Galaxy S2 or Galaxy Nexus?

The Asgard

The Asgard

The Asgard

Soldato
Joined
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Location
Chesterfield, UK
Had my Desire since release which will be 2 years in March and i am starting to look for a replacement phone. Really had some fun with the modding scene so it's definitely another Andriod device. I have done some searching and it is looking like the S2 is looking the better device with its better CPU,GPU,Camera, SD slot and debatably the screen?

I did have a quick play with the S2 at our XMAS party before I searched on the web and my finitial impression were, it's ok but didn't jump out that much more than my Sense 3.5 Desire ( Custom ROM ). Just shows how good it still is.

Before I found out about the S2 I was going Nexus just because I assumed it was the best.

Any thoughts?

It will be Feb / Mar before I upgrade unless I just take the hit now.
 
The Nexus. The performance differences are few and far between, you'd never tell the difference as both of their internals are incredibly quick for a phone.

The software is always going to be better and untampered and the screen is just simply superior to that of the Galaxy S II, as well as being bigger without adding much bulk.

It probably isn't worth it based on a handful of criteria however, so see if they apply to you -

- Camera quality is very important
- More than 16GB of storage space is important
- Price is a big factor, as the S2 is cheaper

If you aren't bothered about any of those three things, the Nexus takes it easily. I also personally think it looks much, much better, but not everyone seems to.
 
Cheers for the advice :) and very suprised by the replies. I expected hands down to go for the S2 because of the better specs. I also think the Nexus looks better. My only concern is that I only change my phone every 2 years and the S2 might be able to stretch its legs more with future OS upgrades / Custom ROMS due to the better CPU and GPU. Saying that the fact my Desire can run Sense 3.5 fast with its hardware suggests it wouldnt be a problem for the Nexus anyway.

Regarding the comments about the OS. I have pretty much tried all the different flavours available for my Desire and in the end I found Sense 3.5 to be the best in every department. I'm suprised HTC don't have anything to compete with the Samsungs.
 
The Nexus runs fully stock Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest Android version.

It has been universally praised as the biggest thing to happen to Android since launch, and on the Nexus you get it without any third party modifications.

The Galaxy S II is expected to get it in Q1 2012, but that could be delayed and it will have been modified by Samsung.

If you fancy a read, there's a decent review here - http://www.theverge.com/2011/11/17/2568348/galaxy-nexus-review
 
Robbo said:
The Nexus runs fully stock Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest Android version.

It has been universally praised as the biggest thing to happen to Android since launch, and on the Nexus you get it without any third party modifications.

The Galaxy S II is expected to get it in Q1 2012, but that could be delayed and it will have been modified by Samsung.

If you fancy a read, there's a decent review here - http://www.theverge.com/2011/11/17/2568348/galaxy-nexus-review
Click to expand...

Cheers mate, will have a look.
 
Robbo said:
It probably isn't worth it based on a handful of criteria however, so see if they apply to you -

- Camera quality is very important
- More than 16GB of storage space is important
- Price is a big factor, as the S2 is cheaper

If you aren't bothered about any of those three things, the Nexus takes it easily.
Click to expand...

If you aren't bothered by any of those three things, you shouldn't be let into Carphone Warehouse without a keeper. It's all well and good the Nexus having this wonderful new screen - I've mucked about a bit with one to get the feel of ICS and think the screen is great. However, the main reason for having that lovely screen is to look at high-resolution images and video in particular. I can fit an entire season of a show onto my S2's SD card, whereas the Nexus could hold maybe four to six episodes.
 
JeditOjanen said:
If you aren't bothered by any of those three things, you shouldn't be let into Carphone Warehouse without a keeper. It's all well and good the Nexus having this wonderful new screen - I've mucked about a bit with one to get the feel of ICS and think the screen is great. However, the main reason for having that lovely screen is to look at high-resolution images and video in particular. I can fit an entire season of a show onto my S2's SD card, whereas the Nexus could hold maybe four to six episodes.
Click to expand...

Not everyone uses their phone to watch long videos. For you it's no good, for other people it's likely not an issue. Simple really.
 
Robbo said:
Not everyone uses their phone to watch long videos. For you it's no good, for other people it's likely not an issue. Simple really.
Click to expand...
I agree, never watched any videos on my phone. I use my iPad or laptop for that when required.

Main features for me is good standard phone features, robust, screen, decent camera for the occasional use and the ability to use custom ROMS. This for me has kept the Desire fresh for 2 years unlike the IPhone which I got bored shortly after the novelty wore off.
 
The Asgard said:
I agree, never watched any videos on my phone. I use my iPad or laptop for that when required.

Main features for me is good standard phone features, robust, screen, decent camera for the occasional use and the ability to use custom ROMS. This for me has kept the Desire fresh for 2 years unlike the IPhone which I got bored shortly after the novelty wore off.
Click to expand...

There is no shortage of ROMs for the Nexus, though you probably won't need one.

The camera is no doubt worse than the Galaxy S II, but it has a few small benefits and seems a lot better in low light.

There's a somewhat decent comparison here, it isn't ideal but it gives you a fair idea of the picture quality difference.

http://hemorrdroids.net/samsung-galaxy-nexus-vs-samsung-galaxy-sii-s2-camera-test/

The Asgard said:
CES?
Click to expand...

It's an electronics world conference. New stuff gets announced there.
 
Don't forget the nexus is a Google flagship phone and will always get the latest updates first, the last Google phone the nexus S has been the first phone to be updated with is for example.

The screen on the nexus is great and the camera really isn't to bad ..... much better than the desire for sure, its only limitation in my opinion is the lack of SD card slot but 16gb isn't exactly small and cloud based storage helps.
 
Attu90 said:
Don't forget the nexus is a Google flagship phone and will always get the latest updates first, the last Google phone the nexus S has been the first phone to be updated with is for example.

The screen on the nexus is great and the camera really isn't to bad ..... much better than the desire for sure, its only limitation in my opinion is the lack of SD card slot but 16gb isn't exactly small and cloud based storage helps.
Click to expand...

This is the primary reason I like the Nexus however the Desire is still not short of ROMS with a ICS beta available now.

16GB is fine which is what I have in the Desire. I have a Cowon J3 for music.

Thanks for all the input guys, appreciated.
 
Robbo said:
There is no shortage of ROMs for the Nexus, though you probably won't need one.

The camera is no doubt worse than the Galaxy S II, but it has a few small benefits and seems a lot better in low light.

There's a somewhat decent comparison here, it isn't ideal but it gives you a fair idea of the picture quality difference.

http://hemorrdroids.net/samsung-galaxy-nexus-vs-samsung-galaxy-sii-s2-camera-test/



It's an electronics world conference. New stuff gets announced there.
Click to expand...

Yes the S2 is obviously better, not a deal breaker but would have been nice to have the S2 camera.

Ill try to do a side by side with them but I'll probably go with the Nexus just because I enjoyed the custom ROM scene.
 
The Asgard said:
Had my Desire since release which will be 2 years in March and i am starting to look for a replacement phone. Really had some fun with the modding scene so it's definitely another Andriod device. I have done some searching and it is looking like the S2 is looking the better device with its better CPU,GPU,Camera, SD slot and debatably the screen?

I did have a quick play with the S2 at our XMAS party before I searched on the web and my finitial impression were, it's ok but didn't jump out that much more than my Sense 3.5 Desire ( Custom ROM ). Just shows how good it still is.

Before I found out about the S2 I was going Nexus just because I assumed it was the best.

Any thoughts?

It will be Feb / Mar before I upgrade unless I just take the hit now.
Click to expand...

What ROM are you using mate if is fast and stable, bored of cy9 now and love to breathe more life into my desire before upgrade is up next year
 
well, i went from nexus to desire,

I didnt go s2 or even try it because i think it is one of the ugliest modern phones ive seen, i hated that middle button at the bottom.

paid 150 for the phone [60 cash back from new contract making that 90]
got a fairly good £140 for my desire [more than i was expecting!]
£20 per month contract [worked out cheaper than keeping the desire]

the phone and OS is fantastic, i thought i would miss sense UI, i dont with this, [i do love blue on black however, probably the best colour layout even if i was choosing!]
the phone is big, and i have small hands but im used to it now, makes a great sat nav,

battery is better [probably due to my network switch tho]
camera is better than the desire,

screen is amazing.

LED is better than the desire [important for me] only thing i cant get it to do is blink a different colour depending on caller, but it has 10+ colours using light flow

one of the best things for me is i can now update apps as i had run out of space on the desire, its allocated capacity was terrible, i mean, what were htc thinking?


the only thing i think is worse is build quality, my desire didnt have a scratch on its screen, was easy to hold and felt solid. This feels slippery, light and i think the screen will scratch easy.

i couldnt use stock android in any other OS form without sense, but 4.0.2 is really nice.

just my thoughts
 
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