What makes the Galaxy Nexus so special

[mtpeke]

This is a serious question. I have an origional droid and was trying to decide about the razr vs droid 4. There is a lot of buzz on here but I can't see or figure out what makes this phone extra special? I'm a mom who uses my phone for work, volunteer stuff, home emails. I like to be able to wireless teather my iPad for my daughter to use on trips and for me when I travel for work. A friend rooted it for me. My Area just got 4 g. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!

 

[ice456789]

It all depends on what is important for you. If a keyboard is important then you'll obviously go for the D4. If thinness is the most important thing to you, then you'll go with the Razr. I think the GN is the best all-around phone. It's not the thinnest but it is very thin. It has a huge screen, fast processor and more than enough memory. It is the phone that will have the most mass appeal.

 

[vtnerd]

Faster updates from Google and no manufacturer skins bogging it down like Blur (Motorola) or Sense (HTC) and it's supposed to not have carrier apps (Verizon stuck 2 on but they can be disabled).

If none of this is important to you, or you happen to love Blur or Sense, then the Nexus is not all that special.

For me, it means not waiting 8 months for an official Motorola update on my phone from Froyo to Gingerbread and not having to wonder if my phone will even get upgraded to ICS (or what comes after it) and not having to void my warranty just to get rid of a useless ugly skin that slows down the phone.

 

[bacK_N_87]

I think the biggest feature of the GNex is that memory is fully available. No more app memory which means you can use your full 16 or 32 gigs for everything. Everything else is nice but somewhat available on current phones.

Sent from my DROID3

 

[ModestMuse]

I think the phone is only special for Android enthusiasts. We care about having the latest OS updates as soon as they drop. We care about having unlocked bootloaders for easy modding. We care about not having Blur or Sense skinned on our phones.

If you are not an Android enthusiast, then the Galaxy Nexus is no different from any other Android phone. Based upon your post, it seems that a Razr or Rezound would be just fine for you.

 

[mtpeke]

What is Blut and sense?

Thinness isn't huge for me. My first cell phone in 1994 was a bag phone. Lol. I like the keyboard on my droid but with the bigger screen a touch keyboard is fine. I use my iPad with ease. Honestly the thing most important to me is Internet speed ( I hate how long my org droid takes to rewrite the screen) and wireless tethering. On road trips my daughter loves playing games and I liketosurfon a larger screen. At hotels it's nice to have teathering asi don't have to pay the $18 a day for wifi.

 

[mtpeke]

I will add, I hate bloat ware and I do like getting OS updates. I can't update my google map ap since my phone is old.

 

[ModestMuse]

I will add, I hate bloat ware and I do like getting OS updates. I can't update my google map ap since my phone is old.

I'm not quite sure what you're asking then. You seem to understand what the Galaxy Nexus as well as Razr and Rezound. What specifically do you want to know?

 

[bacK_N_87]

What is Blut and sense?

Thinness isn't huge for me. My first cell phone in 1994 was a bag phone. Lol. I like the keyboard on my droid but with the bigger screen a touch keyboard is fine. I use my iPad with ease. Honestly the thing most important to me is Internet speed ( I hate how long my org droid takes to rewrite the screen) and wireless tethering. On road trips my daughter loves playing games and I liketosurfon a larger screen. At hotels it's nice to have teathering asi don't have to pay the $18 a day for wifi.

Lol blur and sense is the skin they use over vanilla android devices from Motorola and HTC respectively. Vanilla means stock, basic or straight from Google. You're definitely on the right track with 4G if you care about upload speed. I would have to say Galaxy Nexus coming from the OG Droid.

Sent from my DROID3

 

[mjones73]

It's going to be running out of the box Android just like the original Droid. If you look at all of the Motorola Android devices released since the original Droid, you'll see they have blur added on top of Android which changes the appearance of the interface.

The Galaxy Nexus will have Android 4.X (aka Ice Cream Sandwich) which is the newest version of Android, it's the first device released in the US with it installed. The Razr, Droid 4, Rezound, etc will eventually get 4.X once the manufactures modify their custom interfaces to work with it.

If you're just looking for a phone that works, it comes down to preference, compare the interfaces on the Moto, HTC and Samsung devices and go with what works best for you.

 

[bacK_N_87]

I'm not quite sure what you're asking then. You seem to understand what the Galaxy Nexus as well as Razr and Rezound. What specifically do you want to know?

I believe she knows why some people don't receive updates on time and that's typically due to skins like Blur or Sense. Just go with Gnex it has little to no bloat, no skins and will always get updates on time.

Sent from my DROID3

 

[mjones73]

I will add, I hate bloat ware and I do like getting OS updates. I can't update my google map ap since my phone is old.

Try Waze for GPS sometime, it's free, is community driven (it takes feedback from other users to track road conditions and displays them on the map) runs with less resources and works well on my original Droid. Maps has gotten too bloated for the limited resources in these phones.

 

[bacK_N_87]

What is Blut and sense?

Btw I wasn't laughing at you just thought it was cool of how interested you are.

Sent from my DROID3

 

[Bigaliensexmachine3000]

Some of these replies have gone off to left field. So to answer your question, the Galaxy Nexus is special because it is a google phone that is guaranteed to get updates for the life of your wireless contract (2 years) and can be easily hacked (free tehering).

All the current high end phones can handle email and tethering effortlessly and you won't have the slow re-draw as with the OG droid. So it just comes down to your own personal taste with the phones. I would recommend the Nexus since any bugs will be handled in a timely manner by google.

 

[mtpeke]

Thank you for your helpful replies. I realldy did not know anyting about the GN until today and reading a few posts. I have simply had a Motorola phone for what seems like forever. Droid, origional Razr, and the TAC 250 before that. I am Geek-lite. Been playing with computers since 1984 but do not have the time to learn the latest technology as most folks do on forums like this. I remember DOS and how much faster you could do things with a little knowledge and I absolutely hate Ad-ware and Bloat-ware... I think it should be illegal! It is my computer after all. I greatly appreciate your thoughts and opinions. I guess I will wait till the 15th??? and see one in person. Seems like this is the next big thing like the Droid 1 was when it came out. Sure hope so!