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Verizon Galaxy Nexus Issues Are Getting Worse

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Over the last five months, I have been dealing with an assortment of issues that have been plaguing my experience with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. In fact, the issues have been so bad that I once again began using my iPhone 3GS as my daily driver. I decided to fire up my Galaxy Nexus over the weekend, just to see if I could tolerate it, and sadly, the issues only seem to be getting worse.

There have been three major issues that I have been dealing with with the Galaxy Nexus. The first is the microphone issue that lots of Galaxy Nexus owners have been reporting. In the past, I had the microphone cut out on occasion but over the weekend, it started happening frequently. In fact, it happened every single time I made a phone call with my Galaxy Nexus.

I’d call someone and within 30 seconds or so, the microphone would cut out and the person would start wondering what happened to me.

Verizon Galaxy Nexus Issues Are Getting Worse

Read: Five Months With The Verizon Galaxy Nexus.

The second major issue I’ve been having is the terrible battery life. I knew going into this that the battery life would be average and that’s why I bought the extended battery. However, for whatever reason, the battery on my phone just plummets. As I’ve said, I don’t overwork it, I don’t have a ton of applications open, I use Wi-Fi quite a bit. It’s both puzzling and frustrating to say the least.

Especially when some of my colleagues tell me that they have decent battery life on their Galaxy Nexus.

The third major issue has been the random reboots that have taken place over the past five months. This weekend, it happened three times which is by far the most it has ever occurred in so many days . I was just using my phone and all of a sudden, the phone just decided to shut itself off, again, for no apparent reason.

I also noticed a couple of other things that seem to be deteriorating. My speaker volume was suspiciously low this weekend and there just seemed to be a lot more sluggishness then there usually is.

Read: Wait for Galaxy Nexus Android 4.0.4 Update Gets More Bizarre.

My experience this weekend wasn’t all bad though.

Moving from the iPhone 3GS to the Galaxy Nexus you really appreciate having an HD display. The display on the 3G is definitely looking its age. I also really enjoyed having those 4G LTE speeds as well, even if it seems to absolutely kill the battery.

What I am hoping is that Android 4.0.4, which might get released tomorrow, fixes these issues so that I can return to using my Samsung Galaxy Nexus as my daily driver.

Google and Verizon have had five months to get this update out so I am optimistic.

I know others have been having the same issues, but have they been getting worse for you as well?

22 Comments

22 Comments

  1. Ralph Bretz

    05/21/2012 at 2:29 pm

    My Galaxy Nexus developed two issues over the weekend. First the keyboard is bugging. I hit a letter and after a two second delay or so it finally appears. Second, I can’t use Google Music anymore. Any time I try and play a song my phone reboots.

    • Gabby

      09/28/2012 at 1:56 pm

      Thats what mine does.!

  2. Bob A.

    05/21/2012 at 5:17 pm

    I bought the Nexus the first day it was available from Verizon. I am now sporting an iPhone 4S. The Nexus had absolutely horrible battery life. I even turned the 4G off, and even at 3G speeds it was really bad. I also experienced random reboots… sometimes at the most inopportune times!

    I have had several Android phones, but I am really liking the iPhone. I miss the screen customization ability, but that is a small price indeed to pay for much juicier apps, screen and battery life. I am eating my words here, but everything that James Kendrick has been saying is absolutely true. I have also had 4 different Android tablets, but the new iPad blows them all away. I use these devices extensively for work, but also a lot at home. I am looking forward to the next iPhone!

    Bob Atkinson

  3. Freddy Cornejo

    05/21/2012 at 7:31 pm

    My Galaxy Nexus loses signal for about 30 seconds a couple times a day and if im on the phone it will cut off. I have all bars 4G at my house. Its just ridiculous that I am stuck with a phone that doesn’t work for two years and payed 300 dollars for it. I give up and getting the iphone 5 when it comes out and have to pay full retail on it.

  4. Ryan D

    05/21/2012 at 8:08 pm

    FIRST OF ALL… screw Verizon. That being said… screw you fanboys. NOW… before you start bitching to the public, a couple things to concider:

    ROOT THE DAMN PHONE!! It is what the Nexus was made for. I am running 4.0.4 AOKP w/ Franco. Kernel and my stock battery lasts. 1.5 days with normal use with one full charge (With an over-clocked processor). You can over clock your processor and it’s fast as hell. The GNEX is by far the best phone I’ve ever owned and instead of sitting there and crying boo hoo, how about you actually see what you can do.

    “No i think I’ll be FAN BOY and look what my super cool iphone can do… i can…um…. upload this picture to icloud…. and um… i can play words with friends with a crap load of ads…. and um…. stuff too”

    I lol at the iphone because the GNEX goes circles beyond the iPhone. What if i told you the GNEX can get rid of any ad that you want to w/ root access? What if you don’t have to pay for an apps “premium feature”? I don’t see a damn ad on my phone and it’s fantastic. No bloat ware. No issues. No nothing.

    “ZOMG iphone 5 is coming and blah blah blah blah!!! I wait to pay for another device that only let’s me do what it wants me to do”

    Stop bitching and how about you write an article about:

    1.Unlocking, rooting the GNEX
    2.Installing Custom Rom
    3.Installing Custom Kernel
    4.Awesome stuff you can do w/ rooted device
    5.Benchmark tests against that POS iphone.
    6. ??
    7. Profit

    Peace out.

    • BMan P.

      05/23/2012 at 11:29 am

      ***********QUOTE***********
      “FIRST OF ALL… screw Verizon. That being said… screw you fanboys. NOW… before you start bitching to the public, a couple things to concider:

      ROOT THE DAMN PHONE!! It is what the Nexus was made for. I am running 4.0.4 AOKP w/ Franco. Kernel and my stock battery lasts. 1.5 days with normal use with one full charge (With an over-clocked processor). You can over clock your processor and it’s fast as hell. The GNEX is by far the best phone I’ve ever owned and instead of sitting there and crying boo hoo, how about you actually see what you can do.

      “No i think I’ll be FAN BOY and look what my super cool iphone can do… i can…um…. upload this picture to icloud…. and um… i can play words with friends with a crap load of ads…. and um…. stuff too”

      I lol at the iphone because the GNEX goes circles beyond the iPhone. What if i told you the GNEX can get rid of any ad that you want to w/ root access? What if you don’t have to pay for an apps “premium feature”? I don’t see a damn ad on my phone and it’s fantastic. No bloat ware. No issues. No nothing.

      “ZOMG iphone 5 is coming and blah blah blah blah!!! I wait to pay for another device that only let’s me do what it wants me to do” ”
      ***********END QUOTE***********

      Ok, first of all, the anger and rudeness is unnecessary. You wouldn’t speak like that to someone in real life. Maybe through the TV at someone you disagree with sure, since there’s no way they’ll hear you, but comments and replies on the Internet need to be handled the same way as if you were talking to someone face to face. Be polite please, your words carry so much more weight when they’re not so heavy handed…………

      Now, with that being said, the last section of your comment was f***in’ funny as sh*t!

      ***********QUOTE***********
      “Stop bitching and how about you write an article about:

      1.Unlocking, rooting the GNEX
      2.Installing Custom Rom
      3.Installing Custom Kernel
      4.Awesome stuff you can do w/ rooted device
      5.Benchmark tests against that POS iphone.
      6. ??
      7. Profit

      Peace out.”
      ***********END QUOTE***********

    • Daniel

      06/20/2012 at 12:09 pm

      Ryan D. I have the GNEX with Verizon running 4.04. It is unlocked but i have not loaded any custom ROMS or anything ( i have tried but i really don’t know how). I just want the phone to work, but I am having some problems that make the phone unusable for me. Any suggestions? Here are the issues.

      1. I live in NYC and use the subway for transportation meaning I’m underground with no service often. When I emerge from underground however it can take a ridiculous amount of time for the GNEX to find voice or data signal. My Droid X and Droid X two usually had it before i made it to the top of the stairs this phone can take up to 15 minutes to find voice and longer often times to find Data.

      2. Same problem only worse with GPS. When i emerge from the subway and try to turn on the GPS, or even when it is already turned on when i emerge, it can’t find signal, often times it never finds it, and even when it does it takes 5 – 20 minutes.

      I relied on my phone previously to get directions all over New York, but its no longer usable. Also, often times for no reason in well covered areas i have no data coverage for long periods of time.

      This is the 5th handset I have had, every time I call VZW they just want to send out a new handset, but every handset has done the same thing.

      There are other issues…battery life the occasional random reboot for no reason, etc etc, but the Data and GPS make the phone unusable for me. Any Ideas?

      D

  5. vinnie

    05/21/2012 at 8:09 pm

    Had my gnex for the past few months. Never suffered from the problems everyone else complains about. Guess I’m lucky. My only gripe is that I’m an upgrade junkie. I know an update is due and get worked up the longer I wait.
    I bought my daughter an iPhone 4. She hates it and the only reason she hasn’t replaced it is cus I won’t do it.

    I think some people are just natural fan boys of some things. Who’s right? Who’s wrong? It really depends on who you ask. My only suggestion is that you deliver your views in a more objective fashion. You were fast to point out that you grabbed your outdated 3GS. The tilt displayed in that act was kinda embarrassing. You can love apple..no shame in that. But, don’t be so disingenuous in your delivery. It was the longest winded article I’ve read yet to have someone explain they love apple so much that they prefer to use outdated apple phones to cutting edge android phones. Look how long your article COULD have read: I’d rather use an OLD iPhone 3GS than suffer with Google’s flagship nexus.

    • Ryan D

      05/21/2012 at 8:21 pm

      If you’re an upgrade junkie, then root and start flashing away!

      I update and upgrade my phone 2-5 times a week!

  6. TheSmegHead

    05/21/2012 at 8:13 pm

    I have had absolutely no issues at all. Have had my Galaxy Nexus since day one. Oh yeah, I am using my Nexus device like its supposed to be used. Rooted and running a ROM! I use ICSourcery v.2.0. If you don’t intend to root and ROM your Nexus device, then yeah, you are a typical iTool! Its an Android device, which means you can do what you want with it.

  7. cedrik

    05/21/2012 at 8:37 pm

    Hopefully it does release dealing with signal issue and frrezes and volume issues. Sick of verizon st this point they know what they hve with the nexus it should be the first device in line for update VZW should honor it and get the hell out of googles way. Another thing thats wack is the lack of support for google wallet ive yet to see tht isis BS. All im saying is the update better be leaps and bounds better then what i am and many others are dealing with.

    • Ryan

      05/21/2012 at 8:48 pm

      Root your phone and install the custom radios. Your signal will be far better. I have 4.0.4 radios running and my phone with custom rom and kernels is flawless

      • Bob A.

        05/22/2012 at 4:52 pm

        Ryan,

        You need to relax! If you are loving your Nexus, that is great. A lot of us are experiencing real world problems with this device, and nobody should HAVE TO ROOT the device to have it perform as advertised. That is just crazy. I have rooted devices, modded devices and played with various devices for many many years, but that is beside the point. A Verizon customer should not have to rot a phone to get decent battery life and not have random auto-resets.

        I am not an iPhone fanboy OR an Android fanboy. Lets not get stupid. A device should work as advertised, and the Galaxy Nexus has not done so for a great many folks.

        Ryan, you seem very aggressive for some unknown reason. I have been a Windows / Android fan for many years, but I can call a spade a spade. Every platform has pros & cons… why get so worked up????? Maybe next year Android or Win 8 will outshine iOS.. or maybe not. We will see & enjoy. I just want to get stuff done & enjoy my devices.

        I certainly am missing a couple of Android features, but for business & also home use, I am finding it really hard to beat the new iPad & iPhone 4S. You should try the iOS platform.

        For now, do you want to buy my Galaxy Nexus?

  8. Lazlo Hollyfeld

    05/22/2012 at 9:57 am

    Just spoke with VZ and there is no update scheduled for the gnex.

  9. Super Frustrated All Hair Yanked

    05/22/2012 at 5:14 pm

    I bought the GNEX on day one. Its a love/hate relationship! It could be sooo good but nooooo. The constant loss of signal is maddening! I live and work in a 4g area but the signal drops to 3g, even 1g and grays out constantly!!!

    • Daniel

      06/20/2012 at 12:15 pm

      Hey,

      Why is this happening, does VZW even acknowledge it? I live in Manhattan, and it happens to me all the time. I would think NYC would be well covered.

      Daniel

  10. BMan P.

    05/23/2012 at 1:03 pm

    Here’s my take on the situation. I’m a gadget lover, definitely the biggest geek I know by far, and don’t consider myself too biased. I’m typing this on my iPad (rockin the first gen and still love it) while i have my GNex (which I also love with a scary passion) right beside me. And it could have just as easily been the other way around, I don’t mind writing long winded messages with the GNex. So with that, take my opinion as you will.

    The Galaxy Nexus has had a rocky start, there’s no denying that. If you are going to rely on Verizon and Google alone for support with this phone, you better have your fingers crossed really tight for a handset with no issues. That’s very unlikely seeing as how the vast majority of the problems lie within Verizon’s not-so-good build of ICS. There’s also a large number of handsets with hardware screen issues (see Galaxy Nexus Screen – What’s Normal, What’s Not. https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1394358) I do currently have banding and color problems at low brightness myself that I’m none too happy about, and will probably be exchanging phones soon because of it (for another GNex of course). So that also needs to be taken into consideration (I guess I’m writing a buyers guide now?). Samsung dropped the ball on that one. Now, there are 2 sides to the overall argument on all this, and I happen to agree with both of them.

    On the one hand, yes, Verizon and Google should do their part in keeping up with the Nexus brand and make sure that the LTE handset works just as good as its global GSM twin. This has not happened. For the most part, this is Verizon’s problem because the coding that needs to be in place for their 4G LTE radios is all handled secretly by Verizon themselves. Google is in control 100% when it comes to the GSM Galaxy Nexus updates, but they only hand over a partial build to Verizon, who then fill in the phone-y bits themselves. The fact that only one official update has rolled out so far is unacceptable. The average user who was sold on the latest and greatest is still stuck behind a wall of bugs nearly 6 months later. Tarnish doesn’t begin to describe what this act of laziness does to the Nexus Name (Although the Galaxy name is kinda used to it).

    On the other hand, the percentage of ICS users in the Android pool is about 5%. It’s really hard to justify putting most of your tech teams to work on an update for a device that makes up only a fraction of that 5%. Instead Verizon and Google are mostly hard at work making sure the other 95% of their customers are continuing to get at least satisfactory service, while also trying to get those devices with the green light for an ICS upgrade that are already in millions of pockets geared up and ready to receive those updates before its too late and becomes a lost cause. Another point to this argument is that Big Red and the Googs know all about rooting and the vast underground community supporting it. They’re not stupid. Google has sold this and all Nexus phones as a developer phone. They knew that our devs in the underground community could fix more bugs with this unlocked device and AOSP builds (read Android A to Z: What is the AOSP? https://m.androidcentral.com/android-z-what-aosp) then they could ever hope to push out together through official OTA updates. It’s the locked down (and basically un rootable, and therefore un fix-it-yourself-by-simply-flashing-a-new-rom-able) handsets from the last generations that really need the attention from Verizon, since they really are the only ones who can fix it.

    So if you’re someone who loves to tinker around with devices and you turn a blind eye to warnings about voiding those seemingly useless warranties, then the Galaxy Nexus is deffinately a great bet, seeing as how the development community for this thing is bigger than any other Android device yet (at least I’m pretty sure of that one, damn near close and very surprising if not) and isn’t likely to go anywhere soon.

    But if you’re someone who just wants their phone to work and not have to hassle with fixing it yourself (which is absolutely understandable, and in a perfect world we shouldn’t have to), then you might want to seek other options as of this writing (Verizon could very well roll out a 4.0.5 update tomorrow fixing everything, making all of what I just said pointless, but I doubt it).

    You stand on the side of I’ll Figure This Thing Out And Even Make It Better: You’ll most likely love the Galaxy Nexus.
    You stand on the side of Making Sure Your Phone Works Right Is Your Problem, Verizon. Not Mine: You’ll most likely hate this phone.

  11. chris

    05/25/2012 at 4:03 pm

    i got tired of waiting so i just flashed 4.0.4 myself. i also permanently installed Clockwork mod touch as default recovery so when i go into fastboot CWM is there waiting. after flashing it seems my issues have now disappeared. no random reboots, screen rotation is much faster, calls even seem to be clearer and the mic has not cut out like is used to. when all else fails; unlock, root and flash i guess. too bad it has to come to that but verizon fails miserably as far as Gnex updates are concerned.

  12. wvjammer

    05/29/2012 at 8:54 pm

    I unlocked, rooted & installed this update a few weeks ago hoping it would help with my mic muting in the middle of a call. No luck.
    I have read 100’s of forum pages trying everything & someone suggested this headphone toggle widget, the mic hasn’t muted once since I installed it.
    Hopefully it will work for some of you.

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.woodslink.android.wiredheadphoneroutingfix&feature=search_result

  13. OmaCoder

    06/01/2012 at 7:29 am

    Same frustrating issues here. Considering selling on eBay and going with the SIII where the software is actually tested. Issues with mic shutting off during a phone call, issues with random rebooting (gotten worse past few months), severe issues with loss of mobile network randomly and not coming back until I reboot. This has also gotten worse. It’s nice to have a phone that isn’t full of the manufacturers extras and supposed to be easy to get ICS updates on because the manufacturer needs extra time to test all of their extra software, but I would much prefer to have a reliable phone that I can have up and running more than not. Plus… I still have yet to receive the 4.04 update. So much for that benefit.

  14. NaSha

    07/10/2012 at 8:24 am

    For some it’s a great product for others it’s nothing but problems. While I was anticipating the former all I’ve gotten is the latter. Been through seven yep that’s seven “refurbished like new” GNs with no success. All the threats of “lets start a class action” are a joke. I am pursuing a different tack.

    I’m keeping the phone (for the time being) and filing (for a very little Fee) against Verizon and Samsung in Small Claims Court. While my case will likely end with little resolved think of the potential if all those who are dissatisfied were to also file in Small Claims for the same problems and posted those problems and the court results. If one case wins we all win.

    As individuals we can not slay the Verizon/Samsung giant but banding together we can inflict thousands of wounds and thereby force the giant to treat us with honor and respect.

    While I expect dozens of disparaging comments for those who are at wits end what have you got to lose by trying. Who knows maybe an hour of your time and a few bucks spent to file in small claims court could get you a return of the hundreds of dollars you spent buying the phone and accessories.

  15. Jeffrey Doan

    07/23/2012 at 4:54 pm

    I got the Nexus 6 days ago. So far it’s been frustrating, and I plan to return the phone to go back to my old one. Following are what I’ve been through, consistently:

    – Loss of signal: I live in East San Jose CA. Work in Sunnyvale CA. I just traveled to Carrollton/Dallas TX last weekend, stayed at a hotel in Galleria/Dallas TX, took care of some business in Richardson TX, flying in and out of San Francisco CA. My signal just kept dropping out, from 4 bars 4G to nothing from time-to-time (several times each 5 minutes) that I found myself dropped from a call, could not access the Web. Each time I wanted to make a phone call, I had to wait for the signal to come back. Each time I was on the call, I would get cut out.

    – Battery could only last 2 hours with GPS, Wifi, Bluetooth turned off. I bought a 3850mA just to find it would only last 4-5 hours. I tried force close all the stuff that I didn’t need, but it didn’t help much either. If I don’t carry the charger with me, I’m dead.

    – The phone is nice. But I often found myself inadvertently hit the volume button when I tried to press the power button, and vice versa. I didn’t have this issue with the Galaxy S. Bad placement.

    – I’m on 4.0.4.

    For sure this thing is going back. It’s useless if I have to pray for the signal to stay on each time I make or answer a phone call. 4G is fast, for sure, if you can keep the signal to stay up. But if it’s lost more than 12 hours (on and off) a day, I’m just carrying a dark screen around since I can’t even dare to leave the screen on for fear of running out of battery in less than 2 hours.

    I’m not an Apple boy. I have Galaxy S, Tab 10.1, and now Nexus. So you know where I stand…

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