Official ICS & Galaxy Nexus Launch Thread

[schmedy]

Went to a Verizon store today and played around with the razr and rezound. Very impressive, screens look great everything was very fast and smooth. Makes me realize how slow my OG droid really is.

I did that the day the Rezound came out and wanted to get rid of my OG Droid so bad, but I will wait for the GNEX, unless my Droid finally craps out.

 

[pm]

I played with a Nexus this morning. A co-worker bought one from Expansys-usa and received it last night. It's very nice to hold - good heft, solid build feel. I love the feel of it and it looks very slick. The screen is big and bright and beautiful. I didn't notice the curvature to it until he mentioned it. The speed was excellent and it felt extremely responsive - it's definitely the smoothest Android experience that I have ever seen personally. I was very impressed with it, but only played with it for about 5 minutes. Still, I think it's the nicest Android phone that I've ever seen or used - and I've played with the SGS2 as well. I like the Nexus better for reasons that I've not sure that I can actually explain.

 

[Hogan773]

But Verizon is offering 4gb LTE. If you're not on unlimited, taking this (plus much better coverage) is a no-brainer over staying with the Death Star.

Except I can't use that phone when travelling abroad right?

 

[vshah]

I got one yesterday (imported) and am using it on t-mobile in nyc.

loving it so far. ICS UI does take some getting used to (menu button top right etc) but there are already some UI tweaks available that restore the menu to the bottom, and add a search bar as well. Overall though, the UI is much more consistent and flows much better.

i can't get over the screen...so big and crisp. battery life seems a bit better than my sensation so far. I'm at 50% now (took phone off charger at around 9am), including about 2 hours of screen on time due to playing with it nonstop.

 

[VashHT]

I got one yesterday (imported) and am using it on t-mobile in nyc.

loving it so far. ICS UI does take some getting used to (menu button top right etc) but there are already some UI tweaks available that restore the menu to the bottom, and add a search bar as well. Overall though, the UI is much more consistent and flows much better.

i can't get over the screen...so big and crisp. battery life seems a bit better than my sensation so far. I'm at 50% now (took phone off charger at around 9am), including about 2 hours of screen on time due to playing with it nonstop.

How is the new browser? I've always found that to be one of the weaker points for Android and I'm interested to see how much better it is now that it's hardware accelerated.

 

[vshah]

How is the new browser? I've always found that to be one of the weaker points for Android and I'm interested to see how much better it is now that it's hardware accelerated.

the new browser seems to have a backing store - it is much smoother than even my sensation @1.5ghz on CM7. loading performance is very snappy as well.

whereas before, page scrolling before loading was complete would be a total lag/stutter fest, it is nice and smooth now.

 

[sygyzy]

vshah - Who did you order it from?

 

[AzNKiD]

I finally caved and ordered it a few hours ago from expansys usa

Before careful of where you buy it from. after the last two days of research, I found out that importing this phone to the states will void your warranty! even though samsung has a two year warranty, it must be from the orgin country, meaning you need a EU address and recipt to send it in for service if needed. Samsung consider your phone as grey market and will not service them in usa. I read good feedback about expansys, so I brought it from them for $777.90 overnighted. If i need service, I suppose to ship the phone back to expansys, and they will ship it to UK for repair. The turn around time will be terrible, but at least there is some warranty. good luck to everyone, mines should be here by monday or tuesday.

 

[Bateluer]

Except I can't use that phone when travelling abroad right?

Only a handful of Verizon phones can be used outside the US, those with GSM radios and marked as 'World Phones.'

 

[postmortemIA]

Only a handful of Verizon phones can be used outside the US, those with GSM radios and marked as 'World Phones.'

Some countries like India have full CDMA coverage.

 

[abaez]

So there is going to be Verizon bloat on the device: http://androidcommunity.com/verizon-galaxy-nexus-leaks-again-bloatware-is-easily-disabled-20111201/

Disabled but not uninstallable. Did this actually come from Google or did Verizon force them to? Very disappointing. How are future updates going to be handled straight from Google? Or is Verizon doing the updates? Hmmmm.

 

[Demo24]

Kind of expected but at least they only put 2 on there and both take up minimal space, so I don't really care. 2MB is not going to break the bank for me with 32gb to deal with otherwise. Mildly annoying it can't be fully uninstalled, but hell disabling it puts it out of sight and mind for the most part.

Anyone in NYC want to go check one out?

http://www.droid-life.com/2011/12/03/want-to-get-your-hands-on-a-verizon-galaxy-nexus-early/


Looking like the end of this upcoming week is more and more likely release. Also saw that some got updated to 4.1, but nothing from Google so I guess we might have to wait for launch to see what that .1 added officially.

 

[basslover1]

So there is going to be Verizon bloat on the device: http://androidcommunity.com/verizon-galaxy-nexus-leaks-again-bloatware-is-easily-disabled-20111201/

Disabled but not uninstallable. Did this actually come from Google or did Verizon force them to? Very disappointing. How are future updates going to be handled straight from Google? Or is Verizon doing the updates? Hmmmm.

It's only two apps, one of which is actually useful (My Verizon) the other can be disabled permanently.

 

[abaez]

I know that. The apps aren't the point. The point is if this is a Google experience phone, is Google bundling these apps on their future stock ROMs/updates? If not, then Verizon is providing the updates and it really is no longer a clean Google experience phone.

 

[slayer202]

Kind of expected but at least they only put 2 on there and both take up minimal space, so I don't really care. 2MB is not going to break the bank for me with 32gb to deal with otherwise. Mildly annoying it can't be fully uninstalled, but hell disabling it puts it out of sight and mind for the most part.

Anyone in NYC want to go check one out?

http://www.droid-life.com/2011/12/03/want-to-get-your-hands-on-a-verizon-galaxy-nexus-early/


Looking like the end of this upcoming week is more and more likely release. Also saw that some got updated to 4.1, but nothing from Google so I guess we might have to wait for launch to see what that .1 added officially.

ahh, too bad you can't buy em yet, I'd be on my way

 

[Demo24]

I know that. The apps aren't the point. The point is if this is a Google experience phone, is Google bundling these apps on their future stock ROMs/updates? If not, then Verizon is providing the updates and it really is no longer a clean Google experience phone.

Obviously not, those are Verizon specific apps and are useless to anyone but Verizon customers. I don't think this will cause any issues with updates as these apps are created separately by verizon and can be updated as needed on the fly via the market. It may not be absolutely pure google device, but it's about as close as one is going to get these days.

 

[abaez]

Obviously not, those are Verizon specific apps and are useless to anyone but Verizon customers. I don't think this will cause any issues with updates as these apps are created separately by verizon and can be updated as needed on the fly via the market. It may not be absolutely pure google device, but it's about as close as one is going to get these days.

Except the LTE version phone *is* specifically for Verizon customers, obviously there is going to be a stock rom specific to it.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Except the LTE version phone *is* specifically for Verizon customers, obviously there is going to be a stock rom specific to it.

Almost as bad as all the people on XDA complaining and raising hell about the Verizon logo on the battery cover rather than the Google one...

Really guys?

 

[Andrmgic]

Almost as bad as all the people on XDA complaining and raising hell about the Verizon logo on the battery cover rather than the Google one...

Really guys?

It's more about the idea of what the "Nexus" name meant for some members of the android community. It upsets them to know that "Nexus" doesn't mean "pure Google experience" anymore.

It's a bad precedent for Google to be setting if they intend to produce more "Nexus" devices.

Sure, right now it's only 2 carrier specific apps.. but where does it stop? One of the hallmarks of the nexus devices is how much faster they receive updates than other android devices.. if they start getting customized to any noticeable degree by carriers or manufacturers, it could ruin that part of the experience.

At any rate, I'm glad I bought the international version.. free of carrier branding and applications.

 

[vshah]

vshah - Who did you order it from?

i picked it up locally in NYC at www.mobilecityonline.com

 

[sgrinavi]

It's more about the idea of what the "Nexus" name meant for some members of the android community. It upsets them to know that "Nexus" doesn't mean "pure Google experience" anymore.

It's a bad precedent for Google to be setting if they intend to produce more "Nexus" devices.

Sure, right now it's only 2 carrier specific apps.. but where does it stop? One of the hallmarks of the nexus devices is how much faster they receive updates than other android devices.. if they start getting customized to any noticeable degree by carriers or manufacturers, it could ruin that part of the experience.

At any rate, I'm glad I bought the international version.. free of carrier branding and applications.

Two removable apps.... who cares. IMO it's worth getting it on VZW LTE

 

[poofyhairguy]

Of those that have bought one- does ICS have Flash yet?

 

[s44]

So I'm thinking about pre-ordering a case. (TPU, as usual.)

What I'm wondering:
(1) will cases that claim compatibility with the i515 really fit? not sure when the Chinese manufacturers knew the LTE one would be thicker
(2) are the side-charging contacts sufficiently useful to make going naked worth it?

 

[smartpatrol]

Of those that have bought one- does ICS have Flash yet?

Nope, although Youtube works perfectly. Some sites with embedded videos work as well (must be HTML 5?) Adobe have said there will be a Flash player for ICS, thankfully

HD Youtube videos in full screen look damn good, I might add.

 

[Zivic]

So I'm thinking about pre-ordering a case. (TPU, as usual.)

What I'm wondering:
(1) will cases that claim compatibility with the i515 really fit? not sure when the Chinese manufacturers knew the LTE one would be thicker
(2) are the side-charging contacts sufficiently useful to make going naked worth it?

side charging will only be used if you buy a dock... so make that decision for yourself.

You can get a decent case at your verizon store. they had 4 to choose from last week when I went in for one. I actually ordered a case-mate case and really like it... I did buy a verizon shell/holster setup as well. I think the size difference won't make any difference as the verizon cases fit just fine on the GSM phones