GoBears
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After reading all the comparison threads on different forums, I decided to take matters into my own hands to personally test all 3 of these devices. I tried really hard to own all three at the same time but my finances just wouldn't allow it. Couple days ago I traded my Razr for the ReZound. This is NOT a my phone can beat up your phone thread, and if it turns into that I will request the mods lock it. This thread is a honest review from a honest dude just trying to help some people who may be on the fence with one or more of these devices. This review also is ONLY about the 3 devices I've had NOT about every device ever produced, your device may vary greatly from mine. So without further rambling...here we go!
Design and form factor
Depending on your tastes, this is a tricky one. The Nexus is a nice design that fits the hand well. The all plastic construction and shape really make the large device feel smaller than it is. The Razr was the only one of the 3 that actually has a fresh design that's really appealing to the eye. It just feels like a top notch handset and no part about it feels or looks cheap. It's very thin but it's not small. It's very wide and may be trouble for smaller hands. The Rezound I'm sorry to say just has a tired design that we all have seen already on the Inc.. The all plastic back on mine creaks when held (plus I despise the beats logo). It does feel great in the hand though and has a nice heft to it. Best in this category is easily the Razr.
Reception
This one surprised me a little bit. I live in a 3g only area and work in an area that's just about to get 4g (it's popped up on my phone during the testing). I commute through some areas with no and very weak service and stream music the whole time so that's going to be my primary testing grounds. The Nexus has just ok reception. It dropped when I expected it too and picked up where it should. It had no problems with dropped data or any of the no service - 1x - 3g handoffs. In 4g device performed nicely with no complaints. The Razr has a bit better reception. Held onto to service a bit longer and also picked it up a bit earlier. However I did drop data a couple times on the no service - 1x - 3g handoffs. The data just never came back on requiring airplane toggle or a reboot. 4g performance was very good. The Rezound had the best reception of the 3. It held onto service the longest and picked it back up earlier than the others. The only complaint is about 3 times I had a 3g icon with no data requiring airplane/reboot. 4g performance was also very good. Even though I expected the moto to take this one, it was the Rezound that had the best all around service.
Battery life
I'll be honest here, under heavy use they all sucked. They are high end devices with big displays and are thirsty when being used. Don't read these posts about 24hr battery life and expect that or you're going to be disappointed. If you use it will drain rather quickly. Tricky to pick a winner here because the best battery life went to the Razr but you can't swap it. Rezound did ok but was the worst of the three. Nexus was second in the pack but only a litltle better than the Rezound.
Display
All three of these devices feature large beautiful screens. Although all 3 are different you really can't go wrong here. Nexus and Razr feature amoled displays which can be easily seen in daylight. I struggled to see the Rezound in the sun. Nexus looks a bit blue sometimes, Razr looks a bit green sometimes and the Rezound lacks the saturation, color pop and outdoor visibility of the pentile amoleds. Winner here is the Nexus. While not the highest ppi, it's very high and it looks very crisp and not cartoonish like other amoleds. Video experience on all 3 is a good time with no complaints.
Durability
Can't comment on this one because I don't drop my devices very often and I didn't have them long enough. Not to mention it all depends on how the device hits and what kind of surface it hits. FWIW I didn't get a scratch on any of the displays or bodies during testing.
Camera and multimedia
I'm not going to go into all kinds of detail here. The Nexus has a super fast 5mp. I really like the speed and clarity of it. The pictures look good but the color is a bit cold sometimes and give off that "laboratory" feeling because of the white led flash. Multimedia playback was good and clear. Headphone playback sounds good, no complaints. Bluetooth streaming in the car worked flawlessly and is by far the quickest to pair up with my Pioneer head unit. The Razr features an 8mp with good clarity but it's the slowest of the 3. Focus and shoot times are just too slow. Typical Moto camera here. Multimedia playback was good except that the bluetooth didn't like my pioneer. I had to manually open up the BT settings every time and click the headunit for them to pair. It also stuttered every now and again during streaming. Music sounds good though, the same or even a little better than the Nexus through headphones. This category is dominated by the Rezound though. It really shines here. The 8mp camera is fast with very good clarity and nice warm colors. Just an absolutely fantastic camera. Music sounds great although a little too much bass for rock and roll through headphones. Sounds great over BT as well. Once again though I had to manually connect the phone to stereo every time in the car. Winner here is hands down the Rezound.
Call quality and reliability
All 3 offer great call quality and reliability. I did have 2 or 3 dropped calls on the Nex when I first got it but none in weeks. I expected call quality to go to the Moto but was surprised when every caller I asked preferred the sound the Nexus. One person acually said "Best I ever heard anyone on a cell phone". Take this for what it is because I obviously can't call myself. All three were great over BT as well. No winner here and no loser either. All good.
UI and operation
This is where the Nexus shines. The skinless ICS is far ahead of gingerbread. It's much more friendly and intuitive than any past version of android. Rarely a FC and no reboots here. Very fast and smooth. Don't listen to negative reviews about ICS. It's fantastic and great leap forward for Android. The Razr has "Gingerblur" and it's actually pretty nice. Snappy and not much lag anywhere. Only a few FC's and like 2 reboots. Way too much bloat though. Sadly the Rezound is last here. Sense is just tired, resource heavy and too much like it's predecessors. It really needs an overhaul. It was the laggiest of the 3 phones with numerous FC's and a few reboots. There was times it felt like my old Eris. To be fair I installed go launcher and the ICS theme on all three. Winner here is the Nexus followed by the Razr and then the Rezound. The Nexus just outperformed the others. No benchmarks here just everyday use. Also I don't game besides the usual Birds and Where's my water and all three performed flawless on the games I play.
Summary
All three of these devices are very good. There is no overall "winner" and none are "better" than the others. They are just different. I'm just happy Android gives us these choices and will continue to do so. No bad choices with any of these fine devices.
Rezound - If taking pictures and video and listening to music is your thing, then this is your phone. Fantastic camera coupled with great audio is a winning combination. Device is also the only one that features removable storage AND battery. That can be a game changer right there for some people. The bootloader is unlocked which allows for moderate customization without the worry of losing root. The s-on prevents any kernel or radio flashes though.
Razr - This phone is the "Jack of all trades phone" it just works and does everything pretty good. Doesn't really excel at one task nor does it have any glaring weaknesses. If you need an android with cutting edge design and looks with good all around performance this is your phone.
Nexus - The fully unlocked bootloader is a modders/developers dream. If you love flashing and customizing your devices this is clearly the phone for you. This phone will always be ahead of the others in software updates. It performs very good at all tasks but the non removable storage might be an issue for music/video fanatics.
There you have it. I currently still have the Rezound and the Nexus. If you have any questions about any of them, feel free to post them here or PM me. PLEASE don't turn this thread into a complaint/boast thread. I've used them all and tested what I thought people would want to know. If I forgot anything let me know!
As always
GOBEARS! (next year anway)
Design and form factor
Depending on your tastes, this is a tricky one. The Nexus is a nice design that fits the hand well. The all plastic construction and shape really make the large device feel smaller than it is. The Razr was the only one of the 3 that actually has a fresh design that's really appealing to the eye. It just feels like a top notch handset and no part about it feels or looks cheap. It's very thin but it's not small. It's very wide and may be trouble for smaller hands. The Rezound I'm sorry to say just has a tired design that we all have seen already on the Inc.. The all plastic back on mine creaks when held (plus I despise the beats logo). It does feel great in the hand though and has a nice heft to it. Best in this category is easily the Razr.
Reception
This one surprised me a little bit. I live in a 3g only area and work in an area that's just about to get 4g (it's popped up on my phone during the testing). I commute through some areas with no and very weak service and stream music the whole time so that's going to be my primary testing grounds. The Nexus has just ok reception. It dropped when I expected it too and picked up where it should. It had no problems with dropped data or any of the no service - 1x - 3g handoffs. In 4g device performed nicely with no complaints. The Razr has a bit better reception. Held onto to service a bit longer and also picked it up a bit earlier. However I did drop data a couple times on the no service - 1x - 3g handoffs. The data just never came back on requiring airplane toggle or a reboot. 4g performance was very good. The Rezound had the best reception of the 3. It held onto service the longest and picked it back up earlier than the others. The only complaint is about 3 times I had a 3g icon with no data requiring airplane/reboot. 4g performance was also very good. Even though I expected the moto to take this one, it was the Rezound that had the best all around service.
Battery life
I'll be honest here, under heavy use they all sucked. They are high end devices with big displays and are thirsty when being used. Don't read these posts about 24hr battery life and expect that or you're going to be disappointed. If you use it will drain rather quickly. Tricky to pick a winner here because the best battery life went to the Razr but you can't swap it. Rezound did ok but was the worst of the three. Nexus was second in the pack but only a litltle better than the Rezound.
Display
All three of these devices feature large beautiful screens. Although all 3 are different you really can't go wrong here. Nexus and Razr feature amoled displays which can be easily seen in daylight. I struggled to see the Rezound in the sun. Nexus looks a bit blue sometimes, Razr looks a bit green sometimes and the Rezound lacks the saturation, color pop and outdoor visibility of the pentile amoleds. Winner here is the Nexus. While not the highest ppi, it's very high and it looks very crisp and not cartoonish like other amoleds. Video experience on all 3 is a good time with no complaints.
Durability
Can't comment on this one because I don't drop my devices very often and I didn't have them long enough. Not to mention it all depends on how the device hits and what kind of surface it hits. FWIW I didn't get a scratch on any of the displays or bodies during testing.
Camera and multimedia
I'm not going to go into all kinds of detail here. The Nexus has a super fast 5mp. I really like the speed and clarity of it. The pictures look good but the color is a bit cold sometimes and give off that "laboratory" feeling because of the white led flash. Multimedia playback was good and clear. Headphone playback sounds good, no complaints. Bluetooth streaming in the car worked flawlessly and is by far the quickest to pair up with my Pioneer head unit. The Razr features an 8mp with good clarity but it's the slowest of the 3. Focus and shoot times are just too slow. Typical Moto camera here. Multimedia playback was good except that the bluetooth didn't like my pioneer. I had to manually open up the BT settings every time and click the headunit for them to pair. It also stuttered every now and again during streaming. Music sounds good though, the same or even a little better than the Nexus through headphones. This category is dominated by the Rezound though. It really shines here. The 8mp camera is fast with very good clarity and nice warm colors. Just an absolutely fantastic camera. Music sounds great although a little too much bass for rock and roll through headphones. Sounds great over BT as well. Once again though I had to manually connect the phone to stereo every time in the car. Winner here is hands down the Rezound.
Call quality and reliability
All 3 offer great call quality and reliability. I did have 2 or 3 dropped calls on the Nex when I first got it but none in weeks. I expected call quality to go to the Moto but was surprised when every caller I asked preferred the sound the Nexus. One person acually said "Best I ever heard anyone on a cell phone". Take this for what it is because I obviously can't call myself. All three were great over BT as well. No winner here and no loser either. All good.
UI and operation
This is where the Nexus shines. The skinless ICS is far ahead of gingerbread. It's much more friendly and intuitive than any past version of android. Rarely a FC and no reboots here. Very fast and smooth. Don't listen to negative reviews about ICS. It's fantastic and great leap forward for Android. The Razr has "Gingerblur" and it's actually pretty nice. Snappy and not much lag anywhere. Only a few FC's and like 2 reboots. Way too much bloat though. Sadly the Rezound is last here. Sense is just tired, resource heavy and too much like it's predecessors. It really needs an overhaul. It was the laggiest of the 3 phones with numerous FC's and a few reboots. There was times it felt like my old Eris. To be fair I installed go launcher and the ICS theme on all three. Winner here is the Nexus followed by the Razr and then the Rezound. The Nexus just outperformed the others. No benchmarks here just everyday use. Also I don't game besides the usual Birds and Where's my water and all three performed flawless on the games I play.
Summary
All three of these devices are very good. There is no overall "winner" and none are "better" than the others. They are just different. I'm just happy Android gives us these choices and will continue to do so. No bad choices with any of these fine devices.
Rezound - If taking pictures and video and listening to music is your thing, then this is your phone. Fantastic camera coupled with great audio is a winning combination. Device is also the only one that features removable storage AND battery. That can be a game changer right there for some people. The bootloader is unlocked which allows for moderate customization without the worry of losing root. The s-on prevents any kernel or radio flashes though.
Razr - This phone is the "Jack of all trades phone" it just works and does everything pretty good. Doesn't really excel at one task nor does it have any glaring weaknesses. If you need an android with cutting edge design and looks with good all around performance this is your phone.
Nexus - The fully unlocked bootloader is a modders/developers dream. If you love flashing and customizing your devices this is clearly the phone for you. This phone will always be ahead of the others in software updates. It performs very good at all tasks but the non removable storage might be an issue for music/video fanatics.
There you have it. I currently still have the Rezound and the Nexus. If you have any questions about any of them, feel free to post them here or PM me. PLEASE don't turn this thread into a complaint/boast thread. I've used them all and tested what I thought people would want to know. If I forgot anything let me know!
As always
GOBEARS! (next year anway)
