I'm using both the Galaxy Nexus & the SII atm and like you I find the nexus just a bit to big for me. However used the S2 over Xmas and hated the touchwiz Ui so quickly rooted it & put CM7.1 on it but that seemed to slow the phone down a bit even though size wise it's just about perfect. Now gone back to the Nexus and ICS and will try & get used to the size.
My favourite though is the Nexus S running CM9 ICS alpha build, fast & great size wise for proper phone use.
My vote goes in for the galaxy s2 (which I own too)...
Reasoning -
Smaller than the Nexus, and very thin / light
2-3 days battery life with real usage (from my current rom / kernel)
Fantastic screen - ok its not 720p, but its not pentile either, its gorgeous to look at - films look amazing!
More powerful CPU vs the nexus AND easily overclockable - i get a steady 5400+ quadrant score from my GS2 with my rom
More powerful GPU vs nexus PLUS its driving a screen half the resolution, so much better for 3d apps
Big custom rom community on xda with regular updates
No ICS - ok ICS is the latest and greatest, but atm tons of apps dont work on ICS, so whats the point? The GS2 has been guaranteed an ICS update anyway.
The galaxy s2 supports EVERY media file i throw at it - including high 4.1 profile mkv's with dts audio, wmv, flac - out of the box, no messing around. The nexus / stock android does not!
Other (non GS2 specific plus points) of not getting the nexus - the nexus has no micro-sd card slot - so only 16gb storage, vs 16gb + 32gb sd on galaxy s2 (which will also take the 64gb micro sdxc cards if you can afford one!!). PLUS that 16gb storage is NOT available as USB mass storage mode - so no nice drag and drop for music / video transfer.
The only thing I will say - try Darky's rom + kernel on your galaxy s1 - I upgraded from a gs1 (which my wife now has) that was flashed with darky rom... it felt like a completely different handset vs the stock android / samsung software.
Only thing I miss from my gs1 vs the gs2? Voodoo sound for music via headphones - there is NOTHING (mobile phone wise) that can touch a gs1 with voodoo sound for audio quality
Hope that helps!
finlay666 (03-01-2012)
As mentioned that is a big upfront cost + £10 per month minimum on a sim only contract means £545Originally Posted by piggin23
You can purchase a Nexus from Vodaphone for £425.
The phones are unbranded & sim free.
Agree, the phone is very wide but you will soon get used to it.
the current best is £532 with only £100 upfront so still £13 ahead
This was the information I was given
Hi,
picture of the receipt on this thread over XDA Developers. The buyer confirmed that it is unlocked.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...29665&page=109
Armed with this information I went around Cardiff on Sunday 18th December & called into all the phone shops I could find.
Everyone wanted to sell me a contract or sell the phone for £500 +
Walked into the Vodaphone shop, asked for a phone & they went to the back room.
Scanned the phone & charged me £425 for a brand new unbranded phone.
Even let me brake the seal in the shop & put my sim in (3 network).
Worked instantly without any issue.
The phone has updated & received new information without any problems
You can always just give your local shop a ring.
I don't think this is a special deal.
They are just not advertising it.
Hmm seems like to transfer my number over I need to give 30 days notice... so I can't just get my PAC, pay the final month and port it to a new contract
http://www.phones4u.co.uk/shop/shop_...41660&NetKey=2
Looks like I'll be going in to Phones 4 U to see what they can do on it or any way around it, I'll accept not getting the cashback (It's not a huge amount) to start my new contract if it means starting it now and keeping my number
I moved to a Galaxy S2 from a 3GS, am generally happy with it although havent played with a Nexus. The S2 feels fast and responsive, and not lacking in terms of hardware.
It's my first Android phone, and compared to iOS i must say that i'm keen to receive the update to 4.0, although clearly if you are coming from a Galaxy S then using 2.3 for now will feel familiar.
I got what I felt was a pretty good deal - this was just after the iPhone 4S was released (mid October?) I walked in to the Orange shop, talked with the guys for a while, was eventually offered a 25% discount on my monthly contract (i think they called it PARCS or something similar), so in the end i paid:
£150 up front for the Galaxy S2
£19.50 per month (for 24 month contract), 300 free mins, some thousands of texts that i wont use, and 750Mb per month data. Orange also claim that any data used for emails wont count, although i'm dubious about that.
My biggest concern at present is that i havent gotten around to working out how much data I am using at this stage, but know that Android 4.0 has that function built in.
The total is £468 over 24 months in contract, plus £150 for the phone = £618.
- Another poster, from another forum.I'm commenting on an internet forum. Your facts hold no sway over me.
System as shown, plus: Microsoft Wireless mobile 4000 mouse and Logitech Illuminated keyboard.
Sennheiser RS160 wireless headphones. Creative Gigaworks T40 SII. My wife. My Hexus Trust
I guess I will give a mini review
Having used a Galaxy Nexus for 3 weeks what I can say is that the phone barely feels bigger that any phone with a 4.3" screen. Using my old HD2 for comparison (about the same size as a SSGS2) the only noticeable difference in size is actually the height of the phone. The width is about the same despite having a larger screen, this is due to the Nexus' aspect ratio of 16:9 whereas the 4.3" is 5:3 (15:9). Now if you take into account that part of the screen is always used for "soft keys" (except when watching videos) then the actual usable screen is about the same as phone with a 4.3" screen. Check this http://phone-size.com/?s=1%2C2%2C3%2C7%2C41 for a good size comparison, remember to change screen size! Add the Note for lulz?!
The screen itself is beautiful and only truly shines when browsing web pages and watching HD video. Despite being a "Pentile" display it does not show any signs of the traditional problems that have been attributed to the technology. Even viewing a webpage at maximum distance all text is readable (which is very small and was not possible on the 4.3" 800x480 screen) with no noticeable colour tinting or blurring. Watching anything in HD (even YouTube HD) is mind blowing and that's all I can say!!!!!
The Camera is only 5MP and in low light conditions it preforms quite poorly. The single LED flash barely does anything. However once in good lighting conditions the camera performs perfectly. Touch to focus is fast and the shutter time is non existent. That's right, no existent, I can literally hammer the shutter button and photos get taken instantly and the is almost no delay in between photos! The only problem I have is that there is no Colour and Saturation options only "Scene" options to modify the colour. Video can be recorded at 1080p and the quality is very good. There are lots of Funny effects that are included that make use of face tracking and a very cool "time lapse" option.
I know that ICS is meant to be the Android to rule them all and I might get flamed for saying this, however for me it still feels very unpolished compared to Cyanogenmod 7 with some customization. Having used 2.2, 2.3, 3.1 (on my GTab) I can safely say it is the most advanced version so far with tweaks and improvements all round, however when you get down to the individual app and function it is then when you notice there is still much missing.
For example, I forced myself to use the Stock keyboard for 2 weeks and while it is a major improvement compared to the one in Gingerbread it is still miles behind Swiftkey, keyboard layout is imo still weird, longpress key option are mindboggling, word prediction is still miles off.
You would think that after so many custom roms and even manufacturer skins putting the Power Control Bar into the pull down notification area that Google would do the same and make it standard. They didn't. It is still a widget and with no customisation possible!
The lockscreen was changed from the Sliding Tab in 2.3 to match the Slide Circle in 3.0. However there are still no customisation options to the circle either and they decided to change the "Sound Off" option to "Camera" instead.
Stock Music player was refreshed however is still mediocre. No EQ and literally no customizable UI Options.
I could continue on about the annoyances I'm finding with the stock ICS (No T9 Dialer, No mircoSD, MTP, Buggy Browser, no FB sync, bad GPS, launcher, etc) even compared to the Custom 2.3 I was running on my HD2. However I will accept that is still early days for ICS and that this (dumbed down version) was meant to solve some of the fragmentation that Android has become. But honestly I am hoping that when Cyanogenmod 9 comes out later this month that it will fulfil the exceptions I had before actually using ICS.
Back to the question of GS2 or Nexus I would say that if you want a "now" phone then the GS2 is obvious choice, everything on that phone is basically as good as it can ever be. However, if you want a phone with it's hidden potential still waiting to be unlocked then it has to be the Nexus.
Last edited by Infinite; 04-01-2012 at 05:53 PM.
The nexus is apparently HUGE. My desire HD is big and barely fits in my pocket as it is, I dont think the nexus would be very practical.
I like/agree with most of your mini review, however having got & used both phones your last statement I'd have to disagree with. SGSII is going to get ICS soon (hopefully this month or next) and therefore with the better hardware it should be equally as good or better than the Galaxy Nexus. If Samsung's Touchwiz implementation of ICS is crap then CM9 is always on hand to give you the option of something else, as are all the other custom roms available for the SGSII.I guess I will give a mini review
Back to the question of GS2 or Nexus I would say that if you want a "now" phone then the GS2 is obvious choice, everything on that phone is basically as good as it can ever be. However, if you want a phone with it's hidden potential still waiting to be unlocked then it has to be the Nexus.
Personally on my Galaxy Nexus I'm running Android Revolution HD 2.1.2 as it's better, faster & more stable than standard ICS.
Nexus is just a "warm Up" phone for the newer ICS phones on the horizon like the first Nexus they produced. If you want a phone now the SG2 is the only option which also has the ICS upgrade soon.
__________________
Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot.
Error exists between Keyboard & Chair replace User and press Any Key!
.... Where's the Any Key???
Get 3g watchdog from the market: put in your data allowance and it monitors it, as well as giving warnings when you're getting close to the limit...
Am giving the free version a whirl now. Thanks buddy, wasnt aware of this before
- Another poster, from another forum.I'm commenting on an internet forum. Your facts hold no sway over me.
System as shown, plus: Microsoft Wireless mobile 4000 mouse and Logitech Illuminated keyboard.
Sennheiser RS160 wireless headphones. Creative Gigaworks T40 SII. My wife. My Hexus Trust
Went into my shop, was told they dont have the SGN in stock and that they also don't do it sim free / PAYG
May print off the photo and go in next week, but not sure if that was just a one-off... still thinking I'll wait for the SGSIII to be announced, though am fed up of my HD7s...
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