Nexus 4 vs S4

[Zendroid1]

Yeah the camera is probably a big deal to some. To me the camera is low in the list. I always have my mirrorless on me. The phone camera is for taking quick snaps of random things. If i want a better shot i use my mirrorless. I do understand though why others will choose the s4 for the camera.

Here's hoping they introduce a new nexus at the IO with a much improved camera, LTE and 4.3!

 

[planoman]

Yeah the camera is probably a big deal to some. To me the camera is low in the list. I always have my mirrorless on me. The phone camera is for taking quick snaps of random things. If i want a better shot i use my mirrorless. I do understand though why others will choose the s4 for the camera.

Here's hoping they introduce a new nexus at the IO with a much improved camera, LTE and 4.3!

I still like my N4 and will most likely get the N5. I will use more forethought in the future on which phone I am carrying. The N4 is fine for bright outdoor snaps. I know I should carry my 60D with me, but I just can't go back to carrying a big ole camera.

I would have said the camera is not that big a deal to me, but that does not mean unusable in a real life situation. To be sure I am not getting the S4 for the camera but I wish I would have had it last friday. I mean I have an N4. That means I knew the camera was not that great but come on...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317

 

[startup8100]

I dont expect much, I just hope at least their camera quality is on par with iPhone 4.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[omniusovermind]

Yeah the camera is probably a big deal to some. To me the camera is low in the list. I always have my mirrorless on me. The phone camera is for taking quick snaps of random things. If i want a better shot i use my mirrorless.

According to a study done in UK last year, people like you make up the vast majority. The hype that sites like this place on the camera is the opposite of how the majority of buyers choose and use a smartphone. Out of a list of the top 10 reasons people use their smartphone camera came in at around 3%

Sent from my (fill in the blank) phone using (fill in the blank software)

 

[Citizen Coyote]

You'll pry my Nexus 4 out of my hands only if the Nexus 5 is a compelling upgrade.

The S4 has amazing specs, and good performance. It has more bells and whistles than a tricked out El Camino. Better screen, better camera, better processor and LTE support to boot. But you know one thing the S4 will never, ever have?

Direct updates from Google, and for a phone that's half the price. That alone is worth the difference to me. As fast as Samsung is in getting updates out these days, the S4 will still be months behind the N4, and will be loaded down with bloat and gimmicks that most people will never use after the first time.

But really, it all boils down to what you want and need. Do you want to be locked into a carrier contract for your subsidized price (or pay more over the course of ownership if you go T-Mo) for spec and camera bragging rights? Are you ambivalent about OEM skins, gimmicks, and such on top of your OS? Is LTE important to you? Do you drop your phone fairly often? If yes, then go with the S4. But if no, then seriously consider the N4.

 

[omniusovermind]

You'll pry my Nexus 4 out of my hands only if the Nexus 5 is a compelling upgrade.

The S4 has amazing specs, and good performance. It has more bells and whistles than a tricked out El Camino. Better screen, better camera, better processor and LTE support to boot. But you know one thing the S4 will never, ever have?

Direct updates from Google, and for a phone that's half the price. That alone is worth the difference to me. As fast as Samsung is in getting updates out these days, the S4 will still be months behind the N4, and will be loaded down with bloat and gimmicks that most people will never use after the first time.

But really, it all boils down to what you want and need. Do you want to be locked into a carrier contract for your subsidized price (or pay more over the course of ownership if you go T-Mo) for spec and camera bragging rights? Are you ambivalent about OEM skins, gimmicks, and such on top of your OS? Is LTE important to you? Do you drop your phone fairly often? If yes, then go with the S4. But if no, then seriously consider the N4.

Agreed. In all honesty though we shouldn't even be comparing phones of 2 different year models. Nobody is comparing the RAZR HD to this year's phones. They're waiting for the 2013 Motorola.

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[planoman]

I am on att and will stay on att so I do not really pay attention to my contract. When I checked and was not up for renewal, I called customer care and they moved my upgrade date up so I got the 32 GB for $270 out the door. I have bought many phones for no commitment but will take a subsidy since I am not leaving att. They waived the upgrade fee of $36 so what more could I ask for. Free overnight shipping? Sure!
In the UPS truck as we speak!

Not looking forward to the bloat but with 24 GB of usable space for apps I will just disable them. I am looking forward to what is coming from Google but the N4 is taking a break.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317

 

[JeffDenver]

I come to this forum because I want to be convinced to get the N4 over the S4.

I was in the same position as you 3 days ago. I decided to go with the N4. Having used Samsung's products, I can tell you the Nexus 4 is dramatically easier to use. Even for simple stuff like making calls.

Samsung always hits a home run with their hardware (CPU/RAM). They always have great displays, they always have SD and removable battery. The only drawback to buying their products is that you are stuck with touchwiz. It is clunky and gaudy and annoying to use (though Sense is worse). Of all the skinned UIs though, you are most likely to get OS updates through them though. Good luck getting that with HTC.

I was at the store yesterday and had the S4 pulled and ready to pay and I decided to walk out of the store and think. I just am severely bothered by the bloat and overlay (touchwiz) of the S4.

As well you should be. But it could be worse. HTC loves bloat more than anyone. Vanilla Android has been a dream for me...well worth living without SD or a removable battery.

There are some things on the s4 that are superior to the N4 such as battery life (i think?)

Yes, but not for the reason you think.
It really does not matter what the battery life on the S4 is, because you can always just upgrade the battery. My roommate still has his S3 with extended battery, and that thing will go forever on a change. With the N4 you will just have to hope the embedded battery is enough.

The benefits of the N4 to me are: I'd get updates asap. No overlay or bloat (minimal bloat at least). I highly value the vanilla feel of the N4 and the ability to get updates faster. It is probably good enough to get me by until the next nexus comes out. I am a tech geek to the extreme and I like having the latest and greatest but at this point I'm not sure the S4 offers me much over the N4. The camera isn't a huge deal to me as I always have my Fuji with me. I'm just mainly concerned with screen, battery life and feel of the phone.

The N4 has the best display of any phone right now IMO, with the possible except of the One. It has deep blacks (as deep as I have ever seen on LCD) and very bright whites. It is the easiest to see in the sun of any phone I have ever used. The Camera is comparable to the S3's, but it does better macro (really good actually). The N4's low-light could be better, and it does not like high contrast scenes (like sunsets). The difference between 1080p and 720p (really 768p) is so minimal that only the biggest graphics geeks will notice. the N4 display is only 6 pixels shy of the 326ppi used in retina displays...despite being physically larger than the S3. And of course there are no pentile artifacts (though at 1080p you will not see them on the S4 either)

On battery life, you will be screwed. I am just going to buy a power pack myself. There are no after market batteries that I know of. The battery is not too hard to remove and replace yourself, but no one is making upgraded versions yet. It has no SD support, but you can plug thumb drives into it via USB OTG.

The formfactor feels high quality if a bit delicate. You will probably want a case for it. It is very thin if you are into that (I'm not). The build quality feels to me comparable to an Apple product, which is to say very very good. I love the curved glass on the front. Like the iPhone it has glass on the back...it is the latest gorilla glass, but still...

 

[JeffDenver]

Yeah the camera is probably a big deal to some. To me the camera is low in the list. I always have my mirrorless on me.

The thing is, even if you always have your camera with you, why carry two devices when you could just carry one?

Most people I know do not carry their cameras with them 24/7. But they do always have their phones with them. So most photos, even with people who own cameras, are going to come from the phone. The only reason to use a stand alone camera IMO is if you need the optical zoom.

 

[ConTejas]

Not that I'm ANY sort of professional photographer, but something has to be said for whomever is using the device's camera. At one point, I had the LTE Gnex, the SGS3, and the GN2. On paper, the Gnex was by far the worst camera of the bunch, and it was probably true in reality, but I can assure you I had just as many sh*tty pictures on the SGS3/GN2 in ALL kinds of different lightning scenarios as I did on my Gnex. The gnex was my DD, and remained my DD after getting the others (gave SGS3 to lady, sold GN2) and so having it more often it had way more pictures my eyes deemed better and/or keepers sent off to Dropbox. Now, the N4 has a significantly better camera on paper than the Gnex, but the same holds true. Leads me to this, Planoman. This past weekend a few family members went to see our newest little addition in NYC. In the room was mostly Apple devices (iPads/4s's/5's), two SGS3's, a S4, and two N4s (mine and my lady's). We all shot a lot of pictures indoors and outdoors (was gorgeous outside...pretty dark apt inside). We decided to do an online album...and ALL of us had plenty of POS pictures to deletd....but my N4 pictures seemed to get the most family "likes" or comments. Notice I said mine, not my lady's. Nearly all of her shots were deleted. Just something to note. I tried to link the pictures but they are marked private (as they are lol)...so sorry for lack of evidence. YMMV.

 

[omniusovermind]

The thing is, even if you always have your camera with you, why carry two devices when you could just carry one?

Most people I know do not carry their cameras with them 24/7. But they do always have their phones with them. So most photos, even with people who own cameras, are going to come from the phone. The only reason to use a stand alone camera IMO is if you need the optical zoom.

For pictures that are important, yes I do. I always bring my camera to important events that I know I'll be taking pictures of special memories. Spur of the moment casual stuff that I'm just going to stick on a Facebook page the phone is good enough for


Sent from my (fill in the blank) phone using (fill in the blank software)

 

[planoman]

Not that I'm ANY sort of professional photographer, but something has to be said for whomever is using the device's camera. At one point, I had the LTE Gnex, the SGS3, and the GN2. On paper, the Gnex was by far the worst camera of the bunch, and it was probably true in reality, but I can assure you I had just as many sh*tty pictures on the SGS3/GN2 in ALL kinds of different lightning scenarios as I did on my Gnex. The gnex was my DD, and remained my DD after getting the others (gave SGS3 to lady, sold GN2) and so having it more often it had way more pictures my eyes deemed better and/or keepers sent off to Dropbox. Now, the N4 has a significantly better camera on paper than the Gnex, but the same holds true. Leads me to this, Planoman. This past weekend a few family members went to see our newest little addition in NYC. In the room was mostly Apple devices (iPads/4s's/5's), two SGS3's, a S4, and two N4s (mine and my lady's). We all shot a lot of pictures indoors and outdoors (was gorgeous outside...pretty dark apt inside). We decided to do an online album...and ALL of us had plenty of POS pictures to deletd....but my N4 pictures seemed to get the most family "likes" or comments. Notice I said mine, not my lady's. Nearly all of her shots were deleted. Just something to note. I tried to link the pictures but they are marked private (as they are lol)...so sorry for lack of evidence. YMMV.

I believe you. My pictures were from a distance and of course the more you zoom the more noise you get in the picture but so I zoomed out but there was just not enough light for good focus lock on pictures or video. While I am not as skilled as I used to be I know my way around a camera and have a Canon 60D (which I should have taken). Anyways, I did not mean for the camera to be the central focus on the N4 vs S4 because it is not the main feature of either.

On another note, I received my S4 today and it came at about 3:30 right as I was getting home. I had time to set it up and so far I like it a lot. It is close to the N4 in form factor just a bit taller and thinner but they feel similar with a case on. I got the 32GB version and it was pretty cool to see 22GB left after loading almost all of my apps. Popped an extra 64 GB micro sd card in it too so storage is no issue. A few comments up talked about the N4 screen being better than all but the HTC One...No...Just NO. The S4 screen is better as you would expect as a 1080p screen. The one thing I like off the bat is the IR blaster. Controlling the TV without having to find the remote that my daughter hid! LOL!

I also like that it looks similar to the N4 is size etc that my wife has not even looked twice at the S4! I am not volunteering that info ether! You all take care and I will be back to check in once KLP gets here!

 

[Citizen Coyote]

The thing is, even if you always have your camera with you, why carry two devices when you could just carry one?

Most people I know do not carry their cameras with them 24/7. But they do always have their phones with them. So most photos, even with people who own cameras, are going to come from the phone. The only reason to use a stand alone camera IMO is if you need the optical zoom.

I'm not a professional photographer, but my wife is. She has an iPhone 5, and can do some pretty amazing things with it. That said, her several years old little Canon point and shoot that she always keeps with her can do far more, and we won't even mention her main rig (Canon 5D Mark II). Smartphone cameras are good, but you can get the most control over your photos with a dedicated camera. The best camera is the one you have on you, which is why you carry more than just your phone if you're serious about getting good shots at important events or places.

 

[snookasnoo]

Define "better".

The S4 is better in nearly every aspect except the vanilla android feeling and OTA updates straight away. I would expect it to be better as it is a newer device and should have the latest and greatest technology. However, the difference in specs between the two devices is not huge at all. The Nexus 4 is already blazing fast, with no lag. The S4 is only fractions of a second faster in terms of speed. Both the screen and battery are better on the S4 but they're not terrible on the N4. I think only real eagle eyed owners can tell the difference between 720p and 1080p. The battery for the Nexus 4 is a huge talking point and there are often many threads about it around here. For me at least, my battery life is very sufficient, it even lasts me over 2 days sometimes.

If you want the best device possible atm, I would say go for the S4. If you want a device that will last you a bit longer, I would say go for the S4 as well. But if you are constantly changing your devices then I would recommend the N4. The way I see it is the N4 is around half the price of the S4, but no way is it half the phone!

 

[Rizy7]

 

[startup8100]

OK, nexus 4 KO'ed by S4 ^_^

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[omniusovermind]

Comparing two phones released 6 months apart is useless. What will you say when the S4 to Nexus 5 comparisons come out in favor of the N5? Probably the same thing I would imagine.

Regardless of what any comparisons say, my sig trumps them all. The S3 is taking 6 months to not even make it to 4.2 on some carriers. The only way I'd even consider an OEM android phone is if I also already owned a Nexus to go back to once my other phone's 6 month shelf life expires into obscurity

 

[Zendroid1]

OK, nexus 4 KO'ed by S4 ^_^

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Far from a ko.
Did you even watch the video? The galaxy s4 had much high benchmarks but the real world usage was almost identical.

 

[JamesTBurns]

Well, I now own an S4 and a Nexus 4. Camera is a huge upgrade, screen is a considerable upgrade. I've had the phone a day now and am still trying to figure out all the features. Not sure what to do with my Nexus 4, I don't really want to sell it.

 

[bob13bob]

Sell it. I don't like amloed personally, but that personal preference.

I am willing to pay f or the camera upgrade alone. It is important. Different size cameras for different situations. Pro camera men with $60k cameras still use $250 go pros in certain situations.