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Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

androidpolice.com

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Re: Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

#71

Post by CrazedGeek »

runevault wrote: post #53
lbotos wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's drawing a parallel to an iPhone 4s and the negative hype Android users gave it at the time.

I will say at least in my case I'm not thrilled by the lack of SD card and no removable battery. As I already am on TMobile HSPA+ is better for me, however. But with Android it seems like every phone is trade offs, and to get good battery life, latest version of android, and the nexus experience, I'll give up those things.

Or do what I did and go with a phone with near-vendor support of an AOSP ROM. Hello, Galaxy S III and CyanogenMod.

Re: Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

#73

Post by Nursie »

lmm wrote: post #40
shardling wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you fly often enough that the second is an issue, couldn't you just get a small tablet for that purpose?

Once you're carrying a small tablet that can make phone calls, why bother with a separate phone?

There is that, yes!

OTOH the use-case was pretty plane-specific, and you don't often need a phone on a plane. Perhaps a 7 inch tablet (to replace the kindle) would suffice. Though then we run into the same problem, the Nexus 7 has no SD slot either!

Re: Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

#75

Post by gridaphobe »

eggbrain wrote: post #38

Am I the only one that finds it somewhat funny that a phone with no LTE, non-removable battery, no SD card slot and glass front and back is the most talked about Android phone to date?

As an iPhone user (4S) that all sounds pretty standard!

On a more serious note, I don't understand all the fuss about LTE. IIRC it's something like 20Mbps in practice, which is faster than most Internet connections in the US.

What is the use case for such bandwidth on a phone? YouTube already plays just fine with HSPA+.

Re: Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

#76

Post by masklinn »

timeshifter wrote: post #48
eggbrain wrote: post #38

Am I the only one that finds it somewhat funny that a phone with no LTE, non-removable battery, no SD card slot and glass front and back is the most talked about Android phone to date?

Why funny? Android is finally getting some hardware design love, and as a happy Droid 2 owner, I think it's about time.

> Why funny?

Because those are pretty much all points on which the iphone 4 was derided/criticized by the android community 2 years ago?

Re: Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

#77

Post by nickik »

davidw wrote: post #7

> The other complaint I've heard is that this phone has a glass back, and it will break if you drop it. This is true, but guess what? Every phone will break if you drop it. Electronics aren't made to be dropped. Say what you will about their recent problems, but Nokia made phones that were solid. I dropped them on numerous occasions without problems. I've been pretty happy with the Samsung phone that replaced my Noki…

I have a Nexus S (Samsung too) and I have dropped that phone many many times (I like the Swing the phone between my Fingers). That thing is stable, sure the cover springs of and the battery falls out but it keeps working and the screen still hole too.

Good Phone the Nexus S.

Re: Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

#78

Post by masklinn »

Irregardless wrote: post #62
eggbrain wrote: post #38

Am I the only one that finds it somewhat funny that a phone with no LTE, non-removable battery, no SD card slot and glass front and back is the most talked about Android phone to date?

I didn't believe the specs when I first saw them. Those are some of the things that have always made Android phones a no-brainer over the iPhone for me. I've heard this phone still has huge appeal in the international market, but those are definitely deal breakers for a lot of U.S. users. 1. 4G tethering / hotspot is amazing and doesn't require an additional subscription on previous Nexus phones. 2. 16 GB (13 GB free…

> 3. Non-removable battery also means no extended batteries. One of the first accessories I buy is usually an extra or extended battery.

That's not entirely true, it's less efficient but you can get charge packs or battery pack "case" which provide USB power to the phone, either on the go or to top up the battery.

Re: Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

#79

Post by mikelward »

metatronscube wrote: post #56
eggbrain wrote: post #38

Am I the only one that finds it somewhat funny that a phone with no LTE, non-removable battery, no SD card slot and glass front and back is the most talked about Android phone to date?

Yeah for instance when Apple did this design a few years ago it was mostly unacceptable among Fandroids and HN crowd. Now its good, because its Android. Its no secret that HN is heavily biased against Apple (and to some extent MS). I don't know, must be all the Google employees here or something. Its always interesting to watch how these conversations turn out. Its been getting a lot more noticeable over the years on…

According to The Verge, it was a choice between faster data on the one hand, and timely updates, better battery life, and lower price on the other.

I'm guessing for a lot of the Nexus's target market, and for Google, faster updates win out.

http://mobile.theverge.com/2012/10/29/3569688/why-nexus-4-do...

Re: Nexus 4 Review: Beautifully Crafted, Premium Android Phone

#80

Post by recursive »

teddyknox wrote: post #44

Of course androidpolice.com downplays the phone's biggest problem: No 4G LTE. Sure the phone has better build quality. Sure it has more RAM and processing power. Both of those are important, but I don't think they're the biggest limiting factor in android's smartphone sales. Right now I'm using a Verizon Galaxy Nexus with a custom stock ROM and kernel and I've had zero problems with speed. Sure the build quality coul…

For many people, this is not actually a problem. I foolishly got a phone with 4G support last year, but I have yet to be in a city in which it actually works. I try it every time I go to a new city.

You know what would be even better than hardware support for 4G? Consistent coverage for 3G service.

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