Is the N4 worth it?

[Hubertsng]

After three weeks, I've summed it up to this:

Amazing hardware. Seriously amazing. This could arguably be the best looking Android phone made. Not only that, but it feels so good in your hands. That alone could be a reason to buy this, as it seems many Android devices have sub-par hardware. I will say though...This phone has some serious GPS issues, but that could just be because my phone was from the first batch.

Battery = Awful. Just terrible. Again, this may be an issue with my phone, but the other day, I was at 20% charge, and after a few pictures, it died. It amazed me. Even my old GSII didn't do that. It's charging is also very inconsistent. After it died, I put it in the charger, turned it on, and in 5 minutes it said it was around 35% charge. Seriously, I don't know if this is a serious software/hardware issue, or if something's wrong with my phone, but it's annoying.

Software - Buggy. Yes, Google. Android 4.2 is really buggy. Why is it taking so long to come out with timely updates? 4.2 has great upgrades over 4.1, but why are the bugs so persistent?

Overall - Amazing phone, but Google, you have to fix the battery and bugs. This is an amazing phone ruined by small issues. This phone amazes me one second, and annoys me the next. If it becomes more consistent, this is easily the best phone in the market.

But would you be willing to pay double for less bugs and just a little bit of more battery life?
No? Okay then I guess Nexus 4 is the best phone for its price.

 

[blitz118]

But would you be willing to pay double for less bugs and just a little bit of more battery life?
No? Okay then I guess Nexus 4 is the best phone for its price.

If he wanted to buy a 16G N4 for $350 new right now where would he get it from? You can't find the phone brand new for $350. He might be able to get a used 8G on ebay for, $350, but that's about it. The phone is on back order again, and you have to sit by your computer when it goes back on sale and hope you get lucky to get one.

I paid $640 for my international GN2, and it was worth every penny.

 

[dr_m0x]

I get good battery life. Not quite as good as my sgs3 but it's still acceptable. In addition I've started carrying a small 1800mah external power pack with me. It's not too bulky - slightly larger than a pack of matches - and effectively almost doubles my battery life.

The galaxy note 2 is a fine phone but it's just so huge. It's like carrying around the death star.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[taj7575]

But would you be willing to pay double for less bugs and just a little bit of more battery life?
No? Okay then I guess Nexus 4 is the best phone for its price.

Absolutely I would. It wasn't my decision that it was set at $350 to potentially cut some corners. I was expecting a top of the line pure Google phone.

I don't think corners were fully cut though. There are just a few mistakes that can potentially be fixed.

 

[badbrad17]

Absolutely I would. It wasn't my decision that it was set at $350 to potentially cut some corners. I was expecting a top of the line pure Google phone.

I don't think corners were fully cut though. There are just a few mistakes that can potentially be fixed.

All phones have some issues. This phone will only get better.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[damo]

My battery life sucked, then I turned off auto sync for Gmail - what a difference!

I don't mind manually checking my emails to get a decent battery life



Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[taj7575]

All phones have some issues. This phone will only get better.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

Well, it's a shame. You usually expect to get a refined phone, and expect to get some little bugs to get ironed out.

But honestly, I think this is a pretty buggy phone that has so much potential to be a wonderfully refined, amazing phone.

 

[badbrad17]

Well, it's a shame. You usually expect to get a refined phone, and expect to get some little bugs to get ironed out.

But honestly, I think this is a pretty buggy phone that has so much potential to be a wonderfully refined, amazing phone.

Really? I honestly have had zero problems. Every complaint I have heard is not happening to me other than the camera being marginal in quality. My SGS2 camera was better in some ways. But beyond that it's been perfect.

What is your main complaint with the software? You weren't specific. But keep in mind that although we get the latest updates, Nexus devices are primarily developer phones so we sometimes do feel a few hiccups now and again.

You may also want to do a factory reset. This can work wonders even on a new device.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[taj7575]

Really? I honestly have had zero problems. Every complaint I have heard is not happening to me other than the camera being marginal in quality. My SGS2 camera was better in some ways. But beyond that it's been perfect.

What is your main complaint?

You may want to do a factory reset. This can work wonders even on a new device.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

That's great to hear. But you have to remember again - I've had mine for almost 3 weeks. The first batch has been known to have problems.

Factory reset will only do so much with certain issues.

Perhaps some issues will pop up as you spend more time with the phone. I hope that doesn't happen to you - but it's always possible. But it's hard denying that there certainly are software issues with 4.2. Even Google has acknowledged them.

 

[gone down south]

That's great to hear. But you have to remember again - I've had mine for almost 3 weeks. The first batch has been known to have problems.

Factory reset will only do so much with certain issues.

Perhaps some issues will pop up as you spend more time with the phone. I hope that doesn't happen to you - but it's always possible. But it's hard denying that there certainly are software issues with 4.2. Even Google has acknowledged them.

I got my phone in the first batch, 11am order the day it first went on sale. Absolutely zero problems except over our twice the camera has hung up.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[badbrad17]

That's great to hear. But you have to remember again - I've had mine for almost 3 weeks. The first batch has been known to have problems.

Factory reset will only do so much with certain issues.

Perhaps some issues will pop up as you spend more time with the phone. I hope that doesn't happen to you - but it's always possible. But it's hard denying that there certainly are software issues with 4.2. Even Google has acknowledged them.

Well have you tried the factory reset? Lots of people that have had issues on their Nexus 7's have claimed that things have gotten better. I had a similar experience when my SGS2 and transformer prime tablet got OTA updates. The reset resolved lags and crashes.

And I will also say that if your device is defective then you should return it. Or call Google and speak to them about the problems. This all being said, you still haven't given me any specific issues you are having software wise. I know there are some known problems but these have never affected me. This happens all the time with any OS. They are constantly being updated yet many people never notice the problems. And also keep in mind that many issues are app related and are being resolved with updates from developers.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[taj7575]

Well have you tried the factory reset? Lots of people that have had issues on their Nexus 7's have claimed that things have gotten better. I had a similar experience when my SGS2 and transformer prime tablet got OTA updates. The reset resolved lags and crashes.

And I will also say that if your device is defective then you should return it. Or call Google and speak to them about the problems. This all being said, you still haven't given me any specific issues you are having software wise. I know there are some known problems but these have never affected me. This happens all the time with any OS. They are constantly being updated yet many people never notice the problems. And also keep in mind that many issues are app related and are being resolved with updates from developers.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

I actually have a known defective device. It has the earpiece buzz and GPS issues (it won't lock on even with 20+ satellites in view. Talking to Google service, it is apparently also a known issue).

But aside from that, it's the usual. I have lag to the point where my phone freezes up sometimes, and a lot of force quits, especially on Google apps (the camera especially force quits a lot).

I won't be sending it back until I know google can truly assure me that the device will arrive quickly. I don't like having a $350 charge sitting in the bank, especially when I have no assurance that it shipped, but I'll definitely try a factory reset sometime soon.

 

[Hubertsng]

I actually have a known defective device. It has the earpiece buzz and GPS issues (it won't lock on even with 20+ satellites in view. Talking to Google service, it is apparently also a known issue).

But aside from that, it's the usual. I have lag to the point where my phone freezes up sometimes, and a lot of force quits, especially on Google apps (the camera especially force quits a lot).

I won't be sending it back until I know google can truly assure me that the device will arrive quickly. I don't like having a $350 charge sitting in the bank, especially when I have no assurance that it shipped, but I'll definitely try a factory reset sometime soon.

It won't lock on to 20+ because I think that was set in the device maybe....?

 

[badbrad17]

I actually have a known defective device. It has the earpiece buzz and GPS issues (it won't lock on even with 20+ satellites in view. Talking to Google service, it is apparently also a known issue).

But aside from that, it's the usual. I have lag to the point where my phone freezes up sometimes, and a lot of force quits, especially on Google apps (the camera especially force quits a lot).

I won't be sending it back until I know google can truly assure me that the device will arrive quickly. I don't like having a $350 charge sitting in the bank, especially when I have no assurance that it shipped, but I'll definitely try a factory reset sometime soon.

Okay well then all of your comments are irrelevant. It's like complaining about your new Ferrari because it has a flat tire. You have to get a working model in order to give your real opinion. When you have what so many of us have you will be a happy camper.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[6tr6tr]

I keep reading all these complaints about the Nexus 4- battery life, build quality, etc- and I'm wondering what I should do? I'm leaving VZW on Feb 10th, and I'm between the N4, the HOX+, and the GSIII. I love the idea of a Nexus device- prompt updates, no carrier bloatware, etc, but I need a decent battery life and good build quality. So, if you left one of these for the N4, I'd love to know if you're happy with your decision, and what your tradeoffs were.

If you disable these apps, the battery life is excellent (see below). especially standby. my previous phone the nexus s would lose 30% over night, but the nexus 4 losses 2-3% overnight.

google+
currents
wallet

and turn off nfc.

 

[MazoMark]

I think the N4 is a great phone. Good enough that I am probably going to port my number to StraighTalk, sell my GS3, and use the money to pay my ETF to Verizon.

I end up with a great phone with latest software that will cost me $60 less per month. Plus I can use my N4 when I travel outside the US on business with a local SIM and save there as well.

Freedom from US carrier nonsense plus >$700/yr in my pocket rather than Verizon's. What's not to love about this phone!

 

[Jeremy8000]

My opinion of it today if I were only going to use the phone for 6 months:

• "Meh, it's okay, but not a huge upgrade over the One X+ or the Galaxy S3."

My opinion of it today knowing I'll be keeping the phone for the better part of 2 years:

• "Yes, hands down, best phone ever!"

What makes this phone special (like other Nexus devices) is that two years into the agreement it will still be ripening with the latest software, not rotting with what will have become a substantially outdated version.

Generally speaking, software trumps hardware.

One can point to the lack of breadth of LTE support, but as a T-mo user I'm not concerned about that at all until T-mo shuts down their HSPA+ (where I live, I get consistently lower ping, double the download speed, and only slightly lower upload speeds with T-mo HSPA+42 vs Verizon LTE; YMMV) which won't be until their LTE network is fully deployed, at the earliest, and that won't be for over two years. As to the limitation of only having 16GB storage, that's a complete non-issue for me as it has been a non-issue for me on my Nexus 7 tablet. I'm able to keep a couple of movies and several games on the device, and have no need to keep my full collection at hand.

 

[Hubertsng]

As Jeremy said it isn't that huge of an upgrade (have I said this before? Dunno) but it's cheap for a phone that good.
I also heard that T-mobile is working on using only the LTE radio (in the Nexus 4) for LTE which could be nice but it's only a rumor that I heard and forgot where i heard it from....
the limitation isn't an issue with the storage for there is google play with 20000 songs uploaded onto cloud and a lot of other cloud services (including a free 50GB from box.com) that you can put stuff in.

 

[TheLibertarian]

All phones have some issues. This phone will only get better.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

This.

The hardware is absolutely terrific, the software is constantly tweaked and massaged into perfection. Plus, there may be more issues with the first few batches of the phone simply due to, well, being then first batches of a new product.

 

[TheLibertarian]

As Jeremy said it isn't that huge of an upgrade (have I said this before? Dunno) but it's cheap for a phone that good.
I also heard that T-mobile is working on using only the LTE radio (in the Nexus 4) for LTE which could be nice but it's only a rumor that I heard and forgot where i heard it from....
the limitation isn't an issue with the storage for there is google play with 20000 songs uploaded onto cloud and a lot of other cloud services (including a free 50GB from box.com) that you can put stuff in.

It's just speculation regarding T-Mobile and the N4's LTE as, coincidentally, T-Mobile will be the only U.S. carrier running that specific band of LTE. I still believe the N4 is lacking hardware to run LTE effectively.