Anyone else changing their mind about buying?

Droidood · Nov 22, 2011

Sandroidfan said:
I might actually grab Tegra3 Transformer Prime for gaming early next year. My transformer is still great tablet. I'm fine with Nexus SGX540 GPU being outdated next year in gaming as I don't consider Nexus as primary gaming device. But it will do video playing/streaming, UI acceleration very well and that's the reason why Google chose it for nexus.

I personally think Tegra chip is more suited for tablets than phones. Tegra2 this year didn't make big splash in phones as much as Nvidia hoped and it was mostly powering android tablets. It remains to be seen if this will change with Tegra3. There are also S4 snapdragon, quad core 4412 exynos in phones next year that will give it run for money.

Except these phones can now easily output to HDMI and be played on big screen TVs. So with 1 cable and a Bluetooth gamepad, suddenly you've got a game console in your pocket. Tegra 3 should be pretty close to Xbox 360 / PS3 performance.

B2L · Nov 22, 2011

Just thought I would add my 2 cents to this post that took me forever to read. After owning the Nexus S, I made the decision to only purchase Nexus devices from now on. One thing Google did right with all of the Nexus devices is pairing the software, and hardware. ICS has been fully developed to work with the OMAP 4460 in the Galaxy Nexus. This is one thing most people aren't thinking about when it comes down to the major points, that either make, or break the device for them.

This honestly sounds like how it was last year, when the Nexus S specs were finally released. Everyone complained, and was extremely frustrated that it didn't have a dual core processor, better camera, or it had a plastic feel to it. Therefore, not many people ended up buying it. Since owning one shortly after it was released, I was amazed at how quick it was. Friends that bought dual core devices like the Atrix, ended up being disappointed, because a single core device had no lag, or trouble no matter what test you put it through. When their Atrix would lag, or have problems due to Motoblur, and any other bloatware that was thrown on it.

To sum things up, at the end of last year, I bought a device with specs that were pretty much 6 months old. This same device, still performs as well, or beats other devices with better specs. Hell, when messing around with Quadrant I can easily score 3300+. When most other devices have trouble reaching the 2500 mark. (Yes, yes Benchmarks are pretty useless.) The latest updates, easy to root, and decent hardware will make this thing more than worth my money.

krouget · Nov 22, 2011

Lock-N-Load said:
Look guys, all I am saying is that sometimes, the more and more I read around here and other forums on the web is people just regurgitating what they read. Jumping on the bandwagon and accepting what they are told as truth or as something they should believe in and put value into - mob & mass mentality. Putting out these vague comments and 1 liners and repeating stats or something else they read someone else say and buying into it without stopping to add it all up and ask what does it REALLY add up to? Very common these days and very common in this tech world.

While I could somewhat agree in principle, if your aim is to challenge people to broaden their world-views, I'm not sure I'd direct that energy towards someones choice in a cell phone. As most of this is strictly subjective and we can agree that "better" is an ambiguous term, I'd say not too much damage is being done, here.

The masses are believing this is the current holy grail phone. Why? Because some guys with big post numbers around here say so? Because the marketing machine is building the release of this phone into a fever pitch? Because the media and all tech forums and blogs are endlessly chatting on about it? Because the endless masses here just say "I want it", "take my money already", "PLEASE give me this phone"? Because many of us are at the end of our Droid's life and 2 year contract and so we just want?

But really, if you sit and think about it, for the end of 2011 and all the advancements we have made in phone technology, there is nothing unique about this phone to warrant this fervor. This is not like the Asus Prime tablet that is the first Tegra 3 chipped tablet that is reported to be the thinnest tablet yet - 2 big strides in technology that are impressive and indicators of steps forward and not standing still - it is current to marginal hardware with the latest OS many phones will have, and so people are simply banking on 1 real angle? Quicker releases of updates? That's it? That's all and that's worth the price of admission? I don't think so. Any of those updates you can get before they are ever release and before Samsung and Google ever release them via simple forums like XDA. So, that fact nearly negates all of the value some are putting on why this phone is so valuable.

BUT.. now imagine a Tegra 3 phone.. Sure, it is faster and zipper which is great as we want phones to move as fast as our thumbs can flip. But the real true value comes in the companion core and DIDIM as both work to reduce display power consumption and improve power management and multi tasking = potential 40% battery improvements they say. Things you USE EVERY DAY every second you use that phone. Then imagine, the newer LTE chip that the RAZR uses which is a lot smaller than the bulky one shoved into the Nexus causing it to gain more in bulk and thickness than the nice UK counterparts. Then imagine the value of DDR3 onboard memory versus DDR2. THESE are the ways of the future, these are in use, these are right around the corner for a phone, these WILL affect the everyday minute by minute use of your phone and the experience. But getting updates first is that big of a draw? Even though you can, 99% of the time, get them early on XDA or elsewhere?

This reads somewhat like a manifesto/social commentary. Stepping back a bit, the GN is a good phone (the arguments for this have already been voiced). Of course, there is the reality that if we had the luxury of cherry-picking features and hardware, we could dream up a much better device. However, it currently has some future-proof features which will require more solid market proliferation, before they can really see use (NFC), while other bits will satisfy 99% of what the casual consumer is looking for in a device. This phone will work fine for me. It also doesn't mean there won't be a better phone on the horizon-- I'm sure there will be many. But as a counter-point to the one you've been making, while you're not so much concerned with being first, some of us will just as well be content with what we have.

Also, as a matter of perspective, Google isn't a hardware company. Their immediate concern is their Android cash cow, and creating a rich OS experience with ICS. Actual hardware companies will battle/compete to 1-up each other, especially if they don't have the advantage of marketing ICS alongside their devices. The outcome of this is that they will strive to bolster their current units through other means (better hardware).

In the end, hype exist for a reason and you borrow much of the future promises made by various companies to support your own reasons for waiting (you're also repeating what you've read). Nothing is wrong with this, but there are reasonable reasons to buy the GN or any future devices. Competition is a good thing.

crankerchick · Nov 22, 2011

I haven't changed my mind. If anything, this delay has helped to further solidify my decision. This delay (and the holiday return policy) has given me the opportunity to set my precious aging OG Droid on the shelf and pick up an HTC Rezound.

My time with the Rezound has only solidified what I already generally knew about myself, which is that I don't much care for skins. It also just nails home the point that coming form an OG Droid, ANY of the Big 3 phones feels like stepping into a 911 Turbo after riding to work in a Civic, no matter how "disappointing" the hardware might be.

What my time with my OG Droid has solidified is that I do care about having an unlocked bootloader and a device with good OEM and developer community support. That is what has kept my OG Droid in my hands for 2 years, because I was ready to replace it after FroYo.

And as someone else pointed out, there is something to be said for having ICS on the phone and hardware it was developed on. Sure, there will be ICS on the other phones soon, probably from the dev community before the actual OEMs let it out, but with locked bootloaders, won't that mean that Razr and Rezound owners will have to wait for the OEMs to release the first build? Also, what about updates in the future, beyond ICS? Those who care enough and root will be depending on the developer community more then ever down the line if they keep their phone for 2 years. At least with a google experience phone, the long term support should be better (if past history is an indicator) from both Google and the dev community.

But it's different strokes for different folks. It's all about what phone is right for the person using it and no phone will ever satisfy anybody's entire set of requirements. Otherwise, my phone would go to work for me everyday and I would stay home in my pajamas all day.

MartinS · Nov 22, 2011

I've found that you generally don't see many other Nexus phones around. I didnt know any one else who bought an N1 or NS - I like to be different as long as the device is good enough.

BenjaminH · Nov 22, 2011

I didn't change my mind about the Galaxy Nexus itself, but I did change my mind about buying it. My wife and I were both limping along with iphone 3g (not even 3gs) and so we couldn't resist the penny Amazon sale and both got an HTC Rezound (switching from ATT to Verizon). I didn't want to miss the double data promotion and paying nothing for two excellent smart phones was too tempting to pass up. That doesn't change my mind that I think the Nexus will be an awesome device, but I can't say I miss the uncertainty and angst surrounding its release.

B2L · Nov 22, 2011

MartinS said:
I've found that you generally don't see many other Nexus phones around. I didnt know any one else who bought an N1 or NS - I like to be different as long as the device is good enough.

Seriously! I have only met one other person that owns a Nexus device, besides my Fiance` and that's because I talked her into it. Most people look at it and ask what it is, and as soon as you say Nexus almost no one had heard of it before. But that may change soon since this is the first time a Nexus device will be released on Verizon.

dmiller2007 · Nov 22, 2011

If i were considering switching to Verizon, i would have jumped all over that deal, nexus be damned.

Lefort1 · Nov 22, 2011

I'm starting to reconsider.

I must say, Verizon is absolutely HORRIBLE at releasing phones.
-Bloat...there had better not be any on a NEXUS phone
-$300 for LTE? Look at AT&T.
-You killed 1yr contract prices
-Your reps are horrible at retention for loyal customers.
-Lastly, can you guys be any slower at releasing phones?

I hope Sprint ups their game with LTE soon and keeps their unlimited plans. I can't stand Verizon sometimes.

sean76 · Nov 22, 2011

Lefort1 said:
I'm starting to reconsider.

I must say, Verizon is absolutely HORRIBLE at releasing phones.
-Bloat...there had better not be any on a NEXUS phone
-$300 for LTE? Look at AT&T.
-You killed 1yr contract prices
-Your reps are horrible at retention for loyal customers.
-Lastly, can you guys be any slower at releasing phones?

I hope Sprint ups their game with LTE soon and keeps their unlimited plans. I can't stand Verizon sometimes.

I agree with mosly all except...

at&t's LTE...That Company is an abolute joke! The dropped calls, and shotty data is terrible with them...Honestly, VZW's 4G LTE is prob the best were going to see for the next few years...We'll until 5G Hits.

William T Riker · Nov 22, 2011

I waited, and waited, and waited and really wanted the Nexus. But after seeing the 1 cent sale amazon wireless is having until the 28th and reading everything with the volume issues, ICS not being updated for legacy apps yet etc, I pulled the trigger on a Rezound today.. it'll get ICS eventually and I save 299.98 on the phone... sorry Verizon get your act together next time..

Lock-N-Load · Nov 22, 2011

The news - somewhat important to a Mac user who routinely transfers files to/from desktop to phone - that because of hardware choices made by Google and Samsung (no external storage), the GN not supporting USB Mass Storage for transferring files to and from my computer gives me further pause. However, this feature is part of ICS, but the GN can't use it of course. I would now need an app - Android File Transfer app - to do the simplest of transfers I regularly did just by pluggin in my phone to my desktop.

Another strike against the GN for me.

More and more, a quad core phone that could benefit from better CPU and battery performance with the newer smaller LTE chipset sounds more appealing. At this stage and rate of release on the GN, it just gets me closer and closer to 2012 and waiting for the release of a quad core phone like that rumored HTC Zeta or Edge.

dmiller2007 · Nov 22, 2011

Wouldn't a quad core on ICS be similar to a dual core on GB? As in useless because the OS doesn't utilize the extra cores yet?

booser4 · Nov 22, 2011

B2L said:
Seriously! I have only met one other person that owns a Nexus device, besides my Fiance` and that's because I talked her into it. Most people look at it and ask what it is, and as soon as you say Nexus almost no one had heard of it before. But that may change soon since this is the first time a Nexus device will be released on Verizon.

That's part of the appeal for me, going the road less travelled. Since the release of the Nexus 1 I've only seen ONE in person to date. Someone had lost it at my work, so I sat around messing with it for a good hour just out of curiosity. I wanted it so bad when it was originally coming to Verizon, then went with the Incredible after they cancelled the N1. I don't think I've ever seen a Nexus S other than a store display.

Lock-N-Load does that USB Mass Storage issue only affect Macs or will it be Windows PCs as well?

dmiller2007 · Nov 22, 2011

booser4 said:
Lock-N-Load does that USB Mass Storage issue only affect Macs or will it be Windows PCs as well?

The USB mass storage only effects macs and linux. these operating systems don't offer full support for MTP yet. it will work on windows pc's just fine.

PhilosoRaptor · Nov 22, 2011

booser4 said:
That's part of the appeal for me, going the road less travelled. Since the release of the Nexus 1 I've only seen ONE in person to date. Someone had lost it at my work, so I sat around messing with it for a good hour just out of curiosity. I wanted it so bad when it was originally coming to Verizon, then went with the Incredible after they cancelled the N1. I don't think I've ever seen a Nexus S other than a store display.

Lock-N-Load does that USB Mass Storage issue only affect Macs or will it be Windows PCs as well?

It really only affects Mac/Linux users. Here's a direct quote from Android Engineer Dan Morrill (link):

ICS supports USB Mass Storage (UMS). The Galaxy Nexus does not. This is the same scenario as Honeycomb, as for instance HC supports USB Mass Storage while Xoom does not.
If a given device has a removable SD card it will support USB Mass Storage. If it has only built-in storage (like Xoom and Galaxy Nexus) it will (usually) support only MTP and PTP.
It isn't physically possible to support UMS on devices that don't have a dedicated partition for storage (like a removable SD card, or a separate partition like Nexus S.) This is because UMS is a block-level protocol that gives the host PC direct access to the physical blocks on the storage, so that Android cannot have it mounted at the same time.
With the unified storage model we introduced in Honeycomb, we share your full 32GB (or 16GB or whatever) between app data and media data. That is, no more staring sadly at your 5GB free on Nexus S when your internal app data partition has filled up -- it's all one big happy volume.
However the cost is that Android can no longer ever yield up the storage for the host PC to molest directly over USB. Instead we use MTP. On Windows (which the majority of users use), it has built-in MTP support in Explorer that makes it look exactly like a disk. On Linux and Mac it's sadly not as easy, but I have confidence that we'll see some work to make this better.
On the whole it's a much better experience on the phone.

I don't know why you would consider this a "strike" against the G-Nex. I think it's a more logical solution than having two separate partitions for app and storage. He cites a perfect example of why in the quote.

If you're going to pout of this, then that's pretty baffling and really just confirms you're bias against the phone. I see no significant (key word) disadvantages to it. If you have a Mac, I'm surprised you're considering this phone in the first place, but there's still a simple solution for you. If you're on Linux, then you should know what you're doing and not have an issue whatsoever getting this to work. If you're on Windows, this is completely transparent to you.

SamMax · Nov 23, 2011

I decided to get the SG2 for 1 cent and go with AT&T. LTE means nothing to me, the small town I live in will probably be the last city to get LTE in 2013. I'm sick of Verizon, sick of watching my brothers 3G smoke mine. TaLking and surfing will be a new benefit as well.

likebutta · Nov 23, 2011

The only thing I changed my mind about was getting it release day. I am now waiting for the minor fixes (re: volume) plus the 32GB model.

phantomash · Nov 23, 2011

Droidood said:
Right, benchmarks are useless and every tech site is just run by morons who haven't realized that yet

Here's what I know: The Tegra 3 will be out in tablets in less than 30 days, and we'll probably start seeing it in phones sometime around Q1/Q2 next year. The SGX 540 in this Nexus is a slight improvement over Tegra 2, but it won't hold a candle to Tegra 3 (5x the performance of Tegra 2). So yeah, the Galaxy Nexus will be completely outdated in terms of GPU performance in 6 months or less. Have fun playing all those Tegra Zone games at 5 FPS.

You might not think that's a big deal, but with the emphasis shifting from Flash and native apps to WebGL/HTML5 it could be huge.

really? Tegra3 games? You mean the games that are built specifically to sell you the hardware? What Tegra3 optimized game really mean is "add a few splash to make it look pretty so "hardcore gamers" (COD fans) will buy it". They lack real depth in terms of gameplay. If you want to game, get a proper gaming machine, ie.console or PC. I'm already having plenty fun playing Skyrim with my HD6970 on my 24" monitor. :rolleyes:

Also, if you didn't notice already, games that are actually fun don't rely on polygon counts to sell the game, ie. cut the rope, plant vs zombie, coin drop, etc etc. If the iPhone 4 with SGX535, a lower end GPU than Nexus S, can have great game titles, I don't see how the GNex can't. If you didn't know already, iPhone 4 is capable of playing Samurai Warrior 2, the same game that is the so called Tegra 2 exclusive, shows how Tegra fans are being ripped offed of.

Food for thought, if the GNex can already play 95% of the games in the market (the other 5% being Tegra3 exclusives

), what significance does it make that the GPU scored lower in benchmarks? You keep bashing on the "year old GPU", why? So you can brag on GPU benchmarks, the very few straws that 4S fanboys are grasping on?

ferdasyn · Nov 23, 2011

Yes, seems like cell phones are becoming mobile gaming consoles by the end of next year. But Tegra3 probably is nothing to wait for. First it's not as fast as it was first supposed to be and other chips released couple of months from the phones will beat it in performance by wide margin. Second the design is said to be inefficient, probably resulting lags when switching between cores. So for normal usage I can't imagine noticing much real-world difference between OMAP 4460 and Tegra3.

If gaming was number one priority me (which it's not) I'd get iPhone or wait until mid 2012 for better quad cores. Of course at that point there would be new techs coming up like Samsung big.Little with better battery efficiency.

For me the next real update over GNex would probably be SGS III which is unfortunately atleast 6months away, and perhaps more because of sAMOLED 3 than the supposed quadcore 4412. Also, any game that I'd really want to play on a cellphone is probably not coming before Q4 2012 anyway.

likebutta · Nov 23, 2011

Droidood said:
Right, benchmarks are useless and every tech site is just run by morons who haven't realized that yet

Actually, they are, despite your sarcasm. What is the point of benchmarks? It's just like people that run 3DMark or equivalent on the PC and go "oh man, look at my leetsauce computer. Many markz!!111!!". Then when it comes to actual gameplay (in -all- ranges) and it paints a different picture. Or even non-tech related, people who take their whatever car to do a dyno test. "Oh man, look at my awesome Horse Powars!!!". Really, it has 785 HP? Colour me impressed, now how does it handle on the road? what are the driver's credentials?

Basically benchmarks are useless. Do they provide a performance statistic? Sure but it's completely bias to a singular aspect and does not cover the broad spectrum of applications and their uses.

Real-time tests with applications is what matters and if the Galaxy Nexus passes each person's individual application performance needs, then it's good enough. Not because some archaic benchmark tells them their hypothetical throughput performance isn't enough.

GalaxyNexus · Nov 23, 2011

Lock-N-Load said:
The delays and some of the UK reviews starting to come out and the final Verizon LTE specs have given me enough time to reconsider buying the Nexus.

Really, other than shipping with ICS and an NFC chip, this phone is really no better than anything else. It is no thinner, not faster, no more memory, not expandable. There are phones that are thinner, faster (or equal), with more expandable memory and will be getting ICS 4-6 weeks after the Nexus launches anyway. Yes, I know part of it is the "pure" Google experience, but root can generally give me that anyway with the removal of bloatware, changing launchers or just loading a pure ICS version ROM (that devs like Pete make). The Nexus is really all about ICS and nothing about the phones hardware; the design, style, hardware is noting at all on the edge whereas at least the RAZR is breaking some new ground in footprint. And ICS will be coming to all future phones and many recently released top end phones anyway.

So I started to really wonder, is it just because I am ready to move on from my OG Droid that I am inpatient and ready to pounce, or is this phone really worth it? I have really started to think the latter. I know you can't put off buying a phone or any electronics forever as that is analysis paralysis and at some point you have to jump, but with some of the most recent Tegra 3 chip news - like the dramatically better power management (thanks to the the 5th companion core chip and DIDIM – Reduces Display Power Consumption) - talking about hitting phones in early 2012, I seriously might put off the Nexus and see what comes out.

If I have to be locked in for another 2 years with my next phone, the 1 good thing about these Nexus delays and unknown ship times is that it gives me pause to consider other options and maybe, another 1-2 months to get something more truly advanced in hardware - ICS will be ICS and will still be there - appeals to me.

What phones exactly are hitting in early 2012 that you are looking at?

Sandroidfan · Nov 23, 2011

Phantomash made good point on iPhone4 with SGX535 GPU. iPhone4 was joke in graphic benchmark like GL bench, scoring near bottom due to its high resolution retina display and outdated SGX535. But it didn't keep numerous iOS game developers from cranking out ton of games for iPhone4. My son's iPod touch4 doesn't seem to be sluggish even in very graphic intensive game like infinity blade. So complaining on SGX540 at 384Mhz is moot point.

VoidedSaint · Nov 23, 2011

likebutta said:
Or even non-tech related, people who take their whatever car to do a dyno test. "Oh man, look at my awesome Horse Powars!!!". Really, it has 785 HP? Colour me impressed, now how does it handle on the road? what are the driver's credentials?

actually horsepower isnt the big deal for most cars, torque also plays a huge difference in launching (if your drag racing that is)

horsepower is great, but you need torque to help make that horsepower every bit of power that it is.

im not a car enthusiast by any means, but i have seen some high horsepower cars get beat by lower, all because of torque, and mainly the driver, but thats a discussion for another forum

Beetlesauce · Nov 23, 2011

Still getting the Galaxy Nexus. The crappy camera on the Motorola Droid Bionic is more than enough to make me switch. The 3 MP camera on my old iPhone 3GS practically takes better and faster photos than the 8 MP Bionic camera. That's one reason the 5 MP camera on the GN is not an issue for me. Phone camera is more for spontaneous events. I have a regular camera for other events. And this waiting game has shown why Apple will always be a great marketing company even if their phones do not necessarily match up to top android offerings. Seriously, DO NOT announce a new phone offering if you are not ready to also announce the carrier(s), price and a release date within 2 to 3 weeks of announcment. Soon, Google will be a hardware manufacture too when its purchase of Motorola completes. I certainly hope they will either kill motoblur altogether or at least offer a yearly motorola phone with pure vanilla Android experience. Other OEMs are kidding themselves if they think Google will continue to rotate manufacture of a Nexus phone once they own Motorola. Google will want to produce a complete, controlled Apple-like software and hardware experience with Motorola phones and I, for one, am looking forward to that day.

Anyone else changing their mind about buying?

Well-Known Member

Android Expert

Android Enthusiast

Android Enthusiast

Android Expert

Member

Android Expert

Android Expert

Android Enthusiast

Android Expert

Android Enthusiast

Android Expert

Android Expert

Well-Known Member

Android Expert

Android Enthusiast

Android Expert

Well-Known Member

Member

Newbie

Well-Known Member

Android Enthusiast

Android Expert

Resident Ninja

Newbie

BEST TECH IN 2023

Smartphones

Best Android Phones

Upcoming

Best iPhones

Upcoming

Tablets

Best Tablets

Upcoming

Laptops

Best Laptops

Upcoming

Televisions

Best TVs

Upcoming

Game Consoles

Best Game Consoles

Upcoming

Wearables

Best Wearables

Upcoming

Smart Home

Smart Home Tech

Upcoming

Similar threads