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In light of the controversy over Nexus S I thought I would see what everyone else thought a phone branded Nexus should be. Before anyone gets to crazy, here are the guide lines:
1) who builds it
2) nothing that is not produced or not going to be produced: aka- "Star Wars in true 3D holograms and a transporter from Star Trek" talk about things that DO exsist like 10 megapixel cameras with flash, accepts 32g class 10 cards, front facing camera, roms, android version, etc.
3)Why
4)Try to explain why there is not this device
That's it, build your Nexus fantasy, and question why we can't have it!
My Dream Nexus
Okay, well I have been thinking about this for a while now, what I would like in a phone, not necessarily a Nexus, and this is what I have come up with. Please understand that I haven't used an Android phone (although I am getting a Galaxy S for Christmas, have found them cheap on eBay from people giving them up for Nexus S' ) so some of this may be irrelevant.
1) Well, to be honest, I don't care who makes it, as long as it is reliable and sturdy. I love the design of the HTC 1 (concept by Andrew Kim, Google it, I can't post links or pictures unfortunately), and it seems to fit HTC's recent designs, so I may as well go with HTC, having played with a Desire and Wildfire, I can't fault the quality.
2) In my mind, I can't see much technology that could be incorporated into a new device that isn't out currently. I think an 8MP camera (large sensor size of course) is about as much as most people will need. A choice of 32/64 GB internal storage seems reasonable, with the option of using a MicroSDHC card up to 32GB. As for processors, I would probably choose that tri-core processor I heard about a while ago (can't remember it's name for the life of me) that had 2 multimedia/powerful cores and one lower clocked core for other tasks, paired with 1GB of RAM, allowing for the future, because with all of this, hopefully it would be at the top for a long time. A screen size of about 4 inches seems perfect, having used an iPod Touch and tested out a Galaxy S and a HD2, preferably with SuperAMOLED(2?). A front facing camera (1.3mp), and all the current sensors would be included. As for connectivity, Wireless N is standard, but you could get this phone in several versions, a HSPA+ version, LTE or WiMAX, to cater for your network of choice, and at a stretch, combine them all into one to have a mega-worldwide phone . Now, the biggest improvement area: batteries. I would definitely have a large capacity battery, at least 1500ma, but possibly even using new technology to make it last longer, such as using Tobacco Mosaic Virus to boost battery life 10x (I read this on Gizmodo today). Thats about all I can think of for hardware, with all of that, you really need decent software, and that's where the fun really begins.
Software is a tricky area in my mind for the Nexus line, being more of a developer type of phone, it should be easy to root and customise everything, installing new ROMs should be painless, and safe, with no risk, similar in a way to an iOS jailbreak (just hit restore in iTunes etc). But, as Andrew Kim mentioned when he did his HTC 1 concept, hardware and software need to be unified. This is where a Nexus could excell, being a Google phone and running stock Android. But to do that, I think the UI needs to become more consistent, much more consistent. Go and look at the HTC 1 concept now on the Design Fabulous website/blog, and find the messaging app mockup. It uses similar shades of grey and black to the phone itself, making it appear seemless, and even beautiful. Yes this would mean giving Android a completely different look, like going from WM6.x to WP7. And remove those buttons, for crying out loud, you have a beautiful touchscreen just there, it should be used! Have 2 buttons, a Home and Menu, integrate the Back option into the UI like in iOS, search could be accessed by holding down/double tapping Home and then the Menu key could be used for the next major shift.
(EDIT: Can't post images, sorry, but please search Google Images for 'windows phone 7 app associated press' and it should be the first image there)
Yes, this is a picture of an app in WP7, but that's not the point. I tried out WP7 the other day, and I found it a refreshing way of using a device. It looked good and was consistent. But I am drifting off, the Menu key. Look at the picture above, look to the left, and see the categories. Imagine that as all the app's options/menu, like pressing the Menu key currently does, as well as anything else. You could swipe through the different screens to get to it (using the screen, like I went on about before), or, similar to getting back to the first page of apps on iOS, press the Menu key to zoom back there. Simple and elegant in my opinion. Implement a similar look and feel across the whole system, and you have some mighty fine software indeed, but for those who wouldn't like it, with the option of installing one of the many ROMs available without any risk.
3) Why? Well, we are a consumer society, with many phones getting replaced in a year or less, and sometimes just being thrown out, we waste so many materials. By providing solid, useful and top of the line hardware, the need to upgrade becomes less as it would take longer to become outdated. I believe software is the key to a platform, and I am not alone in thinking that. That is where the real innovation comes from, so with a standardised Nexus there could be so much innovation coming from users such as the people here at XDA. Most of the hardware is probably available today, if not in the near future, so it is more an evolutionary step, but I will say that the tri-core processor is for more battery life and more power when needed, and the RAM allowing for better multitasking and futureproofing. And I would just love to own a phone looking like the HTC 1 concept, it is awesome and many friends I have shown it to think the same (they aren't techies either).
4) Why can't we have it? Well, I don't actually know why. The only things I can think of which probably isn't in production are: a) the tri-core processor, but dual-cores are in production now or in the next few weeks I imagine, b) SuperAMOLED(2?), mainly because it's Samsung's tech and this would be built by HTC and c) the multiple connectivity radio with HSPA+, LTE and WiMAX probably isn't being developed as of now, maybe not for another year until these networks become more common.
It is the software side of things which puzzles me, but I'm sure it is coming. Someone just has to take this idea with them, and go for gold. I would like to do that personally, but I need to learn how to code better, a lot better. (I joined XDA for inspiration ) I think this UI would work well, and be powerful, elegant and simple at the same time, helping to bring Android into the public as being easy to use and better than Apple's offerings (a tough task, but I would like to think it possible, note I am not an Android fanboy, neither do I hate Apple, but change is good).
Wow, that is a lot of writing... I hope this is acceptable, I would love to have a device like this myself, I think it would be possible in the next 6 months maybe? I am curious to see what others would like, bring on more ideas!
mcsinny99 said:
In light of the controversy over Nexus S I thought I would see what everyone else thought a phone branded Nexus should be. Before anyone gets to crazy, here are the guide lines:
1) who builds it
2) nothing that is not produced or not going to be produced: aka- "Star Wars in true 3D holograms and a transporter from Star Trek" talk about things that DO exsist like 10 megapixel cameras with flash, accepts 32g class 10 cards, front facing camera, roms, android version, etc.
3)Why
4)Try to explain why there is not this device
That's it, build your Nexus fantasy, and question why we can't have it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe thats this is just a useless post. U ask people to xplain their fantasies but dont include phones not or never will be built?!
plainly put there is n never will be any ultimate phone since whatever u buy now is obsolete in 2 months.
@ OP
Post something more productive. There are other places u can go to post ur wishes n dreams.
kaivish said:
I believe thats this is just a useless post. U ask people to xplain their fantasies but dont include phones not or never will be built?!
plainly put there is n never will be any ultimate phone since whatever u buy now is obsolete in 2 months.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry, but I think you may have misunderstood the point about no Star Trek stuff. Reasonable fantasies would probably be a better way of thinking of it, maybe something you could get within the next few years. Yes, phones will be obsolete within months of release, but as I mentioned in my post, I think software is the real contender in the future, so once you have a decent specced phone, the software can do the rest.
I'm personally interested in what people want from a phone which isn't out already. So if you think this isn't productive, you don't have to read it. I think some good stuff could come out of here, and you never know, Google or HTC could be listening
1) built by samsung
2)3.8" super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1024x720 for a true HD display and 329 PPI(pixels per inch). a 1.2Ghz dual-core orion processor, Nvidia GPU,samsungs own NFC chip included in the nexus S, 2.3 Gingerbread ,10MP continual Auto-focus camera that can record at 720p, maximum microSD card is 32GB class 6, 16GB on-board storage,unlocked bootloader for easy loading of ROM's,1.3MP front facing camera, hardware camera shutter button, contour display, choice of stock 2.3 launcher or Touchwiz 3.0 launcher.
3) because why shouldnt we have tech this awesome , and if you think about it , most laptops would e obsolete if this were true , along with point and shoot cameras
4)Cost, cost of manufacture , cost of retail, too much R&D would be needed , to many other products would become obsolete, this to would need to be released quickly , or have 3.0 loaded onto it when it becomes readily available.
and can i have it by christmas please santa ??
CPU:
Snapdragon QSD8672 (1.5GHz Dualcore)
RAM:
1024MB DDR2 Mobile RAM (Elpida Produced)
GPU:
256MB nVidia Tegra GPU
Storage:
OS/Applications: 2048MB SSD
External Storage: 32GB MicroSD
Imaging
5MP Main Camera (Any does me tbh)
Sound
Bluetooth Cochlear Implant w/ Induction Charging Circuit
Screen/s
Wrist Display - Subdermal LCD w/ Single Action Touch Sensor and Induction Charging Circuit - http://www.gearfuse.com/subdermal-implant-watch-tattoo/
Main Screen - WSVGA Touch Screen
Power
5x 250A Lithium Ion Polymer Cells using Cell Balancing
Location Services
GPS
Accelerometer
Digital Compass
Altimeter
Connectivity
Micro USB 3.0
WiFi
HSDPA
3G
GPRS
the usual basically...
Would be my ultimate like
dom.l said:
2)3.8" super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1024x720 for a true HD display and 329 PPI(pixels per inch). a 1.2Ghz dual-core orion processor, Nvidia GPU,samsungs own NFC chip included in the nexus S, 2.3 Gingerbread ,10MP continual Auto-focus camera that can record at 720p, maximum microSD card is 32GB class 6, 16GB on-board storage,unlocked bootloader for easy loading of ROM's,1.3MP front facing camera, hardware camera shutter button, contour display, choice of stock 2.3 launcher or Touchwiz 3.0 launcher.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds decent I like your thinking!
dom.l said:
1) built by samsung
2)3.8" super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1024x720 for a true HD display and 329 PPI(pixels per inch). a 1.2Ghz dual-core orion processor, Nvidia GPU,samsungs own NFC chip included in the nexus S, 2.3 Gingerbread ,10MP continual Auto-focus camera that can record at 720p, maximum microSD card is 32GB class 6, 16GB on-board storage,unlocked bootloader for easy loading of ROM's,1.3MP front facing camera, hardware camera shutter button, contour display, choice of stock 2.3 launcher or Touchwiz 3.0 launcher.
3) because why shouldnt we have tech this awesome , and if you think about it , most laptops would e obsolete if this were true , along with point and shoot cameras
4)Cost, cost of manufacture , cost of retail, too much R&D would be needed , to many other products would become obsolete, this to would need to be released quickly , or have 3.0 loaded onto it when it becomes readily available.
and can i have it by christmas please santa ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my Liberty using XDA App
@3) That is my theory as well. But why not fire a shot across the bow of other manufacturers? Set the bar higher and watch them scramble to catch up?
2) In my mind, I can't see much technology that could be incorporated into a new device that isn't out currently. I think an 8MP camera (large sensor size of course) is about as much as most people will need. A choice of 32/64 GB internal storage seems reasonable, with the option of using a MicroSDHC card up to 32GB. As for processors, I would probably choose that tri-core processor I heard about a while ago (can't remember it's name for the life of me) that had 2 multimedia/powerful cores and one lower clocked core for other tasks, paired with 1GB of RAM, allowing for the future, because with all of this, hopefully it would be at the top for a long time. A screen size of about 4 inches seems perfect, having used an iPod Touch and tested out a Galaxy S and a HD2, preferably with SuperAMOLED(2?). A front facing camera (1.3mp), and all the current sensors would be included. As for connectivity, Wireless N is standard, but you could get this phone in several versions, a HSPA+ version, LTE or WiMAX, to cater for your network of choice, and at a stretch, combine them all into one to have a mega-worldwide phone . Now, the biggest improvement area: batteries. I would definitely have a large capacity battery, at least 1500ma, but possibly even using new technology to make it last longer, such as using Tobacco Mosaic Virus to boost battery life 10x (I read this on Gizmodo today). Thats about all I can think of for hardware, with all of that, you really need decent software, and that's where the fun really begins.
Software is a tricky area in my mind for the Nexus line, being more of a developer type of phone, it should be easy to root and customise everything, installing new ROMs should be painless, and safe, with no risk, similar in a way to an iOS jailbreak (just hit restore in iTunes etc). But, as Andrew Kim mentioned when he did his HTC 1 concept, hardware and software need to be unified. This is where a Nexus could excell, being a Google phone and running stock Android. But to do that, I think the UI needs to become more consistent, much more consistent. Go and look at the HTC 1 concept now on the Design Fabulous website/blog, and find the messaging app mockup. It uses similar shades of grey and black to the phone itself, making it appear seemless, and even beautiful. Yes this would mean giving Android a completely different look, like going from WM6.x to WP7. And remove those buttons, for crying out loud, you have a beautiful touchscreen just there, it should be used! Have 2 buttons, a Home and Menu, integrate the Back option into the UI like in iOS, search could be accessed by holding down/double tapping Home and then the Menu key could be used for the next major shift.
(EDIT: Can't post images, sorry, but please search Google Images for 'windows phone 7 app associated press' and it should be the first image there)
Yes, this is a picture of an app in WP7, but that's not the point. I tried out WP7 the other day, and I found it a refreshing way of using a device. It looked good and was consistent. But I am drifting off, the Menu key. Look at the picture above, look to the left, and see the categories. Imagine that as all the app's options/menu, like pressing the Menu key currently does, as well as anything else. You could swipe through the different screens to get to it (using the screen, like I went on about before), or, similar to getting back to the first page of apps on iOS, press the Menu key to zoom back there. Simple and elegant in my opinion. Implement a similar look and feel across the whole system, and you have some mighty fine software indeed, but for those who wouldn't like it, with the option of installing one of the many ROMs available without any risk.
3) Why? Well, we are a consumer society, with many phones getting replaced in a year or less, and sometimes just being thrown out, we waste so many materials. By providing solid, useful and top of the line hardware, the need to upgrade becomes less as it would take longer to become outdated. I believe software is the key to a platform, and I am not alone in thinking that. That is where the real innovation comes from, so with a standardised Nexus there could be so much innovation coming from users such as the people here at XDA. Most of the hardware is probably available today, if not in the near future, so it is more an evolutionary step, but I will say that the tri-core processor is for more battery life and more power when needed, and the RAM allowing for better multitasking and futureproofing. And I would just love to own a phone looking like the HTC 1 concept, it is awesome and many friends I have shown it to think the same (they aren't techies either).
4) Why can't we have it? Well, I don't actually know why. The only things I can think of which probably isn't in production are: a) the tri-core processor, but dual-cores are in production now or in the next few weeks I imagine, b) SuperAMOLED(2?), mainly because it's Samsung's tech and this would be built by HTC and c) the multiple connectivity radio with HSPA+, LTE and WiMAX probably isn't being developed as of now, maybe not for another year until these networks become more common.
It is the software side of things which puzzles me, but I'm sure it is coming. Someone just has to take this idea with them, and go for gold. I would like to do that personally, but I need to learn how to code better, a lot better. (I joined XDA for inspiration ) I think this UI would work well, and be powerful, elegant and simple at the same time, helping to bring Android into the public as being easy to use and better than Apple's offerings (a tough task, but I would like to think it possible, note I am not an Android fanboy, neither do I hate Apple, but change is good).
Wow, that is a lot of writing... I hope this is acceptable, I would love to have a device like this myself, I think it would be possible in the next 6 months maybe? I am curious to see what others would like, bring on more ideas![/QUOTE]
Great post, I agree with most of what you have to say, but I feel wp7 is behind in ui. Take that home screen that just plainly wastes 1/3 of the screen. Sure, android phones could loose those buttons, but I still think it's a step ahead of the competition. The slick ui concept http://phandroid.com/2010/10/25/slick-ui-promising-look-at-an-android-home-screen-replacement-app/ may be a step towards that htc 1 concept (WOW, btw, had not seen that- http://designfabulous.blogspot.com/2010/07/htc-1.html) that we will get soon. Seems people just don't like the idea of those permanent screen buttons. I am coming around myself.
mcsinny99 said:
Great post, I agree with most of what you have to say, but I feel wp7 is behind in ui. Take that home screen that just plainly wastes 1/3 of the screen. Sure, android phones could loose those buttons, but I still think it's a step ahead of the competition. The slick ui concept http://phandroid.com/2010/10/25/slick-ui-promising-look-at-an-android-home-screen-replacement-app/ may be a step towards that htc 1 concept (WOW, btw, had not seen that- http://designfabulous.blogspot.com/2010/07/htc-1.html) that we will get soon. Seems people just don't like the idea of those permanent screen buttons. I am coming around myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to agree the homescreen doesn't make total use of the space, but I guess it helps make it look less cluttered, however that is personal. What I meant about WP7 was the different approach to apps, specifically the side scrolling nature of everything.
I love watching the reactions of people who look at the HTC 1 concept, every single person I have shown it to so far has just kinda said either I want one now or wow... Rather interesting to see
As for the buttons, I am undecided personally. I can see the use of having more, but I am starting to like simpler, less cluttered looks myself. I guess in that respect the Galaxy S International is half ground, having one hard button and two capacitive, which you don't really notice too much if they're not lit up.
1. Does not matter, until it is high quality and not cheap plastic.
2.
- [at least] 4" sAMOLED display (or even IPS) with standard 480x800 resolution
Buttons should be:
- Camera and power on the right side
- Volume on the left side
- Menu, back, home buttons under the screen (preferably touch buttons)
- The latest Tegra2 dual-core CPU what performs at 2GHz max, and the best mobile 3d acceleration too
- High capacity but thin battery (1600mAh)
- 12Mp camera on the back, at least 3.2Mp camera on front (or something like the Adam, a rotate-able camera ontop) with dual xenon-led flash (and of course separate control, so they can be used separately)
- Projector on top part of the phone
- 1024MB RAM, 1024MB ROM(formatted for 512-512MB), dedicated 256MB SWAP, internal 16/32GB memcard, support for SDXC cards (capacity up to 2048GB)
- Bluetooth 3.0, USB 3.0, NFC, WLAN b/g/n, DLNA support, 4G support, USB Host functions
- Android OS of course, bumped with a nice slick UI, made by real designers, not some manufacturer (actually, Samsung is pretty good in these stuffs)
- Open system (no secure bootloader, etc) if you want it
3. Why? Because as a dev phone, developers needs the BEST device to test. If the stuff runs OK on the best, it should run properly on all other. Of course, device spec fragmentation is huge, we can't make all manufacturers to use the same CPU, motherboard, radio part, etc. That's where WinPhone7 failed great.
And also, let's provide something for the money they ask for a "smart phone". My current ZTE Blade knows a lot more than the HTC Legend, but costs half or even third of the money (here in Hungary a Legend costs around 90.000HUF, what is approx. 400-500$. The Blade, while it has more cocoa in it, costs around 200$). That's not right!
4. Why can't we have it?
That's easy. Manufacturers want people to buy their new phone when it comes out. Even if it costs a lot. They won't make an "Ultimate Phone", because then after everyone bought his/her own one, there would be no need of new stocks, and done. This way, they always keep up the interest for a slightly new phone (like Nexus S, a dumber Galaxy S, with Gingerbread), just to earn the highest profit with the lowest cost involved. The manufacturer who makes the "Ultimate Phone" would get rich at first sight, then until something more Ultimate is released, they just don't have income. See what I mean? Manufacturers use the first, big boom to earn back all the money they spent for "improvements" while selling almost the same phones. Just like Samsung as I said, or Nokia (N97 and N97 Mini, N8 and E7), or Sony Ericsson (X10, X10 pro; X10 mini, X10 mini pro; Vivaz, Satio, Vivaz Pro). Slight improvements, huge incomes.
fonix232 said:
4. Why can't we have it?
That's easy. Manufacturers want people to buy their new phone when it comes out. Even if it costs a lot. They won't make an "Ultimate Phone", because then after everyone bought his/her own one, there would be no need of new stocks, and done. This way, they always keep up the interest for a slightly new phone (like Nexus S, a dumber Galaxy S, with Gingerbread), just to earn the highest profit with the lowest cost involved. The manufacturer who makes the "Ultimate Phone" would get rich at first sight, then until something more Ultimate is released, they just don't have income. See what I mean? Manufacturers use the first, big boom to earn back all the money they spent for "improvements" while selling almost the same phones. Just like Samsung as I said, or Nokia (N97 and N97 Mini, N8 and E7), or Sony Ericsson (X10, X10 pro; X10 mini, X10 mini pro; Vivaz, Satio, Vivaz Pro). Slight improvements, huge incomes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's definitely a solid reason, and as much as we/consumers don't like it, the big companies will undoubtedly keep doing the same, just to stay in business. Still, I can see it being half possible if a manufacturer like made half-ground or something
Read these old posts made me lol 1600mAh high capacity lol I do not that was even high capacity when this topic was made!,OK here is my Ultimate phone for 2010 5.2in 940x560 LCD IPS display,SoC a custom One we well call t186 it has 4 A9-cortex core clocked at 1.6Ghz and a powerVR SXG543MP6 GPU with 2GB of LPDDR2 RAM,battery a 3500mAh battery,OS android honey comb 3.4,camera 10 megapixel rear camera 2mp front camera now that is a phone my friends!
Sent from my Z970 using XDA Free mobile app
tech_yeet said:
Read these old posts made me lol 1600mAh high capacity lol I do not that was even high capacity when this topic was made!,OK here is my Ultimate phone for 2010 5.2in 940x560 LCD IPS display,SoC a custom One we well call t186 it has 4 A9-cortex core clocked at 1.6Ghz and a powerVR SXG543MP6 GPU with 2GB of LPDDR2 RAM,battery a 3500mAh battery,OS android honey comb 3.4,camera 10 megapixel rear camera 2mp front camera now that is a phone my friends!
Sent from my Z970 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not even close to the s5 and note 4... lol... year old phone.
eloko said:
That's not even close to the s5 and note 4... lol... year old phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And actually the GPU would be more powerful the SGS5...
Sent from my Z970 using XDA Free mobile app
I've had my Nexus S since official launch day in late 2010. I still love it. I've been mildly tempted to replace it with the Galaxy Nexus a few times.
I'm somewhere in the middle between amateur and power-user. I enjoy rooting my device and installing custom roms, but I don't go beyond that. Also, once I find a rom that works well for me, I generally keep it for several months or more.
I'm trying to figure out what is potentially on the horizon that I should find exciting in the mobile device world - any thoughts? I'm asking more about things that actually improve my daily use of the phone. Right now, I have email and calendar push-sync (important for work), fast web browsing pretty much anywhere I go (typically getting 3-6Mbps anywhere I am), and can easily stream movies and music. What could I ask for that would actually improve my phone experience?
1. Bigger screen - obviously has its ups and downs - for me wouldn't make any positive impact.
2. Higher resolution - this is cool, and was one of the main reasons I was tempted by Galaxy Nexus, but again, wouldn't actually make any difference to me. I don't have any interest in gaming on my phone, beyond Angry Birds or Cut the Rope-type games.
3. Better camera - always nice, but for my use, the camera on Nexus S is more than adequate.
4. Faster data speeds - wouldn't help me at all. As long as I can stream TV and movies (which I already can), I have no need for anything faster, particularly if batter life is impacted.
5. Updated OS - this is probably what would tempt me most, due to my incessant need to always run the newest software available. Not sure what actual improvements it will have, though...
I guess my point is, I look at the latest and greatest devices out there (GS3, OneX, etc.), and I think to myself, "If I had that device, what benefits would I have compared to my Nexus S". And honestly, I can't think of a single one.
Any thoughts!
Thanks!
I think almost the same as you. Thinking about change my Nexus S, but it make almost everything I need already. If I change, it's only too see something new, hehe.
I think part of this speaks to how great the Nexus S is. In nearly 18 months of bigger screens, dual-core and quad-core, higher resolution, bigger batteries, LTE, etc., I've barely even been tempted to switch. I think that Google pushing out ICS to the Nexus S so early was a huge "lift" to my deciding to hang onto it for so long.
The nexus S has a more compact design and better audio both from speaker and headphones. The camera isnt better on the galaxy nexus, only video recording is. The screen is higher resolution but has so many horror stories about it. I personally didnt like the colors that much on the galaxy nexus especially the whites which were the worst I have ever seen on an AMOLED screen. But apparently there are good and bad screens of galaxy nexus so maybe I saw the bad one.
The most tempting thing for me is dual core CPU and 1GB ram, 2 areas where the nexus S is notably behind now and it really does enhance smartphone experience to have dual core CPU and more ram. And obviously it will get updates faster in the future provided the nexus S gets anything at all which it may not after 4.0.4.
The galaxy nexus also looks so damn epic, one of the best looking android phones for sure. And textured plastic back >>> glossy plastic anyday.
The disappointing parts of the galaxy nexus for me are,
- screen is not as good as reviews would have you believe
- speaker sound is disastrous
- Not much of an upgrade in GPU from nexus S, just higher clocks
- too big
I suppose since you are an i9020 owner it would be easier for you to switch to galaxy nexus since you are used to SAMOLED screens. I have an i9023 and just love the SC-LCD on it, the galaxy nexus screen seems like too many compromises for those infinite blacks.
same dilemma
Same issue as me, not sure whether I should upgrade or not. I've always been a "nexus behind" in that I held onto the N1 when the NS came out and only bought the NS when the GN came out. It's been cheaper for me since I had to pinch money in college.
Now that I have a job and income, I'm really tempted to finally catch up and buy the GN even though I'm extremely satisfied with my NS...
Gambler_3 said:
The most tempting thing for me is dual core CPU and 1GB ram, 2 areas where the nexus S is notably behind now and it really does enhance smartphone experience to have dual core CPU and more ram. And obviously it will get updates faster in the future provided the nexus S gets anything at all which it may not after 4.0.4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For "daily driving" of web browsing/email/calendar/movies/music, how does dual core CPU and more RAM make a difference? Maybe faster app switching, smoother OS performance?
ddb540 said:
For "daily driving" of web browsing/email/calendar/movies/music, how does dual core CPU and more RAM make a difference? Maybe faster app switching, smoother OS performance?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Web browsing can max up nexus S ram pretty quickly which causes lag and launcher redraw on exit. Web browsing is perhaps the biggest advantage of dual core and 1GB ram especially if you like to use desktop versions.
There can be serious lag in doing anything when an app is being updated in the background I had to turn off automatic update for that and I think the single core CPU might be to blame for that.
With more ram you can run more third party apps that have background services. The ram is perhaps the biggest limitation of nexus S. It's almost impossible to play games smoothly when you are online on skype because it eats so much ram.
And lastly there are a few games now which lag on nexus S and I believe again the ram or CPU are to blame for that as we have very good GPU for our resolution.
But when it comes to screen and sound, nexus still holds its own against the new phones and provides a very satisfying multimedia experience.
I am personally still thoroughly satisfied with nexus S overall and will wait for the next nexus phone(or series of phones) to come.
happy with my nexus s, but if I had the chance and was able to afford it, I'd ditch it for the GS3 any day
why i want to upgrade:
1. more RAM, power.
---------- DEFINITELY something I found myself always wanting while watching videos on the browser.
---------- Annoying waiting for important apps such as dialer/camera to load up.
2. larger, hd screen. (especially for watching videos; something i do often)
3. camera
I also just wait for next nexus this december..
Buying galaxy nexus seem not worth it for me..
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
I agree about waiting on the next Nexus release. I really like my NS still and I skipped out on the Galaxy Nexus. Now that we know a SERIES of Nexus's ( :what: ) are coming I'm definitely holding out. The S3 sounds great but the new Nexus line may out shine that later this year.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium
I'd have to agree with everyone about the NS shortcomings when compared to today's phones. To add to the list is the internal sdcard. I will NEVER get another phone without a removable sdcard. 16GB is just not enough.
Unfortunately, my NS is also sensitive to overclocking and crashes often even with raised voltage. Anyway, it's still a good phone holding it's own for 18mos.
PS: i, too, will wait for the next Nexus.
Sent from my Crespo using xda premium
I would also say ram and cpu are pretty big improvements.. Although I'm waiting for the next nexus as well. It's only a few months away and it's gonna blow the gnex out of the water for sure.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA
Gambler_3 said:
Web browsing can max up nexus S ram pretty quickly which causes lag and launcher redraw on exit. Web browsing is perhaps the biggest advantage of dual core and 1GB ram especially if you like to use desktop versions.
There can be serious lag in doing anything when an app is being updated in the background I had to turn off automatic update for that and I think the single core CPU might be to blame for that.
With more ram you can run more third party apps that have background services. The ram is perhaps the biggest limitation of nexus S. It's almost impossible to play games smoothly when you are online on skype because it eats so much ram.
And lastly there are a few games now which lag on nexus S and I believe again the ram or CPU are to blame for that as we have very good GPU for our resolution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good explanation, thanks! Glad to hear that the RAM and CPU improvements will make a nice difference in my next device, even for daily tasks.
LordPhong said:
To add to the list is the internal sdcard. I will NEVER get another phone without a removable sdcard. 16GB is just not enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you use to fill all this storage? I used to hold music on my phone and quickly maxed out the 16GB limit, but Google Music has completely obviated my need to hold files locally.
ddb540 said:
What do you use to fill all this storage? I used to hold music on my phone and quickly maxed out the 16GB limit, but Google Music has completely obviated my need to hold files locally.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some people aren't lucky enough to have multi-GB or unlimited data plans, let alone decent service to begin with. I'm also weary of sound quality with many online services too - i know what's going on with my own files.
al_madd said:
I also just wait for next nexus this december..
Buying galaxy nexus seem not worth it for me..
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldnt agree more with this.
I think it would be wiser if waiting for the next nexus
Gnex is good but is not good enough
For some reason I've never actually been attracted to the thought of replacing my NS with GN. I'm happy with my NS and recently, I've been tempted to get the SGS3. I've been tempted but my NS does everything I need and well, I think I'll wait till the next Nexus device shows up. Long live NS!
Hi All,
Having owned a Galaxy Nexus, and getting Jelly Bean some time ago, I was expecting a lot more from Jelly Bean on the Infinity when it came to interface fluidity. My Galaxy Nexus was a lot smoother - transitions and the notification menu especially.
But then I started to notice - in apps - the notification menu is actually very smooth, but not at the home screen. All transitions were still very slow however.
I had quite a bit of a play around and nothing seemed to improve the performance. Then I think I found something, and I want some people to sanity check me. I use Apex launcher (performance was still just as slow with the default launcher). In it's options, you can disable wallpaper completely (which you cannot do on the default launcher).
When I do this...I finally get the greatly improved fluidity I was expecting. It's not perfect, but the difference is huge.
Is anyone else able to confirm this? It seems strange. I was not using live wallpapers...just a static wallpaper. How much difference can a wallpaper make?
High resolution wallpaper can slow down performances due to pictures taking space on the RAM. Thus high definition pictures can take quite a bit of data ~10MB. Though that doesn't seem to be a lot...
Well I have tried using a smaller image, but I expect Android is up-scaling it to full resolution. The anmation was much less smooth. Once I disabled the wallpaper again, animations were smooth again.
Does anyone else use Apex, or a launcher that can disable the wallpaper to test this?
I just use a 1x1 pixel of black, pretty much "removes" the need to draw the wallpaper.
androidxen said:
I just use a 1x1 pixel of black, pretty much "removes" the need to draw the wallpaper.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you notice a perceivable improvement in performance as a result of using that wallpaper? It seems likely that Android will stretch that 1x1 pixel out to fill a large canvas of black, which may not give any performance increase so I would be interested to know.
I would also like to know if I am the only one noticing this difference? Maybe no one else really cares about it except for me!
I use Apex Launcher Pro. I notice no difference whether I'm using wallpaper or not. Everything seems nice and smooth to me.
I would say you shouldn't expect to much from the Infinity. The Nexus 7, being a Nexus device, will always be faster than any other devices out there. The Infinity with it lousy flash storage and a full HD screen will never be able to catch up with the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7 in terms of speed and fluidity.
huy_lonewolf said:
I would say you shouldn't expect to much from the Infinity. The Nexus 7, being a Nexus device, will always be faster than any other devices out there. The Infinity with it lousy flash storage and a full HD screen will never be able to catch up with the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7 in terms of speed and fluidity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I somewhat agree...it is certainly pushing a lot of pixels. So my expectations have not been too high. In fact, I have really been pleasantly surprised. However - for the most part - I don't believe the I/O limitations should be affecting this tablet that much. Obviously there will be some effect...the same issues I was seeing before are still present...but I still do expect some improvement from JB.
That said...I am actually seeing it...but only with the wallpaper disabled. This is what strikes me as odd...it is just a static background image...and it feels like a bug.
Maybe I should just keep it off and wait until Key Lime Pie?
Disabling unused apps and clearing their data helps a lot. If you cannot disable see if you can "uninstall updates" first after that you should be able to. If you're rooted like me you can disable even more stuff using Titanium BU.
The difference? Everything is loaded immediately on startup (i.e. no calender widget that takes 5 sec to show). Balanced mode feels like performance mode, I can go on.
rikc said:
Disabling unused apps and clearing their data helps a lot. If you cannot disable see if you can "uninstall updates" first after that you should be able to. If you're rooted like me you can disable even more stuff using Titanium BU.
The difference? Everything is loaded immediately on startup (i.e. no calender widget that takes 5 sec to show). Balanced mode feels like performance mode, I can go on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What benefit is clearing a disabled app's data? My typical method for disabling something is to "freeze" it with TiBU and skip the OS menus altogether. Is there some additional benefit I could gain by clearing the frozen app's data too?
I was one of the people having slowness issues with their device but a couple of days later i figured it out. I went into the settings - apps - running and cached apps list. My ram was down to 100MB at some points. The 1GB of ram doesnt seem to be enough but we need to make due with what we got. So i installed Autostarts and disabled all the startup apps and any other apps i dont need when i change wifi state and all that other useless stuff. Google+ would run almost every 2 seconds, Maps aswell. So i disabled those apps from running at bootup and such. Now my available RAM is at 400MB constantly and it is running crazy fast. Opening the recent apps list and clearing those apps is super fast now. Also disabled some of the animation effects that jelly bean puts in. I personally am more concerned with performance then quality.
I noticed every app has notifications turned on by default (settings/apps). I don't know if it matters but I've been turning it off on everything I don't use notifications with.
+1
GregAndo said:
I somewhat agree...it is certainly pushing a lot of pixels. So my expectations have not been too high. In fact, I have really been pleasantly surprised. However - for the most part - I don't believe the I/O limitations should be affecting this tablet that much. Obviously there will be some effect...the same issues I was seeing before are still present...but I still do expect some improvement from JB.
That said...I am actually seeing it...but only with the wallpaper disabled. This is what strikes me as odd...it is just a static background image...and it feels like a bug.
Maybe I should just keep it off and wait until Key Lime Pie?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I kinda laugh when I hear that it is pushing a lot of pixels so that's why it isn't smooth.... take the iPad 3 for example higher resolution, crappier specs and crappy iOS but it runs so smooth that it makes me want to trade in my infinite for it. I will have to jailbrake it to be able to do what I like but the experience will be better.... was just playing around with my friends iPad 3 and **** did I get me tinking.....
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using XDA Premium HD app
hit173 said:
I kinda laugh when I hear that it is pushing a lot of pixels so that's why it isn't smooth.... take the iPad 3 for example higher resolution, crappier specs and crappy iOS but it runs so smooth that it makes me want to trade in my infinite for it. I will have to jailbrake it to be able to do what I like but the experience will be better.... was just playing around with my friends iPad 3 and **** did I get me tinking.....
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, you should seriously do some homework on Anandtech to say that the iPad 3 has crappier specs. In term of SoCs and graphic performance, the A5X chip in the iPad 3 is the most powerful SoC on a tablet right now, even the upcoming Snapdragon S4 Pro is unable to compete with it. I don't have much love for Apple, but we need to consider facts. If you consider raw computing power, Tegra 3 is even behind the iPad 2. In order to drive that many pixels on the iPad 3, Apple had to include a humongous SoC as well as much bigger battery, which explains why the iPad 3 is thicker and takes longer to charge. For your information, Tegra 3 is still stuck with single-channel memory while the rest of the industry have moved on to dual-channel memory early this year (look at Snapdragon S4, Exynos 4, OMAP 4)
As much as I dislike the current situation, there is not much of a competition going on right now with SoC. Currently, on the tablet front, Apple has the most powerful SoC on the market (A5X). On the phone side, the A6 chip is also the most powerful SoC on a phone as well. I am severely disappointed at Qualcomm and nVidia for failing behind Apple so far on this front. Not much is known about Tegra 4, but they'd better bring some Kepler to it, otherwise nVidia will become irrelevant.
I like my new Asus Transformer Infinity, but not as much as I love my Samsung Galaxy sII. It bugs me that it appears that a lot of apps are much smoother/faster in loading data on the SII than on the Infinity, while the former is a year older with a slower CPU.
Does anyone has the same experience?
And what could be the cause?
On both devices I use almost the same apps, have the same accounts installed and i use the same wifi connection. My sII still uses ICS and my infinty JB (which in my opinion is much better then before), Both unrooted.
When I run the usual benchmarks (quadrant, antutu, browsermark), I get the scores you would expect: Infinity scores clearly higher than the SII and conform the results that other users report. Internet speed tests do also give expected results,
I'm experiencing the following. A lot of apps that load some data from the web (news apps for example) show a delay of 1 or 2 seconds, while the SII often loads the data instantly. Browsing on the SII gives me a smooth experience, while browsing on the Infinity often results in a couple of seconds that the tablet is unresponsive when the page is not loaded completely.
This effect is the strongest in the Stumbleupon app, which probably has an inferior browser built-in, but my SII still loads the new pages really fast. The infinity shows a lot of unresponsiveness in Stumbleupon and it results in a lot of ANR popups.
The ANR popups are not so prevalant in other apps. This did happen a lot more with ICS. On my SII I almost never get an ANR.
I understand that the tablet needs to render for a much higher resolution and that the tablet has some issues with IO performance. But can this make such a difference? Could it be that most apps are so terribly designed for tablets, that the tablet needs a lot of CPU time to upscale, which causes unresponiveness?
Or is it just my tablet?
gybema said:
I understand that the tablet needs to render for a much higher resolution and that the tablet has some issues with IO performance. But can this make such a difference?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes.
You are not alone. I also have a galaxy s2,and it's a lot faster than this tablet.
It is not that surprising. My Sensation also feel faster and more reliable than my Infinity, guess it is just right that the S2 is much faster. And yes, the resolution does matter a lot. Imagine running Skyrim or Crysis II a 1024x768 resolution versus at 1920x1080, the difference in frame rates will blow you away.
Yup,
Most games and apps are designed for phones not tablets.
Applications for phones driving that big 'ole 1920X1200 screen with a 12 core GPU just ain't going to respond the same as the junior sized screens at a much lower resolution.
Just wait when the apps catch on to the HD wave there will be many happy campers.
Takes time...
Asus uses a tegra and samsung uses exynos. The exynos/malli processor/GPU seems to perform much better than tegra despite that tegra is made by nvidia. on paper the GFLOPS and toals MADs produced by the Exynos is higher.
The screen also is a factor as FHD screen takes more time to push all the pixels on a 10.1 screen compared to a 4.3.
Architecture of chipset as well
Manufacture also plays a part. Their coding and software implementation to make the hardware and software work together. Samsung does better in this case. ASUS is always pushing updates.
Its not just the Infinity as this was the first thing I noticed when I got the Transformer Prime vs my S2. Does resolutions play a role? Maybe a bit more in the Infinity's case but the Prime and TF300 had resolutions that's not too far off from the Galaxy Nexus but the latter with 2 less cores sure did better than the Asus tablets.
Most of it is the cheap crappy internal memory Asus decided to use for their flagship device, some of it's the higher resolution.
Unibrow said:
Most of it is the cheap crappy internal memory Asus decided to use for their flagship device, some of it's the higher resolution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My wife's apple ipad 3 with the high resolution runs smooth like a baby's butt. I could only wish my infinity ran that smooth. Since complaints aren't only coming from me now the proof is right here...this tablet was made without thinking. Basically Asus wanted a great tablet on paper to jump ahead of everyone, ON PAPER, but in reality it is a pretty bad device for such a large amount of money. Better off with a cheaper laptop with an SSD drive in it really.
Not to be funny, but my droid charge (2 years old, first samsung lte phone) is faster and smoother than tf700! Asus build a biggest giant cruise ship and forgot to plug a hole in the bottom of the ship!
As any gamer knows, higher resolution means more resources needed, which means a lower frames-per-second rate. It simply has to render more.
Your S2 has a resolution of 480 x 800, your TF700 a resolution of 1920x1280. In terms of resource difference between those two, it's pretty much the difference between running Minesweeper and running Skyrim.
Add to that the fact pretty much 99% of the apps are made for phones, and in most cases specifically the Galaxy series, and it's no surprise they run better on a small phone they're optimized for than on a large full HD tablet that most app-developers don't even consider.
ShadowLea said:
As any gamer knows, higher resolution means more resources needed, which means a lower frames-per-second rate. It simply has to render more.
Your S2 has a resolution of 480 x 800, your TF700 a resolution of 1920x1280. In terms of resource difference between those two, it's pretty much the difference between running Minesweeper and running Skyrim.
Add to that the fact pretty much 99% of the apps are made for phones, and in most cases specifically the Galaxy series, and it's no surprise they run better on a small phone they're optimized for than on a large full HD tablet that most app-developers don't even consider.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The storage device is a piece of crap, there's nothing wrong with the graphics performance. Every single user experience issue with this tablet is down to data not getting read/written fast enough from/to storage. It's as simple as that.
Every application that uses "RAM" is subjective as fast as at my SGS2 (runnig CM9). But the i/o perfomance at stock ROM on my TF700 is really bad. With Browser2RAM surfing is a lot snapier but still not as snappy as at SGS2. Hopefully CM10 at TF700 works as much as possible around this storage issues.
Don't forget that the TF700T has the fastest RAM of all android devices that are on sale at the moment. But it has the slowest eMMC storage, too.
As far as the browser goes, use stock browser and if you are rooted, 1st look for app browser2ram and sideload it (and follow all instructions in thread dedicated to it), then (or for anyone else not rooted) type about:debug into browser address box, hit enter, then go to settings (three small vertcal dots in upper right hand corner of screen) and choose debug menu. Check the box next to Enable CPU Upload Pathand then close it. It speeds up the browser by a lot. I'm only using the stock browser now and I'm very satisfied with its performance.
The other suggestion I have for you that feel unhappy with the TF700's performance in general, is really consider unlocking, flashing a custom recovery (I highly recommend TWRP) and a rooted custom ROM, especially the CleanROM Ultra Light Edition v1.3. This JellyBean stock-based ROM is so fast and smooth and functional, you will wonder why you waited so long to have the device you had imagined. I kid you not. I've tried all the ROMs available for this device, and though they all have their strong points, for someone looking for a better than stock experience, where everything works, right now, this one's the best and it gets even better with each update. And this is just the beginning of wonderful development for the Infinity. This is honestly, a superb machine. We owe it to ourselves to take full advantage of it.
If you're running stock it's slow. If you optimise it it's pretty damn fast. Had mine lying next to an iPad 3 and they are on the same level. How to do it? Disable (a lot) of unneeded apps and use the right software (Firefox Aurora or the above mentioned Browser2Ram)
That's not much of a win considering the ipad 3 has a higher resolution with 2 less cpu cores and running 600mhz slower.
maedox said:
The storage device is a piece of crap, there's nothing wrong with the graphics performance. Every single user experience issue with this tablet is down to data not getting read/written fast enough from/to storage. It's as simple as that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. This. The screen is a minor thing. If the ASUS engineers had not selected subpar parts for the internal SD, this thing would have absolute bleeding edge performance on every front. As it is, it often shows signs of brilliance but also has some limitations due to the system bottleneck. Your impression of the device user experience will depend heavily on your use model (and its associated memory footprint). The vast majority of issues/discussions wrt to this device basically come down to this one thing.
Barring some very serious OS hacking (ala the effort to allow external SD to replace internal) all the TF tabs will ALWAYS be limited by memory bandwidth. It's a hardware limitation. Either you can live with it or you can't. Too bad. Now that JB is here and the OS is finally decent/stable, this tab is one bad cost cutting measure away from being the undisputed best in class device in the industry. <shrug>
I'm not browsing very frequently and when I do, they are not heavy multimedia sites, so for me, the TF's certainly a really good user experience and I love the device. Games are great now that the driver bug is fixed for example. It's slightly frustrating knowing that the tab could have been amazing on EVERY front if they had spent another fifty cents on the memory... but that's life. I'll be happy if they just continue to support/stabilize/enhance the firmware. The hardware is what it is.
htcplussony said:
That's not much of a win considering the ipad 3 has a higher resolution with 2 less cpu cores and running 600mhz slower.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I understand that the gpu is better and the whole ios thing is completely optimised for browsing, so yeah, it is kind of a good comparison in terms of user experience.
This!!!
My HTC Evo 4g LTE has more consistent performance than my TF700T....
It's kind of frustrating really and the fact that my daughter's ipad is ALWAYS smooth bothers the hell out of me...
Is this the way these things are designed or do I have a lemon on my hands?
The fact that there are articles instructing people that they can buy a $30 SD card and move their /data mount to the external micro SD card tells me this is a design issue...
There's nothing more frustrating than tapping the screen and not being able to tell if you mis tapped or if the tablet is IO locked and in a 'wait' state. and it happens way too damned much.
I'm not doing anything special.... all I can say is that I'm running a lot of apps and perhaps this is the problem (I've restricted background process to 4 and disabling all animations and am now using APEX launcher to even disable all animations + the wallpaper).
Max free RAM at any time is around ~250 MB...
I want to show this thing off but everytime I pull it out it's performing like **** and cache cleaning or rebooting doen't seem to help either...
Also to add - post JB I DID perform a factory reset as well. I've installed about 130 apps.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app
Just curious, how does tf700 compare to other android tablets? Is it a a lot slower or less smooth? It one thing to compare it to phones. I want to know how it compares to a Samsung note 10.1.
Hi there,
I have been an avid iOS user since it came out in 2007. I owned an iPad 2 for long time and was very used to its speed. Surfing was really fun because scrolling was as soft as cutting through butter. I was thinking that this is how surfing was meant in the first place. Hence the iPad redefined "surfing" for me. I rarely used my Laptop after the iPad.
And... well, recently I bought the new Nexus 7 to see how far Android has gone. I never owned an Android device before. But i occasionally tested it over the years. My overall impression was, that it's too laggy. Even though today's android devices have strong hardware specs. It was laggy.
But I thought to myself: Google had 5 years to tune android. When I got the Nexus 7 I was hoping to get a fluent experience that I was used to from my iPad 2.
But no. One of the first things I did was to install Adobe Reader, because the main purpose was reading PDFs on the Nexus besides surfing. I was shocked. It was sluggish and really laggy. Even though the device had 2 GB of Ram and a high-speed CPU? I compared it to my 2 years old iPhone 4S. I installed the iOS version of Adobe reader and compared it to the nexus. It was fun to scroll. No, I mean it. After seeing it on the Nexus 7 it was great to have the speedy iOS below my finger tips. Then I spent several hours on searching for other PDF readers. I tried out many. Only a few had a considerably good speed. But those also had many downsides. Either they were really ugly or didn't provide important functions like bookmarks. Eventually I gave up and stuck to Adobe reader. What a miserable fail.
Surfing on the Nexus wasn't fun either. Chrome is even more sluggish. Not comparable to Safari on the iPad. Remember when I wrote that I put my Laptop aside in the most cases when I first got the iPad? In this case there was no urge to do so. Surfing was a pain.
I installed the AOSP browser. It was way better than Chrome considering speed and scrolling/zooming. But it had bugs on non root 4.3. The control elements disappeared regularly. And, yes, it wasn't beautiful.
How is this possible? Is this real? How come the Nexus fails at its two most important tasks? Surfing and reading PDFs?
In my eyes Google has failed. I gave them 5 years to make up their mistakes. They ended up making a device, that's behind my iPhone 4S considering the real life usage speed.
I don't care much about the specs. If it runs smooth, it's good. If not, it's not. My iPhone 4S has 512 MB of RAM and runs smoother than Google's state of the art device.
Ok, now I want to know your opinion about this matter. Did I do something wrong by having the same expectations that were set as standard for me by using an iPad?
ABBCC11 said:
Hi there,
I have been an avid iOS user since it came out in 2007. I owned an iPad 2 for long time and was very used to its speed. Surfing was really fun because scrolling was as soft as cutting through butter. I was thinking that this is how surfing was meant in the first place. Hence the iPad redefined "surfing" for me. I rarely used my Laptop after the iPad.
And... well, recently I bought the new Nexus 7 to see how far Android has gone. I never owned an Android device before. But i occasionally tested it over the years. My overall impression was, that it's too laggy. Even though today's android devices have strong hardware specs. It was laggy.
But I thought to myself: Google had 5 years to tune android. When I got the Nexus 7 I was hoping to get a fluent experience that I was used to from my iPad 2.
But no. One of the first things I did was to install Adobe Reader, because the main purpose was reading PDFs on the Nexus besides surfing. I was shocked. It was sluggish and really laggy. Even though the device had 2 GB of Ram and a high-speed CPU? I compared it to my 2 years old iPhone 4S. I installed the iOS version of Adobe reader and compared it to the nexus. It was fun to scroll. No, I mean it. After seeing it on the Nexus 7 it was great to have the speedy iOS below my finger tips. Then I spent several hours on searching for other PDF readers. I tried out many. Only a few had a considerably good speed. But those also had many downsides. Either they were really ugly or didn't provide important functions like bookmarks. Eventually I gave up and stuck to Adobe reader. What a miserable fail.
Surfing on the Nexus wasn't fun either. Chrome is even more sluggish. Not comparable to Safari on the iPad. Remember when I wrote that I put my Laptop aside in the most cases when I first got the iPad? In this case there was no urge to do so. Surfing was a pain.
I installed the AOSP browser. It was way better than Chrome considering speed and scrolling/zooming. But it had bugs on non root 4.3. The control elements disappeared regularly. And, yes, it wasn't beautiful.
How is this possible? Is this real? How come the Nexus fails at its two most important tasks? Surfing and reading PDFs?
In my eyes Google has failed. I gave them 5 years to make up their mistakes. They ended up making a device, that's behind my iPhone 4S considering the real life usage speed.
I don't care much about the specs. If it runs smooth, it's good. If not, it's not. My iPhone 4S has 512 MB of RAM and runs smoother than Google's state of the art device.
Ok, now I want to know your opinion about this matter. Did I do something wrong by having the same expectations that were set as standard for me by using an iPad?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what you want. Are you asking a question?
As for your observations, I have a Nexus 7 and a Galaxy Note 8, as well as an iPad 2. I don't have the same experience that you describe even with the nexus 7 stock.
In terms of comparing the devices, they don't even come close. The iPad is an overpriced, crippled Kindle.
There are so many things that an Android based device can do that iOS device will never LET you do, even if you jailbreak.
Use the device you like ... it's as simple as that.
quattros said:
I'm not sure what you want. Are you asking a question?
As for your observations, I have a Nexus 7 and a Galaxy Note 8, as well as an iPad 2. I don't have the same experience that you describe even with the nexus 7 stock.
In terms of comparing the devices, they don't even come close. The iPad is an overpriced, crippled Kindle.
There are so many things that an Android based device can do that iOS device will never LET you do, even if you jailbreak.
Use the device you like ... it's as simple as that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here i have an ipad mini and a Note 2 and I even Use my Note more often then the ipad to surf the web etc...
The Android system is so more Open and has much more to offer...
The iPad is like a overpriced Browser for the Couch...
Sent from my Note 2
Ok, sorry guys. Let's stick to the following two questions:
1. Safari on iPad is smoother than any Android browser out there. Do you agree? Yes/No? Why not?
2. There is no good PDF reader for Android. They are all sluggish and/or don't provide good interface and/or bookmarks functionality. Do you agree? Yes/No? Why not?
What browser do you use on your note 2?
ABBCC11 said:
Ok, sorry guys. Let's stick to the following two questions:
1. Safari on iPad is smoother than any Android browser out there. Do you agree? Yes/No? Why not?
2. There is no good PDF reader for Android. They are all sluggish and/or don't provide good interface and/or bookmarks functionality. Do you agree? Yes/No? Why not?
What browser do you use on your note 2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check out Dolphin browser.
Frankly I've seen ios based devices be sluggish / have crappy apps / not work right / fail just as much as any other device ... they're not made with fairy dust.
Well, I am not sure if this is intentional, but the tone you use is that of a biased fan, not of a person that wishes to hold an objective discussion.
Let's start from the beginning: Google does not manufacture every Android device. They do not manufacture your Nexus 7 (ASUS does), and they do not tinker their OS specifically for a particular device. Google release their code, and then manufacturers are tasked to implement it as they see fit. The issue at hand here is that Google's developers do not really have a 'base minimum' architecture with which to work. When they develop Android they have to take into account that their code will be run by 256MB as well as 3GB RAM devices. Or from single-core A7 700MhZ devices all the way to quad-core beasts. By default, it is hard to find the right balance. The end result is that Android is not designed/catered for a particular architecture.
By comparison, Apple works with specific architectures, which they were even involved in designing. They have a small handful devices to support, and they can make sure that things work smoothly from one device to another.
Objectively, I agree that iOS is more stable, fluid and responsive on the same hardware compared to an Android device of the same specifications. Of course, the problem here is that even with the same specification, due to different Android implementations you could have Android devices performing vastly differently. The beast in question here is complexity.
Nexus 7 is a decent device, but it is far from being high-end in Android. Given that Android seems to use more resources than iOS (in terms of RAM, but also in terms of CPU/GPU requirements -- and this is a direct consequence of having to work for a huge range of different architectures), it seems to me that almost no Android devices can offer you indisputably superior stability, fluidity and responsiveness. But it is hard to understand why Android can be 'slow'. For example, HTC One S overclocked running custom ROMs can be blazing fast. I would say almost, if not even better than (in certain situations) any iPhone device. Then, on the other hand, the Sony Xperia T which has the same CPU as the HTC One S is a very slow device, with many hangs and freezes with its stock ROM. The reason is different optimization, and the main culprit behind any discrepancies in performance for Android.
Apple's iPhone 'works out of the box'. It is stable, fluid and responsive. For the average user, I can completely understand why this is beneficial. To get the most out of Android, you are on the right way as there are many intelligent and hard-working people around here who work with particular devices trying to get the most out of them. I am certain that there is the right ROM + Kernel configuration for you out there that will help you get the most out of your Nexus 7.
With that said however, keep an eye on the new Spandragon 800 and Mediatek octacore devices. We are already seeing some incredibly powerful Android phones that I really believe you will find much faster on every account than the best iPhone out there right now.
grcd said:
Well, I am not sure if this is intentional, but the tone you use is that of a biased fan, not of a person that wishes to hold an objective discussion.
Let's start from the beginning: Google does not manufacture every Android device. They do not manufacture your Nexus 7 (ASUS does), and they do not tinker their OS specifically for a particular device. Google release their code, and then manufacturers are tasked to implement it as they see fit. The issue at hand here is that Google's developers do not really have a 'base minimum' architecture with which to work. When they develop Android they have to take into account that their code will be run by 256MB as well as 3GB RAM devices. Or from single-core A7 700MhZ devices all the way to quad-core beasts. By default, it is hard to find the right balance. The end result is that Android is not designed/catered for a particular architecture.
By comparison, Apple works with specific architectures, which they were even involved in designing. They have a small handful devices to support, and they can make sure that things work smoothly from one device to another.
Objectively, I agree that iOS is more stable, fluid and responsive on the same hardware compared to an Android device of the same specifications. Of course, the problem here is that even with the same specification, due to different Android implementations you could have Android devices performing vastly differently. The beast in question here is complexity.
Nexus 7 is a decent device, but it is far from being high-end in Android. Given that Android seems to use more resources than iOS (in terms of RAM, but also in terms of CPU/GPU requirements -- and this is a direct consequence of having to work for a huge range of different architectures), it seems to me that almost no Android devices can offer you indisputably superior stability, fluidity and responsiveness. But it is hard to understand why Android can be 'slow'. For example, HTC One S overclocked running custom ROMs can be blazing fast. I would say almost, if not even better than (in certain situations) any iPhone device. Then, on the other hand, the Sony Xperia T which has the same CPU as the HTC One S is a very slow device, with many hangs and freezes with its stock ROM. The reason is different optimization, and the main culprit behind any discrepancies in performance for Android.
Apple's iPhone 'works out of the box'. It is stable, fluid and responsive. For the average user, I can completely understand why this is beneficial. To get the most out of Android, you are on the right way as there are many intelligent and hard-working people around here who work with particular devices trying to get the most out of them. I am certain that there is the right ROM + Kernel configuration for you out there that will help you get the most out of your Nexus 7.
With that said however, keep an eye on the new Spandragon 800 and Mediatek octacore devices. We are already seeing some incredibly powerful Android phones that I really believe you will find much faster on every account than the best iPhone out there right now.
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Good, I've never paid attention to those.
I think it is not the hardware, but the software that is important.
No doubt the Nexus 7 has enough power to deliver a smooth browsing and PDF reading experience (see AOSP browser for example).
But the sluggish apps make you have no fun with the device. There is no decent PDF reader out there. Chrome is slow and AOSP is hard to install on non root devices.
Try dolphin 10 with jetpack browsing and ezpdf pro for pdfs.
mashed_ash said:
Try dolphin 10 with jetpack browsing and ezpdf pro for pdfs.
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Big agreement on Dolphin 10 with jetpack. Chrome and firefox are laggy, Stock browser stinks too.
Also agree w/ summary by 'grcd' above re: different hardware implementations using a stock OS. Take-away: Find the OEMs who are most responsive / most attentive / focused on quality and user experience. If you're a business user - find those that cater to business. If you only care about consumer media / gaming - the world is your oyster, eat it at your peril.
I work at the largest networking company in the world, and only two device vendors are 'recommended' buys for BYOD: Apple and Samsung... read between the lines.
FWIW:
My experience with Android (3 devices since 2.x) - on phones, 'multi-tasking' takes away from core phone functionality that should ALWAYS be prioritized. Phone functions should preempt all other actions in the device, every time, no exceptions. When i want to dial a number or respond to an incoming call, every other process had better bail / suspend / hibernate, whatever it takes to get out of the way. Think fire truck and heavy traffic - pull right / left and stop to get out of the way.
On tablets not used as phones, there should simply be consistency of operation, smoothness of interaction, it should feel elegant. Apple wins this hands down from what I've seen. I've never owned an apple product for daily use, and that still comes across loud and clear.
20 years in IT - I'm a tech geek by choice, love to fiddle with the bits... but starting to lean to less distraction with the apple hardware/software package. Thinking 'more do... less fiddle'.
Biggest apple gripes off topic: arbitrary cellular download limits (100MB in iOS 7), no SD/MicroSD, no USB, no Flash... hmmm, can I really live with that. May have to try one out for a couple of weeks.
happy computing!
I've always preferred the way Android devices scroll. On iOS you have to swipe a lot more to scroll through a page, where on Android one fast swipe will keep scrolling. iOS also has that annoying overscroll feature where the page keeps scrolling and then bounces back. I find that annoying as you have to wait for the bounce back to stop before you can start reading the page.
If you are ok with the limitations of iOS, nobody is stopping you from using it. For me personally I'd rather put up with a bit of lag if it means I get more features.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 4
2 troll points for effort but that's it.
I've also noticed that pdf and office software in general is very sluggish when compared to iOS. Browsing definitely isn't as smooth as well. Regardless, iOS 7 killed any love I had left for my iPad, so it looks like I'm on to a Windows tablet in the near future.
On an overclocked note 2, running a debloated ROM whips an iphone's speeds, coming from using both. Adobe reader is just slow by itself.
Sent from carbon note 2 on XDA premium app
I find it odd that no one's mentioned Naked Browser or Easy Browser!?
I use Naked Browser and it's very fast, no lags. Very efficient browser, very small RAM usage.
Only downside for some ppl would be the GUI, it's not meant to be pretty.