Better to buy the GNex or GS3?

With Jelly bean close to release for the GNex and other nexus devices I have had a lot of doubt about buying the GS3. I want to know eh at you guys think. Do you think I should grab a GNex from the Play Store and get JB or get the GS3 and hope for a custom ROM soon? Is the better hardware well worth the wait for software?

13 Comments Join the discussion!

69 cwjones4 06/29/12 12:40 PM

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If you can afford to wait until november when the new nexus comes out, I would almost do that. The hardware of the GS3 makes me really inclined to choose that over the GNex; I feel like I can live a few months or however long it takes to get a solid jellybean rom running (especially since my current phone is stuck on gingerbread still)

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97 kazahani 06/29/12 12:53 PM

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There’s no reason to not get the Play Store GNex for $350. Just use that till the Nextus comes out and then sell it on Swappa for $250 – $300.

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- 99 jaxidian 06/29/12 2:30 PM
  
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  If you really are on the fence, I totally agree with this recommendation.
  
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99 jaxidian 06/29/12 2:36 PM

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I personally just upgraded from a GNex to the SGS3. Why? Because I couldn’t keep my GNex since I was switching carriers. I struggled with the decision of (at the time) $400 for a different GNex or $620 for the SGS3 for a while.

I ultimately decided that I was willing to spend an extra $220 for the SGS3 because:
1) it will have an amazing dev community due to the sheer number of people with the phone and its unlocked bootloader.
2) it will have an amazing accessory ecosystem that we’ve never seen before with Android and the GNex really upset me in that regard.

Give the two at the same price point, I’d say it’s a no-brainer to go SGS3 for 85% of us rooters/rommers. You really need to ask yourself if it’s worth an extra $270 in order to have a slightly better screen, processor, double RAM, and accessories but be behind a little bit on the dev situation (fact is, GNex has Jelly Bean right now and SGS3 doesn’t). Is that worth $270 to you?

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- 76 Jesse Moreno 06/29/12 4:41 PM
  
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  Well said.
  
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54 Hue Three of Five 06/29/12 3:06 PM

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I personally need a phone that has an even amount of positives between software and hardware. I have had many phones that had the best hardware but took waaaay to long to get updates if any at all. I am not playing that game anymore. I will be getting JB in a couple weeks on my GSM Nexus, while my old the Rezound still doesn’t have official ICS yet. I am sure the SGS3 is a great phone, but I am sick of having to root and tinker with every phone I get to remove a skin, or get updates in a timely fashion. Plus things dont always go as planned with ports and aosp with rooted devices. I think they are still trying to make a stable AOSP port for the Rezound. I will only be enticed by the next GSM Nexus.

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70 CJ LaFleur 06/29/12 9:46 PM

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I need a device like now! I would be buying the att gs3. And the gs3 has a very buggy rom out as it’s a port from the gnex. I can’t wait til november then another couple of months for it to come to att (Assuming it will). That’s why I passed on the gnex. Also, my parent’s won’t let me get a gnex, sell it, then buy the nextus in a few months. I have some confidence in the gs3 dev community but then again, cm9 is still in RC1. Imagine how long it’ll take for jelly bean. Or do you thInk it’ll come out at or around the nextus launches?

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98 redraider133 06/29/12 9:47 PM

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To me I more get the phones for the better hardware over having the latest software. As long as the phone runs well on the current software I am fine having to wait a little longer and having them work the kinks out. Being stuck on verizon we aren’t as lucky to be able to get unlocked phones like the nexus from the play store so I am going with the sgs3.

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70 CJ LaFleur 06/30/12 3:19 PM

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Does anyone have an idea of when at the very least jb nightly builds will become available? I wouldn’t mind flashing a rom but I am somewhat partial to CM. I know it’s still in RC1 for ICS but at this point it really isn’t worth building ICS roms.

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- 94 LukeT32 06/30/12 5:31 PM
  
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  JB is out for the Gnex right now…. Head over to XDA and grab it. Runs like like a dream. Far more polished then any ROM I ever ran on my OG Droid. Had no reason to root my Gnex till now.
  
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99 Chris Lewis 06/30/12 4:03 PM

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I went with the Sgs3 knowing that it will have a solid dev community that will bring JB to it soon. Until then, its hardware is more than sufficient enough to smoothly run ICS. Not only that, but whats so bad about being on ICS? I know JB is a good improvement, but its not like the difference between GB and ICS.

I will note that come this fall I will probably sell my Sgs3 for the new nexus!

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70 CJ LaFleur 07/02/12 12:21 PM

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As soon as someone gets audio, wifi, and bluetooth working for the gs3 jb rom I think that’s what I’ll do. I’m thinking ishould go with the gs3 but I can’t find any roms for the US version. Anyone know any?

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70 CJ LaFleur 07/06/12 8:27 PM

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i’m getting the gs3. i’m confident in the cyannogenmod team. they’re saying there’ll be a quick update so i can wait a little for jb. what do you guys think?

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Better to buy the GNex or GS3?