Nexus 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini...

ShazPrimus

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Hi guys,

I made the jump from Blackberry to Android a few months back and love it so far.

I've tried to find a thread that compares the S4 mini (my current phone) to the Nexus 5 in terms of camera and battery etc.

I'm tempted by the Nexus but hear lots about poor battery but camera has improved.

I just wanted to know if the Nexus is atleast better than the Mini in battery, sound , screen and camera because as much as I have loved the mini, the mini tends to lag alot and crash which is now testing my patience and the specs on my phone I now feel don't suit my needs so much now.

I can live without no sd card since the Nexus had 32gb option in uk and I can't get a G2 32gb in UK without voiding warranty.

So just wandered if the Nexus is more worth it compared to my current phone as I can't say I'd miss the Touchwiz since I barely use the features.

Thanks in advance

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michaels_epp

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The Nexus is the best android phone according to multiple places. The Galaxy Mini isn't close. I don't own the Nexus 5 (I have the Moto X) but when used a friends everything was great. The screen was the BEST I have ever seen. The sound wasn't that good but the made those hardware changes which are supposed to make it better. It's was pretty decent anyways. If I were you I'd jump and get it.
 

anon(8256055)

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You'll get a mixed bag of responses regarding battery life depending on how you use your phone. For me, the N5 gets 17-18 hours of battery life per day with a screen on-time of around 4 hours.
 

camanokid

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Charges very fast.
Camera excellent since latest update.
IMO sound very good.
Resolution of the scale.
Performance off the scale.
 

Shilohcane

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You'll get a mixed bag of responses regarding battery life depending on how you use your phone. For me, the N5 gets 17-18 hours of battery life per day with a screen on-time of around 4 hours.

That is for sure depending on how you use your N5. It seems to conserve the battery well for phone calls, streaming music via bluetooth and when it is sleeping. I text a lot and check sports scores a lot, read Currents magazines some, little Facebook but I don't do games. I have just got the 4.4.2 update and switched into the ART run-time that some people have said both increases the battery life on the N5. I use Google Now to start voice calls and to make text messages. The N5 is always connected to Wi-Fi. I have one to two bars for my cell connection signal. About the only thing I do to conserve battery is turn on and off the bluetooth when I'm not using my LG Tone+ 730 bluetooth headset for music. I would say that I am a light to moderate user and my N5 hasn't been charged in 24 hours and I am still at 73% of the battery charge. The Notification light has changed how I use my phone since before I always had to turn it on to check for things and now if it doesn't have the Notification light on I don't pick it up as much as my old phone. Then again it is never long before I see a notification light blinking for something as mild as a App got updated as if I care.

That said I have never even seen a S4 mini so I have no clue about how well that works but there are a few professional reviews if you Google the two phones.
 
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thatguy97

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How's that even a competition the nexus kills it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and and over and over and over and over and over again

Sent from my Nexus 7 2013
 

ShazPrimus

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I noticed mention of it conserving battery for music playing which is a bonus to me as I like to use Google play alot and Web surfing I usually do when I'm near power anyways. So far it does sound better than my s4 mini and the battery in this phone is much less than the nexus so if it can out run my mini and still be as good as a full size s4 then I have no problem with battery life in that respect.

I like my phone to last a night out with a bit of fb action. Some tunes and last a taxi ride home with atleast 40percent left by time pub finishes :)

Cheers so far on the opinions of the nexus. I know not every phone is perfect but I can be a picky and the one or two issues with the nexus ate not enough to put me of now that camera and sound have just been improved.

Only thing I have to do now is wait til after xmas as there is now a wait for the black 32gb option lol

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ShazPrimus

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How's that even a competition the nexus kills it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and and over and over and over and over and over again

Sent from my Nexus 7 2013

Not really looking at it as a competition but mainly looking to find a fast phone that will not lag as much as I have noticed the mini do even for my moderate use at times. I can be the type that will jump to a new phone then regret it after the minimun return period so just wanna make sure the nexus ticks all the main boxes with no regrets.

I mainly got the mini because of the size and I came from a small blackberry but refused to settle for iPhone but now the increase in phone screen size has appealed to me more with playing with other folks phones recently.

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Shilohcane

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ShazPrimus

Battery life seems to be your #1 issue with you and what you are focused on. The S4 mini has a smaller battery but it has much smaller 4.3" display and only 1.7GHz duel core processor which isn't going to use as much battery as a N5. The N5's higher performance components and specification such as pixels have to be worth the battery life to be right for you. The N5 and S4 Mini are just two different types of phones that is a odd comparison. If you like the performance components of the N5 but best life battery you may want to expand your search with the LG G2 that has the N5 internal components and a larger battery.

Check out this article to see what type of phone you are looking for since you mainly focus on battery life and not features or performance that are often a trade off between battery life and features.


Motorola Moto G vs Moto X vs Nexus 5 vs Galaxy S4 Mini vs HTC One Mini – Specs and Pricing Comparison
 
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xchange

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I'd recommend the moto x, lg g2, Xperia z1, HTC One, and Note 3. All are of a higher quality than your s4 mini or the Nexus 5. The nexus 5 is priced lower but it shows
 

ShazPrimus

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ShazPrimus

Battery life seems to be your #1 issue with you want and what you are focused on. The S4 mini has a smaller battery but it has much smaller 4.3" display and only 1.7GHz duel core processor isn't going to use as much battery as a N5 with much higher performance components and specification such as pixels. The N5 and S4 Mini are different types of phones that is a odd comparison. If you like the performance components of the N5 but best life battery you may want to expand your search with the LG G2 that has the N5 internal components and a larger battery.

Check out this article to see what type of phone you are looking for since you mainly focus on battery life and not features or performance that are often a trade off between battery life and features.


Motorola Moto G vs Moto X vs Nexus 5 vs Galaxy S4 Mini vs HTC One Mini ? Specs and Pricing Comparison

Tbf your right I love the specs on the phone and admit that I have gotten a bit spec hungry now since joining Android but don't fancy charging my phone twice a day if I can get at least the same battery life out of the nexus as I do on the mini then that's good enough for me as I know I would need to go down the note route to last up to two days but don't fancy a giant phone.
Atleast a days moderate use or a day and a bit is a bonus since I know these days I'll never find a battery like my old BB Bold ever again and just trying to keep it realistic in terms of battery power of that makes sense

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ShazPrimus

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I'd recommend the moto x, lg g2, Xperia z1, HTC One, and Note 3. All are of a higher quality than your s4 mini or the Nexus 5. The nexus 5 is priced lower but it shows

The moto x sounded great but not available in the uk and LG G2 seems to have screwed up the storage options available to us also which is a shame because that was my dream phone but 16gb was too low for me without sd card function. I may give the nexus a go after xmas and if the battery is worse than this then I do have the option to take back. I looked at the HTC but I'm not keen on the UI.

I just can't believe all the phones I like are only available in the US/Asia/EU lol

You'd think the UK would get the same as the EU but unfortunately it leaves me finding it difficult to get the perfect phone for me needs.

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clevin

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Hi guys,

I made the jump from Blackberry to Android a few months back and love it so far.

I've tried to find a thread that compares the S4 mini (my current phone) to the Nexus 5 in terms of camera and battery etc.

I'm tempted by the Nexus but hear lots about poor battery but camera has improved.

I just wanted to know if the Nexus is atleast better than the Mini in battery, sound , screen and camera because as much as I have loved the mini, the mini tends to lag alot and crash which is now testing my patience and the specs on my phone I now feel don't suit my needs so much now.

I can live without no sd card since the Nexus had 32gb option in uk and I can't get a G2 32gb in UK without voiding warranty.

So just wandered if the Nexus is more worth it compared to my current phone as I can't say I'd miss the Touchwiz since I barely use the features.

Thanks in advance

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according to gsmarena, s4 mini battery is overall 20% better than Nexus5, and twice as good on web/video run down tests, so if thats a concern, you may not like N5.

still, N5 is better in many other aspects. you may want to ask yourself if it can get you through the day for your usage habit.

ps, you may be confused about what touchwiz is, you should try out available nexus device and compare them, tw offers many functions you may not realize you are using.
 

JeffDenver

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I'd recommend the moto x, lg g2, Xperia z1, HTC One, and Note 3. All are of a higher quality than your s4 mini or the Nexus 5. The nexus 5 is priced lower but it shows

The Nexus has a significantly better camera and a much faster processor than the One. It is faster than the Moto X as well, and has a better display and camera than the Moto X. It will get better OS support than any of those phones, and is cheaper than all of them.

The price does not reflect the Nexus Specs...it matches the Specs of the best phones out right now.
 

JeffDenver

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I'm tempted by the Nexus but hear lots about poor battery but camera has improved.
The camera was never poor. The problem before was the focus speed and shutter lag. Both of those things have been fixed with the 4.4.2 update. The camera has always taken great pictures, especially macro and lowlight. Go to the photo thread and see for yourself.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/go...-nexus-5-camera-photos-videos-thoughts-8.html

I just wanted to know if the Nexus is at least better than the Mini in battery, sound , screen and camera
It is definitely better in the display and camera.

because as much as I have loved the mini, the mini tends to lag alot and crash
The nexus will lag and crash the least of any Android phone. Because it is basically the prototype phone for the Android OS.

So just wandered if the Nexus is more worth it compared to my current phone as I can't say I'd miss the Touchwiz since I barely use the features.
I have had Samsung phones before, and while I always liked their hardware features, I always hated Touchwiz. I definitely do not miss it.
 

xchange

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The Nexus has a significantly better camera and a much faster processor than the One. It is faster than the Moto X as well, and has a better display and camera than the Moto X. It will get better OS support than any of those phones, and is cheaper than all of them.

The price does not reflect the Nexus Specs...it matches the Specs of the best phones out right now.

The Nexus has a significantly better camera and a much faster processor than the One. It is faster than the Moto X as well, and has a better display and camera than the Moto X. It will get better OS support than any of those phones, and is cheaper than all of them.

The price does not reflect the Nexus Specs...it matches the Specs of the best phones out right now.

It reflects the lack of extra software and hardware features the other manufacturers have put in their phones that the N5 doesn't have with vanilla, which is why I said that. We'll have to settle for disagreement, because my take on the Nexus 5 is more along the same thing that Alex Dobie and Jerry Hildenbrand both said in their review summaries:

Conclusions from Alex:
As a high-end Android phone, the Nexus 5 doesn’t exactly nail it in every category. However the price point, speed and quality of user experience makes the Nexus 5 a great device for regular people as well as nerds. Nexus doesn’t necessarily mean you’re getting the best phone. But for enthusiasts, early adopters, performance freaks or anyone looking for a great device at the $350 price point, Google and LG have crafted a phone that's more than worthy of your attention

And from Jerry:

The Nexus 5 is the best phone in production today. Starting at $349.99, you will not find any phone this good that's this cheap. It's the best Nexus phone made so far, and is an improvement in every way (except maybe the sexy way, because the Nexus 4 and its glass back is ohmygod nice) over the previous Nexus phones. Samsung, Apple, Nokia, HTC and the rest make phones as nice and as feature packed as the Nexus 5, but they're double the price. You can not ignore this, and with this in its corner the Nexus 5 is hands-down the phone I would recommend to a smartphone enthusiast who probably spends too much money on devices.

That doesn't mean it's the phone I would recommend to everyone, or pick myself
In response to your post about his verdict in the comments section which was:
"The Nexus 5 is the best phone in production today". That is what Jerry actually said. And he's right
Jerry then clarified his thought with this reply:
Because it is cheap. I made that clear to everyone.

I share the conclusions of both of them. The Nexus 5 is the best phone you can get for $350. It loses that distinction if you sold it for the price point of the other 2013 phones though.

On another sidenote:
The nexus will lag and crash the least of any Android phone. Because it is basically the prototype phone for the Android OS.
No longer true. I'm not going to name them to avoid turning this into a phonewar but there are about 3 models out this year where the manufacturer has optimized their fork of Android to the extent that they run just as fast and smooth and reliably as stock. That's with additional software features embedded.
 

JeffDenver

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It reflects the lack of extra software and hardware features the other manufacturers have put in their phones that the N5 doesn't have with vanilla, which is why I said that.
That seems awfully subjective though. My BF has the Samsung camera and has never used any features that are not also on the nexus. By contrast, I have used things like Photosphere though.

When people ask me "which is the best camera" I generally assume they mean either photo quality or ease of use. Not filters or stuff like that.

We'll have to settle for disagreement, because my take on the Nexus 5 is more along the same thing that Alex Dobie and Jerry Hildenbrand both said in their review summaries.
If you just want to defer to their opinions though, thats fine. But the actual photos I have seen from the nexus 5 match or exceed anything else I have seen on other high end cameras.

92794d1384654546-share-your-nexus-5-camera-photos-videos-thoughts-compare.png


(Nexus 5 top, HTC One bottom)
92809d1384921986t-share-your-nexus-5-camera-photos-videos-thoughts-one-vs.jpg


These are both from images on actual AC articles.

I share the conclusions of both of them. The Nexus 5 is the best phone you can get for $350. It loses that distinction if you sold it for the price point of the other 2013 phones though.
I am still waiting to hear why. So far I have not seen specific reasons for this.

1080p display. Snapdragon 800 CPU. An obviously great camera. Vanilla Android and the fast updates that go with it.

The nexus will lag and crash the least of any Android phone. Because it is basically the prototype phone for the Android OS.

No longer true.
Source? My own experience says otherwise.

I have used all the current high end phones. None of them are as smooth as the nexus IMO.
 

ShazPrimus

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The camera was never poor. The problem before was the focus speed and shutter lag. Both of those things have been fixed with the 4.4.2 update. The camera has always taken great pictures, especially macro and lowlight. Go to the photo thread and see for yourself.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/go...-nexus-5-camera-photos-videos-thoughts-8.html


It is definitely better in the display and camera.


The nexus will lag and crash the least of any Android phone. Because it is basically the prototype phone for the Android OS.


I have had Samsung phones before, and while I always liked their hardware features, I always hated Touchwiz. I definitely do not miss it.

Yeah for the camera side I'm a spur of the moment snapper and it's good to know that focus has improved which stalled my purchase a month back. My camera I wouldn't say was anything special on the mini despite the extra features.

I've tossed and turned on the subject of buying a nexus but I soo hate lag (which is surprising because I put up with my old BlackBerry for so long, so maybe I'm getting spec spoiled since joining android) but I think I'm going to give it a go because if it can last long on music play back then that works for me. I mostly browse the web when I'm in house or at desk at work so power won't be problem there and I use my tablet for serious video playback.

I've looked at the other big names and tbh other than Samsung, I just can't choose HTC and researching Sony put me off it in the end, Moto G won't cut it for me and the G2 is out of my reach if I want high storage but no warranty.

Also I'm close to smashing this phone off the wall so I thank all the replies and sound advice and will purchase one once Christmas is over with since the model I want is out of stock for now. P.s I'll just make sure my travel charger is on the ball just in case :)

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