Is this a good phone to buy? - Nexus S Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Long story short, I hard bricked my Evo 3D because I flashed the boot image to the wrong partition by not properly editing the updater-script when trying to port Jellybean (very developer NOOB move even though I'm not one by a long shot). So I'm thinking about buying one on Amazon to tie me over until my upgrade next year, because right now, my parents' only option (until I get the money) is to let me use a Blackberry, its torture (-_-)... I've read up on this and I am thoroughly impressed with the specs given it was released in 2010, plus it has ICS Officially. So I just have a handful of questions!
1. How is the Developer scene here? Is it still very active?
2. How good are the 3G speeds on this (I'm not getting 4G)
3. How is battery life
4. Is the phone easily breakable (this determines if I buy a case or not upon my ordering)
5. Can I still have me an awesome gaming experience? I am the Asphalt 6 and Shadowgun type of guy, so gaming is a must.
6. How quickly can someone fill up that 512MB space? and has someone made script that moves the WHOLE app to an external SD or repartitioned the space to give 1GB space?
I'll be sure to add more questions should they come up...
Now I have read that this has no SD card slot, and this would have been a problem. But as of recently, I have become a cloud kid. My Music is on Google Play Music, I have a couple of Movies and TV Shows on my SD Card but I can put those on my box cloud storage, that means that I can use all 16 GB for Game caches and the few movies and shows I frequently watch.
I just want to know your opinion, and the pros and cons of the phone, alongside the questions I asked. Thanks in advance!

Developer scene is still pretty solid. Expect an additional boost in a few weeks when Jelly Bean arrives. 3G speeds and reception should be decent so long as you have a decent provider, it is more dependent on them than on the phone. Battery life is mediocre, though you can pull off 4 hours of screen time a day with a little bit of effort (and compromise). It is generally a pretty stubborn phone. It won't break straight off the bat, but being plastic it will tend to scratch easily from rough surfaces. The screen can take a fair bit of abuse so don't be scared about the lack of "gorilla glass" branding, plus it's curved which is both great to touch and means it's less prone to scratched glass. I've found a case to be good due to the phone being slippery, but have since decided to use it without one. If you intend to root the phone i'm sure the gaming experience will be a good one, and likely even more so with jellybean - though there are certain games that won't even install (some tegra and tablet based games i think, i don't game that much on the phone so don't take my word on this).
As for storage, you have 16GB in the phone classified as "sdcard". It is built in and non-replaceable, with no external sdcard slot. It is partitioned primarily into /system, /data and /sdcard. /system holds the android operating system and is plenty big enough even for development purposes. /data is approximately 1GB and holds the data for apps only, so you have 1GB worth of apps which you can keep installed on the phone. The /sdcard partition is around 15GB and formatted as FAT32, so you can throw all of your music, photos, videos and sd2ext (built in, not a seperate app) apps here, so any larger games would be thrown onto the sdcard if you choose so, generally giving plenty of room. The only drawback for me, personally, is the lack of room for music - but you seem to have yourself sorted there.
And as i said above, if you really want to get every benefit from this phone it should be unlocked and rooted. It loves being free. Otherwise it's just a Galaxy S.

Harbb said:
Developer scene is still pretty solid. Expect an additional boost in a few weeks when Jelly Bean arrives. 3G speeds and reception should be decent so long as you have a decent provider, it is more dependent on them than on the phone. Battery life is mediocre, though you can pull off 4 hours of screen time a day with a little bit of effort (and compromise). It is generally a pretty stubborn phone. It won't break straight off the bat, but being plastic it will tend to scratch easily from rough surfaces. The screen can take a fair bit of abuse so don't be scared about the lack of "gorilla glass" branding, plus it's curved which is both great to touch and means it's less prone to scratched glass. I've found a case to be good due to the phone being slippery, but have since decided to use it without one. If you intend to root the phone i'm sure the gaming experience will be a good one, and likely even more so with jellybean - though there are certain games that won't even install (some tegra and tablet based games i think, i don't game that much on the phone so don't take my word on this).
As for storage, you have 16GB in the phone classified as "sdcard". It is built in and non-replaceable, with no external sdcard slot. It is partitioned primarily into /system, /data and /sdcard. /system holds the android operating system and is plenty big enough even for development purposes. /data is approximately 1GB and holds the data for apps only, so you have 1GB worth of apps which you can keep installed on the phone. The /sdcard partition is around 15GB and formatted as FAT32, so you can throw all of your music, photos, videos and sd2ext (built in, not a seperate app) apps here, so any larger games would be thrown onto the sdcard if you choose so, generally giving plenty of room. The only drawback for me, personally, is the lack of room for music - but you seem to have yourself sorted there.
And as i said above, if you really want to get every benefit from this phone it should be unlocked and rooted. It loves being free. Otherwise it's just a Galaxy S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And my decision was solidified with the acquisition of jellybean. I can get a gnex experience for the most part without having to shell out so much money. I just need a gaming device (I'm going to buy chainfire for the coupe of tegra games I want) and an entertainment hub. I will buy a case asap, probably a ballistic case, an some other stuff, thank you so much
Sent from my Full Android on SMDKV210 using xda app-developers app

One more thing to point out though, if you end up getting the 4G version (the only CDMA version, which i think is what Sprint uses) it may take longer to get JB and I can't comment on CDMA networks 3G. It will be approximately on par with most other phones running on the same network, though.

ognimnella said:
I just want to know your opinion, and the pros and cons of the phone, alongside the questions I asked. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Nexus range is the first to get the Jelly Bean update, so it's certain that Google is paying extra attention to it.
As a friend of mine (also owning a Nexus S) pointed out, the development activity is one of the best out there.
In terms of performance, I was happy with it in 99% of time, you can't pretend the same performance as a quad core phone but overclocking the phone at a safe 1200mhz makes it significantly faster.
All in all, it is a very good phone for the price you pay.
Good luck and let us know if you decided getting the phone.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda app-developers app

Harbb said:
One more thing to point out though, if you end up getting the 4G version (the only CDMA version, which i think is what Sprint uses) it may take longer to get JB and I can't comment on CDMA networks 3G. It will be approximately on par with most other phones running on the same network, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am aware of Sprint and their inability to push updates properly, so it's expected. I will be rooted and running a slim ICS Rom anyway
, so I can just install JB after they get the update it in rooted Rom style.
whoisrikk said:
The Nexus range is the first to get the Jelly Bean update, so it's certain that Google is paying extra attention to it.
As a friend of mine (also owning a Nexus S) pointed out, the development activity is one of the best out there.
In terms of performance, I was happy with it in 99% of time, you can't pretend the same performance as a quad core phone but overclocking the phone at a safe 1200mhz makes it significantly faster.
All in all, it is a very good phone for the price you pay.
Good luck and let us know if you decided getting the phone.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got a little excited yesterday and decided to do research on some other phones that could be possible contenders, but this phone takes home the crown. My parents said that because I broke the phone, I cover the expenses. So I did the math.
If I get a galaxy nexus now:
I have to buy out my contract ($100), and then buy the phone ($150) = $250
If I buy a galaxy S III now:
I have to buy out the contract (same) and buy the phone ($200) = $300
if I buy this phone:
But it from Amazon ($150) and transfer my number (free) = $150
The numbers say it all. I will get this phone . Plus, I want a nexus 7, so I need to save as much money as I can. I will wait until next year to get my upgrade to the gnex
Sent from my GTablet using xda app-developers app

Related

So...Would you recommend the 7" tab?

After reading a few reviews for the tab various websites complain about the apparent stuttering or lag when doing basic activities and all have different minor complaints. So my questions to the xda community are:
1)Would you recommend somebody buy this tablet for £200? If not what would you recommend?
2)Any complaints about the physical components of the tablet? - the screen matters to me the most tbh.
3) Do the custom roms fix any software related complaints you have of the device?
Thanks in advance!
I'm quite happy with the device, for the price. Sure you can better tablets for more and worse ones for less.
screen is fine, lag doesn't bother me too much though. I just wanted something to work out the box with no messing about as my partner wanted to use it a lot. If it were just for me I would be more tempted to mess about with roms and rooting.
For sure. I had 4 other 7 inchers before this one. I've had mine a month or so I guess and I'm happy with it. If I wasn't I would have surely returned it. I'm quick to take things back.
Plus, there's some kick ass development going on for this tablet.
For the price.. yeah, especially if you bought it at Costco. I just wish I could get a 4g version that works with T-Mobile.
Only reservations on recommendation is cause I would wait for the nexus tablet to do a comparison first.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G with Beats Audio using Tapatalk 2
Probably. For the pricepoint I think it's still the best option on the market for the moment.
It'll also depend which phone you're coming from for a reference point as far as expectations. For the vast majority of phone devices out there the performance on this feels just as responsive. If you're using a Galaxy S2 device though it does feel a step down from that. Likewise the screen (while higher res) is definitely no AMOLED when it comes to wow factor. The slightly older Plus flavor of this tablet gives you that, but at an additional cost. For this price I think the screen's fine.
My biggest complaint is the memory card issue. And that really is a larger Android issue not specific to the device itself. You can put a 32GB card in. But it's essentially useless as far as most apps are concerned as most are programmed to only see the much smaller internal SD card. If you root there's ways around that, but it's frustrating that you have to do so. Most nicer Android devices now have both internal SD with an option for external SD so Android needs to start accounting for that at the system level.
Thanks for the replies, may hold out until google i/o before purchasing though.

[Q] Is the One-S a good replacement for HD2?

Sadly, it has come to the time to replace my my trusty HD2, which has been the best phone I have ever owned.
Because of it's sheer awesomeness, there's some pretty big shoes to fill being left by the HD2 (and that is in no small part to the amazing work of certain people on this forum to literally turn the HD2 in to the device it was meant to have been via incredible ROM dev).
Tmob USA are offering me a One-S and on paper it looks pretty good but can avy of you tell me if it't a worthy upgrade?
The main thing that worries me is the lack of SD card (and only 1gb of internal mem if I'm reading it right?).
The other thing is that it doesn't seem to multitask well and at some points have several very intensive things happening with my phone at once (GPS nva, while downloading a torrent, while being on a voice call and googling something for instance).
Can anyone tell me if the One-S will stand up?
If yiu are due for an upgrade wait four more days and get the sgs3. It has ext card as well. Htc one s is a good phone as well though.
The HD2 is a cult classic. Is the One S a good contender? It certainly is. The phone imo opinion hits the sweet spot going by size, easy one handed operation which I believe is necessary.
It has 16GB total memory and 1GB ram. From the 16GB, 10GB is accessible for photo's and the like. Dropbox have a sense 4 promotion that when you sign you you get 25GB free, so size shouldnt be an issue. Multi-tasking has been fine for me, but that is user dependent.
With the S4 snapdragon soc you have a true next generation processor, so performance will be amazing. Its the same processor in the ATT One X, Evo 4G LTE and rumoured to be in the Samsung GS3 LTE variant.
phatphat said:
Sadly, it has come to the time to replace my my trusty HD2, which has been the best phone I have ever owned.
Because of it's sheer awesomeness, there's some pretty big shoes to fill being left by the HD2 (and that is in no small part to the amazing work of certain people on this forum to literally turn the HD2 in to the device it was meant to have been via incredible ROM dev).
Tmob USA are offering me a One-S and on paper it looks pretty good but can avy of you tell me if it't a worthy upgrade?
The main thing that worries me is the lack of SD card (and only 1gb of internal mem if I'm reading it right?).
The other thing is that it doesn't seem to multitask well and at some points have several very intensive things happening with my phone at once (GPS nva, while downloading a torrent, while being on a voice call and googling something for instance).
Can anyone tell me if the One-S will stand up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's one thing to ask for input from people but until you actually go to the store and hold one in your hand and use it a little it won't be the same, personally I love it and I have a few different devices but what I like might not be what your looking for and the fact that you can't just pull the battery or put in a sd card usually makes people leery about getting it but after actually holding it and testing it out I was sold.
It's worth checking out, I had my upgrade for a few months and I waited to see how it felt in the store and bought it on the spot there's something about the way HTC builds their devices that makes me feel better about having one, they are solid in build and lack that plastic feel ( like it's gonna break if you bend it though not intentional it happens) the weight is deceiving and after holding a MT4G it feels so much lighter but just as strong.
I don't wanna make your decision for you though just go in and mess with it, you'll know if it's right for you...
Best phone ever
Sent from my HTC VLE_U using xda premium
Did the same switch from HD2 to HOS and it was the best choice of these times. Mayby in future I'll consider switching to another that will have an sd card additionally, if HTC will manufacture such device (same specs and dimensions as HOS but with an sd card ). Otherwise love the phone, battery life is amazing comparing wirh HD 2. Rom development not so extensive as for HD 2 but in time...... It's a good choice to go for the HOS
Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk
I switched from HD2 to ONE S.
No regrets.
Not one bit.
Switched from the hd2 also...and im vary happy. But I do wish it had more storage or a external memory. But that's because I have a lot of music. And some places I go don't have good coverage and google play dosent stream well. But if you don't plan on storing large amounts of media on your phone you'll be fine. If I had a do over I'd still get this phone. It's a good solid phone.
Sent from my HTC One S
T-Mobile USA
stock
I have just upgraded from HTC HD2 to HTC ONE S...The phone will be delivered in 2 days...can't wait.
I made the same jump, upgraded from HD2 to the One S. I love it, the size and feel of the device is great! No regrets here, but it is dependent on your use case. For example, if you can't live without an sdcard because you have a ton of music and images etc then it might not be the phone for you and the S3 might be the one that suits you. Now if that isn't something that will be an issue for you then the One S won't disappoint!
Sent from my HTC VLE_U using XDA
From HD2 with CM7 to One S with ICS. (forced upgrade due to screen shattering).
1) Both phone have solid construction. the HD2 lasted 2 years and expect the One S to last longer
2) thin, the One S is much thinner and lighter
3) Screen, screen size are similar, however One S looks a little better
4) ICS is great. I dont' even mind Sense 4.0. Will try CM9 when the last bugs are worked out (camcorder)

[Q] Gah; Handset Insanity! Help me choose my next phone

I know that you guys probably see dozens of these kinds of threads from confused geeks like me who just can't make up their minds, but I'm really stuck here. I've been up for hours reading about all of the handsets on the market right now and I just can't settle on one option that I like the best for my situation. I'm hoping that some of the more experienced users can help me out on this.
For context, I've been using an HTC Desire for the past two years no problem. I love the phone, but it is showing it's age and the internal memory is an issue. So I would like to get a new one, that can last me at the very least two more years. My budget is around 600 dollars.
I live in Canada, so the situation with carriers is pretty bad. I'm currently on Telus (HSPA+) and would prefer to own my phone so that I can bypass this whole contract crap and negotiate better prices for my monthly bills.
Anyways, boiled down, this is what I'm looking for:
Compatible with Telus HSPA+ Network (Rogers is a plus)
Either a MicroSD slot or 32+ onboard storage
At least 24 hours of battery life on a single charge
Decent performance, don't really play games but would like a lag free interface
Healthy hacking community
Good build quality and durability. It should be able to take a fall
Flash camera. Camera quality is a negligible factor but I use the flashlight every day.
Out of all of the devices I've seen thus far, I'm leaning most towards the OneX+. But I've also looked at the Galaxy Nexus and liked it as well. There is also the SGS3 but I think that phone is really ugly and don't really like it. Choices... choices... can I hear a voice of reason here?
What do you think about a Motorola Atrix 4G. It have a dual-core CPU (1Ghz), 16Go of internal memory + MicroSD slot up to 32Go. HSPA+ compatible, a great assembly quality with Kevlar. A high-capacity battery (more than one day of autonomy). A good healthed developers community.
I think it's the best phone for your requirements. It's not the all brand new smartphone, but you'll keep it for a longtime if you take care of it
GoL LuM
PS: I forgot to say it have two very powerful LEDs flash (more powerful than Galaxy S2 flash)
Sorry for my bad english
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
GoL LuM said:
What do you think about a Motorola Atrix 4G. It have a dual-core CPU (1Ghz), 16Go of internal memory + MicroSD slot up to 32Go. HSPA+ compatible, a great assembly quality with Kevlar. A high-capacity battery (more than one day of autonomy). A good healthed developers community.
I think it's the best phone for your requirements. It's not the all brand new smartphone, but you'll keep it for a longtime if you take care of it
GoL LuM
PS: I forgot to say it have two very powerful LEDs flash (more powerful than Galaxy S2 flash)
Sorry for my bad english
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hadn't though of that one actually. From the looks of it, everything that I want is there. However, from the development pages, it looks like Motorola is being quite active in suppressing the hacking community, especially by not providing them graphics drivers which leads to numerous bugs in ICS and JB. That might be a deal breaker for me unless an Atrix4G owner can weigh in and clear my suspicions.
Note 2 if that isn't too big for u! Idk y u don't like s3 but 20million + people who bought it can't go wrong! and u oughtta sacrifice somethin to gain somethin! Just sayin. Ur wish! And BTW one x + is great. Isn't nexus4 there? Cuz nexus is already too old!
Ps - and don't ever think of buying moto. I myself own an atrix2. They r too unresponsive / ignorant about their customers. Worst OEM ever. And they have everything locked down (bootloader), so not really much of development!
Lifehacker7 said:
Note 2 if that isn't too big for u! Idk y u don't like s3 but 20million + people who bought it can't go wrong! and u oughtta sacrifice somethin to gain somethin! Just sayin. Ur wish! And BTW one x + is great. Isn't nexus4 there? Cuz nexus is already too old!
Ps - and don't ever think of buying moto. I myself own an atrix2. They r too unresponsive / ignorant about their customers. Worst OEM ever. And they have everything locked down (bootloader), so not really much of development!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Note2 is far to big for my tiny hands, haha. The reason I don't like the S3 is because of the garish chamfered edges and the design that basically screams "no we aren't copying apple" while not offering any real inspired design. It's just too unrelentingly samsung. While Moto might be the worst OEM, I think samsung is pretty close.
Nexus 4 is out of the question because of it's pathetic amount of internal storage and no MicroSD slot. Also it is basically a glass enclosed phone so it won't have the durability of something like the one x+.
Honestly, I think I am going to go with the One X+ because it seems that it has the best internal battery, great specs, though I will probably hobble it a bit for extra battery life with a more efficient kernel. Also it seems that it could survive re-entry into the atmosphere with that fused ceramic/metal enclosure.
Then again... I might just go with the S3. I mean it is butt ugly but it has everything that I want in a phone. MicroSD, removable battery, nice screen, hacking community... damn. It's really not making it easy on my that the phone costs 150 dollars less than the OneX+. Plus the button is on the side as opposed to the top, which is nice.
CentiZen said:
I know that you guys probably see dozens of these kinds of threads from confused geeks like me who just can't make up their minds, but I'm really stuck here. I've been up for hours reading about all of the handsets on the market right now and I just can't settle on one option that I like the best for my situation. I'm hoping that some of the more experienced users can help me out on this.
For context, I've been using an HTC Desire for the past two years no problem. I love the phone, but it is showing it's age and the internal memory is an issue. So I would like to get a new one, that can last me at the very least two more years. My budget is around 600 dollars.
I live in Canada, so the situation with carriers is pretty bad. I'm currently on Telus (HSPA+) and would prefer to own my phone so that I can bypass this whole contract crap and negotiate better prices for my monthly bills.
Anyways, boiled down, this is what I'm looking for:
Compatible with Telus HSPA+ Network (Rogers is a plus)
Either a MicroSD slot or 32+ onboard storage
At least 24 hours of battery life on a single charge
Decent performance, don't really play games but would like a lag free interface
Healthy hacking community
Good build quality and durability. It should be able to take a fall
Flash camera. Camera quality is a negligible factor but I use the flashlight every day.
Out of all of the devices I've seen thus far, I'm leaning most towards the OneX+. But I've also looked at the Galaxy Nexus and liked it as well. There is also the SGS3 but I think that phone is really ugly and don't really like it. Choices... choices... can I hear a voice of reason here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
man all this screams SGS3 and your better off getting it. everyone has said how much they love it. I would avoid htc though, theyve been changing for the worse...

Frustrated, confused, venting

I come this morning a little confused and frustrated, since my gf doesn't understand what I'm talking about, maybe the online community will. I like many others brought the Samsung Galaxy S6 on April 10th. Its a beautiful phone, amazing build quality and specs and for the most part I love it. Now I don't know where to aim my frustration towards whether its Samsung or Verizon but why can't we have the same features like the international version of our phones...why is it that these carriers (I'm pointing at Verizon now cause that's who I currently empty my pockets to) always dictating what apps can come preinstalled on our phones and removing things that we were told are cool new features. For example, where's the stock samsung browser? With the fingerprint login? How about the smart manager for checking ram, CPU and such? Where's the Microsoft apps that Samsung have teamed up with so we can get 100GB of online storage through the one drive app? We see them do this year after year, I know the community usually roots phones (if possible) and find ways around this but why should the average person have to go through all this hassle?
I concur, I'm pissed, what can ya do about it, straight abuse of power.
I agree, I absolutely HATE Verizon for what they do, locking down phones, preventing root and keeping us who like it unable to have it, bloating phones and making them use what would normally be unallocated RAM and forcing you to keep them, etc. F*** you to Verizon, I want the S6 and I have it but I can't stand the bloat & the lack of root or an unlocked bootloader, though I am fine with a locked bootloader for the time being as I have my M8 for that, I would seriously like root just to know that I HAVE CONTROL, not THEM. God I hate Verizon, so much honestly I hope they fail as a company and T-Mobile buys all their towers here. F them.
- Angry Rant Over.
Yeah it just sucks. You get pumped up about a phone and all it can do just to find out some of its features are removed... And for no good reason I might add
Soldi3rxx said:
Yeah it just sucks. You get pumped up about a phone and all it can do just to find out some of its features are removed... And for no good reason I might add
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course there's a good reason!! Verizon would hate for you to use 100GB of free online storage instead of paying a monthly fee for their Verizon Cloud storage.
Averix said:
Of course there's a good reason!! Verizon would hate for you to use 100GB of free online storage instead of paying a monthly fee for their Verizon Cloud storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...:banghead: who's side are you on
lol jk, I'm pretty pissed about the missing stuff too but not the drive storage since I already got 130 gb of one drive storage free from some other deal that's only 15 gb being used right now.
Sent from my SM-G920V using XDA Free mobile app
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2015/04/14/samsung-galaxy-s6-att-verizon/
^^ made me like that guy more
Hey at least VZW released the nexus 6 for those that want a unlocked bootloader.
Looks like the one drive app works
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3086465
I remember seeing this the other day and something about the verbiage in the initial discovery made me think Samsung/Microsoft pushed it manually from their end, bypassing Verizon and AT&T's silliness.
Yeah I think so too cause it definitely wasn't working when the phone first launched
I just wish they would have left aosp browser. Chrome performs like garbage on this device. The lag and stuttering is killing me.
Installed adguard and its significantly improved my chrome performance.
Soldi3rxx said:
I come this morning a little confused and frustrated, since my gf doesn't understand what I'm talking about, maybe the online community will. I like many others brought the Samsung Galaxy S6 on April 10th. Its a beautiful phone, amazing build quality and specs and for the most part I love it. Now I don't know where to aim my frustration towards whether its Samsung or Verizon but why can't we have the same features like the international version of our phones...why is it that these carriers (I'm pointing at Verizon now cause that's who I currently empty my pockets to) always dictating what apps can come preinstalled on our phones and removing things that we were told are cool new features. For example, where's the stock samsung browser? With the fingerprint login? How about the smart manager for checking ram, CPU and such? Where's the Microsoft apps that Samsung have teamed up with so we can get 100GB of online storage through the one drive app? We see them do this year after year, I know the community usually roots phones (if possible) and find ways around this but why should the average person have to go through all this hassle?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These ears heard you and understood my friend... hope you feel a little lighter since offloading the frustration. I'm here doing the same (maybe XDA should consider opening a "48hr New Device and Carrier Disappointment Support Thread").
Fortunately, I'm inside the 14 day return window and the phone will be sent on it's way back to Verizon tomorrow.
The S6 is a beautiful piece of hardware aesthetically... build quality is second-to-none but I'm nonetheless disappointed at the departure from function to form.
I started typing a big rant but I'm just going to summarise my negativity;
Glass on the back - form over function need I say more... well yes, if only to vent my frustration. The phone in naked form is bloody slippery and I there's not a single practical reason why Samsung would do this. I'm convinced this is purely a money grabbing move; make it more like the iPhone (yes it does look nice) and secure more sales from broken phones.
Removal of the SD card slot... FU Samsung - you've let down an avid supporter and I feel you're no better than Apple anymore (and FU Apple... just for good measure).
Verizon... FU for locking down and screwing with Android et al. Actually FU for everything you do. CDMA being the biggest contributer, bloatware and restrictions the next.
I figure $35 is a bargain for such a life lesson... eBay HTC M8 here I come.
I hear what your saying man. It sucks big time
CiaoMongolis said:
These ears heard you and understood my friend... hope you feel a little lighter since offloading the frustration. I'm here doing the same
Glass on the back - form over function need I say more... well yes, if only to vent my frustration. The phone in naked form is bloody slippery and I there's not a single practical reason why Samsung would do this. I'm convinced this is purely a money grabbing move; make it more like the iPhone (yes it does look nice) and secure more sales from broken phones.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One of the big complaints about the Galaxy S phones was that they looked cheap for flagship phones because of the plastic. Almost all the online reviewers and many users on the various forums made a big stink about the plastic. Like the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. I have a S4 and I am perfectly OK with the plastic body. Besides most people put their phones in cases anyway and the only thing you mainly see is the screen. I came very close to buying the S6 but decided against it mainly because of the lack of memory expansion and removable battery. I'll probably leave Samsung for my next phone. FWIW, there is a Youtube video where a guy drops a S6 Edge on cement from 10 feet high and the glass didn't crack.
Eddie Hicks said:
One of the big complaints about the Galaxy S phones was that they looked cheap for flagship phones because of the plastic. Almost all the online reviewers and many users on the various forums made a big stink about the plastic. Like the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. I have a S4 and I am perfectly OK with the plastic body. Besides most people put their phones in cases anyway and the only thing you mainly see is the screen. I came very close to buying the S6 but decided against it mainly because of the lack of memory expansion and removable battery. I'll probably leave Samsung for my next phone. FWIW, there is a Youtube video where a guy drops a S6 Edge on cement from 10 feet high and the glass didn't crack.
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Oh yes, I've also never had an issue with the use of a plastic back nor wished they'd move to glass.
Evidence of that is my upgrade path over the years;
Touch Diamond
Touch HD
S (original)
iPhone 4 (yes, a shameful 3 month period in my life when I went against my own better judgement and allowed myself to be swayed by the hype)
S2
S3
Note
Note 2
S6
One M8 (and thus the end of my era with Samsung)
So disappointed...
So has anyone found a way to get the stock Samsung browser yet? It's performance is so much better than chrome that it's a shame we're stuck without it.
Can't we just install an extracted version from one of the other variants? I saw ported versions for s5 but they required root as they installed to system. Maybe on the s6 it won't need it since it's originally made for it? I'm gonna look around and try some but if anyone finds something that works please post about it.
Sent from my Verizon S6
I to was not happy that Samsung moved to a glass back and no SD card, removable battery I can live without. I picked up the S6 any way, I was paying 29 a month on the Edge plan for a 32 Gig M8 and I had a 32 Gig SD card, well the 64 Gig S6 is the same 29 a month so I am OK with no SD and 64 Gig of internal storage. So far I am loving the S6.
MarkLI88 said:
I to was not happy that Samsung moved to a glass back and no SD card, removable battery I can live without. I picked up the S6 any way, I was paying 29 a month on the Edge plan for a 32 Gig M8 and I had a 32 Gig SD card, well the 64 Gig S6 is the same 29 a month so I am OK with no SD and 64 Gig of internal storage. So far I am loving the S6.
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Loving mine too. Can't see a phone replacing this one until the Note 5 comes out.

Best rootable Verizon phones with removable battery

So I'm still using my Galaxy S4 with the bootloader/baseband that allows me to have a custom recovery and custom ROMs. At this point, the internal memory of 16GB is (only ~9.7 useable) is pretty much full. That and I'm a power user so not only are there a ton of apps which are crushing the battery, but it's also pretty slow at this point.
I need a new Verizon compatible phone that is fully rootable (I rely heavily on Xposed and a series of root-access-required apps daily.) I also need removable batteries because I burn through a LOT of them every day and need spares ready to roll.
I know those constraints are tough enough to hit, but if possible I'd prefer something that allows custom ROMs (AOSP if possible), custom kernels, has a good camera, and has significant internal storage and is much more powerful than the S4.
I'm pretty sure this phone doesn't actually exist, but I'm wondering which phones would be the best bet for me.
Recommendations?
(I realize Verizon is the worst carrier for what I want, but I use a lot of data and can't give up grandfathered unlimited data at this point.)
kwest12 said:
So I'm still using my Galaxy S4 with the bootloader/baseband that allows me to have a custom recovery and custom ROMs. At this point, the internal memory of 16GB is (only ~9.7 useable) is pretty much full. That and I'm a power user so not only are there a ton of apps which are crushing the battery, but it's also pretty slow at this point.
I need a new Verizon compatible phone that is fully rootable (I rely heavily on Xposed and a series of root-access-required apps daily.) I also need removable batteries because I burn through a LOT of them every day and need spares ready to roll.
I know those constraints are tough enough to hit, but if possible I'd prefer something that allows custom ROMs (AOSP if possible), custom kernels, has a good camera, and has significant internal storage and is much more powerful than the S4.
I'm pretty sure this phone doesn't actually exist, but I'm wondering which phones would be the best bet for me.
Recommendations?
(I realize Verizon is the worst carrier for what I want, but I use a lot of data and can't give up grandfathered unlimited data at this point.)
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Click to collapse
Happened to find this thread through some Googling, funny enough I would wish for the exact same thing...closest ones out there that I can find meet all criteria but the removable battery bit. Sure wish there was one that ticked all the boxes though!
I'm thinking about biting the bullet and getting an unlocked Pixel (whenever they're back in stock.... last time I checked they were sold out.) For the hardware they deliver, they're charging too much, but it's kinda in a class of its own with respects to being unlockable.
Seems like pretty much everything else is getting locked down, and the more I use phones that need heavy handed hacking to unlock, the more I realize how many problems it ends up causing; I had the Droid X, the Bionic, and now the GS4. For each, the amount of time and effort I committed to hacking then was immense, and the result was very flawed, but at least performed the root functions I would've missed out on otherwise. The problem is you end up with a half-broken phone with lags and glitches.
A phone that's essentially meant to be unlocked seems like the best way to go imo. Sucks that it doesn't have a removable battery though.

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