nels0300

If I'm not mistaken, none of the Sprint flagships phones from last year have official OTA ice cream sandwich. The Nexus S 4G got it in April, and that was considered late.

To me, the GNex feels like a Vanilla Android version of the GS-II with LTE capability. The GS-III is definitely a whole 'nother animal compared to the GNex.

 

Robert

 

Yeah, but what about 2 years from now?

 

What I can't stop thinking about is comparing my original EVO to the Nexus S 4G I'm using right now.

 

They have nearly the same specs, they're from the same generation. The EVO was great when it first came out. Towards the end, it felt crippled because even though the android version was updated, sense wasn't, and it became really laggy. I couldn't stand it anymore.

 

The Nexus S 4G on the other hand feels like a totally new phone with Ice Cream Sandwich....and it's supposed to get Jelly Bean. The original EVO? Stuck on Gingerbread forever unless you root. Is the GS3 going to be crippled in the same way?

Thanks for the responses. I think I'll wait...or not. I work in downtown Minneapolis which has an AT&T store, Verizon store, T-Mobile store, and Sprint store, plus a radio shack, so I've been ducking into each store whenever a new phone has come out this year. I've dinked around with every version of HTC one series, the Galaxy Nexus, and the GS3 on the first day they've been available. This is killing me!

Didn't know that it was that easy to replace the battery on the new EVO.

 

Yeah, I know the GNEX came out earlier than April on other carriers/from Google. I just wonder if Sprint would release their new version of the Nexus next April. Sprint seems to release successors on a yearly basis.

 

Geez, I probably should just wait, there is no LTE here in Minneapolis, there's nothing wrong with my Nexus S, but I've never not upgraded when I was eligible, and there are some sweet phones out.

Non removable battery on the new EVO rules it out. I had the old EVO and the battery needed replacement after a year.

If I knew sprint would have a new nexus in Oct/Nov I would wait, but the galaxy nexus came out in April. Would they release another one in less than a year?

I can't make up my mind. I have the Nexus S right now and I'm really sold on the vanilla android experience. I've had an upgrade burning a hole in my pocket since April. The new S3 looks to be a monster spec-wise. I'm not into rooting. I keep contemplating these pros and cons for each phone:

 

Galaxy Nexus

Pros:

 

Vanilla Android

Relatively timely updates

 

Cons:

 

Year old specs

Battery life?

Signal?

 

Galaxy S3

Pros:

 

S4 processor

2GB ram

More efficient processor/battery life

 

Cons:

Touchwiz

Historically poor on time updates (supposedly JB in Q3, but we know how that goes)

Home button

Shiny finger print magnet finish

Potentially year old software

 

I don't know. I think the fact that anyone could even have trouble deciding shows that hardware and software are at least equally important. Anything else I'm not considering?

 

The jelly bean rom I am running on my gnex is perfect. Not one thing that doesn't work. I can understand why some people choose not to root/unlock/run custom rom but:

 

It is really rare to hard brick your phone unless you are trying to do crazy experimentation or don't follow developer instructions.

 

It is nearly impossible for the service center to prove that you rooted/rommed the phone and declare your warranty void.

 

Most ROMs with non-working items are in the pre-beta/beta stage. CM9 for example, is in the release candidate stage for most devices. Most bugs are gone at that point and all functions should be working. Manufacturers go through all these stages too and have to fix functions that aren't working. I will concede that there are some amateur devs out there that never get their rom out of beta stage because they either lack the time or knowledge to reverse engineer non-open source components like wimax.

 

Like I said though, I can completely understand people not wanting to mess with their OS. That said, I believe it is a great disservice to developers who spend countless hours working on ROMs with no incentive other than the small amount of donations and the thanks of the people who use the ROM to say that they are mostly junk. The development community keeps devices relevant long after the manufacturers have abandoned them.

 

I see the development community much like the S4GRU website. Any donations go back into the costs of running the website, and there are a lot of man hours being poured into the various things that the site provides (maps being the largest one) because Robert feels that sprint fans deserve to know about the latest news that sprints LTE rollout. Some information may be off, but you wouldn't dismiss the whole site because of a couple pieces of bad info. Right?

 

Again, this is not meant to be an attack of any kind, but just a PSA of sorts.

 

Didn't mean to rip any developers. I guess what I mean is I'm not ROM savvy enough to be messing around with an expensive piece of equipment and I'm too lazy to learn. If it was as simple as plugging it in to my computer and dropping a few files in some folders, I could handle it, but from what I've read, there's more to it than that.....and there are always warnings about doing it at your own risk.

 

I'd love it if I could get a new S3 with completely stock ICS.

 

 

I understand where you are coming from, but dismissing every single custom ROM for every single device as something "cobbled together" is what is dramatically limiting your choice of phones.

. I know. I read up on it when I had my og evo because it ran so poorly after its last gingerbread update not playing nice with sense. I realized I didn't know what I was doing and I am too lazy to figure out which from would work 100%. Now that I have a nexus, I prefer stock android. The nexus s 4G has essentially the same specs as my og evo, but it runs so much better (although I miss the evo radio). I might still get a phone with a custom skin, but I'd prefer not to.

 

 

Have you had bad experiences with custom ROMs?..

I've never used a custom from for a few reasons, #1 the possibility of wrecking your phone, #2 voiding your warranty, and #3 it seems there is always something that doesn't work, no 4G, camera doesn't work, messaging doesn't work,etc.

Unless you classify HSPA+ as 4G (I don't) the Nexus S 4G is the only 4G phone with AOSP support. Disclaimer: I don't consider WiMax 4G either.

 

Sent from my Jelly Bean Toro using Forum Runner

 

Whether or not the Nexus S 4G is on a true "4G" network, it's on a faster network than they guy or gal next to me with the brand new EVO or Galaxy S3 here in Minneapolis and many other cities and now it'll have the newest operating system from google (not a cobbled together rom) before them too. Kinda cool for a two year old phone.

I almost caved yesterday and got an S3, but something came up and I couldn't make it to the sprint store. After I heard this news, I think I'll hold onto the nexus S 4G. I was thinking about it, and you could make a case for the nexus S 4G being the best phone on the sprint network right now. It is the only Nexus phone with AOSP status with access to the more mature 4G network. Obviously this will change in a year or so, but RIGHT NOW, the Nexus S 4G is sitting pretty, and will be even prettier when Jelly Bean rolls out.

This is cool, maybe the Sprint Galaxy Nexus is next? I got rid of my EVO for this phone so I had something to hold me over until LTE comes to Minneapolis. This phone could turn out to be the only "4G" phone on Sprint (for most people) with Jelly Bean.

 

http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/03/nexus-s-4g-regains-aosp-status/

Hmm, don't know what to do now!

 

I was waiting for this because I don't want another Samsung antenna/radio and don't want the EVO's non removable battery/goofy looks.

 

I don't want to, but I might have to stick with my craigslist Nexus S 4G until the next round of phones in 2013.

I hope it's not qwerty. I picked up an almost new Nexus S 4G for cheap on craigslist to fill in for my dying OG EVO so I could get an ice cream sandwich phone and have a functional phone. The EVO was starting to get really glitchy. I only got the Nexus to hold me over until I could pick a new LTE device. So far, I don't like the new EVO because of the fixed battery, and I'm really not sure about any Samsung phone. The Nexus I have drops the wimax signal intermittently on my train commute where my EVO would hold the signal the whole way. My wife has the same phone and I knew the radio wasn't the best, but I hoped ice cream sandwich might improve it, but it didn't.....so my only hope is that Moto comes through with a Photon 2 with removable battery and a radio at least as good as my OG EVO. Got my fingers crossed.

Could towards the end of summer be the end of July? Isn't that when the first Photon launched?

This leaked for AT&T:

 

http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/8/3072771/motorola-dinara-atrix-3-att

 

Maybe Sprint has something similar coming soon since the Photon was pretty much the same as the Atrix 2 on AT&T?

Big version? As in bigger screen?

 

(I had an original Droid Incredible and it was a nice phone too.

 

yeah, the other "one" series phones, the x and the EVO are huge. IMO, those phones have past the point of diminishing returns in terms of screen size vs being a MOBILE device.

just checked out the one s. No removable battery. The Verizon droid incredible LTE is darn near the perfect phone for me. I know I'm repeating myself, but....4 inch screen, S4 processor, 1gb ram, ice cream sandwich, LTE, removable battery. Come on Sprint, please! Only things I could still ask for would be a samoled plus screen and stock ICS.

According to an article I read online, this is Verizon's version of the One S. This is carrier number 2 to carry the One S, so it is possible Sprint may carry it later this year.

 

Sent from Joshs iPhone 3Gs using Forum Runner

 

That'd be nice. It fixes everything I don't like about the new EVO (huge screen, fixed battery). The two carriers that have this one s don't have the big version though.

I want this phone on Sprint! 4 inch screen, S4 processor, 1gb ram, removable battery. Come on Sprint! EVO design 2. Make it so.

Yep. My wife and daughter want new phones. But all the new ones are too large for women pockets.

 

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

 

I don't think its a man-women thing. Bigger phone does not = more manly. I'm 5'11, 200 lbs. I stream music on runs and bike rides and it would be a pain with a phone that big. Seriously thinking of skipping my upgrade and getting a nexus s 4g on craigslist for ice cream sandwich.

At this rate, in two years, we'll be walking around with 7 inch phones. I can't wait until 4-4.3 inch phones are back in style. I want a high end phone that isn't huge and isn't an iphone.

Typically night time will bring higher speeds anyway since the network wouldn't be stressed as much. For example here in atlanta, my average speeds in the day time use to be 250kbps max but late at night and early in the morning I would easily average 2200kbps easily. Now since sprint have improved slightly I am now averaging about 600 to 1000kbps but again late at nights I still average same 2200kbps.

.

 

I don't think its because its night time, I test every night at about 9 pm when I take the dog out. I've only seen 1,500 + a few times, otherwise its consistantly 300-700 kbps.

here in south Minneapolis, I normally see 300-700 kbps, but on a few occasions at night I've seen 1,500 + kbps on 3g. I'm assuming sprint is doing some kind of testing when I see those high speeds.

Galaxy nexus has a removable battery, no carrier bloatware, and no htc skin. Does the better processor on the new evo make up for the bloatware and htc skin? I don't know. I do know that sense and gingerbread don't play nice on my OG EVO, it lags, and my wifes nexus s 4g is smooth and fast with ice cream sandwich. With that said, imo, software > hardware.