A WARNING for Galaxy Nexus potential buyers

[Rampant]

Bought a Nexus, returned it by end of day.

Here is why:
1. Reception, despite the update, is still godaweful. Areas that were rock solid on my old droid (The original, droid #1) flaked like crazy. This is post update. Wow.
2. Call quality was mediocre at best. I don't know how much of this was due to the bad signal but it was just unacceptable. It's a phone. It should do phone stuff first and foremost.
3. This is a showstopper, and is an ICS issue... There is no good way to filter contacts so that it only shows contacts with phone #s. I have 1700 contacts in my google account, mostly people who have emailed me, etc. I have maybe...200 numbers. The option to 'only show contacts with phone #s' is missing in ICS. Which means that you either scroll through all these contacts OR you set up a custom group and set the nexus to just display that group (I called mine 'phone') and then remember to add every new contact with a phone # to that group. If you forget, you have to hunt them down (you DO remember their name, right??) and add them to that group for them to show up in your list. Which, given that I mainly meet people when out partying is just not going to happen, or the girl hits 'done' in my phone when she adds her number and now I gotta go find it the next morning. Yeesh. Totally unacceptable.

The rest was awesome, especially the camera, but as a PHONE it failed horribly. I'm talking total dog**** garbage. But your experience may vary.

So anybody who actually uses their phone as... a phone... should steer far far away. Geeks who like to root it and screw around with apps and other tech gizmo stuff will have a ball as long as they avoid trying to talk to anyone.

Just my 2c. I took it back and got a Razr which works much better (though it has the retarded motorola bloat on it... sigh).

My suggestion: if you really want ICS wait for a different phone. Software can fix the absolutely idiotic contacts issue, but the speaker and antenna quality is godawful and software can only do so much there.

 

[was240]

I disagree with everything you stated... I love my nexus and have no issues at all. Sorry that you had bad luck but mine works great all on all aspects. I like it better than the razr because it is easier to sync and control what gets synced.

 

[BayouFlyFisher]

If you view your contacts from the phone app it will show only contacts with phone numbers.

 

[alpine]

Too bad you feel that way.i have not done anything with the radios and better connection than my og did.

secondly, the speaker issue is being fixed, for the tune being you can grab the free app called volume plus, issue solved.

thirdly, call issue seems fine to me in fact better once again than the og.



good luck with a locked phone.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using DroidForums

 

[pc747]

Bought a Nexus, returned it by end of day.

Here is why:
1. Reception, despite the update, is still godaweful. Areas that were rock solid on my old droid (The original, droid #1) flaked like crazy. This is post update. Wow.
2. Call quality was mediocre at best. I don't know how much of this was due to the bad signal but it was just unacceptable. It's a phone. It should do phone stuff first and foremost.
3. This is a showstopper, and is an ICS issue... There is no good way to filter contacts so that it only shows contacts with phone #s. I have 1700 contacts in my google account, mostly people who have emailed me, etc. I have maybe...200 numbers. The option to 'only show contacts with phone #s' is missing in ICS. Which means that you either scroll through all these contacts OR you set up a custom group and set the nexus to just display that group (I called mine 'phone') and then remember to add every new contact with a phone # to that group. If you forget, you have to hunt them down (you DO remember their name, right??) and add them to that group for them to show up in your list. Which, given that I mainly meet people when out partying is just not going to happen, or the girl hits 'done' in my phone when she adds her number and now I gotta go find it the next morning. Yeesh. Totally unacceptable.

The rest was awesome, especially the camera, but as a PHONE it failed horribly. I'm talking total dog**** garbage. But your experience may vary.

So anybody who actually uses their phone as... a phone... should steer far far away. Geeks who like to root it and screw around with apps and other tech gizmo stuff will have a ball as long as they avoid trying to talk to anyone.

Just my 2c. I took it back and got a Razr which works much better (though it has the retarded motorola bloat on it... sigh).

My suggestion: if you really want ICS wait for a different phone. Software can fix the absolutely idiotic contacts issue, but the speaker and antenna quality is godawful and software can only do so much there.

1) Yes the reception has issues and I been hounding them since day one. With that said I believe its software and will be fixed considering we had similar issues with tbolt, bionic, and razr.

2) Eh this can be fixed with volume +

I must admit this is the best phone I have ever used and the only Achilles heel is the reception. At the same time the nexus is not for every one. I am on 4.03 and its a big improvement over 4.02.

 

[Rampant]

I use contacts for a LOT of stuff.

The sound quality issue was NOT volume. It wasn't that it was hard to hear, but hard to understand. More compressed sounding and losing a lot of voice detail. People I called complained as well. It might just be my area (NC). One of the sales people had a nexus and let me use his to compare... his was worse actually... which means there might be some serious variation in how nice the phone is, hardware quality.

The rest of the phone was top notch but reception issues are just totally unacceptable. The new Razr is getting perfect reception where I am where I was dropping calls left and right a day ago. Your region may vary.

The sad thing is I liked everything about the phone other than it was unusable lol.

It is possible that voice quality will be fixed but I won't wait for people to fix a problem like that. It was so bad on my phone that even a day was enough for me to send it back. Areas where I normally get 4-5 bars got 1-2 and people's voices cut out constantly.

Other than that... great phone, as long as you didn't use the phone. I liked the size, build quality seemed fine, liked the way it fit in my hand, but at least in my area the phone aspect was not really usable reliably, and that is a total showstopper for me.

 

[Rampant]

for reference, I work in advertising, organize a nonprofit, and am constantly on the road and talking to people. Bad reception and call clarity (people on the other end complained to) is just not going to fly, not even for 24 hours. I can't wait for samsung/verizon to debug their phone nor will I wait and hope.

The Razr has been flawless thus far, and people have noticed I sound 'like you again'. And I haven't had a single dropped call vs 10+ yesterday.

 

[tjk629]

Samsung phones in general aren't stellar in the reception/call quality department.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[GeneralZod]

good luck with a locked phone.

I think people drastically overestimate the value (to the buying population) of having an unlocked phone. Of all the pros / cons people list for phones on these forums, a locked / unlocked phone is probably the pro / con the typical buyer cares about least. I've been following the Nexus and RAZR forums for weeks, trying to decide between the two, and having an unlocked phone isn't even something I'm weighing in my decision. Again, just a matter of personal preference.

 

[manilaboy1vic]

i wonder if there is a bad batch of phones out there.. ive shown no signal but still able to browse.. i havent dropped any calls at all.

the launch was not the greatest either.. i believe there was a nationwide outage that followed the launch.. .. whatever.. i dig the nexus.. keeping it. :hailancingNexus

 

[Chizzele]

Can't explain but i am still on 4.0.2 and never dropped a call, no data drops, no issues what so ever. I got well over 2000 contacts on my Gmail account and my phone will display the contacts with a phone number first.

I had the RAZR for 5 weeks prior and dropped data 3 - 8 times per day (3 and 4g), call quality was fine (just like the Nexus) and built quality was great (beats the nexus). BUT, full of blur and bloatware, to wide, CRAPPY Camera, speaker rattle, over all not a bad device but wont compare to the Nexus IMO.

 

[honors21]

Nexus is a solid phone I go through phones like crazy but I finally found a keeper!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using DroidForums

 

[Nubbie]

Lol. Guys guys! He had It for a whole day! lets all heed his warning! I'm taking my phone back this instant!

 

[ænyoc]

If you view your contacts from the phone app it will show only contacts with phone numbers.

This is true... I struggled with the "where is the option to 'view only contacts with phone numbers'" dilemma myself. Then I realized the phone app contacts were phone number only. The contacts app was everyone. Which, I actually like more. With access to both, I don't have to switch back and forth when I need someones email and I don't have their phone number.

Also, we knew before the phone came out that Motorola has historically had better radio technology than Samsung. On that note though, my reception has been almost as good as with my OGD. Had some issues when I was in the boonies, but that's to be expected. No problems anywhere in the greater San Diego area that I've found yet. In fact, driving down the 5 in the middle of nowhere right now, my wife's OGD is registering -71 dBm 0asu and mine's at -75 dBm 2asu right now.

Fwiw, maybe you got one with a bad radio... it does happen with newly released, mass produced electronics.

Camera... if you bought it for that... never mind, that subject has been thoroughly beaten on this forum.

But... if your happy with the RAZR, why are you here bashing the nexus? You're only inviting those of us that love our nexus phones to give you a million reasons why you're wrong and you should have kept it.



Survivor of the Great 2011 Verizon Google Samsung Galaxy Nexus Prime Debacle and proud owner of a Galaxy Nexus and Original Droid 1/Milestone. Sent from my Sexy Lexus Galaxy Nexus.

 

[Rampant]

I never rooted, unlocked, etc, my droid. I'm considering doing it to the Razr because motorola added all their retarded stuff to the phone, which isn't problematic but I'd rather remove it for battery life, etc. I couldn't care less about unlocking the phone otherwise. Or overclocking it, etc.

I bought a phone to use as a phone, to communicate, not as a mod/videogame/etc platform.

Maybe a few years ago in college I would still care because I had the spare time to screw around with such things as a hobby but these days I just want stuff to work. I would have even gone iphone this time around but they don't even have good built in GPS (???)... though apparently you can pay for one. Oh, and apparently they can't get call quality solid either lol.

Things I care about:
1. I bought a *phone* to use as a *phone* because its a *phone* that I use to talk to people on other *phones*. I include txt service in this.
2. GPS. I drive a LOT (like 20-25k a year, sometimes more) so GPS is necessary. I know apple doesn't read these forums but still.... FAIL for apple.
3. Photos, etc. The Nexus was badass here and my old droid so useless I gave up and bought a spare camera... which I usually forgot. Razr is nowhere as good as nexus here but WAY WAY better than the droid 1. It'll do. It doesn't take 30 seconds to load or take pics and quality is better but not excellent.
4. internet/reading reviews, quick surfing, etc. Razr is good here, nexus was about the same. Both excellent.
...
17 or so... (cause 5-16 are pretty neutral): Apps. I only used a few on the droid and those were mainly to deal with stupid stuff. So, I use SMS Backup + because the default setup doesn't save txt messages. I use something or another to take quick notes and save text files, another for doing voice recorder stuff on occasion.
Social media I usually just use the online version cause the apps suck but if they ever got those so I liked them I would care about that.

Stuff I never really use:
Games, because I have better stuff to do with my time OR I just go home and fire up the big screen TV and the PS3/Xbox/wii/computer.
ebook readers: the Razr and nexus both have pretty big screens but compared to even a softcover they are tiny and hard to read. I'll just enjoy a real book, thanks. I make exceptions for technical specs/programming manuals when I need them. Usually a web browswer handles that though, most technical books are horrible. Google and search FTW.
All that other stuff. I'm sure there is lots of stuff out there. I don't know what I might be missing, as the android market never inspired much confidence in the quality of the applications. I tried a bunch on my droid and 99% sucked horribly. If you guys think I'm missing something awesome let me know.