Nexus S

Hecklar

I mean a metal case to improve the feel and stiffness, It "looks" fine, but its too flexible and cheap feeling. you can actually make it creak in your hand.

That said, Ive used it as far back as last November/December so this wasn't a shock to me. Its defo in need of some after market casings of some sort to make it feel like its worth more than a packet of meanies. Maybe that company that make the iPhone4 brushed stainless back might do something if its popular enough.

mkennedy

How long before NFC is fully up and running here.

srsly78

Hecklar wrote: »

I mean a metal case to improve the feel and stiffness, It "looks" fine, but its too flexible and cheap feeling. you can actually make it creak in your hand.

That said, Ive used it as far back as last November/December so this wasn't a shock to me. Its defo in need of some after market casings of some sort to make it feel like its worth more than a packet of meanies. Maybe that company that make the iPhone4 brushed stainless back might do something if its popular enough.

I have mine in a gelcase so it hardly matters. I LOVE the plastic curved screen, it is awesome. I also love how this phone is thinner and lighter than the others. It does not feel cheap just because it's not a metal brick. Put Nexus S beside any other device and it makes the other look cheap (that's not even talking about the performance etc). Have you actually put Nexus S beside iphone4? Nexus is thinner and slicker and blacker, winner hands down.

As the recent antenna debacle has shown, having a metal body isn't necessarily a good idea.

After-market casing is not optional on any phone, no device will survive an unlucky fall. That said "screen protectors" are a waste of time. CPW sold me gelcase for tenner with the Nexus S.

srsly78

mkennedy wrote: »

How long before NFC is fully up and running here.

How long is a piece of string? Anyone can use NFC for whatever they want. You are waiting for government to set it up?

It took off in London because of the Oyster card, a unified travel ticket that _everone_ has in their pocket. Not using Oyster in London is unthinkable (save up to 75% on tube/bus). Because of this lots of small retailers are hooking into it to sell various stuff. Time will tell if using it on phone really takes off. The SDK to code for it was just updated last week, I should really get around to messing with new features.

Hecklar

srsly78 wrote: »

I have mine in a gelcase so it hardly matters. I LOVE the plastic curved screen, it is awesome. I also love how this phone is thinner and lighter than the others. It does not feel cheap just because it's not a metal brick. Put Nexus S beside any other device and it makes the other look cheap (that's not even talking about the performance etc). Have you actually put Nexus S beside iphone4? Nexus is thinner and slicker and blacker, winner hands down.

As the recent antenna debacle has shown, having a metal body isn't necessarily a good idea.

After-market casing is not optional on any phone, no device will survive an unlucky fall. That said "screen protectors" are a waste of time. CPW sold me gelcase for tenner with the Nexus S.

In fairness, I get the feeling from your posts around here that if you bought a block of shoite with an android logo you'd rate it as the best block of shoite in the world.

The screen is very subtly curved. hardly even noticable side by side with the Galaxy S. (infact i had to point it out to a friend who didnt even notice at the time)

The cheap feeling comes from its being plastic AND flexible/creaky. Not "just because its plastic". Its a complaint id have about the Galaxy S too, but to a lesser degree.

Against Iphone4 it wins hands down? c'mon man, are you having a laugh? As much as i hate supporting stevey jobs and his world domination attempts, The iPhone4 is the benchmark to aim for when it comes to a smartphone's design and build quality. No android device is quite so well made - performance aside, as you said. Claiming otherwise only makes one look like one of those snotty teenager apple/android fanboys that latch onto brands like they are a way of life.

iPhone4s antenna-gate was NOTHING to do with being a metal case, it was to do with their decision to use an External Aerial. They could just as easily have made a metal cased phone with internal aerial and no reception problems.

Like i said, Its a nice phone and im really tempted to pick one up but its not much of a step up from a Galaxy S, even lacks some of the features i like of the Galaxy. If i could get a firm yes/no on whether vodafone's ones are locked then i could already have it now. But yes, a metal back would probably do this phone worlds of good.

Canada J Soup

On the question of whether or not the Nexus S is locked to Vodafone: I dropped into the Carphone Warehouse on Grafton St last night and the sales guy I spoke with there said that they are locked. While I'm not 100% convinced (I had been under the impression that all the Google branded Android devices were supposed to be unlocked), it gave me enough pause that I'll hold off on picking one up without someone having successfully used it with a non VF SIM.

Abelloid

Shops will always say they're locked.

Hecklar

Canada J Soup wrote: »

On the question of whether or not the Nexus S is locked to Vodafone: I dropped into the Carphone Warehouse on Grafton St last night and the sales guy I spoke with there said that they are locked. While I'm not 100% convinced (I had been under the impression that all the Google branded Android devices were supposed to be unlocked), it gave me enough pause that I'll hold off on picking one up without someone having successfully used it with a non VF SIM.

JustinOval wrote: »

Shops will always say they're locked.

My experience exactly.
I asked the chap on the counter if its defo confirmed as locked, or if they just say they are and infact aren't. This was the case with the Galaxy S from carfone warehouse too when i got it.

Can anyone back up that claim that they cant lock down the google phones, that their not allowed to mess with them before sale? I've heard it a few times now, once from someone who would be very well up on all that sort of thng.

Hecklar

CONFIRMED!
The Nexus S is simfree at the carphone warehouse.

scuby

as per the highlights video on the VF site, it's unlocked
http://www.vodafone.ie/offers/nexus

Hecklar

scuby wrote: »

as per the highlights video on the VF site, it's unlocked
http://www.vodafone.ie/offers/nexus

Yeah but vodafone are claiming otherwise in store.

I don't know why though... I would have spent 480 euro with them yesterday if they cut the bull**** and gave me the phone.

blue chuzzle

i cant believe anyone would consider buying a phone that's half as powerful as phones coming out in a few weeks.

your all crazy!

scuby

blue chuzzle wrote: »

i cant believe anyone would consider buying a phone that's half as powerful as phones coming out in a few weeks.

your all crazy!

any examples of whats coming out ?

srsly78

He means dualcore processors. Just as with PC, dual core does not mean twice as fast. Noone is even making apps that use the power of current handsets, let alone the next generation.

@hecklar: Why you so mad? Iphone hasn't been the benchmark in a long time.

Hecklar

I'm not mad, I'm a realist. Fanboi'ism is for 15 year old kids. That's why they don't call them "fanmen".

thomasj

Have just switched from an iPhone 3GS to a nexus and I like what I see so far!

Smoother keyboard, quicker in my opinion and I love the web browser

Another little thing I love the new smileys on the messaging app!

Hecklar

thomasj wrote: »

Have just switched from an iPhone 3GS to a nexus and I like what I see so far!

Smoother keyboard, quicker in my opinion and I love the web browser

Another little thing I love the new smileys on the messaging app!

Same here, the battery life is streets ahead of The galaxy but after loading everything on I occasionally notice a bit of lag, particularly with live wallpaper. The browser has been a little temperamental too, especially with boards beta theme. Other than that I'm very happy though.

scuby

Hecklar wrote: »

In fairness, I get the feeling from your posts around here that if you bought a block of shoite with an android logo you'd rate it as the best block of shoite in the world.

The screen is very subtly curved. hardly even noticable side by side with the Galaxy S. (infact i had to point it out to a friend who didnt even notice at the time)

The cheap feeling comes from its being plastic AND flexible/creaky. Not "just because its plastic". Its a complaint id have about the Galaxy S too, but to a lesser degree.

Against Iphone4 it wins hands down? c'mon man, are you having a laugh? As much as i hate supporting stevey jobs and his world domination attempts, The iPhone4 is the benchmark to aim for when it comes to a smartphone's design and build quality. No android device is quite so well made - performance aside, as you said. Claiming otherwise only makes one look like one of those snotty teenager apple/android fanboys that latch onto brands like they are a way of life.

iPhone4s antenna-gate was NOTHING to do with being a metal case, it was to do with their decision to use an External Aerial. They could just as easily have made a metal cased phone with internal aerial and no reception problems.

Like i said, Its a nice phone and im really tempted to pick one up but its not much of a step up from a Galaxy S, even lacks some of the features i like of the Galaxy. If i could get a firm yes/no on whether vodafone's ones are locked then i could already have it now. But yes, a metal back would probably do this phone worlds of good.

Hecklar wrote: »

Yeah but vodafone are claiming otherwise in store.

I don't know why though... I would have spent 480 euro with them yesterday if they cut the bull**** and gave me the phone.

Hecklar wrote: »

Same here, the battery life is streets ahead of The galaxy but after loading everything on I occasionally notice a bit of lag, particularly with live wallpaper. The browser has been a little temperamental too, especially with boards beta theme. Other than that I'm very happy though.

Jeez, i thought you wre totally against it going on the first few posts, but now happy with it ?

Hecklar

No no, I said from the begining its a nice phone, and i was in the market for a phone within the next couple of weeks anyway, hence not waiting for the Galaxy S 2 so i bought it.

I never said i wouldn't buy it, as i was intending to all along. I only pointed out area's were i think its let down for those who might wanna buy one just so they know its not all great news. I've no doubt if i gave you this phone tomorrow you would find some niggly things with it that you'd like improved and without reports like that from genuine, non fanboi types a lot of people would buy these things and expect far more than they are getting, only to be dissapointed and left wondering what all the fuss was about.

A friend has this phone since the end of last year so its not new to me. ive played with it already and knew of some of its faults.
Maybe the big post i made came across as a little anti-nexus, That was unintentional but i was basically highlighting where another poster was spitting out inaccurate information based on nothing more than sentimentality for the phone/brand.

I don't have an emotional connection with my phone, nor with its maker so I call a spade a spade and point at the cons, aswell as the pro's. At the moment i am an iPhone, Galaxy S and Nexus S owner and see myself as being indenpenant of fanboi'ism.


A few other little niggles ive found with the phone since getting it yesterday,

Awaken screen -When i take it away from my ear after a call the screen doesn't re'illuminate for me to hang up, making it a pain to make sure the call is actually ended. The iPhone does this and im pretty sure the Galaxy S too, will have to confirm.

Browser -The web browser is a total piece of crap. It scrolls way too fast and if you have a text box open, (like a quick reply to this thread for instance) and you try to scroll to the "Submit Reply" button it keeps jumping way ahead and going to either end of the post instead of where the post button is.

Lag -The phone still suffers Galaxy S'esque lag, although not nearly as extreme. I dont have a whole lot of apps on it at the moment. Theres a few albums and a movie with 11.28GB still free and i get that choppy/laggyness at times on the home screen. I'm not entirely sure if its down to the widgets or whatever.

The design - A small complaint here i know, but after taking it out of your pocket its very difficult to know which end is which. lol The physical home button on the Galaxy S meant this wasnt a problem but with the touch buttons not lit up its very hard to tell. They also need to be brighter, hard to see in well lit conditions and when you chop and change between phones, you rely on them being visible.

Flexibility - Theres a lot of plastic in the making of this phone, its a bit on the soft side and you can actually torque it a little. The Galaxy was similar but not to the same extent. iPhone is as hard as rock compared.

Apps locations - Apps are arranged alphabetically with this 2.3 launcher, unlike with the older types where you could place your more frequent apps at the first few pages, and the less important or unused stuff down the end. Now you have to scroll through whatever comes first alphabetically to find what you need.

Notification Slide Down Bar - I don't like how it lacks the controls for toggling on or off Wifi, bluetooth, GPS etc etc as on the Galaxy. That was a really handy menu that i used all the time. The power widget just isnt the same, thanks to the lack of the rotation lock. Theres probably a few more little things but its late and im half asleep.

Some of the good points though,

Curved screen - Although almost completely unnoticeable to look at, it prevents the screen getting scratched if you leave it face down on a flat surface. other than that its pretty much useless in terms of the curve.

Screen itself - exactly the same as the Galaxy and thats not a bad thing. very detailed, clear screen.

Flash - (camera), This is something that drove me nuts with the galaxy S. it needs a flash and this one performs pretty well, concidering its a phone. Sometimes a little over exposed but you can compensate for that in the settings.

Battery - Battery performance seems to be well ahead of the Galaxy S battery, even when the Galaxy was stock with no custom roms. Defo a big plus for the Nexus here.


Overall its very very similar to the galaxy, if maybe a bit better looking.

TotallyEpic

Sim free?

Hecklar

Yep, Im using an o2 sim with it at the moment.

TotallyEpic

Do you think the Vodafone Shop ones should be unlocked so?

Because I really dig the white version.

Hecklar

Yeah from what I've been hearing, they aren't supposed to be locking them. i cant see why theirs would be locked if the carphone warehouses aren't.

that said, its the same price in the carphone warehouse so id rather just buy it there were you have confirmation of it being unlocked. tehy have both colours too, but i think the white one looks a little on the cheap site. black looks much better in the flesh.

TotallyEpic

Hecklar wrote: »

Yeah from what I've been hearing, they aren't supposed to be locking them. i cant see why theirs would be locked if the carphone warehouses aren't.

that said, its the same price in the carphone warehouse so id rather just buy it there were you have confirmation of it being unlocked. tehy have both colours too, but i think the white one looks a little on the cheap site. black looks much better in the flesh.

Does Carphone Warehouse have the white model too? It's not on their site!

The only reason I asked about Vodafone, is they have a €10 discount online.

Hecklar

Yeah tehy defo have white, I was looking at it when i was in there. you could always ask them about a discount on it i suppose. other than that theres no surefire way of guarenteeing it'll be simfree from the vodafone shop, but i believe it is.

The reason i went to CFW is because they dont mind opening the box and testing it to answer your query. Vodafone practically folded their arms and told me to fúck off.

TotallyEpic

Hecklar wrote: »

Yeah tehy defo have white, I was looking at it when i was in there. you could always ask them about a discount on it i suppose. other than that theres no surefire way of guarenteeing it'll be simfree from the vodafone shop, but i believe it is.

The reason i went to CFW is because they dont mind opening the box and testing it to answer your query. Vodafone practically folded their arms and told me to fúck off.

Nice, I'll hopefully get one this week!

Thanks for your help!

thomasj

Hecklar wrote: »

No no, I said from the begining its a nice phone, and i was in the market for a phone within the next couple of weeks anyway, hence not waiting for the Galaxy S 2 so i bought it.

I never said i wouldn't buy it, as i was intending to all along. I only pointed out area's were i think its let down for those who might wanna buy one just so they know its not all great news. I've no doubt if i gave you this phone tomorrow you would find some niggly things with it that you'd like improved and without reports like that from genuine, non fanboi types a lot of people would buy these things and expect far more than they are getting, only to be dissapointed and left wondering what all the fuss was about.

A friend has this phone since the end of last year so its not new to me. ive played with it already and knew of some of its faults.
Maybe the big post i made came across as a little anti-nexus, That was unintentional but i was basically highlighting where another poster was spitting out inaccurate information based on nothing more than sentimentality for the phone/brand.

I don't have an emotional connection with my phone, nor with its maker so I call a spade a spade and point at the cons, aswell as the pro's. At the moment i am an iPhone, Galaxy S and Nexus S owner and see myself as being indenpenant of fanboi'ism.


A few other little niggles ive found with the phone since getting it yesterday,

Awaken screen -When i take it away from my ear after a call the screen doesn't re'illuminate for me to hang up, making it a pain to make sure the call is actually ended. The iPhone does this and im pretty sure the Galaxy S too, will have to confirm.

Browser -The web browser is a total piece of crap. It scrolls way too fast and if you have a text box open, (like a quick reply to this thread for instance) and you try to scroll to the "Submit Reply" button it keeps jumping way ahead and going to either end of the post instead of where the post button is.

Lag -The phone still suffers Galaxy S'esque lag, although not nearly as extreme. I dont have a whole lot of apps on it at the moment. Theres a few albums and a movie with 11.28GB still free and i get that choppy/laggyness at times on the home screen. I'm not entirely sure if its down to the widgets or whatever.

The design - A small complaint here i know, but after taking it out of your pocket its very difficult to know which end is which. lol The physical home button on the Galaxy S meant this wasnt a problem but with the touch buttons not lit up its very hard to tell. They also need to be brighter, hard to see in well lit conditions and when you chop and change between phones, you rely on them being visible.

Flexibility - Theres a lot of plastic in the making of this phone, its a bit on the soft side and you can actually torque it a little. The Galaxy was similar but not to the same extent. iPhone is as hard as rock compared.

Apps locations - Apps are arranged alphabetically with this 2.3 launcher, unlike with the older types where you could place your more frequent apps at the first few pages, and the less important or unused stuff down the end. Now you have to scroll through whatever comes first alphabetically to find what you need.

Notification Slide Down Bar - I don't like how it lacks the controls for toggling on or off Wifi, bluetooth, GPS etc etc as on the Galaxy. That was a really handy menu that i used all the time. The power widget just isnt the same, thanks to the lack of the rotation lock. Theres probably a few more little things but its late and im half asleep.

Some of the good points though,

Curved screen - Although almost completely unnoticeable to look at, it prevents the screen getting scratched if you leave it face down on a flat surface. other than that its pretty much useless in terms of the curve.

Screen itself - exactly the same as the Galaxy and thats not a bad thing. very detailed, clear screen.

Flash - (camera), This is something that drove me nuts with the galaxy S. it needs a flash and this one performs pretty well, concidering its a phone. Sometimes a little over exposed but you can compensate for that in the settings.

Battery - Battery performance seems to be well ahead of the Galaxy S battery, even when the Galaxy was stock with no custom roms. Defo a big plus for the Nexus here.


Overall its very very similar to the galaxy, if maybe a bit better looking.

Good post! I agree with most of it.

I prefer to the feel of this over the iPhone 3gs even though its plastic and the responsiveness is better.

My phone is also unlocked! Got it from carphone warehouse

One annoying thing is no integrated Gmail inbox I have 2 Gmail accounts. Otherwise I'm happy all the way. Love the haptic touch btw

Hecklar

yeah i do prefer the feel of it, the shape makes it nicer to hold than the big pebble feel of an iPhone 3g/3gs. I also like how the headphone jack is at the bottom of the phone, all phones should be like that.

thomasj

Hecklar wrote: »

Yeah tehy defo have white, I was looking at it when i was in there. you could always ask them about a discount on it i suppose. other than that theres no surefire way of guarenteeing it'll be simfree from the vodafone shop, but i believe it is.

The reason i went to CFW is because they dont mind opening the box and testing it to answer your query. Vodafone practically folded their arms and told me to fúck off.

I didn't go to the vodafone so I dont know if I was unlocked or not but is worth pointing out that they have a link on the website to an advertisement that says its unlocked! Misleading!

td2008

Picked this up in england over the weekend. I had been waiting to see what was coming out but decided to go for this in the end.
New galaxy 2 will be 600+ (buying sim free) and i don't think dual core will be that important for another while yet.
New incredible is nice, thats around 600 in england though and not
much better than the HD. Although it is slightly smaller and looks better.

The nexus is great, sleek looking, a lot quicker than my old desire and will get the latest updates first. The battery seems decent so far. Only thing its missing is a notification led