Galaxy Nexus Purchasing advice/questions

[Yellow Snowman]

So I'm ready to take the Nexus plunge. Last year I purchased the Thunderbolt on 1 year contract so I could lock in to unlimited 4G. To tell you the truth I don't even mind the phone as I've rooted it so its much improved.

But its still not a Nexus so I have a few questions I was hoping people could help with:

1.) I will be buying a Nexus for me and my wife so what is the cheapest way to purchase this phone? Any way to avoid paying $250-300 per phone?

2.) Is it worth getting this phone on 2 year contract? Will there be anything coming out that I will have to have in 2 years or will hold me over for 24 months? I think it will but these phones are work phones for both of us so battery life is a major concern as it was with the Thunderbolt. I just can't justify paying $500-600 every year to purchase a stupid phone either. Morally its dumb to me so sooner than later I'd like to avoid this cycle.

 

[The_Chief]

1.) I will be buying a Nexus for me and my wife so what is the cheapest way to purchase this phone? Any way to avoid paying $250-300 per phone?

2.) Is it worth getting this phone on 2 year contract? Will there be anything coming out that I will have to have in 2 years or will hold me over for 24 months? I think it will but these phones are work phones for both of us so battery life is a major concern as it was with the Thunderbolt. I just can't justify paying $500-600 every year to purchase a stupid phone either. Morally its dumb to me so sooner than later I'd like to avoid this cycle.

The easiest answer to both questions is WAIT. Over time, the price of the Nexus on contract will drop... you may even end up with a buy-one-get-one deal.

Since no one knows what the future holds for phones (except better ones), I can't advise you what to do; but I CAN tell you what MY plan is:

I bought the Nexus. Darling Bride still has her Droid and should be able to adequately use it for some time. My plan is to wait until November to pick up a new phone, using her upgrade, and pass the Nexus to her. The NEXT year, MY upgrade will come available again for a new phone. That way I can get a new phone every year and pass my old one to her (which will still be an upgrade of sorts for her). How do I justify making her wait? (a) I USE my phone... she uses hers to a fraction of its capability; and (b) Daddy pays the bills so he gets the new eye candy first

Hope this helps in your decision!

 

[syntrix]

FYI, there is no such thing as a 1 year contract anymore. I think that VZW stopped doing that late summer 2011

 

[Yellow Snowman]

Wow that really stinks. So you guys don't think this phone is good enough to want it for 2 years? Thats a bummer.

 

[bmacgyver]

Wow that really stinks. So you guys don't think this phone is good enough to want it for 2 years? Thats a bummer.

It is all personal opinion. I will happily enjoy my Galaxy Nexus for all 2 years of my contract. The absence of bloatware in a stock phone is hard to come by, and I don't have the time or energy for rooting. I bought the GN on release day, and haven't regretted it since.

 

[civicsisedan]

How do you not have time or energy to root? It takes all of 5 minutes to type in fastboot oem unlock and flash su and recovery.

And to OP this phone is a good phone minus some bugs that every phone has.

If u can make it on thunderbolts battery the nexus should be fine

Your on a phome forum where people change phones more than average. Keep that in mind. We want latest and greatest.

 

[AntimonyER]

Wow that really stinks. So you guys don't think this phone is good enough to want it for 2 years? Thats a bummer.

I think Chief was implying not about waiting for a new phone, but waiting a little while for the GNex to get cheaper, in response to your second concern about price. If you are not eligible for any discounts from Verizon (NE2, or loyalty discount, either one will show up when you sign in and add it to your cart) then you can get cheaper going through a third party, if you don't want to wait for the price to drop a little bit. Just be aware the third party sellers usually have some special terms and conditions, such as you must retain the data package and you can't downgrade your voice plan on the lines for a set amount of time (Usually 6 months), or they charge you a fee. Make sure to read the fine print before you go that route, but with two phones, you could save 100-200 or more third party.

As far as keeping this phone for two years, It is almost certainly going to be the best supported phone on Verizon for that time period. Fastest updates, latest OS versions, etc. Obviously it is a fact of nature (well fact of the tech world anyway) that there will be better phones out, and probably sooner rather than later. But unless you are willing to pay unsubsidized prices for phones, you have no choice but to be locked into a two year contract with a phone, and I can't think of a better phone to be in said contract than the GNex.

 

[Yellow Snowman]

Great advice guys, and thanks. Big reason I root is not having bloatware and being able to flash things to update battery. I can have that on Nexus while stock which is very appealing. I may root for fun but this phone is great because you dont have to. And I dont expect any pure google phones for a long time.

As far as 3rd party places, I forgot about that so thank you for the reminder. Are there any 3rd partys you guys use or recommend for the price?



edit: I dont expect this phone to drop much and if it does it wont be for a while. With no other big phones here they will hold the price a while, longer than I want to wait I think. I'm going to try and get a phone for me and see if the Wife wants mine. She has a tbolt but has a cracked screen. She wants a new phone but not $300 for a Nexus.

 

[quiklives]

I got mine on Amazon for $150 but that was with a new contract, I imagine it's more for an upgrade, but probably still less than Verizon. I have found that Verizon is really pushing the Razr as their top phone, then the Rezound, and the Nexus gets less attention, so it may drop sooner than you think.

Mine is rooted and running a custom ROM and kernel for improved battery life (been running AOKP & imoseyon's lean kernel, still on AOKP but flashed Faux's new kernel today to test)

As for it lasting two years...I expect mine to. Planned obsolescence is a big problem with phones across the board, but a Nexus has the best chance of still being a decent phone at the end of its run because it gets updated straight from Google, and there's no weaseling out of updating it because of a manufacturer's skin.

 

[Yellow Snowman]

With issues with signal, camera, battery life, and speaker seeming pretty prevalent would you guys recommend waiting until the next wave of phones with quad core and bigger batteries or just grab this?

Remember I will be keeping this for 2 years. My upgrade is available today so I now have to make a decision. Thx for the honest advice with the show coming up in Feb. Galaxy S3 coming out in the future and Razr Maxx at months end. I just need Verizon.

 

[AntimonyER]

With issues with signal, camera, battery life, and speaker seeming pretty prevalent would you guys recommend waiting until the next wave of phones with quad core and bigger batteries or just grab this?

Remember I will be keeping this for 2 years. My upgrade is available today so I now have to make a decision. Thx for the honest advice with the show coming up in Feb....

Speaker is a manufacturing defect, if you decide to get this phone, if you have a bad speaker, exchange it for a new one. Battery life is still better than the thunderbolt, at least for me (THat is what I had prior to the GNex). Camera, again, compared to the iPhone 4S, or the GSII, yeah its a little less capable, but it is not awful (My wife's Droid 3, now that is awful). And I personally think the videos it takes look great. Signal, I do think the 4G reception is a little weak on mine, but not horrific. Slightly worse than my thunderbolt. But 3G is equal if not better. Plus there will be updates to this phone.

 

[chrisv79]

I know eBay is not for everybody but I got a new GNEX for $525 there. Just watch for the sellers with high feedback and you should be ok. Also check their feedback and make sure it is from selling similar priced items. Turn around and sell your old phone and you should come out to about what you would pay for contract price but with no contract extension. This is how I have always done it and I have never had an issue.

 

[Yellow Snowman]

Ya the tough thing for me is deciding between this phone that I've been waiting for for a half year. Or get the Razr Maxx or wait for Galaxy S3.

Bigger battery and quad core seems pretty nice.

 

[FragDroidX]

Ya the tough thing for me is deciding between this phone that I've been waiting for for a half year. Or get the Razr Maxx or wait for Galaxy S3.

Bigger battery and quad core seems pretty nice.

Keep in mind that the Galaxy S 3 probably wont be released here until September/October.

 

[syntrix]

Keep in mind that the Galaxy S 3 probably wont be released here until September/October.

And since we are in a verizon forum, add 6 months to that

I'm good with that, next upgrade is early next year, and I've got the SGN all day, and a Bionic to back me up if there's any accidents!