I don't argue the greatness of the Note 3 but it is a completely different class of phone. Phablet vs phone. I personally do not care for the size of the Note and it is not an option for me. If you compare the Nexus to the S4 then it is a fair comparison and same class of phone. Just my opinion.
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Deep thoughts with Pc747: My early thoughts on the nexus 5
- Thread starter pc747
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I don't argue the greatness of the Note 3 but it is a completely different class of phone. Phablet vs phone. I personally do not care for the size of the Note and it is not an option for me. If you compare the Nexus to the S4 then it is a fair comparison and same class of phone. Just my opinion.
HarvesterX™
Member
Question. be long before we have 4.4 for the G2 (straight from the mouths of the developers in charge of the G2). I share the same sentiments about gettingtthe latest flagship phone and then flashing my own Android experience (or purchasing a GPS if available). No SD card? I've never used up my 32GBs of storage on my GNex or G2. Why? I keep all my apps and music I listen to all the time on the phone. The rest.. The really really large stuff like movies? Well, we have OTG USB Flash drives for that. People seem to use that as an argument to justify their choice or purchase. We have a tendency to want OUR stuff to be the BEST and will argue night and day even if we are wrong. I do t care if updates come from LG for the G2 as quickly. It's already been said that they (CyanogenMod) are already working on 11 and that once 10.1 (or whatever versus is the latest.. I'm on the latest Monthly Snapshot.. I never cared for CyanogenMod in the past but this has made a perfect phone even better still
The N5 is a solid phone what shows off Kit Kat. That's it. Nothing more nothing less. Sorry. The BEST CPU out now by the way isn't the SD800, it's the for in the 5s...and I have admitting that because I disdain Apple. The G2 is one of the few devices thst actually can compete with the A7 and it's clocked almost twice as fast. Sorry, my early Sunday rant. And I forgot another HUGE pro for the N5. You get a slightly tuned down version of the G2 for a price thst cannot be beaten.
Question for anyone who's compared the display on each device (N5 and G2). Does the N5 share the outstanding display the G2 has? I'd imagine so and if so it's an awesome phone for the price. Concerning lack of sdcards on devices again, the people who need more than 32GBs can look outside the box and try a OTG USB. They work quite well. It's not as pretty as having your storhpneage device hidden inside the phone but for files such as movies or large files you are working on and don't need on your device 24/7 they can't be beat. I'm a developer and work with LOTS of files. My G2 IS my main home PC except when I need to build something using my Linux box. I also have more cloud storage space then I'll ever use in my lifetime (spread across companies) but that's not an option for everyoneso iI understand. Data caps (thankfully I don't have one and havean aawesome promo plan I've had for years.. Thanks to DF who gave us the info on it (The staff here rocks). Enough of renting and my disassociated thoughts and ramblings ffor the morning. Back to gaming. (^o^)
The N5 is a solid phone what shows off Kit Kat. That's it. Nothing more nothing less. Sorry. The BEST CPU out now by the way isn't the SD800, it's the for in the 5s...and I have admitting that because I disdain Apple. The G2 is one of the few devices thst actually can compete with the A7 and it's clocked almost twice as fast. Sorry, my early Sunday rant. And I forgot another HUGE pro for the N5. You get a slightly tuned down version of the G2 for a price thst cannot be beaten.
Question for anyone who's compared the display on each device (N5 and G2). Does the N5 share the outstanding display the G2 has? I'd imagine so and if so it's an awesome phone for the price. Concerning lack of sdcards on devices again, the people who need more than 32GBs can look outside the box and try a OTG USB. They work quite well. It's not as pretty as having your storhpneage device hidden inside the phone but for files such as movies or large files you are working on and don't need on your device 24/7 they can't be beat. I'm a developer and work with LOTS of files. My G2 IS my main home PC except when I need to build something using my Linux box. I also have more cloud storage space then I'll ever use in my lifetime (spread across companies) but that's not an option for everyoneso iI understand. Data caps (thankfully I don't have one and havean aawesome promo plan I've had for years.. Thanks to DF who gave us the info on it (The staff here rocks). Enough of renting and my disassociated thoughts and ramblings ffor the morning. Back to gaming. (^o^)
One of the main things everyone has been complaining about with the Nexus 5 (and the Moto X for that matter) is the lack of 'top of the line' hardware specs. Not the best processor. Not the most RAM. Not the biggest battery. Quite frankly, I believe that Motorola (with the X) and [hopefully] Google (with the Nex5) have shown that you do not NEED a 12 core processor and 6 gigs of RAM to run Android effectively. I think the complaining about hardware is a moot point (with the exception of a camera, because software can only do so much to help). Maybe everyone is looking at the Nex5 in the wrong way as a 'forward thinking' device. Maybe we should be looking at the software optimizations as the 'forward thinking' aspect of the phone. This, I understand, is really a promotion of the new OS rather than the phone. However, Google is giving us a reasonably priced top of the line (yes, I really think it is) device with which to experience the new OS.
While, generally speaking, I agree with the negative sentiment toward non-removable batteries, I feel like a non-removable battery is acceptable if the phone's battery is capable of lasting through a full day of use. As far as non-expandable storage, I'm okay with 32gb. Anything less is worthless. Anything more would be a bonus. I'd probably use it if I had it, but I am happy with 32gb.
*NOTE*
Thinking about it, 'top of the line' should be replaced with 'best' because the phone really is on par with other flagship phones. It just does not have the 'best' hardware that everyone seems to expect in a Nexus device.
While, generally speaking, I agree with the negative sentiment toward non-removable batteries, I feel like a non-removable battery is acceptable if the phone's battery is capable of lasting through a full day of use. As far as non-expandable storage, I'm okay with 32gb. Anything less is worthless. Anything more would be a bonus. I'd probably use it if I had it, but I am happy with 32gb.
*NOTE*
Thinking about it, 'top of the line' should be replaced with 'best' because the phone really is on par with other flagship phones. It just does not have the 'best' hardware that everyone seems to expect in a Nexus device.
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I think the argument with the Moto X is the price point. I tried it out for a few weeks and it was a nice device. Just not $600 off contract worth of nice. If it was faster and had a bigger and better display it might have been worth it. But comping it to the G2, which is $50 cheaper off contract, it is night and day. And I haven't really seen the argument of the N5 not having top of the line specs. It has the same guts as the G2 which is described as "a beast" and the best phone currently on the market. I don't really know what people are wanting these days. The G2 is just flat out fast and smooth no matter what you are doing with it.
Speaking for myself removable batteries and storage don't really matter. Phones like the G2 and the Droid Maxx easily get you through a full day without being tethered to a charger. And I do not store music or movies on any of my phones. I know there are many that do though so I can see their argument.
I would have the Nexus 5 instead of my Note 3 if the Nexus 5 were available on Verizon. I only bought the N3 because Verizon is my only option for reliable coverage in my area. I have yet to put a micro SD in my N3 or remove the battery. Everyone is claiming that the Nexus 5 doesn't have top of the line specs, but it has the same processor as my N3. The N3 does have more ram, but I think it needs more to handle all of the extra stuff touchwiz adds, especially multiwindow. I didn't want to sign a new contract with Verizon or give up unlimited, but i did both. At least i got the 6GB max plan. It will realistically be 2 years before any carrier besides AT&T gets decent coverage in my area. I won't leave Verizon for another carrier that doesn't offer unlimited data. I would have considered trying T-Mobile if the Nexus line of devices was capable of using T-Mo's WiFi calling. I know that you can use google voice and port this and do that and make and receive calls via WiFi, but I would want to call and text just like normal with the native dialer and sms app using my carrier assigned phone number. I love my N3 but thought I would get more use out of the Touchwiz features. If it were available I would flash a Paranoid Android rom right now and never miss Touchwiz. With all that said I do not regret buying my N3, it is a superb device with and amazing screen and battery life. It does what I ask it to do and does it well. I will miss the unlocked bootloader of my galaxy nexus.
HarvesterX™
Member
Well . thought reply, if not a but disassociated and ranking on, exactly as I do when I have a lot to say at the sour of a moment and not enough time to think first 
Also have adult onset ADHD (diagnosed around age 26, just about ten years ago). I get harped on a lot (I'm other forums mainly) because I review without bias and am brutally honest (like admitting to myself that the A7 in the 5s seriously outperforms the SD800 and the only reasons the SD800 even managed to score higher in a "few" benchmarks was due to the almost twice as fast clocked CPU. But one needs to check facts the best that he/she can t the time (I've been known to post in a hurry and get facts wrong.. Which I correct if I find out or admit to). I also have a strong passion for my G2 and try to educate others Why. BP. t it's the best smartphone out right now (Android) and correct infactual information. So it seems like I'm a LG . I actually hated the company prior to this phone. There are a lot of under the hood spec and tech improvements not advertised thst they really innovated on.
So you're probably wondering what this has to do with what you posted. The Note 3 is to phablets what the G2 is to phones, and I can tell you appreciate all that it is. Yes, removing TouchWiz will help you tremendously. The inexcusable lag (that most seem to report on) I believe stems from TouchWiz and yes, the multi window multitasking uses up a large chunk of memory (Why I believe they went with 3GBs at the time). I read from Samsung the the extra memory is for that use, but it's really a moot point as if TouchWiz actually was useful (like LG's UI which I severely miss after flashing CyanogenMod 10.2) then you wouldn't ever miss thst extra GB of RAM. 2GB is more than enough (the 5s that outperforms our Android's has 1GB RAM and a CPU clocked at like 1.2/1.3GHz, but of course carries a smaller footprint. Not to mention we run on a virtual machine and not in a closed environment).
Also have adult onset ADHD (diagnosed around age 26, just about ten years ago). I get harped on a lot (I'm other forums mainly) because I review without bias and am brutally honest (like admitting to myself that the A7 in the 5s seriously outperforms the SD800 and the only reasons the SD800 even managed to score higher in a "few" benchmarks was due to the almost twice as fast clocked CPU. But one needs to check facts the best that he/she can t the time (I've been known to post in a hurry and get facts wrong.. Which I correct if I find out or admit to). I also have a strong passion for my G2 and try to educate others Why. BP. t it's the best smartphone out right now (Android) and correct infactual information. So it seems like I'm a LG . I actually hated the company prior to this phone. There are a lot of under the hood spec and tech improvements not advertised thst they really innovated on. So you're probably wondering what this has to do with what you posted. The Note 3 is to phablets what the G2 is to phones, and I can tell you appreciate all that it is. Yes, removing TouchWiz will help you tremendously. The inexcusable lag (that most seem to report on) I believe stems from TouchWiz and yes, the multi window multitasking uses up a large chunk of memory (Why I believe they went with 3GBs at the time). I read from Samsung the the extra memory is for that use, but it's really a moot point as if TouchWiz actually was useful (like LG's UI which I severely miss after flashing CyanogenMod 10.2) then you wouldn't ever miss thst extra GB of RAM. 2GB is more than enough (the 5s that outperforms our Android's has 1GB RAM and a CPU clocked at like 1.2/1.3GHz, but of course carries a smaller footprint. Not to mention we run on a virtual machine and not in a closed environment).
HarvesterX™
Member
I split the post up because typing becomes a pain with this forum app on large posts. I would flash a custom vanilla Android ROM on ASAP If I had the Note 3 and a suitable ROM. I don't care for Samsung but many do and it's a damn nice phablet. I REALLY hope LG releases a LG 4.3 or LG 4.4 OTA ROM as I'd LOVE to run a rooted one of those over CyanogenMod. That seems to be a shared sentiment and a justice to how well LG's UI is (though it takes a little customization to get rid of some ugliness but I'm sure they'll iron things out later on. I haven't checked at all, but is the Note going to get CyanogenMod or AOKP support? I never liked CyanogenMod either (daring back to OG DROID days) but I think I've changed my mind a lot after running 10.2 on the G2. And with a custom ROM you'll have an extra gig of RAM to play with, but if you go with a Pure Android ROM you'll lose multi window multitasking like I did when making the change (we only had a few apps to choose from but custom ROMs solved thst.. It was nice having the Browser open on one side and root Explorer on the other side making code edits..). It's a good and take ecosystem I guess. I used to score like 17478 in IceStorm Unlimted but now with CyanogenMod it's dropped to lile 10-11k. It's not like I miss it as I can play Dead Trigger with Tegra 4 mod without any framerate drops) none that I notice at least). 3d Optimization could be cleaned up but in reality I've only noticed improvements to performance. Usually I use benchmarks like 3dmark before and after making changes to my system. No stressing it though. Can always flash to a custom LG ROM if it bothers me that much and the only thing I'd miss is going back to 4.2.
I liked your enthusiasm hence my reply (^o^)
I liked your enthusiasm hence my reply (^o^)
Actually, both the Moto X and the G2 are $49.99 on contract. I picked up my Moto X on the Nexus 5 release day after discovering that the Galaxy Nexus wouldn't be receiving KitKat. Seemed to be a hint that it was time for an upgrade. That in addition to how unstable my Galaxy Nexus had become, even though I still do love the phone. The Moto X may be $199.99 or $99.99 on contract directly from Verizon, but there are several outlets that sell it for $49.99, Best Buy included (where I bought mine, with price match). I came to the conclusion that I wanted stock android on Verizon, and the Moto X is the only phone that offers anything of this sort. Wirefly and Amazon also both sell the Moto X for $49.99. I am sure there are other outlets with similar pricing for the Moto X. The cheap price was another reason I took the leap. The G2 is definitely a nice device, but it certainly isn't for me. That's what makes Android so awesome though, CHOICE. I have yet to encounter any sort of stutter and the battery life on the Moto X is incredible. It takes everything I throw at it.
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This sounds like my exact situation. I travel to NYC by train and 3G/4G LTE signal is atrocious on the route.
My mom just got Freedom Pop and is testing it as well. It's using Sprint 4G. It would be worth taking that on my commute to see how it holds the wireless signal compared to my GNex.
Since I passed up the Nexus 4, I would consider the 5, and moving to TMo to test it out for a time. It's a good price for a top tier phone, even it is sans the sdcard and removable battery.
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trestevenson
Active Member
Seeing all of the discussion in this thread reminded me of this op-ed on Droid Life I read a few weeks ago - Waking From the Nexus Dream. I find myself in agreement with much of what he writes in this piece, although I'd still be purchasing the Nexus 5 if it were available on Verizon. Since it's not, my most likely options are to either: 1) go with the G2, 2) buy a Moto X, or 3) get the Nexus 5 on T-Mobile.
Get a G2, flash an AOSP ROM and you have a Nexus 5 with a bigger screen and battery, a bit better camera, and the rear buttons. Moto X is a sweet phone. I just really wish it had a bigger screen. It is essentially a 4.3" when you subtract the area occupied by the onscreen buttons. With the fact I was paying full price I was going to have a bigger display no matter what. That is why I am still trying both the G2 and Droid Maxx.
Tap'd from my G2
trestevenson
Active Member
Yeah, this is definitely what I'm leaning most towards doing. I haven't actually gotten my hands on the X or the G2, but people seem to be pretty happy with whichever of the two they own. I'm not sure how I feel about the rear button on the LG, although I'm sure I'd get used to it fairly quickly. Ultimately, I'd like to get a new device for Christmas and my wife's plan isn't up until March. If I get the G2, and for some reason I don't like it, I could always replace it a few months later if we switch carriers. But if we end up staying with Verizon indefinitely, then I'd have to know I'd be happy with my decision for the foreseeable future.
Something tells me that with the Nexus 5 being so close to the G2 that we may start to see more active development for the G2. And with the TV advertising and kudos from CR it is gonna gain popularity. This could be one that gives the S4 a run for its money. Can't wait to see what they do to follow it up.
Tap'd from my G2