Galaxy-Nexus VS iPhone 4S ?

[Darthdingo]

Looking for honest real peoples review or opinions on this subject please.

I used to be an iPhone guy back with the first iPhone, and the 3G, then I got attracted to what Android was doing, and moved on to a Nexus-S, and few months ago a Galaxy-Nexus.

I do like the larger screens of the Nexus phones, and the Widgets and customization is really cool. But the battery life is becoming a deal breaker for me. I have the extended battery on my G Nexus, and rooted with great ROM, and the battery life still sucks, maybe 9 - 10 hours a day. If a busy workday then maybe just 6 hours total battery life, which is unacceptable to me.

Other little things annoying me too, with Android, it is still laggy in some places, and touch screen response is hit or miss, sometimes I have to press an app two or three times to activate it.

I haven't played with an iPhone since the 3G. Would you recommend the 4S over a G Nexus ? Is the battery life night and day better, or just slightly barely better ? Jailbreaked would be the only iPhone for em, I love to customize my phone and make it look different than stock. Is jailbreaking easy to do, and setting it up custom ?

 

[Vanarak19]

I go back and forth. I have a nexus right now, and was 5 min away from buying a 4s this weekend. I have an iPad and Mac,but use google for everything, and really love a few things the nexus does over the iPhone...keep in mind I'm on Verizon.

-nexus has an bigger screen for surfing with 4g
-I can't bare 3G on Verizon, iPhone would only have 3G for now
-I love the notification light on the nexus
-custom roming is awesome, and my phone is exactly the way I want.
-I've had iPhones for 4 yrs, so something new is great
-the nexus now has scramble with friends
-I actually like having two sets of bookmarks (chrome and iPad)
-4g is insanely fast
-widgets...rock

Finally, I just can't spend 550$ on an iPhone right now, cash isn't the problem. I'll keep my nexus until oct or so when the new iPhone comes out. iOS is nice, but it just doesn't integrate as well IMO.

Just my honest opinion. No bashing either. I love my apple gear. After owning the nexus, the iPhone design just feels toyishly small. Both are great!

My battery on 3G is no different than the4s. With the custom rom, stock battery life is about double and a non issue.

 

[Rennir]

Looking for honest real peoples review or opinions on this subject please.

I used to be an iPhone guy back with the first iPhone, and the 3G, then I got attracted to what Android was doing, and moved on to a Nexus-S, and few months ago a Galaxy-Nexus.

I do like the larger screens of the Nexus phones, and the Widgets and customization is really cool. But the battery life is becoming a deal breaker for me. I have the extended battery on my G Nexus, and rooted with great ROM, and the battery life still sucks, maybe 90 - 10 hours a day.

Other little things annoying me too, with Android, it is still laggy in some places, and touch screen response is hit or miss, sometimes I have to press an app two or three times to activate it.

I haven't played with an iPhone since the 3G. Would you recommend the 4S over a G Nexus ? Is the battery life night and day better, or just slightly barely better ? Jailbreaked would be the only iPhone for em, I love to customize my phone and make it look different than stock. Is jailbreaking easy to do, and setting it up custom ?

I've never owned a Nexus before but I can tell you what you need to know about the 4S. iOS is more responsive than what you have described. I never have to tap an app more than once and the touch screen response is almost butter smooth. However, iOS does lag too at times, so you'd probably have to try one out.

Also, I don't know what that 10 hour figure implies (usage or just on time?) but I usually get about 6-8 hours of usage and 1 day standby (phone is not being used but still on) from one charge depending on what I'm doing. Although I would imagine battery life to be a lot better (check out the xda developers forum on G-Nexus versus 4S and a lot of people are reporting much better battery life for the iPhone).

Jailbreaking is easy, but right now there isn't a jailbreak for firmware 5.1 on the 4S, so you'd have to find one with 5.0.1

 

[Demonface]

I go back and forth. I have a nexus right now, and was 5 min away from buying a 4s this weekend. I have an iPad and Mac,but use google for everything, and really love a few things the nexus does over the iPhone...keep in mind I'm on Verizon.

-nexus has an bigger screen for surfing with 4g
-I can't bare 3G on Verizon, iPhone would only have 3G for now
-I love the notification light on the nexus
-custom roming is awesome, and my phone is exactly the way I want.
-I've had iPhones for 4 yrs, so something new is great
-the nexus now has scramble with friends
-I actually like having two sets of bookmarks (chrome and iPad)
-4g is insanely fast
-widgets...rock


Finally, I just can't spend 550$ on an iPhone right now, cash isn't the problem. I'll keep my nexus until oct or so when the new iPhone comes out. iOS is nice, but it just doesn't integrate as well IMO.

Just my honest opinion. No bashing either. I love my apple gear. After owning the nexus, the iPhone design just feels toyishly small. Both are great!

My battery on 3G is no different than the4s. With the custom rom, stock battery life is about double and a non issue.

Well i'll be making the switch to the iPhone 4S from the LG Thrill and i'll be going from a 4" + screen to a 3.5" . so its kind of a downgrade but hey ill be getting better battery life and there will be more app available to me which is another plus. Another thing id like to state is that my first smartphone was the iPhone 2G then switched to the 3G then got the Thrill and now going to the iphone 4S . Hopefully I wouldnt be disappointed .

 

[Darthdingo]

My Galaxy Nexus can easily go 1 day+ on battery, on light weekend use, at home with WiFi. But business day use during the week, with lots of phone calls...tons of texts...e-mails...surfing web...maybe a little navigation...I will only get around 6 - 9 hours of use, before drained to 0%. That is with the extended battery, and 3G only, I turn off LTE.

How would the 4S compare ?

 

[JH-]

I just went through the same decision you are making so hopefully my comments will be relevant.

Pros:

iPhone

• Battery Life (6 hours of actual use)
• Screen Responsiveness
• Call Quality
• Notifications (Vibrate and Sound)
• Build Quality
• Accesories

Galaxy Nexus

• Notification Light (most missed feature for me)
• Customization (No current jailbreak for 5.1)
• Navigation

For me it was the fact that the iPhone won in my major areas of need that made me switch. Plus, once the jailbreak comes out for me it will be a wash in customization. I also use a lot of Google services but they have all always worked fine for me. It just takes more accounts on an iPhone.

Let me know if you have any further specific questions or need clarification.

 

[Darthdingo]

JH did you actually have the Nexus and returned it for the 4S ? Curious your thoughts of using a newer good Android phone compared to the 4S ?

 

[JH-]

JH did you actually have the Nexus and returned it for the 4S ? Curious your thoughts of using a newer good Android phone compared to the 4S ?

Sold it and bought the 4S. Pros and cons from what I thought are listed above. I tried really hard to like android and I did like the notification light as I listed above but that was really the only feature outside of navigation that android had a clear advantage in. Are there any specific questions you want answered?

 

[Darthdingo]

Sold it and bought the 4S. Pros and cons from what I thought are listed above. I tried really hard to like android and I did like the notification light as I listed above but that was really the only feature outside of navigation that android had a clear advantage in. Are there any specific questions you want answered?

Thank-you.

- Battery life much better on the 4S compared to Nexus ? Or just little bit ?
- WiFi web browsing ? My Nexus seems to still drain battery quick even if just on Wifi. And how is the WiFi signal on the 4S ? Far ?
- Screen outside in sunny day ? Can you see it better on which phone ?
- Notification center on the 4S as good as the Nexus ?
- Siri useful ? or gimmick ?
- Small screen a big downgrade ?

 

[JH-]

Thank-you.

- Battery life much better on the 4S compared to Nexus ? Or just little bit ?

Much better.

- WiFi web browsing ? My Nexus seems to still drain battery quick even if just on Wifi. And how is the WiFi signal on the 4S ? Far ?

I don't use much wifi because I have an unlimited data plan so I can't compare well here.

- Screen outside in sunny day ? Can you see it better on which phone ?

I thought both were fairly good but slight edge to the iPhone

- Notification center on the 4S as good as the Nexus ?

No. But its close. The only problem I have with the iPhone's is the banner doesn't push the screen down but instead covers the top a little bit. With no soft buttons built into the OS many time back or other buttons in apps are covered by the notification. This could be a setting I've missed somewhere though.

- Siri useful ? or gimmick ?

At first I thought it was a gimmick until I used it. Its amazing while driving to not have to look down. The feature of being able to just put it up to your ear and have it activate is huge. I find it very useful and once the jailbreak comes I imagine it will be even more useful

- Small screen a big downgrade ?

I honestly haven't noticed that much. But to be honest I didn't like the larger screen as I have smaller hands and would have to move the Nexus around in my hand to access the corners one handed. I also like texting one handed better on the iPhone

Answers in bold above. Let me know if you need anything else.

 

[bidwalj]

I just went through the same decision you are making so hopefully my comments will be relevant.

Pros:

iPhone

• Battery Life (6 hours of actual use)
• Screen Responsiveness
• Call Quality
• Notifications (Vibrate and Sound)
• Build Quality
• Accesories

Galaxy Nexus

• Notification Light (most missed feature for me)
• Customization (No current jailbreak for 5.1)
• Navigation

For me it was the fact that the iPhone won in my major areas of need that made me switch. Plus, once the jailbreak comes out for me it will be a wash in customization. I also use a lot of Google services but they have all always worked fine for me. It just takes more accounts on an iPhone.

Let me know if you have any further specific questions or need clarification.

I been in the same boat . I currently have the iPhone 4s and I have a verizon lte mifi and the new 4g iPad. I love the lte speeds and the current 4gb promo deal really interests me. I only want the nexus to lock myself for double data when the new iPhone drops.

I read a lot of reviews online where they mention the lte radio is weak on the phone as is the battery. Is that mostly true?

Also, i don't really use any google services. Whats the best way (if any) to get push iCloud email?

Ultimately I'm torn if the sacrifice will be worth it ( the new iPhone might not come until fall).

 

[mobilebuddha]

just off the top of my head.. hope this helps as I use both Galaxy Nexus and iPhone (although I'd say GN over half of the time).

Advantages for Galaxy Nexus:

1) Widgets - one of the coolest things that the GN does is the "how much time will it take me to get work today?" widget. I setup 3 buttons on the homescreen 2 for my different offices and 1 for home. You click on them and in about 5 seconds it'll tell you Green/Yellow/Red to give you a general indication of traffic and in another 15 it'll tell you how much time it estimates your drive will be. You can of course click on this midtrip as well to see how much time left. I use this at least 2-3 times a day.

2) Much bigger screen - comfortable to read Pulse, browse the net. I think for me personally, 4.5-4.6 inch screen is the perfect size. I can still do all functions using 1 hand and be able to have a "mini tablet" to read.

3) ICS has really come through in details to make the UI more user friendly.

4) You will hate Apple's keyboard once you get used to a custom app such as Swiftkey X (it has gone on sale multiple times last year for a buck, so very cheap to buy the software). I type MUCH slower on iOS (compared to 4 and 4S, not sure if there's a difference) even after spending a little over a week with the iPhone. Some people swear by SwiftKey (I am one of them), others swear by Swype or some other keyboard. You could totally see the advantages of having competition in this area, Android keyboard is MUCH better than Apple's.

5) Apps are cheaper, they go on sale more often. With android, you can get daily deals from Amazon. During xmas 2011, there was a huge event where you pay $0.10 per app for most of the top sellers on the android market. I remember paying like 5 bucks and got every app that I wanted in the span of a week. You can't beat that.

============================================
Advantages for iPhone
1) Siri - there's simply no comparison. I've tried Evi, ugh.. can't think of the other apps, but I've tried no less than 5-6 of different ones from Android. NONE COMPARES. I really believe Siri is -the- killer app for iPhone 4S. When you are driving, if your vehicle supports bluetooth, Siri works with it. So whatever audio responses it provides is fed thru your speakers. I wish Siri works in more ways such as traffic jam and time to destination.. That would be great!

2) Bluetooth - Using your vehicle's bluetooth to dial people is much easier on the iPhone than on any of the android phones that I've had/have. I don't know why but I've had 4-5 different android phones: galaxy s2, galaxy nexus, droid 2 global, motorola photon, evo 3d. I have never had an android device that works with my vehicles (infiniti fx35 and a toyota camry) 100% of the time. My favorite device (the GN) would sometimes sync so I need to say first name and then last name, and sometimes sync so I need to say last name and then first name. This never happens on the iPhone.

3) Apps - I don't see Flipboard, Instapaper for Android yet. Although this issue is becoming less and less of an issue for Android.

4) Push email - if you aren't using gmail, you need to pay for 3rd party email client to get that feature (I was told that). Since I use gmail, it's not an advantage to me, but maybe it will be for you.

 

[3bs]

I had an iPhone 4 and also got the 4S from release and I loved it but I just got bored and decided to give the GNex a go. The GNex was my first android phone so it was all new to me but with some help I got the hang of it and flashed AOKP (which is a great ROM), franco kernel and the newest radio which I forgot the code for. After 2 weeks I ended up going back to my 4S. I just missed iOS too much. The things I loved about the GNex were the screen size and colours, status bar notifications, widgets, LED notification light, the way you move the cursor on the keyboard, I installed Swype which was surprisingly REALLY accurate. Battery life wasn't that much different for me. I'm a heavy user so I had to charge both the GNex or 4S daily and sometimes neither would last a whole day for me. In the end it's just a matter of personal preference if you ask me. All my friends thought I was a an Apple fanboy and couldn't believe that I got an android phone but I wanted to give it a go and I did and now I can say it's not for me but it definitely wasn't disappointing.

If you managed to root and flash custom ROMs I think you'll be ok with jailbreaking since I think it's a lot simpler and you have smaller chances of messing up stuff. I do miss being able to create a nandroid which backs up everything. With jailbreaking you can't always start fresh since you'll have to update and Apple might not be signing the software version you want that a jailbreak exists for. As someone mentioned, there isn't currently a jailbreak for 5.1 on a 4S so you'll have to either get your hand on a 4S on 5.0 or 5.0.1 or wait for a jailbreak for 5.1.

 

[Darthdingo]

On jailbreaked 4S, can I have a weather or news widget on the home screen ?

And how far off is the jailbreak for 5.1 ?

 

[onthecouchagain]

4) You will hate Apple's keyboard once you get used to a custom app such as Swiftkey X (it has gone on sale multiple times last year for a buck, so very cheap to buy the software). I type MUCH slower on iOS (compared to 4 and 4S, not sure if there's a difference) even after spending a little over a week with the iPhone. Some people swear by SwiftKey (I am one of them), others swear by Swype or some other keyboard. You could totally see the advantages of having competition in this area, Android keyboard is MUCH better than Apple's.

So so true. Even stock ics keyboard is better than iOS keyboard, much more so when you adapt to swiftkey or swype.

The iOS keyboard is actually one of the deal breakers that sent me back to nexus.

 

[macbook pro i5]

On jailbreaked 4S, can I have a weather or news widget on the home screen ?

And how far off is the jailbreak for 5.1 ?

You will be waiting long IMHO an untethered jailbreak for the A4 devices is not even out yet that says a lot about the A5/A5X devices.

 

[irDigital0l]

I think Nexus is better, iPhone 4S isn't that much different than 4.

Sure it got Siri, 8MP camera, dual core, but it doesn't have a bigger screen, 4G LTE, etc.

Well at least iPhone 5 will be good.

 

[3bs]

On jailbreaked 4S, can I have a weather or news widget on the home screen ?

And how far off is the jailbreak for 5.1 ?

Yes you can have weather widgets on your home screen. Not sure about news though.

No one really knows for sure since the people behind the jailbreaks don't usually provide ETAs

 

[xnickitynickx]

I think Nexus is better, iPhone 4S isn't that much different than 4.

Sure it got Siri, 8MP camera, dual core, but it doesn't have a bigger screen, 4G LTE, etc.

Well at least iPhone 5 will be good.

Are you insane?
Here's you: "yeah, it has a bigger motor, more comfortable, better amenities, etc. I would get it, but it looks just like last years..."

It just doesn't make sense...

As for me, I love my 4S. I played with the nexus and it just didn't do it for me. Since the OP already has a lot invested in the apple ecosystem, it seems like the exact phone he needs. I've never once been disappointed with it. The iCloud integration keeps all my work and play apps in sync, and I can actually use it efficiently as a phone and an Internet device. I would do it all over again

 

[irDigital0l]

Are you insane?
Here's you: "yeah, it has a bigger motor, more comfortable, better amenities, etc. I would get it, but it looks just like last years..."

It just doesn't make sense...

As for me, I love my 4S. I played with the nexus and it just didn't do it for me. Since the OP already has a lot invested in the apple ecosystem, it seems like the exact phone he needs. I've never once been disappointed with it. The iCloud integration keeps all my work and play apps in sync, and I can actually use it efficiently as a phone and an Internet device. I would do it all over again

No, I'm not insane.

Thats why I'm getting the iPhone 5.

Problem?

 

[Buildbright]

So so true. Even stock ics keyboard is better than iOS keyboard, much more so when you adapt to swiftkey or swype.

The iOS keyboard is actually one of the deal breakers that sent me back to nexus.

just off the top of my head.. hope this helps as I use both Galaxy Nexus and iPhone (although I'd say GN over half of the time).

Advantages for Galaxy Nexus:

1) Widgets - one of the coolest things that the GN does is the "how much time will it take me to get work today?" widget. I setup 3 buttons on the homescreen 2 for my different offices and 1 for home. You click on them and in about 5 seconds it'll tell you Green/Yellow/Red to give you a general indication of traffic and in another 15 it'll tell you how much time it estimates your drive will be. You can of course click on this midtrip as well to see how much time left. I use this at least 2-3 times a day.

2) Much bigger screen - comfortable to read Pulse, browse the net. I think for me personally, 4.5-4.6 inch screen is the perfect size. I can still do all functions using 1 hand and be able to have a "mini tablet" to read.

3) ICS has really come through in details to make the UI more user friendly.

4) You will hate Apple's keyboard once you get used to a custom app such as Swiftkey X (it has gone on sale multiple times last year for a buck, so very cheap to buy the software). I type MUCH slower on iOS (compared to 4 and 4S, not sure if there's a difference) even after spending a little over a week with the iPhone. Some people swear by SwiftKey (I am one of them), others swear by Swype or some other keyboard. You could totally see the advantages of having competition in this area, Android keyboard is MUCH better than Apple's.

5) Apps are cheaper, they go on sale more often. With android, you can get daily deals from Amazon. During xmas 2011, there was a huge event where you pay $0.10 per app for most of the top sellers on the android market. I remember paying like 5 bucks and got every app that I wanted in the span of a week. You can't beat that.

============================================
Advantages for iPhone
1) Siri - there's simply no comparison. I've tried Evi, ugh.. can't think of the other apps, but I've tried no less than 5-6 of different ones from Android. NONE COMPARES. I really believe Siri is -the- killer app for iPhone 4S. When you are driving, if your vehicle supports bluetooth, Siri works with it. So whatever audio responses it provides is fed thru your speakers. I wish Siri works in more ways such as traffic jam and time to destination.. That would be great!

2) Bluetooth - Using your vehicle's bluetooth to dial people is much easier on the iPhone than on any of the android phones that I've had/have. I don't know why but I've had 4-5 different android phones: galaxy s2, galaxy nexus, droid 2 global, motorola photon, evo 3d. I have never had an android device that works with my vehicles (infiniti fx35 and a toyota camry) 100% of the time. My favorite device (the GN) would sometimes sync so I need to say first name and then last name, and sometimes sync so I need to say last name and then first name. This never happens on the iPhone.

3) Apps - I don't see Flipboard, Instapaper for Android yet. Although this issue is becoming less and less of an issue for Android.

4) Push email - if you aren't using gmail, you need to pay for 3rd party email client to get that feature (I was told that). Since I use gmail, it's not an advantage to me, but maybe it will be for you.

Sorry but I have disagree the iOS keyboard is the best standard mobile keyboard out. Android does have the advantage of swype and and swift key but i am not a fan. I do think everyone is different and should have the option. Siri is easier than typing lol.

If the iPhone 5 gets a four inch plus screen and lte I will be happy.

 

[mobilebuddha]

you have your opinion and i have mine..

back when android was 1.6 or so I had tried the android keyboard, it was pretty bad. but since then with swype and swiftkey, i generally only type 2/5 to half of a word and 90% of the time it's correct. Swiftkey has most phrases so half of the time the next word is already the word that you want. With apple you usually have to type 60-80% of the word before it gets it right and in my experience, the prediction is hardly anything to write home about.

you can't use Siri everywhere unfortunately. if i'm in my office and i start asking siri to write an email, it would be pretty weird.. heh. although i think if you read my post, you'd know how much i enjoyed using Siri when driving or doing things.

Sorry but I have disagree the iOS keyboard is the best standard mobile keyboard out. Android does have the advantage of swype and and swift key but i am not a fan. I do think everyone is different and should have the option. Siri is easier than typing lol.

If the iPhone 5 gets a four inch plus screen and lte I will be happy.

 

[Jordan921]

You will be waiting long IMHO an untethered jailbreak for the A4 devices is not even out yet that says a lot about the A5/A5X devices.

I don't think the wait will be that long since there was 3 different methods of jailbreaking the ipad 3 on 5.1 the day it was released.

 

[Buildbright]

you have your opinion and i have mine..

back when android was 1.6 or so I had tried the android keyboard, it was pretty bad. but since then with swype and swiftkey, i generally only type 2/5 to half of a word and 90% of the time it's correct. Swiftkey has most phrases so half of the time the next word is already the word that you want. With apple you usually have to type 60-80% of the word before it gets it right and in my experience, the prediction is hardly anything to write home about.

you can't use Siri everywhere unfortunately. if i'm in my office and i start asking siri to write an email, it would be pretty weird.. heh. although i think if you read my post, you'd know how much i enjoyed using Siri when driving or doing things.

Swiftkey and swype is a taste thing. I find them ineffective for my workflow and taste. Between Siri and the iOS keyboard it lets me power though the hundreds of emails I have to write a day.

 

[macbook pro i5]

I don't think the wait will be that long since there was 3 different methods of jailbreaking the ipad 3 on 5.1 the day it was released.

.....Really,are they bootrom exploits?? If so that is awesome