Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Nexus S Now or LG Optimus X2 In 3-4 Month?

I have to say the the Nexus S is the best Android device. Not even the Galaxy which is it is based on comes close. Nor does any of the Droid variants. Why? Because the Nexus S is a Google phone. That's why. But it is based on tech that I consider to be a bit dated. And the question I ask myself is if I should go with the LG Optimus X2 powered by Nvidia's next generation Tegra 2 chip but I'll have to way anywhere from 3-4 months.

The latest on the street is that the Optimus will be coming to T-Mobile USA, which is the carrier I have. And in case you are not aware of this, so is the Nexus S. I'm still hanging in there with my G1. I know. It's very very old but I've been able to stay on top of things because I've had it rooted a while back and have been updating it with the various customized ROM. HTC, Google, and T-Mobile had long given up the G1 for dead. Shame on them.

So, if you're in a similar situation as I am, you have to wonder if it's worth updating today or waiting a bit. Go with tech that is more than a year old but still future proof or really hit it out of the park with Tegra 2, which in my mind is the future of anything Android, smartphone, tablet, or netbook (I'm of the mind that Chrome OS and Android will eventually merge).

And you have to also consider this. The Nexus S has an integrated near field communication (NFC) chip - further future proofing it for mobile payment. On the other hand, the Optimus 2X doesn't appear to have it.

And if mobile payment isn't for you, here is what may be a dealbreaker: Nexus S is Google's baby. The LG Optimus 2X is LG and whichever carrier's baby. Google treats its own differently than other hardware makers and their carrier partners will treat their own devices.

Google is more likely to work harder to push out Android updates while carriers and device makers really don't care all that much once the mobile user has signed the contract and made the purchase. Sure, carriers will make token updates here and there but from what I'm reading online, correct me if I'm wrong, most folks, stupid enough (that's me), savy enough, or brave enough, will have to go out into the wild wild Android rooting world to get the latest Android updates that device makers and carriers are slow to dish out if at all.

So, what to do? What would you do? What will you do?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Couldn't agree more, I’m sitting here in the UK and facing the same dilemma, I'm unsure which way to jump.

Nexus does offer direct Google support, yet the tegra2 platform promises a significant improvement in horse power, and the HDMI out doesn't hurt.

I don't know how it works over there, but here unless you buy the phone outright (too costly for most) you have to enter into a contract which these days are mostly 2 years long. Therefore I'll be looking at having the same phone for that time.

Hence I'm leaning towards to LG, as the extra grunt should handle android’s many updates from here to 2013. I just hope the rooting community take enough interest in the phone, as this’ll no doubt mean better, if unofficial rooting support.

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