Galaxy Note II vs. Nexus 4?

[maniac5999]

So, tried to buy a note last week and take it off contract and put it on the T-mobile unlimited plan, but the store I bought it from was an @$$. (but they were nice about not charging me the restocking fee) Anyway, I REALLY liked it, but it was borderline too big for one pair of pants I own. Now with the ability to order it online from T-Mobile off contract (not available last week) and the arrival of the Nexus four, I'm wondering which I should go with. I do like the ability to used a 64GB SD card with the Note, and love the screen, but think it's a tiny bit big, and think the pen is a novelty. I'm a bit on the fence about the 16gb Nexus, but like saving $300 up front. Whichever one I go with will go on T-mo's $30 plan and get me off of the crappy virgin data network, and away from my glitchy Motorola (rebranded Huhawei) Triumph

 

[Mopetar]

I'd get the Note. The Nexus 4 had terrible battery life if Anand's tests.

 

[dlock13]

I'd get the Note. The Nexus 4 had terrible battery life if Anand's tests.

I'd be weary about everyone's tests. I've read a few that say the battery life is fantastic and other's that say the battery life is poop. Some people believe it to be a bad batch of phones, software glitches, or a combination.

Anyway, Google is apparently going to release a minor update RIGHT before the phone gets launched to hopefully take care of any of these issues.

I'd hold out for a little bit before deciding.

 

[Raduque]

I... don't really understand why you'd be cross-shopping a Note 2 and Nexus 4. They're targeting completely different, and possibly polar opposite, markets.

Nexus4 is for people who love the cloud and AOSP. It has 8 or 16gb (usable capacity 7 and 12gb) and that's all it'll ever have. It does have a nice SoC (S4 Pro), 2gb of ram and an HD screen.

The Note II, on the other hand, has almost a full inch of screen size over the Nexus 4, also HD, and 16 or 32gb internal storage with options for a 64gb uSD card. It's also got a massive battery for a phone. The only issue for some people is that it's really really big, and if you have girly hands or wear skinny jeans, the Note II is not for you.

I won't get into the software on the Note II because, while it's a plus for me, most techy people see it as a minus.

 

[jiffylube1024]

How about a galaxy s3? It's basically everything you're looking for - 16 or 32gb on board with an sd card slot; at 4.8" its 0.1" bigger than the nexus 4 but since it doesn't have on-Screen buttons, it's more like 0.3" bigger. Not too big (if you like the nexus), not too small.

The only other compromise is to wait for htc's awesome new 5" 1080p phone.

 

[randomlinh]

It's just going to boil down to do you want the screen or not. It really sounds more like the S3 is a better fit. My only gripe is Samsung stuck w/ the old nav keys.

 

[Dice144]

Just pre-ordered the Note2, it was all about sexy size+SD!

 

[golem]

I'd get the Note. The Nexus 4 had terrible battery life if Anand's tests.

It's weird, you read different reviews on the Nexus 4 and you get results all over the place. Every review I've read says that it feels smooth and responsive (there were some mentions of a laggy dialer and calculator, weirdly enough) but it gets some strangely low scores in some benchmarks.

Some reviews say it has a great screen (close to the level of the One X) while others say it's washed out. Some find it has good battery life and some say it stinks. It might just be pre finalized hardware and software.

I do think, once retail version come out, all the above kinks will be worked out and it will be good to very good phone hardware wise and great software wise. If you take price and unlocked status into account, it's a incredible bargain if you have good ATT/Tmo coverage in your area (in US)

 

[ponyo]

I'd get the Note. The Nexus 4 had terrible battery life if Anand's tests.

After looking at Anandtech test again, the battery life doesn't look all that bad. It looks like it's pretty similar to SGS3. Which makes sense since the battery sizes are similar and both are S4, quad vs duo. Most people seem pretty happy with SGS3 battery life in real world usage and I think Nexus 4 will be similar but little better as long as you don't play games. Josh at The Verge confirmed he had no problem with the battery making through the day. I get around 3-5 hours of screen time after being unplugged 12-16 hours with my GSM Galaxy Nexus with 2000 mAh extended battery and I expect similar if not better results once people start posting battery results at XDA and here.

 

[tommo123]

i can't see how the nexus 4 will have good battery life or how the savings come into play.

you have to pay more for data as you'll only have about 10gig for storage. that includes thumbnail cache for images/videos etc

install a game and grab a gig of data - even less space.
app cache? maps, navigation apps (navdroid etc). even less space locally.

you want to walk around listening to music - you're streaming it so that's gonna hit your battery.

worrying about space - you'd have to upload every photo as you take it and delete the local copy. then videos? how long would a 1080p video take to upload? where would you upload it to? youtube? they re-encode everything and crapify it.

i can't see a benefit to the nexus due to the lack of a mSD slot. you'll pay more in data costs and lose a lot of flexibility.

i'd go for the S3 or wear slightly looser pants (or put it in a jacket pocket or something) and get the note 2. i have it and it's awesome!

 

[slicksilver]

After looking at Anandtech test again, the battery life doesn't look all that bad. It looks like it's pretty similar to SGS3. Which makes sense since the battery sizes are similar and both are S4, quad vs duo. Most people seem pretty happy with SGS3 battery life in real world usage and I think Nexus 4 will be similar but little better as long as you don't play games. Josh at The Verge confirmed he had no problem with the battery making through the day. I get around 3-5 hours of screen time after being unplugged 12-16 hours with my GSM Galaxy Nexus with 2000 mAh extended battery and I expect similar if not better results once people start posting battery results at XDA and here.

Where are you finding the battery review tests of Anandtech for the Nexus 4? I can find only the performance review.

EDIT - My bad missed page 2

 

[Dice144]

Just went with the Note 2 myself. Having a micro SD was a requirement for me.

 

[SandEagle]

How about a galaxy s3? It's basically everything you're looking for - 16 or 32gb on board with an sd card slot; at 4.8" its 0.1" bigger than the nexus 4 but since it doesn't have on-Screen buttons, it's more like 0.3" bigger. Not too big (if you like the nexus), not too small.

The only other compromise is to wait for htc's awesome new 5" 1080p phone.

any ideas when they plan to release this state side? for me, it'll be a toss up between the butterfly and the note 2. although i prefer Sense UI over TouchWiz. it sounds cool, except for the fact that it has a 2020 mAH battery :hmm:
http://www.htc.com/jp/smartphones/htl21/#specs

 

[Mopetar]

I'd be weary about everyone's tests. I've read a few that say the battery life is fantastic and other's that say the battery life is poop. Some people believe it to be a bad batch of phones, software glitches, or a combination.

If you need or want something now, get the Note. If getting a good device is a crap shoot or there are software glitches, I'd skip over it.

It's weird, you read different reviews on the Nexus 4 and you get results all over the place. Every review I've read says that it feels smooth and responsive (there were some mentions of a laggy dialer and calculator, weirdly enough) but it gets some strangely low scores in some benchmarks.

You can still have a smooth user experience without having good benchmark scores. For example, something like Sunspider isn't going to have much of anything to do with general UI smoothness.

Some reviews say it has a great screen (close to the level of the One X) while others say it's washed out. Some find it has good battery life and some say it stinks. It might just be pre finalized hardware and software.

This also touches on the smoothness as well, but unless the reviewers are actually using some systematic method to measure the results, it's mostly just their opinions, which may be pretty worthless. That's what I like about Anand's reviews. You get qualitative information that isn't subject to opinion. At best, you can argue that the methodology used for testing devices is flawed, but it's still vastly superior to mere opinion.

From Anand's reviews, the display so far looks pretty good. It's still possible that the color accuracy might be off in some aspect, but the contrast ratio is among the best seen in a smartphone yet. We'll probably have a better idea once the full results are published.

 

[Jocelyn84]

The only issue for some people is that it's really really big, and if you have girly hands or wear skinny jeans, the Note II is not for you.

Sorry but my mother and I both own a GN2 and this is nonsense. It's really NOT that big lol. The whole "big effect" goes away within 24 hours.
I realize you said "some people", but then you went on to say it "is not for you" if you fall into either of two categories. Look at xda or any other forum like that and you will not find a single person who returned it because it was "too big". People said the exact same thing about the 4.3" Evo 4G two plus years ago and now 4.7-4.8" is the norm. Anyway, I definitely see GN2 sized phones becoming the norm over the next year.

Oh and I'd like to add that talking on this phone might look a little ridiculous to some (elephant in the room/it's a new concept to people visually), but it really feels good in your hand while doing so. I swear people forget big cordless landline phones from the 90s that were wider and much thicker lol, but the flock will eventually follow in the footsteps of GN1/GN2 owners.

 

[maniac5999]

Sorry but my mother and I both own a GN2 and this is nonsense. It's really NOT that big lol. The whole "big effect" goes away within 24 hours.
I realize you said "some people", but then you went on to say it "is not for you" if you fall into either of two categories. Look at xda or any other forum like that and you will not find a single person who returned it because it was "too big".

Well, I didn't return it because it was 'too big' I returned it because I bought it in NJ to get lower sales tax (7% instead of 8.875%) and the store ended up being dicks. Now I have a mulligan, and I'm torn. It actually fit just fine in my skinny jeans. (yes, I wear skinny jeans, and despite being a hot mess on some weekends, I'm normally very gentile on phones. I've never used a case and never broken a phone. I've also only ever lost one phone, and that was at a restaurant with my family, when I was 19 in 2003) The jeans it doesn't fit fine in, irony of all ironies is a pair of crappy utility $13 costco jeans that I bought to use when I don't want to wear anything I might care about ruining. (the pockets aren't deep enough) Also, I've found that the T-mo store a couple blocks from me (138th and Broadway) IS willing to sell a note off contract, so now I'm torn three ways, since they'll also give me a SGS3 for $549. The Note is SO much better to use, but a bit less fun in my pocket.

 

[dlock13]

This will not help you decide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBkY3vg14JM&feature=g-all-u

 

[maniac5999]

This will not help you decide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBkY3vg14JM&feature=g-all-u

No it did not. I'm even more strongly considering walking up the block tomorrow, plopping down my green plastic square and saying "I'm not like the people you've been dealing with for the last decade, I'm part of the new, gentrifying invaders. May I please buy a note two, no payment plan, full price please. Credit, not debit."

(actually, I'm kind of worried that they won't know what to do when they see an amex logo, to be honest)

 

[dlock13]

No it did not. I'm even more strongly considering walking up the block tomorrow, plopping down my green plastic square and saying "I'm not like the people you've been dealing with for the last decade, I'm part of the new, gentrifying invaders. May I please buy a note two, no payment plan, full price please. Credit, not debit."

(actually, I'm kind of worried that they won't know what to do when they see an amex logo, to be honest)

If it's any consolation, I'm in the exact same boat as you. It's either get the Note 2 on Verizon or go prepaid and get the Nexus 4. However, the former is the most likely for me... That damn button..

 

[maniac5999]

If it's any consolation, I'm in the exact same boat as you. It's either get the Note 2 on Verizon or go prepaid and get the Nexus 4. However, the former is the most likely for me... That damn button..

LOL. One last question, grey or white? I'm leaning grey, because white just seems a little to iPhone-ey and when I had the old one I really liked that faux brushed aluminum look.

 

[Bman123]

If you need more then 16gb and like TW get a note or GS3
if you can pocket a big phone get the note 2
Otherwise get the nexus 4

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Sorry but my mother and I both own a GN2 and this is nonsense. It's really NOT that big lol. The whole "big effect" goes away within 24 hours.
I realize you said "some people", but then you went on to say it "is not for you" if you fall into either of two categories. Look at xda or any other forum like that and you will not find a single person who returned it because it was "too big". People said the exact same thing about the 4.3" Evo 4G two plus years ago and now 4.7-4.8" is the norm. Anyway, I definitely see GN2 sized phones becoming the norm over the next year.

Oh and I'd like to add that talking on this phone might look a little ridiculous to some (elephant in the room/it's a new concept to people visually), but it really feels good in your hand while doing so. I swear people forget big cordless landline phones from the 90s that were wider and much thicker lol, but the flock will eventually follow in the footsteps of GN1/GN2 owners.

Uh. I went to 4.7" and I went back to my SGS2 and I was very happy about the form factor. And comparing today's smartphones to 90s cordless phones is just ridiculous. You hit buttons on a cordless phone. You don't need to do advanced gestures and typing like on a smartphone today.

I know plenty of people myself included that say that using a smaller sized phone is more ergonomic and you can wield the phone much easier. That said, there are appeals of a larger screen, but just because people go for large screens doesn't mean it isn't too large. It's the fact that the appeal of a larger screen is stronger. There's plenty of people who will sacrifice ergonomics for a larger screen. Doesn't mean it isn't "too large."

 

[you2]

I'm leaning towards the note; but going to wait a bit. I prefer the nexus 4 form factor; but the reason I wnt to upgrade is that the razr (not max) has sucky battery life. I considered the razr hd max; but i'm beginning to think the note is the way to go as long as it fits in my pocket comfortably I'm set.
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If the nexus 4 had a bigger battery or magically lasted longer I would go that route with straight talk (and eat etf) but what I'm reading so far is really quite disappointing. The killer is it cost almost nothing to go with 40% larger battery. I'd happily pay an extra $20 or $50.
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The note seems to have everything I could want 'cept it is a bit larger than I would like but I don't want to judge prematurely so (a) i have to wait till it is in the store to check out and (b) wait to see if it has decent reception (the galaxy s3 had rather poor reception in fringe area (3g) with verizon.