Upgrade from Nexus 4?

[broodle]

Would you say the Nexus 5x is a good upgrade from the Nexus 4?

The camera on the Nexus 4 sucks, I know that. But I've heard there's some lag on the Nexus 5x and I've never really noticed lag on my Nexus 4. The 5x is big too big for my taste, but I don't really have much options. I have loved Android and vanilla Android.

The only other problems with my current phone I are: there's a small band across the middle where tap is not receptive. The battery only lasts for around a day - this is the third battery. The USB port is kindof loose so I have to wiggle the cable to get it to charge. Oh and there are some places in my office where there's no reception.

 

[ccrs8]

I personally think it's a good upgrade from Nexus 4, especially if you are sticking to the Nexus lineup of phones. However, you seem to like the size of the Nexus 4 and you clearly don't need to be on the cutting edge (good for you - it gets expensive!), so my suggestion to you would be to browse around Craigslist or eBay for a used Nexus 5 just to see what's out there.

Pros:
1) same size as Nexus 4
2) Most recent version of Android and patches straight from Google (unlike Nexus 4)
3) cheap - I'm seeing them for about $80-$90
4) a year newer hardware than your current phone
5) has LTE - unlike the Nexus 4

Cons:
1) still more than two years old hardware
2) potential risk of buying used phone
3) battery isn't much better

I have the Nexus 5x while my wife has my old Nexus 5. We're both on the most recent version of Android. There are days where I'm jealous of her - I loved that phone.

 

[mr_nobody]

I personally would not buy an n5 at this point.

Also, I have not personally experienced any noticeable lag on the 5x. I think people who have problems with this are running one or more badly behaved apps (probably social media) which I don't have installed so ymmv...

 

[egdonald]

My opinion won't do you so good, but I upgraded from the N4 to the N5x. The camera is a lot better. The N4 camera would often take grainy photos or poor photos in low light situations, sometimes even where sunlight is good.

I had the N4 since November 2013. It's survived 2 international trips as a significant part of photographic memories. I upgraded to the N5x after a significant decline in battery life; it'd last just barely through the day with fairly light use. I will say that it's my belief that the cellular signal was the most drain on battery. I use the N4 as a work phone, with only WiFi and no cellular use, and it'll last through the day with moderate email and calendar use.

 

[broodle]

Thanks about the advice about the Nexus 5. I'll check out the prices there. I presume the camera is considerably better than the Nexus 4 cam?

I was also thinking about the Nexus 5x because of the recent $199 deal if you buy it with Project Fi. I was thinking I might try that out, but I don't really have anything pushing me over the edge.

 

[libra89]

I personally would not buy an n5 at this point.

Also, I have not personally experienced any noticeable lag on the 5x. I think people who have problems with this are running one or more badly behaved apps (probably social media) which I don't have installed so ymmv...

Same, I never had any lag in my experience. I failed to see this lag that everyone was talking about. Not on the cameras, not in changing tasks or anything. Please don't let those people discourage you from giving it a try.

 

[ccrs8]

Thanks about the advice about the Nexus 5. I'll check out the prices there. I presume the camera is considerably better than the Nexus 4 cam?

I was also thinking about the Nexus 5x because of the recent $199 deal if you buy it with Project Fi. I was thinking I might try that out, but I don't really have anything pushing me over the edge.

The camera is better on the Nexus 5 than the Nexus 4. However, the camera on the 5x is CONSIDERABLY better than the Nexus 5.

 

[mr_nobody]

Another thing to consider which I think has become clear in the last couple days: the n5 will likely NOT get android N from google (there might be custom roms of course). I think we could see this coming...just because a device is capable of running the new OS does not mean google wants to spend the necessary resources to build for that device especially when it is so old...

 

[egdonald]

Another thing to consider which I think has become clear in the last couple days: the n5 will likely NOT get android N from google (there might be custom roms of course). I think we could see this coming...just because a device is capable of running the new OS does not mean google wants to spend the necessary resources to build for that device especially when it is so old...

I got that impression too - but I thought the whole concept of the Nexus line was an attempt to make the phone and/or the OS (ie. Android) "plain" enough to fit on a variety of phones. I understand that may be easier said than done - just my original understanding.
For example, to compete with the iPhone-iOS convention, where even 2-3 generation-old phones can receive the latest iOS updates - though performance may be affected.

 

[mr_nobody]

I got that impression too - but I thought the whole concept of the Nexus line was an attempt to make the phone and/or the OS (ie. Android) "plain" enough to fit on a variety of phones. I understand that may be easier said than done - just my original understanding.
For example, to compete with the iPhone-iOS convention, where even 2-3 generation-old phones can receive the latest iOS updates - though performance may be affected.

The problem is every phone has different hardware which requires different drivers for each version of the OS, so that is work which they would rather not do...

[edit]: And in your apple example, apple controls all the hardware while google is not building the nexus phones, different oems are...