Mobile Nexus devices thread

[nanaDmari]

Google Now launcher is now available for the other Nexus devices.
I installed it on my Nexus 4, but I have mixed feelings... I like how I can access Google Now with no card loading time and the transparency makes it look beautiful, but the app icons are huuge and most of them look all pixelated, you can clearly see which apps have high-res icons and which don't.
Don't know how they look on a Nexus 5, since it needs an even bigger icon.

 

[Knifeshade]

Still rocking the normal launcher on my Nexus 7. When KitKat came out, I was like, I want some of that, but now I got over it. I just don't spend enough time on the home screen to admire it. We spend most of our time in apps, and....the user experience still looks more or the less the same anyway.

If developers would bake their app to utilize immersive mode more (I'm staring at you, Pocket), then that's another story.

 

[nanaDmari]

I use many widgets, so I do spend a lot of time on the home screen.
And having to search through all the apps, while less icons per page and bigger images can make the task easier, as someone who worries about pixel perfect resources, the low-res icons kinda bother me :T

well, immersive mode is independent of the launcher...
apps like that could really benefit from it.

 

[Knifeshade]

That's true, but the end result is the same. The launcher's transparency is just to give us the illusion that we're getting more screen space. It's still the same as before though. Similar to how developers want us to feel we've got more screen space in immersive mode. (except the latter is more a fact than an illusion)

Ah, you use a lot of widgets, that's understandable then. I don't have widgets on the home screen. I've got WiFi turned on 24/7, so having widgets would kill my battery life.

Well, that and I don't really like widgets (except for Dashclock on lockscreen). But that's just me. I feel like the way widgets work is compromised too much in Android.

 

[goldb]

Any thoughts on the new Nexus devices?

 

[nanaDmari]

The Nexus 6P would be my choice for an upgrade, even though the rear camera is a bit weird looking (I don't like the overall design that much, actually), but it is huge, OMG, I know the Nexus 6 was huge already, but I have normal hands (I would miss being able to put my phone in my pocket too)
I fear for battery life with these huge screens, but it seems to be doing ok and Marshmallow should help with that...

The Nexus 5X is at the size limit for me, but I would like for a better hardware to keep for a longer period of time. It is a safe bet from LG and Google.

I was looking forward to them because my Nexus 4 almost died with the Lollipop 5.0.1 update so I thought I would get a new phone, but I didn't get to a conclusion on what to do... My Nexus is still a good phone, but I need the system updates...

 

[goldb]

I was worried too about the camera but I saw it last week and it doesn't stick out as much as I thought it might do. And the size is rather big, it's even bigger than my old M8 which was kinda as big as I wanted to get but the specs look good and the battery isn't too shabby. So it can be an investment.

 

[Charlie]

pretty good review about the 6p.

 

[nanaDmari]

Yes, the camera doesn't seem to stick out that much. And even though I find the black strip in the back a bit weird, I think Huawei made a good decision with it to hide/protect the camera bulk, because it doesn't get wobbly on your table. It is so annoying whenever I'm going to test an app in the iPhone 6 and that thing just doesn't stand still.

I would like for it to have optical image stabilization, I just shake too much :T

 

[Charlie]

You guys might want to think twice after seeing in regards to the Nexus 6p

 

[Knifeshade]

Absolutely hate bend test videos. It's gotten way out of hand this year. Every time I see one I'm like, yes, congratulations, you've just discovered physics. Anything will break with enough force.

 

[Charlie]

Absolutely hate bend test videos. It's gotten way out of hand this year. Every time I see one I'm like, yes, congratulations, you've just discovered physics. Anything will break with enough force.

While this is true and granted people do not apply strong enough force to a mobile to bend it unless intentionally (in most cases)
- there were cases in regards to the iphones bending in peoples pockets with normal use. Due to poor straightening in critical weak areas of the frame.
Which were changed in future models.

A second video from the same person above - explaining the bend gate issue.

 

[nanaDmari]

It may bend easily, but the way I use and carry my phone around it is not that much at risk... and it will never be on my pocket being as huge as it is XD

 

[YumaKuga]

While this is true and granted people do not apply strong enough force to a mobile to bend it unless intentionally (in most cases)
- there were cases in regards to the iphones bending in peoples pockets with normal use. Due to poor straightening in critical weak areas of the frame.
Which were changed in future models.

A second video from the same person above - explaining the bend gate issue.

This is hands down why i dont keep my phone in my pocket when i sit down.

 

[Knifeshade]

While this is true and granted people do not apply strong enough force to a mobile to bend it unless intentionally (in most cases)
- there were cases in regards to the iphones bending in peoples pockets with normal use. Due to poor straightening in critical weak areas of the frame.
Which were changed in future models.

But there's a difference between a design flaw and exacerbating. I've read the bending in pocket thing before (it's what started the entire thing after all), and Apple silently acknowledges it by adding thicker aluminium in the 6S series. A good thing, I agree.

But then to bend every single phone under the sun because of Apple's design flaws, it's nothing but silly.

We have phones in the past and present with glass industrial designs; a material that is much, much more brittle and so very easy to shatter. I don't see these "reviewers" protesting against glass, if they care so much about durability.