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Returning the gnex: Rezound or Razr?

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#51
SamMax said:
I am leaning towards it. I'm finding out that hoping for an update to resolve reception is nothing more than a pipe dream.
Click to expand...

radio updates are frequent and usually help a lot. Look at the thunderbolt, charge and even the bionic. All had radio issues( to some extent) when first launched and an update increased them greatly. When I had the thunderbolt at first it sucked both signal and battery wise, then with updates it got better and better and was finally a decent phone after awhile. I would wait since there are already 2 updates in the works that most likely will address this issue, and if not then you can return it. You have until Jan 15.
 
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#52
If this was your reception at home would you keep it?

Screenshot_2011-12-17-20-45-23.png

Screenshot_2011-12-19-01-11-32.png
 
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#53
Moto's have legendary radio reception. If that's far & away your #1 priority, then go w/ Moto. Although, I can't see going w/ a 4G phone w/ a non-removable battery. Personally, I may have gone w/ the Rezound over the GN, if the Rezound didn't have a locked bootloader, or if the Rezound had come loaded w/ ICS. The Rezound w/ ICS is probably going to be a better all around phone than the GN.
 
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#54
Premium1 said:
radio updates are frequent and usually help a lot. Look at the thunderbolt, charge and even the bionic. All had radio issues( to some extent) when first launched and an update increased them greatly. When I had the thunderbolt at first it sucked both signal and battery wise, then with updates it got better and better and was finally a decent phone after awhile. I would wait since there are already 2 updates in the works that most likely will address this issue, and if not then you can return it. You have until Jan 15.
Click to expand...

I have seen updates help to keep phones from switching from 4G to 3G randomly and 3G to 1X, but I have not seen updates eliminate poor reception in general. That is the antenna design period. I recall the iPhone 4 received a lot of bad press due to antenna issues, so Apple decided to "raise the bar" literally raised the height of the reception bars so it looks as if you have a stronger signal.
 
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#55
Premium1 said:
radio updates are frequent and usually help a lot. Look at the thunderbolt, charge and even the bionic. All had radio issues( to some extent) when first launched and an update increased them greatly. When I had the thunderbolt at first it sucked both signal and battery wise, then with updates it got better and better and was finally a decent phone after awhile. I would wait since there are already 2 updates in the works that most likely will address this issue, and if not then you can return it. You have until Jan 15.
Click to expand...


The TB problem was not a low dBm signal, but a stability issue with managing 3g and 4g. Not same issue, so a radio update is not a given, if using the Thunderbolt as the rationale.

Reception is mainly a power/sensitivity and antenna design issue, as far major factors.
 
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#56
These were the three phones I was considering as well. I counted the Razr out for two big reasons First was the feel of the phone I hated how wide it was and how much bezel there is on the phone it was awkward in hand for me . Second and biggest reason was no removable battery . I've always enjoyed having a stock battery and instead of charging my phone when one battery dies I just pop in the other and throw the dead battery on an external charger . It's much more convenient for me and I hate having my phone attached to a cable

I owned the Rezound for a little over a month and it's positives over the Nexus were the camera , whites on screen and better phone call quality

That being said I didn't think the Rezound was much of an upgraded over the Thunderbolt I had prior and it was just boring to me and I hated the look of it , it also felt to small to me as far as width goes . I also can't stand Sense and everytime I put a launcher on the Rezound my phone lagged like crazy . I'm sure I would have loved the Rezound if I waited for root but I'm so happy with my Nexus I think it's a much better phone overall compared to the Rezound the look, the feel, the screen , I'm actually getting better battery life with my GN with the 2100 battery then my Rezound

That being said if the Nexus didn't come to Verizon and the Rezound and Razr were my only choices I'd get the Rezound . I was more then happy with my Rezound but again it's not much better then the Thunderbolt IMO
 
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#57
schimm said:
I've been on the phone with Verizon this morning and suggested an option I haven't tried yet for poor home reception. Settings/more/mobile networks/system select/home. And put the phone on CDMA. Will give it a shot.
Click to expand...

This seems to work though I have to do further testing to make sure it wasn't a fluke. But I had the Gnex right next to my DX and the Dbm's were showing the same....around -93. I was consistently -100 or worse yesterday the Gnex. I've used a third of my extended battery after 5 hours making some phone calls and troubleshooting my device over the phone with Verizon.
 
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#58
I have a friend with a RAZR and a friend with the Rezound. We've been doing side by side comparisons of signal strength when we are all together somewhere. My Nexus almost always has the best signal, followed pretty closely by the RAZR. The Rezound always seems to be a bit lower. Overall we all get more or less the same reception. Speed tests always net out to be about the same.

The Nexus has been night/day better than my Droid X in all the locations I use it a lot.

How are people measuring this perceived low signal quality? Number of bars? Dropped calls? Data speed tests? Reading the signal strength value on the status screen?

My Nexus seems to read low just looking at the number of bars, but the measured signal strength is fine. I have been dropping less calls and my data performance is the same or better than it has always been.

Sorry for OT rant, I just don't understand these signal issues. Maybe I'm just in a good coverage area or something.

To answer your question though: I would vote the Rezound over the RAZR.
 
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#60
My Nexus arrives on Wednesday and I'm beginning to have second thoughts after all the negative comments I've read on the Nexus. I'm coming from the Incredible which I really like and the Rezound feels very much like the Incredible so I'm thinking this may be a better phone form me. I love solid feeling hardware and always wondered about Samsung's phone quality.

Question, once the Nexus arrives can I return it locally or would I have to ship it back to VZ to exchange it for the Rezound?
 
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#61
crazysoccerman14 said:
The reception on the gnex is terrible. I had hope for a radio update, but I recently learned the gnex is using the same radio as the Charge. Users of the Charge attest to poor reception throughout the life of their phone.
Click to expand...

chase8333 said:
Signal is bad on the Gnex currently, but I think it just needs a update. My dads charge is getting a way better signal than the gnex, in some cases..If I were bring the gnex back I would go with the rezound..
Click to expand...

kcs7272 said:
I actually get way better signal on my Charge then I do my GNex I'm hoping there'll be an update soon.
Click to expand...

Just like to point out they're not the same radio. The Charge has a Samsung CMC220, while the GNex has a CMC221.

Anyway, I'm delighted with my Rezound for all the usual reasons. :)
 
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#63
TrumpetMan said:
My Nexus arrives on Wednesday and I'm beginning to have second thoughts after all the negative comments I've read on the Nexus. I'm coming from the Incredible which I really like and the Rezound feels very much like the Incredible so I'm thinking this may be a better phone form me. I love solid feeling hardware and always wondered about Samsung's phone quality.

Question, once the Nexus arrives can I return it locally or would I have to ship it back to VZ to exchange it for the Rezound?
Click to expand...


I've always been an HTC guy I've owned the Eris, Incredible, Thunderbolt, Evo, and Rezound . I was skeptical about Samsung also especially after owning a Fascinate and it honestly was the worst phone I've ever owned

After all that I can say the Nexus is better then all of them I get better battery life then the rezound (2100mah battery) the screen is better, the sound is actually better too (with Volume+) the only thing I'd say the rezound was better at was the camera and honestly not by much. Also my 4g tether works much better on my Nexus . I don't have home Wi-Fi and I use my phone to tether Sunday ticket from my laptop to my TV with the rezound I could never do high quality and it always had to buffer with the Nexus I streamed high quality with almost no buffer stop age
 
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#64
SamMax said:
If this was your reception at home would you keep it?

Screenshot_2011-12-17-20-45-23.png

Screenshot_2011-12-19-01-11-32.png
Click to expand...

That is exactly like my phone, I'm at home, AND I'm taking it back to VZW tomorrow and am going to try out the Rezound. If I don't like it, I'm going to return it, power up my Droid X, and do as another here said and wait for the next batch of Androids. There will always, ALWAYS be problems with phones, however, I have to have two things foremost, a Good reception, and a speaker to hear the damn thing ring... Two missing factors on this phone. Too bad too, because I REALLY REALLY love everything about it...
 
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#65
Mine's sitting at -93 dBm which is the same as the Droid Incredible I had. Plus they annouced they are working on a fix for the signal so don't jump to giving back what I've consider the best of the 3 phones. My friends have the RAZR and the ReZound and both agree they like the Nexus better.

RAZR - forever locked bootloader but hey you get a thin phone
Rezound - locked bootloader with outdated Sense (I had the Incredible and Sense got old quick besides it slows your phone alot)

I see it as the Nexus can only get better.

But if you had to take it back get the RAZR its had the best signal out the three and is faster then the Rezound. From what I seen from comparing.
 
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#66
TrumpetMan said:
My Nexus arrives on Wednesday and I'm beginning to have second thoughts after all the negative comments I've read on the Nexus. I'm coming from the Incredible which I really like and the Rezound feels very much like the Incredible so I'm thinking this may be a better phone form me. I love solid feeling hardware and always wondered about Samsung's phone quality.

Question, once the Nexus arrives can I return it locally or would I have to ship it back to VZ to exchange it for the Rezound?
Click to expand...

Spend some time with the Nexus and decide for yourself. Don't let other people's opinions and experiences sway your judgement especially if you don't have it in your hands yet.

I have a Gnex and absolutely love it. Is it perfect? No, but neither is the Rezound or Razr. As a total package, it's amazing and I think you will be extremely happy with it if you give it a few days.
 
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#68
asmallchild said:
I don't know how anyone can live with the stock Rezound, Sense is so cluttered compared to ICS
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Not to mention a battery killer and resource hog. I was drawn in by the hype when I got my Incredible but I grew tired of Sense. More importantly, I finally bit the bullet of rooting the phone once I got tired of changing out the battery every day at lunch time because of terrible battery life. Seriously, if I had to choose an alternative to the GN, I'd keep waiting for something else. Perhaps the Razr Maxx if it ups the ante to 720p? That might be worth it. I need to see pentile on the GN, but it's still crappy at qHD resolutions and was terrible at WVGA resolutions. I love the crispness of SA+ on my Droid Charge. I realize Verizon held out for the GN, but reading all the shortcomings here, I'm a bit disappointed they passed on the GS2. I guess it wasn't destined for Big Red since it doesn't play nice with LTE. Oh well.
 
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#69
I have the RAZR (Galaxy Nexus is on its way to replace it, though), and I love it. While I can't imagine why someone would go with the RAZR or Rezound over the Gnex (but it's a free world), I definitely recommend the RAZR if you like its hardware design. I would highly recommend going into a Verizon store and asking to hold one not connected to the power cord/lock if you're still considering it, however, to see how comfortable you find the body.

For the people saying the RAZR gets "blown away" by the Rezound or any other phone, other than a 1.5ghz processor which will just eat more battery, I'd love to see what other specs "blow away" the RAZR. Anytime differences are so grossly exaggerated, the credibility of the person offering the advice must be questioned. That said, I am sure the Rezound and RAZR would be great choices as both are the leading phones by their respective manufacturer, should see ICS relatively soon, and are comparable in all aspects except hardware style and UI skin.

I came from an Incredible and, while I loved the phone after I installed Go Launcher, I hated everything HTC did. Sense is extremely cluttered (and ugly IMHO), updates took forever, major errors like the low space message that crippled the phone never got addressed, and the battery life ended up being abysmal (even on an extended OEM battery).
 
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#70
Premium1 said:
The razrmaxx only has a higher mp camera and a better screen, I wouldn't call that blowing away the razr. Moto is just flooding the market with devices because they make minor upgrades and release something "new" a month later. Nobody is going to pay full retail if they upgraded already to get that minor increase. I mean look at the razr. All it is is a thinner bionic with a better screen.
Click to expand...

Actually, it has a bigger battery, larger 4.5inch screen, 720p HD screen, 13mp front cam, and 2mp back cam.

And the rezr's screen being better than the bionics is debatable. For me, its too dark.
 
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#71
TrumpetMan said:
My Nexus arrives on Wednesday and I'm beginning to have second thoughts after all the negative comments I've read on the Nexus. I'm coming from the Incredible which I really like and the Rezound feels very much like the Incredible so I'm thinking this may be a better phone form me. I love solid feeling hardware and always wondered about Samsung's phone quality.

Question, once the Nexus arrives can I return it locally or would I have to ship it back to VZ to exchange it for the Rezound?
Click to expand...


there's no way i would exchange my nexus for the rezound. even with the few bugs it has (which will probably be remedied soon with the second update), it's still a superior phone. the rezound is basically just an incredible with a nicer screen and more lag.

personally, that seems like a downgrade to me....
 
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#72
BubbaNexus said:
there's no way i would exchange my nexus for the rezound. even with the few bugs it has (which will probably be remedied soon with the second update), it's still a superior phone. the rezound is basically just an incredible with a nicer screen and more lag.

personally, that seems like a downgrade to me....
Click to expand...

At two VZW stores each time, the site Racer X Illustrated (mobile version) - in various spots it froze on the GNex but not Rezound or Razr (I view the site often on our GS2 which is WiFi only, an ET4G) .

That's the only issue (lag) i have found with the GNex, it's just that one site , each time. After a minute or so, the site is fine.

The Rezound and Razr at BB and VZW (the GNex we've only used at a VZW store) - they do not have any lag (the Rezound in each case did have the demo app running, but still once out of it, no lag). So not sure what's causing some to have lag with the Rezound.

Trying to decide on one of these 3 devices (I'd def go with a Galaxy S2 if VZW offered).

Really want the GNex but the speaker and camera are issues.

Razr has a loud speaker , decent display but the non removable battery and locked bootloader are big minuses.

The Rezound, the camera is nice as is the speaker but I don't care for the display and it's so thick.

The GNex - if only the camera and speaker weren't way down there in quality. Also , the GNex consistently scored MUCH less on Speed Test app tests against the Razr and Rezound (3g only area) at the store tonight. That makes me worry also a little on the GNex radio.......

Why can't this be easy - activate the Epic Touch 4G on Verizon :)
 
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#73
asmallchild said:
I don't know how anyone can live with the stock Rezound, Sense is so cluttered compared to ICS
Click to expand...

You don't have too. Just like any other android phone, you can install any third-party launcher you want. And while there is no perm-root method, you can debloat and de-sense. I've done this and the rezound has virtually no lag and takes up minimal resources. I have 580megs of free memory right after boot according to the "running services" tab under the Applications settings. Maybe ICS has more, but 580megs seem pretty darn good to me. I'm sure ICS is cleaner, but I can live without it for now if it means I have to give up things I find much more important like a better signal.
 
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#74
kishin14 said:
You don't have too. Just like any other android phone, you can install any third-party launcher you want. And while there is no perm-root method, you can debloat and de-sense. I've done this and the rezound has virtually no lag and takes up minimal resources. I have 580megs of free memory right after boot according to the "running services" tab under the Applications settings. Maybe ICS has more, but 580megs seem pretty darn good to me. I'm sure ICS is cleaner, but I can live without it for now if it means I have to give up things I find much more important like a better signal.
Click to expand...

apparently, the signal readings that people are comparing to the gnex aren't even the readings for the same radios.

AnandTech - Investigating the Galaxy Nexus LTE Signal Issue
 
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#75
I would go rezound also, like a lot of people here. 720p non pentile screen and removable battery are the 2 main advantages over the razr. The only thing I don't like about the rezound is the hardware underneath. The snapdragon s3 is not terrible or anything but it's pretty old now and not as efficient/powerful as the newer hardware.
 
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