Nexus S

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

YIA

Check out noled from the Market.
Plenty of options for replacing the led.

PH4T

Just got this as an upgrade from my Nexus One and initially not overly impressed with it.

Mainly due to the build quality. It feels cheap and plasticy.

For a phone that came out a year after the Nexus One it doesn't feel like an upgrade.

Screen is nice though and I'm gonna give it a few days to see how that battery performs as that was my biggest gripe with the N1.

Hecklar

The battery i found to be pretty respectable.

having had it a week though i do still have a few little niggles. every now and then, particularly after installing an app the screen becomes unresponsive to sliding left and right through the main screens. I can view the apps screen, put the phone to sleep, awaken it again and sometimes use the notifications bar but im unable to slide left or right. I end up having to restart the phone.

While on a call yesterday too i was happily yapping away when all of a sudden the person on the other end was ignoring me, or so i thought until i looked at the phone and found it was on the Nexus boot logo. it just decided to do a restart for no reason at all. this is the second time ive had it do this.

PH4T

Hecklar wrote: »

every now and then, particularly after installing an app the screen becomes unresponsive to sliding left and right through the main screens. I can view the apps screen, put the phone to sleep, awaken it again and sometimes use the notifications bar but im unable to slide left or right. I end up having to restart the phone.

This has happened to me too. I found that if you hold down the Apps grid button the five home screens pop up and you can selet whichever one you want.

Also I noticed that when you connect a USB cable to a PC it askes you "Turn off USB storage" even though it isn't turned on yet. Bit sloppy of Googles part to let that slip through.

PH4T

srsly78 wrote: »

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.

Can you use the Nexus S as an Oyster Card in London?

Gerard_Smith

Was looking at a Nexus S in vodafone today. Asked at the counter and got the "its locked to vodafone" line.

Is there any confirmation that the model they sell in vodafone shops is unlocked? I'm tempted I have to say but I'm not changing networks.

Ste-

Hecklar wrote: »

While on a call yesterday too i was happily yapping away when all of a sudden the person on the other end was ignoring me, or so i thought until i looked at the phone and found it was on the Nexus boot logo. it just decided to do a restart for no reason at all. this is the second time ive had it do this.

Well known problem and a fix due soon.

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/google-promises-nexus-s-reboot-bug-fix-soon-924548

Oafley Jones

Ste- wrote: »

Well known problem and a fix due soon.

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/google-promises-nexus-s-reboot-bug-fix-soon-924548

From the article...


The initial results of our tests look very promising. At this rate we will most likely be rolling out an OTA to resolve this issue within one to two weeks.

The articles date was the 28th of January. Doesn't really inspire confidence.

Hecklar

Gerard_Smith wrote: »

Was looking at a Nexus S in vodafone today. Asked at the counter and got the "its locked to vodafone" line.

Is there any confirmation that the model they sell in vodafone shops is unlocked? I'm tempted I have to say but I'm not changing networks.

From what im hearing, Vodafone haven't been allowed to brand the bejayzuz out of these phones. the vids on their site, posted in this thread also suggest they are unlocked. They are total fuktards in the stores though. why they would turn away a 500 quid customer with this sort of bollocks is beyond me. Go to the carphone warehouse where you are sure to get an unlocked one, and even have it tested before you complete the purchase.

Ste- wrote: »

Well known problem and a fix due soon.

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/google-promises-nexus-s-reboot-bug-fix-soon-924548

Thats great to hear, in a way.

At least now i wont be paranoid and bring it back thinking i have a faulty unit. It hasnt happened in ages and then sprung on me again this morning.

mossie

Gerard_Smith wrote: »

Was looking at a Nexus S in vodafone today. Asked at the counter and got the "its locked to vodafone" line.

Is there any confirmation that the model they sell in vodafone shops is unlocked? I'm tempted I have to say but I'm not changing networks.

The Google Nexus page http://www.google.ie/nexus/#/features states

"Unlocked by default

Out of the box, Nexus S is unlocked, so it will work with any GSM carrier. "

TripleAce

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!

I am actually curious about this - I still have an old phone and was going to buy my first smart phone but now I feel I should maybe old off a bit longer? Is there any time frame of when these more powerful phones will be released? Thank you.

xtal191

They'll probably be out sometime in the summer

Hecklar

Little update,
So far the withe the phone has been working well with the exception of the issues I mentioned earlier.

One other problem I noticed though, about 50-60% of the time I make a video I get the sound fine but the video itself chops and skips. Its totally unusable like this. Hope there's a fix soon.

ScumLord

I'm very tempted to try and upgrade to this phone because it seems like fairly good value with deals like €50.

I had a very bad experience with the Samsung omnia though, absolute worst phone I've ever owned, it had a mind of it's own a complete nightmare to use so I'm somewhat apprehensive to get another Samsung phone.

I've been using a bog standard 3110 Nokia for the past few months and it's no nonsense simplicity makes it a dependable phone but I kind of need something that can do email and keep track of appointments now and I guess I need a smart phone, for €50 I'd be willing to give this one a go.

Is it practical?

I've owned 5 droids so far, I'm a bit of a collector. I don't think the build quality is up there with the likes of the Desire but it isn't bad either. I would prefer a matte cover on the back for extra grip and the wifi range is not as good in subjective tests too.

I'll stick with it though because I really like the curved screen and the lack of bloat is what you really buy a phone like this for.

Grim_Wreeper

So am I to understand the following:

If bought from the Carphone warehouse it has an Amoled screen and doesn't have to be unlocked? does it have any bad vodaphone software on it or is it vanilla?

cause I want to buy it and throw my meteor sim in it right away.

Hecklar

theres nothing to do with vodafone on the phone, nope.

PH4T

The Nexus S can also double up as a fun house mirror, just turn off the screen and look at your reflection.

rancheros

Bought this on vodafone. Online can confirm its unlocked...
I cannot send picture messages Though...has anyone else this prob

Xavier77

rancheros wrote: »

Bought this on vodafone. Online can confirm its unlocked...
I cannot send picture messages Though...has anyone else this prob

Just posting to confirm that the phones sold on Vodafone.ie are unlocked right out of the box. I immediately threw my meteor SIM in there and wasn't asked for an NAC or anything.

Haven't tried sending picture messages though, sorry.

rancheros

<snip>

Yep straight from box. I had to use my meteor sim for a day in it so defo works..
the transition to vodafone though a different story. Phone being returned today as they can't get picture messages working..
not happy

dfdream

Ive been testing this and the galaxy s for use at work for non bb users to get email and save (€300-400 for iphone4).

For 2 samsung phones they have a lot of differences.

The galaxy s does look a bit more professional but has issues with no flash, battery life and Wifi connection issues to several accesspoints. (this did improve alot with auto wifi enabler app).

The Nexus seems better on battery, wifi connects better to same APs has a flash but no micro SD.
Also a few niggly things, I have no new messages number on the email icon, There is no contacts search bar in the main contacts screen, calendar doesnt have option to change default view to weeks.

Other than the above there isnt much to separate these.

I think its the Galaxy S II due in May for me.....

Grim_Wreeper

rancheros wrote: »

Bought this on vodafone. Online can confirm its unlocked...

I assume its the same then when bought PAYG from CarphoneWarehouse? I want the AMOLED Screen

The lack of a notification led is annoying but "noled" works pretty good for me. It shows a dot on the screen when you have a notification.

Hecklar

Grim_Wreeper wrote: »

I assume its the same then when bought PAYG from CarphoneWarehouse? I want the AMOLED Screen

Yep I've bought 2 of them from carphone warehouse on pay as you go and they are both unlocked.

Grim_Wreeper

Hecklar wrote: »

Yep I've bought 2 of them from carphone warehouse on pay as you go and they are both unlocked.

Great thanks for the info

Grim_Wreeper

So has anybody got the 2.3.3 update OTA yet? Or is it being pushed out here yet? I'm not sure how the update process works.

Got bored waiting for it a while back so I flashed it manually!

I believe *#*#2434546#*#* is supposed to force a check but I don't know if it works.

see: http://androidforums.com/htc-droid-eris/38801-checkin.html

Grim_Wreeper

baz8080 wrote: »

Got bored waiting for it a while back so I flashed it manually!

Thanks! a Noob question, when you do it manually, does it keep all your settings and apps? doesn't wipe you phone or anything right?

Currently Nexus S 2.3.1 got in carphone warehouse

In this particular case I don't remember it wiping my stuff. You need to get the right zip for your current build number though:

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/02/24/google-releases-android-2-3-3-update-zip-for-nexus-one-and-nexus-s/

After that the process is fairly simple and is described above. try the checkin method first, would make it a lot easier.

edit: the update instructions above are for the nexus one, but the link has the right zips.

This link has the right method of getting into recovery mode for the nexus s

http://www.androidcentral.com/how-manually-update-your-nexus-s-android-233

bkelly86

Looking to buy a nexus s, could someone confirm if i buy from vodafone online it will have the amoled screen? I've read some versions are lcd.

racer1

Hey from what I hear only CPW has it super amoled and that was the first few only. I got mine from o2 and its superlcd as far as I know. From reading online not a big difference.

racer1

Also the nexus s comes unlocked and unbranded no matter what network you buy it from.