'm getting ready, at work, or doing chores. I listen to music on my headphones when I am mowing the yard etc. It works fine for me, but for some reason the sound doesn't seem as loud when using the Nexus, however before on my Dinc it would make a weird sound on certain high notes, like it was straining or something.
Music- Tie
I am often taking pictures. I have a DSLR, and a handful of point and clicks, but I've used my phone as a camera for on the go. I also take a limited amount of video, but really I take a lot of pics. Most of the time I upload them to G+ and Facebook, and the software on the Nexus lets me do that a little faster than the Dinc. I like how fast the pictures take, but I've got over a 1000 pictures on my Dinc and about 200 on my Nexus so far. The Dinc Camera was simply better. It took much better pictures. You can argue that maybe the new camera requires a learning curve to figure out, but I won't. I've taken some amazing professional looking photos on the DINC, and I can't get even 1 out of 200 pictures on the Nexus to come out as clear, in focus, or color accurate as the DINC.
Camera- DINC
I also play games on my phone from time to time, when I'm stuck in the Dr. Office or somewhere boring where I can't listen to music. Before on the DINC I had a SNES emulator and every game ever... but I could hardly use it because the screen was too small to enjoy that. Also HTC phones wouldn't pair well with Bluetooth controllers so unlike my friends I couldn't use a PS3 or Wiimote. I ended up not playing that many games on it, Words with Friends, Peggle, Bridge building game, some old JRPGs on the SNES emulator. On the Nexus its a lot bigger so it really shines with games and it seems to be much more responsive to certain games. It could also be that with the .10 apps I bought more newer games with the Nexus, but overall it seems to work well. I have not tried to pair it with a bluetooth controller, but I assume I can (anyone done this yet?)
Games- Nexus
My Dinc would last about a day as long as i didn't over use it. If I played some games or did a lot of internet browsing, it would die pretty fast. I got used to this, and I have a car charger and one at work, so I had access to charge it whenever I needed to. However if I was out in the country, like at my in laws- my phone would end up dying pretty fast- really I could only get a few hours of heavy use. Same with the Nexus. I get maybe a little more use out of it. However, my DINC would stay charged when not being used where as the Nexus looses charge like mad even when I'm not using anything. I have wifi and 4g disabled. Today, I got my phone off the charger- no apps were running, and it was at 100%. I got into the car, plugged it into the charger, and put on Pandora. After a 45 minute car ride of nothing but Pandora the phone was at 79%. Even on the charger it lost 21% of the charge in 45 minutes. The screen was off, in case you were wondering. WTF. Now its been an hour since the phone was used, its been in my pocket with no apps running. Battery is at 75%. 4% lost to nothing in an Hour.
Battery- Dinc
The last thing I did with my phone on a regular basis was read google reader, look things up on the internet, etc but each does it just as well.
Interwebs- Tie
I never really even tried to watch movies or shows on my Dinc, the screen was too small and I almost always have access to a laptop or computer. However when my son was crying while getting his haircut or when he got bored when we went out, i could play some youtube videos of tractors or curious george and he really enjoyed it. However, we were out to eat the other night, and i played a video for him, and OMG it looked awesome. I realized I really could put movies on there and watch them and enjoy the experience, so I uploaded a few movies using airdroid and then had to find a player... but it worked pretty well.
Screen/Videos- NEXUS
TL
R;The nexus is a good phone, but it doesn't blow my 2+ year old Dinc out of the water, which it rightly should. The camera is not only not better, its considerably worse. The battery is awful, but I feel like its possible that a software update will fix 90% of my problems.
