My thoughts after 3 weeks of Nexus living...

dougleto · Feb 29, 2012

I edited up above, but for any others having the same problem w/ the unlock to camera going to the gallery and not the camera app, I'm running 4.0.4 NOT 4.0.3 (not sure how I got those mixed up)

shawn218 · Mar 4, 2012

after your GPS locks, take off 4g. You don't need it. Screen always on + 4g in a car charger, which doesnf give as much juice as a wall plug, can't keep up with it. It should charge though without the 4g

syntrix · Mar 4, 2012

Danielson2047 said:
I'm gettin sick of people saying the Maxx is better on the battery. Its not. The battery is bigger, but uses the same amount of juice. Buy a 2nd battery and Voila, the only thing the Maxx has over the G'Nex is mute.

Actually, if you calculate it, the maxx is BETTER ON BATTERY.

The SGN is nice, but it uses more battery, mostly for screen on-time.

I have both, and I've used the SGN for the last few weeks as a barometer to check for rising pressure of an update. SGN uses more juice. Let's hope an update can use the proven undervolting with published roms (assuming stock for stock, since this isn't in a rooting section).

dgold82 · Mar 4, 2012

shawn218 said:
after your GPS locks, take off 4g. You don't need it. Screen always on + 4g in a car charger, which doesnf give as much juice as a wall plug, can't keep up with it. It should charge though without the 4g

Not entirely true. I had the same problem when I first got my Gnex but then did tons of research here on the forums and finally found a charger that kept up when using all the radios you want.

This one: Amazon.com: Motorola Vehicle Power Adapter micro-USB Rapid Rate Charger: Cell Phones & Accessories

JL44516 · Mar 4, 2012

UBRocked said:
Hi everyone!

Just nosing around and figured I'd add 2 cents...as always

Okay...so fair warning...I'm "that" guy. I'm the guy who says if you are having battery issues, you need a custom ROM. After stabilization, most developers work on improving battery life and yes...I most always can tell significant improvements. Having said that, LTE is a battery killer and WiFi is MUCH easier on battery. Connect to WiFi when available.

The LTE Radio in this phone is not the best I have seen. From my testing, the Droid Razr (and even other "older" 4G phones like the Thunderbolt, Droid Charge, etc,) achieve better signal and hold 4G when the Nexus reverts to 3G. Not every market is the same but this is the worst 4G radio I've used. Really hoping for software updates that fix this. Haven't noticed the problems the OP mentioned about the battery draining in the car when being charged. I watch YouTube videos a lot in the car and despite more buffering issues due to the weaker radio...my phone gains a charge in the car if plugged in regardless of what I am using it for (YouTube, Pandora, Navigation, etc.).

Camera...yeah, it's a little on the unimpressive side. It's not a deal breaker by any means but the still camera is only decent, and the 1080p video capture is awful due to the jello effect. Not my favorite cell phone camera but I didn't buy it for that reason either so I'm not the harshest critic I'm sure.

This is a developer's phone...easy to root, lots of support, constant updates, etc. This is a major draw for this phone. If you are not rooted and rommed...then I encourage you to at least consider it...there are a lot of improvements to be had. See images below for a quick glimpse at some visual and functional improvements. After all...doesn't everyone need toggles in the notification drawer and a MiUi battery bar at the bottom so then can monitor battery when the notification header is not visible (during YouTube videos for example)? Just things I personally cannot be without based on how I like to use my device

Overall, this phone is the first phone that Verizon has released in a while that was a 2 year contract worthy phone. The next one was the Droid Razr Maxx simply because having good battery life never goes out of style. But my Nexus has been consistently providing me with 20-24 hour battery life with my usage patterns and that is a couple of hours more than the Razr (non Maxx version), and upwards of 8-10 hours more than my previous personal phone, the Thunderbolt.

One thing I have noticed (and I don't know if it is ICS in general, or possibly the custom ROMs I'm running) is that battery life will increase at times after usage. I will be playing a game or something else and notice that I am at 50% battery remaining (for example) when I put the phone down. I turn on the screen several minutes later and see my phone with 3-5% more battery life reporting. Again, not sure what's causing it...but it's a nice surprise to see the phone recalculating the remaining battery on the fly.

Hope everyone else is enjoying the Nexus as much as I am!

thank you for your post, i miss the htc sense on my thunderbolt...how do i get my nexus to look like that? thanks...

UBRocked · Mar 17, 2012

JL44516 said:
thank you for your post, i miss the htc sense on my thunderbolt...how do i get my nexus to look like that? thanks...

To have the added toggles and customization, you have to root and install a custom ROM. Most of the ROMs have extra settings. I'm running the AOKP ROM and there is a category inside of the normal settings menu called "ROM Control". Lots of customization options found there.

I really like being able to make the home, back, and recent apps buttons smaller. Nice feature that maximizes the amount screen real estate you have when using apps that don't take advantage of the full screen.

Oh, and if you like the sense like clock, it's called HD widgets. It's a few bucks in the play store but has a wide variety of sizes and layouts. Works great for phones and tablets.

jroc · Mar 21, 2012

Danielson2047 said:
I'm gettin sick of people saying the Maxx is better on the battery. Its not. The battery is bigger, but uses the same amount of juice. Buy a 2nd battery and Voila, the only thing the Maxx has over the G'Nex is mute.

syntrix said:
Actually, if you calculate it, the maxx is BETTER ON BATTERY.

The SGN is nice, but it uses more battery, mostly for screen on-time.

I have both, and I've used the SGN for the last few weeks as a barometer to check for rising pressure of an update. SGN uses more juice. Let's hope an update can use the proven undervolting with published roms (assuming stock for stock, since this isn't in a rooting section).

Proof of this is battery life tests of the regular RAZR vs. the G Nex. Talk time alone the regular RAZR gets about 6 hours more talk time.

Talk times can be with the screen off...

AnandTech - Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX Review - 1.8x The Battery

Calculate the total battery life of the regular RAZR, Rezound and G Nex in that article...it may surprise some ppl.

krouget · Mar 21, 2012

dougleto said:
App switcher.[...]And why can you swipe an app off the screen if that doesn't really do anything?[...]

It depends on whether or not the app is a service. Swiping something like the browser or gallery from the recent apps menu will clear it from memory, meaning you'll have to start from the respective home screen. If you don't clear it, it will resume where you left off.

The_Chief · Mar 21, 2012

Anyone who is concerned about camera quality on the Nexus should take a good, hard look at HDR Camera+ in the Market. It takes full advantage of the lens and resolution, and the pictures are truly stunning. While it is slower and doesn't zoom or shoot video (yet), I use it almost exclusively for my still shots. Well worth a look and a try.

As far as updates go, how about an alleged 4.0.5 OTA within weeks?

Android 4.0.5 in testing for Verizon’s LTE Galaxy Nexus, could hit handsets in early April [RUMOR]

My 0.02

mustardtiger · Mar 21, 2012

The_Chief said:
Anyone who is concerned about camera quality on the Nexus should take a good, hard look at HDR Camera+ in the Market. It takes full advantage of the lens and resolution, and the pictures are truly stunning. While it is slower and doesn't zoom or shoot video (yet), I use it almost exclusively for my still shots. Well worth a look and a try.

My 0.02

We were at my son's 1st grade spring concert yesterday, which was held in the church, packed with parents brandishing smartphones to get pics and video. The pics I snapped with my Nexus were utterly horrible. I barely managed to get a decent one. So much fuzz, blur, and completely washed out.

The church has lots of skylights, but this was late evening and the lighting inside wasn't great. Still, I was jealous of the lady in front of me with the 4S..the pics she was taking looked bright and stunning on her (tiny) screen. All I got was garbage, and yes, I've read how to take pictures on the Nexus the "right way". Even my wife was getting better stills with her Incredible 2. I assume my Rezound would have done even better still, that camera is quite good.

Does the HDR Camera app improve pics in any condition, or just improve those shot outside in natural light?

I love my Nexus, but this camera...it's a becoming a huge disappointment. I'm fine with the notion that even the best smartphone pics can't replace a dedicated camera, but this thing is producing barely acceptable images in anything less than perfect natural lighting. (And even those aren't great.)

The_Chief · Mar 21, 2012

Tiger:

Part of the "slowness" of HDR Camera+ is that it automatically calculates white and dark balance with each shot. The pictures come out clearer, brighter, sharper and more dynamic than the stock camera app could dream of getting. While any phone camera will suffer in very low light, I am amazed at the difference software can make using the same hardware.

All I can do is suggest that you buy the app and, within the return period, take a few comparison shots of the same subject with the stock camera and HDR. I think you will be impressed by its performance.

Sandroidfan · Mar 21, 2012

Camera 360 seems to be good camera app too as it has image stabilization feature. I found it easier to take sharply focused images. Stock camera app in Nexus doesn't seem to have image stabilization and high ISO low light images are too noisy. So it's very easy to get noisy blurry shots in less than good lighting condition. I think this is software fixable in update.

My tip for stock camera is to tap screen to focus and take 3~4 shots rapidly using its super quick shutter lag. At least one or two of them are in good focus with minimal shake blur. If you hand is super steady for holding camera, maybe you don't need to take several shots.

mustardtiger · Mar 21, 2012

Thanks. I grabbed HDR Camera+ and took some shots here in my office as well as outside in the sunlight at lunch.

Honestly, I'm not seeing any difference. Heck, I'm not even sure the app is doing what it's supposed to anyway, the pics literally look exactly the same as the stock camera.

I futzed with the settings a bit, but I won't pretend to know what I'm doing. I changed up the capture mode based on the little pop-up that mentioned if it looked like all exposures were the same to change the setting...I'm not sure it's even taking multiple exposures? I tap the screen, it takes a picture, pauses to process for a second then goes to brief editing window where I can presumably mess with the image further, then goes back to the camera. Which is fine, I'm ok with the speed, just not sure if I need to be letting it do it's thing or if I'm supposed to interact with it further.

I dunno, I'll play around with it some more later.

My thoughts after 3 weeks of Nexus living...

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