Galaxy Nexus still a good buy?

[NZed]

Is it still a good buy? Looking to let go of my 4s for one. I miss android. My SGS2 failed me hard with battery life, even after buying the 2000mah and customs. The 4s was an upgrade, but the artistic side in me is bored of the bland 4s screen. I dont want to spend too much thats why im interested in the Gnex.

 

[maflynn]

ITs not a bad phone, will the issue of it being 3G instead of LTE be a problem?

 

[varunsanthanam]

ITs not a bad phone, will the issue of it being 3G instead of LTE be a problem?

If you are willing to forgo LTE for the gnex, I'd say that you should get a Nexus 4 instead. Google sells em unlocked for 300, I think?

 

[F123D]

Have you considered the Nexus 4 as a cheap alternative?

 

[0dev]

If Google ever actually stock them again, you can get a new Nexus 4 for the same price as a used Galaxy Nexus anyway. But as I understand it, the Galaxy S3 has a better battery life, and if you're in a country with LTE that's a plus too.

 

[maxosx]

I have the new Nexus 4.

Even though it doesn't have the latest in high speed connectivity, it's very well optimized for the AT&T network I have it activated on. It's every bit as fast as my iPhone 5, and has a lot of nice features I use day in and day out.

At a mere $299 it cannot be beat. Since it gets the latest Android updates pushed out immediately, you're assured it's the best Android available.

As much as I like my iPhone 5, until Apple releases a spacious display in order to ramp up the phones usefulness and efficiency, I'm staying with the Nexus line of devices.

 

[hovscorpion12]

Galaxy Nexus 7 Brah!!!!

 

[F123D]

Google has them in stock as we speak and will ship in 1 - 2 weeks.. better hurry if you're interested..

 

[vikingjunior]

Ships in 1 to 2 weeks is not exactly considered in stock.

 

[Furifo]

I would advise against the Galaxy Nexus. I had one and sold it a few months afterwards.

It was a nice phone n all and the screen was vibrant but here are some of the things that I didn't like about it:

1) Camera sucked. If you're used to the 8MP shooter on the back of your 4S then you will notice a significant drop in quality.

2) Speaker sucked. The speaker was very quiet and got distorted at near-to-max/max volume. The speaker on the 4S is much better than the speaker on the Galaxy Nexus. I would often miss calls when walking outside with the phone in my pocket due to this issue.

3) Text wasn't as crisp as the iPhone 4/4S/5

4) I felt the hardware was a bit under powered for the 720p screen. I found it lagging at times even on 4.1.

5) My BIGGEST issue and one that is overlooked by many people was the sound quality through earphones. I'm really into listening music on my phone as I walk outside. The DAC quality on the galaxy nexus is hands down, terrible. The loudness and quality of music coming through the phone and into my earphones was just downright awful.

Take a look here for more information - http://androidforums.com/samsung-ga...s-galaxy-nexus-sound-quality-vs-galaxy-s.html

Pulled from above link - "I used the same FLAC files to play in the stock Galaxy S and Galaxy Nexus player to do a comparison.

This will not be a long post. Simply because the Galaxy Nexus' sound quality is very poor in comparison to a Voodoo'ed Galaxy S. In technical terms, the treble and bass are very roll-offed. This means that the audio chip does not reproduce the highest and lowest frequencies of the music sufficiently. Also, the soundstage is compressed and for some reason the tonality is off. I have no idea why it can sound that bad but it does."

---

It is for these reasons that I recommend you don't get a Galaxy Nexus. Since you mentioned that you are on a budget, I think a Nexus 4 or a used Galaxy S3 will satisfy your budget as well as not having any of the problems I listed above.

The S3 has the added benefit of having a swappable battery as well as having a microSD card slot for your storage needs.

 

[Irishman]

Ships in 1 to 2 weeks is not exactly considered in stock.

Quite true, especially if the OP wants to go in, get his phone, and leave with it.

 

[F123D]

If you're considering purchasing this phone, ships in 1 - 2 weeks is a lot better than out of stock.

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Quite true, especially if the OP wants to go in, get his phone, and leave with it.

Yeah, if the OP wants to find a store that sells them and pay $599 for it.

Wait 7 days, pay $299 > Get phone instantly, pay $599

 

[blackhand1001]

Is it still a good buy? Looking to let go of my 4s for one. I miss android. My SGS2 failed me hard with battery life, even after buying the 2000mah and customs. The 4s was an upgrade, but the artistic side in me is bored of the bland 4s screen. I dont want to spend too much thats why im interested in the Gnex.

Yes, its a great buy still.

----------

I would advise against the Galaxy Nexus. I had one and sold it a few months afterwards.

It was a nice phone n all and the screen was vibrant but here are some of the things that I didn't like about it:

1) Camera sucked. If you're used to the 8MP shooter on the back of your 4S then you will notice a significant drop in quality.

2) Speaker sucked. The speaker was very quiet and got distorted at near-to-max/max volume. The speaker on the 4S is much better than the speaker on the Galaxy Nexus. I would often miss calls when walking outside with the phone in my pocket due to this issue.

3) Text wasn't as crisp as the iPhone 4/4S/5

4) I felt the hardware was a bit under powered for the 720p screen. I found it lagging at times even on 4.1.

5) My BIGGEST issue and one that is overlooked by many people was the sound quality through earphones. I'm really into listening music on my phone as I walk outside. The DAC quality on the galaxy nexus is hands down, terrible. The loudness and quality of music coming through the phone and into my earphones was just downright awful.

Take a look here for more information - http://androidforums.com/samsung-ga...s-galaxy-nexus-sound-quality-vs-galaxy-s.html

Pulled from above link - "I used the same FLAC files to play in the stock Galaxy S and Galaxy Nexus player to do a comparison.

This will not be a long post. Simply because the Galaxy Nexus' sound quality is very poor in comparison to a Voodoo'ed Galaxy S. In technical terms, the treble and bass are very roll-offed. This means that the audio chip does not reproduce the highest and lowest frequencies of the music sufficiently. Also, the soundstage is compressed and for some reason the tonality is off. I have no idea why it can sound that bad but it does."

---

It is for these reasons that I recommend you don't get a Galaxy Nexus. Since you mentioned that you are on a budget, I think a Nexus 4 or a used Galaxy S3 will satisfy your budget as well as not having any of the problems I listed above.

The S3 has the added benefit of having a swappable battery as well as having a microSD card slot for your storage needs.

The dac quality on the galaxy nexus is actually quite good. Theres also voodoo sound support for it as well as many custom kernels that allow you to improve the sound. Your clearly an audiophile so comparing voodooed galaxy s 1 to anything is unfair.

I recommend you flash cm10 and play around with dsp manager and flash a custom kernel if your still not happy. CM10 also bumps the speaker volume over stock quite a bit.

 

[blackhand1001]

If you're considering purchasing this phone, ships in 1 - 2 weeks is a lot better than out of stock.

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Yeah, if the OP wants to find a store that sells them and pay $599 for it.

Wait 7 days, pay $299 > Get phone instantly, pay $599

They are probably buying a used galaxy nexus, not new.

 

[F123D]

If he's considering a used Galaxy Nexus, just a thought that he should consider a brand new Nexus 4 as well.

 

[Sounds Good]

Is it still a good buy?

More like a good bye.

Sorry, couldn't resist!

 

[mobilebuddha]

Agreed on most points (camera, speaker), and 1 more: battery. I had the gnex for almost a year before I bought Note 2 & iPhone 5.. battery was by far the biggest problem. Like others, I would recommend either a nexus 4 or if I were you, I'd go get the note 2.

I would advise against the Galaxy Nexus. I had one and sold it a few months afterwards.

It was a nice phone n all and the screen was vibrant but here are some of the things that I didn't like about it:

1) Camera sucked. If you're used to the 8MP shooter on the back of your 4S then you will notice a significant drop in quality.

2) Speaker sucked. The speaker was very quiet and got distorted at near-to-max/max volume. The speaker on the 4S is much better than the speaker on the Galaxy Nexus. I would often miss calls when walking outside with the phone in my pocket due to this issue.

3) Text wasn't as crisp as the iPhone 4/4S/5

4) I felt the hardware was a bit under powered for the 720p screen. I found it lagging at times even on 4.1.

5) My BIGGEST issue and one that is overlooked by many people was the sound quality through earphones. I'm really into listening music on my phone as I walk outside. The DAC quality on the galaxy nexus is hands down, terrible. The loudness and quality of music coming through the phone and into my earphones was just downright awful.

Take a look here for more information - http://androidforums.com/samsung-ga...s-galaxy-nexus-sound-quality-vs-galaxy-s.html

Pulled from above link - "I used the same FLAC files to play in the stock Galaxy S and Galaxy Nexus player to do a comparison.

This will not be a long post. Simply because the Galaxy Nexus' sound quality is very poor in comparison to a Voodoo'ed Galaxy S. In technical terms, the treble and bass are very roll-offed. This means that the audio chip does not reproduce the highest and lowest frequencies of the music sufficiently. Also, the soundstage is compressed and for some reason the tonality is off. I have no idea why it can sound that bad but it does."

---

It is for these reasons that I recommend you don't get a Galaxy Nexus. Since you mentioned that you are on a budget, I think a Nexus 4 or a used Galaxy S3 will satisfy your budget as well as not having any of the problems I listed above.

The S3 has the added benefit of having a swappable battery as well as having a microSD card slot for your storage needs.

 

[Irishman]

If you're considering purchasing this phone, ships in 1 - 2 weeks is a lot better than out of stock.

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Yeah, if the OP wants to find a store that sells them and pay $599 for it.

Wait 7 days, pay $299 > Get phone instantly, pay $599

Which begs the question - is Google selling them at a loss directly, or is there THAT much markup on it at retail???

 

[aneftp]

Which begs the question - is Google selling them at a loss directly, or is there THAT much markup on it at retail???

It costs between $150-230 to make a "high end smartphone". That's why Apple's margins are ridiculously high reselling to carriers/public for around $600 (in bulk) or $650 (16gb) to retail.

Even factoring in advertising costs/labor everything. At most it may cost Apple about $250-275 per iPhone 5.

So LG isn't selling the nexus 4 for a loss. They aren't make much money and google is probably subsidizing some of the margins for LG on the Nexus 4 cause their similar Optimus G retails more than $200 than the current msrp of the nexus 4.

 

[vikingjunior]

I always felt that these devices had a mark up but carriers use the word subsidized to make money.

 

[aneftp]

I always felt that these devices had a mark up but carriers use the word subsidized to make money.

There is always markup. But what the carriers actually pay for the smartphones in bulk is always kept secret.

What we do know is that Sprint CEO has gone on record saying the iPhone subsidy is 50% more than the closest smartphone competitor.

The retail price of the Samsung Galaxy S3 at stores is $550. The retail price of the iPhone 5 is $650.

So is pretty safe to assume Samsung is giving Sprint and other carriers a much better deal in bulk (say $420-450) for the S3 vs Apple probably only discounting the iPhone 5 by a mere 10% in bulk to Sprint.

So If Sprint sells the S3 for $199 vs the iPhone 5 for $199. Sprint is obviously subsidizing the iPhone 5 way more than the S3.

 

[Irishman]

It costs between $150-230 to make a "high end smartphone". That's why Apple's margins are ridiculously high reselling to carriers/public for around $600 (in bulk) or $650 (16gb) to retail.

Even factoring in advertising costs/labor everything. At most it may cost Apple about $250-275 per iPhone 5.

So LG isn't selling the nexus 4 for a loss. They aren't make much money and google is probably subsidizing some of the margins for LG on the Nexus 4 cause their similar Optimus G retails more than $200 than the current msrp of the nexus 4.

Some documentation would help if you have it, for me to feel good about those figures.

 

[Tarzanman]

Is it still a good buy? Looking to let go of my 4s for one. I miss android. My SGS2 failed me hard with battery life, even after buying the 2000mah and customs. The 4s was an upgrade, but the artistic side in me is bored of the bland 4s screen. I dont want to spend too much thats why im interested in the Gnex.

I have a Galaxy Nexus (HSPA+). Yes, the phone is still very much a good buy... especially since you can find them used for $200. At the moment they only thing they don't have that the Nexus 4 does, is the Miracast.... but the Galaxy Nexus has MHL (which the Nexus 4 does not have).

I decided to NOT get a Nexus 4 because it wouldn't really have been an upgrade for me at this point.

 

[maflynn]

Ships in 1 to 2 weeks is not exactly considered in stock.

No but before this you couldn't even order them, so I'd say if you have the opportunity to order it, then I would. A couple of weeks isn't bad.

 

[aneftp]

Some documentation would help if you have it, for me to feel good about those figures.

http://m.techcrunch.com/2012/09/25/ihs-iphone-5-costs-between-207-and-238-to-make-depending-on-storage/

Others estimate those numbers between $200-250 also.