Samsung galaxy s3 vs nexus 4 which one should i buy if i can get them for the same price

baotantran

Member
Dec 6, 2012
8
0
0
Visit site
Hi guys!

I'm having trouble deciding which one should i buy, galaxy s3 or nexus 4 when I can get them for the same price which is about $300. both are brand new.

I like a pure android (but not must), and i wonder if feature such as google now and those cards google said will learn what you usually do to give you the information you need automatically can be install on s3
I also like the fact that the nexus 4's cpu and gpu are stronger than that of galaxy s3, but because of various sources i'm very confuse of how much stronger nexus 4 is. I would like to keep my phone for about 2 years, so do anybody think that s3's hardware will be able to keep up with new games (intense 3d games without lag) and apps that long. I know for sure that s3's camera is better that nexus 4, and i think it's really good.
I like the expandable storage on s3 and its big screen, the nexus 4 has 4.7 but i heard that its real dimension is about 4.65 and part of the screen is used for home and back button which seem annoying when it comes to video games because the screen feel narrow.
Any advice and suggestion will be much appreciate!
 

anon(94115)

Banned
Nov 29, 2010
5,697
511
0
Visit site
The hardware is newer on the N4 but not that much better. The buttons on the n4 take up some space so you are getting 4.41 (not my quote) instead of the full 4.8 on the S3. The S3 is lighter, the s3 has a more feature rich camera and takes better pictures.

The storage space on the s3 is bigger and expandable. The battery usage is better as well (or at the very least, they are equal)

Touchwiz is ugly, but a launcher gets rid of all of that. You do not care about pure android and you are asking in the international forums so updates to the s3 will be slower, but not as slow as a US carrier branded one. Also, since it is international, LTE is not a real factor so it is a draw there.

Then you have the new stuff that Samsung is rolling out: Samsung demos their Premium Suite upgrade headed to the Samsung Galaxy S3 | Android Central

Those things will not be available, at least with JB, on a Nexus. Touchwiz is a pain sometimes, but you cannot deny it is feature rich and only getting better. Skins do not have the lag that they use to.

In addition, if you ever get the urge for some vanilla, you can go that route easily with the S3. Samsungs are easy to root and flash. You can never go "up" to the features that TW has.

Hands down, as long as vanilla android is not a concern, the SGS3 is the winner out of those two. If you want newer hardware and do not mind a phablet, the Note 2 is where you can look.

The N4 is a barebones kit whereas the SGS3 has all the bells and whistles, it is a full featured phone.
 

baotantran

Member
Dec 6, 2012
8
0
0
Visit site
Thanks a lots. this is very helpful I didn't know about the new upgrade for s3.

There is only one thing left that concern me. do you think s3's hardware is gonna be able to keep up with incoming intense 3d games in the future compare to n4. I plan on using this phone for about 2 years.

thanks again!

also, how smooth is s3 interface compare to n4's. I just move from using iphone, so i really like the smoothness of n4 that i see on review videos on youtube
 

anon(94115)

Banned
Nov 29, 2010
5,697
511
0
Visit site
That is where I am a bit out of my element. I am not much of a gamer outside the normal stupid ones (Angry birds, etc) and if you are a gamer, I would really look at the Note 2. the same if not better specs as the N4, much bigger screen to play them on, and all the bells and whistles mentioned on the s3.

There is no lag on the sgs3. Take a look at one in a store to see for yourself. The biggest issues with that were the heaviness of TW, on old hardware. The hardware has caught up and surpassed the skin weight.
 

AndroidS3

Well-known member
Oct 6, 2012
473
0
0
Visit site
Yeah the hardware is fine, I have a galaxy s3 myself. All the higher intense games such as mc4(downloaded it off the internet not Google play), shadow gun deadzone, nova, death dome. Anyway they all have quite high graphics and I get full frame rate without any lag. The only time the hardware won't be able to keep up is probably around 2014 when then most latest phones will have the latest generation of hardwares

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Android Central Forums
 
Last edited:

wilfreb

Well-known member
Dec 30, 2011
114
12
0
Visit site
the added value that TouchWiz brings to the Galaxy line is awesome, the easy of use and all those features for me is what makes Galaxy devices a winner.
 

baotantran

Member
Dec 6, 2012
8
0
0
Visit site
You can root Nexus like I did with my Nexus7, so that the screen navigation is hidden, but I agree hardware Home and Back buttons etc is better at this stage.

Here are the specifications at a glance:
Samsung Galaxy S III - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sent from my LT26i using Android Central Forums

That is good to know :) but how about in games, are games going to stretch to cover the whole screen or what. ?!!
 

coolqf

Well-known member
Jun 29, 2010
412
8
0
Visit site
The button space is not taken from the 4.7 inch screen. This space is under the 4.7 inch screen. In terms of size the screen difference is only .1!
 

coolqf

Well-known member
Jun 29, 2010
412
8
0
Visit site
If you upgrade every 12 months get the S3 if you upgrade every two years then the choice is tougher. After 18months of phone release Samsung stops updating the OS except for fixes.
 

funkylogik

Well-known member
May 21, 2012
9,637
111
0
Visit site
Tbh id rather have the s3.
Lack of expandable memory kills me.
You can get pure android on the s3, itl just take longer to get each version.
If anythin, it want the droid DNA.
the nexus doesnt do it for me.
It has longevity being a nexus so theres that to think about....
Tough decision man.



N4 is newer so get the N4!
There i said it :)

Unbranded international s3 with Official JB. Paisley, Slotland, Western Europe :beer:
 

baotantran

Member
Dec 6, 2012
8
0
0
Visit site
The button space is not taken from the 4.7 inch screen. This space is under the 4.7 inch screen. In terms of size the screen difference is only .1!

Are you sure ? because i heard from more than 1 source that said the screen navigation take up space from the 4.7 screen
 

funkylogik

Well-known member
May 21, 2012
9,637
111
0
Visit site
See tbh, id rather try harder n get the Note2 or maybe the DNA.
N4 is gona be MONTHS until its in your hand then the s4 specs will be leaked and youll be :banghead:
N4 has no sd slot so unless u have good unlimited data then the s3 :)

Unbranded international s3 with Official JB. Paisley, Slotland, Western Europe :beer:
 

xKrNMBoYx

Well-known member
Aug 18, 2012
436
9
0
Visit site
Lets put it this way. Benchmarks show that there is no Android device that can contend with Apple's GPU for gaming (not even mali 400 series)

The two GPU on Android that kind of contends with Apple are Mali 600 series and Adreno 300 series.

The Nexus 4 has a Adreno 300 series GPU, and the Nexus 10 has the MalI 600. There is no phone with Mali 600 as there is no A15 based SoC Phone.

So if you don't want a large screen and TouchWiz features, expandable storage tgen I would get a Nexus 4. I also think the Snapdragon S4 Pro is thermally efficient.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Android Central Forums
 

sr2012

Well-known member
Nov 30, 2012
273
0
0
Visit site
Actually the HTC One XL or XPlus is really nice and I prefer that over N4 or S3... If I were in the market for a new phone.

It's plenty fast for a smartphone and more flexible than iOS which has stagnated a bit.

That said for mainly gaming Adreno 300 seems good for a smartphone hence the HTC One X Plus it has Adreno 300.

Even the HTC One X has Tegra3 and say what you will for now games like those which use the Unity Engine do use it well - Nexus 7 gaming is plenty fine going into 2013.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums