Phones Nexus 4 surprising! iPhone 5 beware...

[mattopotamus]

the Nexus 4 is really only gonna be a hit with Techies......

everyone else who is on contract will only see it as $150 more than an iPhone. in the US people still don't understand subsidies and the true cost of phones.

They will say....i can save $150 and get an iPhone 5, I can save $250 and get an iPhone 4s, or i can spend no money and get an iPhone 4.

Sucks, but just how it is. Don't get me wrong, it's a great price. But most people don't realize the true cost of an iPhone as really $650. They see the subsidized prices.

well it actually is $200 b.c if I stay with at&t for two years my monthly bill is the same whether I paid full price or got the subsidized price. The only US carrier that does funky crap with phone prices and contracts is t-mobile.

Buying the nexus 4 would cost me more money than a subsidized iphone b.c I would still stay with at&t with the same plan. Unless I did an early upgrade and the iphone cost me $449.

very few people see the true price of an iphone b.c very few people actually buy it out right since your plan is not effected. You are right, the unlocked contract free appeal is less important in the US. I personally would walk away spending more for the nexus 4

 

[Roessnakhan]

the Nexus 4 is really only gonna be a hit with Techies......

everyone else who is on contract will only see it as $150 more than an iPhone. in the US people still don't understand subsidies and the true cost of phones.

They will say....i can save $150 and get an iPhone 5, I can save $250 and get an iPhone 4s, or i can spend no money and get an iPhone 4.

Sucks, but just how it is. Don't get me wrong, it's a great price. But most people don't realize the true cost of an iPhone as really $650. They see the subsidized prices.

Can't they get it subsidized on T-Mobile though?

 

[MacManTexas56]

Can't they get it subsidized on T-Mobile though?

yes, but i was meaning with $299/$349 price tags bc OP was saying it's half the cost of an iPhone etc.

 

[zhenya]

there is a difference right there. On the 5, I can go every other day charging.

My 4 on ios 6 still easily goes 2-3 days between charges, FWIW.

 

[dalbir4444]

My 4 on ios 6 still easily goes 2-3 days between charges, FWIW.

I find that very hard to believe unless your phone is on standby most of the time.

 

[MacManTexas56]

I find that very hard to believe unless your phone is on standby most of the time.

exactly. iOS 6 destroyed battery life on my iPhone 4. The wife didn't update and her battery would go all day. but no way 2-3 days.

 

[zhenya]

I find that very hard to believe unless your phone is on standby most of the time.

Of course. Do most people spend all day on their phones every day? I think most of us put in 2-3 hours/day of active use, and the phone sits around otherwise. Standby life is important because it means I can make it 2-4 days without thinking about my battery.

 

[MacManTexas56]

Of course. Do most people spend all day on their phones every day? I think most of us put in 2-3 hours/day of active use, and the phone sits around otherwise. Standby life is important because it means I can make it 2-4 days without thinking about my battery.

you're a very light user then. Of all the devices i own, my iPhone gets used the most.

i stream music via bluetooth to/from work. check work emails/personal email. text messaging of course. i very rarely use it for phone calls though. Then of course checking facebook/macrumors etc. Also stream music via airplay at night. Sure, i could get 5 days battery life if i never used my phone either

 

[daveathall]

My 4 on ios 6 still easily goes 2-3 days between charges, FWIW.

I must admit that my experiences with my iP4 and 4S were similar, weren't on iOS6 though, nevertheless still superb. Come to think of it, all (3GS,4,4S and 5) the iPhones that I owned had really good battery life. (I would class myself as a fairly light user)

 

[dalbir4444]

exactly. iOS 6 destroyed battery life on my iPhone 4. The wife didn't update and her battery would go all day. but no way 2-3 days.

That's the price you sometimes have to pay for being an early adopter. It's the same case with Android 4.2. Some users are reporting that it broke bluetooth functionality on their N7, reduced their battery life, etc. It doesn't happen for all updates, but I still like to wait a few months before updating.

 

[MacManTexas56]

That's the price you sometimes have to pay for being an early adopter. It's the same case with Android 4.2. Some users are reporting that it broke bluetooth functionality on their N7, reduced their battery life, etc. It doesn't happen for all updates, but I still like to wait a few months before updating.

it still has terrible battery life right now with iOS 6

 

[dalbir4444]

Of course. Do most people spend all day on their phones every day? I think most of us put in 2-3 hours/day of active use, and the phone sits around otherwise. Standby life is important because it means I can make it 2-4 days without thinking about my battery.

It's still impressive. I was just saying that unless you have the Razr Maxx HD, you won't be getting this kind of battery life with heavy use.

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it still has terrible battery life right now with iOS 6

That sucks. Is there a way to "downgrade"?

 

[Switchback666]

My biggest issue with LTE is how it was ****** and not worth it couple of months ago....

Benchmarks ? Doesnt matter etc etc couple of months ago....

Power house processor on the iphone 5 ? Hell yeah but what good it is if iOS holds it back....

Like i always say my 4s does the same thing the iphone 5 does minus battery life.

 

[LostSoul80]

Poor battery? Poor camera? Sources, please?

 

[dalbir4444]

Poor battery? Poor camera? Sources, please?

 

[aristobrat]

No LTE = Not worth buying? U guys serious?

You people are talking as if HSPA+ is not fast enough. Speeds of 5-10mbps is already fast enough for your mobile usage, sometimes even more than necessary. You don't need 40-60mbps to browse the web or watch videos, for god's sake.

People who say "no LTE = No brainer" are just too rigid with their thinking.

FWIW, the #1 wireless carrier in the US (Verizon), along with the #3 (Sprint), are CDMA based. So it's either 1xRTT for 3G (where speeds are often 300-600kbps down) or LTE.

So that's 120 million US wireless customers for whom LTE is the only decently-fast connection method. That's about twice the size of the population of the UK, or ~20x the population of Singapore.

I don't think it's "rigid thinking" to call the lack of LTE support an issue for many people.

 

[daveathall]

FWIW, the #1 wireless carrier in the US (Verizon), along with the #3 (Sprint), are CDMA based. So it's either 1xRTT for 3G (where speeds are often 300-600kbps down) or LTE.

So that's 120 million wireless customers for whom LTE is the only decently-fast connection method.

Surely you can see why not having LTE for these folks can be a deal breaker. There's nothing "rigid" about it.

You make a fair point, but, how many of the 120 million customers you mention have LTE enabled phones? Bearing in mind that the iPhone 5 has only been out a couple of months.

 

[MacManTexas56]

It's still impressive. I was just saying that unless you have the Razr Maxx HD, you won't be getting this kind of battery life with heavy use.

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That sucks. Is there a way to "downgrade"?

haven't really looked into it as I have iPhone 5 now. actually need to sell both 4's lol

 

[strausd]

Glad to hear that. How are you finding the battery to be now that you've recharged it a few times?

Hard to tell still. I am currently still kind of in the "honeymoon phase" and am constantly using it. So usage patterns are not equivalent to what my 4S would be.

However, I do think that if I had the same usage patterns on my 4S that I do with the N4, the 4S would still have slightly better battery life. I installed JuiceDefender and have noticed a slight increase in battery life.

I think the big deciding factor will be tomorrow when I go back to school and won't be on it at all times of the day. Then usage patterns will be more similar.

I have also noticed that when playing games, it can get fairly hot. Not a big deal for me as I don't play games that often.

So yes, there are a few downfalls. But I have yet to find a phone that is absolutely perfect. But as a whole, I think this has a slight edge over my 4S. Bigger screen is fantastic, NFC is cool (bought some ice cream at Braums yesterday, who knew they would take it!), widgets are nice, free Google music is fantastic, instant upload to G+ is very useful, love power toggles, wifi hotspot without rooting or even having to download a third party app, and as a whole it can just do so much more.

I feel like the iPhone is trying to be too much like a cell phone. And that may sound all fine and dandy, but its not a cell phone, it is a smartphone. But the N4 is really a great mix of a small laptop and a cell phone in terms of usability. And by this I mean being able to set a default browser, which any laptop can do, sending more than one attachment in an email, and when uploading an attachment being able to choose if I want to attach from my gallery, file system, or Dropbox is fantastic. All of this stuff I can do on my rMBP. And Apple really limited the functionality of the iPhone in my view. But the Nexus 4 brings back that functionality in a usable manner.

 

[Switchback666]

4s have better battery life ? Now that i cant take, i hope that your just using the heck out of the nexus 4 because less battery than the 4s will be a deal breaker for me im on backorder so i will continue to read you guys journey with the phone till i can.

 

[dalbir4444]

Hard to tell still. I am currently still kind of in the "honeymoon phase" and am constantly using it. So usage patterns are not equivalent to what my 4S would be.

However, I do think that if I had the same usage patterns on my 4S that I do with the N4, the 4S would still have slightly better battery life. I installed JuiceDefender and have noticed a slight increase in battery life.

I think the big deciding factor will be tomorrow when I go back to school and won't be on it at all times of the day. Then usage patterns will be more similar.

I have also noticed that when playing games, it can get fairly hot. Not a big deal for me as I don't play games that often.

So yes, there are a few downfalls. But I have yet to find a phone that is absolutely perfect. But as a whole, I think this has a slight edge over my 4S. Bigger screen is fantastic, NFC is cool (bought some ice cream at Braums yesterday, who knew they would take it!), widgets are nice, free Google music is fantastic, instant upload to G+ is very useful, love power toggles, wifi hotspot without rooting or even having to download a third party app, and as a whole it can just do so much more.

I feel like the iPhone is trying to be too much like a cell phone. And that may sound all fine and dandy, but its not a cell phone, it is a smartphone. But the N4 is really a great mix of a small laptop and a cell phone in terms of usability. And by this I mean being able to set a default browser, which any laptop can do, sending more than one attachment in an email, and when uploading an attachment being able to choose if I want to attach from my gallery, file system, or Dropbox is fantastic. All of this stuff I can do on my rMBP. And Apple really limited the functionality of the iPhone in my view. But the Nexus 4 brings back that functionality in a usable manner.

Thanks for the mini-review. Are you going to root your phone?

 

[strausd]

4s have better battery life ? Now that i cant take, i hope that your just using the heck out of the nexus 4 because less battery than the 4s will be a deal breaker for me im on backorder so i will continue to read you guys journey with the phone till i can.

In my experience so far that is the case. But again, usage patterns are not equivalent in my view. I generally get about 4-5 hours on screen-on time before the battery dies if that helps.

Thanks for the mini-review. Are you going to root your phone?

I am thinking about it. I am pretty new to Android as is so I am a little hesitant at the moment.

What would be some of the main benefits?

 

[dalbir4444]

I am thinking about it. I am pretty new to Android as is so I am a little hesitant at the moment.

What would be some of the main benefits?

Here's a thread I opened a week ago. It might help you out:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1493445/

 

[Switchback666]

In my experience so far that is the case. But again, usage patterns are not equivalent in my view. I generally get about 4-5 hours on screen-on time before the battery dies if that helps.



I am thinking about it. I am pretty new to Android as is so I am a little hesitant at the moment.

What would be some of the main benefits?

4-5hrs of seems good, i get 3-4hrs of usage on the 4s with brightness at 50%.

Lot of use tapatalk, skype and whatsapp little youtube.

 

[strausd]

Here's a thread I opened a week ago. It might help you out:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1493445/

Thanks for the link. I think the thing that will really make me want to root is an easy way to hide on screen nav buttons. I saw someone mention it there, but it doesn't look like what I am looking for. I would love to have a swipe up from the bottom of the screen to show them. Or press the power button + volume up button to show/hide them.

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4-5hrs of seems good, i get 3-4hrs of usage on the 4s with brightness at 50%.

Lot of use tapatalk, skype and whatsapp little youtube.

For me it is mainly Chrome, Skype, K9, and some cut the rope every now and then

And I also use JuiceDefender (did I say that already?) and I think that has helped a bit. And I keep the brightness nearly all the way down.