Nexus 4 vs S4

[dardata]

Clearly for you, and a handful of other people, SD cards ARE the most ideal solution for multiple reasons like the unavailability of the cloud in the mountains, etc. I'm not saying people shouldn't want them, I'm saying Google has already moved forward with their plan to eliminate that tech from their platform and thus we should all be finding smarter ways to do business. Because of the limitations that both you and I have described, with SD cards (no apps to SD, failing cards, requires compromises in engineering, etc), external wireless drives (not sure why this wouldn't be available 24/7, but I'll take your word for it), etc. the most ideal solution can only be a combination of better access to cloud services and much greater improved internal storage.

I think as tech enthusiasts we think our paradigm applies to more people than it does. Most consumers do not know what an SD card is and many that do, would have no idea how that would relate to their phone, let alone how to swap them out, etc. Depending on data source, less than 2-5% of Android users root and we all know that most people don't troubleshoot things, they replace them. I do understand the appeal of SD cards to some people and I'm not saying that appeal is wrong; what I am saying is that the SD card train already left the station. All of the tech enthusiasts combined doing one thing to try to shape OEM development ... will accomplish little to nothing. We're by far a minority. I see comments on both sides of the SD card and removable battery argument all the time in comments of tech articles and in forums, but I've never heard someone who isn't sure how to uninstall an app mention SD cards at all. I'm sure, like me, you're constantly showing people things their phone can do that they had no idea about. That's where word of mouth campaigns come in. We can petition the manufacturers directly, but they won't listen. The only other choice is to get people excited about things and talking to their friends, etc. and using the only power we actually do have, the ability to vote with dollars.

I'm not trying to attack you and I've stated in here and in other threads where you go on about SD cards that I agree a more comprehensive solution should have been released first. What I'm trying to do is give information that helps readers bridge the gap between dying tech (SD cards) and their want to carry their entire music/photo/video library with them at all times. Some users have hundreds of gigs of stuff that they want to be on their phone and no 16GB device can touch it. I'm not saying that the existing solutions fit for everyone, I'm saying they help and that we should be pushing for better.

Aren't these devices beginning to blur the lines between phones and laptops....I want my mini laptop (cell phone) to have the option to expand storage. SD should not be a dying technology. Why would you acquiesce to this paradigm shift? Options are always good for consumers.

Everything does not deserve or warrant being stored in the cloud.

Stop making excuses and justifying what some big company is doing to make their pockets fatter - they are suppose to work for us - get away from the build and they wll come mentality. I guess thats the difference between a prosumer and a consumer.

Virtually every company submits to the demands of a big potential customer and they will go out their way to retain or obtain a big new client. Why aren't we demanding the same?

 

[startup8100]

I agree the experience will be better on the N4 - no bloatware - no touchwiz. Plus you will be rocking KLP probably a year before Samsung and the Carrier decide to provide an update.

Honestly, In real world the N4 is a better screen. Ive been comparing my girlfriend S4 to my N4 and IPS truly has better picture reproduction than the S4. Its not a huge difference either way unless you like to be fooled by over saturated pictures and equate that to a better picture (its not). Yes the S4 has 1080 and technically you have more real estate but it is not as significant as you may think. Now I have a rooted N4 with pie controls, so I have no navigation buttons taking up precious real estate. I can see 2 -3 extra line of txt in portrait mode on the S4 vs my N4 when viewing a web page full screen. If I desire I can negate that and hide the notification bar and go full retard thus negating the 2 line advantage of the S4.

I use to be big on external storage which the N4 has none but It a non issue for me now as Ive never been without internet access and there are many cloud services to circumvent the lack of storage. I was pissed the the N4 doesnt work with OTG cable so no external usb or harddisk storage! So this may be a deal breaker for some.

There is workaround for nexus 4 OTG

Sent from my iPhone

 

[startup8100]

There is workaround for nexus 4 OTG

Sent from my iPhone

I got mine to work with USB 16gb drive. But it was troublesome to tag the drive along where ever I go. SD card still my preference

Sent from my iPhone

 

[dardata]

I got mine to work with USB 16gb drive. But it was troublesome to tag the drive along where ever I go. SD card still my preference

Sent from my iPhone

Were you able to get it working without power being supplied to the usb? If so I heard about this solution but it sounds a bit cumbersome vs plugging usb directly into the nexus.

 

[kioko91]

Or you can wait for the Google edition of the S4 if you're looking for a vanilla experience, or root if that's your choice. With a vanilla S4 you'll get updates direct from Google as a nexus would bringing your choice down to pure specs, which the S4 wins without all the bloatware and gimmicks taking up space.

 

[dkhmwilliams]

Of course the specifications of the S4 are neuter because the service is a lot newer, but the specs on the N4 ate beastly. The pure Android experience is the best in my opinion. I believe that the experience on non-Nexus devices can be a little convoluted, a mixed bag of sorts where you have competing services. That seems to be an issue with the S4 especially. Two browsers, two voice assistants, multiple keyboards, two calendars, etc. Then throw in the carrier software and you can have a mess on your hands. If you subscribe to a lot of Google services the way I do, it is a lot simpler and a decidedly better experience to go with a Nexus. I haven't had any Jadie with the battery life. I can go a full day on a charge with my usage. I cannot say if my usage is low, moderate, or heavy as I wouldn't know what the criteria would actually be to quantify that. As far as the screen quality, I really enjoy the N4's screen. It is remarkably clear. As compared to a full HD screen, I couldn't honestly tell you that I see a difference. I do like the over saturation of Samsung screens though. I don't feel as if they are cartoony at all. But the AMOLED screens do tend to have burn in issues. I love that the Nexus 4 has on screen navigation buttons. As far as the size of the devices, I think that they are similar, the S4 may be slightly bigger. I have thought about this a lot in regards to the size. After being a Note 2 owner, I realized that the bigger screen is awesome for multimedia bit can be a pain for other tasks. Just recently owned an iPhone 5, I can say that it's screen is great for one handed tasks but comes up too short for multimedia purposes. The N4 and the S4 seem to be perfectly in the middle. While the S4 does have an advantage when it comes to storage offering a 32 gigabyte model and expandable storage options, one could easily access what one nerds using the 16 gigabyte model of the Nexus and cloud storage. But I do understand that everyone may have different requirements of what is sufficient storage on their smartphone. Lastly, with the price of $300 or $350, off contract, it becomes very difficult to choose another device over the Nexus if cost is at all a factor.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[Aquila]

Aren't these devices beginning to blur the lines between phones and laptops....I want my mini laptop (cell phone) to have the option to expand storage. SD should not be a dying technology. Why would you acquiesce to this paradigm shift? Options are always good for consumers.

Everything does not deserve or warrant being stored in the cloud.

Stop making excuses and justifying what some big company is doing to make their pockets fatter - they are suppose to work for us - get away from the build and they wll come mentality. I guess thats the difference between a prosumer and a consumer.

Virtually every company submits to the demands of a big potential customer and they will go out their way to retain or obtain a big new client. Why aren't we demanding the same?

I'm not saying you shouldn't have options, please don't misunderstand. What I'm saying is that I agree with moving on to better things. Some people do not and I am glad that choices still exist for them while they get used to the evolution and something that they like better becomes available. That is in no way the same thing as making excuses or justifying something a company is doing contrary to what I want. Clearly Google is not banning the use of SD cards in Android, they're just not supporting them in their Nexus devices. Two very different things. If they were to ban them, I'd disagree with that. I think their current approach makes more sense.

 

[dardata]

I'm not saying you shouldn't have options, please don't misunderstand. What I'm saying is that I agree with moving on to better things. Some people do not and I am glad that choices still exist for them while they get used to the evolution and something that they like better becomes available. That is in no way the same thing as making excuses or justifying something a company is doing contrary to what I want. Clearly Google is not banning the use of SD cards in Android, they're just not supporting them in their Nexus devices. Two very different things. If they were to ban them, I'd disagree with that. I think their current approach makes more sense.

Doesn't something have to exist in order to move to something better... What is replacing the absence of an SD card? I like the cloud as much as the companies who offer the service, but that's an option; not a replacement - right?

As Michael Badnarik stated in his "NO, I WILL NOT COMPLY! PERIOD" speech - "It too late to complain - you should've complained in the beginning - when you at least had a chance!" Yes, SD cards are a much less serious subject, but I hope you get the spirit of the correlation. SD cards are not useless like the fate of floppy disk - but once we allow them to deprecate SD cards we probably won't get them back.