DLeRium, I don't understand how you can say that the Nexus 4 is good, when you clearly say that it's screen doesn't look very good compared to some other phones. Never mind the size, it's the sharpness/contrast and color accuracy that matter more.
The bigger screen is nice without a doubt. This is pure visuals and not taking into account ergonomics. Sharpness is there with the 720p, but perhaps some of that feel is missing due to poor color calibration. However from what I've read it's really a calibration issue. Walking around the AT&T store, the LG Optimus G looks nice. It's better calibrated. There's color controls with the Nexus 4 kernel, and some custom kernels already have a color tuning app associated. The GNex wasn't well calibrated and so were all the Nexus phones before. However, I do have a calibrated Nexus S and it looks gorgeous. Better than my SAMOLED+ SGS2. While I still believe Google needs to provide out of the box functionality with proper calibration, all hope isn't lost because we can hopefully get that ability soon.
I'd also like to see objective display reviews. How good is the display itself? I know SAMOLED lovers always go "oh damn LCD is washed out it's DOOOOOMED." Remember that Apple got around crappy calibration by having a bright screen. The 4 and 4S looked good supposedly even with 65% of gamut only. I'm going to hope that I can adjust the colors on my screen soon so it looks half decent.
But to be honest I think I'm losing my pickiness with colors. I work long hours now and it's at a pathetic TN panel or laptop screen. I'm probably going colorblind. I spend little time in front of my Dell 27" at home now, but everytime I do I'm reminded of how nice LCD displays can look.
Also, you are somewhat contradicting yourself. first you say that this new phone is just about as fast as the iPhone, but then you say your friend's Nexus is sluggish. Talking about how the reason may be installed apps or whatever else, is a poor excuse. Nothing slows down the iPhone in my experience. It's always very fast and precise. It's performance DOES NOT decrease with time.
Gnex looks laggy. I'm not sure why. But remember Android runs background apps, and while you and I and other tech geeks might not install every app in the world, standard users don't care. They have so many things running in the background, syncing, it doesn't feel well.
I was actually really looking forward to buying the Nexus 4, but after your review, maybe not so much anymore...
Sorry
🙁 but I think the phone still is the best on the Android platform and having both the iPhone and Nexus, I can say you can't go wrong with either.
I would like to see you review the Nexus 4's camera compared to the iPhone. For me, it's one of the most important features a phone can have, because I use it constantly and very extensively. I really feel that my 4s camera is a good replacement for a point and shoot. It's just that good. I read some very positive things about the Nex4 in that regard, but I would like to see it confirmed. Panorama is awesome though, and I don't have that on my 4s by default, but I do have it through a hack. (by far not as nice as Android off course)
I'm a photographer and so I demand quality photo reviews. That's why I've never really dived into them before. I just offer a few subjective conclusions based on my observations. The camera is difficult to use and while the whole touch circle menu is "cool" it's less useful than one might think. It's too easy to select the wrong thing. Gimmick feature if you may.
In day, it's great. Indoors it's not as great. This is partly software and hardware. I think the iPhone limits the shutter speed and then bumps you to a higher ISO at a certain point. I had so many blurry photos on my Nexus it was't funny. I was TRYING to hold it still too. On the iPhone I didn't care and casually held it with 1 hand and snapped away with pretty sharp photos.
The part that bugs me is I feel like my SGS2 might give better photos. The Nexus line has been disappointing in photos, and no matter what the apologists say about how this is a development phone not a fun phone, stop it. First there's excuses for why the GNex didn't go quad and it went dual and it's not meant to be a powerhouse. Now the Nexus 4 changes that by having the fastest damn CPU in a phone. Let's not forget the Nexus S had a damn good camera for its time because the SGS phones of that generation led with only the iPhone 4 being better.
Really, after this review, I don't see a convincing reason to switch from a 4s to the Nexus. I wasn't always an Apple fanboy, but I became one, after the horrible experience I had with Verizon + Droid 2 Global and a breath of fresh air I got when I switched to AT&T and iPhone.
All that being said, I loved a friend's Samsung Galaxy SIII when I tried it out and would switch to it from the iPhone in a heartbeat. Too bad it's not affordable at all outside of contract.
I don't see how an SGS3 is better than a Nexus 4. Maybe if you really love the SAMOLED display, but while my eyes like it more, I think the Nexus' display isn't bad. The fact that you can run stock AOSP Android straight out of the box is 100x more important. I'd NEVER run Touchwiz or Sense or any of that junk. That's half the reason why those phones feel like lagfests. Sense might have worked well for the ARM11 phones like the Droid Eris making it feel faster than the Motorola Droid in terms of scrolling smoothness. However they're all so bloated now that they contribute to a huge slowdown.
When my GF picked up my SGS2 she woudl always comment on how fast it is. This is with the broken hwcomposer on CM10. It's not even butter yet. I recall her SGS3 being great when she first got it but when I paid close attention to it last weekend it lagged like no other. Scrolling through a list on Foursquare was a horrible. It may be that I'm spoiled carrying two fast as hell phones, but I wanted to say even my SGS2 wouldn't do that?
