If Not The Nexus, Then...

[BoogieNYC]

Okay, so we all know the Nexus WILL come out at some point. It could come out the 15th, it could come out the 31st, or it could come out sometime in February.

For me, I'm not too-too happy about the missing SD slot, the lack of gorilla glass, or the sufficient hardware.

So if the four horsemen do happen to appear and I decide either a) not to buy the Nexus, or b) to buy and return, then what?

What are the alternatives forthcoming in the next few months (ballpark: March 15th release date)?

I saw the Spectrum (eg the LG Revolution II) and the HTC Edge. Some others. Any other possibilities?

 

[BigRedNole]

SD Slot is meaningless with Cloud. This is what all industries are quickly moving to.

Gorilla Glass is meaningless as well. It does not have Corning GG, but it has Dragontail glass which to some is better than GG.

Sufficient hardware is subjective. What are you comparing it to a quad-core? It is the fastest and most powerful processor to date. It will be interesting to see it compared to the Rezound with the 1.5GHz Snapdragon.

I am not sure what you are looking for, but you can wait for ever and the next best thing will be on the horizon.

 

[pragmatous]

It's all about what you have now and is it sufficient for your use. If the answer is yes then why are you looking to upgrade?

For me I have the droid incredible and I think that pretty much answers why i want to upgrade to the nexus.

Okay, so we all know the Nexus WILL come out at some point. It could come out the 15th, it could come out the 31st, or it could come out sometime in February.

For me, I'm not too-too happy about the missing SD slot, the lack of gorilla glass, or the sufficient hardware.

So if the four horsemen do happen to appear and I decide either a) not to buy the Nexus, or b) to buy and return, then what?

What are the alternatives forthcoming in the next few months (ballpark: March 15th release date)?

I saw the Spectrum (eg the LG Revolution II) and the HTC Edge. Some others. Any other possibilities?

 

[BoogieNYC]

SD Slot is meaningless with Cloud. This is what all industries are quickly moving to.

Gorilla Glass is meaningless as well. It does not have Corning GG, but it has Dragontail glass which to some is better than GG.

Sufficient hardware is subjective. What are you comparing it to a quad-core? It is the fastest and most powerful processor to date. It will be interesting to see it compared to the Rezound with the 1.5GHz Snapdragon.

I am not sure what you are looking for, but you can wait for ever and the next best thing will be on the horizon.

Nole, I completely agree -- everything is subjective. Will the Nexus be sufficient for me for the next six months? Absolutely. But I also had the same sensibility about the Droid X, and the thing's been sucking the life out of me for the past three months.

I'm thinking about the GPU, which is decent, and the processor, which is good but not the best. I agree about the cloud -- but I still would really appreciate a slot, just to be safe. As for no Gorilla Glass, the Droid X has been fairly durable but it's got a metal body and GG and it's survived its share of falls, bumps and bruises. The Nexus isn't built nearly as solidly and people have already been citing issues with the glass. I'll slap a screen protector on, but just to be safe.

Point being I'm not sure exactly what I'm looking for, but there are enough concerns that I'm still looking, if that makes any sense.

And again, totally agreed -- this all is subjective, and I don't need the best thing. Just want to be as future proof as a 20-month contract will allow.

 

[SFBayArea]

SD Slot is meaningless with Cloud. This is what all industries are quickly moving to.

Gorilla Glass is meaningless as well. It does not have Corning GG, but it has Dragontail glass which to some is better than GG.

Sufficient hardware is subjective. What are you comparing it to a quad-core? It is the fastest and most powerful processor to date. It will be interesting to see it compared to the Rezound with the 1.5GHz Snapdragon.

I am not sure what you are looking for, but you can wait for ever and the next best thing will be on the horizon.

Try using cloud synchronization when there is no data service. How about running music from your phone when you are on camping or watch movies when you are on a long flight or abroad.
It is nonsense to say that SD card is meaningless... It is only meaningless if you always in the good 4G speeds area.

 

[BoogieNYC]

It's all about what you have now and is it sufficient for your use. If the answer is yes then why are you looking to upgrade?

For me I have the droid incredible and I think that pretty much answers why i want to upgrade to the nexus.

What I have now is the Droid X -- and like you, it makes sense for us both to want to upgrade to the Nexus. I've had my X for 18-20 months and it's showing its age big-time. Definitely not sufficient for my use.

Problem is, 20 months from Thursday is also a long time. So I'm considering whether the Nexus or something else would be better in 18-20 months from now.

Everything's relative, but I'm not thinking about today or tomorrow or Thursday or Friday, I'm thinking about 10-12-14+ months from now, when the Nexus begins irritating me like the X has been doing for the past nine or so months

 

[NecoD]

With 32GB of internal storage will you really need an SD card slot?

 

[BoogieNYC]

Try using cloud synchronization when there is no data service. How about running music from your phone when you are on camping or watch movies when you are on a long flight or abroad.
It is nonsense to say that SD card is meaningless... It is only meaningless if you always in the good 4G speeds area.

I agree -- for the most part, an SD slot isn't uber-necessary. But every once in awhile, sort of like a good, fast backup drive, you're glad it's there.

And that's not even considering the ease with which I'm going to transfer all my apps from the X to the new phone. Although to be fair, if you're getting on a plane and you don't fly Virgin, you're going to be pretty f'in' bored if you don't have a tablet, a dedicated iPod and/or a female companion with which to keep yourself preoccupied

 

[Fabolous]

What I have now is the Droid X -- and like you, it makes sense for us both to want to upgrade to the Nexus. I've had my X for 18-20 months and it's showing its age big-time. Definitely not sufficient for my use.

Problem is, 20 months from Thursday is also a long time. So I'm considering whether the Nexus or something else would be better in 18-20 months from now.

Everything's relative, but I'm not thinking about today or tomorrow or Thursday or Friday, I'm thinking about 10-12-14+ months from now, when the Nexus begins irritating me like the X has been doing for the past nine or so months

One major difference though is that 20 months into the DX's life, it is still on Gingerbread.

20 months into the GN's life, it will be on whatever is the latest Android version at that point (Jellybean, most likely).

I think we're at a point right now where hardware is more than sufficient enough, and the software is what is holding devices back (I.E. Sense, Blur, TW). Then again, you never know with tech, especially in the mobile sector.

 

[pragmatous]

Lol well look at it this way. It's a bigger screen, still thin, and it's fast.

You can get the rezound but for me I think i'd get annoyed by how thick it is.

Or wait but the next best thing is always around the corner.

What I have now is the Droid X -- and like you, it makes sense for us both to want to upgrade to the Nexus. I've had my X for 18-20 months and it's showing its age big-time. Definitely not sufficient for my use.

Problem is, 20 months from Thursday is also a long time. So I'm considering whether the Nexus or something else would be better in 18-20 months from now.

Everything's relative, but I'm not thinking about today or tomorrow or Thursday or Friday, I'm thinking about 10-12-14+ months from now, when the Nexus begins irritating me like the X has been doing for the past nine or so months

 

[pragmatous]

Lets not forget you can plug a flash drive to the USB port on the bottom for additional storage.

With 32GB of internal storage will you really need an SD card slot?

 

[BoogieNYC]

One major difference though is that 20 months into the DX's life, it is still on Gingerbread.

20 months into the GN's life, it will be on whatever is the latest Android version at that point (Jellybean, most likely).

I think we're at a point right now where hardware is more than sufficient enough, and the software is what is holding devices back (I.E. Sense, Blur, TW). Then again, you never know with tech, especially in the mobile sector.

Mebbe so, and that's true -- problem is, however, by that point the hardware in the Nexus might not be sufficient to support the next thing coming down the road, even if it comes directly from Google.

I rooted the X but it's still super-wonky. It sticks, I spend at least five (total) minutes a day waiting on the dialer, email, calls and gmail to load. Drives me nuts. I don't think if I upgraded to the most current Cyanogen mods that I'd be much happier. I'd prolly dig those better than Motorola's interface, but still. At some point the software is going to be limited by the hardware. Maybe I'm just paranoid or overly concerned coming from a wonky X. But maybe not

 

[trophynuts]

I don't think the DX had Gorilla Glass.


Cloud storage doesn't bother me. I'm fine with it. Especially if VZW gets the 32gb version.

 

[BoogieNYC]

With 32GB of internal storage will you really need an SD card slot?

I doubt it -- but as of now I've got 32GB in the X and I've had to move stuff around to make sure I've got enough room to download/install all the crappy misc. apps I come across with regularity. And I haven't even bothered with installing music or videos. Again, just considering the future as much as possible.

Odds are I won't NEED a card slot -- but like a handgun, I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it

 

[pragmatous]

Sounds like you need to do a factory reset and then reinstall the ROM :/ Especially if you restored anything from titanium backup.

Mebbe so, and that's true -- problem is, however, by that point the hardware in the Nexus might not be sufficient to support the next thing coming down the road, even if it comes directly from Google.

I rooted the X but it's still super-wonky. It sticks, I spend at least five (total) minutes a day waiting on the dialer, email, calls and gmail to load. Drives me nuts. I don't think if I upgraded to the most current Cyanogen mods that I'd be much happier. I'd prolly dig those better than Motorola's interface, but still. At some point the software is going to be limited by the hardware. Maybe I'm just paranoid or overly concerned coming from a wonky X. But maybe not

 

[BoogieNYC]

Sounds like you need to do a factory reset and then reinstall the ROM :/ Especially if you restored anything from titanium backup.

Already did a few months back. I think the phone's done. Three batteries and two cases later -- I am ready for an upgrade

 

[BoogieNYC]

I don't think the DX had Gorilla Glass.


Cloud storage doesn't bother me. I'm fine with it. Especially if VZW gets the 32gb version.

I checked the Corning site and I think it mentioned the X had it. I've been pretty pleased with the X's screen, especially given I've had a screen protector on it from day/minute 1.

The 32GB is prolly going to be enough, but if the apps start getting more involved and larger, I'll be kicking myself in the ass wishing I'd held out. I'm not sure how fast the stock micro SD card Mot packaged with the X is, but I'm even reticent to move apps to the card if they're intricate/complicated and involve video/audio (eg games and presentation stuff). For stuff like Andoku, I can handle the extra 3ms delays

 

[BoogieNYC]

Lol well look at it this way. It's a bigger screen, still thin, and it's fast.

You can get the rezound but for me I think i'd get annoyed by how thick it is.

Or wait but the next best thing is always around the corner.

I'm not too worried about the dimensions either way. When I first got it the X was fairly huge and it rarely ever bothered me.

As for the Next Best Thing, I'm not necessarily a tech chaser. I've had an available upgrade for awhile so I could've gotten a Bionic, a Thunderbolt or the Rezound. I just didn't see any of them as anything particularly special. I think the Nexus, with its direct Google pipeline, may very well be -- but will its hardware be sufficient in a year or so from now? That's the question. I don't need the best phone out there constantly -- I just want to know that, basically, whatever I drive off the lot today will last me until it's time for me to pick something new to drive off the lot.

...If that makes sense.

 

[Fabolous]

I checked the Corning site and I think it mentioned the X had it. I've been pretty pleased with the X's screen, especially given I've had a screen protector on it from day/minute 1.

The 32GB is prolly going to be enough, but if the apps start getting more involved and larger, I'll be kicking myself in the ass wishing I'd held out. I'm not sure how fast the stock micro SD card Mot packaged with the X is, but I'm even reticent to move apps to the card if they're intricate/complicated and involve video/audio (eg games and presentation stuff). For stuff like Andoku, I can handle the extra 3ms delays

Something to note about the Galaxy Nexus's internal storage: it is all one partition.

There is no longer any "moving apps to sdcard".

Here are the statistics, using Antutu benchmark:

Read: 26.6MB/s
Write: 6.4MB/s

That's using the stock EXT4 mounting options. With some custom kernels/ROMs, they use special parameters that can boost those numbers up to ~30s for read and ~8 for write.


EDIT: reran Antutu for fun, got 32.7/7.5 - point is, I don't think you need to worry about the speed of the internal memory.

 

[BigRedNole]

If you are that concerned about the most powerful processor on the phone (assuming released Thursday), then wait for CES to see what is announced for the rest of the year. Wait until the phone with your exact requirements are stated and pray it is released within 24 months.

The fact of the matter is no manufacturer is going to develop the perfect phone. They know everyone is willing to pay for the perfect phone, but they are not willing to make it.

SD Slot, scratch proof glass, best processor, best GPU, 500 hour battery, 8-cores, holographic display, 60" 1440P projection comparable to Christie.

Good luck with your Droid X. If you are looking for everything, let me know when you find the Fountain of Youth. I want a drink from it.

 

[Deleted User]

Mebbe so, and that's true -- problem is, however, by that point the hardware in the Nexus might not be sufficient to support the next thing coming down the road, even if it comes directly from Google.

So... obviously nobody can predict the future. However, the reason the Nexus One was dropped off the upgrade list was likely due to some very specific issues with its storage and touch systems that massively limited its capabilities.

First off, it only had 512mb of internal storage. That's it. That, by itself, is highly limiting - and is part of the reason Google's shift towards one big block of internal storage makes a lot of sense. If, in the future, it makes sense to not have a /sdcard partition, or if more space is needed in the primary partition, you just resize the layout and keep on going. So there is a major limitation that's been dealt with - "future proofed" to some extent.

Second, it had a super crappy touchscreen. If I remember correctly, it was two touch points only, and was not all that accurate - it regularly had issues with switching of the axis using two fingers. With the shift towards on-screen buttons, and more multitouch gestures, it's no surprise that Google doesn't want to deal with that. That, too, has been dealt with as newer controllers like the GNex controllers support 10 touch points - all of your fingers. Thus, again, ostensibly "future proofed" since there's no reasonable way to actuate more than 10 touch points.

All of that adds up to me being pretty confident that the GNex will be supported for a long time. The Nexus S will be receiving ICS as well - I think that device will get a long support lifecycle, too.

 

[TheXFactor]

What concerns me about the Nexus is a lack of sd card. I hear it's gonna be difficult for Mac users to get this drive to show up to transfer files. Unless there's an app for that.

Lack of simultaneous voice and data over 3G, which the Rezound does. The reported low volume of the external speaker. An issue I have read about. Not fiction.

And I'm a bit skeptical of Samsungs in general. Build quality, reception, call quality and just the overall over-abuse of plastic.

 

[ALurker]

SD Slot is meaningless with Cloud. This is what all industries are quickly moving to.

Gorilla Glass is meaningless as well. It does not have Corning GG, but it has Dragontail glass which to some is better than GG.

Sufficient hardware is subjective. What are you comparing it to a quad-core? It is the fastest and most powerful processor to date. It will be interesting to see it compared to the Rezound with the 1.5GHz Snapdragon.

I am not sure what you are looking for, but you can wait for ever and the next best thing will be on the horizon.

Do you remember where you heard that it has dragontail glass? Just curious. I'm sure whatever fortified glass it has is good, I've just never seen any confirmation on what type it is, just that it is "fortified".

 

[Sandroidfan]

If you are that concerned about the most powerful processor on the phone (assuming released Thursday), then wait for CES to see what is announced for the rest of the year. Wait until the phone with your exact requirements are stated and pray it is released within 24 months.

The fact of the matter is no manufacturer is going to develop the perfect phone. They know everyone is willing to pay for the perfect phone, but they are not willing to make it.

SD Slot, scratch proof glass, best processor, best GPU, 500 hour battery, 8-cores, holographic display, 60" 1440P projection comparable to Christie.

Good luck with your Droid X. If you are looking for everything, let me know when you find the Fountain of Youth. I want a drink from it.

Right now I think Nexus hardware is enough to be supported up to Jellybean at least. Some folks are complaining it's nothing special, not cutting edge enough. I should ask what other phones are more special if HD SAMOLED, OMAP 4460, 1Gb RAM is still not enough.

Nex year we will see A9 based quad cores like Tegra3, more advanced dual cores like OMAP5, Exynos 5250 based on A15. We will get to see them introduced in CES, MWC. But that doesn't mean you can buy them within next a few weeks. It's probably extra couple of months before it's released. And for verizon, you will have to add another 2~3 months, which means June/July at the earliest. But what apps are properly utilizing quad cores?

 

[pragmatous]

But what apps are properly utilizing quad cores?
None

Right now I think Nexus hardware is enough to be supported up to Jellybean at least. Some folks are complaining it's nothing special, not cutting edge enough. I should ask what other phones are more special if HD SAMOLED, OMAP 4460, 1Gb RAM is still not enough.

Nex year we will see A9 based quad cores like Tegra3, more advanced dual cores like OMAP5, Exynos 5250 based on A15. We will get to see them introduced in CES, MWC. But that doesn't mean you can buy them within next a few weeks. It's probably extra couple of months before it's released. And for verizon, you will have to add another 2~3 months, which means June/July at the earliest. But what apps are properly utilizing quad cores?