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Bought Nexus 4, iPhone Withdrawal

T

theturtle

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 3, 2009
579
35
Hi guys.

Need some help here. My nexus 4 came yesterday and I spent the whole day customizing it with things like power toggles. The phone is great and the OS is smooth. Unfortunately there some thing niggles that might be a deal breaker. I'm hoping my fellow android peers could talk me out of going back to the iPhone 5 prematurely.

Some of the flaws are:
1. Low light photos are absolutely abysmal. I dislike the fact that when you're in low light and you tap on what you want to focus, the flash goes off (and then goes off again when you snap it). Another issue is the flash is overpowering. It not only makes all my low light photos come out overblown but it also comes out very blurry.

2. is there really no autofocus/continuous autofocus during video recording?

3. From the people that switched from a iPhone 5. Have you guys noticed that the noise canceling mic on the nexus is dramatically weaker? All my callers seemed to have noticed off the back that I switched up phones. They asked me to speak louder and clearer than compared with the iPhone 5.

4. Charging time goes from 2 hours (iPhone) to 3 hours (nexus). Not a big deal but thought I should mention it.

5. BIG irritation. The touch sensor on the phone seems to be "lacking." It doesn't track very well....

Could anyone help me remedy some of these issues? I really want to like the phone but I'm starting to wonder if the Samsung s3 would have been better option than the nexus. (The s4 quad is so much better than the exynos though :(. )
 
N

Nikhil72

macrumors 65816
Oct 21, 2005
1,433
1,153
Same here. Previously also owned the GS3 but returned it in favor of going stock with the N4. 2 days later, I'm over the customization thing and realizing some of the "flaws"

1. Battery life (especially considering it's not even LTE) is way below my iP5 with similar use (using Franco's kernel even)
2. As you pointed out, the camera...ugh, if it only had the same lens and processing as the iP5, especially in low light
3. Space constraints are tough...if it only came in at least 32GB. I'm coming from a nearly full 64GB, mind you, so this I take responsibility for.

I love the feel of the hardware and google has done a great job with 4.2, I must say. But I'm already tempted to jump back. And I don't think it's that I feel unfamiliar with the N4 or the OS either; I'm able to do things comfortably at this point.
 
tbayrgs

tbayrgs

macrumors 604
Jul 5, 2009
7,343
4,867
theturtle said:
Hi guys.

Need some help here. My nexus 4 came yesterday and I spent the whole day customizing it with things like power toggles. The phone is great and the OS is smooth. Unfortunately there some thing niggles that might be a deal breaker. I'm hoping my fellow android peers could talk me out of going back to the iPhone 5 prematurely.

Some of the flaws are:
1. Low light photos are absolutely abysmal. I dislike the fact that when you're in low light and you tap on what you want to focus, the flash goes off (and then goes off again when you snap it). Another issue is the flash is overpowering. It not only makes all my low light photos come out overblown but it also comes out very blurry.

2. is there really no autofocus/continuous autofocus during video recording?

3. From the people that switched from a iPhone 5. Have you guys noticed that the noise canceling mic on the nexus is dramatically weaker? All my callers seemed to have noticed off the back that I switched up phones. They asked me to speak louder and clearer than compared with the iPhone 5.

4. Charging time goes from 2 hours (iPhone) to 3 hours (nexus). Not a big deal but thought I should mention it.

5. BIG irritation. The touch sensor on the phone seems to be "lacking." It doesn't track very well....

Could anyone help me remedy some of these issues? I really want to like the phone but I'm starting to wonder if the Samsung s3 would have been better option than the nexus. (The s4 quad is so much better than the exynos though :(. )
Click to expand...

Regarding 1 and 2, didn't you do some research prior to purchasing the Nexus 4? It's no secret that the camera is subpar and underperforms most of the top smartphones available now--one of the reasons I sold mine. If camera performance is a top priority, the Nexus 4 should not be on your list.

Never had any issues similar to your experiences with 3 and 5 so can't comment. And I generally charge my phone overnight so never paid much attention to charging time. If you're a heavy user and expect to have to charge your phone during the day, where the difference between 2 and 3 hours is significant, again, Nexus 4 battery performance isn't very good, at least in my experience, and probably is not the best choice.

FWIW, I used a Nexus 4 for about a month and while I find it beautifully designed and the UI is very smooth, I could not live with the battery life (I'm a moderate to heavy user and rarely made it through the day without having to charge it again), camera performance, and to a lesser extent, absence of LTE (I'm on AT&T and HSPA+ isn't anywhere near as fast as T-Mobile in my area). I switched to a Note 2 and have none of these problems--couldn't be happier.
 
Vegastouch

Vegastouch

macrumors 603
Jul 12, 2008
6,135
946
Las Vegas, NV
Dont have a Nexus 4 but the battery charging thing you mentioned,.......... The N4 has a lot bigger battery than the iPhone so it should take longer and again, till there is a software update to fix the battery drain issue that Google is aware of, the N4 wont last as long as your iPhone or even my GS3.

BTW my GS3 camera is very good. Im not knocking the N4 though. I have a N7 and i love it but glad i kept my GS3.
 
ChrisTX

ChrisTX

macrumors 68030
Dec 30, 2009
2,690
54
Texas
I've come to realize that the Nexus 4 is a tad bit overrated, but is a big seller because of it's low price point. I actually prefer my GS3 to the Nexus 4. It was a great device for the price, but no better than the GS3. I think I'm done buying phones until the Note III. :cool:
 
V

vikingjunior

Cancelled
Aug 17, 2011
1,319
590
Your comparing a $349 phone to a $649 device. The $349 phone is going to have some imperfections.
 
Tig Bitties

Tig Bitties

macrumors 603
Sep 6, 2012
5,324
5,424
Return the N4, for the Note II. Best smartphone available today. And, no it's not too large.
 
mattopotamus

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,666
5,879
You should look at the thread talking about pure android and how it is less important. I think the s3 or note ll would be better for you
 
R

RetepNamenots

macrumors 6502
May 30, 2009
257
4
theturtle said:
1. Low light photos are absolutely abysmal. I dislike the fact that when you're in low light and you tap on what you want to focus, the flash goes off (and then goes off again when you snap it). Another issue is the flash is overpowering. It not only makes all my low light photos come out overblown but it also comes out very blurry.
Click to expand...

You can hold down the blue capture button rather than just tap it, you can give the LED more time to focus and not become 'overblown'.[/QUOTE]

Not sure about the video questions as I've never used the camera to record.
 
Vegastouch

Vegastouch

macrumors 603
Jul 12, 2008
6,135
946
Las Vegas, NV
vikingjunior said:
Your comparing a $349 phone to a $649 device. The $349 phone is going to have some imperfections.
Click to expand...

This suggests that the N4 is made cheaply and i disagree. Its the same phone as the LG Optimis G and it dont cost $349 off contract. It is $449 off contract from AT&T and on eBay on Buy it Now it is anywhere from $375 TO $699 depnding on if you want a new one or not. Google makes most of their money on advertising. Other phone makers could ask less for their phones but they just dont.
Apple dont make a huge profit for nothing. They could sell their phones cheaper as well.
 
Last edited:
F

Fed

macrumors 6502
Jul 7, 2012
409
0
Liverpool.
Vegastouch said:
Apple could sell their phones cheaper as well.
Click to expand...

Quoted for truth. Apple make insanely high margins on their products, may as well compare adverts if one is comparing prices. Absolutely no indication of quality.

For the record, my Nexus 4 battery is performing better than the iPhone 4S I previously owned. Both are utterly dwarfed by my former note 2.
 
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