Galaxy Nexus still a good buy?

[samwelaye]

So I'm debating whether or not to buy a Gnex straight from Google for use on my T-Mobile Line. My sister jacked my upgrade so I'm not eligible for contract pricing for another year and a half or so and was looking at the Gnex.

Straight from Google, with shipping and sales tax it will run me ~$390. Main reason I want the phone is cause my current phone (HTC G2) is getting old and weird problems are happening with the keyboard. Also, the Gnex would be able to emulate many games (gba, snes, n64) that my G2 can't handle and I would love to have those on my daily college commute.

Do you guys think $390 for the Gnex is worth it? Should I wait out for the next nexus model? Not really sure what to do.

PS: Another reason I'd like the nexus is because it is penta-band and in the near future if I move off my parent's contract line and get a prepaid, I may go with AT&T's smart-talk option. To my knowledge there arent many other pentaband phones that get the 4g hspa+ on both tmobile and att.

 

[cbrunny]

I'm somewhat of a rookie at the Android market, but in my opinion it is a good buy. I sure hope it is - I ordered mine today! But, to be fair, mine is replacing a Blackberry Torch 9800, which makes a very nice paperweight, but a pretty lousy phone.

 

[s44]

It's still worth it. Who knows when the next Nexus will actually come out...

Your other alternative is a T-Mo S3, which will also work on AT&T. They're on Swappa for ~$500 new/almost new.

 

[Ksyder]

I have one and am very happy with it. Had a Galaxy s2 previously and enjoy the nexus better. Biggest knocks against the phone seem to be the lack of micro sd slot and the 5 mp camera. Neither have been a problem yet. Haven't yet put much on the phone files wise, and the camera does a nice job so far. Can't complain.

 

[Bateluer]

Its an unlocked, pentaban phone with AOSP Android for under 400. Thats not a bad deal at all. Could go cheaper used, but why?

That said, the GNex isn't a high end phone any more, so if you're looking for the absolute best out there, you'll be looking at the HTC One or the SGS3.

 

[cl-scott]

I would echo the comments that it's worth it. It's easy to root and unlock, there's a very active ROM development community, and even if that's not your thing, it's a Nexus so it should be getting official updates for a good while to come.

The specs on it should easily be enough to carry you through to the next contract renewal period. The lack of a MicroSD card slot is really probably about the only real drawback I can think of.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Galaxy Nexus is my main phone. The TI OMAP 4460 might seem kinda wimpy now compared to the Tegra 3 and S4, but having stock Jelly Bean on this phone make it perform like a high end phone. It's quite smooth and enjoyable.

Only thing I don't like about the phone is the large hump on the back, most modern phones have managed to get rid of their ugly humps. So the Galaxy Nexus looks a little old because of it. But I do love that the front side of the glass is complete blank of any manufacture or carrier branding, all black and clean.

 

[leper84]

I'd say its worth it solely for the fact you'd get updates straight from google, fast. My experience at least w/ my sgs4g on tmobile is someone took their sweet a$$ time with updates.

Nexus is already on Jellybean right? Edit- so it is.

 

[God Mode]

IMO, its the best new phone without a contract under 600.

I wouldn't risk buying a used or "nib" phone from ebay or craigslist where the imei is blocked after a month or so because of scumbag sellers.

 

[jpiniero]

IMO, its the best new phone without a contract under 600.

Apple's selling the 4S unlocked/no contract now for $549, although you are limited to GSM. Still amazes me they can get $450 from the carriers. Looked for the SGS3 unlocked, but couldn't find a good deal.

For $350 (or $399, I guess the OP is in Cali, lol) I doubt you can do better.

 

[ponyo]

Apple's selling the 4S unlocked/no contract now for $549, although you are limited to GSM. Still amazes me they can get $450 from the carriers. Looked for the SGS3 unlocked, but couldn't find a good deal.

For $350 (or $399, I guess the OP is in Cali, lol) I doubt you can do better.

Nexus is better than 4S. Even at the same price Nexus would be better.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I have the Nexus and I've only been using it for a couple months. With that said, jellybean is really responsive and smooth and I'm able to do basically anything I want with it. What else will a higher end phone like the S3 get me over the Nexus? SD card and better camera for sure. But that might just be it. I can play games, music, movies, and read on it just fine. It has NFC for google wallet. What else is there that would demand more?

 

[Ravynmagi]

Apple's selling the 4S unlocked/no contract now for $549, although you are limited to GSM. Still amazes me they can get $450 from the carriers. Looked for the SGS3 unlocked, but couldn't find a good deal.

For $350 (or $399, I guess the OP is in Cali, lol) I doubt you can do better.

Just keep in mind the iPhone may not work too well on T-Mobile's network. They are upgrading towers in some places to support the iPhone's frequencies. But I think that coverage is very limited at the moment (wish I knew of a list of locations this has been done at).

 

[ilkhan]

Its still a good phone, but recognize that you'll probably want to upgrade as soon as the new models come out in November/December.

Just keep in mind the iPhone may not work too well on T-Mobile's network. They are upgrading towers in some places to support the iPhone's frequencies. But I think that coverage is very limited at the moment (wish I knew of a list of locations this has been done at).

I'd expect anywhere that has a ping on this site to go live at pretty much the same time.

http://www.airportal.de/

 

[jpiniero]

What else will a higher end phone like the S3 get me over the Nexus?

Speed mainly, especially the GPU.

 

[velis]

I would echo the comments that it's worth it. It's easy to root and unlock, there's a very active ROM development community, and even if that's not your thing, it's a Nexus so it should be getting official updates for a good while to come.

The specs on it should easily be enough to carry you through to the next contract renewal period. The lack of a MicroSD card slot is really probably about the only real drawback I can think of.

Can't really add much to this one. I never thought custom ROMs would be so much fun

 

[Argo]

I was pretty unhappy with mine. Even with extended battery, it would die after ~10 hours, even with very light usage.

 

[samwelaye]

For $350 (or $399, I guess the OP is in Cali, lol) I doubt you can do better.

Washington State actually haha. dang 9.5% taxes...

 

[samwelaye]

from what i've gathered, its worth the buy. now to bite the bullet and shell out $400 from my $10/hr job haha

 

[Phobic9]

I love mine Galaxy Nexus with the exception being the terrible battery life. No matter what ROM/kernel combo I use, my phone has to stay plugged all the time for the most part. Hopefully, the next round of phones will have better battery life.

 

[Strk]

I love mine Galaxy Nexus with the exception being the terrible battery life. No matter what ROM/kernel combo I use, my phone has to stay plugged all the time for the most part. Hopefully, the next round of phones will have better battery life.

That sounds like your battery has an issue. Mine lasts all day with around an hour of netflix streaming at work and spending most of the time with a weak signal (inside my work building is terrible for signals). And I don't really do anything to improve the battery either (I.e. screen is on full brightness).

As for the original question, it's still a pretty good buy, with the exception being a new Nexus device should be getting launched soon. As long as Google continues to sell Nexus devices in the $350-400 range, they will definitely be your best options for prepaid flagship devices.

 

[basslover1]

I love mine Galaxy Nexus with the exception being the terrible battery life. No matter what ROM/kernel combo I use, my phone has to stay plugged all the time for the most part. Hopefully, the next round of phones will have better battery life.

I think you have a device issue. I use the extended battery on mine and can easily go 16h+ of battery time with 2h+ of screen on and have usually 30% or more battery left when I plug it in. I'm sure most will say that isn't "heavy" usage, but I also have nearly everything you can think of syncing in the background, along with nearly 60% of the time without cell reception period (work is life a steel coffin), that's always the biggest battery drain.

Stock everything, fyi.

 

[s44]

I was pretty unhappy with mine. Even with extended battery, it would die after ~10 hours, even with very light usage.

Either you had a hardware issue or the LTE version in an area with bad reception.

 

[Nintendesert]

If you are in a very good reception area it's fine, if you aren't in an optimal area the GNex blows. It has some very horrible reception and battery issues. If you're in a city and live next to a tower though, you'll probably be fine.