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Nexus 4? Or wait for Nexus 5?

Rawns

By Rawns
in Mobile Devices & Tablets

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Rawns

Rawns

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My HTC Desire HD is starting to show it's age. It's coming up towards three years old now and out of all the phones I've owned, it's been the best by far. I'm looking to buy a new, unlocked phone for my giffgaff SIM card. While I'd like a Samsung Galaxy S4 or an HTC One, I'm not willing to spend £500+ outright on a new phone no matter how awesome and shiny.

 

I've recently been pointed in the direction of the LG Nexus 4. It looks like a really affordable phone now the price has dropped to £159, and the spec is none too bad either. Rumour has it though is the price has dropped because the Nexus 5 is due out imminently with Android 5 on it, and the remaining Nexus 4 stock needs to be shifted. My question is, should I go for the 4, or wait for the 5? I'd be interested to know what kind of estimated price the Nexus 5 will go for new and what possible spec it may have? If it's priced with top end smart phones, I'll go for the Nexus 4, but if the spec is better and the price in a more affordable range, I'd be tempted with the 5. Is anyone aware of the suspected release date?

 

Also, does anyone know if the Nexus 4 is easy to root?

glennda

glennda

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Most android phones are relatively easy to root by installing a custom rom on them, mainly buy coping to the memory and rebooting it (its slightly more complex but that's the jist).

 

Personally having held the S4 and Nexus 4 I would be S4 all the way, the screen is one of the best you will get out at the moment if not the best

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L3OUGH

L3OUGH

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Just go for an S3... That's what I did not so long ago. It's still an absolute monster of a phone. If I'm honest the S4 didn't have enough features on it that i'd personally use to make me spend the extra £200 for the S4. The screen and features is amazing on the S3 too. I'd personally recommend it to anyone :)
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Rawns

Rawns

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Just go for an S3... That's what I did not so long ago. It's still an absolute monster of a phone. If I'm honest the S4 didn't have enough features on it that i'd personally use to make me spend the extra £200 for the S4. The screen and features is amazing on the S3 too. I'd personally recommend it to anyone :)

 

The S3 does look good, but at £284 on Amazon, I'm thinking it's still a little pricey..

jmak

jmak

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I've just ordered a Nexus 4. The decider for me is the price point - I can't see anything near that spec for £159. S3 looks more like £250, which admittedly is still "mid-range", but it's almost half as much again! Only downsides I could see is that it doesn't support external memory and battery life is slightly down. But £159!

 

Bias disclosure: buying for my wife who has never had a smartphone before, so likely to be quite impressive. Me - I love my Nokia with proper keys for each number and battery life of over a week :p

L3OUGH

L3OUGH

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The S3 does look good, but at £284 on Amazon, I'm thinking it's still a little pricey..

 

Before my S3, I had the original Nexus, the Samsung one. I thought that device was mind blowing but the S3 just blew my mind even more. Well worth the money if you ask me, but that's just my opinion. :D

glennda

glennda

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Just go for an S3... That's what I did not so long ago. It's still an absolute monster of a phone. If I'm honest the S4 didn't have enough features on it that i'd personally use to make me spend the extra £200 for the S4. The screen and features is amazing on the S3 too. I'd personally recommend it to anyone :)

 

The screen on an S4 outshines the S3 by far (I've had both). The S4 has some very nifty apps preinstalled which are good.

glennda

glennda

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Before my S3, I had the original Nexus, the Samsung one. I thought that device was mind blowing but the S3 just blew my mind even more. Well worth the money if you ask me, but that's just my opinion. :D

 

Was that not the Nexus one by Samsung? As the orginal nexus was HTC.

 

Main reason I moved away was they kept jumping between suppliers to make the things.

L3OUGH

L3OUGH

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Was that not the Nexus one by Samsung? As the orginal nexus was HTC.

 

Main reason I moved away was they kept jumping between suppliers to make the things.

 

Noooo definitely a Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and the screen may be better on the S4 but the screen isn't bad on the S3 at all. Better than most devices.

Arthur

Arthur

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should I go for the 4, or wait for the 5?

I would get the Nexus 4 given your budget since it will almost certainly be updated to Android v5.0. I would however, get the 16GB model instead of the 8GB since you will run out of space quickly.

 

Do you need a phone with a removable battery and SD card slot? :confused:

 

I'd be interested to know what kind of estimated price the Nexus 5 will go for new and what possible spec it may have?

The price will depend upon if Google decides to sell it at cost price or not. The specs are rumoured to be similar to (or the same as) the LG G2.

 

Is anyone aware of the suspected release date?

It's out next month. :)

 

does anyone know if the Nexus 4 is easy to root?

Nexus devices are extremely easy to root. It was one of the first things I did when I got mine (along with unlocking the bootloader since this wipes everything).

Edited by Arthur
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Theblacksheep

Theblacksheep

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Standard Google (on Nexus) hardly needs to be rooted. No extra manufacturer crap and no extra carrier crap, plus it can be updated from source a few days after it is out. Personally speaking there's nothing I need to root for.

 

S4>N4>S3

 

For the price the N4 destroys everything.

 

The only thing lacking on the N4 is a full HD screen. N5 should have that.

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Rawns

Rawns

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I would get the Nexus 4 given your budget since it will almost certainly be updated to Android v5.0. I would however, get the 16GB model instead of the 8GB since you will run out of space quickly.

 

Do you need a phone with a removable battery and SD card slot? :confused:

 

Not really. Removable battery is handy though if it starts to ware out. I have got a 8GB SD card in my current phone, but if I get a 16GB model, I doubt I'll have a need for it.

 

It's out next month. :)

 

Maybe I'll hag fire until it's announced just to see the spec/price etc. Ican still get the 4 if necessary.

 

]Nexus devices are extremely easy to root. It was one of the first things I did when I got mine (along with unlocking the bootloader since this wipes everything).

 

Nice. I'd want to get Ad Aware on there, Titanium Backup and a few other apps that require root access. :)

sonofsanta

sonofsanta

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I'd get the Nexus 4. It's a bargain at that price, and will get all the Android updates anyway. (Incidentally, I can't believe it will come with Android 5 given that they've just announced the name of 4.4... but the number doesn't really matter, as Chrome & Firefox have proven.)

 

No, the screen is not Full HD. But Full HD eats more battery and the 1280x768 display is ample and gorgeous and eminently readable. If I'm honest, the 4.7" screen is too big to be hand friendly - lovely for the eyes, but awkward to use, and I have giant piano-playing hands so if it's bad for me it must be painful for normal humans. If the Nexus 5 will be 5.2" like the G2 it's going to be impossible to use one handed; I can only just manage now on the N4.

 

And definitely get 16GB. It didn't take me long to go over the 8GB mark on mine. MicroSD support would be lovely, but you're paying double for a phone that's as good but with that capability. Google Play Music etc. works well enough for streaming your music (though it's a PITA when you live in the sticks, the last part of my lawn gets mowed very quickly so I don't stray out of WiFi signal too long).

Arthur

Arthur

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I'd get the Nexus 4. It's a bargain at that price, and will get all the Android updates anyway.

If the new Nexus smartphone is the same price as the Nexus 4 was, before it was recently discounted, then that will be a bargain too compared to phones like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One.

 

I can't believe it will come with Android 5 given that they've just announced the name of 4.4... but the number doesn't really matter, as Chrome & Firefox have proven.

Given that the '5' refers to the screen size and not the version of Android installed, I reckon it will come with 4.4 too. :)

 

the 1280x768 display is ample and gorgeous and eminently readable.

The colours could be a bit better on the Nexus 4's screen. Luckily there's an app to fix that...

 

www.xda-developers.com/android/revitalize-your-nexus-4s-display-with-nexus-4-display-control/

arwen

arwen

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Not really. Removable battery is handy though if it starts to ware out. I have got a 8GB SD card in my current phone, but if I get a 16GB model, I doubt I'll have a need for it.

 

 

I bought one of these Anker® Astro3E Mobile Battery Pack 10000mAh External Battery Pack High Capacity Power Bank Charger (Dual 5V 3A USB Output) for Smart Phones, Android Phones, PS Vita, GoPro; iPhone 5, iPhone mini (Lightning Cable not Provided), iPhone 4S, iPad 3; Sams to conquer the battery life and need for power. Its excellent and even if I get a phone with a removable battery again, I'll more than likely not buy a 2nd battery for it, but use this or similar.

 

Unless you really want 4G and possibly a bigger screen, I'd go for the N4. As has previously been said, its dead easy to root and software updates within a week of Google releasing it.

Be warned though, if you are thinking you can buy a cheap N4 from Google once the N5 is out, then you will most likely be mistaken. The old nexus could not be bought from Google once the N4 was released.

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mac_shinobi

mac_shinobi

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I bought one of these Anker® Astro3E Mobile Battery Pack 10000mAh External Battery Pack High Capacity Power Bank Charger (Dual 5V 3A USB Output) for Smart Phones, Android Phones, PS Vita, GoPro; iPhone 5, iPhone mini (Lightning Cable not Provided), iPhone 4S, iPad 3; Sams to conquer the battery life and need for power. Its excellent and even if I get a phone with a removable battery again, I'll more than likely not buy a 2nd battery for it, but use this or similar.

 

Unless you really want 4G and possibly a bigger screen, I'd go for the N4. As has previously been said, its dead easy to root and software updates within a week of Google releasing it.

Be warned though, if you are thinking you can buy a cheap N4 from Google once the N5 is out, then you will most likely be mistaken. The old nexus could not be bought from Google once the N4 was released.

@arwen

 

I just got that anker 3e battery. Just curious what charger do you use to fully charge that battery as on my iphone 5 usb charger took literally 20 hours to charge it fully

Edited by mac_shinobi
Rawns

Rawns

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Unless you really want 4G and possibly a bigger screen, I'd go for the N4. As has previously been said, its dead easy to root and software updates within a week of Google releasing it.

Be warned though, if you are thinking you can buy a cheap N4 from Google once the N5 is out, then you will most likely be mistaken. The old nexus could not be bought from Google once the N4 was released.

 

No requirement for 4G, doubt it will be down my way for a while now.

 

I was assuming I could get an N4 on the cheap still so thanks for that bit of info, handy to know! Think the N4 does it for me then. Not a big fan of super sized smart phone screens which I assume the N5 will be. :)

Edited by Rawns
creese

creese

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I assume you can only get it direct from google at that price? Not from resellers/high street shops etc?

 

From what I read they are clearing stock for the N5.

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