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Help New Member, Needing Some Advice From Nexus Users (Major Issues)

beauseph2012

Newbie
May 21, 2012
15
1
Hello. I recently switched to the Nexus after an 8 month love/hate relationship with the Droid Bionic. I bought it brand new when it came out in September and after 4 replacement Bionics, Verizon allowed me to switch to another phone last week. They gave me the option of the Nexus or the Razr (not the Maxx however). I decided to give the Nexus a try as I wanted to go with Ice Cream Sandwich. They also gave me an extended battery as I had bought one through them with the Bionic.

I received the Nexus on Wednesday of last week and so far I have been very frustrated. The battery life if horrible. I am not sure exactly what is the cause of the quick battery drain. I have 4g turned off, as I don't live in a 4g area at the moment, the closest is 70 miles away. I do have the twitter and facebook widgets on one of my home screens though. Does that make a big difference. Wi-fi, bluetooth, GPS are all turned off. And screen brightness is like at 30% if not lower. All I use the phone for at the moment is texting and websurfing, not a whole lot more. I do like how quickly the phone charges, but man, it drains alot quicker. Any ideas or tips for me?

The bigger issue at the moment is reception. In my home, I used to get 3-5 bars on my bionic, and now with the nexus it is usually no bars and greyed out, if I am lucky its 1 bar, with a very rare exception when I get 2 bars, but it doesnt last for very long. I am at school right now in the 3rd floor of the library and it has been between 3 to 4 bars, which is nice. I called Verizon support today and he thinks its the phone and I should just have another replacement sent to me, but I said I wanted to think about it because it took me forever to get my contacts in order (link with facebook contacts, delete duplicate contacts, etc..literally took me a few hours to do.) What do you guys think, do I need a new phone, should I wait it out, or just try to switch back to the Bionic or see if they will give me the Razr?

Looking for some advice. Thanks in advance.

Beau
 
I am on my second go round with the Nexus. Had one at launch and just bought one again last Friday. Both still have reception issues. I am constantly grayed out. I think the Verizon version of this phone is simply subpar. Sounds like some people have received some good devices and perhaps rooting is an option, but I refuse to root if the phone is this bad with stock. I understand I can improve it, but I want to know I am working with a functional device to start with. Good luck with your decision.
 
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Thanks for the response. Thats part of the reason I don't want a replacement, because I have seen people have gotten numerous replacement phones and they still have the same issues. I don't want to keep going through the activation process, setting up the phone, etc. when I am still going to be in the same position. And I don't know how keen I am on switching back to the Motorola and the Razr as people have had quite a few problems with that phone as well. It's just frustrating when you pay good money for something and you get less than good money quality.
 
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4G- I've never left 4G off. I don't live in a 4G area, gut have it at work. Yes Facebook and Twitter syncs can make a big difference (how often it has to refresh). Screen time is also a battery hog. Go to "Settings" -"Battery" to view what is using up the most of your battery. I don't give much faith in the "bars". The Nexus always shows lower than other phones. I've only had one dropped call. That area has always dropped calls on all 3 of my Verizon phones. The Razr will give you better reception but way less battery life. Also, who knows when or if the Razr will get ICS:thinking:
 
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When you say jump ship, do you mean to another company? or another phone? I haven't had much problems with Verizon honestly prior to this. Reception hasn't been an issue at all. I live in SW Wisconsin and haven't have reception issues. Any of the issues I have had, are always at phone level and are usually fixed with a replacement device, etc. I like Verizon because I feel they have a better selection of phones, along with better service. The only other provider in my area is US Cellular, where I switched from originally.
 
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When you say jump ship, do you mean to another company? or another phone? I haven't had much problems with Verizon honestly prior to this. Reception hasn't been an issue at all. I live in SW Wisconsin and haven't have reception issues. Any of the issues I have had, are always at phone level and are usually fixed with a replacement device, etc. I like Verizon because I feel they have a better selection of phones, along with better service. The only other provider in my area is US Cellular, where I switched from originally.

I meant another phone.
 
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Concrete Guy-so you think I should leave 4G/CDMA on even though I am not in a 4g area? I was under the impression that it would suck the life right out of the battery. I too have noticed that even though I have no bars or one bars, I am still able to access the internet, send texts, etc.

I've never messed with my 4G-3g settings. I do turn Wi-Fi on-off depending on where I'm at. I have not installed Facebook or Twitter on this phone.
 
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Okay, time for brutal honesty. Can someone give me the pros and con's of "rooting" a phone. I'm sorry, I have heard about it before but haven't really looked into it before in fear that I would brick my phone.

These days it is quick and easy and your phone is almost unbrickable. I think the only way you can really brick it is if you unplugged it or pulled the battery in the middle of rooting it. Even then sometimes it can be flashed back.

As for 'warranty issues', technically, rooting doesn't violate a warranty. A manufacturer has to show that your actions were responsible for the device's failure. In other words, if the speaker stopped working they can't deny your warranty claim, just like a car company couldn't refuse to fix a faulty door latch simply because you didn't change the oil every 5000 miles.

Also, you can flash back to stock and relock the phone so no one would really know anyway.

Pros: you can do anything to the phone and never have to wait for a manufacturer or carrier to release an update. More features, more apps, more better!

Cons: It takes about 10 minutes. When you unlock your bootloader the first time it wipes your phone. As long as your contacts and stuff are synced those should be fine. Saved txts and such would be lost unless you back them up (there are apps for that). Also, you'd have to re-do your customizations like ringtones and wallpapers.
 
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Okay, time for brutal honesty. Can someone give me the pros and con's of "rooting" a phone. I'm sorry, I have heard about it before but haven't really looked into it before in fear that I would brick my phone.

Well the pros are that you will have access to more powerful apps (Titanium Backup, Wifi Tether to name two). Also by unlocking the bootloader and rooting, you can install custom ROMS, as well as custom radios and kernals, all which can further customize the phone to your liking. (Battery life and signal strength are two HUGE considerations for the GNex rooting community).

I encourage you to check out the All Things Root section to get more info, there are some extremely knowledgeable people in there regarding the rooting and ROMing process.

(Verizon) Galaxy Nexus - All Things Root - Android Forums
 
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fwiw Rooting/Romming still doesn't fix everything for everyone. A lot of people have had success with it.

However rooting/romming and even flashing newer radios did not help my reception at all. So again it really is only you that can decide if it is going to work for you. Just so you know tho. If you root and rom and flash the leaked radios, and you're still not happy. You will have to go back to stock, unroot , and re lock your bootloader if you plan on sending it back to VZW.
 
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fwiw Rooting/Romming still doesn't fix everything for everyone. A lot of people have had success with it.

However rooting/romming and even flashing newer radios did not help my reception at all. So again it really is only you that can decide if it is going to work for you. Just so you know tho. If you root and rom and flash the leaked radios, and you're still not happy. You will have to go back to stock, unroot , and re lock your bootloader if you plan on sending it back to VZW.


yes, This is a con. I will say you are fortunate that this phone has a very powerful tool (through windows) that makes rooting and unrooting one click..The wugs tools I mentioned from XDA.
and yes, rooting will not solve a possible hardware issue and maybe that's whats going on with you. hard to say.

Other cons are bricking your phone sure but you would have to knowingly disregard instructions. this phone, you would almost have to try to do it on purpose.

another con is addiction. If it all worked out well, youll spend a considerable amount of time trying new roms, learning about rooting, playing in the root forums, waiting for updated rom releases to whichever one you find you like. :D

They already outlined the pros, battery life, powerful apps, potentially better reception, full access to your phone. Fun User interfaces and endless customization.
 
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Okay, time for brutal honesty. Can someone give me the pros and con's of "rooting" a phone. I'm sorry, I have heard about it before but haven't really looked into it before in fear that I would brick my phone.

I'm with you on this. I feel as though I can't avoid unlocking/rooting/roming any longer. As fundamentally opposed I am to doing this in order to get a turnkey device to function properly, I don't think I have a choice. I'm getting my third Nexus today and am going to attempt unlock and root. I just wish I could find instructions that are thorough without confusing the hell out of me. Root for Dummies is what I need.

And when all is done, sadly, I don't expect to it will "fix" anything, but I have to try. What worries me is how VZW support (or lack there of) will handle my technical issues once I'm on an unofficially released version of the OS.
 
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I'm with you on this. I feel as though I can't avoid unlocking/rooting/roming any longer. As fundamentally opposed I am to doing this in order to get a turnkey device to function properly, I don't think I have a choice. I'm getting my third Nexus today and am going to attempt unlock and root. I just wish I could find instructions that are thorough without confusing the hell out of me. Root for Dummies is what I need.

And when all is done, sadly, I don't expect to it will "fix" anything, but I have to try. What worries me is how VZW support (or lack there of) will handle my technical issues once I'm on an unofficially released version of the OS.


Look for links to Wugs tool in the Nexus root forum stickies. Im with you on the fundamentals and idea behind it all though.. shouldn't it be like this already? Weird world we live in for devices we pay for. there is also a video in the Unlocker website using that tool.

How To Root the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (One Click Method) (LTE and GSM Versions) - TheUnlockrTheUnlockr

this tool I believe it still using the 4.02 SU Binary so you may need to DL the 4.04 SU and replace it on your C drive on the PC and then run it if your phone is on 4.0.4 right now. Theres links to the 4.0.4 in the comments

Then do this to install CWM and flash roms

How To Load a Custom ROM on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus - TheUnlockrTheUnlockr

You could flash Liquid 1.4 (which also flashes your kernal and google apps.) Or AOPK which requires an additional flash of google apps and kernals (if you wanted to, you should though)
I think liquid is more user flash friendly for first timers.

There's tons of info in the stickies in the root forums. I dont want to push you one way or another, its up to you obviously. But read a little in those stickies and then decide perhaps.
 
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yes, This is a con. I will say you are fortunate that this phone has a very powerful tool (through windows) that makes rooting and unrooting one click..The wugs tools I mentioned from XDA.
and yes, rooting will not solve a possible hardware issue and maybe that's whats going on with you. hard to say.

I would rather use adb personally. I haven't used Wug's but i know a lot of people have with great success. Yeah all three of my G Nex phones i guess have had what some would say a "hardware problem" then Samsung and VZW would probably say no that's just how we built it.
 
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Ugh...I feel so stupid reading all of this lol. I'm just so used to smart phones and what comes with the phones and the market, that I am unaware of all this limitless stuff I can do with my phone (ROM's, etc). I don't like losing all of my programs, data, etc, as like I said before, it took me forever to join all my contacts and delete the duplicates. It's something I want to try, but to be honest I am weary because of how stupid I am when it comes to doing this.
 
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