TheVerge and Engadget reviews disagree over CPU, battery and display

[DirkBelig]

Anyone else notice how HORRID the Photosphere is looking in these review photos? I will say that my wife's panorama mode on the iPhone is awesome! Hopefully Photosphere will improve with time.

That's because they're doing it wrong. Traditional 360-degree photos are done with a fish-eye lens and - this is really key - the end of the lens being in the same position to prevent parallax errors. There are special tripod mounts for panoramas that fix the nodal point of the lens so that the back of the camera swings around, not the lens barrel like a tank turret.

Instead of holding the phone out and swinging it around like it's on the end of a boom, Photosphere shots should be done with the phone/camera being kept in the same spot and the user walking around that point. This video demonstrates the technique:

Check out the related videos on the sidebar at YouTube for more on how it's properly done.

 

[anon(847090)]

verge reviewer is an isheep. cant expect more from him.

 

[bdavis89]

Android has had panorama mode for a while now, photosphere is something different and new.

So far I haven't seen too many bad reviews, but I haven't read Engadget, just the Verge. I think his review was pretty good. He wasn't rly bashing the thing for cracking, simply saying it happened. At least thats what I take from it.

His review basically said, this phone is amazing if you can live with the drawbacks that we have already known about for the last few days.

Battery life is something these ppl shouldn't even be talking about, it'll likely get better over time. Normally when you first get a device you are on it 24 hours stress testing it to death, especially if you need to write a review on it. It's not telling of what an everyday normal users experience will and should be.

Sorry, I just haven't been able to get panorama photos on an android phone that come anywhere near as good as the new iPhone feature. Part of it might be me using a 2.5 year old phone. Its not a dealbreaker for me, but would be very nice.

Engadget bashes it because of the performance and poor battery life (based on their standard video test every device goes through), yet the Verge makes no remarks, so I'm just unsure of what to make of it all.

 

[DirkBelig]

The panoramas that I get from my Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch Long Name Phone are consistently satisfactory and I'm a photographer.

Here are a few examples:

 

[bdavis89]

The panoramas that I get from my Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch Long Name Phone are consistently satisfactory and I'm a photographer.

Here are a few examples:

Those look great! Thanks! I have renewed confidence and excitement

 

[Zorachus]

@ The Verge review;

I used to think Josh was pretty open minded, but thinking he is a big Apple fan.

He loved the iPhone 4 and 4S, not knocking the glass back on it, but now the Nexus 4 sucks for having a glass back ? Same with no LTE, the iPhone4S didn't have LTE, and last Fall, a lot of new high end Android phones had LTE and 4G options. Now all of a sudden that is a deal breaker, because the iPhone5 has it.

And a ton of other reviewers crying no sd/card, said all new phones in 2012 MUST have an sd/card option, but the iPhone has NEVER had that either, and never will, now that is a huge knock against the Nexus. Actually the Nexus hasn't had an sd/card for awhile now.

I am not dissing the iPhone5, I think it's a nice phone once a Jailbreak is available, but stock, no thanks. I will still take a Nexus 4 with no sd/card, and the glass back, and non removable battery, actually sounds a lot like a fruit branded device now, that gets rave reviews

 

[six8]

engadget is and always will be an isheep site.

Yup! I stopped viewing anything they spew

 

[anon(847090)]

@ The Verge review;

I used to think Josh was pretty open minded, but thinking he is a big Apple fan.

He loved the iPhone 4 and 4S, not knocking the glass back on it, but now the Nexus 4 sucks for having a glass back ? Same with no LTE, the iPhone4S didn't have LTE, and last Fall, a lot of new high end Android phones had LTE and 4G options. Now all of a sudden that is a deal breaker, because the iPhone5 has it.

And a ton of other reviewers crying no sd/card, said all new phones in 2012 MUST have an sd/card option, but the iPhone has NEVER had that either, and never will, now that is a huge knock against the Nexus. Actually the Nexus hasn't had an sd/card for awhile now.

I am not dissing the iPhone5, I think it's a nice phone once a Jailbreak is available, but stock, no thanks. I will still take a Nexus 4 with no sd/card, and the glass back, and non removable battery, actually sounds a lot like a fruit branded device now, that gets rave reviews

exactly what i wanted to say!!! he is a douche

 

[DirkBelig]

Those look great! Thanks! I have renewed confidence and excitement

Thanks. The secret is to go slow with the pan. I find that if I rush it, it adds both motion blur and the phone is hurrying to find places to overlap. I used to have to use Photoshop to put together panos and the way it did it was fascinating, but the quality that comes out of this phone usually amazes me. While no cell phone can replace a serious camera and lens, I'm not going to be lugging a Canon 7D and L lens around; my phone is always with me. The best camera is the one you have with you.

@ The Verge review;

He loved the iPhone 4 and 4S, not knocking the glass back on it, but now the Nexus 4 sucks for having a glass back ?

The Wired reviewer dropped his and it didn't break. That's why it got a 9/10 there while Josh punished it. Or something.

 

[klau25]

actually, he's not even close to an apple fan boy, funny thing is they always get complains being android fanboy, i guess most of you don't listen to the verge podcast. they are actually pretty good and funny. the thing is, i feel most ppl call these reviewers apple/android/window fanboy whenever they see a reveiw they don't like. bet you, all the apple fanboys are reading his reviews and call him an android fanboy right now.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

Josh from the Verge has been using a Galaxy Nexus as his personal device just about exclusively since it came out (barring the phones he uses for reviewing of course). He's far from an Apple fanboy (now, wasn't always the case).

Also, you can't read a review that was done over a year ago (in the case of the iPhone 4S) and expect it to sound the same as a review does now. The landscape has changed. The technology has changed. The market has changed, and so have the networks the phones run on.

Unfortunately, things get judged against the iPhone. It's just a fact of life. The 4S not having LTE made it OK and ACCEPTABLE for Android phones not to have it, but Android phones having it made it a sore spot for the iPhone. Now that the iPhone has it, many people feel that there is no longer any excuse for a high-end phone to lack it. Well, those people probably don't understand the point of the Nexus program, and for them there are other devices to use.

If you're an Android fan and have the capability to get the phone then guess what? You're probably going to want the phone. Why? Because it's a Nexus. And as a Nexus it makes no compromises. The best SoC, the best display (tied), a camera that actually takes good pictures, good build quality.

I understand different people need/want different features, and that's fine. If the Nexus doesn't have those then there are plenty of other high-end devices that do. And for those of you that skip this to get a phone with LTE and you're on AT&T, thank you for making my HSPA+ faster.

 

[anon(1019781)]

@ The Verge review;

I used to think Josh was pretty open minded, but thinking he is a big Apple fan.

He posted probably one of the most negative reviews the iPhone 5 got when it came out. I don't think he's an Apple fanboy anymore. If you read his reviews, he has been calling iOS "boring" and Android "innovative" and he's said that Android is much more useful to him than iOS is and uses Android the majority of the time as his phone OS.

 

[DirkBelig]

If you want to really shake your head in disbelief, check out the LAPTOP magazine review: Google Nexus 4 Review | Android Smartphones

Like just about everyone else, they bash it mercilessly for not having LTE. Where they get crazy is going out of their way to complain about the speaker - not the earpiece - but the speaker for not being hi-fi enough when playing Queen and Kanye West. Then they bash it this way: "Competitors have more innovative features." I had to read it twice to find out what they were talking about and then spotted a paragraph slobbering over the Galaxy S III's TouchWiz features. I don't think it'd be unfair to characterize the author as being a "GS3 fanboy." Considering they didn't have final code on their review unit, to slate the N4 for not having the features of one specific phone strikes me as a little weird.

 

[dmmarck]

verge reviewer is an isheep. cant expect more from him.

Topolsky adores his GNex .

 

[dmmarck]

He probably posted one of the most negative reviews the iPhone 5 got when it came out. I don't think he's an Apple fanboy anymore. If you read his reviews, he has been calling iOS "boring" and Android "innovative" and he's said that Android is much more useful to him than iOS is and uses Android the majority of the time as his phone OS.

This.

 

[Ry]

Anyone who doesn't love it must be wrong. :/

 

[Ry]

engadget is and always will be an isheep site.

Topolsky is quite possibly, the quintessential fanboy.

I'm sure the SG3 is a better choice for some users, but T's review is clown shoes.

verge reviewer is an isheep. cant expect more from him.

..lol. Seriously guys?

 

[anon(847090)]

..lol. Seriously guys?

well, Topolsky always has a soft corner for apple. remember how he praise iphone 4 with glass better and now nexus 4 is breakable.
He didn't have a problem with no LTE in iphone 4 but now it seems like a deal breaker.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

well, Topolsky always has a soft corner for apple. remember how he praise iphone 4 with glass better and now nexus 4 is breakable.
He didn't have a problem with no LTE in iphone 4 but now it seems like a deal breaker.

See my post above.

 

[anon(847090)]

See my post above.

I know.. I know... I need to pick on some Apple lovers... I will pick on someone else lol