[Q] Considering a Nexus 4, a few questions for long time N4 owners

[interframe]

Considering picking up a Nexus 4 and would love to hear some pros and cons from long time users of the N4 on XDA that have had the phone for months now, and their real-world usage and opinion (like how the performance/battery holds up after x months of use). I also wouldn't mind hearing about comparisons to other phones with regards to performance if other N4 owner have/use other phones, older or new.

Some background info:

I'm coming from a 2010 HTC Windows Phone, so I'll probably be blown away by what a 2012/2013ish phone hardware is like. WP7 on my HTC HD7 still runs very fast/smoothly in the core OS experience, but once you get to 3rd party app load times on startup, it becomes painful. On top of that MS has all but abandoned WP7, and features-wise, its seriously dated and missing key basic but essential features of smartphone OS's, like ahem orientation lock and a more modern mobile web browser, not even 3rd party apps can help there.

 

[Teo032]

Like you said any 2012/13 phone will amaze you from the phone you have now. You might not even notice the differences between all these new phones.

The closest comparison to this phone would be the s3.

nexus 4 slightly outperforms the s3, you would most notice the smoothness between the two. Battery life, they're roughly the same, except if you use your phone a lot... like extensively than the better choice is the s3. Camera is also better on the s3. Storage goes to s3. But I feel the nexus is the more complete phone... I guess you can say less hiccups.

I would probably choose s4 and htc one over nexus though. Haven't played with them yet, but simply because they're newer lol



Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

 

[Beerad875]

I love my n4. I'm not a "long time" owner being 2 weeks of owning it, but I'll tell you I love it. I came from a One X running a custom rom and it didn't compare to the speed of the stock n4. It may be a dual core vs quad but still, aosp is just fantastic. Battery is pretty good I'd say. It gets through the day, I'll show some pictures. The lack of LTE and storage isn't a big deal to me because all my music is coming from the cloud and HSPA is fast enough. I haven't even switched to the HSPA+ plan yet because lazy. However, it doesn't play music near as loud as my One X through headphones, but they have a mod for that.
Oh and it charges pretty fast.

Sent from my fridge using XDA Premium

 

[Beerad875]

I love my n4. I'm not a "long time" owner being 2 weeks of owning it, but I'll tell you I love it. I came from a One X running a custom rom and it didn't compare to the speed of the stock n4. It may be a dual core vs quad but still, aosp is just fantastic. Battery is pretty good I'd say. It gets through the day, I'll show some pictures. The lack of LTE and storage isn't a big deal to me because all my music is coming from the cloud and HSPA is fast enough. I haven't even switched to the HSPA+ plan yet because lazy. However, it doesn't play music near as loud as my One X through headphones, but they have a mod for that.
Oh and it charges pretty fast.
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Sent from my fridge using XDA Premium

 

[Demonseye]

Nexus all the way. It's been a little less than a month of owning it, and it's great. Everything works like it's supposed to work, custom ROMs are easy to install, and I unlocked the bootloader/rooted it in a little less than an hour.

 

[Overdose1986]

I got mine since december of the past year, and I love it more than ever, looks amazing, runs smooth, can run any game without lag, it fit my needs.
I must warn you to be careful don't drop it

My sister have an galaxy s3 and honestly the Nexus 4 is at higher level

 

[can6rxw]

I have the S3 and Nexus 4 and Whereas I love my S3, the N4 is the better phone all around. The S3 has it's better things like storage, LTE, S Calendar, OMLEAD (sp.) Screen (where black background takes no power but on N4 it does) and the camera. The camera is by far the best. Beats the heck out of N4 so if you take alot of pics, you'll want the S3. The N4 does okay on its camera but is no where near S3. BUT...performance wise, the N4 wins, hands down. ASOP is better in my opinion as some of these custome UI's really take a lot of power, etc. Plus, for $350, you get a highend phone for a midrange price. It's a no brainer in my opinion.

 

[meyert11]

I'm happy with my N4. If you need an unlocked phone, for the price you seriously can't beat it. If price is no issue, I agree with Teo032 and I'd go with S4 or HTC One based on hardware.

The one thing about the N4 I'm still getting used to is the lack of storage size. I STRONGLY suggest getting the 16 GB. I got the 8 and I would totally pay $50 for another 8 gigs. I think it currently comes with a free bumper, if not, get one, they're actually pretty cool and my N4 kept slidding off crap because the screen is so smooth.

Good luck!

 

[machoman1337]

Nearing two months here. Upgraded from the LG Optimus 2X, the world's first dual core Android.

I absolutely love my N4. For the price it's a steal. The performance just blows me away (I am running CyanogenMod, not overclocked) compared to my old phone which had s**tty drivers and often had lag spikes even with overclocking.

If you compare the N4 to a stock unrooted Galaxy S4 or HTC One (the two powerhouses of 2013), you will actually find that when exiting apps and going around the home screens, the N4 is faster than either phone, because those two powerhouses have to deal with the overhead of rendering an ugly custom skin that adds no value Of course when actually inside an app those two phones will be the performance kings, but the N4 is no slouch either - it nails pretty much every game I throw at it.

These are the only real reasons to forgo the N4 in favour of something else:
1. You have the $$$ and want better build quality
2. You can't live with only 16 GB of internal storage, non-expandable
3. You like having a removable battery (or at least a removable cover to make accessing the SIM easier)
4. You want officially supported LTE that isn't 1700 Mhz
5. You think 4.7" is too big (a fair reason) and want something more compact.

If none of those points apply to you, then by all means, GET THE NEXUS 4!!! Also as a bonus you can load on a Metro UI skin if you miss WP

 

[penek]

It's been like ~2 months now, and as most lads above I can sincerely say that it was the best choice possible at the moment (still is imo). Seeing that I simply agree with most of whats above this post, peformance wise n stuff, ill poke it from another point of view. Being an iphone4 user (jailbroken of course), the very first time I had the chance to fiddle with the nexus4 - it stole my heart completely. Versatility is just beyond any limits and if youre looking for a smart purchase, good performance/price ratio AND quality product - N4 is the best choice possible right now. The reason ive been using an iphone for quite a bit was actually lack of android based quality products (well, apart from a couple of htc's maybe ). It is crucial for me since I hate using a phone that reminds me of a plastic toy. N4 is the perfect solution in this case - official android based product combined with decent materials. You have to keep in mind though - it is a fragile piece of equipment and if you have like slippery hands (lol) or simply drop the phone pretty (too ) often - you must get yourself a case/bumper (i would recommend a piece of screen/back protector as well) cuz it might hurt if it bangs the floor

 

[can6rxw]

The Best...just saying

 

[jsmasterx]

I have it for a long time and i must say its a nice phone.

You must be aware tho that there are random wifi issues on this phone that will probably be corrected with a system update.

The stock rom is ok and the stock google kernel uses the perf. branch so do not expect great battery life on stock even when the phone's idle.

A protective case is required or you will screw the back glass easily.

Photosphere is a nice feature included on the phone.

Phone overheats easily

You see the digitizer on screen

But its a great phone and im happy with it. Nothing would beat the galaxy s2 i had lol



Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

 

[Solutions Etcetera]

Ordered mine on day one and received it the following week. I came from an iPhone.

I have had no issues other than Android itself. Some of it is half baked, and fixes can be non-existent. Battery life is OK if you come to the conclusion that some apps are the main cause of poor battery life on Android... it is a bit of a free for all here. I have seen significant improvement since installing Qualcomm's Battery Guru. I have seen 13.5 hours on battery with 2hr 46min screen time and 50% battery left. While it ain't quite an iPhone, it is more than sufficient.

The phone is very poorly documented and much of how it works is a "discovery by braille" experience. The stock mail client is unusable for business... thankfully I found a better one (AquaMail). The little speaker on the back is useless. I mean USELESS.

If I had it to do over again I don't think I'd do anything differently. The only other phone I would consider at this point is the HTC One (almost twice the price). At $350 I am very comfortable using my phone and not worrying about damaging/losing it. If I toast it it is not that big a deal to replace it (unlike the $600-$800 for some competing phones). It does almost everything well, and the little rough spots are minor. I do miss the accessory/software ecosystem that is iOS, but at this point I think I would miss widgets and the open file system even more.

 

[JaylanPHNX]

As far as aging goes, I've had mine for a while and it's stood the test of time. My battery life has only gotten better and better, but that's mostly due to constantly improving custom kernels (I use Faux123's). It plays all the games out there. The only drawback is storage.

Sent from an N4 blessed with AOKP and sanctified by Faux123!