I still don't know why the Nexus 4 is superior to the last Samsung Nexus.

[fuzzybabybunny]

So my recent Samsung Nexus broke (sorta) and I had the choice to go with a new Nexus 4 or get a used Nexus on Craigslist. Still went for the used Nexus. I can't figure out what's so much better? The old Nexus is still plenty fast, really smooth with Butter, same size screen, and has a removable battery.

The day after I get the replacement Nexus my old Nexus started working again. So now I have two, one for backup for when I travel.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

New Nexus Pros:

- Moar RAM
- Moar CPU power
- Better build
- Better battery

Old Nexus Pros:
- LTE if you're on VZW
- Better screen colors when calibrated
- Lightweight?

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

New Nexus Pros:

- Moar RAM
- Moar CPU power
- Better build
- Better battery

Old Nexus Pros:
- LTE if you're on VZW
- Better screen colors when calibrated
- Lightweight?

More RAM is always nice.

CPU? The old Nexus still runs any app just fine, no? Especially for things viewing movies and playing basic games that are available for these little phones. I can understand a better GPU and CPU for a tablet, but for a Nexus...

Build quality is glass. That makes me nervous.

Sealed battery. I'd rather be able to replace my battery with a fresh one in 10 seconds than have a 15% larger, but sealed battery.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

It's 25% larger battery

Your old Nexus runs any app just fine. You're right. But the new Nexus is faster. You always think your device is "fine" til you move on. I had a SGS2. That's faster than your Nexus. Yet the transition to Nexus 4 was still a great leap forward. It's not like my SGS2 was slow. It's just not as fast. I don't see anything wrong with going on to a faster CPU unless it drains the hell out of your battery. Considering both the GNex and Nexus 4 aren't stellar in battery to begin with, I'd say its not a advantage or disadvantage.

I suppose what you're trying to get at is whether its worth upgrading. I can see in that case it may not be worth spending money to jump from the GNex to Nexus 4. But that doesn't mean the Nexus 4 isn't superior.

As for glass build, so what? Do you drop your phone all the time? Do you take your phone to a war zone? I work an office job. I put a TPU case on my phone and that's fine.

 

[dagamer34]

New Nexus Pros:

- Moar RAM
- Moar CPU power
- Better build
- Better battery

Old Nexus Pros:
- LTE if you're on VZW
- Better screen colors when calibrated
- Lightweight?

LTE on the Galaxy Nexus was not a pro. Battery life was terrible.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

It's 25% larger battery

Your old Nexus runs any app just fine. You're right. But the new Nexus is faster. You always think your device is "fine" til you move on. I had a SGS2. That's faster than your Nexus. Yet the transition to Nexus 4 was still a great leap forward. It's not like my SGS2 was slow. It's just not as fast. I don't see anything wrong with going on to a faster CPU unless it drains the hell out of your battery. Considering both the GNex and Nexus 4 aren't stellar in battery to begin with, I'd say its not a advantage or disadvantage.

I suppose what you're trying to get at is whether its worth upgrading. I can see in that case it may not be worth spending money to jump from the GNex to Nexus 4. But that doesn't mean the Nexus 4 isn't superior.

As for glass build, so what? Do you drop your phone all the time? Do you take your phone to a war zone? I work an office job. I put a TPU case on my phone and that's fine.

Actually for all of my previous phones (Touch Pro, Touch Pro 2, Epic 4G) I thought that they were ALL getting long in the tooth, especially that Epic 4G with the small screen.

But the Nexus I'm very comfortable with. Just wish it had a hardware keyboard.

25% larger battery is still smaller than 200% or 300% larger battery by swapping it out entirely.

Glass build - I don't drop my phone all the time, but it happens. I don't work an office job, not even close. I'm always mobile. Out of the 4 friends who owned iPhones, nearly all of them have had the thing shatter.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I thought my Galaxy Nexus was pretty fast and smooth. Then I got a Nexus 4. Now when I play with my Galaxy Nexus it feels like a slow POS.

 

[TuxDave]

LTE on the Galaxy Nexus was not a pro. Battery life was terrible.

^^ I would agree with this.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

LTE on the Galaxy Nexus was not a pro. Battery life was terrible.

It's a pro if you want data speeds... I put battery as a pro for the Nexus 4 for that reason. For those of us stuck in Verizon 3G's dog slow speeds, yeah. LTE is nice. I have no problem with my 7mbps on AT&T 3G though, but I can see the sub 1mbps Verizon 3G speeds quite frequently when my iPhone loses LTE.

 

[ponyo]

fuzzy, I feel the same way. I want an excuse to upgrade to Nexus 4 but can't find a good reason. It's upgrade in some ways and downgrade in others. I think Nexus 4 is an excellent phone and have recommended it to others. My friend bought one based on my recommendation, and I played with it. I immediately noticed the increase in speed and responsiveness. But it's not like Galaxy Nexus is really that slow. It's like going from iPhone 4S to iPhone 5 on the Apple side. The only slowdown I really notice is when I'm playing Zen Pinball. But it could be poor game coding rather than the hardware.

I like removable battery. I use the Samsung official 2,000 mAh extended battery with my GNex so I pretty much have the same battery life as the Nexus 4. And I have to option to pop in the original 1,750 mAh battery whenever I need extra battery life. So I basically have better than Razr Maxx HD battery life on demand. That is a powerful feature and huge pro over Nexus 4. Plus I like having the option of using USB OTG for transfer and extra storage. Nexus 4 can't do USB OTG.

I just don't see Nexus 4 as big enough jump for existing GSM Galaxy Nexus owners. For my use, the increase speed isn't worth the loss of the removable battery and USB OTG.

 

[papaschtroumpf]

GNex supports OTG USB, allowing to stream music or movies off a USB stick/SD card while gonna plane for example.
N4 is unlikely to ever support OTG

I own both, and at the time I bought my N4 it was cheaper that a GNex, but think the N4 is more of a sideways step than a really meaningful upgrade.
Also in have WiFi and Bluetooth issues on the N4 that are not present on the GNex, even though they both run JB 4.2.1

 

[Ravynmagi]

One thing I do miss from my Galaxy Nexus is support for MHL. I have a cheap MHL adapter I bought, it worked perfectly. Now my Nexus 4 requires that I buy a $30 proprietary adapter to do the very same thing that MHL already did. That is very Apple of you Google.

So right now I have no video output options for my Nexus 4 that I had with the Galaxy Nexus. I haven't found any reliable Miracast devices compatible with the Nexus 4 yet and I sure am not buying a $30 adapter for something I am not sure any future phones would be compatible with (I hope SlimPort dies).

 

[zerocool84]

One thing I do miss from my Galaxy Nexus is support for MHL. I have a cheap MHL adapter I bought, it worked perfectly. Now my Nexus 4 requires that I buy a $30 proprietary adapter to do the very same thing that MHL already did. That is very Apple of you Google.

So right now I have no video output options for my Nexus 4 that I had with the Galaxy Nexus. I haven't found any reliable Miracast devices compatible with the Nexus 4 yet and I sure am not buying a $30 adapter for something I am not sure any future phones would be compatible with (I hope SlimPort dies).

It's really weird why Google chose to change that just for the N4 since the Optimus G uses standard MHL.

 

[stlc8tr]

Old Nexus Pros:
- LTE if you're on VZW
- Better screen colors when calibrated
- Lightweight?

Maybe I just hate pentile but I think the Nexus 4 screen is a lot nicer than the Galaxy Nexus. Slightly more pixels too.

As for weight, they're virtually the same.

I guess the non-removable battery can be a minus but I usually carry a USB charger with me so it's not as big of a deal for me, at least.

 

[papaschtroumpf]

I thought my Galaxy Nexus was pretty fast and smooth. Then I got a Nexus 4. Now when I play with my Galaxy Nexus it feels like a slow POS.

I totally don't have that feeling. I am still carrying both because transfering my N4 to my corporate account is taking forever, and I keep thinking that while it's fun ton have both, there really was no reason to "upgrade" ton the N4. Instill prefer the feel in the hand of the Galaxy Nexus.

USB OTG was also important to me and I still can't believe they messed it up.

 

[Red Storm]

LTE on the Galaxy Nexus was not a pro. Battery life was terrible.

I don't remember it being forced on...

I had my LTE on all day every day and my Nexus lasted me through a typical day just fine. If you didn't want it you could just disable it. An option can't be a con.

 

[jacktesterson]

IPS LCD is enough to warrant the change.

I hate AMOLED on phones, and the Galaxy Nexus was a bad one in my opinion.

Plus, Roms like Paranoid Android and Revolt flash RGB and Gamma settings to calibrate colors and makes the Screen noticeably better in my opinion.


LTE works on my Nexus 4 too, but I'm in Canada.

 

[vshah]

slimport is better since it doesn't need external power to operate.

 

[Bateluer]

It's 25% larger battery

The extended battery on the GNex was 2100mah, same as the Nexus 4's internal. Verizon was giving them away like candy. Still burned through it about 6hrs though.

LTE on the Galaxy Nexus was not a pro. Battery life was terrible.

Shrug, I'd still consider LTE speeds a pro myself. Verizon 3G is ungodly slow, even though the HSPA+ speeds on the N4 far outstrip that metric.

 

[poofyhairguy]

slimport is better since it doesn't need external power to operate.

Can you hook up external power? HDMI playback eats battery.

 

[Red Storm]

Can you hook up external power? HDMI playback eats battery.

Yes, it has the port for a mUSB connection but it's optional, unlike with HDMI where you have to have it plugged in.

 

[ilkhan]

Wireless charging on my N4 is damn convenient.
The screen is much better, despite blacks not being as black.
Will be supported longer.
2GB of RAM makes a huge difference in avoiding having apps close when you switch tasks.

 

[ponyo]

slimport is better since it doesn't need external power to operate.

While that's true I don't know if it's $20+ better than MHL. MHL cables are cheap and common. And if you're plugging HDMI to the TV, there's usually power plug nearby. So I don't think that's really that big of advantage. I view it the same as Apple Lightning cable. Better but overpriced and little unnecessary.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Besides, for newer TVs supporting MHL, you don't need external power for MHL.

 

[poofyhairguy]

IPS LCD is enough to warrant the change.

I hate AMOLED on phones, and the Galaxy Nexus was a bad one in my opinion.

See, I am the opposite. The worst thing to me about the Nexus 4 is a lack of an AMOLED screen when the last two had them.

Of course I am super picky about only messing with devices that don't have pentile AMOLEDs so my opinion is skewed by that fact.