Phones that give the Nexus 4 a run for the money in both price and performance?
- Thread starter phstrat
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Get a used Galaxy Nexus like I did. $260. No glass back. No sd card, but there's plenty of space. And FYI, you're in the Nexus 4 forum asking what phone is better to get than the Nexus 4 lol. The Nexus is selling an experience, not just the phone. No Nexus phone will have an sd card; so if that's an issue to you, then you will never buy a Nexus phone regardless if it has a glass back or not. These guys just got their phones; so to see a thread asking them if there's a better phone to get just screams of "attack me." Don't be surprised if you get less than desirable comments posted in this thread. Get what you can afford and what will make you happy. No one in here can help you with that. Happy hunting 
minnemike
Well-known member
- Nov 29, 2012
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Get a used Galaxy Nexus like I did. $260. No glass back. No sd card, but there's plenty of space. And FYI, you're in the Nexus 4 forum asking what phone is better to get than the Nexus 4 lol. The Nexus is selling an experience, not just the phone. No Nexus phone will have an sd card; so if that's an issue to you, then you will never buy a Nexus phone regardless if it has a glass back or not. These guys just got their phones; so to see a thread asking them if there's a better phone to get just screams of "attack me." Don't be surprised if you get less than desirable comments posted in this thread. Get what you can afford and what will make you happy. No one in here can help you with that. Happy hunting
said it all.
/thread
Get a used Galaxy Nexus like I did. $260. No glass back. No sd card, but there's plenty of space. And FYI, you're in the Nexus 4 forum asking what phone is better to get than the Nexus 4 lol. The Nexus is selling an experience, not just the phone. No Nexus phone will have an sd card; so if that's an issue to you, then you will never buy a Nexus phone regardless if it has a glass back or not. These guys just got their phones; so to see a thread asking them if there's a better phone to get just screams of "attack me." Don't be surprised if you get less than desirable comments posted in this thread. Get what you can afford and what will make you happy. No one in here can help you with that. Happy hunting
I would do exactly this, but I can't see the benefit of saving $40-50 to take a pretty significant downgrade in RAM and processor speed. My current phone sucks, but not so badly I can't wait another month. If I start seeing GSM GNex for $200 before Google gets around to shipping my N4, I might change my mind, especially since I really need to be able to get a good case and a lot of the 'usual suspects' don't look like they're planning on making them for the N4.
I actually agree with you. But, I took the plunge because I was planning to cancel my Verizon contract last month, which I did. If I had waited for the Nexus 4, I would still be paying $100 for the next 2, possibly 3 months. That's $200 right there. Add in the ETF, which would be between $240 and $260; the cost of the Nexus 4 ($335 for 8GB), and the initial cost of the Walmart Family Mobile plan ($50), and I'm looking at spending $835, at a minimum. However, if you take my ETF ($270), the Galaxy Nexus ($265), and the initial cost of the plan ($50), the total comes out to $585. That's a savings of $250 right there. If you can make the math work for you, then I say totally go for the Nexus 4 or the Galaxy Nexus. You can definitely find a better deal than I did if you shop around. But, where I am, the number of locals selling Galaxy Nexii is population 5 and dwindling. Good luck with whatever you decide to do
why isn't HTC mentioned anywhere? i've heard the new Droid DNA is great, but I have AT&T's 4GLTE network here in Austin and can't get that phone. The amazingness of smartphones is why the 2-year contract is WAY too long! as a hair stylist, i need the latest and greatest, just like my wardrobe!
Bro there is tons of great phones out right now; note 2, HTC DNA, RAZR maxx HD, s3 and even the iPhone 5.
Sent from my Nexus 4, you jelly bro?
Sent from my Nexus 4, you jelly bro?
- Oct 11, 2009
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Get a used Galaxy Nexus like I did. $260. No glass back. No sd card, but there's plenty of space. And FYI, you're in the Nexus 4 forum asking what phone is better to get than the Nexus 4 lol. The Nexus is selling an experience, not just the phone. No Nexus phone will have an sd card; so if that's an issue to you, then you will never buy a Nexus phone regardless if it has a glass back or not. These guys just got their phones; so to see a thread asking them if there's a better phone to get just screams of "attack me." Don't be surprised if you get less than desirable comments posted in this thread. Get what you can afford and what will make you happy. No one in here can help you with that. Happy hunting
Internet high 5.
Well said.
Get a used Galaxy Nexus like I did. $260. No glass back. No sd card, but there's plenty of space. And FYI, you're in the Nexus 4 forum asking what phone is better to get than the Nexus 4 lol. The Nexus is selling an experience, not just the phone. No Nexus phone will have an sd card; so if that's an issue to you, then you will never buy a Nexus phone regardless if it has a glass back or not. These guys just got their phones; so to see a thread asking them if there's a better phone to get just screams of "attack me." Don't be surprised if you get less than desirable comments posted in this thread. Get what you can afford and what will make you happy. No one in here can help you with that. Happy hunting
Point take, however I would venture to guess that there are a huge number of people visiting this forum that don't have the phone yet and are in the process of researching the device and contemplating their options wrt this phone...so I guess this thread might be directed more to them.. I'm in no way trying to discredit or put down the N4, I think it 's a great device and at the top of my list. I work in construction management so that might clear up my issue with the glass back a little.
Actually this thread should give the owners of the N4 a little peace of mind that they made the right decision because the only options, so far, to the N4, are a Chinese phone or the gnex which one generation removed, hardware-wise. So from a price-point, and bang for the buck, the N4 seems to be the winner...unless someone else can post any viable options which would prolly be another Chinese phone (which I'd like to know about if there is one)...and is why I started this thread in the first place.
I do have one question though. I stated that a con for the Huawei Honor II was lack of support from the dev community. If the N4 has the latest Android OS, why would you want to flash older ROMs on it? Other than getting root and SU, wouldn't you want to keep the N4 stock which will always have the newest version of JellyBean or KLP in the future?
Actually u can the DNA has gsm capabilities if u can find one outright then u are set
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badbrad17
Well-known member
- Dec 2, 2011
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I still think the only non Nexus phone that competes with the N4 is the Samsung Galaxy S3. Lets say you drop your new S3 and destroy it. You are under contract on T mobile and have to buy a phone. You could get the Nexus 4, but the 16gb S3 can be had on ebay brand new in the $400 range. So it's not as much of a huge price difference. Plus Sammy appears to be on a much better schedule for updates. And maybe you want SD card support or a removable battery. If you do then this would be the only real competitor IMO.
Sent from my SGH-T989D using Android Central Forums
Sent from my SGH-T989D using Android Central Forums
I actually agree with you. But, I took the plunge because I was planning to cancel my Verizon contract last month, which I did. If I had waited for the Nexus 4, I would still be paying $100 for the next 2, possibly 3 months. That's $200 right there. Add in the ETF, which would be between $240 and $260; the cost of the Nexus 4 ($335 for 8GB), and the initial cost of the Walmart Family Mobile plan ($50), and I'm looking at spending $835, at a minimum. However, if you take my ETF ($270), the Galaxy Nexus ($265), and the initial cost of the plan ($50), the total comes out to $585. That's a savings of $250 right there. If you can make the math work for you, then I say totally go for the Nexus 4 or the Galaxy Nexus. You can definitely find a better deal than I did if you shop around. But, where I am, the number of locals selling Galaxy Nexii is population 5 and dwindling. Good luck with whatever you decide to do
Yeah, in your situation I'd have done the exact same thing. I'm already on cheap prepaid with a Gingerbread phone, so waiting is only annoying, not expensive. If I find a cheap GNex, I'll probably grab it. If not, N4 when it shows up. I feel bad because I had an N4 and broke it (see cracked screen thread; it was covered by insurance) but at least I'm not buying 5 to sell at a profit
mauro1
New member
- Jul 29, 2012
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I actually agree with you. But, I took the plunge because I was planning to cancel my Verizon contract last month, which I did. If I had waited for the Nexus 4, I would still be paying $100 for the next 2, possibly 3 months. That's $200 right there. Add in the ETF, which would be between $240 and $260; the cost of the Nexus 4 ($335 for 8GB), and the initial cost of the Walmart Family Mobile plan ($50), and I'm looking at spending $835, at a minimum. However, if you take my ETF ($270), the Galaxy Nexus ($265), and the initial cost of the plan ($50), the total comes out to $585. That's a savings of $250 right there. If you can make the math work for you, then I say totally go for the Nexus 4 or the Galaxy Nexus. You can definitely find a better deal than I did if you shop around. But, where I am, the number of locals selling Galaxy Nexii is population 5 and dwindling. Good luck with whatever you decide to do
Seems to me that you're not building your business case accurately. You're talking about the cost of 2 or 3 month wait (so that's your planning horizon), yet it seems to me from quick reading that you're only adding the first month of the replacement service plan. I'm just mentioning this to alert you of the possibility that you just might be talking yourself into the deal by introducing unintended bias towards the desired outcome. Double check your logic.
PS I did a similar study about 10 months ago. Got two GSM/unlocked Palm Pre 2's and moved away from Sprint ($130/mo for two) to StraightTalk on AT&T. I was beyond my contract so no ETF. Loving the freedom, and proved it more when I springed for a GSM GNex in August.
I only added the first month of the new plan because I probably wouldn't start it without having the phone in my possession. And I'm glad it worked out for you. I wish I hadn't renewed my contract earlier this year. That would have saved me the ETF; though, I am going to try to sweet talk my way out of it (probably unsuccessfully)
Attention!!!,...I've sort of found the Chinese equivalent to the N4 with a sturdy case and almost identical specs 'cept it runs MIUI JB 4.1 stock with root...The Xiaomi Mi-2
Xiaomi Mi-2 Dual Core 4.3 inch 1.5GHz with Android 4.1
The biggest caveat is that it's $130 more and like the N4 it's out of stock....
Xiaomi MI-2 - xda-developers
edit: update....just found the 32GB version for $433.53 ie 2700 yuan..
MIUI/
Xiaomi Mi-2 Dual Core 4.3 inch 1.5GHz with Android 4.1
The biggest caveat is that it's $130 more and like the N4 it's out of stock....
Xiaomi MI-2 - xda-developers
edit: update....just found the 32GB version for $433.53 ie 2700 yuan..
MIUI/
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badbrad17
Well-known member
- Dec 2, 2011
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Lol. Or you could get the N4 instead.
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