Why Free Battery?

jefboyardee · Mar 12, 2013

Again, sorry to intrude with a question that

CharlzO · Mar 12, 2013

I tend to give little weight to battery complaints on the whole, and look for more specific ones, more in line with users that use the phone in a manner similar to myself and have real-world data. There are SO many people that jump into smartphones altogether, or that are novice users without a lot of know-how. There are just so many factors when it comes to battery life, that it's the perfect argument to use "Your mileage may vary" on. Heavy users, users that have the screen on all the time, or that are running GPS-reliant apps, while streaming music, etc...it's going to matter. That isn't to say that some phones aren't better or worse with battery life. The battery in the Nexus isn't the best by any means, but it's certainly not as horrible as a lot of people make it out to be. This statement gets even better with the rooting community, if you're under-clocking or running custom kernels, it'll improve it even more.

So it's going to come down to things for yourself, as to what sort of things you do on your phone, your typical usage, and how comfortable you are with knowing what settings to tweak and adjust for maximum life vs performance. Now, for myself, I average about an hour of streaming music to work, then maybe an hours worth of screen-on time for the random text, etc. And I usually make it through my day just fine. That's also at my desk with weak signal and no wifi. So...as said, your mileage may vary, but I would put the battery concerns lower on the list of priorities when it comes to deciding if the features of the phone are right for you.

joesixpack · Mar 12, 2013

I'd take that deal. The money you save can pay for an external charger (and probably a few more accessories) and you'd never have to worry about battery life (using both the extended and regular battery if you ran low).

BTw, I concur with CharlzO. Battery life varies with the user. Casual phone users will not be inconvenienced as long as you remember two things:

1. Charge your battery nightly (a habit you'll have to adopt).
2. You're holding the equivalent of a small laptop PC in your hand. Last time I looked, I couldn't get more than 1.5 hours out of my laptop on a full charge, and look at the size of the battery in those things!

Still a good phone for the $$$ - especially now!

jefboyardee · Mar 12, 2013

The money you save can pay for an external charger

Yes, in my case, not only is the battery free, the phone is too, with another two-year plan.

Charge your battery nightly

Already do that. The phone will mostly just sit in my pocket all day with data off, so it

jhawkkw · Mar 12, 2013

In comparison to modern devices, the battery really is sub par. It's not the worst I've ever owned, but It certainly isn't great comparing it to my borther's S3. The older TI-OMAP A9 dual-core processor with separate modems for CDMA and LTE cause it to use a lot more juice. The modern Qualcomm S4/S4 Pro A15 processors have the modems built into the processor, to there's less parts that need power to run. Plus the A15's are more efficient on top of that and you just get better battery life.

I wouldn't say that the Gnex gets worse battery life than any other phone that came out around it(except the Razr Maxx because of it's high capacity battery), but it certainly is worse than phones released today.

jhonb · Mar 12, 2013

I have a Gnex and have plenty of battery at the end of the day. But I am not a heavy user. I have an office and use my office computer and phone.
My wife is an attorney, who is at court and on the road most of the time. If she had my phone, she would throw it in the trash as she would never get through the day with the stock battery. I switched from an iPhone where at the end of the day I had 85% battery life, where now, on my Gnex, I have 50%. For me, the battery life is worth the trade off because I am not a heavy user, for my wife, no way, the Gnex would be dead

And you will hear that if you do this and do that and stand on you head etc, that you will get great battery life with the Gnex, with the iPhone, I did not have to do a thing.

That being said, I live my Gnex much better than my iPhone, But that's me.

you can insert any energy miser phone in here for the iPhone,I only use that for an example because that is what I know.

darkodroid · Mar 12, 2013

I would definitely take that deal... The nexus is terrible with battery life but I bought a 3800 mAh and I make it through the day np and I'm a heavy user. You can find good deals on ebay plus it includes a battery door... I don't know how big sprint is offering but if it's the 2100 it's still not good enough but if you are a light user it may be Ok.. I think someone mentioned a charge pack too those are good if you don't like the bulk of the 3800 for me that's a trade off I'm willing to make to not have to carry around 2 battery's or a charge pack

jefboyardee · Mar 12, 2013

Okay, after confirming that my monthly expense won’t change, and that the battery+cover is free, I think I’m gonna do it... certainly a much better and bigger phone than my eensy Optimus.

How can I say no? Y’all have three hours to tell me why.

jhawkkw · Mar 12, 2013

jefboyardee said:
Okay, after confirming that my monthly expense won

jefboyardee · Mar 12, 2013

the procedure to unlock the bootloader before you really settle into the phone

I

SweatyPits · Mar 12, 2013

go for it if it's free. i paid for it, and subsequently returned it because it made little difference (it's capacity is barely more than the stock battery). however, for free, it's worth it lol

also, with the newest 4.2.2 roms like sourcery, battery life is now where it should be.

jhawkkw · Mar 12, 2013

jefboyardee said:
I

kinfolk248 · Mar 12, 2013

someone send me their battery if youre not using it...!

jefboyardee · Mar 12, 2013

So if you think you're ever going to want to root the phone

I

jhawkkw · Mar 12, 2013

What's so great about the nexus is that is REALLY hard to brick it beyond saving. Rooting is pretty easy, and if you have a PC, Wugs Toolkit takes care of almost all of it, and the hardest part about it is configuring your drivers. No joke :eek:

FramCire · Mar 12, 2013

kinfolk248 said:
someone send me their battery if youre not using it...!

For short money you can get 2 batteries and external charger..... I have like 6 of them (because I got 2 free and have 3 Nexus).... I never have battery probs

CharlzO · Mar 12, 2013

Just an update since I had a good solid day after the new Sourcery 5.1 has had a chance to settle in on my phone. I Unplugged it from my car when I got to work. From there, I had about an hour's worth of screen on time on breaks to check my daily FMLs and news and such, and approx 2 hours of Pandora streaming after my lunch break. I left work 8 1/2 hours later, with my battery JUST hitting 12% at that point. I also usually have my brightness on full, just because I prefer it that way. All in all, can't say as I'm disappointed. And yes, as was said, rooting is ridiculously easy! I had never rooted a phone til this one, and the process once you've done it, is just...cake! I update mine sitting at my desk at work, no PC needed or anything any more. So easy, a Geico actor with a beard can do it!

jefboyardee · Mar 12, 2013

And yes, as was said, rooting is ridiculously easy!

You guys are the living, digital embodiment of peer pressure.

CharlzO · Mar 13, 2013

jefboyardee said:
You guys are the living, digital embodiment of peer pressure.

lol Well, to be honest, I was that "I see no need to root, therefore I won't bother". I always figured that I didn't need all that fancy stuff, that I'd get updates eventually, and whatnot. And then I got my Nexus... (This is after a Fascinate, Droid 2 & 3, and a Thunderbolt). It started out when I realized that even though it was a Nexus, that Verizon was still going to be stupidly slow rolling out updates. So when the first major update pushed out, and I was sitting there waiting, I decided to read more about it. I figured that worst case, I restore it back to factory and no harm done.

So I read up a bit (shameless plug here for The Chief's root guide, it's as close to perfection as I can find!), and jumped in. And to be honest, it's only gotten easier to root since I did it. I won't jump into it all here, but once I loaded up Sourcery (which was really just a pick out of the hat, because I knew nothing about ROMs), and saw soooo many different features, it was amazing. I instantly had that feeling of "where have you been all my Droid life?". And each time a new build comes out, it's almost like having a new phone each time.

All this comes back to the other question though: Is whether or not the phone is for you. I'd say that the majority of us would definitely recommend it at that price. I know some places still have it for $150 with contract, which just shows the staying power it's had for the year it's been out. Either way, best luck with your decision, and enjoy your Nexus (cause I'm sure you'll talk yourself into it!)

jefboyardee · Mar 13, 2013

I'd say that the majority of us would definitely recommend it at that price.

That

darkodroid · Mar 13, 2013

Why don't you just wait until the s4 comes out it will be out soon. I think it would be a mistake to get the nexus now with some heavy hitters about to come out. If money is an issue then the nexus is the obvious choice

CharlzO · Mar 13, 2013

jefboyardee said:
That

jefboyardee · Mar 13, 2013

CharlzO said:
I think that's just it, the S4 will launch at probably around the $250-$300 contract price, like most new phones of it's caliber.

That makes me want to hold out, that the S3 price will drastically drop when the S4 appears.

But the Nexus right now, at zero bucks, is really hard to pass up, especially considering the upgrade jump he's going to see from the Optimus.

And that put me officially on hold, when they told me it

jhawkkw · Mar 13, 2013

If you can afford the upfront cost, buy a Nexus 4(300 or 350), and go either Straight talk(AT&T)(45/month) or T-Mobile prepaid(30/month). T-Mobile also offers unlimited everything prepaid for 70/month. Can't beat those prices.

CharlzO · Mar 13, 2013

jefboyardee said:
That makes me want to hold out, that the S3 price will drastically drop when the S4 appears.

I think you owe it to yourself to go play with both side-by-side, the Nexus and the S3. And if you're interested in rooting at all, check the S3 forums, see how easy it is. I haven't looked, honestly. I do know that the S3 never had enough to sway me over to it from my Nexus personally. Also, remember that the Nexus is going to have pretty much almost nothing from your carrier bloated onto it, whereas the S3 will, if that matters to you. I think it's the best thing you can do to try to make your choice at this point

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