Any advantage of going from a S4 Google Edition to a Nexus 5?

[jacktesterson]

I'm a phone junkie.

At the same time, I'm a pure Android Junkie - On almost any phone I buy, I immediately root/unlock, whatever I need to do and install a AOSP or Google Edition rom on my phone.

I currently have a Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition, with stock Jelly Bean 4.3

I was a big fan of the Nexus 4 other than the camera. I actually use my mobile camera more than my good camera. It just plain sucked.


Anyone planning on going from a S4/HTC One , etc to the Nexus 5 on launch?

Good thing about the S4 Google Edition is the camera quality is just as good on stock android as Touchwiz.

Guess its more "time will tell". Anyone planning a similar move?

 

[vshah]

will probably go to N5 from an HTC one, if the camera is decent. would like to have wireless charging back, for one thing. also if rumors of a larger battery are true that would be great combined with s800 power efficiency.

 

[Strk]

It's kind of hard to state advantages to a device that hasn't actually been announced yet.

 

[lothar]

If I was in your position, I wouldn't bother.
But then again...If I was in your position earlier, I certainly wouldn't have upgraded from a Nexus 4 to a Galaxy S4 GPe(which cost $600) either.

Nexus 4 to Nexus 5 is a bigger upgrade than Nexus 4 to Galaxy S4 GPe and Galaxy S4 GPe to Nexus 5.

Everything for you will have to depend on price. If you're an Android purist and don't care about price, then sure thing go for it.
It looks to me that you are an Android purist(I am too!) and don't care about price much based on you paying $600 to upgrade from a Nexus 4 to a Galaxy S4 GPe.

If camera is your main feature, then you may want to wait for reviews comparing the Nexus 5's camera first.
/my 2 cents.

 

[Roland00Address]

Benefits
Marginally faster cpu speed, Marginally faster gpu speed
The upgrade will cost you very little, for most likely the Nexus 5 32gb will cost $399 and you can probably get that for your phone.

Costs
The hassle of dealing with a phone swap
The lost of sd card storage
The lost of oled vs ips (though some people will consider this a plus)

 

[dawheat]

Since a used S4 and the Nexus 5 won't be very dissimilar in price, you should just wait to compare the phones:

- IPS vs AMOLED
- battery life - if the 2300mAh battery is correct, it may have similar battery life. But it could also have the battery sucking issues of the Nexus 4, or even go the other way and have a lot of newer power sipping features.
- camera - Nexus 5 sounds promising, but really should wait and see.

Personally I'd consider a 16GB + 64GB setup a draw to a 32GB internal setup for the same price, unless you have a large media library you want to hold locally.

 

[jacktesterson]

If I was in your position, I wouldn't bother.
But then again...If I was in your position earlier, I certainly wouldn't have upgraded from a Nexus 4 to a Galaxy S4 GPe(which cost $600) either.

Nexus 4 to Nexus 5 is a bigger upgrade than Nexus 4 to Galaxy S4 GPe and Galaxy S4 GPe to Nexus 5.

Everything for you will have to depend on price. If you're an Android purist and don't care about price, then sure thing go for it.
It looks to me that you are an Android purist(I am too!) and don't care about price much based on you paying $600 to upgrade from a Nexus 4 to a Galaxy S4 GPe.

If camera is your main feature, then you may want to wait for reviews comparing the Nexus 5's camera first.
/my 2 cents.

I paid $425 for my S4 Google edition. I never spend more than $450 on a phone. I got it used but like new. Look around.

The Nexus 4 was $430 ish when I had it. (I paid 349.99 + 16.99 shipping + 13% tax in Canada for it)

 

[jacktesterson]

Benefits
Marginally faster cpu speed, Marginally faster gpu speed
The upgrade will cost you very little, for most likely the Nexus 5 32gb will cost $399 and you can probably get that for your phone.

Costs
The hassle of dealing with a phone swap
The lost of sd card storage
The lost of oled vs ips (though some people will consider this a plus)

IPS is usually a plus for me, although my thoughts on OLED screens have improved with the S4.


The biggest reason for the switch for me is ROMS. I love to mess with Roms, and the Nexus 5 will have a huge dev community based on stock Android.

I probably will switch if the Camera is at all decent. If not, I'll continue to hold the S4.

 

[RedRooster]

Did the GE S4 have the same screwed up partition sizes as the regular one? Where you only get like 9GB of free space?
I'm running a regular S4, flashed to CM10.2, and I'm dumping it for an N5 the second I can get one. Aftermarket ROMS are still to much hassle for me, especially when a new version of Android comes out and you're back to square one "testing" nightlies for a month straight.
I loved the convenience of my last two Nexii, and as long as its got the 5" 1080p screen, I don't care about SD storage or battery size really.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I haven't used a Galaxy S4, but here are some of the things I think should be pros for the Nexus 5.

* Speakers. I've been unsatisfied with Samsung speakers in the past and their location on the back of the phone, they get muffled easily. From what I see of the Nexus 5, it has a a speaker or speakers on the bottom edge of the phone that should have no issues with getting muffled.

* Design. This is highly subjective, but I don't really care for the look of the Galaxy S4. Too much glossy plastic and chrome plastic ascents. I really like the soft touch looking matte back on the Nexus 5 and the simple black color.

* Processor. Slight performance bump with the S800 SoC.

The battery is probably a wash. The 32GB Nexus 5 reportedly has a larger 3000mAh battery. But the S4 battery is removable and you could carry a spare. I used to carry a spare, but these days I'd prefer to just have a larger battery.

And obviously the S4 has at least one advantage with the micro SD slot.
Another would be accessories, seems like it's so much easier to find more accessories for popular Samsung phones like the S4 than it is for Nexus phones. I'm a Nexus 4 owner and I've experienced some case envy with the case I see on Samsung and Apple phones. Seems like there is barely anything available for Nexus phones by comparison. I wouldn't buy or not buy a phone because of this, just mentioning it.

 

[zerocool84]

It's kind of hard to state advantages to a device that hasn't actually been announced yet.

It always makes me laugh when people ask opinions on a phone that's not even released yet let alone announced.

 

[dguy6789]

Nexus phones have always had unacceptable battery life and a poor camera. Those would stop me from choosing it over a Galaxy S4(stock or GPE) if they end up being issues yet again.

 

[lothar]

It always makes me laugh when people ask opinions on a phone that's not even released yet let alone announced.

Normally, I'd agree with you.
But, there is enough "credible" information out there on the Nexus 5 and inferences from the LG G2 that one can make an informed decision about it.
It's not like he's asking about the Galaxy S5, or some newly minted SoC phone or something.

 

[jacktesterson]

Did the GE S4 have the same screwed up partition sizes as the regular one? Where you only get like 9GB of free space?
I'm running a regular S4, flashed to CM10.2, and I'm dumping it for an N5 the second I can get one. Aftermarket ROMS are still to much hassle for me, especially when a new version of Android comes out and you're back to square one "testing" nightlies for a month straight.
I loved the convenience of my last two Nexii, and as long as its got the 5" 1080p screen, I don't care about SD storage or battery size really.

I have just under 12GB of space to work with out of the Box on the S4 GE, rather than the 9 on the regular S4. So I guess the answer is no?

I think I'm actually leaning towards keeping the S4.

The build quality of Samsung's drive me nuts. That's my big gripe with them. The S4 in hand just feels cheap.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

IPS is usually a plus for me, although my thoughts on OLED screens have improved with the S4.


The biggest reason for the switch for me is ROMS. I love to mess with Roms, and the Nexus 5 will have a huge dev community based on stock Android.

I probably will switch if the Camera is at all decent. If not, I'll continue to hold the S4.

While there are ROMs and plenty of ROMs for the GS4, the issue is there's still proprietary blobs that the devs can't get access to, so CM 10.2 on a Nexus will always be more stable.

From a hardware perspective, the GS4 is better in every way than the Nexus 4, and in my mind a HUGE upgrade.

Nexus 4 to Nexus 5 is a bigger upgrade than Nexus 4 to Galaxy S4 GPe and Galaxy S4 GPe to Nexus 5.

Agreed, but the N4 to S4 GPE is a huge step. To me that LTE chip is a huge add on and completely eliminates the msm_hsic wakelock issue that gives the N4 such bad battery life. That alone would be enough for me to upgrade if this was something like Jan or Feb 2013 where the next Nexus is still far out.

 

[Ariae]

From what I know about the N5, it doesn't look like I'll be upgrading. Will have to see the reviews first

 

[OBLAMA2009]

any type of battery upgrade to a "maxx" version is worth it, so if you axe me, if you axe me, it is worth "upgrading"

 

[Tsaar]

If the 32gb 3000 mAh battery rumor turns out to be true, I may be selling my Note 2 after all.

I was hoping for a good camera, but from what I have seen it is going to be "meh". I could be wrong, as I haven't read every leaked spec out there.

 

[aShufflinZombie]

I have just under 12GB of space to work with out of the Box on the S4 GE, rather than the 9 on the regular S4. So I guess the answer is no?

I think I'm actually leaning towards keeping the S4.

The build quality of Samsung's drive me nuts. That's my big gripe with them. The S4 in hand just feels cheap.

You could always sell the S4 and use that money to buy a HTC One.

 

[Red Storm]

My Note 3 is already up to 18GB used of the 32GB internal memory, and that's with all pictures, music and video on the mSD card. 16GB has officially become dead to me.

 

[thedosbox]

It always makes me laugh when people ask opinions on a phone that's not even released yet let alone announced.

This. Sure the hardware specs might look great, but will there be a repeat of the overheating/throttling issues on the Nexus 4?

The sensible approach would be to wait until it's released. But given the OP is a self-confessed phone junkie, I understand that might not be an acceptable option

 

[Eug]

I'm not a big fan of the build feel of the Samsung phones, but then again I have never seen a Nexus 5.

However, I'd take the S4 just for the home button alone.

 

[JoeMcJoe]

I don't like how the s4 has a physical button and two capacitive ones, should all be the same design.