Yeah the nexus 6 is hardly a midget of a device. Ok width of the Huawei will likely be smaller but crikey why so much top & bottom bezel - especially given on screen buttons and finger print scanner on the back ?
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Nexus X and Nexus P ( 2015 ) Smartphones
- Thread starter Tig Bitties
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Yeah the nexus 6 is hardly a midget of a device. Ok width of the Huawei will likely be smaller but crikey why so much top & bottom bezel - especially given on screen buttons and finger print scanner on the back ?
No question the appeal of direct and quicker updates from Google is big, and a cleaner Android OS is also nice...
However, the rest of the package has to be there, too. The camera, the screen, the battery, the build quality and design (both 5X and 6X look very uninspiring. And dare I say, in my opinion, even somewhat ugly), and more. Also, the reliability and ease of use of a back finger-print scanner. How will that fare? That's a big question that remains.
In short, I'm unimpressed by Google this year. When things become more official, maybe that'll change...
However, the rest of the package has to be there, too. The camera, the screen, the battery, the build quality and design (both 5X and 6X look very uninspiring. And dare I say, in my opinion, even somewhat ugly), and more. Also, the reliability and ease of use of a back finger-print scanner. How will that fare? That's a big question that remains.
In short, I'm unimpressed by Google this year. When things become more official, maybe that'll change...
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Basically, if the things I mentioned above don't all come together for the Nexus 5X, then it's not worth the sacrifice to get a Nexus device (in my opinion). Because currently, with the S6, Samsung's update window isn't criminally. It's not a deal-breaker. I can wait 3-5 months, maybe even a hair more, for them to push out updates. I don't even mind waiting a bit longer for Tmobile to vet it and approve it on their end. I understand. And it's not a deal-breaker because currently, the device works superbly. Ditto with the clean OS. Yes, it'd be nice, but it's not a deal-breaker even with TouchWiz. TW has so far been stable, fast, and as smooth as any device I've used before, including iOS devices. None of these are "musts" to need to sacrifice the screen, camera, fingerprint, and good battery life for.
Google just can't figure out great hardware. I know this isn't their bread and butter but for a company that is often bleeding edge in so much of what they do, I'm quite befuddled at how often they just can't get their hardware right. And yes, I realize so much of this falls on their partner OEMs but if they still must have a huge amount of final day and far more often than not, I'm very underwhelmed with their results.
Just suck it up and set up a relationship with Samsung already--great software and the best Android hardware would make the ideal Nexus, IMO.
Yeah. I'm not sure what they're thinking. Politics seem to play a bit of a role, too. For example, they can't ask for a too good device and sell it for a reasonable price when that might upset their other OEM partners or even all of them.
It's a shame the Nexus line has to be hedged this way. It's crippling in many ways. And the result are mid-rangers with often deal-breaking sacrifices.
Lastly, I wouldn't mind if they partnered with Sony...
Yeah. I'm not sure what they're thinking. Politics seem to play a bit of a role, too. For example, they can't ask for a too good device and sell it for a reasonable price when that might upset their other OEM partners or even all of them.
It's a shame the Nexus line has to be hedged this way. It's crippling in many ways. And the result are mid-rangers with often deal-breaking sacrifices.
Lastly, I wouldn't mind if they partnered with Sony...
Good point, I like Sony's hardware as well.
I like the look of the new LG Nexus I love the two tone black and white on my current Nexus 5, it's really understated and isn't shouting LOOK AT ME!!!
The last LG Nexus had the best of everything at the time, even the camera was reasonably good, but I feel Google's optimisations have made it a bit worse since, after they made it better?
Google updates are never ending, I drive home, pull up on the driveway, look at my phone and yeap something's updating now it's on the home WiFi... Last night I had a system update, no idea what it was? But that goes for app and Android updates.
BUT, my Nexus still fly's, it rarely lags now and then but that's most likely app related. Otherwise on the whole it is very fast and very smooth.
That's what you get with a Nexus.
However, this year I am sooooo split between the new LG Nexus and the Note 5, I like the new LG Nexus but I want 3GB Ram, a 2K screen and a pretty decent camera. A new Snap Dragon 620 would also be nice. Wireless charging is also a must.
Yet more of the rumours are saying an 808 chip, which in tests the Note 5 destroys as it's newer, and a 1080P screen and even rumours of 2GB Ram.
The nexus 5 was my first Android phone and my first LG phone believe it or not, it's been such a faithful device. It makes the replacement very favourable. I've dropped it a few times and the screens remained perfectly fine, no doubt thanks to the plastic body.
But you also want all the toys and gadgets and the Note 5 gives that, plus it has the power to run smooth too, best camera, the pen, great screen, good battery life.
It is a tough choice to make, what makes me think also are the updates, on my Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet for instance on the lock screen it now states 'no service' as in cellular service, mine is the WiFi ONLY model, that's a bug since 5.1.1 I think, it also had a bug where using auto brightness slowed it down.
The Nexus doesn't get that, however the hardware on my tablet is stronger, noticeably in the Wifi, my Nexus 5 can't really get my 5GZ wireless, the tablet next to it has no problems at all.
I love the two tone black and white on my current Nexus 5, it's really understated and isn't shouting LOOK AT ME!!!The last LG Nexus had the best of everything at the time, even the camera was reasonably good, but I feel Google's optimisations have made it a bit worse since, after they made it better?
Google updates are never ending, I drive home, pull up on the driveway, look at my phone and yeap something's updating now it's on the home WiFi... Last night I had a system update, no idea what it was? But that goes for app and Android updates.
BUT, my Nexus still fly's, it rarely lags now and then but that's most likely app related. Otherwise on the whole it is very fast and very smooth.
That's what you get with a Nexus.
However, this year I am sooooo split between the new LG Nexus and the Note 5, I like the new LG Nexus but I want 3GB Ram, a 2K screen and a pretty decent camera. A new Snap Dragon 620 would also be nice. Wireless charging is also a must.
Yet more of the rumours are saying an 808 chip, which in tests the Note 5 destroys as it's newer, and a 1080P screen and even rumours of 2GB Ram.
The nexus 5 was my first Android phone and my first LG phone believe it or not, it's been such a faithful device. It makes the replacement very favourable. I've dropped it a few times and the screens remained perfectly fine, no doubt thanks to the plastic body.
But you also want all the toys and gadgets and the Note 5 gives that, plus it has the power to run smooth too, best camera, the pen, great screen, good battery life.
It is a tough choice to make, what makes me think also are the updates, on my Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet for instance on the lock screen it now states 'no service' as in cellular service, mine is the WiFi ONLY model, that's a bug since 5.1.1 I think, it also had a bug where using auto brightness slowed it down.
The Nexus doesn't get that, however the hardware on my tablet is stronger, noticeably in the Wifi, my Nexus 5 can't really get my 5GZ wireless, the tablet next to it has no problems at all.
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To be honest, between the latest TouchWiz vs the latest stock Android, I'd pick TouchWiz.
The two main knocks against TouchWiz seem to be 1) bloat, and 2) untimely software updates. Here are my thoughts of the two:
1) Bloat or no bloat. Ultimately, bloat just doesn't bother me that much. Every device has SOME form of bloat. It's just a bit more extreme with TW. It's unfortunate, but it's really not deal-breaking as I've mentioned before. You simply disable apps you don't use and basically forget about them.
2) Ditto the lack of immediate updates. I'm all for OEMs implementing updates faster, and carriers dishing them out faster. Not ever going to ever argue against that getting better. But it's the same thing... it's not a deal-breaker. I can wait. I even understand why I have to wait. As long as it's reasonable. Many OEMs and even carriers have gotten better with timely updates. Motorola is the leading example. HTC/Samsung do decently, too (and if you compare to what it used to be, they've improved greatly!). And more importantly... at the end of the day, my device with or without the latest update, is working great. My day to day usage of the device doesn't suddenly get marred because a newer version of Android is out. I look forward to the new features and whatnot, but until then, I'm also more or less fine until that time arrives.
What I gain in TouchWiz by losing these two non-deal-breaking things are, in my opinion, infinitely better. There are features and deeper customization options in TouchWiz that I would sorely miss.
Until Google can get the other elements of the Nexus devices up to par (screen, battery, camera especially, and more...), I can't make those sacrifices.
Just me.
The two main knocks against TouchWiz seem to be 1) bloat, and 2) untimely software updates. Here are my thoughts of the two:
1) Bloat or no bloat. Ultimately, bloat just doesn't bother me that much. Every device has SOME form of bloat. It's just a bit more extreme with TW. It's unfortunate, but it's really not deal-breaking as I've mentioned before. You simply disable apps you don't use and basically forget about them.
2) Ditto the lack of immediate updates. I'm all for OEMs implementing updates faster, and carriers dishing them out faster. Not ever going to ever argue against that getting better. But it's the same thing... it's not a deal-breaker. I can wait. I even understand why I have to wait. As long as it's reasonable. Many OEMs and even carriers have gotten better with timely updates. Motorola is the leading example. HTC/Samsung do decently, too (and if you compare to what it used to be, they've improved greatly!). And more importantly... at the end of the day, my device with or without the latest update, is working great. My day to day usage of the device doesn't suddenly get marred because a newer version of Android is out. I look forward to the new features and whatnot, but until then, I'm also more or less fine until that time arrives.
What I gain in TouchWiz by losing these two non-deal-breaking things are, in my opinion, infinitely better. There are features and deeper customization options in TouchWiz that I would sorely miss.
Until Google can get the other elements of the Nexus devices up to par (screen, battery, camera especially, and more...), I can't make those sacrifices.
Just me.
I will not buy touchwiz devices because they are not as smooth as stock. IMO the nexus 6 is smother than the S6 and the new nexus' surely will too. particularly after the first major android system update, when the device keeps the old version of touchwiz. Touchwiz has custom libraries that replace core android system libraries, to the extent that things like xposed require different build specifically for touchwiz devices. No other skins have to go through this, only samsung because there modifications are so heavy. I know most people dont care about xposed, my point is that samsung messes with everything in the android code, to the point where it is almost a fork like amazon fire OS.
I would only recommend samsung to people who buy a new phone every year personally, then you dont get the inefficiencies created by google's new version of the operating system, compounded with Samsung not optimizing their older version of touchwiz's libraries with the new version of android properly, because they are really focused on optimizing their new version of touchwiz with the new version of android that only comes on their latest devices (holy run on sentence batman). You cannot really disable all the 'bloat' without an unlocked bootloader and a custom rom. Just look at tig bitties posts in the note 5 thread to show the difference between a 'cleaner' build.
Also samsung in the usa is tied to carriers so all the negatives come along there too
You seem to value hardware over software and that is fine, but I am definitely the other way around. With the exception of multiwindow (and the pen on the note 5) I would gain nothing in my use case moving to touchwiz. Only have to deal with the headaches of debloating and keeping up with the rom scene.
There was a reddit thread the other day asking S6 users how it was going, I hear you reddit.com/r/android has many stock android fanboys but I'm not alone in my thinking
https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/3kwocd/galaxy_s6_early_adopters_how_are_the_phones/
I would only recommend samsung to people who buy a new phone every year personally, then you dont get the inefficiencies created by google's new version of the operating system, compounded with Samsung not optimizing their older version of touchwiz's libraries with the new version of android properly, because they are really focused on optimizing their new version of touchwiz with the new version of android that only comes on their latest devices (holy run on sentence batman). You cannot really disable all the 'bloat' without an unlocked bootloader and a custom rom. Just look at tig bitties posts in the note 5 thread to show the difference between a 'cleaner' build.
Also samsung in the usa is tied to carriers so all the negatives come along there too
You seem to value hardware over software and that is fine, but I am definitely the other way around. With the exception of multiwindow (and the pen on the note 5) I would gain nothing in my use case moving to touchwiz. Only have to deal with the headaches of debloating and keeping up with the rom scene.
There was a reddit thread the other day asking S6 users how it was going, I hear you reddit.com/r/android has many stock android fanboys but I'm not alone in my thinking
https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/3kwocd/galaxy_s6_early_adopters_how_are_the_phones/
I guess you could knock the Nexus devices for being the first to get new Android release, updates right away. That could be a bad thing actually, the first to get the bugs and issues, we Nexus users are beta testers.
Compared sort of like Windows OS, everyone jokes, to never get a brand new Windows OS at release, let the bugs and kinks be worked out first, and come back when SP1 is released, by then you know it has been fixed.
Compared sort of like Windows OS, everyone jokes, to never get a brand new Windows OS at release, let the bugs and kinks be worked out first, and come back when SP1 is released, by then you know it has been fixed.
Google will NEVER release a super smartphone Nexus, that all us nerds know and expect them to create. It will never ever happen.
I love the Nexus phone line, having owned 5 of the 6 Nexus phones to date. But I am also super frustrated with them at times too, knowing they could have been so much better.
Poor camera usually, crappy battery typically, average screen tech, etc...
I know why though;
Google partners up with a manufacturer to build the Nexus phone for that year, and that particular manufacturer does not want the Nexus phone to outdo their flagship model of the same year. I have read that Google gets rejected designs and concept phones that the manufacturers were thinking about possibly making, but were discarded, and then Google comes in and takes those old plans, and works them into some Frankenstein phone hobbled together at an affordable price.
Google will never make that perfect Nexus phone we know they can.
Like for me the best Nexus phone would be this;
- Release in Spring 2016 with the new Snapdragon 820
- 4GB RAM
- 5.5" AMOLED Display, same tech as the Note 5 uses
- Metal build quality like the HTC One
- Water / Dust proof like the Sony Xperia line
- 3,500mAh battery
- Dual front facing speakers
- Flat back like the Note 5 / iPhone 6 Plus
- Running Android 6.2 ' Nerds candy '
Good point.
Also worth mentioning when discussing updates is that Google updates their core apps on a regular basis through the play store. I like this update model better than say apples where its one giant annual update.
So even if we don't get say marshmallow, Google's core apps will get updated independently. So there's that too.
You don't have to take the update though and you are free to downgrade. Coming from ios, you should be used to hesitating on .0 updates anyway Yes nexus is essentially beta testing, but you are never stuck at any particular version at least
As things go along, I'm thinking Sony may be the brand for me. All this hardware talk
Yes nexus is essentially beta testing, but you are never stuck at any particular version at leastAs things go along, I'm thinking Sony may be the brand for me. All this hardware talk
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I've owned Nexus phones before and always let down and don't bother now. Every time a new release comes, the phone ends up gimped in multiple ways from awful battery life to crappy cameras (have gotten better but lag a lot behind others), vanilla android doesn't mean much when the Nexus phones are beyond buggy and takes Google forever to fix issues and updates.
I always feel like they could do better with the Nexus line but it always feels half assed.
I always feel like they could do better with the Nexus line but it always feels half assed.
The last few pages of this thread haven't improved my hopes for the usual camera and battery failings. And I just cannot see how the rear fingerprint scanner is a good idea as it requires picking up the phone first.
I can wait for software updates if it means class-leading hardware which is running fine on an earlier build. And not all Android releases go down well (I recall Lollipop having issues on Nexus devices).
Still, I appreciate not everyone prioritises camera, screen, power, and build, over software updates.
I can wait for software updates if it means class-leading hardware which is running fine on an earlier build. And not all Android releases go down well (I recall Lollipop having issues on Nexus devices).
Still, I appreciate not everyone prioritises camera, screen, power, and build, over software updates.
I think there's a disconnect here. We're all looking at it from a consumer perspective and the idea of the Nexus was primarily as a developers phone for the platform. Nexus devices will remain niche until all carriers support it at retail and Google actually release them in more countries at same time.
Yes developers want great hardware too, but the idea is that with a nexus they can continuously testing new app developments on devices with the latest if indeed buggy OS updates from Google.
Until Google push the nexus into the consumer market big time by giving it to carriers and letting them subsidise it, and following other manufactures and having a global rollout programme in more territories; we have to give them a little slack.
Thankfully with the likes of Moto (whose X devices are not carried by many carriers either - resulting in again a niche product) and their G / E range and Sony who is getting closer and closer to stock on its latest Xperia devices - consumers can get a taste of near stock android on more competitive and more easily available devices.
Yes developers want great hardware too, but the idea is that with a nexus they can continuously testing new app developments on devices with the latest if indeed buggy OS updates from Google.
Until Google push the nexus into the consumer market big time by giving it to carriers and letting them subsidise it, and following other manufactures and having a global rollout programme in more territories; we have to give them a little slack.
Thankfully with the likes of Moto (whose X devices are not carried by many carriers either - resulting in again a niche product) and their G / E range and Sony who is getting closer and closer to stock on its latest Xperia devices - consumers can get a taste of near stock android on more competitive and more easily available devices.
Yes, the Nexus is first and foremost for developers, but the Nexus tablets have always been sold in stores next to all the other tablets aimed at consumers. It was the same with the Nexus 6, I can walk into Carphone Warehouse and it will be on the display next to the other phones.
So here in the UK at least the Nexus range are sold along side other consumer products. So to me its a developers platform that's aimed at consumers also.
Anyway, the battery life of the new LG Nexus will be fine if they keep a 1080p screen and increase the battery size from the Nexus 5. But it won't be Sony good. The camera I is what I've been trying to figure out, it could have strong hardware but as we know it'll run stock Android camera software. And that's a worry.
On my Nexus 5 the camera was improved to being pretty good for what it is, but then updates seemed to make it slower and it refocuses a lot more. Maybe Android 6 will improve it? But it is a worry.
So here in the UK at least the Nexus range are sold along side other consumer products. So to me its a developers platform that's aimed at consumers also.
Anyway, the battery life of the new LG Nexus will be fine if they keep a 1080p screen and increase the battery size from the Nexus 5. But it won't be Sony good. The camera I is what I've been trying to figure out, it could have strong hardware but as we know it'll run stock Android camera software. And that's a worry.
On my Nexus 5 the camera was improved to being pretty good for what it is, but then updates seemed to make it slower and it refocuses a lot more. Maybe Android 6 will improve it? But it is a worry.
Was reading this earlier on "How To Make Your Phone More Stock" - http://www.androidauthority.com/how-to-near-stock-android-642361/
And it made me realise that perhaps I don't actually want a Nexus!
And it made me realise that perhaps I don't actually want a Nexus!
I have a real bone to pick with Google's latest app updates.
Specifically with the hangouts app and the Google keyboard app. Both have taken a dive in their latest updates. The keyboard doesn't auto correct as reliably as it used to. I still don't know why they removed the aggressive auto correct option. Why are they removing features?
And hangouts is buggy. Chats don't refresh properly even while you're in them. You can send messages and they don't show up until you exit and re-enter the convo. That's terrible. What gives?
I hope Google isn't going down the drain with their core apps...
Specifically with the hangouts app and the Google keyboard app. Both have taken a dive in their latest updates. The keyboard doesn't auto correct as reliably as it used to. I still don't know why they removed the aggressive auto correct option. Why are they removing features?
And hangouts is buggy. Chats don't refresh properly even while you're in them. You can send messages and they don't show up until you exit and re-enter the convo. That's terrible. What gives?
I hope Google isn't going down the drain with their core apps...
When they did the big Hangouts update the other month I had to Google how to use it! I had no idea how to send a new SMS to a new number!
I guess I'm used to Material design, so I didn't have trouble navigating. It's just buggy now.