Nexus 4 or Droid DNA?

[eddiesmiles]

First off, I realize they're two quite different devices. I've had my mind set on the N4 for so long. I've been month-to-month on Verizon, waiting for the N4 to drop and to go the Straight Talk route. Now, the Droid DNA is expected to be announced the same day the N4 is being released, and I find myself wondering if I want to stay with Verizon, wait a few more weeks for the DNA release, and get that instead. I'm sure the DNA will come out of the box with Jelly Bean 4.1, so I'm not torn up about not getting the N4's 4.2 right away. A good smartphone camera is important to me, and all evidence points to HTC having a better one than the N4. Photo Sphere seems great, but more gimmicky than practical. Obviously the DNA would be able to take advantage of Verizon's LTE coverage and, while the massive screen/display is expected to eat up battery big time, I'm mostly in the office or at home so I'd have access to a wall charger. Are there advantages of the N4 over what we know of the DNA?

I suppose I could always buy the N4 on the 13th and try Straight Talk out for a month. If I don't like it or, conversely, the DNA gets great reviews after its announcement, I could sell the N4 on ebay and go back to Verizon. Since they won't grandfather my unlimited data plan anyways, I guess I'm not risking much by dropping them and coming back later. Any thoughts on what I should do? Perhaps I just answered my own question, but would appreciate any other thoughts or insights I might be overlooking.

 

[eddiesmiles]

I guess no one else is deciding between these two devices?

 

[mazzmoney95]

5 inches is just too big, especially with sofware buttons. On top of that, I HATE wgere HTC's power button is. It's really hard to hit on my Evo LTE because it's so big so it would be even worse on this phone. Also, I dont see a need in a 1080p phone, especially with that puny battery. Lastly, unless they do optimizations to Sense 4+, it will be a huge failure. Why? Because what good is a huge ass phone like that without the proper optimizations to take advantage of it (like Samsung's multi window feature and stuff).

 

[Andrew Martonik]

I just don't see how these phones are at all comparable. There's no overlap whatsoever in them.

Which carrier do you have/want/need? If you have to have Verizon then you can't have the Nexus 4. If you have T-Mobile/AT&T then you can't have the DNA.

The DNA runs Sense, the Nexus 4 runs stock Android. The DNA will not be updated like the Nexus 4 will.

The DNA is starting to border on "too big for most hands" territory at 5", the Nexus 4 is probably borderline as well, but is a more "traditional" phone size.

You can make some basic decisions about what carrier you want, what software you prefer, and what screen size you like and pretty easily come away with which one is a good choice for you. What it really comes down to is what phone you want. No one but you can ever tell you this.

 

[Syrential]

I had to stop reading about the Droid DNA when it mentioned the 1080p.
Honestly, that's overkill. All the processing power that's needed for such an output is a waste on a screen that size, in the end things will only run in lower resolution.
A good example are our current gaming consoles. I mean, how amazing they advertised them as being able to output 1080p! And what happened? Most games only run in 720p due to limitations.

Also all the other things that have been mentioned here. So, Nexus 4 > Droid DNA.

 

[Fairclough]

I dont need LTE & I am phoneless so N4 is clear cut for me. For you if your willing to wait just go for what your desire most not our choice.

 

[teleclimber]

One consideration is that Htc's financial picture keeps going downhill. This might mean that they will not have the budget to support old devices once new ones are released. Meaning: once the the DNA MAXX + is out, your OG DNA may wait a long time for software updates, etc...

I'm shunning HTC for good due to my experience with the Inc2: great phone and all, but we were promised ICS ages ago and at this point it seems we will not be getting it at all.

This is why, for me, it's Nexus all the way from now on.

 

[Burleson90]

I don't have Verizon so I'm not sure about this but: if you buy the phone outright can't you keep your unlimited data? I thought awhile ago people (android and iOS users) were gonna just buy outright to keep their unlimited data and just pop in the sim). Idk if this is right or if you can afford to do that but that may be something to consider as well.

 

[Metalkid69]

Save yourself the cash and go with the N4.. It's good enough to compete with the best phones out there at half the price! Not to mention 45 bucks a month with straight talk is a sweet deal!