Trying to love this phone...but not so far.

[Frisco]

That lag issue when rotating from landscape to portrait or vice versa may just be the (attempted) compromise the device software/system devs made in addressing the real issue of some devices flipping one way or the other unintentionally from normal handling.

That's about the only thing my Galaxy Tab does that annoys me, it's just too sensitive, I'd rather have a bit of perceived lag when intentionally turning it one way or the other.

 

[rushmore]

Thanks to all of those who have posted constructive criticism. Honestly, I was expecting more "see ya" posts!

I have been trolling the root forum a bit but haven't really dug in to see if there are kernels that have helped with battery drain. Perhaps a time to start posting in there and to consider rooting.

A couple of observations:

I don't consider turning off spell correction to be a viable workaround. I have fat thumbs and need all the help I can get.

Also, yes, I expected worse battery life on 4G...but I have disabled it and run 3G almost exclusively. And that data - phone thing is real. Relative to my DX, I drop calls in low quality areas that I rarely did with that one. Places like the elevator lobby at work as well as the parking garage. With the DX, I used to drop a call now and then in those areas. Now it's like throwing a switch.

As for the release, I've had a Verizon corporate insider tell me that they are working on a fix for the battery and signal issues, although this was before Verizon stated on their twitter account about the whole "signal meter" thing and that there wasn't a problem. I predict that there will be an update before 1/15 so that there won't be a glut of returns before then.

We'll see, thanks for the support.

My guess is everything will be fixed but most of the signal issue. It is hard to increase the reception, since is based on the radio chip used and the antenna array design (no Spinal Tap 11 option). They can try and offset attenuation issues, but that is about it.

The data drops even when the device shows a good dBm signal are due to the current network issues and is a random event all devices are having (to some degree). The weak reception issues are area specific and are not random (is what it is) since device related.

 

[memillh]

I don't consider turning off spell correction to be a viable workaround. I have fat thumbs and need all the help I can get.

I don't have a GN, but read that this actually doesn't disable the main spell correction, so you should be good here. It's some other spell correction feature (maybe the one that underlines misspelled words or something?). Nonetheless, it apparently fixes the issue without losing the primary spell correction function that you're used to.

 

[elitegamer]

Still want some ics ? come on over i got diff flavors. no one knows untill an update comes i get same signal i got with my rent-a-razr.

My guess is everything will be fixed but most of the signal issue. It is hard to increase the reception, since is based on the radio chip used and the antenna array design (no Spinal Tap 11 option). They can try and offset attenuation issues, but that is about it.

The data drops even when the device shows a good dBm signal are due to the current network issues and is a random event all devices are having (to some degree). The weak reception issues are area specific and are not random (is what it is) since device related.

 

[Lev16]

Curious, how do you use your phone and what type of cell signal do you get? Also, what is the typical usage day for you?

My battery life on stock (1st 2 days I had it) was satisfactory for me & what I'd expected 10-12 hours. Now rooted and kernelized I've doubled that, on an easy day more than doubled.

I've been eating the sandwiched cream of Ice since release I'd never go back as well

I haven't had a typical day of use yet. I got the phone for Xmas, traveled on the 26th, my dad had surgery on the 27th, and I've been hanging out in the hospital playing with my Gnex. I don't go back to work till the 3rd, and I have a feeling my usage will drop significantly.

Just for reference sake, here's what my battery was doing yesterday (this was with mostly hospital wifi, some 3g, and minimal 4g):

< 7 hrs is not doable for me. My dinc got better with time, as I'm sure my Gnex will too. There's no way I could go to anything else at this point that doesn't have ICS, as I mentioned earlier...

 

[Lev16]

Curious, how do you use your phone and what type of cell signal do you get? Also, what is the typical usage day for you?

My battery life on stock (1st 2 days I had it) was satisfactory for me & what I'd expected 10-12 hours. Now rooted and kernelized I've doubled that, on an easy day more than doubled.

I've been eating the sandwiched cream of Ice since release I'd never go back as well

Also, I know this is getting OT, but what ROM/Kernel are you using that increased your battery life so dramatically?

 

[jbdan]

I haven't had a typical day of use yet. I got the phone for Xmas, traveled on the 26th, my dad had surgery on the 27th, and I've been hanging out in the hospital playing with my Gnex. I don't go back to work till the 3rd, and I have a feeling my usage will drop significantly.

Just for reference sake, here's what my battery was doing yesterday (this was with mostly hospital wifi, some 3g, and minimal 4g):

< 7 hrs is not doable for me. My dinc got better with time, as I'm sure my Gnex will too. There's no way I could go to anything else at this point that doesn't have ICS, as I mentioned earlier...

Right on. And it shows what looks to be about ~80% on WIFI wow. I can't remember if you said you were rooted or not? If you are you could wipe batt stats to help the phone more accurately report what the battery is doing internally.

If you'd clicked on "screen" what is the usage time? 2-3 hours of screen on time at a higher than 40% brightness will kill any battery in any phone.

The only thing I can think of, and it's a pita, but starting over fresh and carefully monitoring your battery life and app installs could show a culprit app for keeping the phone awake abnormally. Of course, you shouldn't have to do something like this it should work OTB right!

Or root and kernelize yourself.

Hope all is well with your father and hope you see battery life improvement soon gl!

EDIT: to answer your second post, all of them. Though the best have been Milestone1 with imoseyons 1.1.0 kernel under-volted

 

[Lev16]

Right on. And it shows what looks to be about ~80% on WIFI wow. I can't remember if you said you were rooted or not? If you are you could wipe batt stats to help the phone more accurately report what the battery is doing internally.

If you'd clicked on "screen" what is the usage time? 2-3 hours of screen on time at a higher than 40% brightness will kill any battery in any phone.

The only thing I can think of, and it's a pita, but starting over fresh and carefully monitoring your battery life and app installs could show a culprit app for keeping the phone awake abnormally. Of course, you shouldn't have to do something like this it should work OTB right!

Or root and kernelize yourself.

Hope all is well with your father and hope you see battery life improvement soon gl!

EDIT: to answer your second post, all of them. Though the best have been Milestone1 with imoseyons 1.1.0 kernel under-volted

Thanks for the wishes. I realize that screengrab is not very helpful without the display info. I've been running the screen at 30% and got about 2:45 of on time to get those above stats. The screen is massive, so I'm not totally surprised.

I'm not rooted currently, but I've been through the process with my Dinc and had fun ROM'ing the phone. I was hoping to avoid it with the Gnex mostly because it becomes somewhat time consuming to set up the phone over and over and over...

With that said, I've heard pretty solid things about the Axiom ROM. I'm also a big CM fan and I have a feeling it will be hard not to flash it once it gets a stable release.

Fun stuff

 

[syntrix]

If you'd clicked on "screen" what is the usage time? 2-3 hours of screen on time at a higher than 40% brightness will kill any battery in any phone.

Just another perspective on the screen on time, of course this is, as I read it, with everything else turned off:

Max Screen Brightness Battery Run Down: Test Results! - xda-developers

10+ hours on low screen settings, 5 hours white screen and brightness maximum.

 

[jbdan]

Also Lev16 try something before going to extreme measures like doing a factory reset. Charge your phone full with it OFF. Turn it on, let it boot up. Whn on homescreen open your camera app then close it. I know sounds silly right?

This is a topic that's been discussed ad nauseam on another forum. A kernel dev for the GN took note of some irregular awake times and what was causing it. The nexus S had this initial problem from what I gather. The camera app along with google+ was keeping the phone awake abnormally. Worth a shot. This should help sleep states, not use while your using it hard.

 

[jbdan]

Just another perspective on the screen on time, of course this is, as I read it, with everything else turned off:

Max Screen Brightness Battery Run Down: Test Results! - xda-developers

10+ hours on low screen settings, 5 hours white screen and brightness maximum.

Very good info thanks!

My assumption in that post of 2-3 hours screen on time would also be assumed that the user is hammering the phone as well, most likely using 4G or at the least 3G/WIFI radios. His result was in airplane mode, none-the-less very telling!

 

[syntrix]

Very good info thanks!

My assumption in that post of 2-3 hours screen on time would also be assumed that the user is hammering the phone as well, most likely using 4G or at the least 3G/WIFI radios. His result was in airplane mode, none-the-less very telling!

Yup, not arguing with the 2-3 hours of screen time... I mean it's a LOT of screen to power!!!!

If my screen is on, I'm usually firing up an app and using data.

 

[syntrix]

Also Lev16 try something before going to extreme measures like doing a factory reset. Charge your phone full with it OFF. Turn it on, let it boot up. Whn on homescreen open your camera app then close it. I know sounds silly right?

This is a topic that's been discussed ad nauseam on another forum. A kernel dev for the GN took note of some irregular awake times and what was causing it. The nexus S had this initial problem from what I gather. The camera app along with google+ was keeping the phone awake abnormally. Worth a shot. This should help sleep states, not use while your using it hard.

Good point, I've seen this mentioned a lot on that other forum, too! Thanks for posting that!

 

[jbdan]

Yup, not arguing with the 2-3 hours of screen time... I mean it's a LOT of screen to power!!!!

If my screen is on, I'm usually firing up an app and using data.

Great point. This screen is massive, in a good way

 

[Needsdecaf]

I don't have a GN, but read that this actually doesn't disable the main spell correction, so you should be good here. It's some other spell correction feature (maybe the one that underlines misspelled words or something?). Nonetheless, it apparently fixes the issue without losing the primary spell correction function that you're used to.

Tried it and you're right. Glad this works! One issue down!

 

[zerocool79346]

A lot of that is true, but it sure isn't advertised as a beta-quality development phone in commercials or by VZW staff when some random phone buyer walks into a store.

When a buyer walks into that store, they do in fact expect it to work properly and they have a right to be disappointed if the product has rough edges, especially when those rough edges involve vital parts of its functionality: reliable connections, an audible speaker, and a camera that works at least as well as older generation cameras.

It's just not a user's fault if they expect a product to work as advertised. Also, Nexus phones have current but not bleeding edge hardware. I wouldn't mind having that NFC capability on my Rez though!

I hate to be this way about it but quite honestly the fact that we still are not even on Google's official ICS build backs up my argument completely and trumps yours. If 4.0.3 comes and none of the issue are fixed, then it will be in question. Until then the phone is in Beta status without question.

 

[jroc]

A lot of that is true, but it sure isn't advertised as a beta-quality development phone in commercials or by VZW staff when some random phone buyer walks into a store.

When a buyer walks into that store, they do in fact expect it to work properly and they have a right to be disappointed if the product has rough edges, especially when those rough edges involve vital parts of its functionality : reliable connections, an audible speaker, and a camera that works at least as well as older generation cameras.

It's just not a user's fault if they expect a product to work as advertised. Also, Nexus phones have current but not bleeding edge hardware. I wouldn't mind having that NFC capability on my Rez though!

For the Average Joe...I totally agree.

I hate to be this way about it but quite honestly the fact that we still are not even on Google's official ICS build backs up my argument completely and trumps yours. If 4.0.3 comes and none of the issue are fixed, then it will be in question. Until then the phone is in Beta status without question.

And if thats the case there needed to be a clear understanding from Verizon and/or sales reps about this. Have it separated from other phones....have it labeled Developer Phone clear as day. Or someone shoulda waited utill the official ICS was ready, then launched the phone. I can be a beta test with a tablet, maybe. A phone? That you can call 9-1-1 from? I dont really like the idea of it being condered beta testing in that case. They have official testers for that. Some ppl use these smartphone for entertainment more than business n important things, some use them for business n important things more than entertainment. A reliable signal is important for me, as I have kids.

I really dont think Google expected all this when they went with Samsung for the Nexus. I have to believe they wanted a decent phone that could appeal to the masses as well as the tech enthusiast. I didnt expect all this....and I really dont like Samsung phones just because of the reception issues I've dealt with over the years....before Android came out. Makes you wonder how did the Nexus S do with issues? Or the Nexus One? But specifically the Nexus S.

 

[Sandroidfan]

I really dont think Google expected all this when they went with Samsung for the Nexus. I have to believe they wanted a decent phone that could appeal to the masses as well as the tech enthusiast. I didnt expect all this....and I really dont like Samsung phones just because of the reception issues I've dealt with over the years....before Android came out. Makes you wonder how did the Nexus S do with issues? Or the Nexus One? But specifically the Nexus S.

Motorola had head start on wireless mobile devices many years than others. But in these days, it's not rocket science any more for companies like Samsung, HTC, LG, etc. Moto's radio might be still better but it's not like day/night difference. I don't think Samsung would pass poor radio design in development process for phone like this. I personally didn't have bad experience with any samsung phones. Two feature phones I used for 2006~2010 gave me pretty good reception, clear call quality even in underground floor of building. And Fascinate was working pretty well for me especially after Froyo update. The Charges of my friends seem to be working flawlessly reception wise after the latest GB update. If samsung radio really sucks, they wouldn't sell ton of SGSII across the globe either.

If Gnex radio is so poor, why does GPS work so well and GSM nexus doesn't have reception issue like verizon one? If Gnex radio really sucks, it can't do over 70Mbps even in good 4G area I think. I still believe it's LTE radio software in ICS not fully baked yet that's giving some trouble in weak areas. It's only forums like this giving bad impression on Gnex, where troubled folks are very vocal than happy folks.

 

[rushmore]

Yup, not arguing with the 2-3 hours of screen time... I mean it's a LOT of screen to power!!!!

If my screen is on, I'm usually firing up an app and using data.

If using non stop 4G while streaming, that will kill any current LTE device in a few hours. If also outputting HDMI, cut that in half.

4G and HDMI at the same time drains a battery faster than it can be charged (if using a computer or hub USB).

 

[jroc]

Motorola had head start on wireless mobile devices many years than others. But in these days, it's not rocket science any more for companies like Samsung, HTC, LG, etc. Moto's radio might be still better but it's not like day/night difference. I don't think Samsung would pass poor radio design in development process for phone like this. I personally didn't have bad experience with any samsung phones. Two feature phones I used for 2006~2010 gave me pretty good reception, clear call quality even in underground floor of building. And Fascinate was working pretty well for me especially after Froyo update. The Charges of my friends seem to be working flawlessly reception wise after the latest GB update. If samsung radio really sucks, they wouldn't sell ton of SGSII across the globe either.

If Gnex radio is so poor, why does GPS work so well and GSM nexus doesn't have reception issue like verizon one? If Gnex radio really sucks, it can't do over 70Mbps even in good 4G area I think. I still believe it's LTE radio software in ICS not fully baked yet that's giving some trouble in weak areas. It's only forums like this giving bad impression on Gnex, where troubled folks are very vocal than happy folks.

I agree. Good point about GSM users. GPS isnt the same as data and voice. Thats a separate chip AFAIK. Good job by Samsung for using a better GPS chip. But...If I cant make or receive calls as good as the other phones I have with me now...I dont know... is it really software or hardware. If its software....they have had software issues with reception for years....or every 1st Samsung I had hasnt been too good in that dept and every 1st Moto I had has been good to great in that dept. I will know soon enough, have a G Nex coming Wed.

So its either it works as good as my Droid 1, DX1 or RAZR and is a keeper, (gotta to be at least on par with my D1 for phone reception for me to even consider it) it doesnt and I cancel that line on my family plan or put my D1 on that line. I only plan on trying 1 G Nex tho...since I have only had 1 Droid 1, Droid X1 and RAZR with no reception issues. Either its a pro for Moto with reception or Samsung needs better testing for reception.

The G Nex and Rezound should pull faster LTE speeds than Moto phones right now regardless cuz they use Cat 3 technology, Moto uses Cat 2. According to specs Cat 3 can do faster speeds. I think its capped at 100Mbps, while Cat 2 is capped at 50.

As for selling a ton of GSII....Antenna Gate didnt stop Apple some selling a ton of iPhone 4's. But seriously....everyone doesnt have the luxury of being in good to great reception areas alot.. Some ppl are in weak, bad reception areas on a daily basis. Some ppl rarely be in weak, bad reception areas. And unless some ppl actually compared Phone A to another phone on the same network for reception...how would one really know if its the phone or needs an update to fix it?

 

[Thai]

I really dont think Google expected all this when they went with Samsung for the Nexus. I didnt expect all this....and I really dont like Samsung phones just because of the reception issues I've dealt with over the years....before Android came out. Makes you wonder how did the Nexus S do with issues? Or the Nexus One? But specifically the Nexus S.

Well, lets just say that i sure hope history does NOT repeat itself! Reception, Wifi, 4G etc reception issues on the Nexus S were never resolved by either Google nor Samsung...and we're a year later since the intro of Nexus S.

 

[Sandroidfan]

As for selling a ton of GSII....Antenna Gate didnt stop Apple some selling a ton of iPhone 4's. But seriously....everyone doesnt have the luxury of being in good to great reception areas alot.. Some ppl are in weak, bad reception areas on a daily basis. Some ppl rarely be in weak, bad reception areas. And unless some ppl actually compared Phone A to another phone on the same network for reception...how would one really know if its the phone or needs an update to fix it?

Well, many areas in Europe, Asia are not that great in wireless signal either but that still didn't stop them selling GSII in large quantity.

My previous post was just to bring balance to whole picture on radio issue, nothing personal. We all obviously have difference experiences and are bound to our opinions. Didn't know you are also getting Gnex. Good luck with that. If not, enjoy your Moto phones.

 

[Sportster]

Ya know...every one of these new 'hyped' phones have some issue or another. I've got a Razr and some days I love it,others not so much. The camera on it is probably about the same as on the Gnex. Takes adequate pics but if I want real quality pics I go for the Canon. The friggin signal on/off/wherethehellISthesignal deal is on Verizon and who knows when that'll calm down. Going cutting edge is like riding the Titanic. GREAT boat but it'll sink now and then. I don't know what the answer is. If you want a top notch "phone" and use it mainly for business and NEED it to work everytime, you might want to hit some other forums and find a cheapy alternative that does that everytime without fail and perfectly, if there IS such a animal. But these new superphones have so much crap crammed in em and have to do so much stuff that they're more a 'jack of all trades, master of none' deal. It's frustrating but good night, all the crap it does? And most of the time pretty decently? Swiss knife phones....GPS,camera,video,phone,music,browse the net,game machine...sheesh...I NEVER would have dreamed this just ten,fifteen short years ago.