Nexus 4 vs S4

[JeffDenver]

GS4 has a bigger screen with a higher pixel density (not necessarily BETTER, depending on how much you like AMOLED+PenTile)

Exactly...IMO the 1080p just compensates for Pentile....so you basically have a "real" 720p AMOLED display. Which is still awesome. I have been a critic of pentile in the past, but I love LOVE the S4 display.

If you have someone who is OK with a 2-year carrier lock-in, I think the GS4 is probably a better choice for less money than an N4 (with the same exception as above).

T-Mobile subsidized my N4. I pay $17/month for it. They even had it in stock at the store.

 

[JeffDenver]

Really weird. You can go to almost any forum and find users complaining about things like lack of storage or battery life. And apart from the very few that have an actual issue, it is usually those that think their phone is a professional camera, a music player, or a gaming device. Those are just conveniences added to the phone. Technology has come a long ways to the point those conveniences all work pretty darn good on one device, but let's not forget about limitations with this and the fact that we are still talking about a phone.

It has not been just a phone for a long time. Most people do email, web browsing, gaming, ect... Even normal non-nerds do this. IMO, making phone calls is the LEAST of what I use my phone for now.

Unlike gaming devices and cameras, you phone is probably in your pocket almost all the time. That convenience is why people will use it more, and why all it's specs matter. Including battery life and storage.

 

[fernandezhjr]

It has not been just a phone for a long time. Most people do email, web browsing, gaming, ect... Even normal non-nerds do this. IMO, making phone calls is the LEAST of what I use my phone for now.

Unlike gaming devices and cameras, you phone is probably in your pocket almost all the time. That convenience is why people will use it more, and why all it's specs matter. Including battery life and storage.

Duh. That is what I stated, but you missed my point. This, go buy a good camera, a good portable music player, and good portable gaming device. Add that cost on top of a phone. We just got all that for $349. Not bad, yet I see complaints because we can't put our massive multi gigabyte music collection on it, can't take professional pics with it, or a high intensity game has an ever so slight lag in it. For $649, I'm sure the GE S4 will have some added improvement, but for $349, I am dang thrilled with my N4 and so should everyone else be.

 

[JeffDenver]

I see complaints because we can't put our massive multi gigabyte music collection on it

Because there is no reason you should NOT be able to do that. That is why there are complaints. Because my Droid 1 from 2009 has twice the storage capacity of a 2013 nexus.

Google deserves to be criticized for that. Because there is no good reason (IMO) for leaving it out. SD appears on even the very cheapest Android phones.

can't take professional pics with it

Again, why not? The nexus 4 pics look professional by the standards of several years ago. Really the only thing you can't add is optical zoom. Why should you not expect it to function as well as a point-and-shoot otherwise?

The Nexus 4 is obviously an awesome deal for the price. But if money is not an issue, I would rather have all the missing options.

 

[fernandezhjr]

Because there is no reason you should NOT be able to do that. That is why there are complaints. Because my Droid 1 from 2009 has twice the storage capacity of a 2013 nexus.

Google deserves to be criticized for that. Because there is no good reason (IMO) for leaving it out. SD appears on even the very cheapest Android phones.


Again, why not? The nexus 4 pics look professional by the standards of several years ago. Really the only thing you can't add is optical zoom. Why should you not expect it to function as well as a point-and-shoot otherwise?

The Nexus 4 is obviously an awesome deal for the price. But if money is not an issue, I would rather have all the missing options.

And it does take awesome pics to my eyes for a phone, but that is right, no optical zoom. Don't expect the GE S4 to have optical zoom. As far as no SD card, sorry bud, but that seems to be becoming more common. My wife's HTC phone is the same. I don't like it myself, but I'm good. Accept it or move on. All the more reason for you to shell out them extra bucks.

 

[JeffDenver]

And it does take awesome pics to my eyes for a phone, but that is right, no optical zoom. Don't expect the GE S4 to have optical zoom.

I don't. But I do expect it to be at least a little better than the previous generation of phone cameras.

As far as no SD card, sorry bud, but that seems to be becoming more common.

The best selling Android phones still have it. And now with the google S4, stock Android phones will finally have it again as well.

Accept it or move on.

The Google S4 makes it likely I will be moving on. Samsung is correcting Google's mistakes.

 

[bob13bob]

Take it from a camera geek, we do not want optical zoom on our phones. Fixed aspect called primes are much better for lengths in this range.

Especially when you have to compromise so much already for sensor size and phone thickness

 

[RumoredNow]

...T-Mobile subsidized my N4. I pay $17/month for it. They even had it in stock at the store.

You keep saying they are subsidizing. Your total cost is $427.99. If it was subsidized, it would be closer to the $349.00 at Google Play.

They are providing you with 0.00% APR financing. That is different from a subsidy.

 

[dcb4l77]

Really weird. You can go to almost any forum and find users complaining about things like lack of storage or battery life. And apart from the very few that have an actual issue, it is usually those that think their phone is a professional camera, a music player, or a gaming device. Those are just conveniences added to the phone. Technology has come a long ways to the point those conveniences all work pretty darn good on one device, but let's not forget about limitations with this and the fact that we are still talking about a phone. I do a minimal amount with those conveniences and I get pretty darn good battery life and still have plenty of storage.

I agree. If you wanna be a pro photographer buy a real camera. PlayStation and Xbox make great game consoles if you like gaming. That said, the Nexux 4 works just fine. GS4 has great specs but I prefer a real Nexus device. The GS4 is a Google Edition not a Nexus. I agree with those that say the Nexus 4 is half the price but not half the phone. Can't go wrong with either but I'll stick with my N4

Posted via Android Central App

 

[snookasnoo]

They have not decoupled phones from contracts unless you bring your own. At least one state has forced them to stop calling plans no contract if you are paying monthly on a phone.
T-Mobile Has To Stop Its "Deceptive" No-Contract Ad Push

Not that I can see so far. it appears to be a truly vanilla Android experience. I used to bag on T-Mobile a lot. And their network is still inferior to Verizon IMO, but I give them a break on this because they are also significantly cheaper (unlimited everything is $70/month...on Verizon my bill was $92/month and that was only unlimited data, not minutes and texts...Verizon does not even offer unlimited data anymore).

But in every other way, they are awesome. In-store customer service is FAR better...they actually act like they want your business without being pushy. They have decoupled their phones from their contracts...all contracts are month to month as long as your phone is paid off. They now subsidize your phone by itself (with 0% interest). They do not throttle data, ever, so it is a "real" unlimited plan.

They had the Nexus 4 in stock right at the store (and it looked to me like they had all released phones in stock)...by contrast, every phone I have bought from Verizon had to be overnighted to me. My account and phone were set up and working as I walked out the door. The whole process took 30 minutes. They even cancelled my Verizon account for me.

So T-Mobiles new thing appears to be a very "hands off" approach when it comes to bloat. Which is a very welcome change now that I have escaped the Verizon prison.

EDIT - I just double checked...no T-Mobile apps in my drawer. Their name appears on the notification menu (at the bottom, and very unobtrusively), but thats it.

 

[snookasnoo]

Hardly anyone uses SD card slots or removable batteries which the manufacturers know. Sd cards are slow and unreliable which Google knows which is why they stopped supporting them.

Ah! Sarcasm, is it? Can I play too? okok:


Really? So the SD card slot is responsible for those sales? Er mah gerd I learns sumthing new ehvry day!

thank you for lerning me!

 

[snookasnoo]

Is posting a You Tube video really all you can do as a reply? You do know there are other You Tube videos right..that say something different.

Google Nexus 4 vs. Samsung Galaxy S4 - YouTube

 

[Aquila]

Better device is cheaper but looks worse on the spec sheet. Use reason or ego to make the choice... but choose!

[h=3]"Man walk on road. Walk left side, safe. Walk right side, safe. Walk down middle, sooner or later, get squished; just like grape." - Pat Morita in 'The Karate Kid'[/h]

 

[startup8100]

Is posting a You Tube video really all you can do as a reply? You do know there are other You Tube videos right..that say something different.

Love the s4, impressive benchmark

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Aquila]

Google deserves to be criticized for that. Because there is no good reason (IMO) for leaving it out. SD appears on even the very cheapest Android phones.

Do you actually understand why they are killing off SD cards? It's worth learning.

The one thing I will agree with, is that they did not do it in the way I would have preferred, which is to replace that functionality with giant internal storage. I recently found out why that was the case, but if we want to advance the system's capabilities in future devices, we should be demanding that manufacturers do NOT include SD cards, that Google, instead of just not supporting SD cards, write code that actually PREVENTS their use and that Google and OEM's move forward with the understanding that 256GB of internal storage is a minimum standard on a 2014/2015 device. The best way, would be to boycott 16GB devices entirely, regardless of how pretty the screen is.

When they removed SD card support, they should have done two crucial things:
1. Replaced it with something. They THINK they did, by giving free access to all of their cloud services. Obviously, not everyone has access to the cloud 100% of the time. That latter fact is our fault, not Google's. We need to punch our carrier's in the face until they figure out unlimited data is the only option. Until that's done, I think internal storage is the most viable option. That, and as I'm sure everyone knows, backing up to an external drive still works perfectly.
2. Created an understanding with the OEM's that under no circumstances are they to add support for this tech. This could have been accomplished by simply explaining the reasoning. This point is 100% Google's fault, and now they need to go over the top with the reaction to it.

 

[Rizy7]

Is posting a You Tube video really all you can do as a reply? You do know there are other You Tube videos right..that say something different.

First of all, did you even read the thread? I guess not, as you would have seen my first reply that was giving my opinion on what the op was asking. Second, what's wrong with posting a video? I found the video to be very informative with many facts and free from bias. The video is a very good comparative video which covers all the main points and even looks at things from a different perspective. Yes there are other videos that talk about the n4 vs s4, but as I said this is not a biased video and I just posted it to be helpful and provide people with a good video instead of having to watch endless comparative videos.

 

[JeffDenver]

They have not decoupled phones from contracts unless you bring your own.

Um...then explain why I am paying $17/month for the nexus I am using right now, that I just bought at the same T-Mobile store that I got my plan at.

No, you do not have to bring your own. They had them in stock at the store. They did not even have to overnight them to me like Verizon does. It might depend on your credit, but yes, they do subsidize your phone, and it is separate from your plan.

This is not a debate...I already did it. Other people were doing it while I was there. It is a fact. In Denver Colorado you can do this right now. Call them and ask - (303) 504-9300.

 

[Aquila]

Um...then explain why I am paying $17/month for the nexus I am using right now, that I just bought at the same T-Mobile store that I got my plan at.

No, you do not have to bring your own. They had them in stock at the store. They did not even have to overnight them to me like Verizon does. It might depend on your credit, but yes, they do subsidize your phone, and it is separate from your plan.

This is not a debate...I already did it. Other people were doing it while I was there. It is a fact. In Denver Colorado you can do this right now. Call them and ask - (303) 504-9300.

Financed or subsidized? Subsidized means they're paying part of the cost. On your plan, they are charging you $58 extra. I think you mean they're financing your phone.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[JeffDenver]

You keep saying they are subsidizing. Your total cost is $427.99. If it was subsidized, it would be closer to the $349.00 at Google Play.

Verizon is doing exactly the same thing, except the phone subsidy is included with your plan contract. T-Mobile just separates the two. In BOTH cases, the company is allowing you to make payments over time instead of all at once for the phone.

Google Play is not doing this. Google play does not allow you to make multiple payments...you are paying for it all at once.

 

[JeffDenver]

Financed or subsidized? Subsidized means they're paying part of the cost. On your plan, they are charging you $58 extra. I think you mean they're financing your phone.

How did you determine Verizon is paying for part of the phone? Your Verizon bill is higher because it includes the cost of the phone in your total bill.