# a query to former GNex owners



## aaronDroid80 (Aug 18, 2011)

I am faced with a tough decision. On Friday, I will have the opportunity to purchase a 16GB GS3 for $50. I currently have a GNex that I just got about 6 weeks ago as a replacement for my failing Droid Charge. Since the GNex was a CLNR, VZW also had to send me a battery and back cover, and they sent me the 2100mAh battery for free 

So here's the dilemma, I really like the GNex. I'm pretty much sick of TouchWiz, so it's so nice to not have it. However, Verizon still manages to drag their feet on updates (I'm still back on 4.1.1; mostly because I'm stubborn about getting the radios to match the ROM, partially because I'm rather content with the stock experience, partially unlocking the bootloader, and partially because the GNex community is intimidating (in size) and just don't know where to start with ROMs - so many to choose from). The camera is better on the GS3, and it's a little bit faster, and that is a plus, because I use the camera a lot, but is that enough to sway me back to a TouchWiz platform, also locked?

I guess what I'm asking is for former GNex owners to share their thoughts on how the 2 phones compare, especially if you had the extended battery in your GNex, since that's the same size as the stock GS3. Here are a few things that I'm looking for: battery life for moderate usage (I currently get between 14 & 16 hours on a normal day for how I use my phone), call audio quality (my GNex has it's moments). WiFi and radio signal strength (I've noticed that the WiFi strength is worse on the GNex than on my old Charge; I could take the Charge out into my back yard about 50' from the house and still be on my WiFi, with the GNex I can barely get off the back porch, and that's not even 40' from my router).

I'll start looking at some of the GS3 ROMs and such, because I have the feeling that I might at least give it the 14 day test drive. I mean you can't really go wrong for $50.

Thanks


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## Mustang302LX (Jun 28, 2011)

I came from a GNex and while I do miss some AOSP things I've actually grown to like TouchWiz. It's loaded with features and the battery is better hands down on the S3 vs. the GNex. I also used the extended battery for GNex and the stock battery in S3 lasts far longer than the GNex. The camera is also loads better. Call quality and signal are a touch better too IMO. Overall hardware wise the S3 crushes the GNex. The one thing the GNex has is ROM support but remember they are all AOSP and all VERY similar so really not that many differences even though lots of ROMs. I'm running CleanROM 4.5 based on the latest JB leak for the VzW S3 and love it. The battery is good still and it runs smooth as hell.


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## M Diddy (Jan 1, 2012)

Mustang302LX said:


> I came from a GNex and while I do miss some AOSP things I've actually grown to like TouchWiz. It's loaded with features and the battery is better hands down on the S3 vs. the GNex. I also used the extended battery for GNex and the stock battery in S3 lasts far longer than the GNex. The camera is also loads better. Call quality and signal are a touch better too IMO. Overall hardware wise the S3 crushes the GNex. The one thing the GNex has is ROM support but remember they are all AOSP and all VERY similar so really not that many differences even though lots of ROMs. I'm running CleanROM 4.5 based on the latest JB leak for the VzW S3 and love it. The battery is good still and it runs smooth as hell.


Pretty much this.

I miss AOSP, bad. Just waiting until CM10 gets some more of the bugs out, and I'll be using that for a daily driver.

Short of that, though, the S3 wins hands down. Better camera (by a lot too, this was big for me), battery lasts almost twice as long, radios, screen, and hardware in general.

CM10 is pretty far along and it shouldn't be much longer until it's ready to be a daily driver. I say go for it.


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## Spotmark (Jul 17, 2011)

There is AOSP love for the S3. I can't stand TW, and had it gone within ten minutes of activating the S3. I have it set up exactly like my Nexus, and all around performance, including battery life, is much better. I'm running the Baked BlackBean ROM, which is rock solid, and it has the added benefit of being inverted. Giving it a nice, sleek look. So, I say go for it. You can have your AOSP, and eat it too.


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## Chocu1a (Jan 24, 2012)

I purchased a GS3 this week. Sold my Nexus a few days later. I don't mind TouchWiz. I basically set my phone up exactly the same as my Nexus using Nova Launcher, so it feels very much the same. EXCEPT!...and there is always an except...it is so much FASTER! Really, the GS3 is so much faster than the Nexus, even with a custom rom & kernel. Battery life is much better, too. This is on Verizon. I also get 4G at my work, which I never got on the Nexus. I do miss the fact that it is not AOSP, but as I am on Verizon, they kind of blew that benefit with the Nexus.
As far as TouchWiz, I actually like the Premium Suite they have, S-Memo is great, the picture in picture is awesome, love the All Share, & I am using CleanROM, & it has the pop-up browser from the Note 2.
All in all, I am so very happy with making the jump to the GS3. Plus the screen is alot nicer, too. (Bought my GS3 off CL for $275, sold my Nexus for $225 = SWEET)


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## aaronDroid80 (Aug 18, 2011)

Spotmark said:


> There is AOSP love for the S3. I can't stand TW, and had it gone within ten minutes of activating the S3. I have it set up exactly like my Nexus, and all around performance, including battery life, is much better. I'm running the Baked BlackBean ROM, which is rock solid, and it has the added benefit of being inverted. Giving it a nice, sleek look. So, I say go for it. You can have your AOSP, and eat it too.


Thanks. I'll have to take a look at that one.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## WhataSpaz (Feb 20, 2012)

They say TW gets better battery than AOSP on the S3, but put it this way...it's far better than what we had on the Verizon Galaxy Nexus. Right now I'm on Slimbean v3.0 (aosp, 4.1.2) and imo's latest AOSP experimental. Honestly, until we get some 4.2 love, I couldn't be more content right now. I also suppose I'm on AOSP for the 'clean-looking' reason a lot of other users are as well.


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## M Diddy (Jan 1, 2012)

Spotmark said:


> There is AOSP love for the S3. I can't stand TW, and had it gone within ten minutes of activating the S3. I have it set up exactly like my Nexus, and all around performance, including battery life, is much better. I'm running the Baked BlackBean ROM, which is rock solid, and it has the added benefit of being inverted. Giving it a nice, sleek look. So, I say go for it. You can have your AOSP, and eat it too.


Don't get the man's hopes up telling him an AOSP ROM is rock solid on the GS3. None of them are. They're all plagued with the same issues right now: data drops, screen issues, low audio recording on video, NFC, etc.

Don't get me wrong, they're usable, but far from rock solid. They're getting there though.


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## Spotmark (Jul 17, 2011)

M Diddy said:


> Don't get the man's hopes up telling him an AOSP ROM is rock solid on the GS3. None of them are. They're all plagued with the same issues right now: data drops, screen issues, low audio recording on video, NFC, etc.
> 
> Don't get me wrong, they're usable, but far from rock solid. They're getting there though.


I don't have any of those issues on BBB. Though I can't say about the low audio recording, because I haven't shot any video, but everything else is *rock solid*. No data drops *whatsoever*, no screen issues after installing the KT747 kernel, and NFC is fine since installing Invisblek's fix. I've been running it pretty much since I got my S3. I started out with Eclipse, but found that BBB had a couple more features that I wanted.


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## blaineevans (Jul 11, 2011)

There's one of these threads every other day. Go back through and search both the GN and S3 forums.

It comes down to do you want better hardware, or better development.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


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## aaronDroid80 (Aug 18, 2011)

blaineevans said:


> There's one of these threads every other day. Go back through and search both the GN and S3 forums.
> 
> It comes down to do you want better hardware, or better development.
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


I don't have time to read through thousands of threads to find what I'm asking. I'm a full-time parent of a 14-month-old, and a part-time student. I only have a few days to make my decision, and the things I'm looking for are real life usage comparisons. I use my phone for normal stuff every day, and that's all I'm asking for. Since I have the same size battery in my nexus, I'm asking others who also had that battery what their experience is with the gs3, since they probably aren't using their phone any differently than they used their nexus. Same with the signal strength and call audio quality. Those are the primary concerns that I have. I'll deal with the Rom stuff later; I prefer the aosp look, but if functionality is better, then I'll take care of that. Both phones will have an extensive development community, so that doesn't bother me at all.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## blaineevans (Jul 11, 2011)

aaronDroid80 said:


> I don't have time to read through thousands of threads to find what I'm asking. I'm a full-time parent of a 14-month-old, and a part-time student. I only have a few days to make my decision, and the things I'm looking for are real life usage comparisons. I use my phone for normal stuff every day, and that's all I'm asking for. Since I have the same size battery in my nexus, I'm asking others who also had that battery what their experience is with the gs3, since they probably aren't using their phone any differently than they used their nexus. Same with the signal strength and call audio quality. Those are the primary concerns that I have. I'll deal with the Rom stuff later; I prefer the aosp look, but if functionality is better, then I'll take care of that. Both phones will have an extensive development community, so that doesn't bother me at all.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


It takes less than 5 minutes to read through about 10 or so threads that will give you your answer. I'm a full time parent of a 2 year old, I also work full time, and go to school part time. So I apologize if I can't sympathize with your laziness.

Battery life, signal strength, and call quality are all better than the GN. Questions answered, move along.


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## WhataSpaz (Feb 20, 2012)

blaineevans said:


> It takes less than 5 minutes to read through about 10 or so threads that will give you your answer. I'm a full time parent of a 2 year old, I also work full time, and go to school part time. So I apologize if I can't sympathize with your laziness.
> 
> Battery life, signal strength, and call quality are all better than the GN. Questions answered, move along.


Browse responsibly, my friends


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## aaronDroid80 (Aug 18, 2011)

blaineevans said:


> It takes less than 5 minutes to read through about 10 or so threads that will give you your answer. I'm a full time parent of a 2 year old, I also work full time, and go to school part time. So I apologize if I can't sympathize with your laziness.
> 
> Battery life, signal strength, and call quality are all better than the GN. Questions answered, move along.


Well, I suppose if you want to consider working 10-12 hours a day, spending time with my family, and making time for my school work lazy, then I'm the laziest SoB there is. 
If you want to leave helpful comments like everybody else, then do so. We can do without the "not another one of these threads" trolling, and certainly leave the name calling on the playground. 
Good day.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## aaronDroid80 (Aug 18, 2011)

WhataSpaz said:


> Browse responsibly, my friends


+1

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## blaineevans (Jul 11, 2011)

aaronDroid80 said:


> Well, I suppose if you want to consider working 10-12 hours a day, spending time with my family, and making time for my school work lazy, then I'm the laziest SoB there is.
> If you want to leave helpful comments like everybody else, then do so. We can do without the "not another one of these threads" trolling, and certainly leave the name calling on the playground.
> Good day.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


Considering I moderate these forums, I don't think anyone took my recent comments as trolling. The point of said comments, was to point out that you're wasting everyone else's time by asking questions that have been answered *hundreds* of times. I also don't recall name-calling..

For future reference, every forum has a "Search" function. This works very similar to Google, where you can type in keywords relating to what you're trying to find, and with a press of the enter key.. BAM, previous threads similar to the one you've recently created are pulled up.


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## HerbieVersmelz (Oct 31, 2012)

blaineevans said:


> Considering I moderate these forums, I don't think anyone took my recent comments as trolling. The point of said comments, was to point out that you're wasting everyone else's time by asking questions that have been answered *hundreds* of times. I also don't recall name-calling..
> 
> For future reference, every forum has a "Search" function. This works very similar to Google, where you can type in keywords relating to what you're trying to find, and with a press of the enter key.. BAM, previous threads similar to the one you've recently created are pulled up.


you dont saaaaaay?
















Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

HerbieVersmelz said:


> you dont saaaaaay?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


He also makes time to moderate the forums on top of that too haha.


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## HerbieVersmelz (Oct 31, 2012)

yarly said:


> He also makes time to moderate the forums on top of that too haha.


okay now i just cant wrap my head around that.. i bet next you are going to tell me he reads OP's and cleanly installs roms when going from one platform version to the next? You better not say that he also has a life outside of android because ill just jump right off this 3rd floor balcony if so...









Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## blaineevans (Jul 11, 2011)

HerbieVersmelz said:


> okay now i just cant wrap my head around that.. i bet next you are going to tell me he reads OP's and cleanly installs roms when going from one platform version to the next? You better not say that he also has a life outside of android because ill just jump right off this 3rd floor balcony if so...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I lol'd.

It's all true, I'll send flowers.


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## Mr. Toad (Aug 2, 2011)

I went from a gn to a gs3. The GS3 is a much better phone. Much better battery life and camera. I was running AOKP on both phones. TW is not AOSP but has some cool features.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


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## v36sedan (Sep 4, 2011)

Had the Gnex before and everything about the Gs3 is better. Just switched yesterday and would never go back to the Gnex. Battery life is much better also

Sent from my SCH-I535 using RootzWiki


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## Soapinmouth (Jun 21, 2011)

M Diddy said:


> Don't get the man's hopes up telling him an AOSP ROM is rock solid on the GS3. None of them are. They're all plagued with the same issues right now: data drops, screen issues, low audio recording on video, NFC, etc.
> 
> Don't get me wrong, they're usable, but far from rock solid. They're getting there though.


While I agree aosp isn't rock solid the only one of the issues I've ever had is weaker then normal connectivity in weak areas like in lead buildings. 4g connectivity is perfect though its just 3g that has hiccups. Its gotten a lot better though.

Sent from my liquid smooth gs3


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## aaronDroid80 (Aug 18, 2011)

Thanks to everyone for your feedback. It's been very helpful. Now, if you can just take care of my calculus homework...

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

aaronDroid80 said:


> Thanks to everyone for your feedback. It's been very helpful. Now, if you can just take care of my calculus homework...
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


I had to suffer through limits, derivatives, integrals, series/sequences and multivariable calc, so must everyone else that takes it!


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## RobStorm (Jun 14, 2011)

I still have both S3 and gNex as active lines.

The S3 wins hands down on all fronts.

There's so much difference in performance, it's gotten to the point that the only time I even turn on the gNex is once a week or so along with my Nexus 7 so I can update to the most recent nightly builds off CM10.

Rob

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


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