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Google Nexus 4 Review

anandtech.com

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Re: Google Nexus 4 Review

#101

Post by pkulak »

weiran wrote: post #77
kenjackson wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While it may disappoint many people who just want the best at any price, you can't ignore the fact that the N4 is half the price of other phones in its class. The price really is the killer feature of this phone. Ignoring OS, there are other phones that are getting much cheaper. Example is the new Lumia 920 that is $449 on ATT w/o contract. While it is $100 more expensive than the the 16GB Nexus you do get the follow…

The 920 also has a much better camera, which is a big deal for some people (myself included).

Yeah, that camera is amazing, but I'm not sure I could handle Windows phone. It looks smooth and all, but I'm pretty locked into the Google ecosystem.

Re: Google Nexus 4 Review

#102

Post by dangrossman »

MojoJolo wrote: post #62
apendleton wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes; TMobile will sell them. The pricing will be much worse than the Play Store pricing, though (I think around $200 on contract and $600 off), so probably not actually a good idea.

So the "no contract" or "no carrier" version is only available in the Google Play?

It's the same unlocked "no carrier" phone, just at a higher price in-store, or so I've read.

Re: Google Nexus 4 Review

#103

Post by dangrossman »

SwellJoe wrote: post #92
Symmetry wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And with T-Mobile you can get the same plan for cheaper if you aren't on a contract.

That's changed, unfortunately. Their "Value Plans" now also require a two year contract. They have no contract plans, but they are pricier than the contracted Value Plans. I was pissed to learn of this change when I wanted to switch to a plan that would allow tethering (I have the old G1 plan, which is unlimited data, but won't allow addition of tethering, and they shut down my ability to tether with the native tethe…

How did they shut down third party apps? I'm technically not supposed to be able to tether on Sprint, but I can run PDANet or FoxFi to tether over USB or bluetooth anyway, on a non-rooted phone.

Re: Google Nexus 4 Review

#104

Post by lallysingh »

Steko wrote: post #99
martythemaniak wrote: post #4

I'm glad to see Anand focus so much on the price in the conclusion. A lot of the other reviews talked at length about lack of LTE etc, but that misses the point of this phone. While it may disappoint many people who just want the best at any price, you can't ignore the fact that the N4 is half the price of other phones in its class. The price really is the killer feature of this phone. I suspect there is lots of dema…

> you can't ignore the fact that the N4 is half the price of other phones in its class. You also can't ignore the fact that in the US other phones in it's class are subsidized by $400 or more, upending this comparison greatly. Yes you're locked into a contract but it's not like Nexus 4 users get some special monthly rate. For some use cases being off contract is a god send, for most though, a subsidized iphone 5 or g…

On T-Mobile, yes, yes they do. I save $20 a month on my bill from bringing in my own phone.

Re: Google Nexus 4 Review

#105

Post by mahyarm »

habosa wrote: post #97

I don't get it, so I need someone to explain something to me. How can the iPhone consistently blow everything else away in performance AND battery life, despite having a smaller battery and seemingly lesser processor. I understand that Apple had a time advantage by getting into the touchscreen smartphone game first but how has nobody caught up yet? I am a huge Nexus fanboy but it seems that the IPhone is objectively…

You'll notice they are very strict about background processing in applications and the usage of battery draining things such as GPS or cellular data. This helps battery life significantly. Google didn't start prioritizing view smoothness and efficiency until android 3 or 4.

The OS & apps are pretty much pure C from the ground up, with an objective-c application layer. The entire view system (Core Animation) is GPU accelerated with OpenGL from day one.

Objective-C on iOS does not have a GC, so apps are generally faster and more responsive with manual memory management. Many apps can drop into pure C or C++ to improve performance easily.

All of these performance choices give you a faster phone for less processor.

A slower processor also tends to use less energy too. Battery size is a pure weight/size vs capacity tradeoff.

Re: Google Nexus 4 Review

#106

Post by stumm »

Steko wrote: post #99
martythemaniak wrote: post #4

I'm glad to see Anand focus so much on the price in the conclusion. A lot of the other reviews talked at length about lack of LTE etc, but that misses the point of this phone. While it may disappoint many people who just want the best at any price, you can't ignore the fact that the N4 is half the price of other phones in its class. The price really is the killer feature of this phone. I suspect there is lots of dema…

> you can't ignore the fact that the N4 is half the price of other phones in its class. You also can't ignore the fact that in the US other phones in it's class are subsidized by $400 or more, upending this comparison greatly. Yes you're locked into a contract but it's not like Nexus 4 users get some special monthly rate. For some use cases being off contract is a god send, for most though, a subsidized iphone 5 or g…

This not true for all carriers. T-mobile has cheaper non-contract plans.

No-contract is 50 dollars for unlimited everything ($70 if you want 4G): http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

With a contract it is 90 dollars for unlimited everything (which I believe is roughly standard across the industry): http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/individual-plans.aspx

Re: Google Nexus 4 Review

#107

Post by Synaesthesia »

socialist_coder wrote: post #98

Wow, it has about a 50% bigger battery than the iPhone 5 but has considerably worse battery life. 2100 mAH battery vs iPhone 5's 1440 mAH, but iPhone 5 can browse the web for almost twice as long. How is there such a big difference? Or are these stats not 100% accurate?

Yes it is impressive. The iPhone engineers critically have done great work with the performance/power consumption of their CPU and their power management in the OS. They're also using a fantastic baseband which is extremely lower efficient on LTE it seems. Lastly the screen area of the iPhone is quite a lot smaller which does account for some of the iPhones lower power usage.

Re: Google Nexus 4 Review

#108

Post by mahyarm »

peeters wrote: post #28

I've already decided I'm buying this phone, but I have to ask: Why should I care about wireless charging? I can't see this feature enriching my life in the slightest. Ok, it looks cool sitting there. But docks look cool too. Is it more convenient? I would argue no (saves maybe two seconds of effort per charge). Is it more portable? Definitely not. Is this only hyped up because of the "coolness" factor?

It's the difference between using a wifi weight scale and using a normal weight scale and recording the value in an app. That removal of friction will make you weigh yourself more.

Wireless charging 5-30 second operation into a 2 second operation

Re: Google Nexus 4 Review

#109

Post by tempnick5 »

Steko wrote: post #99
martythemaniak wrote: post #4

I'm glad to see Anand focus so much on the price in the conclusion. A lot of the other reviews talked at length about lack of LTE etc, but that misses the point of this phone. While it may disappoint many people who just want the best at any price, you can't ignore the fact that the N4 is half the price of other phones in its class. The price really is the killer feature of this phone. I suspect there is lots of dema…

> you can't ignore the fact that the N4 is half the price of other phones in its class. You also can't ignore the fact that in the US other phones in it's class are subsidized by $400 or more, upending this comparison greatly. Yes you're locked into a contract but it's not like Nexus 4 users get some special monthly rate. For some use cases being off contract is a god send, for most though, a subsidized iphone 5 or g…

> for most though, a subsidized iphone 5 or galaxy s3 is a better option at $100 cheaper

Is it really, though? As an example, T-Mobile prepaid offers $30/month for unlimited data (5gb @4g) & SMS, plus 100min voice. Poking at ATT's site the most comparable contract plan I see for iphone 5 is about $90/month. That's over $700 more out of pocket in a year if you go with the subsidized phone.

Re: Google Nexus 4 Review

#110

Post by eropple »

k2xl wrote: post #89
eropple wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I regularly get between 16Mbps and 21Mbps on HSPA+ in my area and the latency doesn't feel particularly different between my LTE devices and my HSPA+ devices. YM, of course, MV.

what area are you in? (if you don't mind me asking)

Eastern Massachusetts, outside of Boston.
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