• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Official Goodbye Gnex Thread

Old Member

Android Expert
Mar 23, 2010
2,583
1,904
Cincinnati
I started one of these threads in the Dinc forums when I was leaving for the Gnex so I thought it would be good to have one here as well.

As our 20 months have come and gone, many of you will be like me and jumping ship from the Gnex soon. As you do, let us know where you are going and what device you have jumped for.

I suspect that many people have already jumped ship, but for those of you that have not, lets hear it.

I am leaving for the Droid Maxx by Motorola tomorrow. After struggling with two different smartphones battery life, I have prioritized and realize that battery life is my #1 priority. With 48 hours of battery life, I can't see any other phone in my future.

Thanks to all the developers for all that you've done on the Gnex.

I'll ask the last person here to please turn out the lights. :)

 
I plan on looking at a replacement early next year. Most of my decision will be based on the "nexus 5" and the reviews I read about from users who bought it as soon as it comes out.

In all honesty, I would have probably replaced it before the end of this year, but 4.3 with TRIM has really breathed some new life into this phone and extended its usability for me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: speede541
Upvote 0
I plan on looking at a replacement early next year. Most of my decision will be based on the "nexus 5" and the reviews I read about from users who bought it as soon as it comes out.

In all honesty, I would have probably replaced it before the end of this year, but 4.3 with TRIM has really breathed some new life into this phone and extended its usability for me.

What is TRIM?

I passed my unlocked GNex on to my wife early this year. However, it is rooted and I flashed JB Sourcery on it and it is smooth as butter. She will probably using that for the remainder of 2013 and into 2014.

I use a Samsung Galaxy Note LTE (i717). It is unlocked (it is an AT&T branded phone) and I use it on T-Mobile's $30 ppd plan. Rooted and running LTE.

I only buy used, off contract, and usually older phones. The way they have been making phones since 2011, I don't need the latest and greatest.:D
 
Upvote 0
What is TRIM?

It's kind of like defragging, except that it actually makes a difference

Android 4.3 supports TRIM. What this means is that Google's mobile OS can now instruct the flash storage controller when to collect / recycle unused data pages / blocks. The net result is that devices running Android 4.3 will no longer become sluggish with time -- in fact, existing Nexus handsets and tablets will see performance improve after the update. It also looks like Jelly Bean invokes TRIM maintenance once within a 24-hour window (after one hour of inactivity), and only if the battery is 80% full (30% when charging).

Android 4.3 supports TRIM, improves performance on Nexus devices
 
  • Like
Reactions: tube517
Upvote 0
I moved on to the Nexus 4 back in late March/April, mostly to leave Verizon. If I could have taken my Gnex with me, I would have. I loved my Gnex, and it was great once I bought a big tank battery for it. I am also looking at the Nexus 5 because with Nexus devices being priced at 350ish, it's like I'm buying a subsidized phone each year without needing to have a contract.
 
Upvote 0
I left my Galaxy Nexus last year for the Note 2. It was running Sourcery which is a great ROM, but I run Liquid on my Note 2 periodically, which is similar to Sourcery.

I have contemplated leaving Verizon also because I'm fed up with the locked bootloaders and bounties for cracking it. The problem there is that AT&T has backed off from their pledge and started locking theirs again too.
 
Upvote 0
As our 20 months have come and gone, many of you will be like me and jumping ship from the Gnex soon. As you do, let us know where you are going and what device you have jumped for.

I suspect that many people have already jumped ship, but for those of you that have not, lets hear it.

This seems targeted at Verizon customers, but those of us using the GSM Nexus don't have time frames when we become eligible for a discounted device, and have no need to change phones just because "it's that time". Additionally, there seems to be a general sense of dissatisfaction and desire to move on with regard to the CDMA version that doesn't exist with the GSM version.

I'm still very satisfied with my GSM Galaxy Nexus and have no plans to buy a new phone any time soon. My only complaints have been with the screen brightness and speaker volume - both are noticeably worse than my Bionic and OG Droid. When I do finally buy a new phone to replace my Nexus, it will be because of compelling features, and have nothing to do with the calendar.
 
Upvote 0
Well, dropped my GNEx and it doesn't power on and the screen cracked. Is there anyway to retreive some pics that I have on the phone? :\ I activated my old Droid X, and it runs like a slug even after deleting every app except Pandora and Facebook. I want to wait for the Galaxy Note 3, but I might just have to jump on the Droid Maxx.
 
Upvote 0
Left my Gnex a month or so ago for a used S3 (got a great deal on it). My Gnex went to the wife in replacement of her Bionic. She's a fan of the upgrade (as I was when I got it ;)).
The S3 is running a CM based ROM so it's as close to my Gnex setup as possible.
Not sure what's in the future for me. Whether we move from Verizon or not, and waiting for the Note 3 announcement.
 
Upvote 0
Left my Gnex a month or so ago for a used S3 (got a great deal on it). My Gnex went to the wife in replacement of her Bionic. She's a fan of the upgrade (as I was when I got it ;)).
The S3 is running a CM based ROM so it's as close to my Gnex setup as possible.
Not sure what's in the future for me. Whether we move from Verizon or not, and waiting for the Note 3 announcement.
Just be aware that AOSP development on Samsung Exynos processor devices tends to struggle.
 
Upvote 0
  • Like
Reactions: breadnatty08
Upvote 0
It is, but the G-Note series, even in the US, has always run Exynos. So if you wanted to get the Note 3, chance are high that it will be using those an AOSP development would suffer as a result.

Suffer in what way?

There are many aosp ROMs for the note 2. The only "issue" I have had running them is no BT voice dialing.

I've run carbon, liquid, rootbox, and there are several others that I haven't tried.
 
Upvote 0
Suffer in what way?

There are many aosp ROMs for the note 2. The only "issue" I have had running them is no BT voice dialing.

I've run carbon, liquid, rootbox, and there are several others that I haven't tried.

Because Samsung doesn't release the source code/binaries for the Exynos chipset, developers have to reverse engineer the binaries and drivers. This is why you have BT issues, because no one has been able to successfully do this even after 9 months. The CM team stated that they weren't going to do any official development on the I9500 because of that fact which in tern affects all others because many use CM as a base. Unlike the Nexus program where all the binaries are posted right to Google's website which makes developer's lives easy and makes it so there are none of those types of issues in AOSP roms on them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: breadnatty08
Upvote 0
I never say goodbye to a device...I just say hello to a new one :) ;).

Still have my Droid Eris (sitting two feet away), Droid X (use it as a wifi device everyday (TuneIn radio, etc.), N7 tablet (mostly for reading books), and, of course, my VZW GNex (daily driver).

I am curious about the Moto X and the Nexus 5--giving thought to leaving VZW and going GSM at the end of the year.

Full disclosure: gave my Moto Xoom to my son last year so he could use it for NetFlix :).
 
Upvote 0
I never say goodbye to a device...I just say hello to a new one :) ;).

Still have my Droid Eris (sitting two feet away), Droid X (use it as a wifi device everyday (TuneIn radio, etc.), N7 tablet (mostly for reading books), and, of course, my VZW GNex (daily driver).

I am curious about the Moto X and the Nexus 5--giving thought to leaving VZW and going GSM at the end of the year.

Full disclosure: gave my Moto Xoom to my son last year so he could use it for NetFlix :).
Nexus 5 looks like a beast. The thought of how much stock android is going to fly on a Snapdragon 800 processor is pretty awesome.
 
  • Like
Reactions: scary alien
Upvote 0
-giving thought to leaving VZW and going GSM at the end of the year.

The thought of less expensive Nexus phones which kick ass, get the first and frequent updates and avoid all the hassle of exploits to root and rom are alluring indeed. I ended up going with the LG G2...prodigal son of the N5 per most all rumors at this point. And I'm loving it. jhawk makes a good point about vanilla on the snapdragon 800. Not only fast but I'm betting on the best battery life of any Android phone to date if the batt specs are similar to that of the G2.
 
  • Like
Reactions: scary alien
Upvote 0
I'll join the eulogy. I moved on last night to the HTC One. I couldn't pass up the deal Best Buy had - $50 for the Verizon models. The GNEX served me well, minus the swap offs in signals. It was 10 times the phone when I left it that when I bought it. I had JBS 5.2 on it with the Fancy kernel. It along with Greenify allowed me to get great performance and the battery was lasting at least 3-4 hours more per charge than stock. It's still early, but so far the HTC One has been impressive.
 
  • Like
Reactions: scary alien
Upvote 0
Sorry, late to the party, guess I misplaced my invite. :D

I upgraded early to a Note 2 in June. Love the size, speed and battery life. Now I leave wifi and gps turned on 24-7. Three days of standby life is great so no longer have to charge it every night or end up with a dead phone the next day.
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones