Bought a droid 4 today - should i return it- please answer asap!

[la1481]

Sorry guys- newbie here just got a new 2 year verizon contract today for the droid 4 (upgraded from the original droid) but i have one big question- should i return it?! Here's why- while i love the keyboard- i was really looking forward to getting google now and the 4 operating system- but this is still running 2 something? (Sorry again i'm a newbie) i can't hack/crack my phone or whatever and put it on - so will this phone ever get the new operating system and google now or no? If not what should i return it for at verizon - the people there werent very helpful today.

THANKS SO MUCH!

 

[la1481]

Any help or suggestion would be greatly appreciated - i hate phone contracts, i don't make a lot of money and i know it sounds silly but my phone is one of the few "luxury" items i can afford- and i don't want to be stuck with this thing for 2 years if it won't get me the new operating system and google now and all that good stuff anytime soon. But also i don't know what to switch to at verizon because again i hate touch screen typing- any help would be great- thanks so much guys!

 

[LaurelRaven]

Typing on modern touch screens is a lot better than it used to be, especially with Swype. That being said, everyone has their own preference...

I don't think Android 4.0, or Ice CreamSandwich, has been released for that phone yet, but it will be very soon if not. It does not have Google Now, as that is on Android 4.1, or Jelly Bean. I don't know I'd the D4 is going to get it...i don't think anyone knows yet. There are no phones with it yet that I'm aware of.

If you prefer a physical keyboard, you should probably keep the D4. It is the best physical keyboard phone on the market right now, and it is getting updated.

Sent from my ICS Bionic

 

[la1481]

Thanks Laurel - does any1 know then if there are any phones that are at verizon that will be guaranteed to be getting the jelly bean update- i'm really interested in google now and everything else i've seen from jellybean - i just don't want to get locked into a phone for 2 year and not get it.. That said from playing around with it so far today I love the droid 4 so far- including the keyboard (still not certain i could use a touch screen only which is why i went with the 4 in the first place- tried going touch only when i had my droid 1 and i couldn't) - only thing i've heard bad about the 4 is the battery life

But it's just so weird this D4 is still on 2 operating system and not even to 4.0 yet - it's almost like it's being forgotten about which makes me think if it's having a hard time just getting 4.0 it's never gonna get 4.1 . I'm terrible with the new technology updates and all that, so this once every 2 years phone this huge for me and i don't want to get the 4 and have it be slow/outdated already - or a 5 come out w

 

[zomnomnombie]

I'll clarify some things first then offer some suggestions.

-The Droid 4 will be updated to 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich.

-Google Now is a 4.1, Jelly Bean application.

-Motorola has not said anything regarding updates to 4.1. It seems as though they would but it's possible several phones could be left at 4.0.

Given this.

If a physical keyboard is absolutely necessary, stick with the Droid 4.

If 4.1 Google Now is worth the loss of a physical keyboard switch to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which is already running Jelly Bean. Or the Samsung Galaxy S3 which is due to get it relatively soon.

Many new devices are likely to launch this fall, most with 4.0, some with 4.1 and all likely to be running 4.1 at some point.

The RAZR/RAZR MAXX is likely to get Jelly Bean but there is a chance it may not.

Safest bets are either:

-Keeping the D4.
-Switching to one of the Samsung phones.
-Waiting until fall.

 

[TisMyDroid]

Welcome to the forums! Great information so far by laurel and zomnom. Like laurel said, swype works very well and you may find you like it better than the physical keyboard. I know I felt I needed to have a physical keyboard until I discovered swype... I never opened my slider to get to the physical keyboard after.

It is hard to know whether the D4 will be getting jelly bean os or not. I lean more to the side that it won't.

The phone to see the jelly bean os first will most likely be the galaxy S3.

In the Droid News forum, there is a thread that lists the phones and tablets that will most likely get the jb os.

Sent from my DROID RAZR Maxx using Droid Forums

 

[la1481]

Thanks everyone, ive checked out this forum before but again just having the old droid1 for the past 2 years ive never made an account/commented. Looks like i have a decision to make within the next few days - the big thing is the keyboard. I went from a BB to the droid1 - i love my keyboard and am a heavy keyboard user (But wow i had to replace it 4 times with the droid1 due to it bubbling up) but i like how the galaxy 3 looks and i REALLY want jellybean.. I've just never used a touch screen only on my phone ( i use it for heavy text/emails)

TISMYDROID & ZOM- why do you lean to the D4 not getting jellybean or not? Like i said i find it weird that it's still operating on 2. But it's def getting ice cream. I just don't get if it's getting ice cream why it wouldn't also get jellybean too. ... I wish i could wait until fall but for a few reasons i had to upgrade/switch #'s accounts today so i kinda got forced into buying aphone today and the guys at verizon sold me on the 4 because i told them i liked the keyboard - but i really want jelly bean - hard decision....

What would you guys do if you were me- return it and get the galaxy s3 or keep it and just hope... Do you all have the D4? don't you guys want jellybean/google now- or it's not that big of a deal to you guys?

Thanks so much for indulging me on this!

 

[TisMyDroid]

Moto has not necessarily been the quickest to update their devices. The Razr's just got ICS. The Bionic is still waiting for theirs. The D4 is still on gingerbread so it would be quite sometime before it would even get ICS, let alone JB. But you never know. Stranger things have happened.

I think you have to decide which you will be happier with; a physical keyboard or the latest OS. That is a tough one because sometimes it is hard to know until you actually experience it. You have 14 days (minus the #of days you have had the D4) to decide. On your D4, try using a swype on screen keyboard for a few days. That may make your decision for you. It is pretty amazing. All you do is glide your finger over the letters of the word you want to type and it knows what you want to type and is amazingly accurate. Then it automatically adds a space after each word.

Hope this helps.

Sent from my DROID RAZR Maxx using Droid Forums

 

[myfishbear]

i lread ran a jb alpha on this phone... its just a couple steps away from getting it in cm10... plus i got a nice ics rom...http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-4-roms/219332-rom-port-eclipse-ics-1-2-a-2.html#post2219413 there are instructions there how to update it from 2.3 to 4.0.4

 

[Caesars]

I would say return the droid 4, but obviosuly it depends on how much you want the keyboard. I was literally going to pull the trigger on the d4 but I didn't like the screen (maybe it was just the one on the floor, looked like the x2 screen). So I had it narrowed down to the maxx and the nexus . The thing is I really do miss my keyboard on one hand...I had the Samsung epic and it was probably the best android keyboard I've experienced. On the other hand Swype is an awesome app that makes touchscreens very doable. You could return it and wait, I'm sure in November/December, the phones you like now will be cheaper and it will give you more time to compare and research your final decision.

 

[drew96dawg]

The gnex is supposed to be guaranteed to get every new os for the next two years so if you could consider that. The only thing I don't love about the gnex is the lack of gorilla glass

Sent from my DROID2 using Xparent Blue Tapatalk 2

 

[tcrews]

97% of all new Android phones are sold with 2.3.x OS on them (Gingerbread).

0% of all Android phones ever came with 3.x.x OS on them (Honeycomb - tablet only OS).

3% of all Android phones are shipping with 4.x.x OS (Ice Cream Sandwich) and a number of the 98% are getting upgraded to 4.0.x (ICS).

0% of phones have shipped with 4.1.x OS (Jelly Bean) at this time....only the Nexus 7 (tablet) and Motorola Xoom WiFi (tablet) have official manufacturer released 4.1.1 on them.


No one knows if any of the current phones will ever get JB 4.1.1 on them. Some carriers/manufacturers may use Jelly Bean as an excuse to get customers to buy new(er) devices. Some may get upgraded. Since most are still waiting on ICS to be released for their devices......we'll have to hit that milestone before most manufacturers will start talking about upgrading/models for 4.1.1

A few new phones just announced are set to release with ICS on them.

There is no way to know if the Droid 4 will or will not get Jelly Bean on it. ICS is coming absolutely....and an upgrade to JB from ICS shouldn't be as difficult as it was to upgrade the Droid 4 from Gingerbread to ICS. But there is still no way to know at this time if that will happen.

 

[LaurelRaven]

The numbering is a bit confusing if you aren't used to it. 4.0 ice cream sandwich was only released last November, if i remember correctly, and it was the version directly after 2.3 Gingerbread for phones (3.0 Honeycomb was a tablet-only OS). Motorola seems to have taken a long time to upgrade it's phones to ICS (short for Ice Cream Sandwich), but really, almost all phones that were promised the upgrade took about as long.

Jelly Bean probably won't see market saturation for about a year, and phone manufacturers aren't incentivized to provide updates to phones they've already sunk a lot of research and development money on, and aren't making any more money on. They would prefer you buy a new phone. That is why we suspect Motorola won't update the D4 to Jelly Bean, as well as the fact that the D3 won't get the ICS upgrade in spite of being fully capable of it and being released not that long before it came out.

That being said, Motorola is now owned by Google, so that may actually change things...at least, that is what all us Moto users are hoping.

Sent from my ICS Bionic

 

[la1481]

Well thank you again everyone, i guess i'm just going to play with the droid 4 for a few days and use it WITHOUT the keyboard to see if i could go keyless (i just got the phone saturday so i still have time) I wish i could wait until the fall/winter but some things happened with my family and i had to get my own contract so if i didnt get it yesterday i'd be without a phone... I really enjoy the 4 i like everything EXCEPT the OS - i'm glad ice cream sandwich is coming but it just sucks many of you don't think it'll get jellybean.. This is why i hate phones/contracts - you buy and one and its immediately old and won't even get the upgrade. I really like what i see about jellybean so if i switch it'll be to the galaxy 3- but we'll see how much i need the keyboard in the next few days.. Such a hard decision- but thanks for helping a newbie out!

 

[TisMyDroid]

You're welcome... and you are right, such a hard decision. I spent months deciding between Razr, Rezound and Nexus. I think once you see how swype touch keyboard works for you, you will have a better idea of what you want to do.