Noob questions about the Nexus S

[craigkarr]

Hi there Nexus S owners. I have gotten tired of my LG Optimus 2X which is crap. It is extremly slow and has not got the ICS update yet so I am thinking about trading it for the phone that I originally planned to get - the Nexus S.

I have come to the conclusion that if you are going to have an Android phone (and I am because I hate Craple) you should have a Nexus one. Since it is rumored that the next Nexus will be released in Nov I don't want to shell out a lot of money now, but at the same time my LG phone is almost unusable, that is why I thought it would be a good idea to get a cheap second hand Nexus S.

Since the Jelly bean update will arrive for Nexus S in only a couple of weeks it seems like an incredible good deal.

However I have heard that it seems like the cool face unlock feature is not available on the Nexus S. Is that true? I am not interested in rooting.

Also, you Nexus S owners are you happy with your phones, above all is it smooth or do you have to reboot it every other day in order to use it as I have to do with my LG?

How is battery life, doeas it last a whole day with normal usage?

 

[quantumrand]

As long as you don't mind spending a bit of time customizing your phone when you first get it, a Nexus phone is definitely the way to go.

Going by Google's past history, there's a pretty good chance they'll be putting out another (perhaps even multiple) Nexus phones before the end of the year. Assuming that does happen, the Nexus S will definitely last you that long.

That said, the Nexus S is showing its age a bit. It's not always the most responsive and can definitely get bogged down if you're throwing on a lot of widgets or have poorly coded apps installed. But as long as you understand its limitations, it's still just as usable as the Galaxy Nexus.

According to Google, the Nexus S will be getting Jelly Bean, and that should help significantly with the whole "smooth" feeling experience thanks to better hardware acceleration and whatnot.

Face Unlock, however, likely won't officially become part of the Nexus S. It's a feature that came out with Ice Cream Sandwich, and even though the Nexus S has ICS, it does not have Face Unlock. I promise you're not missing much, though. It's honestly faster to unlock your phone with a pattern.

I don't actually still use my Nexus S. I upgraded to the Galaxy Nexus a few months ago. Up until I did the upgrade, my Nexus S still worked well and always lasted me through the whole day, even on days with relatively heavy usage (ie. 2 hours of GPS navigation, some texting, ~30 minutes of web browsing, and maybe 20 minutes of talk time).

 

[zuben el genub]

Doesn't the S and 4G depend on carrier? I thought the latest Nexus was CDMA. I prefer GSM. I'm using the S and like it.

Don't care if I get Face Recognition or not.

 

[quantumrand]

Doesn't the S and 4G depend on carrier? I thought the latest Nexus was CDMA. I prefer GSM. I'm using the S and like it.

Don't care if I get Face Recognition or not.

I'm not really sure what you're getting at here, but the Nexus S 4G is just Sprint's Nexus S, intended for the WiMAX network.

The latest Nexus is the Galaxy Nexus, and technically, the GSM version sold directly from the Play Store has the latest version of Android (apart from the Google IO phones). Both Sprint and Verizon offer a CDMA version of the Galaxy Nexus with LTE.

 

[zuben el genub]

All I was getting at was which phone for which carrier. I happen to like TMO, so I couldn't use the CDMA version. Since that Samsung Nexus or whatever it's called won't be getting face recognition - the point is moot if you wish to stay with a GSM carrier.

Just saying Nexus S is confusing. Just clarify CDMA or GSM.

 

[quantumrand]

All I was getting at was which phone for which carrier. I happen to like TMO, so I couldn't use the CDMA version. Since that Samsung Nexus or whatever it's called won't be getting face recognition - the point is moot if you wish to stay with a GSM carrier.

Just saying Nexus S is confusing. Just clarify CDMA or GSM.

GSM Nexus S models: GT-I9020T (T-Mobile + European radios), GT-I9020A (AT&T radios), and GT-I9023 (T-Mobile + European radios with S-LCD display).

CDMA Nexus S models (aka Nexus S 4G): SPH-D720 (Sprint's model with WiMax radios).

It's really no different to how cell phones have been doing it for years. The iPhone is still the iPhone on other carriers. The Galaxy S is (usually) the Galaxy S on other carriers. Even as far back as the original Motorola RAZR, it was the RAZR on all the carriers.

 

[zuben el genub]

Galaxy S is just as bad. I have an SGS4G, went to root it and found out it's actually a Vibrant.

If Google is adding features, it would stop a lot of moaning as to why GSM gets something and CDMA doesn't or vice versa. Just put a GS or C after the phone name until we are all on one system.

 

[quantumrand]

Galaxy S is just as bad. I have an SGS4G, went to root it and found out it's actually a Vibrant.

If Google is adding features, it would stop a lot of moaning as to why GSM gets something and CDMA doesn't or vice versa. Just put a GS or C after the phone name until we are all on one system.

Again, I'm not really sure what you're getting at. The Nexus S 4G is just the Sprint CDMA version of the GSM Nexus S. It doesn't have any extra features. It's the exact same phone except with a different radio that allows it to work on Sprint's network. It's the same thing with the Galaxy S (which was called the Vibrant on T-Mobile, the Captivate on AT&T, the Fascinate on Verizon, and the Epic 4G on Sprint). They were all the exact same phone except with different radios for their respective carriers.

Cell phones names have worked like this for years. If you wanted to know the minute differences, you'd look at the model number.

 

[marvinblue]

I have the I9023 and have had it for almost a year. I quite like my phone, although this is my first smart phone, so I can't really compare. Having said that, my wife has a Galaxy S and I think mine craps all over hers for performance, although she has some nice features that I don't. I have ICS though and she doesn't!! Serously though, I found mine to start playing up a little when ICS was flashed to me, but overall, I'm quite happy with it. Hopefully, Jelly Bean clears it all up and I have a great phone that will last for a few more years.

I surf quite a bit as well as text heaps with it and also use mine as a tethered modem, but the battery always pulls a good 14-16 hrs before I charge it. (That's before I tether it as well!)

 

[quantumrand]

I have the I9023 and have had it for almost a year. I quite like my phone, although this is my first smart phone, so I can't really compare. Having said that, my wife has a Galaxy S and I think mine craps all over hers for performance, although she has some nice features that I don't. I have ICS though and she doesn't!! Serously though, I found mine to start playing up a little when ICS was flashed to me, but overall, I'm quite happy with it. Hopefully, Jelly Bean clears it all up and I have a great phone that will last for a few more years.

I surf quite a bit as well as text heaps with it and also use mine as a tethered modem, but the battery always pulls a good 14-16 hrs before I charge it. (That's before I tether it as well!)

What'll really blow your mind is that the Nexus S has almost all of the exact same hardware as the Galaxy S. Pretty amazing what poorly optimized software can do to drag down the performance of a device, eh?

 

[Bootsock]

I've had the Nexus S since launch and I have to say it's been the best mobile phone I've ever had, it's a great phone to use, the hardware is still sufficient to run the newest version of Android and you can now pick them up very cheap.

The phone is very slick and smooth to use especially on Android 4.1.1 (Jelly Bean). It's ultra stable, mine would frequently go for a month or more without a reboot and most of the time only was switched off due to it needing to be switched off for something rather than it 'needing' a reboot.

Needless to say it's also been excellent for updates always getting the latest version of Android quickly.

Battery life is very good and I've had mine go for two days on a charge, although I've just ordered a replacement battery for mine because this has suffered from over a year of heavy use. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this was only