Nexus 5, LG G2 or Galaxy S4?

[Yev91]

Hey all, So I am in the market for a new phone and I wanted to finally give Android a try for the first time. After some research I have concluded that on paper the LG G2 was the best and I got excited thinking I have finally decided which to get...

We all know that just because it is good on paper that does not mean the actual user experience is good. I would have chosen the Nexus 5 hands down if I could get the 32GB and it had a better camera but mainly the storage is my main concerns. However I mostly care about the camera which the G2 and S4 have the most megapixel, and it is a known fact that the Nexus camera is not that great but it is improving, correct? Oh and the G2 has low light issues which is a turn off otherwise I would have went with it.

I am probably going to end up deciding between Nexus 5 and Galaxy S4(w/ Nova Launcher). I want an overall good phone hardware and software wise that I will not regret getting over the other.

PS, are there any new phones that are coming out soon that will satisfy most of my needs in one package?

Thanks!

 

[srkmagnus]

There have been no recent announcements or leaks to suggest an upcoming release of a new phone that's worth drooling over. I'd imagine that will change in the coming months. You might want to stop by your local retailer and get a feel for the devices and see which of the three feel good to you. Seems like you've done a lot of research, so it's only a matter of selecting the right one.

 

[Haalcyon]

Hey all, So I am in the market for a new phone and I wanted to finally give Android a try for the first time. After some research I have concluded that on paper the LG G2 was the best and I got excited thinking I have finally decided which to get...

We all know that just because it is good on paper that does not mean the actual user experience is good. I would have chosen the Nexus 5 hands down if I could get the 32GB and it had a better camera but mainly the storage is my main concerns. However I mostly care about the camera which the G2 and S4 have the most megapixel, and it is a known fact that the Nexus camera is not that great but it is improving, correct? Oh and the G2 has low light issues which is a turn off otherwise I would have went with it.

I am probably going to end up deciding between Nexus 5 and Galaxy S4(w/ Nova Launcher). I want an overall good phone hardware and software wise that I will not regret getting over the other.

PS, are there any new phones that are coming out soon that will satisfy most of my needs in one package?

Thanks!

There's quite price difference between the Nexus 5 and S4. If you're going to consider the S4 I'd recommend the GPE.

 

[Yev91]

There have been no recent announcements or leaks to suggest an upcoming release of a new phone that's worth drooling over. I'd imagine that will change in the coming months. You might want to stop by your local retailer and get a feel for the devices and see which of the three feel good to you. Seems like you've done a lot of research, so it's only a matter of selecting the right one.

Well that is good, I honestly don't see why 2k screens and what not are worth it...

There's quite price difference between the Nexus 5 and S4. If you're going to consider the S4 I'd recommend the GPE.

The price does not matter much since its a contract and I will not pay full price for the phone.

Oh I also remembered that the Galaxy S4 does not have OIS, and coming from a Lumia 920 I will only see this as a downgrade.
I feel like I am going to choose the Nexus 5 but the G2 just has so much extra.. Is there any hope that LG will update the G2 so that the camera is not so horrible in low light? Can I just use a 3rd party camera app to improve quality?

 

[ffejjj]

Having and using the G2, I'd be hard pressed to choose another phone over it

Sent from my HTCONE using AC Forums mobile app

 

[Yev91]

Having and using the G2, I'd be hard pressed to choose another phone over it

Sent from my HTCONE using AC Forums mobile app

May I ask how so? Just looking for opinions.

 

[SactoKingsFan]

I chose the G2 over the S4 and Moto X. It has great battery life, an amazing screen, good camera, zero lag, and charges really fast (<1.5 hrs) . The LG UI is also much better than Samsung's TouchWiz.

Sent from my LG-G2 using Tapatalk

 

[UJ95x]

I chose the G2 over the S4 and Moto X. It has great battery life, an amazing screen, good camera, zero lag, and charges really fast (<1.5 hrs) . The LG UI is also much better than Samsung's TouchWiz.

Sent from my LG-G2 using Tapatalk

The UI looks like a cheap knock-off of TW

Posted via Android Central App

 

[ffejjj]

May I ask how so? Just looking for opinions.

Sure

First (in random order) battery life. I own the HTC One and the G2 (my daughters phone) last at least 2x as long but I'd guess even more. Really the first phone i don't have to constantly worry about battery life.

Next would be the display. Bright vibrant colors but not the cartoonish look of amoled. Viewing angles are fantastic too. They also packed in a large display keeping the device at a manageable size (this is relative of course)

I also like the features the G2 has. The UI is quite user friendly and the Q pairing with the G-Pad is an added bonus

The back buttons are hit our miss, you either like it or hate it it seems. I for one like it as it feels very natural because that's where my index finger naturally sits. The dual notification lights on the front and back helps you from missing calls or texts too.

It just feels like LG put a lot of thought into this phone and I for one really enjoy it



Sent from my HTCONE using AC Forums mobile app

 

[SactoKingsFan]

The UI looks like a cheap knock-off of TW

Posted via Android Central App

I prefer the look of the LG skin. The colors combinations in TW are quite ugly.

Sent from my LG-G2 using Tapatalk

 

[UJ95x]

Well that is good, I honestly don't see why 2k screens and what not are worth it...



The price does not matter much since its a contract and I will not pay full price for the phone.

Oh I also remembered that the Galaxy S4 does not have OIS, and coming from a Lumia 920 I will only see this as a downgrade.
I feel like I am going to choose the Nexus 5 but the G2 just has so much extra.. Is there any hope that LG will update the G2 so that the camera is not so horrible in low light? Can I just use a 3rd party camera app to improve quality?

3rd party apps usually make the camera worse than the default one since it's made for that specific hardware. Out of the 3, the S4 has the best camera. Even without OIS...battery life is exceptional on the S4, but the G2's is even better, N5's is decent. Software experience is best on the N5 and will get updates for the longest time out of these three.
I prefer the SAMOLED panel on the S4 so that gets my vote for display, G2 is second and I really dont like the N5's.
Build quality is a wash, none of the three stands out. Only benefit of the S4 is an SD card and expandable storage

Posted via Android Central App

 

[UJ95x]

I prefer the look of the LG skin. The colors combinations in TW are quite ugly.

Sent from my LG-G2 using Tapatalk

I don't like TW, but I don't think it's ugly either. The LG UI on the other hand, looks really sloppy. Sure, performance is definitely better, but the LG UI is poorly made imo. The Slide Aside thing looks really messy, their dropdown menu is also messy.
We can both agree that neither of them is as good as the Nexus experience

 

[UJ95x]

Sure

I own the HTC One and the G2 (my daughters phone) last at least 2x as long but I'd guess even more.

Sent from my HTCONE using AC Forums mobile app

Is it really that much? I know the G2 has the best battery life of any phone atm, but saying that it's double sounds like an exaggeration
Best I saw on the G2 was around 8 hours, a little over 7 with an HTC One...

 

[SactoKingsFan]

I don't like TW, but I don't think it's ugly either. The LG UI on the other hand, looks really sloppy. Sure, performance is definitely better, but the LG UI is poorly made imo. The Slide Aside thing looks really messy, their dropdown menu is also messy.
We can both agree that neither of them is as good as the Nexus experience

Nexus devices definitely provide the best UI. I also like the UI on recent HTC and Sony phones.

I haven't found much use for slide aside and some other features, but I really like having quick memo.

Sent from my LG-G2 using Tapatalk

 

[Yev91]

Nexus devices definitely provide the best UI. I also like the UI on recent HTC and Sony phones.

I haven't found much use for slide aside and some other features, but I really like having quick memo.

Sent from my LG-G2 using Tapatalk

Is there any way to install a custom notification window? I know it is possible to install a more compact settings menu which I would do... As for the home screen, I think the Nova Launcher will do it for me.

 

[UJ95x]

Is there any way to install a custom notification window? I know it is possible to install a more compact settings menu which I would do... As for the home screen, I think the Nova Launcher will do it for me.

I don't think you can do it on the stock ROM. I had a ROM on my S4 that allowed me to do it with the 3minit framework module

 

[Golfdriver97]

I don't think you can do it on the stock ROM, at least without root you can't. Rooted and using xposed framework you should be able to do it

Not sure if that can be done with Xposed. Maybe, in a Samsung module, but I don't pay attention to those.

From a Sprint Moto X using AC Forums app

 

[SactoKingsFan]

Is there any way to install a custom notification window? I know it is possible to install a more compact settings menu which I would do... As for the home screen, I think the Nova Launcher will do it for me.

I don't think so.

Sent from my LG-G2 using Tapatalk

 

[UJ95x]

Not sure if that can be done with Xposed. Maybe, in a Samsung module, but I don't pay attention to those.

From a Sprint Moto X using AC Forums app

Thanks, fixed it
Not sure if it's a Samsung module but 3minit works...

 

[ffejjj]

Is it really that much? I know the G2 has the best battery life of any phone atm, but saying that it's double sounds like an exaggeration
Best I saw on the G2 was around 8 hours, a little over 7 with an HTC One...

Tomorrow I'll try and post some actual battery data comparison charts. Sadly the answer is yes though. Her G2 and my replacement One were both purchased within the week so not even any degradation to speak of. Battery life alone is making me consider selling my One and buying the G2 outright.

Sent from my HTCONE using AC Forums mobile app