Current owners - Happy with your Nexus S?

I have several samsung products, including a nexus s. A tv, dvd player and a digital camera. I am happy with all of them. I have had no real issues with my nexus s at all.

Most of the criticism about the Nexus S' quality was because of they way Samsung handled the Galaxy S (Vibrant, Captivate, Fascinate). Having used a Vibrant, I can attest that its build quality really is lacking considerably. While the Nexus S' build quality isn't as nice as some of the aluminum bodied phones out there, it's definitely a lot better than the Galaxy S phones.

The other issue of quality in the Galaxy S line came from its utter lack of updates and Samsung's refusal to address software bugs (and some hardware issues). Since Google is handling the Nexus S updates, there's nothing to worry about, and while there are a few hardware defects in some units, there definitely isn't anything widespread (which is normal for most phones.

I have to say that I'm really happy with my Nexus S. A few of the early software bugs were a bit of a nuisance, but Google quick updates continuously sort them out. If I absolutely needed a phone ASAP, I'd still go for the Nexus S. If I weren't in any rush and could hold out for a month or so, I'd probably consider seeing how the Atrix, Bionic, or Optimus 2X manage.

I couldn't be happier I absolutely love it. The only thing I don't like is it can be a slippery bastard. Overall performance is so quick and smooth plus stock android is a major bonus.

Btw I'm not meaning this in a rude way, but why would you even consider the evo? It's almost a year old, it has some decent specs but a first gen snapdragon can't even handle most of the awesome games that are currently available without lag. Plus it has horrible battery life.

I have a Nexus S without a data plan so I am only using wi-fi to connect to the internet. Wi-fi reception on this phone is very weak and it keeps disconnecting. Whenever I watch videos on YouTube, the connection would go out and the playback would stop and go back to the beginning when playback resumes.

I do not think it's an issue with my router or cable modem because I have 1 BlackBerry, 2 iPod touches, 3 laptops, and 3 desktops that connect to the router via wi-fi and there have never been connectivity issues with any of those devices besides the Nexus S. The 2.3.3 update hasn't fixed this problem.

Apart from the weak GPS (although that works fine if not in a cradle) the phone is absolutely fine.

nexus s sim free here. iphone 4 was the best 'phone' i owned until i got this. fantastic phone

My last phone was the Nokia 6700 Classic in a metal body....supposedly a quality phone and truth be told it was a decent handset and never let me down....but....there is a perception that any phone in a metal body is a 'quality' design and that plastic bodied phones are cheap....this is not the case in my experience, if i shake my Nokia something moves or rattles inside and the metal casing moves and creaks more than any other phone i've had.

My Nexus S may be plastic but all the panels are tight and nothing moves or creaks, the screen is superb, the on/off button on one side and the volume on the other are simple and uncluttered. The OS system is my second experience of Android, the first being an HTC Hero with 'Sense' skinned over the top....i wont ever go back to a phone that uses a manufacturers skin...the pure Android experience isnt as pleasing on the eye as my old HTC but its much faster, everything about this phone is slick...and it seems to be holding its own against the recently released twin-core phones that have been benchmarked....obviously it will go out of date and become surpassed and thats when i'll either upgrade to the next pure Google/Android phone or root this one and overclock the processor to 1.3 GHz...apparently this is now becoming quite common and the phone is quite stable at this speed...testament to how good the stock phone is.

I'm running Gingerbread 2.3.2....havent had the latest update yet, probably wont download it either as there seems to be some problems....my phone has never rebooted, the GPS is as good as the stand alone unit in my car, Wi-Fi connects easily at home and work....honestly, i cant see anything else currently on the market that offers what the Nexus S does.

Aesthetically the phone is pleasing too....the all consuming blackness looks very smart and the slightly curved screen sets it apart from anything else around at the moment....probably the best compliment came from a friend of mine who loves iPhones, he has had the 3G, 3GS and now has the iPhone4....after a play on the Nexus S he handed it back and begrudgingly admitted that it was a very good phone....praise indeed from an Apple fan.

I've had mine nearly 2 weeks now - it may be all plastic but that is not a reflection of inferior build quality, simply different build materials. The quality and feel of the plastic is extremely high. Ergonomically it is superb and I much prefer it's lighter weight to some of the metal and glass monoliths out there.
Software-wise it is working really well for me. I have been able to easily customise it with a custom rom + kernel which has improved it further still. Bearing in mind how much experimental stuff I've done it remains very stable and faster than what anything demands of it. Another benefit of developer support is the Voodoo sound enhancement which unlocks an extremely high quality headphone amp that the NS has but isn't usually utilised.
I was originally holding out for one of the new dual core phones about to come out, but have no regrets whatsoever getting the NS.

I have a Nexus One and a Nexus S, I love both. The S is extremely fast and the performance is great. The build quality is outstanding although I can see how it can be slippery if you're not using a case.

StarMenace said:

I have a Nexus One and a Nexus S, I love both. The S is extremely fast and the performance is great. The build quality is outstanding although I can see how it can be slippery if you're not using a case.

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One handed use is very dangerous, try taking a picture one handed!!!

MartinS said:

One handed use is very dangerous, try taking a picture one handed!!!

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Taking one handed pictures with ANY camera or phone is "dangerous" unless you have a wrist strap.

I've had my Nexus S for two days. I came from a rooted HTC Hero running CM7 and I have to say I completely love it. The screen's amazing and it's really fast. Battery life has been excellent so far as well.

The build quality is great. I think I'll be also getting a Galaxy 8.9 tab as well!

Have a Nexus S since beginning of January. I love it.
Built-in tethering and SIP is great, so is the ability to install Apps outside of the official market. Had no reason to root it, yet.

o I've seen the random reboot problem twice
o once every week or so the phone wants a manual reboot it seems
o WiFi reception is pretty weak

Still, I would not trade it for any other phone.

Regarding 4G. IMHO it's fairly pointless. I get up to 1.5mb/s with my Nexus S (3G "only"), which is plenty to stream whatever you want (even for HD movies).

Like others have said, wifi reception is weak. I'm also not happy with my battery life but I'm hoping I simply have a bad battery.

Besides that it's an amazing phone and very happy to have made the switch from the iPhone

Best phone I've ever owned , and I've had some good phones.
Weak wfi only downside . I have a great affection for this phone. Think I will stick with Google nexus phones from now on.

I'm eagerly anticipating the release on Sprint also. I'm not concerned with 4g as it's not and probably won't be available in my area for a year or 3. I've got the Evo and have no issues with it aside from the stock battery life. Picked up an extended battery on Amazon for $25 and it's been great. Just stopped by a Best Buy tonight and played around with the T-mo Nexus S, this thing is awesome! Scrolling and moving in and out of apps was pretty quick and smooth. What kind of battery life is everyone getting? I'm a moderate user on my Evo and on the stock battery, unplugging from a full charge at 7:30am, by 1pm, i'm down to 50% or so, some texting, web browsing, nothing crazy. I've read that with this being Vanilla and having no Sense (no pun intended), that the battery lasts quite a long time, any truth to this?

IXDoubleDXI said:

I'm eagerly anticipating the release on Sprint also. I'm not concerned with 4g as it's not and probably won't be available in my area for a year or 3. I've got the Evo and have no issues with it aside from the stock battery life. Picked up an extended battery on Amazon for $25 and it's been great. Just stopped by a Best Buy tonight and played around with the T-mo Nexus S, this thing is awesome! Scrolling and moving in and out of apps was pretty quick and smooth. What kind of battery life is everyone getting? I'm a moderate user on my Evo and on the stock battery, unplugging from a full charge at 7:30am, by 1pm, i'm down to 50% or so, some texting, web browsing, nothing crazy. I've read that with this being Vanilla and having no Sense (no pun intended), that the battery lasts quite a long time, any truth to this?

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My battery lasts a very long time. I'm a heavy user and am constantly fiddling with my phone. I typically get about 12 hours of heavy use. And days when I use it moderately I'm at 50% when I plug it in at night after using it 14 hours.

To me, the direct-from-Google OS updates overshadows everything else. Fancy hardware ages really fast when you're stuck with obsolete software.

Apart from that, it's a nice phone. I can live with all the weaknesses (non-replaceable SD card, weak WiFi, lack of ... what?), I have no problems with battery life, and it's immensely more responsive than my old I5700 Spica. If I lost my Nexus S, I'd buy another one.

I largely pretty happy with my Nexus S. Its the first smart phone ive had that isnt severely lacking in some way. With normal usage i get 2 days out of it no problems which is good (currently battery at 68% and been on for 27hrs! Although in that time ive only surfed web for 15 mins, made 10 mins of calls and some texting, But at that rate i could maybe last 3 days!) . Its speedy, doesnt hang, does everything i want it to.

I find the build quality pretty good if im honest. Sure its not made of metal, but i think a lot of people might be confusing weight with build quality, its actually quite light for its size at 130g. Something which is a plus in my view as it means i can put it in my pocket without really noticing it too much.

Obviously theres a few things i might prefer to change (number one being the lack of any means of visible notifications when the device is on standby, but this is hardly a major issue for me). But overall im happy with the phone so far.

I got over the lack of visible notifications by using NoLed its pretty good.

flashy said:

I got over the lack of visible notifications by using NoLed its pretty good.

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Yeh ive got NoLed, but i found that it resulted in battery drain - which i think might actually be related to having a live wallpaper as well strangely? (the figures for my live wallpaper usage were much higher with NoLed running).

However ive got it if i need it (and it works well) and for the most part its hardly a deal breaker to check my phone periodically.

I have had mine for 3 weeks now. I was going to sell it last week after the 2.3.3 update.
Now I have rooted and put on CM7 RC2 and the phone is just sweet now! Facebook syncs, its fast, I am fully backed up. I can swap roms daily if i want but CM7 seems all I need

I have had a Samsung phone before, was a i8910 HD symbian. Sucked big time... Samsung never invested a penny into updates and Nokia who owned symbian wouldn't even let you use ovi store.

I was thinking of jumping onto the Galaxy S 2 when it arrives but I may stick around with this until the next google phone comes out.

How do I find the Nexus S? That’s a very good question.

I’ve had it since the end of January and it’s my first Android phone having moved from the iPhone 3G. On some days I love it, on others I hate it. I’ll attempt to explain why, and pretty much all of these are personal preferences so feel free to ignore them as they might not be the case for anyone else – positive or negative, and some of this is an opinion on Android itself rather than the phone. I’m still on 2.3.2 and won’t be upgrading to 2.3.3 if I can possibly avoid it having read what others have said about it.

I like the shape and feel of the phone and the display is really nice. Feels good in the hand and to me doesn’t feel cheap and plasticy. Plastic doesn’t equal bad build quality, it’s all about how you put the bits together and a good job has been done and everything pretty much has been well thought out, probably other than having the camera lens flush with the back cover which could lead to scratching. It’s fast. Very fast. Sometimes it’s so fast that whatever you’re looking to do can’t keep up with the phone, for example loading websites, and lags a bit. Often when I take the phone out of sleep mode (you know, tap the on/off button and put my code in) the 3g phone signal and wifi signal are greyed out. It can often take up to a minute before they kick in and go green. Don’t know if this is a software bug or hardware problem but it’s frustrating.

Camera is very satisfactory. No complaints there, and I think the video capture is good even though it’s not HD. No issues with it at all.

No FM radio really annoys me…..I mean massively annoys me. How simple would that have been? I understand the chipset is there so why doesn’t it have one? Headphone jack on the bottom annoys me too but that’s not a showstopper it just means I have to turn it upside down! In spite of what anyone says about it, battery life to me while ok, and a lot better than some Android phones having read reviews of others doesn’t seem to match the iPhone 3g. This is particularly evident on things I use a lot like the music player.

Music player really frustrates the life out of me. The headphones that came with the phone only start and stop tracks so I use my iphone headphones with it which toggle tracks, but you can’t go back a track, just forward. Sometimes it gets itself in a muddle and just sits there while the os (presumably) works out what the hell is going on. No graphic eq or even simple sound setting variations on the stock player is also annoying as I can’t get the booming bass I like. I’ve tried other players but the downside of them is that I’ve found they use a lot more battery than the stock player irrespective of whether or not the graphic eq is on or off, and you can’t go back a track on any of them via headphones either.

Having everything on that reportedly makes Android great also eats the battery so having all that on kind of defeats the object too. Not having it on makes the battery last longer but it becomes just another smartphone without all the bells and whistles running. Vicious circle.

The fact that it won’t accept a certificate for the network at work is a real pain. I’ve tried with our IT department but we just can’t get it on there – effortless on the iphone and I’ve never been able to get my work exchange mail up and running on it either. Someone in the IT department has a DHD and it works fine on his, we do everything the same but it just doesn’t want to know. Again, worked fine on the iphone.

Although set to vibrate, it doesn’t for text messages although it does for calls and mail notifications (not exchange ;-)) I miss text messages – I’ve missed a couple of important ones - because of this and no-one at Carphone Warehouse, even the Geek Squad bloke was able to do anything other than stare blankly. I haven’t signed up for Geek Squad by the way, I just complained until I got his services for free so they could make me go away!

Power control bar. Would be really nice if that could be placed in the dropdown notification bar as you could then have it on any screen.

No removable SD? So what!

Custom ROMs will rectify many perceived shortcomings - CyanogenMod puts the power control in the notification bar. As far as music is concerned the Nexus S contains an extremely high quality headphone amp that isn't enabled by default. By using a custom kernel and the Voodoo control app this can be unlocked resulting in the most fantastic improvement in sound quality - this more than makes up for any other need to customise the player itself IMO. Overclocking will remove all perceived lag and underclocking at specific times will improve battery life. These things all require a bit of geekiness to be confident to do though - if you are just using it out of the box then this phone will always be less than 100%.