KwitkoSheriff of Banning (Retired)By the thing near the stuffIcrontian
Sprint is definitely finished with WiMAX. All of their new phones will be LTE. I'm so happy they're getting the GNex. Will it be an updated version or exactly the same as VZW's?
XDA bounty has led to T-Mobile-compatible Galaxy Notes! Once they get more consistent HSPA+ speeds and get wifi calling onto it, it may be my next phone. Oh, and once I get $600.
So the Galaxy Nexus is rumored to be released for Sprint on April 15. Is it worth it to upgrade to that phone then or should I wait until the new Galaxy S III comes out? Obviously this is a phone that I plan on having for a few years. I currently have the Original Galaxy S.
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KwitkoSheriff of Banning (Retired)By the thing near the stuffIcrontian
If you always hold out for the next best thing, you'll wait forever. The GNex is an amazing phone. Do it. NAO!
You mean aside from the fact that he's wrong on the specs for the OneX (the LTE variant will be dual-core S4, still a killer CPU)?
It's ALWAYS a bad time to buy an Android phone in the US because of the 2-year contract thing. If you're in a position to buy retail and flip every 6-months/year, then you can do whatever you wish and upgrade when you find something you like.
The Galaxy Nexus is a fabulous phone, and the Galaxy S III won't be a substantial upgrade. Yes, the S3's CPU is quad core and the GPU is great, but the Galaxy Nexus is plenty fast, a Google dev platform, has ICS the way it was meant to be seen, and offers the same high-quality display.
Given Sprint's sluggish-as-hell adoption of new phones, we should also acknowledge the fact that any S3 they get will come very late.
"The U.S. version of this handset will feature a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor and 16GB of internal storage, but the impact of this “downgrade” on the user experience is negligible — the phone is still lightning fast and beyond smooth."
I just got a Samsung Galaxy Note. Is there a discussion yet for users? Anyone know of a app that will help schedule services and help with battery drain?
Okay, it's upgrade time, I must let my beloved Palm Pre go. I'm on Verizon and won't consider switching carriers. I'm deeply rooted in Google Services now, so I suppose I'll get an Android phone. The thing that concerns me most is the long time it's seeming to take for several handsets to see the 4.0 upgrade. I suppose I could spring the $250 for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, but if I could save a few bucks purchasing a perfectly 4.0 capable handset I would. Anyone have recommendations?
Sprint Nexus Prime vs. EVO 4G LTE? Seems like the biggest difference is Android dev platform vs Sense.... and non-removable battery on EVO 4G LTE. I'm torn. I love me a removable battery. Sense vs. no sense isn't a big deal for me (tho NExus Prime will get Android updates faster)
EVO 4G LTE is substantially better in all respects except for the OS, which is somewhat clunky and bloated with Sense. It also won't get Jelly Bean any time before 2H13 if it launches this year as planned.
Unf... So Amazon Germany put up a preorder page for the Galaxy S3. If the page is correct it says the S3 has a 4.7inch Super AMOLED screen and a 12MP camera.. If we get anything close to that I'm sold... 12MP camera on a smartphone? Unf... Is it May 3 yet?
I dont want a 12 megapixel file size unless I have a great lens, optical zoom and flash. Phone cameras will never be my primary. I would just as well keep the file size and processing load for my battery reasonable.
I dont want a 12 megapixel file size unless I have a great lens, optical zoom and flash. Phone cameras will never be my primary. I would just as well keep the file size and processing load for my battery reasonable.
The wife has a Nikon D200 with lenses for pics that really matter. The GNex has an awesome camera for everything else.
A15 will be Christmas season. Your call. Also be warned that the USA version of the S3 is now being rumored to have a good, but slower dual core. The same chip in the HTC One X for the US.
If that happens, I'd wait for A15 or buy the international S3 to get the Exynos quad.
Isn't the power saving in the noise (compared to the power draw of the larger/brighter/higher-rez screens these new phones have)?
Also curious about the performance of quad core vs dual core. Isn't there a point at which you just can't tell the difference? I'm not certain I would notice if my phone was 40% faster since everything is instantaneous as is (and what's not is usually an internet bottleneck).
Adding more cores to a CPU is not merely a function of performance. We're at the point where every vendor has a chip that offers smooth performance. Offering more cores has significant power implications. Parallelizing tasks, which Android (and iOS!) improve at by the day, dramatically reduces the power requirements of running a given app, as nominal voltage and clockspeeds can be lower to complete the task.
For as long as we have CPUs, there will be duals that are faster than quads and vice versa. If that's something you care about, it's prudent to check the benchmarks.
For example, the dual core Snapdragon S4 is extremely competitive with the quad core Tegra 3. The Exynos 4412 (the chip we're discussing) should handily best both.
Chip speed really starts to matter if you're interested in mobile gaming, but for those of us that aren't, the #2 power consumer behind the screen (the CPU!) just got more efficient.
So now we have the official announcement. Some pretty nice specs. About what I'd expect 6 months after the GNex launch. I really dig some of the new features, but I'm sad that they're going to be part of TouchWiz, and not available on a custom/stock android experience.
That Quad Exynos is going to rock, and allows for a lot of the really cool features they touted in the presentation (video overlay/PinP, Best Shot mode, etc).
Comments
It's ALWAYS a bad time to buy an Android phone in the US because of the 2-year contract thing. If you're in a position to buy retail and flip every 6-months/year, then you can do whatever you wish and upgrade when you find something you like.
Given Sprint's sluggish-as-hell adoption of new phones, we should also acknowledge the fact that any S3 they get will come very late.
//EDIT:
@AlexDeGruven
"The U.S. version of this handset will feature a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor and 16GB of internal storage, but the impact of this “downgrade” on the user experience is negligible — the phone is still lightning fast and beyond smooth."
If that happens, I'd wait for A15 or buy the international S3 to get the Exynos quad.
Also curious about the performance of quad core vs dual core. Isn't there a point at which you just can't tell the difference? I'm not certain I would notice if my phone was 40% faster since everything is instantaneous as is (and what's not is usually an internet bottleneck).
Educate me!
Edit: Currently have a Nexus Prime (Sprint).
For as long as we have CPUs, there will be duals that are faster than quads and vice versa. If that's something you care about, it's prudent to check the benchmarks.
For example, the dual core Snapdragon S4 is extremely competitive with the quad core Tegra 3. The Exynos 4412 (the chip we're discussing) should handily best both.
Chip speed really starts to matter if you're interested in mobile gaming, but for those of us that aren't, the #2 power consumer behind the screen (the CPU!) just got more efficient.
That Quad Exynos is going to rock, and allows for a lot of the really cool features they touted in the presentation (video overlay/PinP, Best Shot mode, etc).