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Samsung Galaxy Nexus to RAZR HD

J

JE78

Android Enthusiast
I've been looking at the new RAZR's for a few weeks now, I need a phone with some real battery life. I currently have a Galaxy Nexus and like vanilla android and the ease of rooting. I'm just wondering if anyone has made the switch from the GNex to the RAZR HD and how the UI is compared to vanilla android?
 
no need for deletion, moved your topic to the RAZR (Maxx) HD section
good luck buddy, i am going to do the same thing and get the HD as my nexus has become slow and unresponsive so much that any app that is large enough will force close and never fully work.

that and moto build quality is far better than samsung.
 
JE78 said:
I've been looking at the new RAZR's for a few weeks now, I need a phone with some real battery life. I currently have a Galaxy Nexus and like vanilla android and the ease of rooting. I'm just wondering if anyone has made the switch from the GNex to the RAZR HD and how the UI is compared to vanilla android?
Click to expand...


I did exactly what you are wanting to do. It is almost identical. I had the S3 inbetween and couldn't stand Touchwiz. So i got the Maxx and couldn't be happier. Almost stock android and the things that arn't stock don't bother you. And forget about the battery life. You won't even beleive it. I had to put my gnex on the charger by 2:00pm to get through the rest of the day. Now i don't even think of chrging it again. I put it on the charger each night and that is it. No matter what I do or what I have on. It's so nice to have eberything on and not have to worry (bluetooth, wifi, gps, e-mail syncing as they come in, twitter syncing, etc, etc..... you'll like it. I'm not even looking for a new phone until they get this type batt life.
 
I agree with wedgemoose, I love the vanilla android but was having to charge my Nexus at least twice a day. Now I have to try to run down my maxx hd to feel like I am cycling the battery. Motorola has done a great job of not adding to much blur to it. I can't wait to get the jb update and get back google now.
 
I also had the Gnex for quite awhile until I got tired of several issues including the battery. Went to the regular Razr Maxx for a while then tried the S3 briefly but I'm pretty happy with the Razr HD now. Battery is outstanding (almost as good as my Maxx), phone is really solid and everything works as it should. My only issue is the occasional lag or stuttering.

I was running Apex launcher on the Gnex and I am doing the same now so for me there is zero difference in UI.
 
Thanks alot guys for the info! I'm in the same boat as most of you were with battery life. By 2PM my battery if at 50% or lower and that's with minimal use, with the extended (2100) battery and battery conservation mode on IE: screen at lowest brightness, sync off, 3G only.

Does anyone have any comparisons to battery life between the HD RAZR and the HD MAXX?
 
I'm pulling the trigger on the phone today, I'm going with ones from craigslist so I can keep my unlimited data. I was able to talk the guy down from $600 to $500 for the phone. I haven't seen it in person but he says its only a few weeks old and has no scratches on it and that its been in a case with screen protector on it since day 1. Is that a good price for the MAXX?
 
If the phone is in excellent condition then $500 is a very good price. I haven't looked at ebay or swappa in a couple weeks but I think they were pretty much all over $600 and the Razr HD was even $500+.
 
ALurker said:
If the phone is in excellent condition then $500 is a very good price. I haven't looked at ebay or swappa in a couple weeks but I think they were pretty much all over $600 and the Razr HD was even $500+.
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Thanks, like I said, I have yet to see it in person but he said its only 2 weeks old and had a case and screen protector on it before he left the store. I have to drive about an hr to get it so I hope he's not full of it.
 
I finally get to sit down with my RAZR MAXX. The guy I bought it off of wasn't kidding, this thing is mint!! Can anyone point me to some tips and tricks? I'm trying to set this up as vanilla android as possible.

I'm also noticing some lag, i'm using Apex launcher incase that matters.
 
JE78 said:
I finally get to sit down with my RAZR MAXX. The guy I bought it off of wasn't kidding, this thing is mint!! Can anyone point me to some tips and tricks? I'm trying to set this up as vanilla android as possible.

I'm also noticing some lag, i'm using Apex launcher incase that matters.
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I tried both Nova, Apex and feel Nova is a little smoother. It's hard to notice any lag on Nova for me. Also there is Holo HD though it's not so well known as Nova, Apex. I found it very smooth and simple to use too.
 
Thanks, I tried Nova and didn't feel much of a difference. I guess coming from the Nexus with custom kernels I'll have to get used to the stock again. No big deal. Can anyone tell me how to get rid of the keyboard icon in the notification bar anytime I type?
 
I just upgraded from my Galaxy Nexus. Here are my first impressions:

Pros:
- The screen in the Razr HD is much better than the GN. The screen looks more crisp, the colors more accurate, and the the auto-brightness is set at a higher level.

- The radio is much, much better. I'm getting stronger LTE connection at work and the speed tests are much better and more consistent. I'm getting dn/up speeds ~3 times faster than my GN. 25/dn 20/up compared to 7/dn 5/up.

- Battery life is no joke. I have the MAXX and just finished my first battery cycle. I gave the phone a beating and it lasted 27 hours on LTE with 4.5 hours of screen time. I know most phones take 2 - 3 battery cycles to start getting full potential of the battery so I bet it's even going to get better. With the same usage on my GN, probably would have gotten around 10 hours max.

- The build quality is amazing. It feels like a solid phone. iPhone's have great build quality and someone posted that this is the iPhone for men; I agree The speaker is louder, the notification light is great, and I love the look.

- Smart actions are pretty cool. I set a couple up that conserve battery when less than 10% and turn the ringer off when I'm usually sleeping.

- This version of Blur (if it's even called Blur anymore) has to be the lightest skin from any OEM. The UI looks very much like the stock Holo theme.

Cons:
- I was on Jelly Bean with the GN and it was super smooth. This phone stutters occasionally and I know our 4.1 update will help. 4.0 -> 4.1 made a significant difference in smoothness on the GN so I would expect it to do the same on the Razr HD. For now, I've replaced the lockscreen (Holo) and launcher (Nova) with "stock" versions from the market and it made a huge difference.

- I think the phone technically measures smaller than the GN however since it has sharper corners, it feels bigger in the pocket. This really isn't a big deal at all because after a couple of days, I expect that I'll be used to it and won't even notice the difference.


I thought about what is important to me in a phone:
- Screen (size and quality)
- Radio
- Build quality
- Battery life
This phone has it all. It feels so good to use my phone any way I want and not worry about battery life at the end of the day. What good is a phone if it's dead or if you can't get good reception? I was a big fan of rooting and flashing ROMs and this phone eliminates that desire because the phone meets my needs. I'm looking forward to the 4.1 update as it'll provide the following things I miss:
- More fluid UI
- Google Now
- High resolution contact photos
- Expanded notifications


Finally, just a couple of tips for those of you who are coming from the GN:
- Installing Holo Locker gives you the JB lock screen. It's nice and fast and looks great.
- Nova launcher has the ability to replace the app icons with the AOSP ones.
- AOSP Gallery3D from the market is the AOSP gallary app that gives you picasa syncing - this is a must for me!
- For those CM users, Power Toggles allows you to throw toggles in your notification pane.

tl;dr?
Buy this phone.
 
I'd have to agree, coming from the GNex this phone is great. I can't wait for Jellybean to be released, I hope that will clear up some of the lag issues i'm experiencing. The battery life is amazing, its great to not have to worry about charging my phone, I've had my MAXX of the charger since 7:30am and i'm still at 80% with some moderate usage. My Gnex would be gasping for air at this point lol.

One thing I noticed that differ from skinien is for some reason my signal isn't much better than it was with my GNex. At my house i'm still getting 2 bars of 4G/3G, I was really hoping to see better signal strength but i'm convinced my house sits on a cellular dead zone. If I drive a mile in either direction i'm at full bars, been like that since I had my HTC Incredible.

I tired Holo locker but I can't access the pull down menu with it, is there a setting or a trick around this?

I just got this case too: Takes the some of the edge away from it and gives it a nice curve so its smoother in your pocket.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Diztronic-M...026&pid=100015&prg=1006&rk=1&sd=251181222639&
 
JE78 said:
...I tired Holo locker but I can't access the pull down menu with it, is there a setting or a trick around this?
Click to expand...

Do you mean you can't pull down the notification pane when the phone is locked? I don't have any issue doing that with Holo Locker and there isn't a setting for it as far as I know.
 
skinien said:
Do you mean you can't pull down the notification pane when the phone is locked? I don't have any issue doing that with Holo Locker and there isn't a setting for it as far as I know.
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Yeah, it won't pull down when the phone is locked. It starts to then will shoot back up. I've tried restarting and reinstalling but no luck.
 
I'm thinking about making the jump from Gnex to HD. I'm tired of dropping data and not getting a cell signal in the middle of the city. Is the radio on the HD much better on the Gnex? What about the camera, I know the Gnex took great pictures, IMO, how are they on the HD?
 
Richman21 said:
I'm thinking about making the jump from Gnex to HD. I'm tired of dropping data and not getting a cell signal in the middle of the city. Is the radio on the HD much better on the Gnex? What about the camera, I know the Gnex took great pictures, IMO, how are they on the HD?
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I never dropped a call with my GNex and I haven't dropped any calls with the HD MAXX. I will say that at my house I used to get 1-2 bars with my Nexus, with my HD MAXX I get 2-3. The camera to me isn't as good as whats on the Nexus, I'm hoping that the Jellybean update fixes this. Its not bad, but unless your outside with natural light the pictures are dark and grainy. I took some today outside and they were pretty good.
 
Can anyone tell me how to add a profile picture so it comes up in my txt message app? I have my own contact with a picture with my phone number but it in the txt app it comes up blank. Anyone have a fix? Clicking on the blank pic does nothing.
 
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