Disappointed with the onscreen buttons

[NexusTootsie]

I'm okay with the buttons, the screen. no complaints here on that count.

the size is excellent when browsing. video. images.

I had to get a loaner for a couple of weeks - motorola razor. gorgeous phone. talk about LIGHTWEIGHT. goodsized screen, beautiful display, no battery sucking that I experienced. in fact I'm not exactly sure why our screens eat up so much juice and that one hardly at all. it's a honeycomb but you can put aside the difference after a while.

ICS is a bit of a drain, or maybe it's the apps that don't utilize it as efficiently as the lower OS's, but honestly, this battery business is BS. the OS differences are substantial, but it's not like the damned thing is running NASA or something.

the gnex is a juice eater, maybe because most of the apps are busy tracking our every breath morning noon and night. that's google, bless it's proprietary greedy grubbing little heart. but it did give us a great phone to console us.

it's the next generation. expensive, fussy, aggravating but beautiful to drive - like the sportscar of smartphones. there will be others, but this one is the first. google sucks but the gnex is a peach.

that's my take.

 

[Demache]

The on-screen buttons eat screen estate, period. That space is the reason why the display would be bigger. If it is eaten by the on-screen buttons, the screen gets smaller. So what's the point?

This is my only gripe with the Gnex. My phone is Xperia Arc with hardware buttons outside the screen, and I am maximizing the use of my 4.2" screen. With those on-screen buttons on Gnex, they practically have the same screen, so I don't see any point in upgrading to this phone.

Better the Galaxy S3 which buttons don't use the screen.

I think your missing the point. Its so that way, they can hide when they AREN'T necessary, giving you more screen estate. You play a video on your Xperia, its always going to be 4.2", on the Nexus, it will hide the buttons for the full 4.65". Plus there is always the added side benefit of customization if you root. You can rearrange the buttons any way you please and add or remove buttons. Heck, you could make it an "iPhone" if you wanted too (not sure why you would only want one button, but you can).

 

[Demache]

I'm okay with the buttons, the screen. no complaints here on that count.

the size is excellent when browsing. video. images.

I had to get a loaner for a couple of weeks - motorola razor. gorgeous phone. talk about LIGHTWEIGHT. goodsized screen, beautiful display, no battery sucking that I experienced. in fact I'm not exactly sure why our screens eat up so much juice and that one hardly at all. it's a honeycomb but you can put aside the difference after a while.

ICS is a bit of a drain, or maybe it's the apps that don't utilize it as efficiently as the lower OS's, but honestly, this battery business is BS. the OS differences are substantial, but it's not like the damned thing is running NASA or something.

the gnex is a juice eater, maybe because most of the apps are busy tracking our every breath morning noon and night. that's google, bless it's proprietary greedy grubbing little heart. but it did give us a great phone to console us.

it's the next generation. expensive, fussy, aggravating but beautiful to drive - like the sportscar of smartphones. there will be others, but this one is the first. google sucks but the gnex is a peach.

that's my take.

Actually, its not ICS that's the battery drainer. Its actually incredibly efficient. I guarantee if you play music with the screen off, not streaming over the internet, it will last a good long time. 20 hours in standby is not a hard number to achieve. Its almost entirely the radio and screen that kill the battery in no time flat.

 

[aurora40]

I think your missing the point. Its so that way, they can hide when they AREN'T necessary, giving you more screen estate. You play a video on your Xperia, its always going to be 4.2", on the Nexus, it will hide the buttons for the full 4.65". Plus there is always the added side benefit of customization if you root. You can rearrange the buttons any way you please and add or remove buttons. Heck, you could make it an "iPhone" if you wanted too (not sure why you would only want one button, but you can).

I tend to agree with the OP, the buttons rarely disappear. I'd think the stock browser would hide them more, as well as games. I'm not disappointed with the phone, but I do think it could make better use of the great display. Watching videos is awesome, though.

 

[Demache]

I tend to agree with the OP, the buttons rarely disappear. I'd think the stock browser would hide them more, as well as games. I'm not disappointed with the phone, but I do think it could make better use of the great display. Watching videos is awesome, though.

Personally, I would rather them stay up in apps that actually have use for them. Like the browser for example. It would get really annoying to have to press another area of the screen to get the back button.

 

[Outatime]

http://androidforums.com/samsung-ga...od-galaxy-s-iii-announcement.html#post4331387

That's a post I made awhile ago showing the browser without the nav bar running LMT for the buttons in pop up fashion. I have used this configuration for a couple of months now and love it. It really maximizes the screen to what it was meant to be, IMHO.

 

[Tim K]

I had to get a loaner for a couple of weeks - motorola razor. gorgeous phone. talk about LIGHTWEIGHT. goodsized screen, beautiful display, no battery sucking that I experienced. in fact I'm not exactly sure why our screens eat up so much juice and that one hardly at all. it's a honeycomb but you can put aside the difference after a while.

Run both phones through some HD video side by side and in 2 seconds you'll realize that the Razr screen isn't in the same league as the Nexus.

 

[aurora40]

Run both phones through some HD video side by side and in 2 seconds you'll realize that the Razr screen isn't in the same league as the Nexus.

That's for sure. I never got the pentile 'hate' until looking close at the razr screen. Red or blue lines or text especially can be really jagged. It is sometimes quite poor.

 

[snapcase]

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

If you want smaller buttons, root and ROM.

 

[dhworph]

aesthetically, they rock. Also, they work better than soft buttons ihmo, love the feedback with the blue highlighting, easy to know when you've actually pressed it.

The only downside is that i miss actually click hardware buttons for use when not looking at the phone, but the tradeoff is more than worth it... i wish devs would take advantage of it more!