Finally got to order a 16GB Nexus 4

[s44]

The port is part of the activation process.

Remember that prepaid T-Mobile doesn't let you do conditional call forwarding. So no GV voicemail unless you actually port to Google (and have the T-Mobile voicemail turned off), which trades off MMS.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Has anyone started getting telemarketing calls on their cell since they switched to this? I'm wondering if Google sells your number to companies. I just got a telemarketer today, I NEVER have received a telemarketing call on my cell before. Maybe it's just a coincidence but just thought I'd check.

 

[lopri]

I am going to activate my sisters Nexus 4 soon with T-Mobile. How do you start the porting process?

Do I activate the SIM first? Or do I call them and let them set it up? She doesn't want to lose her number.

Yes you activate your SIM first and let T-mobile transfer the number. But first make sure the number is eligible for transfer. All can be done here:

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-activate

I did not have to call anyone. I did it all on the phone. Once you pop in the SIM, you should be able to access T-mobile activation page (Chrome) using their network even if you don't have WiFi. (but you can't go anywhere else until you activate the SIM)

From there you choose the plan.

 

[lopri]

Once you enter SIM number and activation code, as well as your old number and its account number, you will be presented with available plans for you. Choose the plan then it will ask if you want a new number or want to port over the existing number. I simply entered the existing number and its account number, and the next morning the transfer was done.

What s44 says is true, though. You can forward calls from GV to T-Mo but not the other way around, so 100 minute talk time will be used up very quickly if you don't plan ahead. I have discovered something else about my plan but it's probably too good to be true for many others so I'd rather not brag about it. :biggrin:

Anyway, the phone's battery life is no issue for me at this point. Frankly I was disappointed the first few days, but its behavior has dramatically changed since then.

 

[ponyo]

lopri,

Man, I'm jealous of your cell signal reception. It's almost completely green. That's some fantastic strong signal you're getting with T-Mobile. You must have a tower like a block from where you live. You shouldn't have a problem hitting 5 hours screen time with that strong reception.

 

[Red Storm]

What s44 says is true, though. You can forward calls from GV to T-Mo but not the other way around, so 100 minute talk time will be used up very quickly if you don't plan ahead. I have discovered something else about my plan but it's probably too good to be true for many others so I'd rather not brag about it. :biggrin:

If you've got tons of data just use something like Groove IP and that 100 minute limit is no longer a concern. Heck for the first week I had my Nexus 4 I used it as my phone without even having a sim card in it. I just set my Verizon phone as a perma hotspot while waiting for my sim in the mail.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I like this battery graph thing, that's pretty cool. My signal is all green right through as well, but it helps that I'm INSIDE the CO, and there's a tower right next to the building.

1d 1h 38m on battery and I'm at 55%. Screen seems to use a big chunk though despite not being on all the time. 32%. Wifi is next at 16%.

How did you get such a crisp picture of the display, is there a way to actually take screenshots?

 

[Red Storm]

I like this battery graph thing, that's pretty cool. My signal is all green right through as well, but it helps that I'm INSIDE the CO, and there's a tower right next to the building.

1d 1h 38m on battery and I'm at 55%. Screen seems to use a big chunk though despite not being on all the time. 32%. Wifi is next at 16%.

How did you get such a crisp picture of the display, is there a way to actually take screenshots?

It's either volume up and power, or volume down and power pressed together.

 

[lopri]

How did you get such a crisp picture of the display, is there a way to actually take screenshots?

Press and hold power button and volume-down button simultaneously. And go to the Gallery. If you have a file manager it's under pictures -> screenshots.

I am still clueless of what "Awake" means. Does anyone know?

 

[lothar]

Once you enter SIM number and activation code, as well as your old number and its account number, you will be presented with available plans for you. Choose the plan then it will ask if you want a new number or want to port over the existing number. I simply entered the existing number and its account number, and the next morning the transfer was done.

What s44 says is true, though. You can forward calls from GV to T-Mo but not the other way around, so 100 minute talk time will be used up very quickly if you don't plan ahead. I have discovered something else about my plan but it's probably too good to be true for many others so I'd rather not brag about it. :biggrin:

Anyway, the phone's battery life is no issue for me at this point. Frankly I was disappointed the first few days, but its behavior has dramatically changed since then.

How exactly is it that your phone's screen is on, but your phone itself isn't awake?

 

[Red Squirrel]

oops meant to edit my post, it made a new one. delete.

 

[lopri]

How exactly is it that your phone's screen is on, but your phone itself isn't awake?

Good question! I want to know, too.

I am still clueless of what "Awake" means. Does anyone know?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Press and hold power button and volume-down button simultaneously. And go to the Gallery. If you have a file manager it's under pictures -> screenshots.

I am still clueless of what "Awake" means. Does anyone know?

Yeah just figured it out, thanks. I was not doing it fast enough and it kept shutting off lol.

For awake I'm guessing it's when the phone is active? When the screen goes off it goes dormant maybe a bit after?


There you go, got it. I'm learning. haha. New to these fancy phones.

 

[lopri]

I wonder if "Awake" is 'throttle'? If you look at my graph you can see the battery usage was most steep during that period. As the graph shows I was using the phone quite actively throughout, setting up GV, Groove IP, and many other apps and security stuff.

 

[lopri]

@Red Squirrel: Wow, yours is even better than mine. The drop during idle is almost non-existent! Is it 8 GB or 16 GB?

 

[Red Squirrel]

It's the 16GB as well. I don't have very many apps yet though, nothing that runs in the background as far as I know. Also noticed there is no break in the wifi signal which is odd as I drove to work so it should have dropped until I got to work. Unless my AP actually has a far enough reach that it just handed off lol. Doubt it, but I do have a commercial AP, and the one at work is a commercial AP as well. Or maybe it takes it a few minutes to register so by the time I was already at work.

 

[lopri]

If you don't disable the modem, WiFi will stay on and keep on seeking available connection. So what you see is normal. On my graph, I disabled WiFi for like 2 hours to see how much battery is used by HSPA+ alone.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Ohh ok that just means it's "on" as opposed to it having a signal. Makes sense.

 

[ponyo]

I wonder if "Awake" is 'throttle'? If you look at my graph you can see the battery usage was most steep during that period. As the graph shows I was using the phone quite actively throughout, setting up GV, Groove IP, and many other apps and security stuff.

I don't think "awake" is throttle. Here's screenshot of my stock 4.2.1 Galaxy Nexus use today.

You can see in the middle where the battery takes a big dip and and the screen was on but it doesn't show "awake". That's when I played Zen Pinball and Ski Safari. If "awake" is throttle, my phone should have been awake since Zen Pinball is pretty taxing game.

On ICS and early JB, it used to show "awake" anytime the screen was on. Below is a screenshot from my Galaxy Nexus when it was on stock ICS 4.0.4.

 

[ponyo]

Oh, and notice the signal strength difference between my current JB picture and the old ICS picture. JB picture is AT&T and ICS picture is when I was with T-Mobile. If I could get reception like lopri is getting with T-Mobile, I would have never left and still be with them.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Wifi seems to eat up the battery quite a bit too. I was down to 20% so I turned it off and it's a straight line now. So probably a good idea to turn it off when not actively using it and just turn it on as needed. Though I'm going to want to setup some kind of alarm notification system for my server and home environmental stuff, so for that I'll need to leave it on all the time. I also wonder if there are apps or the OS itself polling a lot for updates and what not. I'll have to check my firewall at home for traffic for kicks to see how much traffic the phone produces when idle.





Still not too bad though, at least I'm doing over a day on a charge, that's pretty much what matters as I just have to make it a habit to charge it when I get home. I've been playing with it quite a bit on and off too so if it has any kind of deep sleep mode I'm probably constantly stopping it.

 

[vshah]

redsquirrel, look into notify my android. you can use it over the cellular data connection as well.

 

[lopri]

I don't think "awake" is throttle. Here's screenshot of my stock 4.2.1 Galaxy Nexus use today.

You can see in the middle where the battery takes a big dip and and the screen was on but it doesn't show "awake". That's when I played Zen Pinball and Ski Safari. If "awake" is throttle, my phone should have been awake since Zen Pinball is pretty taxing game.

That's a convincing proof that "Awake" isn't throttle indication. Thank you. I alternatively thought it might mean 'awake but screen off' state - like when you stream music while the screen is off, or tethering to other devices. But I just tested that theory out and that also isn't the case. So I am still clueless just what the heck it shows.

Oh, and notice the signal strength difference between my current JB picture and the old ICS picture. JB picture is AT&T and ICS picture is when I was with T-Mobile. If I could get reception like lopri is getting with T-Mobile, I would have never left and still be with them.

OMG yeah T-Mobile totally sucks in your neighborhood. I don't know the thresholds of color changes in the graphs, but that certainly doesn't look too good. Did you happen to check whether JB improves signal (compared to ICS) on the same device before you moved to AT&T?

 

[lopri]

Wifi seems to eat up the battery quite a bit too. I was down to 20% so I turned it off and it's a straight line now. So probably a good idea to turn it off when not actively using it and just turn it on as needed. Though I'm going to want to setup some kind of alarm notification system for my server and home environmental stuff, so for that I'll need to leave it on all the time. I also wonder if there are apps or the OS itself polling a lot for updates and what not. I'll have to check my firewall at home for traffic for kicks to see how much traffic the phone produces when idle.

The consensus seems to be that Wi-Fi is easier on battery than mobile data (3G, HSPA, 4G LTE). I want to check it out just by how much on my Nexus 4. On my Nexus 7, adding a SIM did measurably impact the battery drain (i.e. faster drain).

Is there any reading material I can find on this topic, written in an analytical/scientific manner?

 

[ponyo]

OMG yeah T-Mobile totally sucks in your neighborhood. I don't know the thresholds of color changes in the graphs, but that certainly doesn't look too good. Did you happen to check whether JB improves signal (compared to ICS) on the same device before you moved to AT&T?

The stock radio changed couple times during ICS 4.0 to JB 4.2.1 update. I was with T-Mobile til ~JB 4.1.2. I didn't notice really any big change in signal strength with the updated radio. There was big jump in battery life between 4.02 to 4.04 and that was noticeable.

The consensus seems to be that Wi-Fi is easier on battery than mobile data (3G, HSPA, 4G LTE). I want to check it out just by how much on my Nexus 4. On my Nexus 7, adding a SIM did measurably impact the battery drain (i.e. faster drain).

Is there any reading material I can find on this topic, written in an analytical/scientific manner?

I haven't found any material or measured studies but I know from my personal experience the drain is smaller on WiFi than on cell radio. You can check Anandtech cell phone reviews as they tested the battery screen time for WiFi only and 3G but some of their results are strange. Strength of cell reception plays big part too. My battery life improved when I switched to AT&T because of the better reception. I should test how many hours of screen time I can get on just 3G. I tested it on WiFi and I got over 6 hours of continuous screen time with my Galaxy Nexus on 2000 mah battery. I know I can't get near that just on 3G.