[NotJustAPhone]

Kik is a popular cross-platform messaging app, with support on Android, iOS, and BBOS. And there's always IM options like Google Talk and Yahoo Messenger.

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[cbreze]

I tried one in store and was really disappointed with the low speaker volume. I've become spoiled with my Casio commando's dual speakers I know, but this was pretty bad. Full volume on a youtube vid a test call and a news vid all were much to low. I wonder why a high end phone wouldn't come with dual speakers as standard. This drawback alone would be enough for me to take a pass. One other observation , I've heard the RF is less than stellar and noticed in store all the other devices I looked at had full bars, while the nexus had less than full. That's another turn off imho.

[thebignewt]

Is there a 3G version of this phone? I can't do LTE.

[howarmat]

the phone can operate in CDMA/3G only if you want to. Its a one click setting

[thebignewt]

the phone can operate in CDMA/3G only if you want to. Its a one click setting

But Vzn charges you another $10/month don't they? (I hate Verizon)

[howarmat]

no they do now. its the same cost for data whether its 3g or LTE

[thebignewt]

I'm unlimited $30/mo and can I get the Samsung 4g and pay the same? That would tempt me.

[howarmat]

yeah should be able to. you should be grandfathered in with that same plan. Its the same that I am on

[RyMac04]

after the news of no new QNX til late 2012 I'm jumping over to Android. Going to pick up either the Nexus or Razr with Verizon. I'm not sold on either yet but I'm leaning toward the Nexus with ICS and seemingly better battery life/removable-upgradable battery.

Selling points on Razr over Nexus - HDMI out and removable SIM card.

thoughts from those with the Nexus or Razr? Coming from a Storm 1 and a 2 year old Storm2 FWIW.

[spotmark]

after the news of no new QNX til late 2012

I would be surprised if it ever sees the light of day. RIM is just about done. As I've stated before, I think you will see them adapt Android to their devices, in the near future.

[thebignewt]

I read the review of this phone on Engaget. Couple questions: what's the HPSA+ version of this phone? And is it true that there's no mass storage USB connection so you can plug and drag music/pix to it? That's what it said but that's hard to believe. They said the thing was kind of a beast too. I'm waiting to hear a concise review here on this thread courtesy of our expert phone geeks.

[howarmat]

i plugged it into my windows 7 laptop and was able to transfer files without an issue

the HPSA+ is the GSM model to be used on other carriers besides VZW.

[spotmark]

It doesn't have a removable memory card. It has 32gb of internal storage, to which you can drag and drop any number of things.

[darreno1]

I tried one in store and was really disappointed with the low speaker volume. I've become spoiled with my Casio commando's dual speakers I know, but this was pretty bad. Full volume on a youtube vid a test call and a news vid all were much to low. I wonder why a high end phone wouldn't come with dual speakers as standard. This drawback alone would be enough for me to take a pass. One other observation , I've heard the RF is less than stellar and noticed in store all the other devices I looked at had full bars, while the nexus had less than full. That's another turn off imho.

Yes the volume issue is known however many, including myself, have had good luck with the volume+ app that can be downloaded for free. So far in my tests it has helped. In any case, a software update should take care of that issue. Even without the app though, it wasn't a big problem.

According to a recent Anandtech finding, the signal meter on the GNexus does not tell the whole story. While it may show less bars, the actual db measured was the same as the other phones they tested, so the bars themselves can be misleading. I've noticed that even with 1 bar I still get blazing speeds and I have yet to drop a call.

[RyMac04]

is the speaker volume worse than the iPhone? How would a software update help the issue? I would that thats a hardware issue.

Also, how often to Android bugs get software "updates". If they are anything like BB, then it's once a year at best. haha

[howarmat]

android from my experience with HTC devices got 2-4 updates a year

This device should get faster updates over the HTC since its pure google.

A software update can fix the volume level easily. Other phone have been like that and have been fixed

[RyMac04]

Great to know, thanks man.

I feel weird in this forum....

any word on that "keep awake" battery issue? I read a lot about it over at XDA and the article androidcentral put up. Is that something a software update can fix too?

[howarmat]

yeah i am sure it will also. It appears to be a driver issue. I havent really seen it on mine though

[spotmark]

It's my understanding that the volume can be fixed within the kernel. So, hopefully some devs will be hooking us up with better volume soon.

[thebignewt]

So what do you new owners like better about this phone than your prior androids? I've only seen a couple reviews out there, people who had them for like 2 days only, saying pretty much the SOS they always say ("feels so good in the hand, smoother, faster.")
What say you?

[spotmark]

So what do you new owners like better about this phone than your prior androids? I've only seen a couple reviews out there, people who had them for like 2 days only, saying pretty much the SOS they always say ("feels so good in the hand, smoother, faster.")
What say you?

I don't know if I've ever had a phone that didn't feel good in my hand, but as for the faster and smoother. Oh, yeah! It's like butter. Apps load instantly. For instance, Google Music. When I opened it on my TBolt, I always had to wait for the song currently playing to show up in the top, not so with this phone. Simply open Music, touch currently playing song, and hit play. Android 4.0 is obviously the star of the show, and I find it to be a very nice upgrade over Gingerbread. I am extremely happy that I held off, and waited for this phone to debut.

[thebignewt]

There's some difference in Gallery too right? I read something about that. Can you put pix into folders ala BB? Is there a cool native launcher ala Launcher Pro (I use that)? The reviewer said that all of his apps automatically loaded (both paid and free) on the new phone (when mine updated to Gingerbread all the free apps went bye bye, which pissed me off).

[darreno1]

So what do you new owners like better about this phone than your prior androids?

Ok so wall-of-text time

SCREEN: Probably the best on any Android phone (or any phone period) with the SG2 a very close second. And while the iPhone 4's might have a slightly higher ppi, I'd much rather stare at the Nexus or SG2. Watching videos or viewing pictures is a treat. Plus even tiny text is easily discernible so no need to zoom as much as in other phones. Colors pop as well (although here I think the SG2 has it beat). And because the buttons disappear in full-screen mode, videos get to fill the entire 4.6 inches. I have a Tab 7" and haven't touched it since getting the Nexus - it will be on Ebay soon.

ICS: Like Spotmark said, Android 4.0 is the star of the show. It's smoother, seems to launch many apps quicker, and it's laid out a little more intuitively (IMO), however it does take some getting used to at first - mostly because of set habits from previous versions. Flash is also less buggy (e.g tap to full-screen and other on screen controls seem to work much better) and it's faster overall. The browser is also smoother and the most-used settings are easier to get to. E.g you can now easily request the desktop versions of websites instead of having to constantly look for the desktop view link or type out the command to change the user agent. That was a very welcomed change. Now there's little need to download a separate browser although I liked Dolphin HD a lot and might still give the ICS version (whenever it emerges)a try.

There's now the cardview feature we all liked from WebOS (or some of us at least)and it works extremely well. It really is a nice touch and makes managing running apps a breeze - just flick them away or click to jump to said app. This makes the use of a 3rd party task manager almost pointless unless controlling hidden services/utilities is a must - something most should not be messing with anyway. It's also implemented somewhat within the browser itself. You can flick previous websites away or easily jump to them - very nice!

The only slight downside to this new OS so far have been increased battery usage - but not by much and a small price to pay for the added features IMO. I do believe there is still some tweaking to be done and I'm sure Google is already on the ball. Still, I easily make it though a full work day so I'm not complaining. So... so far so good and I really don't see myself reaching out for another smartphone anytime soon.

[Rickroller]

Nice review @darreno1. Quick question..are you on the GSM version or CDMA with LTE?

[TurboTiger]

Enjoyed the review darren01.
Tks for the info.
Good Luck