My gripes with the Nexus so far

[triplejnj]

I posted this in the Nexus/Razr thread and then realized I wrote a short story so thought I'd share in a separate post. Coming from an OG Droid, I have been contemplating which phone to upgrade to for some time now. My list was narrowed down to the Nexus and Razr.

I waited until the Nexus was released and picked it up based on the hype, specs, and positive reviews of the GSM version. I now have until 1/15/12 to decide if its a keeper or if I switch to the Razr. I do like this phone, but it does have its share of issues. Some of the issues are just due to the fact that its a new phone with a new OS and these will be addressed in updates. Some of the other issues are not and I would have to live with. The pros of the Nexus have been discussed many times (ICS, NFC, no bloat, etc) so I wont go into them. Compared to the Razr, here are the cons I am finding with this phone:

1) While the phone feels sturdy, the build quality is just not the same as the Razr. I hate phone cases, yet I have one on the Nexus now. I hate screen protectors, but I think I will be putting one on soon. With the Razr I would have no problem keeping the phone "naked" like I did with my OG Droid for 2 years.
2) Even after several full charge cycles, battery life will not be as good as the Razr, and thats not saying much. Granted this is partly due to the much nicer screen, but still, battery life is important to me. I don't even have LTE turned on (don't have it in my area) and the battery is still draining rather quickly. Yes, I can get a full day, but I am not a heavy power user.
3) The camera has been MUCH less than desirable so far. Yes, it is quick at snapping a pic, but whats the point if the output is a mushy mess? I took many pictures at a family holiday gathering yesterday and seriously could not get ONE good picture. It was daytime, indoors, plenty of natural light. I was sure to hold my hand steady, touch to focus, and then snap. Yet still the pictures just looked a little blurry and simply lacked detail. I had to keep reverting to my wife's iPhone 4s to take some pictures we can keep. I know people will say "Its a phone not a camera. If you want good pics use a real camera", but I disagree. Technology is at the point where quality pics are achievable from a smartphone, but in my opinion not from this phone. Hopefully this is something that can be fixed in an update or aftermarket app, but I'm not counting on it.
4) Bugs in ICS. I am sure most will get resolved in updates. I've had a few random black screen reboots. I am using the email widget which I LOVE, but after some time the widget just doesn't want to refresh with new email, so I have to remove the widget and re-apply it.
5) Volume too low and vibrate too week. With my OG Droid, the vibrate was nice and strong so in my pants pocket I would know right away when a call or notification was coming in. The vibrate mechanism of the Nexus just feels much weaker and I often don't even notice it. Not sure if this can be fixed in an update. And we are all aware of the low volume issues. I hear there is an app that will help, but havent yet tried it.
6)I might be alone on this, but I do notice occassional stuttering when scrolling through the app list, screens, etc. I didn't notice this on the Razr I played with in store. Of course it might be a different story if I brought it home.

Please note I am not bashing the phone. These are just the cons I am noticing. I do realize the Razr has its own set of cons which I will need to investigate should I decide to switch. I do plan on keeping this Nexus at least until the 2nd week of January and then will decide. This will allow time for the 4.0.3 update to be released and for me to continue personalizing and tweaking the phone, settings, etc. I have not included the Rezound in my short list. I played with it in store and while it is a slick phone, I found it too bulky and do not like HTC Sense. Again, just personal opinion.

[Killuminati]

I'm with you on battery life. Just has not been as great as I would have hoped. I'm still at the stage where I don't put my phone down for too long. So that may be a cause, but overall my battery has not been terrific.

And I completely agree on the sound. The volume really isn't NEARLY as loud as it should be for the caliber of a phone. Do any of the apps, paid or not seem to make any difference?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

[scdown]

It's definitely not a perfect phone. It does, though, work well enough to meet my objective of getting off the axis of Moto/Verizon software updates (they identified issues in the first week, had a fix in the first month, took two more months to release it, and this was just for fixes, not even ICS).

[MrKleen]

Pretty much all you can do is work with the phone... (like you are). Determine what you don't like about it... (which you are). Determine what you do like about it....

Then ask yourself if the things you like are great enough for you. And if you are able to compensate for the things you don't like.

I don't know if this means anything to you or not but keep in mind that this is a Nexus. Which means it will get a great deal of attention from the developers. I know some don't care about this but it is sort of the point with the Nexus.

When I got my original OG I had all kinds of issues with it and was on my third one when I rooted and loaded my first rom. From that point forward I never had another issue. (That was before the 2.1 update)

Only you know what to do... good luck with your decision either way!

[triplejnj]

It's definitely not a perfect phone. It does, though, work well enough to meet my objective of getting off the axis of Moto/Verizon software updates (they identified issues in the first week, had a fix in the first month, took two more months to release it, and this was just for fixes, not even ICS).

But aren't we now on the axis of Google/Verizon software updates? Granted, we should get updates sooner, but if I'm not mistaken, Verizon first gets it to load up and test with the 2 bloatware apps before it gets rolled out to us. Unless of course we root and go the ROM route.

[Skygazr]

I was on the fence, but I made the leap from the OG. If your coming from an OG, you'll really love the Nexus. It was sad when I turned my OG off (for reason other than reset or battery pull).

[Detonation]

Regarding #5, I really think a lot of the low volume gripes are because the stock ring tones are quiet (and terrible IMO). Try listening to the "Pyxis" ringtone, its as loud as anything was on my Droid X.
I will agree the vibrate is a lot weaker, but the Moto/Droid vibrates are really strong. The Nexus's vibrate is no weaker than the Incredible...I think the fact the phones are plastic vs metal has something to do with it. I just use custom apps to change my vibration patterns to be longer and more noticeable.

[KeepItReal]

So far the worse for me has been my calendar sync is screwed up! It took one event and its been entered in every day for eternity, twice as I share another gmail calendar! And it is on every day not in a recurring event so I have to delete it on every day. Lol. Gonna log on to Google online, I hope it can see duplicates. I really depend on the calendar : (

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using DroidForums

[screaminz2002]

You can always download something like mp3 ringtone maker. Mine is as loud as playing the song. There are other apps which will let you edit the volume of the mp3.
For txts and email I went online to find the tweet sound. If you haven't heard this it sounds like a bird call. It is so loud my co-workers have dubbed it the most obnoxious tone ever. I never miss an alert though and I can hear it anywhere in the house.
Could some of you stuttering and bugs be from other programs interfering? Remeber there are a lot of apps out there that have not been tested for ICS compatibility. I say this because I had something similar so I uninstalled a bunch of stuff and rebooted. Hasn't come back so I am reloading the apps one at a time as I need them.

[pyro6128]

But aren't we now on the axis of Google/Verizon software updates? Granted, we should get updates sooner, but if I'm not mistaken, Verizon first gets it to load up and test with the 2 bloatware apps before it gets rolled out to us. Unless of course we root and go the ROM route.

This is incorrect. Those are just apps, there's nothing to test. Its not like blur or sense


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using DroidForums