Galaxy S2 or Galaxy Nexus or Galaxy S3 - New to Android!

[galaxy366]

Hello Android Forum! ,

Let me introduce myself, my name is Robert Oortwijn and I live in the Netherlands and I'm 18 years old.

I have been looking for some time already into getting my first true Smartphone. I currently have a 3 year old Samsung Star which is getting bit old for my ''Standard'' .

So I have been looking for a good subscription and phone and while many might just advice the S3 I disagree. YES! it's a amazing phone that Samsung made but the price is to high for me, this includes the price for the phone and what I pay per month.

So why am I here? well I came up with these 2 smartphones: first is the critically acclaimed Galaxy SII and the other is the first Jelly Bean powered phone: Galaxy Nexus.

What I would like to know is which I should pick. I will mainly go on Facebook, download some games, apps and maybe watch some videos over Wi-Fi mainly.

I also want to know if the 8MP vs 5MP is a big difference, I know that the SII has anti-shake and is bit better in quality. Downside is that the SII had a SD screen where as the Galaxy Nexus has a 720p Super AMOLED HD (If I'm right?) screen which looks amazing ! but sadly comes with a less featured camera that is only 5MP.

So yeah this is my story and will end the long wall of text

Hope to see some useful (funny, important) responses!

- Robert Oortwijn

 

[gtbarry]

I am a nexus user and therefore biased.

- Doesn't the S2 run Gingerbread? (android 2.3)? If so, you may feel outdated soon. As the S2 hardware is not significantly better than the Nexus. But the Nexus version of Android (Ice Cream or Jelly Bean) is significantly better then Gingerbread. Also, it will continue to be so if you buy direct from google and don't have to wait for a carrier to decide if they choose to update you or not.

- Nothing you mentioned about your usage makes one phone's hardware much better than the other. Other than the screen possibly.

- I understand that 8mp sound "three better" than 5mp on the Nexus camera. But, like with computer processors and MHZ, that does not mean the photos from the S2 will be 60% better than the Nexus. I don't know how to research this, but the size of the sensor behind the lens in digital photography will best determine your photo quality. In that manner, a 5mp can be just slightly lower quality than an 8mp (not saying that is the case here). If you can see a side by side comparison of the same photo taken by the S2 and Nexus and decide for yourself, that would be best. (Just go into a store that has both and try to take the exact same photo.)

 

[galaxy366]

I see what you mean!

Does the Galaxy Nexus also have the option to clear memory like the SII and SIII do?

While I am slightly new to Android I do know that Samsung use there so called ''Touch-wiz'' on-top of the Android OS?

Because the SIII for example has the option to use pinch to zoom on the home menu which will allow the user to see all menu's and have a total of 9, I haven't seen this with the Nexus.

 

[Digital Controller]

First off welcome to the forums galaxy366

I wanted to tell you this thread has been moved into the Device Comparisons forum, hopefully this is okay with you, if no pm me


Anyhow, i am also biased as a GNex user. I really think the GNex has more longevity than the S2 right now, just because the S2 is already a year+ old, the Gnex is also getting old, but i love the phone, it is great, so easy to Root/Rom so much freedom. Has a decent amount of power too, so physical buttons, love it...did i mention i love it? haha.

The main differences you might want to point out are:

S2 - Better camera, a little slower processor, SD card

GNex - Up to 32GB internal, JellyBean, No SD, speedy CPU

This might help a bit: Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs Samsung Galaxy S II

 

[kevindroid]

i use a sgs2 yes the camera is very good also we have the sd card slot for a lot more memory and im using 4.0.4 ics so the os is not really an issue. both phones can be modded

 

[galaxy366]

Up to 32GB internal

Sadly they only sell the 16GB version here in the Netherlands
But I think it might be enough for music, maybe 1 or 2 videos / movies, and some funny games and apps?

It isn't my intention ofcourse to bias you two !

*It's ok that you moved this thread, I was unable to find the correct sub-forum

 

[galaxy366]

Brother comes on my room and saw me look at comparisons with the SIII and Nexus.
He just told me: Just go with the SIII, it's the best choice if you don't want a new one in 2 years.

I'm no getting confused to what to pick. So my brother tells me to, friends on school advice it more but the price is higher. If I would pick the SIII with the subscription I want, it would cost me:

€ 169 for the phone and then the coming 24 months - € 24
This is 150 SMS or Min and 500Mb by Tele2.

 

[gtbarry]

Does the Galaxy Nexus also have the option to clear memory like the SII and SIII do?

Are you talking about killing apps in memory? If so you do not want to do that.
Android Task Killers Explained: What They Do and Why You Shouldn't Use Them

While I am slightly new to Android I do know that Samsung use there so called ''Touch-wiz'' on-top of the Android OS?

If you buy direct from google, it is pure android and there is no touchwiz

Because the SIII for example has the option to use pinch to zoom on the home menu which will allow the user to see all menu's and have a total of 9, I haven't seen this with the Nexus.

If you want this functionality, you can download Launcher Pro, etc from Play Store.

(And yes, no SD card means you will only ever have as much memory as you get when you buy the phone.)

 

[Ingenieur7]

Having used both, get the SGS3. Much better than the SGS2, although the SGS2 is still an excellent phone even in 2012.

You won't find much of a difference except the fact that the SGS3 has a much more attractive screen, despite being Pentile based.