OK, I knew something was wrong. It wasn't mentioned that I needed to be rooted.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Don't know what I should do... Nexus 5, LG G2 or Note 3
- Thread starter Sensamic
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
OK, I knew something was wrong. It wasn't mentioned that I needed to be rooted.
I think the Gram is a G2 thing only.
I'm very happy with the Nexus 5.
Only two downsides: I wish the screen was 5.2 like the G2 and I feel the phone needs more weight (this can be fix with a case).
Everything else is perfect. Can't wait to see what Android brings next year
Ya I am starting to think that GRAM is G2 only as well. That and a huge battery give it amazing battery life.
Also, I'm glad the screen on the Nexus 5 isn't larger. If they made it larger, they would need to rearrange the bezels a bit. I am 6'3 with large hands (can easily palm a basketball) and for one handed use it is already too big. But I also think it is mainly because of the bad bezels.
Take the Moto X for example. I had one for a little over a week and I loved it. The screen size was only a tiny bit smaller than the Nexus 5 (4.7 vs 4.95). But as a whole, the devices feel world's different in the hand, and that is because of the bezels. The Moto X has one small bezel and one larger one, like the Nexus 5. But on the Nexus 5, the big bezel is on bottom. This essentially pushes all your content higher up and further away from your thumb making you stretch and strain more to hit top corners. The Moto X has its small bezel on the bottom, bringing all content closer to your thumb.
When you use the Nexus 5 upside down (gravity box let's me do this), the screen feels much better because when I tap on things at the top of the screen, it is closer to my thumb and I don't have to stretch as much. So there is a huge difference in feel of the phone without changing the screen size at all. It is all because of the bezels. And I think LG was stupid to put the big bezel on the bottom. It is pointless and just pushes your content further away. Motorola did a better job with it.
Also, I naturally want to turn my device in landscape counter clockwise (this way the nav buttons stay on the same edge). Doing so on a Moto X makes landscape typing symmetrical, or at least close. Doing so on a Nexus 5 pushes your keyboard towards your left hand forcing you to stretch and strain your right hand more. I just think Motorola thought it through more. If the Nexus 5 were to have a bigger screen, they would need to do it the right way.
Yeah, you need root. Then Google search for xposed framework, install, reboot and then search for gravity box module. There are many many other modules which let you customize the phone.
It's like Cydia, sort of, but even better.
I don't know if I should install a custom kernel. I'm having good battery life, but I really want that double tap to wake feature...
1. Note 3
2. G2
3. Nexus 5
I say go for top hardware for top dollar.
Stock Android is a bit of hype. Nexus 5 will get cheap next year if you buy if off Craigslist. You want to go for a bargain deal but you should expect compromises with that. And Google only supports Nexus devices for 18 months which is basically like one major update after next year.
Note 3 has the removable battery and expandable memory slot aspect. Something the other two LG-made devices lacks. My One has neither and there are times when I regret not getting a smartphone with them. Esp the expandable memory slot as I downloaded a number of HD movies. OTG is an alternative but I still prefer not dealing with any cables attached to it. Plus, Samsung has better resell value than LG.
2. G2
3. Nexus 5
I say go for top hardware for top dollar.
Stock Android is a bit of hype. Nexus 5 will get cheap next year if you buy if off Craigslist. You want to go for a bargain deal but you should expect compromises with that. And Google only supports Nexus devices for 18 months which is basically like one major update after next year.
Note 3 has the removable battery and expandable memory slot aspect. Something the other two LG-made devices lacks. My One has neither and there are times when I regret not getting a smartphone with them. Esp the expandable memory slot as I downloaded a number of HD movies. OTG is an alternative but I still prefer not dealing with any cables attached to it. Plus, Samsung has better resell value than LG.
Ok, so guess which phone I ended up buying today??
The Nexus 5!! I went to play with the G2 and liked it, but wanted to just try the Nexus 5 because not every day I have the chance to. I've never seen a Nexus phone in person so I was really curious to see if it was that good.
First impressions are... awesome!!
No problems at all with buttons. I think the speaker is the new one. Seems big to me.
Screen quality is sooooo good. The G2 was good today too but the I didn't like the brightness level at all. Anything below 100% was bad for my taste. I really like IPS over AMOLED. The screen of the Note 3 seemed really dark even at max brightness. IPS is so much better, and the colors are really nice.
Overall amazing first impressions. I will try this phone for two weeks and decide.
It's build 312K, so latest I think (December).
It was really hard to not buy this phone to try it out. Really impressed. So snappy, fast and fluid.
Now I'm gonna unlock it and root it. Oh, the beauty of Nexus. Gonna install Xposed framework and Gravity Box to customize this beauty to my liking.
Also must say that after playing with the G2 on the store I knew my next phone had to have the on screen buttons. No way I was going back to hardware or capacitive buttons (Samsung). So it was the G2 or Nexus 5.
Your priority was camera and battery, It's better than what you had but .....
http://www.phonearena.com/phones/co...-3,LG-G2,Google-Nexus-5/phones/7984,7969,8148
Yeah, I know.
I wanted to at least try the Nexus 5 for a few days. Never had a Nexus phone before and I must say software is unbeatable. Nothing comes close in speed, customization, fluidity, elegance, etc.
On the other hand, hardware is not top notch. Just now I checked that the vibration on this thing is... pretty much useless. I can't even feel it inside a case in my pocket. It's impossible. I can feel my SGS3 with that same case (it's not a huge case, it's like a socks type of case).
This could be a problem since I have my phone a lot on mute + vibration. I see myself losing every call in this situation.
The ringtone loudness is very good. Maybe 4.4.2 has increase the speaker volume, don't know, but it's quite good. No problems on that regard.
Will keep playing with for a couple more days until I decide what to do. 16GB is too little for me. That's my main problem, but I just don't see myself having another phone now that I've tried the Nexus glory, and by this I mean the stock experience, obviously, because hardware is not that great in some aspects: camera, vibration, 16GB only, battery no that big, etc.
And battery has decreased since I put my SIM card inside. I played with the Nexus 5 the first two days without a SIM inside until I had a backup of all my stuff inside the SGS3. Today I put the SIM inside and I could see the battery draining much faster than before (which was only on WIFI). I guess it's because I don't have that good cell signal where I live... but maybe not even the G2 would have better battery despite having a bigger battery...
I still don't know what to do...
Yeah, I know.
I wanted to at least try the Nexus 5 for a few days. Never had a Nexus phone before and I must say software is unbeatable. Nothing comes close in speed, customization, fluidity, elegance, etc.
On the other hand, hardware is not top notch. Just now I checked that the vibration on this thing is... pretty much useless. I can't even feel it inside a case in my pocket. It's impossible. I can feel my SGS3 with that same case (it's not a huge case, it's like a socks type of case).
This could be a problem since I have my phone a lot on mute + vibration. I see myself losing every call in this situation.
The ringtone loudness is very good. Maybe 4.4.2 has increase the speaker volume, don't know, but it's quite good. No problems on that regard.
Will keep playing with for a couple more days until I decide what to do. 16GB is too little for me. That's my main problem, but I just don't see myself having another phone now that I've tried the Nexus glory, and by this I mean the stock experience, obviously, because hardware is not that great in some aspects: camera, vibration, 16GB only, battery no that big, etc.
And battery has decreased since I put my SIM card inside. I played with the Nexus 5 the first two days without a SIM inside until I had a backup of all my stuff inside the SGS3. Today I put the SIM inside and I could see the battery draining much faster than before (which was only on WIFI). I guess it's because I don't have that good cell signal where I live... but maybe not even the G2 would have better battery despite having a bigger battery...
I still don't know what to do...
Yep, the vibration on teh N5 isnt that strong. I had a GS3 as well and if i had it on my computer desk, it would rattle if i didnt have something underneath it between the desk and the back of the phone. I also dont think i can change teh vibration pattern on it. Playback volume and ringer were also louder on my GS3 but its not a problem, just not quite as loud.
But thats the only hardware problem i see. I mean my power button is a bit loose but both buttons on my GS3 were way looser and they never bothered me.
Yeah, I don't see an option to adjust the vibration on the Nexus 5. On the SGS3 there is. So it's at max by default on the Nexus 5?