Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

[smileman]

Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

With the N4 also getting KitKat the two big improvements I was hoping for from the N5 over the N4 were battery life and camera.

On camera, it sounds like Google has managed to make some improvements to the camera hardware with OIS. However, and somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but the big boost, HDR+, will also be coming to the N4 with KitKat. I also wasn't personally all that blown away by the benefits of OIS in Alex's N5 video. Still choppy and shaky, IMO. But I have been genuinely impressed by what HDR+ can deliver.

On battery life, why of why couldn't have Google learned from the relatively atrocious N4 battery life and given people the option of getting the LG G2s 3,000 mAh battery with the N5? To hear that the N5 offers basically the same subpar battery performance as the N4 is a major, major letdown. Nexus users are generally power users, and not having a power packed battery for this market is unforgivable miss on Google's part.

In conclusion, if you only need 16GB of storage what are you left with in terms of differences between the N4 and N5?

-Same KitKat
-Same RAM size.
-Basically same form factor
-A faster processor, yes, but no real way to take full advantage of it for probably some time

The only strong reason left to upgrade seems to be to be the 1080p screen. But for a lot of people 720p on the N4 is just fine.

Sadly, the N5 is looking less and less like the automatic upgrade I thought it would be.

 

[N4Newbie]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

No problem, dude! We'll see you on the other side (when the next major device is released next fall).

 

[F123D]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

Yes, battery and camera could've been improved but a larger 1080p screen and LTE alone make it a huge upgrade for me. I passed on the N4 due to LTE.

 

[smileman]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

LTE alone make it a huge upgrade for me

The N5's LTE situation is another major annoyance.

There are two different versions of the N5 with different LTE bands, one for the U.S. and another for the ROW. And that ROW includes Canada, btw, because the North American LTE bands selected for the North American N5 doesn't include the strongest Canadian LTE band. Well done, Google).

So I called Google Play to see about purchasing the worldphone version (D821) in the U.S. and nope, they won't sell it there. You have to purchase that version in the UK or some other place besides the U.S.

Why Google couldn't have made the N5 the one phone for one world, like they did with the N4, when Apple, for example, had no problem including all the major world and U.S. LTE bands in the iPhone 5S is another major disappointment.

Instead N5 users who travel internationally are going to be stuck with a gimped LTE device.

 

[smileman]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

And don't get me wrong, I think the N5 is a really good value and a pretty compelling phone for most people.

But for N4 owners who were hoping to see significant upgrades in the battery and camera department, as well as still have an LTE worldphone, I find it disappointing.

 

[Gekko]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

.
i'm coming from a Sprint G-Nex to a Nexus 5 (on AT&T GoPhone) and it is a nice upgrade. my strategy will probably be to buy every other Nexus (ie skip one in between) UNLESS there's some huge killer feature added. i see no problem with N4 owners who are happy waiting for the next Nexus - however LTE on AT&T is HUGE. i think skipping every other device makes sense but it all comes down to personal preference. sometimes you just don't realize what you're missing - ignorance is bliss - like with me on a Sprint G-Nex.

 

[klau25]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

The N5's LTE situation is another major annoyance.

There are two different versions of the N5 with different LTE bands, one for the U.S. and another for the ROW. And that ROW includes Canada, btw, because the North American LTE bands selected for the North American N5 doesn't include the strongest Canadian LTE band. Well done, Google).

So I called Google Play to see about purchasing the worldphone version (D821) in the U.S. and nope, they won't sell it there. You have to purchase that version in the UK or some other place besides the U.S.

Why Google couldn't have made the N5 the one phone for one world, like they did with the N4, when Apple, for example, had no problem including all the major world and U.S. LTE bands in the iPhone 5S is another major disappointment.

Instead N5 users who travel internationally are going to be stuck with a gimped LTE device.

just a curiosity, how often you travel outside of the US?

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Fairclough]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

I think in short this thread says;
Nexus 4 is still a great phone with its let downs due to a camera and battery life.
Nexus 5 is believed to be similar,for a nexus 4 user why upgrade.


Personally I couldn't justify shelling out a few hundred to upgrade. I have higher priorities and my phone can last at least another year.

- Android Central App. Remember courage is contagious.

 

[RickInHouston]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

It's not for you, dude. Either pic an android phone that suits your needs or move to Windows or apple.

Everyone loves them their apples. I bet you would too!

oh, and the usual crap you get on Macrumors... you'll be back.

 

[Rule9]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

The N5's LTE situation is another major annoyance.

There are two different versions of the N5 with different LTE bands, one for the U.S. and another for the ROW. And that ROW includes Canada, btw, because the North American LTE bands selected for the North American N5 doesn't include the strongest Canadian LTE band. Well done, Google).

You might be interested to know that even the iPhone 5S doesn't support the LTE band you're talking about in Canada either. FYI the band he's referring to is Band 7 / 2600Mhz (which Rogers ("Robbers") is calling "LTE Max"). There's a reason why so many smartphone manufacturers are NOT putting band 7 on Canadian phones and it's because it's well away from being a mature network here, as opposed to Europe. Let's look at some facts about band 7 in Canada:

• still in it's fledgling stages, very limited number of markets in Canada have it so far
• Real world testing - as opposed to the advertised speeds! -shows the DL/UL speeds aren't much better than the more widely adopted Band 4 AWS in Canada
• Band 7 has a reputation, at least in Canada, for having poor building penetration. That's a major deal breaker for me

This is quite typical of Robbers Canada. Do a poor launch of a new technology and hype it up with misleading advertising.

The bottom line is that any phone you buy right NOW in Canada is going to be supported by the widest and most stable LTE coverage currently available in Canada for the life of that phone - band 4 AWS. And if by some miracle these slow as syrup Canadian carriers do roll out something with better speed, reliability, and coverage than the current LTE infrastructure before 2016 or so (in which case I will eat a moose, raw) then I'll simply replace it. That's the beauty of a $350 flagship. Thanks Google! Nonetheless Cdn carriers aren't going to move that fast anyway.

 

[maj71303]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

You might be interested to know that even the iPhone 5S doesn't support the LTE band you're talking about in Canada either. FYI the band he's referring to is Band 7 / 2600Mhz (which Rogers ("Robbers") is calling "LTE Max"). There's a reason why so many smartphone manufacturers are NOT putting band 7 on Canadian phones and it's because it's well away from being a mature network here, as opposed to Europe. Let's look at some facts about band 7 in Canada:

• still in it's fledgling stages, very limited number of markets in Canada have it so far
• Real world testing - as opposed to the advertised speeds! -shows the DL/UL speeds aren't much better than the more widely adopted Band 4 AWS in Canada
• Band 7 has a reputation, at least in Canada, for having poor building penetration. That's a major deal breaker for me

This is quite typical of Robbers Canada. Do a poor launch of a new technology and hype it up with misleading advertising.

The bottom line is that any phone you buy right NOW in Canada is going to be supported by the widest and most stable LTE coverage currently available in Canada for the life of that phone - band 4 AWS. And if by some miracle these slow as syrup Canadian carriers do roll out something with better speed, reliability, and coverage than the current LTE infrastructure before 2016 or so (in which case I will eat a moose, raw) then I'll simply replace it. That's the beauty of a $350 flagship. Thanks Google! Nonetheless Cdn carriers aren't going to move that fast anyway.

Some folks don't get the band game like you said. The upper bands are for distance which in turns hurt them on building penetration. The lower bands get you building penetration but the drawback is distance is not a great. The reason is just like you said on the canadian band 7 is that it is not used as widely as the other bands so makes why include it in the current phone if it will take years to see real benefit if any.

 

[ScottsoNJ]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

With the N4 also getting KitKat the two big improvements I was hoping for from the N5 over the N4 were battery life and camera.

On camera, it sounds like Google has managed to make some improvements to the camera hardware with OIS. However, and somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but the big boost, HDR+, will also be coming to the N4 with KitKat. I also wasn't personally all that blown away by the benefits of OIS in Alex's N5 video. Still choppy and shaky, IMO. But I have been genuinely impressed by what HDR+ can deliver.

On battery life, why of why couldn't have Google learned from the relatively atrocious N4 battery life and given people the option of getting the LG G2s 3,000 mAh battery with the N5? To hear that the N5 offers basically the same subpar battery performance as the N4 is a major, major letdown. Nexus users are generally power users, and not having a power packed battery for this market is unforgivable miss on Google's part.

In conclusion, if you only need 16GB of storage what are you left with in terms of differences between the N4 and N5?

-Same KitKat
-Same RAM size.
-Basically same form factor
-A faster processor, yes, but no real way to take full advantage of it for probably some time

The only strong reason left to upgrade seems to be to be the 1080p screen. But for a lot of people 720p on the N4 is just fine.

Sadly, the N5 is looking less and less like the automatic upgrade I thought it would be.

The Nexus 5 has a slightly bigger battery,bigger better display,GG3,LTE,more storage capacity,newer faster processor and a better camera. Albeit some improvements might not be earth shattering but it's the next version of the phone from the Nexus 4. And to keep the price point affordable I think they had to skimp on some things.

 

[maj71303]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

The Nexus 5 has a slightly bigger battery,bigger better display,GG3,LTE,more storage capacity,newer faster processor and a better camera. Albeit some improvements might not be earth shattering but it's the next version of the phone from the Nexus 4. And to keep the price point affordable I think they had to skimp on some things.

This what I don't understand with some posters you can't have everything for $349 or $399. If you want every tick box checked then the Nexus 5 is not for you and you need to get a Galaxy note 3. If you want the phone to stay at a decent price you have to give up some things, if you want the latest tech in the phone it cost some money to do it and you will pay more for the phone. Its indeed not an earth shattering phone but show me a phone in the same unsubsidized off contract price.....(I don't mean carrier subsidized price) and say it can do better. You can't find another phone like this in this price range, so folks quit complaining about it doesn't have this or this and be glad at least Google makes it happen with this price range for just your enjoyment.

 

[smileman]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

I think in short this thread says;
Nexus 4 is still a great phone with its let downs due to a camera and battery life.
Nexus 5 is believed to be similar,for a nexus 4 user why upgrade.

exactly.

 

[anon5664829]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

It's not for you, dude. Either pic an android phone that suits your needs or move to Windows or apple.

Everyone loves them their apples. I bet you would too!

oh, and the usual crap you get on Macrumors... you'll be back.

Wow really? He's just not happy with the upgrade. He is still happy with his Nexus 4. No need for that attitude.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Andrawer]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

Thanks for letting us know you're passing!

 

[mcelmeel17]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

I gotta say, the difference between the clarity on my n5 compared to my n4 is stunning. The 1080p screen is that nice. I put on the same video, LeBron James top plays of 2012-2013, and the difference is huge! Go 1080p go!

Posted via Android Central App

 

[kalo88]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

Wait so can I just confirm, have you used a Nexus 5 or just watched a few reviews on youtube?

I find the camera to be VERY good, I can zoom in on photos and there's no noise and it's extremely clear...the camera has far exceeded what I expected to be honest.
I'm not having an issue with battery life, I can go all day and still not have to charge it.

 

[srkmagnus]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

Keep in mind that a better battery and camera may no have been achievable at this price point and physical design.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[kalo88]

Re: Between the N5's underwhelming battery and the "Insanely Not-Great" camera, I'll pass for now

Keep in mind that a better battery and camera may no have been achievable at this price point and physical design.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using AC Forums mobile app

I find both better compared to my N4.