I have been waiting to get a new phone, waiting for the right one. I love my Galaxy Nexus, but am disappointed by the sluggishness that it has been having as of late. When the Nexus 5 had been leaked I knew that was the one that I wanted. Oct. 31st I jumped on Google Play and purchased a 32gb white version! Excited by the arrival of my new phone I jumped on to the web and noticed that everyone was talking about how upset they were that the Nexus 5 was not compatible with Verizon's network...
I became paranoid, as I blindly bought the phone WITHOUT this knowledge! I had no idea that Google and Verizon were at odds. I sent an email to Google and they said that I would not be able to connect the phone to Verizon's network. I just talked to Verizon, and they were unable to confirm its compatibility without a MEID (or something like that) number...
Problem is I don't have the phone in hand to give it to them, and even if I had already received the package, UPS will not ship back the phone if I open the package.... Guess I'll just have to take Google's word for it and send the phone back.
I would leave Verizon to a competing company if it weren't for having a grandfathered unlimited plan...
What is the best phone to get now that I cant have the Nexus 5? Without having to go to Apple's iPhone?
Lg g2 imo
I can assure you, the N5 will not work on Verizon. As for getting a new phone, if you can pay full price, then yes, G2 is looking pretty good. I would try it out in a store first, because the rear volume controls are not for everyone. However, I would encourage you to explore used phones. I picked up a used Samsung Galaxy S4 for $360 from swappa dot com. You definitely want a phone made within the last 6 months in order to take advantage of AWS (LTE band 4). Galaxy S4 just had a firmware release that enables AWS. People are seeing craaazy speeds.
I think you are missing the point. Network speeds have never been an issue
with Verizon, not for me at least. The issue at hand here is that Verizon
does not provide ANY option for people who want a bloat free experience.
They can't say it subsidizes the cost of the device because they aren't
providing the device if you bought it directly from Google. This is an
extremely important point for many people. People who came to Verizon
initially because they were offering higher end Android devices.
But Verizon still has not provided me with the experience I am after for
many years and I've had it. I have lost all faith in them. I have had
buyers remorse on my last 2 devices. This is a terrible feeling for someone
who enjoys gadgets. I'm not going to pay their exorbitant prices and not
get exactly what I want anymore.
Not missing the point at all, I was responding to someone who asked what phone he should get instead of the N5. And speeds on AWS are much better than LTE band 13. And if you don't want bloat, you could always do that thing that if I say its name, will get my post censored. This is particularly relevant if you buy a second hand device, since the warranty will already be void anyway.
Swappa.com.
Can you send private messages on here?
Concerning the NEXUS 5/7 and Verizon Wireless
VZW is protecting their revenue stream. If it did not provide such good coverage in the areas that I travel and if I didn’t have a grandfathered unlimited data plan I would be long gone. When I need a new(er) phone I guess I will have to buy a used one and do the nasty to it, because I will NEVER pay the prices for an off contract phone that VZW demands.
The technology of smartphones is very mature and the prices off contract should be no more than what Google is getting for the NEXUS 5. VZW and the rest of them are just playing us all for fools. Buy a new phone on contract, and if lucky, you will get one upgrade to the operating system, long after it is available to NEXUS users, because the carriers have to put all their bloatware on the new release. Then when the next Android OS comes out you get, "Sorry, you'll have to upgrade to a new phone."
Let me buy the phone I want with the features I want at a competitive price. When the FCC OKs it for use on the system you prefer, you should be able buy a sim, choose a data plan and go your merry way. It works in Europe.
In the US the lawmakers don't give a (removed) about you and me, just the wealthy and their campaign contributions. We all have to put down our Plants and Zombies and start putting pressure on our congress people to work for us for a change. We sell the spectrum to the wireless companies to enable them to do their business and they play fast and loose with the agreements they sign.
The Nexus 7/5 kerfuffle can be blamed on both Google and VZW. Google could have put into these devices the radio band that handles the main VZW LTE band. They did put in the band that VZW is moving to, the one that VZW promised the FCC would be open to all qualified equipment. That promise was made because Google put financial pressure on VZW by bidding for the spectrum themselves. Good for them.
But today Google doesn’t want to go to the mats with VZW, maybe because VZW is such a big customer. VZW will never change its business plan until we make its current one less profitable.
We’ve heard some half-hearted throw-away lines about Google and VZW working together on some new products for 2014. Google, if it’s more of the same old, same old no one will care.
Sell us a decent phone at a fair price, unlocked and sell the data service at a fair price. Gouging is not going to work much longer. We need cell towers across the country, available and usable by anyone who wants to get into the data selling/reselling business. Let us choose the best service at the price we determine is fair. My father-in-law wouldn’t use or appreciate faster connections with lots of data; his phone is for making calls, maybe checking the weather. I want the fastest connection I can afford, either unlimited or metered at a fair price.
As the old saw goes, “The Future is Now”; we are battling against old-fashioned business models, business models that have been formed by decades of the rich making sure they stay rich and get richer. The millionaires and billionaires of new tech need to use their new clout and wealth to help effect the changes needed to provide the new utility of global inter-connectivity to all. Whether voice, text or video, data connections are what electricity, drinking water and sanitation was for generations past. Those utilities made life safer and easier, while providing new opportunities. The widespread penetration of these utilities could only be accomplished with the cooperation of the people, business, and local, regional and national governments.
Make a difference. Email, text, call, write snail mail letters to your representatives, to the CEOs of these corporations, to the FCC.
Vote with your feet, walk away from businesses like VZW if they are taking your money but not serving your interests.
Let Google know you are not appreciative of how they are dealing with VZW. Tell them you will use their services, but you will restrict as much of your information from Google as possible. Use an ad blocker. When you Google something don’t click on the sponsored link at the top or right side of the page, scroll down the page and find the unsponsored search result and use it instead.
Google, don’t be evil isn’t quite the same as work for the good of as many as possible.
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I'd keep it and leave VZW. I'm just waiting on the reviews to come in on the N5 to make sure it doesn't have similar issues to the Galaxy Nexus (which I also have).
Well said! I'll be voting with my feet as soon as my next contract is up. I don't get how VZW can justify subsidizing Apple so heavily with no control over them, yet won't allow us to use off-contract phones and allow us to further subsidize other customers.
Because back when the iphone came to Verizon, it dominated the smartphone market, so Apple had a lot of leverage. Nexus devices are a relatively small fraction of the Android market. We just have to hope that changes so that Google will have more leverage over the like of VZW.
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