From Nexus 5 back to iOS

hashholly · Dec 27, 2013

After almost 3 weeks of going from the iPhone 5S to the Nexus 5, its back to the 5S for me. In the end there were some nagging issues with the Nexus 5/ Kitkat I was willing to live with, but one big issue that was the nail in the coffin for the Nexus 5, which I will mention below, but first, the pros and cons I found with the Nexus 5:

Pro's:
Screen: Love it, huge, sharp, and the colors felt more natural (I know people say that its undersaturated, but after testing out the Moto X and playing with Note 2, I prefer'd the Nexus 5 colors.

Reception: Better reception/speed with T-mobile than the 5S, and on par with the Moto X.

Wireless Charging: While the battery left something to be desired, the wireless charging capabilities made me forget about it......its just convenient to set down a phone, walk away, let it charge, rather than plugging/unplugging the thing...I used the Nokia Charger, and while not as fast charging as with the wall plug, I could live with it no problem.

Google Now/Chrome: Using Chrome on the desktop logged into my google account, searching for a restaurant, and then minutes later seeing routing come up on my phone to drive to that restaurant was pretty cool.

Price: $350/$399 fully unlocked and out the door is pretty insane for a phone of this quality. LG did a pretty decent job, and all things considered you won't find a better phone, NEW, for this price.

Cons:
Video Playback: Rough video playback, didn't matter the app, and from googling it seems its an issue with the Nexus 5 (I've owned a Kindle Fire HD which has a slower processor and video was silky smooth regardless of app). It wasn't bad enough that I wouldn't use the phone because of it....but it was noticeable.

Battery Life: Hit or miss. Some days the battery felt like it lasted longer than my iPhone 5, other days I couldn't understand what I was doing wrong. I was getting maybe a day of use with 2:30 ours of onscreen time. I know other users have tried other kernels with better results, but frankly my intention was to leave things stock, so this is based on stock.

Camera: Again, hit or miss. In great lighting I experienced relatively quick shots (not as fast as the 5S) with results about on par with the 5S. Other times, absolutely terrible photos, with shots that took forever to take. Moving objects not shot in perfect light were impossible.

Google Now: I stream music using the Google Music app, and I am unable to use google now while music is playing. Now this makes sense as apparently the mic is disabled when music is playing, but considering while driving being able to route to a location, send / listen to messages or emails and change music without taking my eyes off the road was the straw that broke the camels back. I really didn't notice know how important Siri was for me in the car, but without it or its functionality, there was just no way to keep the Nexus 5. (I use a bluetooth earpiece and can long press the earpiece to initiate siri regardless of what the phone is doing)

Google Music: I think this may really be an issue with Google Now, but even after using the correct commands, I was unable to get google now to play the correct song or album I wanted through Google Music. I made sure to elect the Google Music app the first time it gave me an option, however if I told it to play an album, it would show the correct album in google now, but when it opened Google Music nothing would play. I made sure Google Music had the entire library / all music selection enabled.

E-mail: No Push in stock email app for most third party e-mail. I tried most of the popular email apps that I could find in the Play Store, but in the end either the functionality wasn't where it needed to be, or it flat out looked terrible, and I'm a fan of both form and function.

Conclusion:
For the money, the Nexus 5 is a great phone, especially for those already ingrained in android, you can't beat the price, or the specs....I still recommend the phone to my friends who are either looking for a change from the iPhone, or just want an affordable new fully unlocked phone at a great price. Most of the issues can be overlooked all things considered, however for me personally, the Siri functionality on the iPhone 5S (when used with a bluetooth headset) in car was just too big of an issue to overlook.

jamezr · Dec 27, 2013

hashholly said:
After almost 3 weeks of going from the iPhone 5S
Conclusion:
For the money, the Nexus 5 is a great phone, especially for those already ingrained in android, you can't beat the price, or the specs....I still recommend the phone to my friends who are either looking for a change from the iPhone, or just want an affordable new fully unlocked phone at a great price. Most of the issues can be overlooked all things considered, however for me personally, the Siri functionality on the iPhone 5S (when used with a bluetooth headset) in car was just too big of an issue to overlook.

Nice write up…thanks for sharing! I like the fact that you didn't feel the need to bash one platform for another but instead stuck to clear facts and POV…...

thatappleguytoday · Dec 27, 2013

I am using a N5 as my daily driver over a iPhone 5 the past few weeks and get some of the same feelings as you

LOVE the bigger footprint of the N5, the phone needs no case because the soft touch black material is AMAZING, and the Nokia wireless charger I scooped up at AT&T has made the battery life non existent for me

Camera has been great for me with HDR+ turned on..get some quality shots (still think the iPhone 5 is a little snappier in the shutter department)

I can't stand the output of the N5 however..Pandora and Google Music sounds awful in my car compared to any iOS device - I bring my retina iPad Mini to work with me everyday so I'm making due

For the price point - the Nexus 5 is a no brainer IMO

I wish the N5 used a nano sim so I can swap back and forth from week to week if I get an iPhone itch

Can't wait until iPhone 6 gets a bigger footprint - I'm one who loves a 5" screen

appledes7 · Dec 28, 2013

As far as battery life goes, I can attest to mediocre out of the box battery. It wasn't until I rooted to get specific battery troubleshooting apps and custom kernels did I notice an increase. And it's kind of sad that some random third party developer names Francisco by himself writes a more efficient kernel than Google.... Goes to show that Google doesn't seem to really optimize their own hardware for their own software all that much.

Mackan · Dec 28, 2013

hashholly said:
Video Playback: Rough video playback, didn't matter the app, and from googling it seems its an issue with the Nexus 5 (I've owned a Kindle Fire HD which has a slower processor and video was silky smooth regardless of app). It wasn't bad enough that I wouldn't use the phone because of it....but it was noticeable.

Saw this too when I checked a N5 in a store. Choppy youtube playback. Doesn't make you want to buy it...

hashholly · Dec 28, 2013

jamezr said:
Nice write upthanks for sharing! I like the fact that you didn't feel the need to bash one platform for another but instead stuck to clear facts and POV...

Thanks, Im always amazed when people go "fanboy" one way or another, to me, its just a phone/os regardless of which i prefer.

map1978 said:
I am using a N5 as my daily driver over a iPhone 5 the past few weeks and get some of the same feelings as you

LOVE the bigger footprint of the N5, the phone needs no case because the soft touch black material is AMAZING, and the Nokia wireless charger I scooped up at AT&T has made the battery life non existent for me

Camera has been great for me with HDR+ turned on..get some quality shots (still think the iPhone 5 is a little snappier in the shutter department)

I can't stand the output of the N5 however..Pandora and Google Music sounds awful in my car compared to any iOS device - I bring my retina iPad Mini to work with me everyday so I'm making due

For the price point - the Nexus 5 is a no brainer IMO

I wish the N5 used a nano sim so I can swap back and forth from week to week if I get an iPhone itch

Can't wait until iPhone 6 gets a bigger footprint - I'm one who loves a 5" screen

I purchased this adapter kit: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009B9YWB4/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1

However only order it IF its sold by amazon, or fulfilled by amazon because otherwise it may be a counterfeit. I was using the nano sim to microsim adapter going between the iPhone 5S and Nexus 5 without an issue.

appledes7 said:
As far as battery life goes, I can attest to mediocre out of the box battery. It wasn't until I rooted to get specific battery troubleshooting apps and custom kernels did I notice an increase. And it's kind of sad that some random third party developer names Francisco by himself writes a more efficient kernel than Google.... Goes to show that Google doesn't seem to really optimize their own hardware for their own software all that much.

Im actually a bit disappointed in Google, all they needed to do is spend a bit more time on the software side of things and it would be a much better phone. It is nice on the Android side that dev's can tinker to make phones better, but honestly it should, in the case of a Nexus, fall on Google to do it from the start.

Mackan said:
Saw this too when I checked a N5 in a store. Choppy youtube playback. Doesn't make you want to buy it...

I actually kept restarting the phone the first time i tried video because I just couldn't understand why the video wasn't smooth, it wasn't until i checked google that I realized it wasn't just my phone. Im sure they'll eventually fix it if enough people speak up about it like the initial camera flaws, but when they will fix it is the question.

robjulo · Dec 28, 2013

I'm back to my 5S as well for some of the same reasons. iOS is far, far from perfect but there are a few things that are "must haves".

"Security" overrides key functions in Android, much to its detriment in my opinion. I'm required to use a PIN lock by work. iOS has lock screen notifications done right. I simply glance at my phone to see if I need to interact with the notification. With Android, I'm forced to interact to see what the notification was.

I also could not find a way to initiate a mostly hands free call. With Siri, even with the lock screen and PIN, a simply long press allows me to make a call. With Android, the best I can figure out was to turn the phone on, input my PIN and then tell to make a call. Cumbersome and dangerous while driving.

I didn't find the camera on the N5 to be any worse than the 5S. It is slightly slower, has some features the 5S doesn't have and lacks some features the 5S has. I had just as many throwaways with my 5S as my N5.

With all that said, I really, really miss Google Now on Android. "Today" on iOS is utter crap compared to Google Now. Fortunately, I can have most of Google Now (although not as functional and not nearly as quick) on iOS.

There is lots to like with Android Kit Kat and the Nexus 5, but overall I"m back for now.

jamezr · Dec 28, 2013

robjulo said:
I'm back to my 5S as well for some of the same reasons. iOS is far, far from perfect but there are a few things that are "must haves".

"Security" overrides key functions in Android, much to its detriment in my opinion. I'm required to use a PIN lock by work. iOS has lock screen notifications done right. I simply glance at my phone to see if I need to interact with the notification. With Android, I'm forced to interact to see what the notification was.

I also could not find a way to initiate a mostly hands free call. With Siri, even with the lock screen and PIN, a simply long press allows me to make a call. With Android, the best I can figure out was to turn the phone on, input my PIN and then tell to make a call. Cumbersome and dangerous while driving.

I didn't find the camera on the N5 to be any worse than the 5S. It is slightly slower, has some features the 5S doesn't have and lacks some features the 5S has. I had just as many throwaways with my 5S as my N5.

With all that said, I really, really miss Google Now on Android. "Today" on iOS is utter crap compared to Google Now. Fortunately, I can have most of Google Now (although not as functional and not nearly as quick) on iOS.

There is lots to like with Android Kit Kat and the Nexus 5, but overall I"m back for now.

ok…i have to call BS here…..if you miss the first or second notification for text or email or missed call….glancing at the phone will not give you any clue you missed something. On my S4 there is a blinking light that can be configured for different colors. Blue for missed text…green for an email…red for a missed call. I do not have to touch the phone to see if i have a notification. On my IP5s i would have to pick the phone up and touch the home button to see my notifications. So you cannot make those kind of generalizations and Android like that.

Nikhil72 · Dec 28, 2013

jamezr said:
oki have to call BS here..if you miss the first or second notification for text or email or missed call.glancing at the phone will not give you any clue you missed something. On my S4 there is a blinking light that can be configured for different colors. Blue for missed textgreen for an emailred for a missed call. I do not have to touch the phone to see if i have a notification. On my IP5s i would have to pick the phone up and touch the home button to see my notifications. So you cannot make those kind of generalizations and Android like that.

No need to call someone's opinion BS. For some people who are used to the onscreen notifications, the blinking LED can do whatever it wants, it won't register the same way. On the iPhone, just press the home button and you can get a sense of your messages without unlocking, including content. If you see the LED on on an android device (admittedly less intrusive in some ways), you then need to turn on the screen and pull down the notifications center if you want to glance without unlocking. He's not talking just about being notified of a text or email waiting; he's saying that it's convenient to also see the content of said message to see if it's worth replying to.

Moto X seems to strike a nice balance between the two systems, though I'm not sure how it works with a pass code enabled?

jamezr · Dec 28, 2013

Nikhil72 said:
No need to call someone's opinion BS. For some people who are used to the onscreen notifications, the blinking LED can do whatever it wants, it won't register the same way. On the iPhone, just press the home button and you can get a sense of your messages without unlocking, including content. If you see the LED on on an android device (admittedly less intrusive in some ways), you then need to turn on the screen and pull down the notifications center if you want to glance without unlocking. He's not talking just about being notified of a text or email waiting; he's saying that it's convenient to also see the content of said message to see if it's worth replying to.

Moto X seems to strike a nice balance between the two systems, though I'm not sure how it works with a pass code enabled?

Read his post again….then read my reply. I was not putting him down in anyway or form. I was calling out the inaccuracy in his Android comment. He van have whatever opinion he wants. To each his own. But the highlighted statement he made about Android was false. You do not have to touch some Android phones to see if you have a notification. The blink notification light lets you know. Plus you can install third party email or messaging apps that can wake the screen and let you interact with the notification. The iPhone does not have a LED light notification yet. Hopefully sometime in the future.

khha4113 · Dec 28, 2013

robjulo said:
I also could not find a way to initiate a mostly hands free call. With Siri, even with the lock screen and PIN, a simply long press allows me to make a call. With Android, the best I can figure out was to turn the phone on, input my PIN and then tell to make a call. Cumbersome and dangerous while driving.

Isn't it defeating the purpose 'hand-free call' as well as 'security', and also "dangerous while driving"?

OhHaiThere · Dec 28, 2013

hashholly said:
Cons:
Video Playback: Rough video playback, didn't matter the app, and from googling it seems its an issue with the Nexus 5 (I've owned a Kindle Fire HD which has a slower processor and video was silky smooth regardless of app). It wasn't bad enough that I wouldn't use the phone because of it....but it was noticeable.

Which app were you using? I've never had issues with playing back anything. I use MX Player with H/W acceleration.

robjulo · Dec 28, 2013

khha4113 said:
Isn't it defeating the purpose 'hand-free call' as well as 'security', and also "dangerous while driving"?

No. A long press on a button is hardly dangerous that I don't even have to look at is hardly dangerous, no different than a button on a bluetooth or a button on the car steering wheel.

Jschultz · Dec 28, 2013

Huh. I don't watch too much Youtube, so I had to go back to verify what you were talking about, OP. But yeah, there is definitely some stutter.

Strangely, it's smooth as butter using the HBO Go app and the Comcast Xfinity Live TV app. You're right, you think they could do a better job of optimizing the code for an app they technically own.

robjulo · Dec 28, 2013

jamezr said:
Read his post again.then read my reply. I was not putting him down in anyway or form. I was calling out the inaccuracy in his Android comment. He van have whatever opinion he wants. To each his own. But the highlighted statement he made about Android was false. You do not have to touch some Android phones to see if you have a notification. The blink notification light lets you know. Plus you can install third party email or messaging apps that can wake the screen and let you interact with the notification. The iPhone does not have a LED light notification yet. Hopefully sometime in the future.

There is no inaccuracy and I don't care about your "calling of BS". My point was, with an iPhone sitting next to me, the phone dings, I can look over and see what the email or message is, without interacting with the phone, and choose whether or not I need to look at the email. It had nothing to do with knowing whether or not there is a message. That is my entire point which you seemed to miss.

Is there a way for Android to do that? I haven't found it, other that with NILS or some other widget which doesn't work with a PIN lock.

Vegastouch · Dec 28, 2013

robjulo said:
I'm back to my 5S as well for some of the same reasons. iOS is far, far from perfect but there are a few things that are "must haves".

"Security" overrides key functions in Android, much to its detriment in my opinion. I'm required to use a PIN lock by work. iOS has lock screen notifications done right. I simply glance at my phone to see if I need to interact with the notification. With Android, I'm forced to interact to see what the notification was.

I also could not find a way to initiate a mostly hands free call. With Siri, even with the lock screen and PIN, a simply long press allows me to make a call. With Android, the best I can figure out was to turn the phone on, input my PIN and then tell to make a call. Cumbersome and dangerous while driving.

I didn't find the camera on the N5 to be any worse than the 5S. It is slightly slower, has some features the 5S doesn't have and lacks some features the 5S has. I had just as many throwaways with my 5S as my N5.

With all that said, I really, really miss Google Now on Android. "Today" on iOS is utter crap compared to Google Now. Fortunately, I can have most of Google Now (although not as functional and not nearly as quick) on iOS.

There is lots to like with Android Kit Kat and the Nexus 5, but overall I"m back for now.

They make these bluetooth devices that work great and you dont have to touch your phone at all.
If your car doesnt have one built in, they have earpieces and visor clip devices that work great. Some states its against the law to do it your way and a nice fat ticket if you get caught.

I have it built in my car and use a Motorola roadster in my truck. The roadster actully is better.

Im not trying to be a smartass at all im just saying you dont have to touch your phone to do something you say is dangerous and for me, i dont like holding the phone to my face or holding it at all when im driving.

Vegastouch · Dec 28, 2013

robjulo said:
There is no inaccuracy and I don't care about your "calling of BS". My point was, with an iPhone sitting next to me, the phone dings, I can look over and see what the email or message is, without interacting with the phone, and choose whether or not I need to look at the email. It had nothing to do with knowing whether or not there is a message. That is my entire point which you seemed to miss.

Is there a way for Android to do that? I haven't found it, other that with NILS or some other widget which doesn't work with a PIN lock.

Well, yes there is. You can allow a popup window to see a text or you can look at the notification bar when the screen comes on when you get something and if it is a email, it shows some of it in the notification bar as well. There are plenty of ways to customize ho you want to get notifications and an LED is yet another way. Notifications are far better on Android than on iOS.
I havent explored every app to do more things as i dont need to have notifications on my lockscreen. You can also get Tasker and that app does ton of different things.

hashholly · Dec 28, 2013

Vegastouch said:
They make these bluetooth devices that work great and you dont have to touch your phone at all.
If your car doesnt have one built in, they have earpieces and visor clip devices that work great. Some states its against the law to do it your way and a nice fat ticket if you get caught.

I have it built in my car and use a Motorola roadster in my truck. The roadster actully is better.

Im not trying to be a smartass at all im just saying you dont have to touch your phone to do something you say is dangerous and for me, i dont like holding the phone to my face or holding it at all when im driving.

I can confirm bluetooth headset and incur bluetooth works fine with the Nexus 5 from use, though thats about the end of what you can do hands free....I actually didn't use a pin or any kind of security when I had the N5, so I'm not too sure if the bluetooth headset or incar will work without first unlocking the phone.

----------

OhHaiThere said:
Which app were you using? I've never had issues with playing back anything. I use MX Player with H/W acceleration.

Experienced this with Youtube and MX Player (Though Im not sure if H/W acceleration was turned on) and Mobo Player

jamezr · Dec 28, 2013

robjulo said:
There is no inaccuracy and I don't care about your "calling of BS". My point was, with an iPhone sitting next to me, the phone dings, I can look over and see what the email or message is, without interacting with the phone, and choose whether or not I need to look at the email. It had nothing to do with knowing whether or not there is a message. That is my entire point which you seemed to miss.

Is there a way for Android to do that? I haven't found it, other that with NILS or some other widget which doesn't work with a PIN lock.

Did you read my post at all? What you said was not accurate. With Android on my S4 i can leave my phone on the table walk into another room to do whatever and return minutes or hours later and just LOOK at my phone to tell what kind of message I have missed. The blinking LED light can be configured to be a different color per notification. Also there are apps that can pop up and give the same kind of message notification as the stock IOS.

Vegastouch · Dec 28, 2013

hashholly said:
I can confirm bluetooth headset and incur bluetooth works fine with the Nexus 5 from use, though thats about the end of what you can do hands free....I actually didn't use a pin or any kind of security when I had the N5, so I'm not too sure if the bluetooth headset or incar will work without first unlocking the phone.

----------

Experienced this with Youtube and MX Player (Though Im not sure if H/W acceleration was turned on) and Mobo Player

It can...the Motorola roadster can also send texts handsfree or you can listen to them. My cars built in bluetooth again doesnt do this as well.
The roadster is way easier to use. It works with the app for that device called My Motospeak. Its free in the Playstore. I prefer the visor devices because i dont like wearing an earpiece. BlueAnt makes a good visor device too and is more like Siri.

robjulo · Dec 28, 2013

jamezr said:
Did you read my post at all? What you said was not accurate. With Android on my S4 i can leave my phone on the table walk into another room to do whatever and return minutes or hours later and just LOOK at my phone to tell what kind of message I have missed. The blinking LED light can be configured to be a different color per notification. Also there are apps that can pop up and give the same kind of message notification as the stock IOS.

I'm not even going to bother trying to explain to you.

jamezr · Dec 28, 2013

robjulo said:
I'm not even going to bother trying to explain to you.

Well two people have disputed what you wrote so far.nuff said.

khha4113 · Dec 28, 2013

robjulo said:
No. A long press on a button is hardly dangerous that I don't even have to look at is hardly dangerous, no different than a button on a bluetooth or a button on the car steering wheel.

That bluetooth devices are for. Either one that built-in in car or ear wear. What you do is illegal in my state and I can be pulled over. Still, access your phone easily even you have a locked screen is not good security! You can have either security or convenience but not both.
Just saw Vegastouch's post and I agree with him totally.

hashholly · Dec 28, 2013

jamezr said:
Did you read my post at all? What you said was not accurate. With Android on my S4 i can leave my phone on the table walk into another room to do whatever and return minutes or hours later and just LOOK at my phone to tell what kind of message I have missed. The blinking LED light can be configured to be a different color per notification. Also there are apps that can pop up and give the same kind of message notification as the stock IOS.

jamezr said:
Well two people have disputed what you wrote so far.nuff said.

I think what he is trying to get across is that on a stock Nexus 5, the only notifications that you get if your screen is locked is through the LED. So on the Nexus as it comes from Google, if you walk away from your device, and the screen is off, you'll be able to tell THAT you have an email, or message, or tweet or Facebook update, but thats about it.

With the iPhone as it comes, I can easily wake the phone up without unlocking it, and get an actual preview of a message, email, sports center update, usa today news alert, etc.

Im sure they probably have different apps you can install on android to get actually messages on the lock screen (I actually remember at one point that was a big deal for people with android vs iOS not really having that sort of capability, its just not there from the start....UNLESS there was an option somewhere in the system that was missed?

khha4113 · Dec 28, 2013

Vegastouch said:
Well, yes there is. You can allow a popup window to see a text or you can look at the notification bar when the screen comes on when you get something and if it is a email, it shows some of it in the notification bar as well. There are plenty of ways to customize ho you want to get notifications and an LED is yet another way. Notifications are far better on Android than on iOS.
I havent explored every app to do more things as i dont need to have notifications on my lockscreen. You can also get Tasker and that app does ton of different things.

With GS4, it has 'Driving mode' (now called 'Hand-Free mode' with 4.3 update) that reads a message when it comes, wave your hand over the phone's screen to accept a call.

From Nexus 5 back to iOS

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