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What's Next for GNX Owners?

rickaltman

rickaltman

Member
I purchased my Galaxy Nexus when it was brand new, and it was hailed at the time as the finest smartphone on the Verizon market. Two years later, I doubt that is the case any longer and I'm contemplating an upgrade. At a minimum, I want better battery life.

This post might be misplaced -- perhaps it is heresy to speak this way on the Galaxy Nexus board -- but I would like to determine the best upgrade path from a GNX and I would welcome all opinions. I intend to stay with Verizon.

Thanks in advance..

Rick A.
Pleasanton CA
 
rickaltman said:
I purchased my Galaxy Nexus when it was brand new, and it was hailed at the time as the finest smartphone on the Verizon market. Two years later, I doubt that is the case any longer and I'm contemplating an upgrade. At a minimum, I want better battery life.

This post might be misplaced -- perhaps it is heresy to speak this way on the Galaxy Nexus board -- but I would like to determine the best upgrade path from a GNX and I would welcome all opinions. I intend to stay with Verizon.

Thanks in advance..

Rick A.
Pleasanton CA
Click to expand...

If you intend to stay with the Nexus line (for all the reasons you want a Nexus) you can expect the next Nexus device this fall. Rumors are it will be from Motorola.

I thought that the Nexus 4 that succeeded the Galaxy Nexus was a let down. In that the hardware wasn't an upgrade and there were issues with the back of the phone cracking etc. But all rumors make the Motorola Nexus (if true) sound very interesting.
 
gtbarry said:
If you intend to stay with the Nexus line (for all the reasons you want a Nexus) you can expect the next Nexus device this fall. Rumors are it will be from Motorola.

I thought that the Nexus 4 that succeeded the Galaxy Nexus was a let down. In that the hardware wasn't an upgrade and there were issues with the back of the phone cracking etc. But all rumors make the Motorola Nexus (if true) sound very interesting.
Click to expand...

I have serious concerns about ever seeing another Nexus device on VZW though :(

one can hope though...
 
Thanks, GT -- I'm not married to the Nexus line and I doubt I will choose to wait until Fall. What kind of upgrades are people making right now? Anyone?
 
HTC One and Galaxy S4 have all the buzz now. But if I were to choose any phone currently on the market I would get the Note 2. Simply because I realize that the amount of time I look at the screen is massive compared to the time I hold it up to my ear. (I used to say a big screen to my ear - the Note 2 being 5.5 inches - would make me look like an idiot.)
 
Never touched a One or S4 and I have only played with the Note 2.

The one thing I can say is....The Samsungs can both have the battery swapped out. I carry a spare battery and a portable back up (Anker Astro Mini). I swap out the battery about once a week and it is a god send when I am able to do so.
 
gtbarry said:
If you intend to stay with the Nexus line (for all the reasons you want a Nexus) you can expect the next Nexus device this fall. Rumors are it will be from Motorola.

I thought that the Nexus 4 that succeeded the Galaxy Nexus was a let down. In that the hardware wasn't an upgrade and there were issues with the back of the phone cracking etc. But all rumors make the Motorola Nexus (if true) sound very interesting.
Click to expand...

how was the hardware not an upgrade?? Newer faster chipset, better display, better cameras. I love my Gnexus, but I wont rule out a N$ in the near future. I'm interested in a Moto Nexus too. ;)
 
PlayfulGod said:
how was the hardware not an upgrade?? Newer faster chipset, better display, better cameras. I love my Gnexus, but I wont rule out a N$ in the near future. I'm interested in a Moto Nexus too. ;)
Click to expand...

I dont recall the specs of the N4 but they were all incremental upgrades and none of them were significant to me.

Slightly larger screen with almost the exact same resolution. Cameras were 5mp/1.3mp vs 8mp/1.3mp.

Double the RAM, yes....but nothing on the N4 sheet blew me away.
 
gtbarry said:
I dont recall the specs of the N4 but they were all incremental upgrades and none of them were significant to me.

Slightly larger screen with almost the exact same resolution. Cameras were 5mp/1.3mp vs 8mp/1.3mp.

Double the RAM, yes....but nothing on the N4 sheet blew me away.
Click to expand...

same resolution yes, a much better display tho. Better cameras, but yea not a biggie to me, I dont expect pictures from a mobile device to be professional quality. lol

Have you played with any device with the S4 chipset??? I tend to think not to say they are just incremental. But I do agree nothing that just blows you away, I feel the same, but still a very nice phone and the bang for the buck cant be beat.

Myself, only reason I am thinking of getting a N4 is my wife wants to come to tmobile now, so I will get the N4 and her get my GNexus. ;)
 
My upgrade isn't until the end of the year, but even then I'm going to hold out until one of these 3 things happens.

1) Verizon gets another Nexus phone and upgrading to it won't cost me my unlimited data or employee discount
2) Another wireless company can offer the same coverage and much better prices
3) My GNex stops working.
 
gtbarry said:
If you intend to stay with the Nexus line (for all the reasons you want a Nexus) you can expect the next Nexus device this fall. Rumors are it will be from Motorola.

I thought that the Nexus 4 that succeeded the Galaxy Nexus was a let down. In that the hardware wasn't an upgrade and there were issues with the back of the phone cracking etc. But all rumors make the Motorola Nexus (if true) sound very interesting.
Click to expand...

Actually, reports have leaked that LG has been contracted to make a "Nexus 5" that will likely be out this fall. The Motorola phone is also expected, perhaps as early as the Google I/O conference, though it appears it will be "Google X" and not have the Nexus brand.
 
Lg already supposedly confirmed they have the nexus 5

Google giving it to moto so soon would be bad pr
 
HTC One seems to be the big phone out currently. S4 gets honorable mention, but most people claim the One is the overall better phone. Down the road, we have rumors of the Motorola X-Phone, the Samsung Note 3, and the Nexus 5 probably near the end of the year. No one knows who's making the Nexus 5 yet, but strong rumors seem to point to LG again. It's still too early to know for sure.

Verizon will see another Nexus in the future, but it won't be a carrier sponsored one like the Gnex was. It might get the Nexus 6 or possibly even the 5 if Google decides to put VoLTE radios in it that are compatible with Verizon's frequencies.
 
jhawkkw said:
Verizon will see another Nexus in the future, but it won't be a carrier sponsored one like the Gnex was. It might get the Nexus 6 or possibly even the 5 if Google decides to put VoLTE radios in it that are compatible with Verizon's frequencies.
Click to expand...

That's what I'm hoping for. Or for T-Mobile's 4G to get spread as widely as Verizon's by the time that happens. Either way, I'll have an option I'd actually want.
 
Honestly, despite being a year and a half in with my GNEX, I'm not that antsy about a new phone. My only real complaint with the GNEX is that the battery life isn't great. At this point, I don't see anything out there that improves upon what the GNEX offers me. I don't see myself buying a non-Nexus phone going forward, and I don't see myself leaving Verizon....which could be a problem in and of itself.

So, unless Verizon releases another Nexus phone I don't see anything on the horizon that I'd consider switching too. Furthermore, with my grandfathered unlimited plan, I'd have to pay full retail to get a new phone which is even less appealing.
 
I'm in there with Tim K on this one. Same deal, unlimited on VZW. I will say though, that having my phone rooted on Sourcery, it's like every time I flash a new version, I get to have a new phone all over again. There are phones with better hardware, but nothing I would go "Holy cow, I'm going from a Centron to an i7 with this bad boy!". I love the simplicity of the Nexus. So for me, it'd have to be something that REALLY catches my eye, is easy enough to root and has a strong dev pushing something great for that. Not sure what that'll be, but I think it's a ways off still.
 
UncleMike said:
The Galaxy Nexus was released on Verizon December 15, 2011 ( Samsung GALAXY Nexus CDMA specs), 1 year 4 months 24 days ago - not quite 2 years. I understand that the CDMA Nexus has had its issues, but considering that Verizon actually updated it to the current version of Android, is there anything about new phones you see as a "must have" feature?
Click to expand...

toro & toroplus are always behind. VZW did better with the last one or two updates, and Sprint... well IMO they both take away from the Nexus experience. Not only on AOSP itself, but they hold up the dev community too with their slowness to update. Its sad when the dev community can put out updates for toro & toroplus faster than vzw or sprint can. ;)
 
Whatever it is, it would have to blow me away.

HTC One is certainly nice. No SD slot, no removable battery, but I could live with those compromises.

S4 also has some nice hardware. Although I'd probably have to unlock and rom it on the first day, as I don't want to deal with Touchwiz and all the other gimicky software.

Nexus 5 is certainly in the running.....if.....it will work on Verizon. The Nexus 4 was priced right, and the hardware was decent at the time, but lack of LTE and verizon compatibility killed it. Rumor is the Nexus 5 will have LTE, and that it's made by LG. 5" screen, Snapdragon 800, etc. That would be pretty awesome if it worked on Verizon.

And of course the Moto X phone. Not a lot known about it. But hopefully it will be something special.
 
So what I'm gathering from all of these replies (which, as the OP, I appreciate very much), is that there is no obvious successor to the GNX and that the next greatest thing that will compel us to switch has not yet been released.
 
There are a lot of nice phones out there. But I think that unless one blows me away on the tech sheet or has some amazing feature unique to it - I will stick to the Nexus line for an uncluttered experience and instant Android upgrades.
 
rickaltman said:
So what I'm gathering from all of these replies (which, as the OP, I appreciate very much), is that there is no obvious successor to the GNX and that the next greatest thing that will compel us to switch has not yet been released.
Click to expand...

a big wad of cash to blow or new mind blowing specs. ;)


or in my personally case my wife moving to T-Mobile and needing a GSM device for her... which = upgrade for me. ;)
 
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