[Discussion] Galaxy Nexus vs Nexus 4 - which would you choose today, and why?

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br0adband

Senior Member
Mar 28, 2008
1,718
781
I have an opportunity to get a 16GB Galaxy Nexus BNIB (brand new in box), literally never opened or used, for what I consider to be a really good price at this point given the age of the device. I know that as of a few days ago Google posted the 4.3 factory Android image for the Galaxy Nexus and I've been reading up on how it seems to have breathed new life into the previous flagship device for the Nexus smartphone series.

Now, with yesterday's price drop on the Nexus 4 I have to say I'm on the fence as of this moment. I'm not absolutely sure which one to get given I know the Nexus 4 will be $250 (plus tax/shipping, so about $283 and change according to Google Play), and I can get the Galaxy Nexus for $150 - no it's not some online deal, no it's not on eBay, no I can't point you to where they're that cheap, it's literally a one-time thing from a friend that worked for Google last summer and was given the GN and he never even bothered to open it (he's an iPhone person).

I guess I should say that I'm fully aware of the community of support for the Galaxy Nexus, it's huge and it continues to grow even in spite of the age of the device. It's probably only bested these days by the still awesome community of support for the HTC HD2, probably my fave device ever but that one has long since gone off my radar.

So to make a long blah blah blah help me make a decision post short, here's the real question:

If you had the chance to get a Nexus 4 16GB for $250-ish, today, or a Galaxy Nexus 16GB for $150, today, brand new never opened never touched used etc, which would you choose, and if you can say why then say why.

I'm honestly leaning towards the Galaxy Nexus for several reasons:

- I like the build better and the curved aspect of the shape/display
- I'm not a big fan of the backside glass on the Nexus 4 even in spite of it being Gorilla Glass
- the Galaxy Nexus obviously has pretty much the same or similar features as the Nexus 4 overall (meaning from a functionality standpoint)
- the Super AMOLED display (which with this one I'm considering being brand spankin' new means it doesn't have any burn-in whatsoever which does happen with AMOLED displays; I had a Galaxy S Captivate that after 1.5 years finally started showing the burn-in consistently)
- the removable battery which is probably the biggest most amazing plus of all for the Galaxy Nexus
- the pogo dock (using the contacts on the side) for the Galaxy Nexus (I know it's just for audio and charging but even so it saves wear and tear on the microUSB port (yes I'm aware it's insanely expensive but whatever)

and some other reasons as well but that covers it. So, is the Nexus 4 with a slightly increased resolution (1280x768 vs the GN at 1280x720), the quad core CPU (which isn't a big selling point to me, really), and whatever else it features that much of a better buy over the Galaxy Nexus I'm considering?

One thing that worried me about getting a Galaxy Nexus at this point would have been the age, and the wear on the internal Flash-RAM since it doesn't support a microSD card. I know that with Android 4.3 now available and TRIM finally in action, that's part of why some people are saying their Galaxy Nexus devices are "like new again" because TRIM is cleaning things up - with this brand new never used Galaxy Nexus I could buy, it would be even better and last longer because again a) it's never been used and b) I'd put 4.3 on it within an hour of opening the box, so that's a win-win if I've ever had one. :)

Anyway, I am seriously curious what other people might thing, so instead of asking this in the Nexus 4 forum where people would probably just flat out call me insane to want a Galaxy Nexus over that device, I figured I'd propose the question here where the Galaxy Nexus community lives.

What say you... the Galaxy Nexus brand new for $150 or the Nexus 4 for $250-ish. I really can't commit to either at this moment so I'm still on the fence. :confused:

Regarding 4G:

The 4G aspect potential for the Nexus 4 which I know can be put to use (I use the T-Mobile $30/month plan and I'm in Las Vegas where T-Mobile has outstanding coverage now) is not a consideration as I don't care about 4G at all, period, to any degree whatsoever. Obviously the Galaxy Nexus can't support that at all, but it is HSPA+ capable and again, T-Mobile here in Las Vegas has outstanding coverage so in that respect, from the actual provider perspective, the Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus 4 are the same for my intents and purposes.

The potential 4G capability of the Nexus 4 is therefore irrelevant and not a "buying point" for me at all. Just wanted to make that aspect clear in my considerations.

Thanks.
 

garu12

Senior Member
Jul 4, 2010
350
66
Montreal
Nexus 4. I love my Gnex but for the price it will last you much longer. The Gnex although going strong is starting to show its age. And with the N4 soooo cheap I'd say go for it.
 

Zepius

Senior Member
Mar 29, 2011
2,881
1,071
if you're getting a new phone, get the nexus 4. the extra $100 is worth it.
 

br0adband

Senior Member
Mar 28, 2008
1,718
781
Guess I missed another aspect of the Galaxy Nexus that I am interested in:

Ubuntu Touch development uses the Galaxy Nexus pretty much as the reference device in terms of smartphones, and I would love to be able to do some work with that too, so that's another plus towards the GN.

Hrmmm... I see that they're working with the Nexus 4 as well, go figure. :p
 

Castro27

Senior Member
Oct 30, 2012
321
73
Guess I missed another aspect of the Galaxy Nexus that I am interested in:

Ubuntu Touch development uses the Galaxy Nexus pretty much as the reference device in terms of smartphones, and I would love to be able to do some work with that too, so that's another plus towards the GN.

Hrmmm... I see that they're working with the Nexus 4 as well, go figure. :p

Still, you should go for the N4. Even if the Gnex is going strong now it is not going to last forever. It's slow dual core (compared to the new CPUs), slow GPU and 1 gb of ram are already showing their age. Combine that with the already leaving devs and google's now-crap-support and you should have enough reasons to buy an N4.

PS: I love my gnex but if I had the option to buy an N4 or even the N5, which is coming soon, I'd go for the new one
 

talz13

Senior Member
Mar 9, 2009
112
11
Avon, OH
I'm still sad that I got the GNex last August when the N4 was right around the corner for the same price. It has me salivating for an N5 in a couple months!
 

wafflestyx

Member
Aug 3, 2013
26
4
I recently was in the same situation but was looking at a used Nexus 4 at the time and went with the Galaxy.

What should you do? Well, I think its more of what do you want to do with your phone.

I don't play games that are very demanding on a phone (if any), I mostly use it to browse sites / message when I'm away from a PC.
So for what I need the GNex does it fine.

If you want more power, well this price drop should effect the value of other second hand phones and you could get something better then the N4. (or a cheaper the new N4)
 

talz13

Senior Member
Mar 9, 2009
112
11
Avon, OH
I've still not found a way to keep enough available memory so that my services don't eventually go into restarting loops, necessitating a reboot. My wife just got a GS4 with 2GB of ram (same amount as the N4), and it's much nicer. Haven't seen it pause for 5 seconds to reload the home screen widgets and icons when exiting the browser, that's for sure.
 

vbauer86

Senior Member
Feb 14, 2012
311
125
I think everyone with gnex should w8 until nexus 5 come out.

N4 isnt the Upgrade we're all looking for. Performance on gnex is still decent, sure getting aged a bit but still enough to handle everything for our daily needs.

I agree with the memory point, 1 gig isn't enough anymore these days. You simply getting redraws all the time using facebook or chrome.
 

iGloryPeace

New member
Aug 28, 2013
1
0
For me it's gnex, lg can't make quality phones. Besides, the nexus 4 doesn't have lte either, so it doesn't worth "upgrading". But if buying a new phone, I think nexus 4 is better since price wise they are same, why not the newer one.
 

Hawon

Senior Member
Nov 9, 2009
219
15
Chicago
If you can wait till Nexus 5 but Nexus 4 is much smoother in every aspect. Yes 4.3 made my GN smoother but it even boosted Nexus 4 performance as well.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4
 

madd0g

Senior Member
May 8, 2010
2,841
872
Get the N4, future proof with 1.8GB of RAM. The 700 on GN is getting cramped. That's the only reason I sold mine last week for surprisingly good 200€ (was without any sings of usage though) and ordered a 250€ 16GB N4 on Play Store via German VPN, so with shipping and all that it'll be 265€ (ordered 2, we're splitting costs).
So you'll be off basically even cheaper. If you worry about the glass back, get a dBrand back sticker, looks great and protects the device.
 
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jadephyre

Senior Member
Jan 30, 2008
1,629
400
Moers
Samsung Galaxy A33
If the Nexus 4 is still available by the end of the year, i'll get that one (Google recently chopped off 100 Euros off of the price of the N4).
I love my GNex and will most likely not sell it because it has been a very solid performer that still gets the job done.
I don't care all that much for gaming and the like, but the increase in raw processing-power and the amount fo RAM are what does it for me.
Of course, the user-replaceable battery on the GNex is a big plus, but the problem is, that in the future we are going to have to live with built-in batteries (I don't like it either, but that's the way things are looking at the moment).
 

itslels

Senior Member
Oct 21, 2012
1,140
464
Strongly considering selling my 2012 nexus 7 and then paying cash for the rest to get the 8gb nexus 4. Its such a good deal at $199.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4
 

br0adband

Senior Member
Mar 28, 2008
1,718
781
So you'll be off basically even cheaper. If you worry about the glass back, get a dBrand back sticker, looks great and protects the device.

Had never seen or heard of those, but that yellow one is awesome (big fan of yellow and black schemes here), thanks for the info.

I'm still on the fence, remarkably, but I think I'm leaning more towards the Nexus 4 at the moment since I do want to participate in that Ubuntu Touch testing and development. The increased horsepower of the Nexus 4 (quad core, 2GB of RAM, etc) just make it the better device even in spite of me ending up paying almost twice as much (since the GN for me would be $150 brand new as noted). And according to that spreadsheet they use for tracking progress, it's the only device that currently is fully functional as far as the aspects they've worked on (Bluetooth doesn't work on anything of course, and some other hardware like the gyroscope, etc hasn't even started development yet).

Decisions, decisions... :D
 

im4eversmart

Senior Member
Jun 13, 2013
130
18
Beirut
Nexus 4 no doubt.It has better battery..more rams mean more speed , not to mention the better gpu.And with google chopped off 100 bucks of its price itll be a good deal for you mate.

Sent from my SMART Galaxy S4 i9500 via Tapatalk 2
 

jakTomas

Senior Member
Mar 16, 2011
820
98
was going to get an iphone 5 instead of my nexus , but after i knew google dropped down the price on the nexus 4 , i think i will get that ,, what do u think guys ??
 

lonestrider

Senior Member
Mar 6, 2011
515
86
Nexus 4, if I can choose straightly without losing anything.
I would replace my GNex for Nexus 4 if I no need to add something else. I know it's impossible.
However, GNex is really an amazing device. Gonna use it for another year and I'll see what's next.
 

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    Still, you should go for the N4. Even if the Gnex is going strong now it is not going to last forever. It's slow dual core (compared to the new CPUs), slow GPU and 1 gb of ram are already showing their age. Combine that with the already leaving devs and google's now-crap-support and you should have enough reasons to buy an N4.

    PS: I love my gnex but if I had the option to buy an N4 or even the N5, which is coming soon, I'd go for the new one

    That is called consumerism and is what the marketing and companies try so hard to you to believe in order you buy year over year a new phone, when in reality many apps dont even are optimized for dual core processors let alone quad or octa core.

    TO THE OP:

    Get your Galaxy Nexus. Its a superb phone that its not old at all. The sheep people and the companies try to thinking that a 1.5 year old phone is old and useless. I have mine and runs flowlesly all the apps I want the way I want. Go for it.
    1
    Still using the Galaxy Nexus from the date it was released and have been very satisfied with it. I'll probably stay with this phone until it becomes obsolete in terms of updates :)
    1
    It's like a car concept. If you only need a 2010-2011 Toyota to get you from point A to point B without any need for upgraded engine or internal dash fancy stuff, then the galaxy nexus works for some people.

    If the person need all the latest bells and whistles they can buy the 2013 Toyota, upgrade to a Lotus or Porsche. Sure enough the hardware is old on the 2010, but for the price point of it should be a selling feature enough to concern the average user.

    Then again, some people only need to get groceries and errands with their daily beater. Messaging, phone, email and browser are enough to cover that and the galaxy nexus can do all those when comparing side by side to a Nexus 4/5 SGS4 etc.

    Sent from my Nexus 7

    I'll agree to a point. When you drive that BMW though its hard to go back lol. Not trying to trash this phone. At its time and for some time after it was top notch. :)

    Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app