Nexus Phone and Samsung Galaxy Phone

[Noir Angel]

So are you saying the Samsung or Nexus is dated? The review I read said that the Nexus doesn't even support LTE.

The Samsung is dated. Having LTE support isn't as much of an issue as people make out. I like you once criticised Apple for not supporting it in their phones, but as I have researched it further I've found out that unless you're very close to the tower the average speed differences between LTE and HSDPA aren't even that great.

[tsupersonic]

The Samsung is dated. Having LTE support isn't as much of an issue as people make out. I like you once criticised Apple for not supporting it in their phones, but as I have researched it further I've found out that unless you're very close to the tower the average speed differences between LTE and HSDPA aren't even that great.

It makes a night and day difference for Verizon - going from 3G, where I would get a maximum of 2 Mbps down/1 Mbps up to 4G LTE, where I can now get 30-35 Mbps down/15-20 Mbps up.

[Noir Angel]

Verizon obviously has pretty crap 3G coverage then because I get between 2 and 5 mbps with Giffgaff wherever I go, and 1-2 up.

[AJerman]

Link. They might release a future LTE model, but not gonna happen with the current model.

I don't think it will happen either, but to say it won't is just as much of a guess as saying it will. The chip is there, if it's wired, it COULD be enabled with some work, but I've seen a lot of phones with extra chips that are never used and never unlocked for use either. A good example is US carrier's love of disabling FM chips on phones for some reason. A lot of times these are built into the other communications chips, but frequently they aren't wired up for use. But in a lot of those cases, the chip is there for something else and that feature is just disabled. It seems odd to me to spend the money on a chip and put it on the board, only to not wire it up. I don't agree with that article that it would be cheaper to re-use the same board and chip even if it's not used, because it would be very simple to not solder a chip on if you don't need it. Redesigning a board would be more expensive, yes, but leaving a part out, no, I can't imagine that. That's why the whole thing seems so odd.

As a somewhat related example, the Samsung Captivate was sold in the US on AT&T without HSUPA support, even though it had the chip for it. In that case, the chip was the same chip used for the rest of HSPA, so it just had some functionality removed, but I was actually the first to get HSUPA working on my Captivate, which was refined by a few other people on XDA, and from then on, the Captivate always had HSUPA, so like I said, to say it's impossible is as much of a guess as saying it is possible. In another related sense, I did this primarily by flashing the radio and RIL from the international version onto the Captivate, which, if this is the exact same board as they say to save cost, could be similarly possible on the Nexus 4, they primarily discredit it due to needing radio, though if it's missing antennas for it, that would make it far less likely without too many mods to be feasible.

Again, this is all still a LOT of ifs, and I do still stick to saying what I said before and not betting on someone getting it to work though.

It makes a night and day difference for Verizon - going from 3G, where I would get a maximum of 2 Mbps down/1 Mbps up to 4G LTE, where I can now get 30-35 Mbps down/15-20 Mbps up.

True, but not really applicable since this is a GSM only phone. They left it out because GSM carriers mostly universally have HSPA+ or at least HSPA support, while only a handful have LTE support. If they had left it out and then made a CDMA version, then I'd agree.

[Muhammad Farrukh]

So do you guys think the Nexus 4 is still a better phone?

Yes, it most definitely is

[patseguin Global Moderator]

Well I went to AT&T and got the S3 just to see if I like it and it's an impressive piece of hardware. It only has Android 4.04 and can't be updated further. I have a Nexus 4 coming and will probably keep that and return my Samsung within the 14 days. This Samsung just doesn't have a pure Android like my Nexus 7 and it's not running Jellybean. I'm not even so sure anymore if the LTE is a deal breaker and I'll use the Nexus based on the valuable feedback here.

On a side note, the Samsung is EXTREMELY hard to type on. It keeps changing my words and it takes me a very long time to send a simple text message.

[patseguin Global Moderator]

One more thing:When I get the Nexus, is it sufficient just to put in the SIM card or will I need AT&T to do something?

[tsupersonic]

On a side note, the Samsung is EXTREMELY hard to type on. It keeps changing my words and it takes me a very long time to send a simple text message.

The beauty of Android is there are plenty of keyboards you can install, and choose what you like. Swiftkey is a great 3rd party keyboard, with phenomenal text predictions. I also dig the stock 4.2 keyboard with swype like abilities.

[Noir Angel]

Updates for the SGSIII to Android 4.1 are on their way. Personally I'd wait for them to iron the bugs in 4.2 before upgrading to it.

[patseguin Global Moderator]

Updates for the SGSIII to Android 4.1 are on their way. Personally I'd wait for them to iron the bugs in 4.2 before upgrading to it.

I kind of understand this since I've been seeing my Nexus 7 rebooting at random times.

I've started to look at the 3rd party keyboards and Swiftkey is very nice. That swipe keyboard seems cool once you get used to it. the swipe keyboard os in Jellybean only right?

[tsupersonic]

I've started to look at the 3rd party keyboards and Swiftkey is very nice. That swipe keyboard seems cool once you get used to it. the swipe keyboard os in Jellybean only right?

The stock keyboard with swype like abilities is in Jelly Bean 4.2 (not to be confused with Jelly Bean 4.1.x)

[patseguin Global Moderator]

Got my Google nexus 4 today. Boy were you guys right. Amazing phone.

Got my Google nexus 4 today. Boy were you guys right. Amazing phone.

[AJerman]

Got my Google nexus 4 today. Boy were you guys right. Amazing phone.

Got my Google nexus 4 today. Boy were you guys right. Amazing phone.

Glad to hear it! I'm jealous!

And yeah, I think you already figured it out, but all you have to do is pop in the SIM.

[patseguin Global Moderator]

Yep tossed in the SIM and I was good. Syncing apps and stuff. This little device is great. I've been using it and my Nexus 7 and have barely touched my iPad

[patseguin Global Moderator]

Question on the Nexus phone. Doesn't it have visual voicemail? All I get is when I slide down for my notificatations a 900 number to call for my voice mail. I thought most phones these days had visual voice mail.

[TheLegendOfMart]

Visual Voicemail is an Apple thing. Outside of that all the carriers that support it have their own app, Google Voice supposedly has that functionality but I can't confirm.

[tsupersonic]

Yes, Google Voice is free and has visual voice mail, as well as other features.

[Julius Caro]

apparently the chip on the nexus4 does indeed have seven-band LTE. dont think the rest of the device was designed around this fact, I will never expect LTE support on it. but it's a funny fact given how bad this phone has been beaten because of the lack of LTE

[patseguin Global Moderator]

Yeah after poking around trhe net a little I discovered and set up Google Voice. Extremely cool and actually way better than Apple Visual mail. it seems as though Google Voice offers you the option of using it to make your phone calls too. I'm not sure what that even means. It would use Google Voice to call instead of AT&T? What's the advantage to that?

[SMELTN]

I switched the iPhone5 to the S3 just this past weekend Pat and I really missed Visual Voicemail as well. I in the past have used Google Voice, but I actually like YouMail better. Only real reason though, is because if you have the person callings number saved in your contacts under a name, it will call them by name. For example if you call me and I have you saved as Pat Guin at 867-5309 when you call it will say " Sorry Pat, Smeltn can't come to the phone right now, but please leave a message, etc.. " Its petty I know, but I like it.

Youmail

http://youtu.be/Epuc9eyyf_Q

In case you do decide to use Google Voice here is a cool tweak

[guitmz]

im sad about the nexus 4 because i cant get one... as im in brazil, my best choice is the galaxy nexus for 999BRL (~499USD)