Need honest opinion about onscreen buttons

[buckeye galaxy]

Hello, I have a Galaxy S3 that I still love more than any phone I have ever used, but I have been fascinated by this new LG G2. Everything I see or watch about the phone has seemed awesome, except one thing. When I see the home/back/app buttons on the screen, it looks very ANNOYING to me. I watch the review videos and I can't stop looking at the buttons on the screen, it just doesn't look right to me. I would like some feedback from users about this, because I want to know what others think. Thanks!

 

[hollywoods14]

Personally they do not bug me. This is my 1st phone with them. I got used to them after a couple days. There apps you can use to hide them also.

 

[CharlzO]

To me, they grew on me quickly with my Nexus. Prior to that though, I had the Thunderbolt and Fascinate, both of which didn't have physical buttons either. But, they weren't on the screen real-estate either, so it was half-way there. The nice part of them being on screen, is that they can disappear either via apps, or during certain activities that give you the full screen, as opposed to part of the phone being saved for them.

They have grown on me, and I'm actually not one who likes to have them hidden all the time. I miss having it transparent behind them, but that's probably just a matter of time before ROMs and launchers support that on this phone. And what a bunch of people do, is hide the buttons, and use gestures instead to launch things. That way they get the full 5.2 out of the screen.

I'd suggest going and playing with one for a while in person. Do a bunch of different things, open different apps, watch full screen videos, do a wide variety of activities. Give yourself some honest time with it though, not just three minutes and go "nope". Give a good chunk to it, and see for yourself

 

[strodda]

I don't like them at all either... And I didn't on the gnex. The best solution is to root and use a program like GMD so you can bring them up when you like, with a tiny swipe from the bottom of the screen. I think having the navbar and being able to hide it, is the best of both worlds. With the galaxy line, because of the buttons, there's more space beneath the screen. With a phone like the g2, the phone itself is pretty much all screen. Very thin bezel because the buttons are on the back and very small space below the screen because the buttons are onscreen... Which again, can be hidden.

*edit*

Now that I looked again, it is still thin beneath the screen on the Galaxy's. I'll upload a video of how the GMD app looks on my phone and you can judge for yourself if needing to swipe is worth it to you. I personally don't mind it, and I do not like buttons on my phone.

 

[buckeye galaxy]

strodda, thanks for the reply. I must keep it real and tell you I will NOT root my phone, it's just something I don't do. So with that being said, it sounds as if you don't care for the buttons always being on the screen. So if you were to look at this from the point of view that you weren't going to root the phone would you still get the LG G2 or would the onscreen buttons be a deal killer??

 

[strodda]

strodda, thanks for the reply. I must keep it real and tell you I will NOT root my phone, it's just something I don't do. So with that being said, it sounds as if you don't care for the buttons always being on the screen. So if you were to look at this from the point of view that you weren't going to root the phone would you still get the LG G2 or would the onscreen buttons be a deal killer??

Long term, I think they would bother me. And like you said, if rooting/unlocking/flashing is an absolute no go, I would get an s4 or more than likely wait for an s5. And much as I would prefer not having the button, I do not like the navbar. The only reason I went with the g2 was because I already knew it was possible to hide it. But that's just my preference.

 

[ajarnfalang]

I had such a bad experience with the iphone 4. Home button stopped working after 8 months. I took it to a place. Got home. Now the front camera didnt work.

I later found out it is an issue when taking out the main board something breaks and the front camera stops working. Sold it and got a 4s that i kept for 2 years.

I swore after iphone my next phone wouldnt have buttons. And heres the G2. Love the look.

It is supposed to work with gloves too so, i dont miss the hardware button.

I thought it would take away from the size of the screen. But at 5.2" it makes up for them being there.

 

[Jastow]

I prefer them over a physical button since you don't have to press them, only touch is required and button feedback is available. I don't like how deep you have to press the home button on Samsung and Iphones; this way, a light touch will activate the function without have to worry whether or not you pressed all the way. It's all personal preference...at work, some like buttons and knobs to touch, where as others prefer touch screen, keyboard and mouse interaction. My Nokia 920 also has capacitive style navigation buttons which won me over.

 

[streetkilln]

Coming from a gs3 and temp gs4 i can say that im a lil annoyed how the onscreen buttons take up screen room when u dont need it but u can root ur phone and get an app to remove it

 

[strodda]

strodda, thanks for the reply. I must keep it real and tell you I will NOT root my phone, it's just something I don't do. So with that being said, it sounds as if you don't care for the buttons always being on the screen. So if you were to look at this from the point of view that you weren't going to root the phone would you still get the LG G2 or would the onscreen buttons be a deal killer??

Just out of curiosity, why is rooting something you dont want to do? Personally, I do think the G2 is a better looking device, but again, between a button or navbar, I would pick button. Just for the hell of it, here is what the G2 looks like, rooted running GMD.


VID_20131016_155743.mp4 - YouTube