Will KitKat extend Nexus 4's life by an extra year?

[saintforlife]

Seeing as how KitKat is supposed to be optimized for low end devices, I can see it running on Nexus 4 amazingly well, extending it life for another 18-24 months easily. But then again, I don't know if I'd still want to be using a non-LTE phone more than a year from now.

 

[anon(847090)]

Seeing as how KitKat is supposed to be optimized for low end devices, I can see it running on Nexus 4 amazingly well, extending it life for another 18-24 months easily. But then again, I don't know if I'd still want to be using a non-LTE phone more than a year from now.

4.3 extended N4's life by 6 months since it is responsive and smooth now. LTE is just catching up and will only take over HSPA in about a year

 

[sduda210]

I'm not worried about upgrading to an LTE device until the carriers spread LTE coverage. Right now I would have coverage at work and home but in both locations I usually use WiFi to reduce data consumption. In between I do not.

The only comment I have on the life span of the device ----- most people will get rid of a phone sooner than they have to and justify it by saying it was slowing down. A high end device should easily last 2-3 years, if not longer.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Scott7217]

Seeing as how KitKat is supposed to be optimized for low end devices, I can see it running on Nexus 4 amazingly well, extending it life for another 18-24 months easily. But then again, I don't know if I'd still want to be using a non-LTE phone more than a year from now.

It really depends on how you use your phone. If you can run the apps you want, then you're all set. I think a lot of people will concentrate on the price of the next Nexus phone. If it's relatively cheap, people will just upgrade their phones every year, whether they really need to or not.

 

[someguy01234]

You can run Android 4.3 on the Nexus S (by flashing AOSP port) which is a three years old single-core device and it can run the OS relatively smoothly (smoother than the iPhone 4S dual-core running iOS7 from personal experience). So why not? The Nexus 4 will probably get official updates atleast two years from now, Google only promise to keep updates to 18months of the device life, but they only stop updating the Nexus One and Nexus S because they has too little ram and too small of a /system partition size in order to receive over the air updates, not because they refuses to update it anymore.

 

[Sir Alex]

I've had this phone since day one. Recently I rooted it. I still use stock, but enabled LTE. I also installed some stuff for functionality and some tweaks for fun.

I can now wake it up by swiping or tapping the screen twice, or adjust the brightness by swiping on the status bar. Fun stuff like that. I get another year out of this phone easily.

 

[FunkMasterJoe]

I generally get a new phone every 6 months or so. Why? Cause I have problems lol. But I got this thing about a month ago, and I love it. Runs super smooth, it's not LTE, but data flies on it. I believe I'm gonna stick with this one till next upgrade next December. Can't imagine it not being able to stay relevant in a year.

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[5L Mustang]

If KitKat is supposedly optimized as the rumours say then shouldn't the nexus 4 also have better battery life when we get the update?

sent from Nexus 4 Posted via Android Central App

 

[someguy01234]

If KitKat is supposedly optimized as the rumours say then shouldn't the nexus 4 also have better battery life when we get the update?

sent from Nexus 4 Posted via Android Central App

Not by much I expect. The main battery killer of this phone is the display and Snapdragon 400 which seems pretty inefficient. Google can help a little like removing wakelock issues. Personally, I stretch my N4 battery life by undervolting, lower clock speed and other tweaks.

 

[CoMoNexus]

I can't think of anything I need LTE for. HSPA (not HSPA+) is plenty fast for everything I do. I'm fine using the N4 until at least the end of 2015. By then the U.S. ops should have LTE coverage fine tuned, particularly indoors, and vendors should have LTE's shortcomings (e.g., battery life) ironed out.

 

[5L Mustang]

I can't think of anything I need LTE for. HSPA (not HSPA+) is plenty fast for everything I do. I'm fine using the N4 until at least the end of 2015. By then the U.S. ops should have LTE coverage fine tuned, particularly indoors, and vendors should have LTE's shortcomings (e.g., battery life) ironed out.

Yup my n4 always has and still does run flawlessly so I have no need for a new phone.

sent from Nexus 4 Posted via Android Central App

 

[DroidDavi]

The N4 is a great phone and is the 1st device I've had that I wasn't begging for a upgrade after a few months . I'm getting the N5 because I wanna not because I need it

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[Tall Mike 2145]

Seeing as how KitKat is supposed to be optimized for low end devices, I can see it running on Nexus 4 amazingly well, extending it life for another 18-24 months easily.

The Nexus 4 has been, in my experience, an extremely solid and reliable phone. It easily is a better phone in its own right than the HTC EVO 4G was in its time, and that's saying a lot since the EVO 4G was a very decent unit.

But then again, I don't know if I'd still want to be using a non-LTE phone more than a year from now.

That's your call, but I suggest you heed sduda210's words below.

I'm not worried about upgrading to an LTE device until the carriers spread LTE coverage. Right now I would have coverage at work and home but in both locations I usually use WiFi to reduce data consumption. In between I do not.

Yes, exactly. In my area, there's to all intents and purposes no LTE service. Even if there was, there's been a moritorium on cell tower building, which has seriously negatively affected T-Mo's coverage. I mean, not to poo-poo LTE or anything, but without better data coverage and building penetration, speed isn't exactly the first issue I think they need to work on.

It really depends on how you use your phone. If you can run the apps you want, then you're all set. I think a lot of people will concentrate on the price of the next Nexus phone. If it's relatively cheap, people will just upgrade their phones every year, whether they really need to or not.

Yep, pretty much. Watching my fellow man is like watching sheep being led to the abattoir.

You can run Android 4.3 on the Nexus S (by flashing AOSP port) which is a three years old single-core device and it can run the OS relatively smoothly (smoother than the iPhone 4S dual-core running iOS7 from personal experience). So why not? The Nexus 4 will probably get official updates atleast two years from now, Google only promise to keep updates to 18months of the device life, but they only stop updating the Nexus One and Nexus S because they has too little ram and too small of a /system partition size in order to receive over the air updates, not because they refuses to update it anymore.

Good points, someguy01234. And unlike Apple, at least Google doesn't deliberately try to f*** with your right to do what you want with your own hardware.

 

[1210saad]

HSPA on Nexus 4 is quite fast surprisingly.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[leroy_sunset]

HSPA on Nexus 4 is quite fast surprisingly.

TMobile HPSA+ kills Verizon LTE in my area (Olympia, WA). Head-to-head with my buddy results in 30-50% faster speeds with HSPA+ over LTE.

- - - Updated - - -

HSPA on Nexus 4 is quite fast surprisingly.

TMobile HPSA+ kills Verizon LTE in my area (Olympia, WA). Head-to-head with my buddy results in 30-50% faster speeds with HSPA+ over LTE.

 

[The Hustleman]

HSPA on Nexus 4 is quite fast surprisingly.

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Yeah it is, but not quite 4G fast.


I have hspa+ from the mobile, my wife has Verizon and her phone blows mine away in speed.

 

[haribofan]

But the nexus 4 is showing on the Google website as coming soon so surely it is going to be brought back along with the nexus 5 !

Sent from my Nexus 7 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[Jeremy8000]

Yeah it is, but not quite 4G fast.


I have hspa+ from the mobile, my wife has Verizon and her phone blows mine away in speed.

Theoretical speed ≠ real-world speed. LTE should trump HSPA+ all day long, in both directions, but the reality is that in many areas HSPA+ matches or even exceeds the speeds of LTE due to allotted bandwidth, network strain, etc.

It's a matter of service quality in your local area. In my neck of the woods, download speeds are slightly higher on Tmo's HSPA+ than VZ's LTE, with VZ taking a notable edge in upload speed - though both services are plenty fast enough both ways for ordinary usage. Tmo's HSPA+ continuity of connection is far better here, though, and ping times far lower (makes a big difference when you tether for online gaming).

 

[The Hustleman]

Theoretical speed ≠ real-world speed. LTE should trump HSPA+ all day long, in both directions, but the reality is that in many areas HSPA+ matches or even exceeds the speeds of LTE due to allotted bandwidth, network strain, etc.

It's a matter of service quality in your local area. In my neck of the woods, download speeds are slightly higher on Tmo's HSPA+ than VZ's LTE, with VZ taking a notable edge in upload speed - though both services are plenty fast enough both ways for ordinary usage. Tmo's HSPA+ continuity of connection is far better here, though, and ping times far lower (makes a big difference when you tether for online gaming).

It's just the opposite here in Atlanta.


Verizon's 4G is always faster than t-mobile 's faux G.

T-Mobile does have the faster 4G though since not many people are on it.

Thing with t-mobile hspa+ here, their ping times are higher, the connection just drops out at random, and sometimes it won't pick up for a few seconds. That can be quite frustrating.

 

[Jeremy8000]

It's just the opposite here in Atlanta.


Verizon's 4G is always faster than t-mobile 's faux G.

T-Mobile does have the faster 4G though since not many people are on it.

Umm... by 'faux G' do you mean HSPA+? Because that's what I'd based the comparison on where I was seeing faster d/l speeds on Tmo; I'm not yet running on Tmo LTE.

Thing with t-mobile hspa+ here, their ping times are higher, the connection just drops out at random, and sometimes it won't pick up for a few seconds. That can be quite frustrating.

Yep, that was my point. You're just having the exact opposite experience in Atlanta from mine in Charleston - I rarely have dropouts on Tmo's HSPA+, but have them all the time on VZ's LTE. It's all based on location, location, location.