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Anyone upgrade from Desire?

Anthony1

Anthony1

Android Enthusiast
I'm currently using an HTC Desire. On Paper, looking at specs alone, the Nexus S doesn't seem that big an upgrade; yet I keep looking at it and wondering if I should get one.

Has anyone gone from A Desire to a Nexus S? Just wondering what your thoughts were, was it worth it?
 
I made the jump from Desire to Nexus S. Absolutely no regrets, in the end the Desire was irritating me, pathetic internal memory, laggy/buggy and by the end the battery wasn't getting me through a day at work.

Nexus S does away with all the bloated sense stuff, it's simple, fast and it just works. Sense is the best of the manufacturer skins but it doesn't add as much as people think and in my experience it bogged the phone down. Nexus battery is great, 2.3 is slick and a joy to use. Bigger screen is a bonus and the SAMOLED screen is a definite improvement over the 3.5 AMOLED in the Desire.

No regrets at all.
 
Thanks. It's mainly the pathetic internal memory on the Desire that's bugging me, yes I'm rooted so I've gotten round the issue, but it brings new problems. I can't update the latest google maps without fiddling about with roms and quite frankly I don't really want to have to.
 
Anthony1 said:
Thanks. It's mainly the pathetic internal memory on the Desire that's bugging me, yes I'm rooted so I've gotten round the issue, but it brings new problems. I can't update the latest google maps without fiddling about with roms and quite frankly I don't really want to have to.
Click to expand...

I'd say go play with one somewhere, but I've yet to see any display models available, I just went into CPW and put some money down, worked out great for me. Everything you dislike about the Desire isn't an issue on the NS.
 
I changed from a Desire to a Desire HD and now my Nexus s.....the Desire HD is better than the desire and the nexus is better than the HD....say no more...lol
 
The big difference between the Desire and the Nexus S is the GPU. The Desire has the Adreno 200, while the Nexus S has the SGX540, which is up to 3 times faster.

Other than that, the NS has a slightly more efficient CPU (based on the exact same architecture but at a 45nm process rather than 65nm). It also has the larger, AMOLED screen, which compared to SLCD is generally considered to be better, but still subject to opinion. The Desire does have an extra few MB of RAM though, but that's quickly eaten up by the SenseUI.

Which brings us to the software side of things. iPhone lover always bash on Android for being lagging and unresponsive, but that's primarily because manufacturers like throwing some half baked custom UI on top of the Android platform. The Nexus S is pure Android straight from Google, so it'll be much smoother.

Edit: Just a quick mention on the Desire HD. It has the benefit of having a 2nd Gen Snapdragon CPU, which is on the same 45nm process as the NS' Hummingbird CPU, and it also has an improved architecture, making it a bit faster in terms of raw power. The DHD also has 768MB of RAM, but still uses most of the extra RAM to run the SenseUI. The NS still outclasses the DHD significantly in the GPU department though. Its SGX540 is about twice as fast as the DHD's Adreno 205.
 
Thanks for the info. guys. I'm still a bit on the fence.

I've read reviews and posts which suggest that the Nexus S is ever so slightly laggy at times. I'm running a custom rom on my Desire and I've never seen any lag at all, it's as smooth as silk.

I guess the only way is to actually have a good play with one and see how it feels.
 
Anthony1 said:
Thanks for the info. guys. I'm still a bit on the fence.

I've read reviews and posts which suggest that the Nexus S is ever so slightly laggy at times. I'm running a custom rom on my Desire and I've never seen any lag at all, it's as smooth as silk.

I guess the only way is to actually have a good play with one and see how it feels.
Click to expand...

I have been playing with the phone for about a week now, no regrets whatsoever and about the lag, there is none, ever, except there are very occasional times when the launcher suddenly becomes nearly unresponsive Nothing else is affected though, menu works fine and with launcher pro the issue disappears altogether. That has been my only issue with the device and a reboot always sorts it out. This has happened to me 2 times if you are wondering.
 
I had more lag on the Desire than I've had with the Nexus S. I could count the number of times it has stuttered on 3 fingers.
 
There is virtually no lag on Nexus S. I don't know what I have to do to make it lag, it's simply impossible.

On the other hand, my Desire was laggy at times, and it would crash on app open numerous times.

As you can see, I had HTC Desire before Nexus S. I sold my Desire with one intention only - to buy Google (Samsung) Nexus S. Like many others already mentioned, there is bunch of reasons to make a switch. Maybe it's just me, but for some reason I started to dislike HTC's design. All those phones look kind of outdated, every single model has that ugly-ass "chin" at the bottom of the phone. But all that to a side, more important things are of course performance. 1GHz Hummingbird vs 1GHz Snapdragon, no brainer... can't even compare those two. The quality of the sAMOLED screen is just amazing, blacks are truly black, colours as vibrant as they can be... front and back camera on Nexus S and I believe bunch of other stuff that works in Nexus S favour.

I have to say, I have no clue why all that fuss about SenseUI anyway. I liked it, but it's not like I can not live without it. Pinch to access all screens, big deal. You can do almost the same thing with Nexus S. Just hold your finger for few seconds on MENU icon (grid), or any side with those little dots representing all your screens, and you'll get 5 preview thumbnails where you can easily jump back and forth through all your screens. Stock Android OS is quick and it does it's job perfectly. Not to mention updates coming directly from Google, meaning less time to wait for some third party developers team to develop for that particular platform.

So far, I am impressed with overall performance of Nexus S, and I am super happy with this device. I loved my Desire too, but nothing like this.

Also, not to forget - all those Desire problems with MultiTouch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVlsRCMltDg

Here is one quick video preview how MultiTouch works on Nexus S (5 registration points is no problem for Nexus S):
Google Nexus S (Samsung) true MultiTouch capability on Vimeo

@Anthony1 - Hope some of this helps in making your decision ;)
 
Well I decided to get one. Been playing around with it for about a day now :)

BTW. I didn't get an instruction manual in the box, just a warranty sheet and some safety info document, but no manual.

Should I have had a paper manual?
 
Anthony1 said:
Well I decided to get one. Been playing around with it for about a day now :)

BTW. I didn't get an instruction manual in the box, just a warranty sheet and some safety info document, but no manual.

Should I have had a paper manual?
Click to expand...

I don't believe it come with a manual, but you can download it from Samsung.

Manual: http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/c.../NexusS_English_AndroidUsersGuide_2.3-103.pdf

Owner's Guide: http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/201012/20101217011821747/Nexus_S_Owners_Guide.pdf
 
Thanks. I wasn't too surprised that I didn't get a paper one, but I'd have thought they'd have stuck a PDF one on the phone like my Desire had.
 
I have both the Nexus S and HTC Desire (about to be sold now) and I have found the following:

1) Speaker volume and sound is better on HTC Desire than Nexus S
2) Screen is nicer on Nexus S
3) Phone Reception and Wifi reception is better on HTC Desire than Nexus S.
4) HTC Desire feels better put together than Nexus S as Nexus S feels
like cheap plastic.
5) Typing on Nexus S better than on HTC Desire. More accurate and I make less mistakes on Nexus S when typing.
6) Contacts due to HTC'S Sense is better on HTC Desire than Nexus S
because you can add contacts to phone instead of the Google account
which is good for privacy reasons. Not too fond of syncing all my
personal data and contacts online with some server.
 
androidexpat said:
I have both the Nexus S and HTC Desire (about to be sold now) and I have found the following:

1) Speaker volume and sound is better on HTC Desire than Nexus S
2) Screen is nicer on Nexus S
3) Phone Reception and Wifi reception is better on HTC Desire than Nexus S.
4) HTC Desire feels better put together than Nexus S as Nexus S feels
like cheap plastic.
5) Typing on Nexus S better than on HTC Desire. More accurate and I make less mistakes on Nexus S when typing.
6) Contacts due to HTC'S Sense is better on HTC Desire than Nexus S
because you can add contacts to phone instead of the Google account
which is good for privacy reasons. Not too fond of syncing all my
personal data and contacts online with some server.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's pretty similar to my experience of the two.

The only slight disapointment for me is 1. I didn't think the volume and speaker sound on the Desire was too great and I thought the Nexus should have been better, it actually seems a bit worse, although not by much.

Not sure I agree with 4. though. The desire certainly feels heavier and more solid, but I don't think that, for all it's lightness and plastic, the Nexus feels cheaper. It feels nice and well built to me.
 
I gave my sim-free HTC Desire to my Mother back in October. She loves it. I bought an HTC HD7 back in October. Sold it last week. Good phone but it's a bit too big and heavy. Also the OS has missing stuff that will take a while to arrive. Windows Phone is very smooth and slick. And it already has loads of apps. Plus Zune desktop pisses all over iTunes.
My Father owns a Galaxy S which I suggested to him. He got it back in late June. I mention the SGS because the hardware is the same as the Nexus S.
I have 4 questions:
1. Android is not on the same level as iOS or Windows Phone for touch. I mean scrolling, tapping, double tapping for text reflow and pinch to zoom. When will this be sorted out and when will the UI be GPU accelerated.
2. When are the big games going to arrive. I don't mean Angry Birds. I mean Streetfighter 4, GTA Chinatowns Wars, NFL Madden, the latest NFS etc. Android phones are outselling iPhones collectively and have done since last spring.
3. With just 100% Android OS with Google apps and no network/OEM software how does 2.3 perform. Do I need to use a task killer. The need for ATK shows that the software stack has been badly designed and implemented. iPhone and Windows Phone don't need any task managers.
4. The Hummingbird SoC. I saw the Honeycomb demo. I like it. But whats all this business of the need for a dual core cortex A9. Are Google planning on using 2.x for phones and 3.x for tablets. And Chrome OS for netbooks and laptops.
My point is that how long is this Hummimgbird SoC gonna last. I'm worried that single core phones will be left out in the cold. Which is crazy when Android as yet doesn't tap into the power of that 540 GPU.
There is a part of me that thinks that in such fast moving times the best solution is to just use a Nokia 6303i on a
 
1) Nexus S is a lot smoother. Sure the browser can stutter slightly but the whole page is loaded up.

2) Games are catching up. You can certainly get the NFS games. Love them or hate them, Gameloft are pretty active now too.

3) It is a myth that Android needs a task killer. Many people know now that they infact can give a negative effect to the phone's performance. Don't use one.

4) Android 2.3 was designed and built for single core phones. Nexus S and Nexus 1 should be supported for the lifetime of an average user.

Finally. That video is irrelevant to this discussion. The phone in question is running an older version of Android and also has HTC Sense running on top of that. Apps have caught up and so has the OS - I got as far as text selection which has been rectified in both Android OS and later versions of Sense before I had to turn those 2 arseholes off!

Hope this helps?
 
androidexpat said:
I have both the Nexus S and HTC Desire (about to be sold now) and I have found the following:

1) Speaker volume and sound is better on HTC Desire than Nexus S
2) Screen is nicer on Nexus S
3) Phone Reception and Wifi reception is better on HTC Desire than Nexus S.
4) HTC Desire feels better put together than Nexus S as Nexus S feels
like cheap plastic.
5) Typing on Nexus S better than on HTC Desire. More accurate and I make less mistakes on Nexus S when typing.
6) Contacts due to HTC'S Sense is better on HTC Desire than Nexus S
because you can add contacts to phone instead of the Google account
which is good for privacy reasons. Not too fond of syncing all my
personal data and contacts online with some server.
Click to expand...

x2

Exactly the same here. Bough a NS, sold my Desire.

I agree with every point, except 6 (I don't mind syncing everything with Google).

But the main reason I gave up Desire for NS, besides Gingerbread and SAMOLED screen, is the internal memory. I don't like rooting my toys, and 140 mb of space for apps in Desire is, IMHO, unacceptable. NS has 1gb, this is enough for me.
 
I swapped my Desire for the Nexus S , I didn't have a good reason too but just couldn't resist the Nexus .
As to the comparison of the feel of the phones , yes the Desire does feel the better quality phone but strangely I prefer the actual feel of the Neuxs in my hand.
I have no regrets but also would have no real problem going back to the Desire ( if I hadn't sold it of course ).
 
To tell the truth I have no clue what are you guys talking about when you say "cheap feel to it". What's cheap? Just few years ago, Apple released iPhone 3G which looks pretty close to what Nexus S looks today, except Nexus S with its beautiful 100% black appearance looks way, way badder. No one ever said iPhone 3G looks cheap and yet, almost everyone is saying Nexus S looks cheap. At least Nexus S plastic is way better quality than what iPhone 3G was made of. All those iCracks in plastic after just few months of use, it was crazy ( black iphone 3G cracks - Google Search ).

Nexus S build is solid, and it feels great in hand. Also regarding not having micro SD card slot... I don't even care. Most of us never even used cards larger than 16Gb, in a matter of fact 32Gb cards just started rolling out... and the price is also something not to be happy about, so not sure why all that fuss anyway. Nexus S already have its 16Gb, so called USB storage, and since I don't keep my whole music/video collection on my phone, this is more than enough for me.
 
AlienX said:
To tell the truth I have no clue what are you guys talking about when you say "cheap feel to it". What's cheap? Just few years ago, Apple released iPhone 3G which looks pretty close to what Nexus S looks today, except Nexus S with its beautiful 100% black appearance looks way, way badder. No one ever said iPhone 3G looks cheap and yet, almost everyone is saying Nexus S looks cheap. At least Nexus S plastic is way better quality than what iPhone 3G was made of. All those iCracks in plastic after just few months of use, it was crazy ( black iphone 3G cracks - Google Search ).

Nexus S build is solid, and it feels great in hand.
Click to expand...

Sorry to disagree, but Nexus S does feel a little cheap compared to Desire. It's too plasticky and light. I wouldn't mind a little more weight, if some metal and glass were used. IMHO, Samsung did a great job in i900 Omnia and Samsung S8500 Wave, could have done something like that in Nexus S.

Again IMHO, NS has many pros over cons compared to Desire, but in that aspect Desire wins.

My $0.02.
 
I guess this is beautiful example where "to each its own" works the best. I had Desire before Nexus S and I would never ever go back. I don't really miss anything Desire had to offer. Everything I had on my Desire, works even better on my Nexus S.

Phone being "lighter" than Desire could be just a plus. We all wanted to run away from those "brick" phones from the past so bad. Now, when we have it, all of a sudden, "we want" our bricks back? Sorry, but that doesn't make much sense to me.

Anyway, everything runs much smoother on my new phone (among other things, thanks to the fact there is no HTC Sense on the top of Android OS to hog system resources anymore), so for me this baby is a keeper.
 
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