Nexus 4 disappointment - Nexus 4 General

I have to say that i opened my new nexus this morning with excitement. The build quality and style of the phone is great.
That being said as soon as i turned it on i was really disappointed with the screen quality. The colours look washed out like a cheap budget TV in a sun drenched room. Next to an S3 it cant even compare. Side by side comparison with an S3 leaves the nexus looking awful. I put phasebeam live wallpaper on both phones and there really isnt a challenge from the nexus. The blue corner on the nexus is nearly white the colours are so far off. I tried another live wallpaper called Magic Smoke 3D and the blue areas on the S3 are nearly white on the Nexus. Blacks are almost grey too its really poor. I know the OLED vs LCD debate but i think this is more an issue of a very good OLED vs a very poor LCD or at least very poorly calibrated LCD. The Auto brightness is so dim its also useless and i have to set it manually. Its so bad that its dimmer than my OLED which is insane.
Battery life is a real issue. i had nothing of note installed on the phone and went from 74% down to 0 in less than a half days use.
The loud speaker is tinny and sounds pretty bad and the ear speaker is sounding very odd compared to other phones i own.
Stock android has some nice points which i can appreciate but its lacking in other areas which arent easy to live with. No battery percent is a real stupid omission and i know you can mod the phone up but seriously not being able to dial a phone number directly from an email is pretty poor. took me a while to get the copy and paste working to do it.
Whilst a few things are Goolges fault i squarely lay the blame at LG since i saw the Optimus G and i thought the screen was terrible on that also and the other hardware issues are down to cost cutting and lack of care when it comes to colour calibration.
This phone is worth every penny at £280 and thats all its worth. Its nowhere near as good a deal as i believed before i got it in the post this morning. Its certainly not a £400-£500 Phone. Since LG is a screen company its a real shame they screwed this one up so bad.
Its going back to Google on monday and ill think ill wait for the S4.

Maybe try to calibrate it. Mine came out of the box looking good. After some calibration it is not far from the best screen I've used. Also in bright rooms and sun the screen rocks. Maybe you got unlucky?
Also I can get up to 6 hours of screen time usually around 4 though worth heavier use so I cannot relate to this at all
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

If you don't like it then just return it. This really isn't a difficult concept. However, for the price you paid you really can't argue about it.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Couldnt disagree more with the OP ,
but everyone's allowed an opinion .... I think the screen is fantastic and sharp, the S3 imo is oversaturated, and some professionals have said the colours are much truer to life than the S3s , and like @hewettBR said , you could calibrate it to pretty much do anything ya wanted ..
Im a little confused, did you not know what you were getting with stock android? its stock, bone, clean, if you dont like it maybe try a custom rom?
Also the battery life on my device has been fine, gets me through a days usage with 30% left and 3 hours of screen on time, no problem what so ever. also some custom kernels people have got 5-6 hours of screen on time
Just my 2 cents

italia0101 said:
Couldnt disagree more with the OP ,
but everyone's allowed an opinion .... I think the screen is fantastic and sharp, the S3 imo is oversaturated, and some professionals have said the colours are much truer to life than the S3s , and like @hewettBR said , you could calibrate it to pretty much do anything ya wanted ..
Im a little confused, did you not know what you were getting with stock android? its stock, bone, clean, if you dont like it maybe try a custom rom?
Also the battery life on my device has been fine, gets me through a days usage with 30% left and 3 hours of screen on time, no problem what so ever. also some custom kernels people have got 5-6 hours of screen on time
Just my 2 cents
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know about stock android but i never realised just how lacking stock android can be in areas. Whilst some complex stuff is included other simple stuff is missing. You really dont know whats missing until a feature that you might use every day on an S3 is just not there in Nexus. This isnt as much as a deal breaker as the screen though.
I really dont want true to life screen quality anyway. its a phone and not a window. I want the red green and blues to pop and amaze everytime i look. The contrast should be high and blacks should be dark. With my nexus i have Blue which is actually White! Black which is grey and washed out. I really think i must have a bad sample or maybe its because i have a comparison phone to put the screen against.

irzero said:
I know about stock android but i never realised just how lacking stock android can be in areas. Whilst some complex stuff is included other simple stuff is missing. You really dont know whats missing until a feature that you might use every day on an S3 is just not there in Nexus. This isnt as much as a deal breaker as the screen though.
I really dont want true to life screen quality anyway. its a phone and not a window. I want the red green and blues to pop and amaze everytime i look. The contrast should be high and blacks should be dark. With my nexus i have Blue which is actually White! Black which is grey and washed out. I really think i must have a bad sample or maybe its because i have a comparison phone to put the screen against.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fair enough, if thats how ya feel then thats how you feel

agree
italia0101 said:
Couldnt disagree more with the OP ,
but everyone's allowed an opinion .... I think the screen is fantastic and sharp, the S3 imo is oversaturated, and some professionals have said the colours are much truer to life than the S3s , and like @hewettBR said , you could calibrate it to pretty much do anything ya wanted ..
Im a little confused, did you not know what you were getting with stock android? its stock, bone, clean, if you dont like it maybe try a custom rom?
Also the battery life on my device has been fine, gets me through a days usage with 30% left and 3 hours of screen on time, no problem what so ever. also some custom kernels people have got 5-6 hours of screen on time
Just my 2 cents
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally agree with your answer, y asked a designer to choose which screen look better between the S3 and the Nexus 4, and she choose the nexus 4 because it has more realistic colors she said. I was a GSIII owner and I am not regreat about switching to the nexus 4.
Sorry about my english.

Just ordered mine last night. I too have an s3 right now.
I hope I'm not too disappointed.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

/Waaaaaaa
I mean really....

As someone who had an S3, went to a N4, then went back to an S3 I noticed the following things after going back to the S3:
The S3's screen is nowhere near as sharp as the Nexus 4's. I never thought the difference between pentile and non pentile was big, but it is. Text is far clearer. Colours between the two are preference. I like the pop of the S3s screen.
The S3 is a slow phone. The Nexus 4 craps on it for UI speed.
The Nexus is a beautiful device. It feels really nice in the hand and feels very high end.
The Nexus battery life is rubbish. I do not understand how people are getting 5 hours of on screen time - maybe they have everything turned off. I like to have wifi, gps, BT, 3g all turned on all the time and the Nexus 4 would barely get me through a day. The S3 easily does it and also has the option of spare battery. Also when gaming on the Nexus the battery goes down a % a minute at least. I played sworcery for 20 mins and my battery had gone from 80 to 50something%!
The Nexus 4 gets HOT during demanding gaming. Like, really hot. Changing the kernel fixed this - I don't know how.
I also missed the swipe left/right to call/message from touchwiz.
Stock android quick toggles, whilst looking really good aren't useful at all. All they do is take you to the settings menu.
I think that on screen buttons are far nicer and the back button being on the LEFT is the right place.
Forgot to add - The main reason I switched back was because of the Camera. It is ASS! Just take a look at the photo thread on these very forums for proof. Also lacks burst mode which is a bit annoying. It also took longer to render HDRs and they weren't that great. A lot of people think it's good because they came from a Galaxy Nexus , which had a mid 2010 5MP shooter in it.

I was a s3 user but I do like the nexus 4 color
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

I think the display is worse on the SGIII.
iPhone 5 for example uses Sharp IPS LCD panels and have won many tests against SGIII in terms of display quality and the Nexus 4 uses a newer and better display - though the IPS panel made by LG.
Or perhaps you just like oversaturated colors and the blueish tint that you get from OLED.
http://www.displaymate.com/Smartphone_ShootOut_2.htm

spoonboy said:
As someone who had an S3, went to a N4, then went back to an S3 I noticed the following things after going back to the S3:
The S3's screen is nowhere near as sharp as the Nexus 4's. I never thought the difference between pentile and non pentile was big, but it is. Text is far clearer. Colours between the two are preference. I like the pop of the S3s screen.
The S3 is a slow phone. The Nexus 4 craps on it for UI speed.
The Nexus battery life is rubbish. I do not understand how people are getting 5 hours of on screen time - maybe they have everything turned off. I like to have wifi, gps, BT, 3g all turned on all the time and the Nexus 4 would barely get me through a day. The S3 easily does it and also has the option of spare battery. Also when gaming on the Nexus the battery goes down a % a minute at least. I played sworcery for 20 mins and my battery had gone from 80 to 50something%!
The Nexus 4 gets HOT during demanding gaming. Like, really hot. Changing the kernel fixed this - I don't know how.
Stock android quick toggles, whilst looking really good aren't useful at all. All they do is take you to the settings menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting points, but yes the s3 definitely has better battery life than the nexus, unfortunately that is something the nexus isnt good at. But its the fastest android phone, maybe the optimus g as well? I dont know but the nexus is ridiculously fast. Im confident that future android updates will adress those battery issues. In the mean time there are great roms and kernels that give extra juice like franco's kernel or matrix kernel.
I also missed the swipe left/right to call/message from touchwiz.

I agree on the screen, washed out and viewing angles are horrible.

italia0101 said:
Couldnt disagree more with the OP ,
but everyone's allowed an opinion .... I think the screen is fantastic and sharp, the S3 imo is oversaturated, and some professionals have said the colours are much truer to life than the S3s , and like @hewettBR said , you could calibrate it to pretty much do anything ya wanted ..
Im a little confused, did you not know what you were getting with stock android? its stock, bone, clean, if you dont like it maybe try a custom rom?
Also the battery life on my device has been fine, gets me through a days usage with 30% left and 3 hours of screen on time, no problem what so ever. also some custom kernels people have got 5-6 hours of screen on time
Just my 2 cents
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
spoonboy said:
As someone who had an S3, went to a N4, then went back to an S3 I noticed the following things after going back to the S3:
The S3's screen is nowhere near as sharp as the Nexus 4's. I never thought the difference between pentile and non pentile was big, but it is. Text is far clearer. Colours between the two are preference. I like the pop of the S3s screen.
The S3 is a slow phone. The Nexus 4 craps on it for UI speed.
The Nexus battery life is rubbish. I do not understand how people are getting 5 hours of on screen time - maybe they have everything turned off. I like to have wifi, gps, BT, 3g all turned on all the time and the Nexus 4 would barely get me through a day. The S3 easily does it and also has the option of spare battery. Also when gaming on the Nexus the battery goes down a % a minute at least. I played sworcery for 20 mins and my battery had gone from 80 to 50something%!
The Nexus 4 gets HOT during demanding gaming. Like, really hot. Changing the kernel fixed this - I don't know how.
I also missed the swipe left/right to call/message from touchwiz.
Stock android quick toggles, whilst looking really good aren't useful at all. All they do is take you to the settings menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree on the sharp screen of the Nexus but thats LCD tech and any LCD with 300+ PPI gives that.
My S3 isnt slow though? i tend to use Omega Rom which is rapid. Its easily on par with nexus.
The 400 PPI S4 looks to be the phone for me that will give the sharp text

Dear soon-to-return-nexus-4-users,
You realize the Nexus phone, or any Nexus phone, runs Android WITHOUT any 3rd party skin/addon/UI/etc...?
Yes?
OK. Then Why you ***** about a certain feature exist in a certain 3rd party skin/addon/UI/etc... not available in plain Android?
Next, you should also realize that the pro of owning a Nexus phone is not only about getting updates faster, It's also about the development of Custom ROM/Kernels.
So if you buy a Nexus phone and expect to use it like S3 (i.e. without tinkering the device), you are buying it wrong and I do, REALLY do suggest you return it and go back to your TouchWiz phones.
Later.

it's true google calibration is a bit washed out and weak out of the box
but..
1) let the glue dry and screen burn in for a week or two
2) you can make the colours burn your eyes out with gamma control kernels if you want

irzero said:
The 400 PPI S4 looks to be the phone for me that will give the sharp text
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You won't be able to tell the differences under normal usage conditions. Trust me.
And I can already forsee tons of website will use magnifiers to tell you how small the pixels are and how sharp things are.

Let the glue dry?

richteralan said:
You won't be able to tell the differences under normal usage conditions. Trust me.
And I can already forsee tons of website will use magnifiers to tell you how small the pixels are and how sharp things are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Complete waste of phone battery and processing power IMO - why the **** would you want 400PPI when you can't even see the difference!
And no damn website would ever use 400PPI images - simply because they would be HUGE in size.
---------- Post added at 07:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:52 PM ----------
ferris2375 said:
Let the glue dry?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sarcasm i think.

Related

Personal Verdicts?

What are the verdicts so far from y'all lucky ones that have the phone already? I have seen lots of reviewers out there talk well about it but I'd like to know from the real life users who have been using the phone for days or more now!
I really want this phone and plan to get it when it drops in the US but what is everyones' personal review?
Of all the phones I've had I might just be the best. Battery life is good. I unplugged it 10 hours ago (8:15 am to 18:15) and I'm down to 70% in that time I've sent a few texts, emails, listen to podcast in my car over Bluetooth for half an hour. Taken a few pictures and listened to 20 mins of music. Not bad really. It's been on wifi for most of the day which is less taxing than 3G.
The screen is very sharp and colours are good. The screen looked a bit washed out for the first day or so, but that's because I've been using amoled for the last two years. Anyone thought the same? I'm already used to the new screen now though.
Still not sure about the camera? Stills really are hit and miss and when it misses its really not good. 1080p video is good, but only in standard mode. Use the 60fps or slow motion and there are some horrible artefacts which make it unusable for me.
The speakers are amazing! Listening to music on this just blows everything else away. Call quality is again a bit hit and miss. I've heard the odd hissing, popping and sometimes the caller sounding muffled, but in fairness the muffle could have been the caller's end.
So far I've not seen the slightest hint of any lag. This phone is very snappy and looking at the used and available RAM, the management looks good. Whenever I've checked there has always been over a gig of RAM free. Why do I keep looking? Because I've come from a Galaxy S3 which was crippled by its measly RAM. This is nothing like that I'm please to say. It looks premium and feels premium too. I can't think of anything else to trump it at the moment. Go get it!
A step forward
MrSteez said:
What are the verdicts so far from y'all lucky ones that have the phone already? I have seen lots of reviewers out there talk well about it but I'd like to know from the real life users who have been using the phone for days or more now!
I really want this phone and plan to get it when it drops in the US but what is everyones' personal review?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The One is a Smartphone and not a phablet like the Note 2. If you want a top end Smartphone this is the One to get. Love the screen clarity and music playback. Will be using the my One a lot for music playback. Battery life so far better than I expected. Got through a work day with 60% left. I replaced the standard launcher with Nova and I am much happier now.
Read the stickied thread about reviews to see what users have to say. Mine is on the last page aswell.
Sent via my HTC One using XDA Premium
mwatson said:
Still not sure about the camera? Stills really are hit and miss and when it misses its really not good. 1080p video is good, but only in standard mode. Use the 60fps or slow motion and there are some horrible artefacts which make it unusable for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hit and miss? you never showed us your hits
hamdir said:
hit and miss? you never showed us your hits
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
true! optimism, denial on my part maybe maybe?...
My personal verdict: From a scale from 0 to 10 I give a 10000
Superfast, beautiful design, good materials used, best-looking user interface (I even like it more than vanilla android), awesome stereo speakers, perfect screensize for me. Also important is 2GB Ram (1GB is out of date, apps get closed in the background too fast) and LTE...yes, there are some phones also with 2GB Ram and LTE but for me the HTC One is the best one of them, so I chose it as my next phone ^^ Never have been so satisfied by a phone
Screen: In a word, stunning. Once or twice in the past 2 weeks I have almost gone into a daydream like state looking at this thing.
Audio: I have never heard audio of such a quality from any mobile device. It literally makes people ask "what is that". If I had one small complaint, it would be that the lowest volume level is not low enough. The granularity of the incremental volume levels is too coarse. Maybe 24 levels and not just 10-12.
Battery: I have been pleasantly surprised by the battery life. I get through a day fine with it. If you play Real Racer a lot or wish to make a blockbuster movie with the thing then battery will not last as long.
Camera: Superb for a phone. If you wish to print out your shots then you will not be able to get higher resolution images out of it. This is not the job of a camera though. The video and snaps are fantastic I have found. HDR is pretty good also.
Speed: It's fast. Yep.
If you are getting this thing soon... if you have it on order... you will really like it. It just oozes quality. It just feels like a supremely well made piece of hardware. Oh... it looks amazing also.
Ok, they are having some trouble getting this thing out of the factories to the stores... but when they do... people will forget the frustration. It is superb.
Beautiful, lag free, awesome speakers - nuff said.
How is the overall UI experience? is it TRULY smooth/lag free? not smooth like people claim EVERY Android phone is (ok thats a stretch). I have yet to own a 100% lag free Android phone. Some pretty close, some smooth in many places, but not a single one would I call "lag free". That includes the Nexus 4, Note II, S3, etc... AOSP/TW/didnt matter.
Aosp on Note II was probably the closest but it had its bugs .
Had mine for a week now, I am a heavy user (not games, but lots of music /Internet/twitter /texts.
No lag at all yet.
I have had the nexus 4 and it even beats that and that was quick.
As someone said earlier, this is the nearest to the ios lag free feeling from any android phone. (even ios lags sometimes)
For me the only thing is the camera which I have not made my mind up about yet, I have had some amazing results but also some poor (probably more good than bad though) I need more time with the camera but overall I think it will be acceptable.
I have had a lot of phones and I have to say this is in the top 3 and I think it will be my number 1 but need more time with it before it gains that honour
crawlgsx said:
How is the overall UI experience? is it TRULY smooth/lag free? not smooth like people claim EVERY Android phone is (ok thats a stretch). I have yet to own a 100% lag free Android phone. Some pretty close, some smooth in many places, but not a single one would I call "lag free". That includes the Nexus 4, Note II, S3, etc... AOSP/TW/didnt matter.
Aosp on Note II was probably the closest but it had its bugs .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The One is smooth. But lack of smoothness is Google issue as the first version of Butter was better but they changed for some reason. It is also faster than the Note 2.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda premium
This phone marks the end of the race in terms of screen quality. The camera is excellent if you have the time to make a quick couple of adjustments before you shoot. Blinkfeed is a consumer orientated gimmik aimed at users who have never heard of flip board. Lag is a thing of the past. Battery life is about what you expect from a top end smart phone, you'll see the day out with average use.
Speakers are the best of any device yet, just don't expect HiFi. Sense and indeed the initial stock and custom ROMs are very embryonic. I.e. when paranoid android breaks for this device it will open up a whole new world.
From a phone enthusiast who started with a Phillips savvy and one day traded a sony Z for a HTC canary.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
As a One X owner who intended to keep his phone for the full 2 years, I originally didn't have much interest in this phone...but the build quality is striking, and my One X is definitely feeling the limitations of its 1 GB of RAM.
Really looking forward to trying this out when it finally gets released in the US.
Here's my review after five days of ownership. Please remember where I make a statement below like 'x is better than y' it is purely my subjective opinion and i understand and realise others will not echo my thoughts. This is a reworked and updated review from the one I posted on Phandroid a few days ago.
This is my first HTC phone, having currently got an iPhone 5 and a Samsung Galaxy S2 which has been replaced by the HTC. I did have a Galaxy S3 but thought it was a POS.
Battery
Wow, i'm impressed. I ran it alongside my iPhone 5 and both had emails pushed to it at the same time. I received and replied to about five sms messages on the iPhone and about fifteen on the HTC and had maybe twenty emails to both devices over that time. I took them both off charge on Monday morning at about midday and the iPhone died at 11pm on the Tuesday night. The HTC didn't die until approximately 5pm on the Wednesday although it did have power saver on for the last fifteen percent. I am a light to moderate user of any phone and I am truly impressed that the battery on the HTC is a real stormer. For instance, I took the phone off charge one hour and twenty two minutes ago and it is still sitting on 100%. This battery is way better than my iPhone and that was impressive in itself. I couod not be happier with this result. I don't care what any of the reviews say, for me this battery is brilliant and that's what matters.
Build materials and Build quality
It's spot on. No gaps, no dead pixels, no dents, dings or scratches. Perfect. It feels great in the hand, has a pleasing weight to it; not too light, not too heavy. It looks and feels a million dollars. The aluminium is beautifully designed and the volume buttons sit flush with the side of the phone and have been cut in a concentric circle pattern, which is one of those little touches that shows that someone has really thought about this phone when they designed it. Sometimes I miss the power button with my huge spade-claw hands but that is more to do with me getting used to the power button being on that side (remember, I am an iPhone user so the power button on the top is perfectly natural to me).
Screen
Dear god! The best screen I have ever seen on a smartphone! No ghosting, no bleed, no tears and videos are crisp, clear and extremely high quality. I am very very impressed with the screen. The finger glide action is crystal smooth and the viewing angles are actually very good indeed. At the moment, colours seem vivid. I gather from other reviews that the screen colours look slightly washed out against other phones. If that is the case, you will not notice unless you are looking for it. For me, they are perfectly fine. Darks are dark and lights are light and all the colours in between seem rich and vivid; so I can't complain.
Beats Audio
Loud or what? Incredibly clear and distortion-free no matter whether you are playing Mussorgsky or Megadeth (I tried). Forget about booting up that phone in a quiet room like a bedroom at night or a library though! Try as I might, I couldn't get it to distort at all, no matter what I played through it.
Sense 5
Very good indeed. Easily better than my experiences with stock Touchwiz on my Samsung S3 and S2. Very smooth scrolling and the icons look sharp and have obviously had a rework for the new high-def screen. I thought I would dislike the vertically scrolling App drawer but it feels fine to use. I wish I could put more icons on my homescreen though but that will require a launcher. Maybe i'll do that in the not too distant future. Blinkfeed was interesting for a while but I found it very cluttered so I have removed all feeds from it. I will try it out again in a few days once the initial small-child-at-Christmas feeling has subsided a bit. As I mentioned in another post somewhere, Blinkfeed would be miles better if we could add in our own feeds or mail accounts. I would have no issues in having that as my home screen then. Until that time, it has been relegated to another screen and emptied of feeds.
The stock UI has some great touches and the various inbuilt apps are lovely and uncluttered to use. there isn't the sense that HTC have tried to cram as much in whether it will fit or not. Again, to me it looks like real thought has been given to the apps they have in the UI and they haven't tried to dazzle users with a function that looks cool but will never practically be used by 95% of the populace (i'm looking at you Samsung 'Popup Play' feature).
Camera
I am not David Bailey, so I don't care if my photos are not the best in the world. I have an expensive DSLR if I want to take exceptional quality pictures anyway. The camera on the HTC is perfectly adequate for my needs. It's not the best out there for a smartphone, sure, but it is perfectly serviceable and it is far from the worst. Low light photos are great and they easily capture more light than my naked eye can see. Zoe is fun to use and I have already found it useful for capturing 'that perfect shot' and discarding the rest. The time from tapping the camera app icon to taking an auto-focus shot is approximately one second, which is astonishing and way quicker than I was expecting.
Afterthoughts: - HTC Sync Manager
I'm new to the HTC and found this to be a very crappy piece of software that tries to be smart and immediately started trying to add in over twelve terabytes of movies and music (yes you read right). I imagine I would probably have had to come back sometime late next week once it had finished. I dislike the way it tries to intelligently scan for all your media. I have a lot of media across my RAID and NAS and so I have had to manually delete everything from HTC Sync Manager as there was no easy way that I could find to do it en masse. It does however allow you to port an iPhone backup straight to your HTC which for me was an absolute godsend.
constructorx said:
Speed: It's fast. Yep.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it faster than pure android though?. Looking at N4, that also seems instant & fast imho.
I give it 500 out of 10 it's awesome
Only let down my video recording has hissing on it new phone from 3 coming today
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
Scootmien said:
Here's my review after five days of ownership. Please remember where I make a statement below like 'x is better than y' it is purely my subjective opinion and i understand and realise others will not echo my thoughts. This is a reworked and updated review from the one I posted on Phandroid a few days ago.
This is my first HTC phone, having currently got an iPhone 5 and a Samsung Galaxy S2 which has been replaced by the HTC. I did have a Galaxy S3 but thought it was a POS.
Battery
Wow, i'm impressed. I ran it alongside my iPhone 5 and both had emails pushed to it at the same time. I received and replied to about five sms messages on the iPhone and about fifteen on the HTC and had maybe twenty emails to both devices over that time. I took them both off charge on Monday morning at about midday and the iPhone died at 11pm on the Tuesday night. The HTC didn't die until approximately 5pm on the Wednesday although it did have power saver on for the last fifteen percent. I am a light to moderate user of any phone and I am truly impressed that the battery on the HTC is a real stormer. For instance, I took the phone off charge one hour and twenty two minutes ago and it is still sitting on 100%. This battery is way better than my iPhone and that was impressive in itself. I couod not be happier with this result. I don't care what any of the reviews say, for me this battery is brilliant and that's what matters.
Build materials and Build quality
It's spot on. No gaps, no dead pixels, no dents, dings or scratches. Perfect. It feels great in the hand, has a pleasing weight to it; not too light, not too heavy. It looks and feels a million dollars. The aluminium is beautifully designed and the volume buttons sit flush with the side of the phone and have been cut in a concentric circle pattern, which is one of those little touches that shows that someone has really thought about this phone when they designed it. Sometimes I miss the power button with my huge spade-claw hands but that is more to do with me getting used to the power button being on that side (remember, I am an iPhone user so the power button on the top is perfectly natural to me).
Screen
Dear god! The best screen I have ever seen on a smartphone! No ghosting, no bleed, no tears and videos are crisp, clear and extremely high quality. I am very very impressed with the screen. The finger glide action is crystal smooth and the viewing angles are actually very good indeed. At the moment, colours seem vivid. I gather from other reviews that the screen colours look slightly washed out against other phones. If that is the case, you will not notice unless you are looking for it. For me, they are perfectly fine. Darks are dark and lights are light and all the colours in between seem rich and vivid; so I can't complain.
Beats Audio
Loud or what? Incredibly clear and distortion-free no matter whether you are playing Mussorgsky or Megadeth (I tried). Forget about booting up that phone in a quiet room like a bedroom at night or a library though! Try as I might, I couldn't get it to distort at all, no matter what I played through it.
Sense 5
Very good indeed. Easily better than my experiences with stock Touchwiz on my Samsung S3 and S2. Very smooth scrolling and the icons look sharp and have obviously had a rework for the new high-def screen. I thought I would dislike the vertically scrolling App drawer but it feels fine to use. I wish I could put more icons on my homescreen though but that will require a launcher. Maybe i'll do that in the not too distant future. Blinkfeed was interesting for a while but I found it very cluttered so I have removed all feeds from it. I will try it out again in a few days once the initial small-child-at-Christmas feeling has subsided a bit. As I mentioned in another post somewhere, Blinkfeed would be miles better if we could add in our own feeds or mail accounts. I would have no issues in having that as my home screen then. Until that time, it has been relegated to another screen and emptied of feeds.
The stock UI has some great touches and the various inbuilt apps are lovely and uncluttered to use. there isn't the sense that HTC have tried to cram as much in whether it will fit or not. Again, to me it looks like real thought has been given to the apps they have in the UI and they haven't tried to dazzle users with a function that looks cool but will never practically be used by 95% of the populace (i'm looking at you Samsung 'Popup Play' feature).
Camera
I am not David Bailey, so I don't care if my photos are not the best in the world. I have an expensive DSLR if I want to take exceptional quality pictures anyway. The camera on the HTC is perfectly adequate for my needs. It's not the best out there for a smartphone, sure, but it is perfectly serviceable and it is far from the worst. Low light photos are great and they easily capture more light than my naked eye can see. Zoe is fun to use and I have already found it useful for capturing 'that perfect shot' and discarding the rest. The time from tapping the camera app icon to taking an auto-focus shot is approximately one second, which is astonishing and way quicker than I was expecting.
Afterthoughts: - HTC Sync Manager
I'm new to the HTC and found this to be a very crappy piece of software that tries to be smart and immediately started trying to add in over twelve terabytes of movies and music (yes you read right). I imagine I would probably have had to come back sometime late next week once it had finished. I dislike the way it tries to intelligently scan for all your media. I have a lot of media across my RAID and NAS and so I have had to manually delete everything from HTC Sync Manager as there was no easy way that I could find to do it en masse. It does however allow you to port an iPhone backup straight to your HTC which for me was an absolute godsend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any lag with live wallpaper?
msterner123 said:
Any lag with live wallpaper?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm happy to report that no, there is no lag on my device with live wallpaper enabled.
Wow! So this phone basically sounds about as amazing as I keep reading online. But the one thing I keep hearing about is the camera.. I'm going from an EVO 4G LTE (so basically a One X)... Is the camera quality going to be better or worse? From what I hear it's hit or miss but on average would you say it's an improvement?
I mean I really only use my camera for Instagram pics so I'm not really expecting 100% professional quality but I just want to make sure it's not a decrease in quality from my phone.
I just want a release date for Sprint now

Just got my Nexus 4, Not so sure about it

So got my Nexus 4 16GB during the week, its my first ever Nexus phone however have had a variety of Android phones from the HTC Desire right up to Galaxy S2, have to say I am not 100% sold on the Nexus.
I used to think skins where unnecessary but since getting the Nexus I have come to realise how much more user friendly they make things, simple things like pulling down the notification bar to put in aeroplane mode, orientation screen lock etc, or perhaps battery percentage up beside the battery?
My battery also seems to drain very fast, and I am not using the phone any differently than I did my galaxy S2, auto sync turned of and all the rest.
The camera while being 8mp acts like 5mp at best for some reason, Its not a patch on my SGS2, Ok I only take photos for instagram etc and its fine for that.
When you got your N4 did you instantly fall in love or did it take a while to grow on you? I'm not convinced yet.
But skins are so incredibly ugly and IMO they don't make the phone that much more user friendly (definitely not enough to justify their appearance and sluggishness). TouchWiz on the GS4 still looks like it's meant to run on Gingerbread and it causes random lag where no modern phone should have any trouble.
The quick settings in the notification bar are there, and I think it's just as good an implementation on stock because you can see more of your notifications at any one time. In TouchWiz they take up about half of the notification tray with quick settings, in stock a two fingered swipe or a tap in the top right corner will take you to them. You can edit them and make them easier to get to using a custom ROM, and while you may argue that you shouldn't have to do that it's ludicrously straightforward on a Nexus device.
A custom kernel should also fix your battery drain. I'm getting through a day without any issues and I'm perfectly happy with that. Currently my phone has had 1 day 1 hour of usage with 1 hr 30 minutes screen on time and 45% battery left. Note that the screen was on full brightness during this and Wifi and auto sync were left on.
When you say it acts like 5MP do you mean that the quality is crap or that it's literally taking photos at a 5MP size? If it's the first then that's true and there's really nothing that can be done. If it's the latter then open the camera, press anywhere on the screen to bring up the circle control, go to the settings option (the one that looks like a bunch of sliders) and change the picture size to 8MP.
Personally, I loved my N4 from the moment I got it. After calibration the screen was just about the best I'd seen (and I flashed it straight away, only used stock for a minute or two), it was the smoothest Android experience I had ever had and (unlike my HD2) everything just worked flawlessly for me.
Best phone I ever owned.
Flash a rom + kernel to get the features you're missing. If no likey, return and purchase other phone.
Tip: don't continue with praising skins of HTC or Samsung instead of aosp. Will only get you flamed..
Sounds about right. The best feature is being bland and featureless with the greatest potential to be customized. You are just at the most basic, boring, least impressive starting point. The rest is kind of up to you. Just my opinion.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
dweekie said:
Sounds about right. The best feature is being bland and featureless with the greatest potential to be customized. You are just at the most basic, boring, least impressive starting point. The rest is kind of up to you. Just my opinion.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd take this supposed 'blandness' any day over slow, sluggish and ugly OEM skins.
There are many things on this phone that make it great, such as the screen, silky smoothness and more. But first thing out of the box I was a bit disappointed as well because it has no battery percentage. It annoyed me because I can't tell how much battery life I have left unless I download a widget or pull down the bar. But, I ended up flashing the percentage mod, then flashing kernel, then a rom. Now I can't look back. Battery life got better, colors on my screen got even better and best of all I got a percentage on my battery.
If you compare the battery to something like GS3, this is better, so you might just have to let the phone settle in.
slugger09 said:
So got my Nexus 4 16GB during the week, its my first ever Nexus phone however have had a variety of Android phones from the HTC Desire right up to Galaxy S2, have to say I am not 100% sold on the Nexus.
I used to think skins where unnecessary but since getting the Nexus I have come to realise how much more user friendly they make things, simple things like pulling down the notification bar to put in aeroplane mode, orientation screen lock etc, or perhaps battery percentage up beside the battery?
My battery also seems to drain very fast, and I am not using the phone any differently than I did my galaxy S2, auto sync turned of and all the rest.
The camera while being 8mp acts like 5mp at best for some reason, Its not a patch on my SGS2, Ok I only take photos for instagram etc and its fine for that.
When you got your N4 did you instantly fall in love or did it take a while to grow on you? I'm not convinced yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Skins like Sense and TW only bloat the system. You will get use to the pure experience pretty quick and then you will grow to hate skins
I have always carried my devices naked (the device not me) and don't have any issues with the Nexus naked. It's a bit slippery but you will adjust to that quickly and hold the device a bit tighter.
The battery starts off horrid! It really takes several drain and recharge cycles for the battery to get up to par. Mine makes it through the day just fine now.
Mega pixels don't really mean much if you are not developing poster sized photos. Try using HDR mode and see if you like the photos better.
My .02
Did you not even do any research before getting this phone?? This is vanilla android and most people get this phone for that reason. If you are used to some added skins like Thouchwhiz, Sense, or Motoblur and like that, you should have stuck with one of those phones. Otherwise, root the phone and get to modding and theming or install a cost rom that is feature rich.
slugger09 said:
So got my Nexus 4 16GB during the week, its my first ever Nexus phone however have had a variety of Android phones from the HTC Desire right up to Galaxy S2, have to say I am not 100% sold on the Nexus.
I used to think skins where unnecessary but since getting the Nexus I have come to realise how much more user friendly they make things, simple things like pulling down the notification bar to put in aeroplane mode, orientation screen lock etc, or perhaps battery percentage up beside the battery?
My battery also seems to drain very fast, and I am not using the phone any differently than I did my galaxy S2, auto sync turned of and all the rest.
The camera while being 8mp acts like 5mp at best for some reason, Its not a patch on my SGS2, Ok I only take photos for instagram etc and its fine for that.
When you got your N4 did you instantly fall in love or did it take a while to grow on you? I'm not convinced yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi!
1. The airplane mode is there. Just swipe down the notification bar with TWO fingers. Then you get lots of toggle-settings including the airplane mode. The orientation screen lock is not there though. HOWEVER; installing custom ROMs will most likely ADD many more features in the toggles area (like orientation) and so forth.
2. For battery drain, try flashing a custom kernel, such as Franco.Kernel. Not only does it improve battery, but you may calibrate your screen (his app includes a preset for lovely colors + deep blacks), and much more. If you want you can undervolt/overclock as well. Note that you can have a custom kernel while still keeping the STOCK rom installed (default andoird 4.2.2 for example).
I personally enjoy stock android (so I haven't installed a ROM), but i felt francos kernel REALLY improved the device. The battery is improved (doesnt drain as much, nor does the phone heat up as much as before). Also the colors of the screen turned really wonderful aftering being calibrated to 2.2gamma.
Basicly, if you are unhappy, look into some ROMs and kernels. You can find almost anything you want :good:
Different strokes, different folks.. OP gave it a shot and gave an honest, un-smug opinion... It is what it is. Some people just like the gloss on top.. Nothing wrong with that.
slugger09 said:
So got my Nexus 4 16GB during the week, its my first ever Nexus phone however have had a variety of Android phones from the HTC Desire right up to Galaxy S2, have to say I am not 100% sold on the Nexus.
I used to think skins where unnecessary but since getting the Nexus I have come to realise how much more user friendly they make things, simple things like pulling down the notification bar to put in aeroplane mode, orientation screen lock etc, or perhaps battery percentage up beside the battery?
My battery also seems to drain very fast, and I am not using the phone any differently than I did my galaxy S2, auto sync turned of and all the rest.
The camera while being 8mp acts like 5mp at best for some reason, Its not a patch on my SGS2, Ok I only take photos for instagram etc and its fine for that.
When you got your N4 did you instantly fall in love or did it take a while to grow on you? I'm not convinced yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Instant love with the N4. Sold it away after a couple of months, went around owning other phones like the iPhone 5, Note 2, GS3, Xperia ZL. Have now come back to the N4. But then again, I knew what I was getting into coz I had the GNex before this.
The point of stock android, is not that it offers features other skins dont. What makes it attractive is that it offers a solid, no BS foundation to which you can add tweaks and functionality suited individually to YOU. You say you want Airplane mode in quick settings, maybe battery percentage next to the battery? Guess what there is a tweak for that and much more. But what happens when you are on TW and you dont want to look like an idiot waving you hands all over the screen in public? Sure you can disable that, but it doesnt mean its gone. Still cramping the software and taking up space. Again, this is just an example. As for battery drain, try kernels like Franco or Trinity. Install BBS and cull out the rogue apps.
You said its your first nexus. Stick around, read and you'll find out what a great piece of hardware this is in perfect sync with the software.
Definitely the best android phone I've owned, coming from a one x and one s and those were great devices as well. Only problem I see is the battery..I leave school with about 10-30% usually around 3 but other than that I love this phone
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
styckx said:
Different strokes, different folks.. OP gave it a shot and gave an honest, un-smug opinion... It is what it is. Some people just like the gloss on top.. Nothing wrong with that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. Btw if anyone thought my posts were meant to be insulting or rude they weren't, they're just my opinions on OEM skins.
OP should check out the Power Toggles app on the Play Store for notification bar toggles, works just like Sense type toggles with customizability.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.painless.pc&hl=en
Yes I think it just needs a few tweaks here and there, not going to the extent of a custom ROM just a kernel etc, first need to work out how to unlock the bootloader and root
Nigeldg said:
Agreed. Btw if anyone thought my posts were meant to be insulting or rude they weren't, they're just my opinions on OEM skins.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah not at all. I posted my thoughts without even reading the rest of the replies. I'm just so used to people taking a licking for daring to not like a Nexus I just assumed maybe OP got a little heat. Apparently it was rather civil.. :good: :laugh::victory:
I love mine, came from a phone with htc sense, and sense was one of the things that killed "skins" for me. That being said yeah there's pluses and minuses to both. Stock Android is just as capable but your going to have to dig and get some apps from the market to get all the features oems put in their skins. I prefer it that way, I can pretty much make my phone perfect to me. I really feel like with an oem skin you don't get the full customizing experience, and that's why I like raw android. However it's not for everyone. Different strokes for different folks
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Phones should come with a 24 hour buyers remorse warranty. Just return it if you're not satisfied. Though, if you're willing to follow the rabbit down the rabbit hole, I'm sure you'll be in awe on how much you can do with Android, let alone the Nexus 4.
slugger09 said:
Yes I think it just needs a few tweaks here and there, not going to the extent of a custom ROM just a kernel etc, first need to work out how to unlock the bootloader and root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if u really want to unlock the bootloader, you should do it right away, and before actually using the phone, because unlocking it would erase all your personal data (like a phone reset). or you can back up ur phone.
rooting is super easy. 1st, install custom recovery, 2nd, flash supersu zip, and done.
I really love mine, picked it up over a month ago. I thought LTE would be my major gripe but my carrier supports the N4's DC-HSPA radio so in most areas I can get up to 22-23 mbps download speeds where the S3 was getting around 30 on LTE in the same areas (although much better upload speeds). I'm pretty happy with that considering my older HSPA phone was only getting 6-7 max.
I was strongly considering also owning an LTE phone too since I still haven't used my upgrade yet, but I've played with both the One and the S4 and I simply disliked the button layouts of both phones. I'm going to hold off until one of the OEM's releases a flagship that stays closer to the standard layout. The new Xperia phones do, but they're using basically the same hardware as the Nexus 4 anyway which would basically be a sidegrade+LTE and not a significant upgrade. Looks like my final hopes for owning two phones is going to rest with Motorola or Nexus 5 now. I'm very satisfied with this for now though.

Planning on buying a xperia z.

I'm planning on buying a xperia z, but with all upgrades there's a few things I have to check before I can commit on buying a new phone.
1 - how stable are the cm10.2 builds ? Such as battery performance ?
2 - battery performance on stock firmware ?
Screenshots would be great...
Sent from my One S using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
i got the phone for like 5 months and battery life is like 2.5 - 4 hours of screen time and 18 hours - 1.5 day of stand by
without stamina i dont use it
on stock
Cm 10.2 quite stable, battery is ok.
Sent from my C6603 using xda app-developers app
Buy it! The phone is very good! Very snappy!
Battery Life is much much better than my Samsung...
i come from an s4... i get at least the same battery usage from the z...
it even performs better in games than the s4.. at least better than the one i had.
HellRoot said:
i come from an s4... i get at least the same battery usage from the z...
it even performs better in games than the s4.. at least better than the one i had.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't believe this at all lol
The battery life is pretty bad OP to answer your question honesty. Also the screen is poor, which may bother you. (very bad contrast and viewing angles). Aside from that it is good. Great design, definitely turns heads
Go look at battery tests, S4 sits as one of the top.
Also op, if you get one without an unlockable bootloder (like myself), you'll never even get to try cm
Well I had 7 h screen on time, and one day < battery. Way better than my sgs2 had.
Skickat från min C6603 via Tapatalk 2
TheHawk002 said:
Well I had 7 h screen on time, and one day < battery. Way better than my sgs2 had.
Skickat från min C6603 via Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep, two people on this site get battery life like this...
Seems legit.
Go check any battery tests on gsmarena, etc.. Did not fare especially well.
I mean it isn't horrid, but 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours of screen on time isn't anything to write home about
Depends
Depends on how you intend on using it.
If you're a avid gamer, then I probably would not recommend it. Battery life when gaming is average or below average.
However if you're not, and gaming is reserved for the tablet, then I highly recommend it.
Aside from being one of the most beautiful phones out there, you can get it for quite a good price now. Performance is, honestly, all you really need at the moment.
Despite what people say, the screen is very sharp (admittedly viewing angles are not the best, but it's not a concern for me as I pretty much always view it front on. Also when you think about it, you get more privacy).
Battery life is not bad at all (if you don't run heavy games all the time). On screen time varies and can be between 3.5 - 5 hours or so, but don't be obsessed with the times though, just enjoy it. Unless you have nothing to do all day then it's quite hard to run out of battery during the day. Talk times and quality are pretty good.
Loving my Z, I can't say that this phone is the best at anything, but all together as a package it's quite awesome. Waterproofing is a bonus.
Give it a 0.2 mm thick back cover, custom rom, maybe a sound mod and I guarantee you won't regret buying one!
Coming from my beloved ville, I'm just looking at phones with 2gigs of ram and a quad cpu, and good dev support. its between these 4 phones at the moment
-nexus 4 (mainly for support and xda support)
-s3 i9305 ( better then the s3 as it was an extra gig of ram)
-note 2 (big ass screen)
-Sony xperia z (1080 screen)
Im not the hugest phone gamer, i mainly use my device for Instagram, tumblr, and other networking apps. Iv watched a few reviews on all 4 phones and I'm kinda leaning towards the s3 and the sony ATM. Its just the screen problems (battery drain, and poor viewing angles)
Sent from my One S using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
My advice is not to be overly fussy about what you're looking at. By the time you decide, a bunch of new phones will be released and you'll have to start all over again.
IMO all 4 phones have all the goods you need to do what you want. For what you want to do, battery life on all 4 would be sufficient for a whole day.
They are really not all that different unless you go into the tiny details. Honestly, in my experience, being overly focused on the details will make you regret your purchase no matter what you buy.
I understand why iPhone lovers can be much less stressed with their phone choice because there is really no choice for them. I prevents them from feeling bad about making the wrong decision We all know that the iPhone is not the best but it's owners are happy. For android lovers there is a paradox of choice........ which in this case is a bad thing.
So try to look at it a different way.
Since it will be with you everyday, think about which phone matches you as a person, just like when you're choosing clothes, or a car. E.g if your practical or stylish. Reckless or careful etc.
I got the Z because I like style. You may think it may be a bit superficial but the viewing angles are really irrelevant when you think about it. When would you ever need wide viewing angles anyway? It's not like you have a group of 4-5 friends watching a movie on it all the time (if at all). I don't see anyone tilting their phones at an angle to use it. TV, yes, but phone, no. Everything is pretty much on par with the rest of them (except for maybe battery life on the Note 2, but it's too big IMO)
Trust me. Thinking about it this way will allow you to enjoy your phone more and not regret buying it.
If you ask me, I would recommend the XZ, S3, Nexus 4, Note 2 in that order.
adielee said:
My advice is not to be overly fussy about what you're looking at. By the time you decide, a bunch of new phones will be released and you'll have to start all over again.
IMO all 4 phones have all the goods you need to do what you want. For what you want to do, battery life on all 4 would be sufficient for a whole day.
They are really not all that different unless you go into the tiny details. Honestly, in my experience, being overly focused on the details will make you regret your purchase no matter what you buy.
I understand why iPhone lovers can be much less stressed with their phone choice because there is really no choice for them. I prevents them from feeling bad about making the wrong decision We all know that the iPhone is not the best but it's owners are happy. For android lovers there is a paradox of choice........ which in this case is a bad thing.
So try to look at it a different way.
Since it will be with you everyday, think about which phone matches you as a person, just like when you're choosing clothes, or a car. E.g if your practical or stylish. Reckless or careful etc.
I got the Z because I like style. You may think it may be a bit superficial but the viewing angles are really irrelevant when you think about it. When would you ever need wide viewing angles anyway? It's not like you have a group of 4-5 friends watching a movie on it all the time (if at all). I don't see anyone tilting their phones at an angle to use it. TV, yes, but phone, no. Everything is pretty much on par with the rest of them (except for maybe battery life on the Note 2, but it's too big IMO)
Trust me. Thinking about it this way will allow you to enjoy your phone more and not regret buying it.
If you ask me, I would recommend the XZ, S3, Nexus 4, Note 2 in that order.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It isn't just viewing angles though, the screen is extremely washed out looking with bad contrast.
But view angles matter if, for example, your phone is laying down on your desk and you turn it on to glance at the time, a text message, etc.. It isn\t extreme angles, it is unreadable if you aren't looking at it directly on.
I own a note 2 and this phone, I wish I could have the two make a baby.
I love the design of this phone, but the screen really gets me down :/
Spending that much money, you shouldn't have to "settle"
---------- Post added at 05:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:45 AM ----------
blackcell1 said:
Coming from my beloved ville, I'm just looking at phones with 2gigs of ram and a quad cpu, and good dev support. its between these 4 phones at the moment
-nexus 4 (mainly for support and xda support)
-s3 i9305 ( better then the s3 as it was an extra gig of ram)
-note 2 (big ass screen)
-Sony xperia z (1080 screen)
Im not the hugest phone gamer, i mainly use my device for Instagram, tumblr, and other networking apps. Iv watched a few reviews on all 4 phones and I'm kinda leaning towards the s3 and the sony ATM. Its just the screen problems (battery drain, and poor viewing angles)
Sent from my One S using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any of those will preform better than the z, and will have much nicer screens.
Get the z only if fashion over function is your thought process (you want a nice looking phone, until you turn it on)
crixley said:
I don't believe this at all lol
The battery life is pretty bad OP to answer your question honesty. Also the screen is poor, which may bother you. (very bad contrast and viewing angles). Aside from that it is good. Great design, definitely turns heads
Go look at battery tests, S4 sits as one of the top.
Also op, if you get one without an unlockable bootloder (like myself), you'll never even get to try cm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well... at first my s4 got 4 hours of screen time (set on low brightness) after a couple of months it was 2,5.. the samsung batteries are very bad..
the screen is poor... yes... but i like it better, the screen is more visible in the sun compared to the s4... i dont really like the oversaturated screen of the s4 anyway... so win win
great design... that is one of the things.. and waterproof... that was actually why i wanted to change... on my s4 i always ended up hitting the screen when touching the damn buttons and it made me angry in the end.
what amazes me.. is that the camera is the same but samsung has made a better firmware.. the camera works very well on s4.. and the z has a very poor camera compared... focus is not great, black dots etc, low light grain and such... EXMOR surely is just a name.. not worth anything imo
HellRoot said:
well... at first my s4 got 4 hours of screen time (set on low brightness) after a couple of months it was 2,5.. the samsung batteries are very bad..
the screen is poor... yes... but i like it better, the screen is more visible in the sun compared to the s4... i dont really like the oversaturated screen of the s4 anyway... so win win
great design... that is one of the things.. and waterproof... that was actually why i wanted to change... on my s4 i always ended up hitting the screen when touching the damn buttons and it made me angry in the end.
what amazes me.. is that the camera is the same but samsung has made a better firmware.. the camera works very well on s4.. and the z has a very poor camera compared... focus is not great, black dots etc, low light grain and such... EXMOR surely is just a name.. not worth anything imo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange must have been a rogue app, I've had my note since it came out and battery life is the same as it was.
You can change to natural mode in screen settings to completely get rid of the oversaturation.
I definitely agree the z's design is amazing. Easily one of the nicest, if not the nicest, looking android phones there is.
What I don't get is why there is macro mode on Samsung but not Sony :/
blackcell1 said:
I'm planning on buying a xperia z, but with all upgrades there's a few things I have to check before I can commit on buying a new phone.
1 - how stable are the cm10.2 builds ? Such as battery performance ?
2 - battery performance on stock firmware ?
Screenshots would be great...
Sent from my One S using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a good phone for the price. It's got a sd slot which is always appreciated. Performance is fine and it's got 2gb ram, that will make it last at least 2 years.
The screen is fine for me. Yes, viewing angles aren't great but nothing to worry about, unless you watch very dark movies at night.
Battery is average, standby time is quite good, screen time goes from 2h - 5h depending on what you do.
Haven't tried cm10.2 but Sony stock firmware is quite vanilla.
It all depends on what do you want, how much do you want to spend, etc.
Sent from my C6603 using xda premium
crixley said:
Strange must have been a rogue app, I've had my note since it came out and battery life is the same as it was.
You can change to natural mode in screen settings to completely get rid of the oversaturation.
I definitely agree the z's design is amazing. Easily one of the nicest, if not the nicest, looking android phones there is.
What I don't get is why there is macro mode on Samsung but not Sony :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
macro mode? in what way?
well... the phone was deep sleeping properly... so i dont know why the battery was that bad... at least now i can say that my phone has used 60% for 2 hours 10 minutes screen time, 1 hour of calls, sms and web usage... with 2 days of standby... i am not unhappy with that.
all stock.. no root or anything.. i have relocked as i need to get the camera fixed... as i have quite a few black dots... when i get it back.. i will root and unlock the bootloader..
HellRoot said:
macro mode? in what way?
well... the phone was deep sleeping properly... so i dont know why the battery was that bad... at least now i can say that my phone has used 60% for 2 hours 10 minutes screen time, 1 hour of calls, sms and web usage... with 2 days of standby... i am not unhappy with that.
all stock.. no root or anything.. i have relocked as i need to get the camera fixed... as i have quite a few black dots... when i get it back.. i will root and unlock the bootloader..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get about 8 hours of screen on time on my note over 2 days or so. Best battery life I've ever had by far.
By macro mode I mean in the camera, you cannot take true macro pics.
I can't unlock bootloader, I have a bell z :/
crixley said:
I don't believe this at all lol
The battery life is pretty bad OP to answer your question honesty. Also the screen is poor, which may bother you. (very bad contrast and viewing angles). Aside from that it is good. Great design, definitely turns heads
Go look at battery tests, S4 sits as one of the top.
Also op, if you get one without an unlockable bootloder (like myself), you'll never even get to try cm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, just one thing to contrast. Even the xperia s has a "numberous" higher contrast, in real life it is another story. The display is quite bright and colours are natural. Contrast is good enough for meh.
Sent from my C6603 using xda app-developers app
Tommy-Geenexus said:
Well, just one thing to contrast. Even the xperia s has a "numberous" higher contrast, in real life it is another story. The display is quite bright and colours are natural. Contrast is good enough for meh.
Sent from my C6603 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I traded it for a htc one anyway,,,
I'd like to say I'll miss it, but I won't
Well its looking that I'll be buying the phone on the weekend, iv been looking more into the stock ROM and it does look rather aosp. Does anyone know any details on if Sony's planning on releasing a 4.3 update ? And any info on the phone getting an official cm10.2 build ?
Sent from my One S using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

My pros and cons with the Nexus 5

Hi Everyone,
I've had this phone for a good week now and got some pros and cons:
Pros
- The screen is absolutely beautiful. One of the default wallpapers is the view of a mountain with a pinkish hue - the detail is unbelievable
- The overall response time of the UI is fast as all hell
- the feel of the phone in my hand is amazing. the rubbery back (black model only) and sharp sides is beautiful
- I have not had any issues with camera. I think the pictures and video quality is fantastic. Shutter speed might not be as fast as some other phones, but im sure that can be fixed with software/roms
Cons
- Battery is random. One day i will have 2h of screen on time, 1h phone call and battery will last me 18+ hours. The next day, i will have 1h of screen time and phone will drop to 60%. My battery is currently at 68% with 5hours off charge and 1h of screen time and 1h of phone calls
- the vibration function is outright useless. I can barely feel it when i type, let alone when its on a desk and in vibe only mode
- Call quality is some what random. Sometimes the person on the other end can't hear me properly until i move my phone slightly further away from my mouth, or sometimes closer. When that happens, they say that it sounds like im talking in a tunnel.
- the Exchange email app / email.apk is very frustrating. It looks nicer than it did on 1.5 - 4.3, however it force closes very often and using the Reply All button on an email automatically adds myself to the CC, which is very frustrating. That being said, im sure the excahnge email itself has a lot of drain on my battery too, so keep that in mind when you comment on my battery usage
- I have the power button rattle too. Not too much of an issue, but still a con
- I've also had 3 or 4 cases where i lost all reception and only a reboot brought it back. I also came to my phone and found it shut off once...
Now, i dont have any real problems with the speaker quality. its not bad, but its not HTC One quality either. to me, its perfectly fine, but i know others said they have issues.
I have vibration issues, and they have speaker issues. I have a black one, they have a white one. Coincidence?
What are your thoughts on my comments above?
zoltrix said:
Hi Everyone,
I've had this phone for a good week now and got some pros and cons:
Pros
- The screen is absolutely beautiful. One of the default wallpapers is the view of a mountain with a pinkish hue - the detail is unbelievable
- The overall response time of the UI is fast as all hell
- the feel of the phone in my hand is amazing. the rubbery back (black model only) and sharp sides is beautiful
- I have not had any issues with camera. I think the pictures and video quality is fantastic. Shutter speed might not be as fast as some other phones, but im sure that can be fixed with software/roms
Cons
- Battery is random. One day i will have 2h of screen on time, 1h phone call and battery will last me 18+ hours. The next day, i will have 1h of screen time and phone will drop to 60%. My battery is currently at 68% with 5hours off charge and 1h of screen time and 1h of phone calls
- the vibration function is outright useless. I can barely feel it when i type, let alone when its on a desk and in vibe only mode
- Call quality is some what random. Sometimes the person on the other end can't hear me properly until i move my phone slightly further away from my mouth, or sometimes closer. When that happens, they say that it sounds like im talking in a tunnel.
- the Exchange email app / email.apk is very frustrating. It looks nicer than it did on 1.5 - 4.3, however it force closes very often and using the Reply All button on an email automatically adds myself to the CC, which is very frustrating. That being said, im sure the excahnge email itself has a lot of drain on my battery too, so keep that in mind when you comment on my battery usage
- I have the power button rattle too. Not too much of an issue, but still a con
- I've also had 3 or 4 cases where i lost all reception and only a reboot brought it back. I also came to my phone and found it shut off once...
Now, i dont have any real problems with the speaker quality. its not bad, but its not HTC One quality either. to me, its perfectly fine, but i know others said they have issues.
I have vibration issues, and they have speaker issues. I have a black one, they have a white one. Coincidence?
What are your thoughts on my comments above?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For someone who is currently waiting for my Nexus 5 to ship (on 3 week backorder), this is discouraging. Right now I still have the ability to cancel the order but I could really use a new phone. Problem posts like these really make me wonder if I should keep waiting for this phone...
Had mine for 2 weeks. No problems here. I'm liking it more every day. Cheers
ximaginex said:
For someone who is currently waiting for my Nexus 5 to ship (on 3 week backorder), this is discouraging. Right now I still have the ability to cancel the order but I could really use a new phone. Problem posts like these really make me wonder if I should keep waiting for this phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know the feeling. I have received the phone 5 days ago and until that I was reading posts like this one. Until I got the phone I had low expectations but that was a good thing because right now I'm very happy with my Nexus 5. Stop reading about problems and start doing things that you love. When the phone will get home you will agree with me...
My experience
I'm sorry your having many problems with your phone.
I actually really like mine. Is the black one to.
I did a full battery calibration and I had 5 hours of hardcore screen time.
Vibration on mine is OK. But it makes the camera(Not the power button) rattle. But i hardly notice.
I like the speaker but I hope they improve the quality with an update.
My only complain would be the camera shutter. It is to damn slow.
Some mobile data connection lost but i think that is my carriers fault.
I'm really Happy with mine. And for the price this is an incredible phone. No stutter whatsoever on demanding games. It doesn't get as hot as my old Galaxy S3. Great media companion in my car and bluetooth 4.0 sips battery.
I totally recomend it.
P.S. Sorry for bad english.
Richard_Black said:
I'm sorry your having many problems with your phone.
I actually really like mine. Is the black one to.
I did a full battery calibration and I had 5 hours of hardcore screen time.
Vibration on mine is OK. But it makes the camera(Not the power button) rattle. But i hardly notice.
I like the speaker but I hope they improve the quality with an update.
My only complain would be the camera shutter. It is to damn slow.
Some mobile data connection lost but i think that is my carriers fault.
I'm really Happy with mine. And for the price this is an incredible phone. No stutter whatsoever on demanding games. It doesn't get as hot as my old Galaxy S3. Great media companion in my car and bluetooth 4.0 sips battery.
I totally recomend it.
P.S. Sorry for bad english.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How exactly have you done a "full battery calibration" ?
icewavedesign said:
I know the feeling. I have received the phone 5 days ago and until that I was reading posts like this one. Until I got the phone I had low expectations but that was a good thing because right now I'm very happy with my Nexus 5. Stop reading about problems and start doing things that you love. When the phone will get home you will agree with me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When did you get yours? I'm hoping that these new ones that are being made and shipped on the 3rd of December will have the problems fixed...
let me clarify that i am extremely happy with this phone and i am just being extremely critical of minor issues
i strongly recommend it. its a 10/10 phone for me, for sure
i just wanted to point out the issue that bother me. obviously no phone is 100% flawless, but that should not discourage you
ximaginex said:
For someone who is currently waiting for my Nexus 5 to ship (on 3 week backorder), this is discouraging. Right now I still have the ability to cancel the order but I could really use a new phone. Problem posts like these really make me wonder if I should keep waiting for this phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't let it get to you. Every phone forum has problems. Overall the n5 is a great device and I am 100 percent satisfied coming from a moto x and HTC one.
Sent from my Nexus 5
capathy21 said:
Don't let it get to you. Every phone forum has problems. Overall the n5 is a great device and I am 100 percent satisfied coming from a moto x and HTC one.
Sent from my Nexus 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Posting my opinion is a problem?
Im not saying its a bad phone. i am extremely happy with it, i just wanted to list the bugs and issues that i have had with it
zoltrix said:
Posting my opinion is a problem?
Im not saying its a bad phone. i am extremely happy with it, i just wanted to list the bugs and issues that i have had with it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No of course you can state your opinion. I didn't mean that at all. I just wanted to let them know that my experience has been very positive.
How many more one off personal review threads are we going to have?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
capathy21 said:
Don't let it get to you. Every phone forum has problems. Overall the n5 is a great device and I am 100 percent satisfied coming from a moto x and HTC one.
Sent from my Nexus 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the encouragement.
You like the N5 better than the Moto X and the HTC One? Is there anything in specific that you like?
The absolute best thing about the nexus 5 is kitkat, I think it is by far the best version of android.
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk
barondebxl said:
The absolute best thing about the nexus 5 is kitkat, I think it is by far the best version of android.
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ice Cream Sandwich made Android approachable to the masses, and KitKat is the OS grown up. ART, when it goes mainstream and optimised even more, will make it VERY hard for any OS to beat. I also love that Android is being developed to ensure older devices are compatible, possibly reducing device waste through re-purposing.
wideasleep1 said:
Ice Cream Sandwich made Android approachable to the masses, and KitKat is the OS grown up. ART, when it goes mainstream and optimised even more, will make it VERY hard for any OS to beat. I also love that Android is being developed to ensure older devices are compatible, possibly reducing device waste through re-purposing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes ICS was the base of what the OS is now no doubt, but I find kit Kat to be really amazing. I mean the nexus 5 is so smooth and fast and the UI is simple and super clean. I much prefer the white theme over the holo blue.
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk
my vibration is to high that I have to lower it down a bit lol.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
barondebxl said:
Yes ICS was the base of what the OS is now no doubt, but I find kit Kat to be really amazing. I mean the nexus 5 is so smooth and fast and the UI is simple and super clean. I much prefer the white theme over the holo blue.
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep..I'm pleased in the overall direction..it certainly had the potential to get too busy, even ugly enough for a train wreck. One need not look further than the Nicki Minaj iOS7 screen to see things go horribly wrong!
wideasleep1 said:
Yep..I'm pleased in the overall direction..it certainly had the potential to get too busy, even ugly enough for a train wreck. One need not look further than the Nicki Minaj iOS7 screen to see things go horribly wrong!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LMAO HAHHAHAHHA Nicky Minaj IOS! That's a great one man that's how I'm gonna call it from now on hahhHhahahhaha
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk
i've had mine for a week now and can't find any of the issues that you mentioned. I don't even know what this power button rattle is. maybe I'm deaf or not as picky about these things. battery life has been pretty consistent for me, It's currently getting better performance and battery then my S4 ever did

First impressions

Hi guys,
just received this phone for a test.
Phone is really great, filling in hand is awesome and you lose the feel about its size after few minutes. Phone is fast, maybe not fast as Nexus 5 which I have also because LG put really a lot bloatware, but it is extremely fast. Battery is also great for now, but I have been using it for today only. We will see in few days that.
Besides good things screen is bad. You can see the noise and its really annoying. I could say this is the only disadvantage at this point.
turn the brightness up to 70+ and screen noise goes away.battery is the best on any phone out there
Congrats but if everyone makes a thread on first impressions it's going to be a mess up n here. lol
DelBoy said:
Hi guys,
just received this phone for a test.
Phone is really great, filling in hand is awesome and you lose the feel about its size after few minutes. Phone is fast, maybe not fast as Nexus 5 which I have also because LG put really a lot bloatware, but it is extremely fast. Battery is also great for now, but I have been using it for today only. We will see in few days that.
Besides good things screen is bad. You can see the noise and its really annoying. I could say this is the only disadvantage at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also the screen noise seems to greatly diminish after a few days...
or, your eyes adjust to it
The hasn't been really bad for me.
Sent from my LG-D950 using Tapatalk
Yes, it not notable in daily use outside, but only at home and in office where I am more focused on phone and on screen.
But it is particulary notable when watchig movies. But you adapt to it of course. Human is designed to adapt.
One minus on screen is ghosting or how you call it. Example, you are on homescreen and you enter in some dark app you can see the shadows of icons in background for five second aprox. Or skipping fast between apps also show this effect sometimes.
Besides this issues with screen, there is no issues. Phone is great, rock solid build. Would say awesome.
Sent from my LG-D955 using Tapatalk
DelBoy said:
Yes, it not notable in daily use outside, but only at home and in office where I am more focused on phone and on screen.
But it is particulary notable when watchig movies. But you adapt to it of course. Human is designed to adapt.
One minus on screen is ghosting or how you call it. Example, you are on homescreen and you enter in some dark app you can see the shadows of icons in background for five second aprox. Or skipping fast between apps also show this effect sometimes.
Besides this issues with screen, there is no issues. Phone is great, rock solid build. Would say awesome.
Sent from my LG-D955 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel exactly the same after playing with one in the store for a while. The grainy look doesn't bother me and if you turn up the brightness it goes away. The ghosting is what really got me. I loved everything about the phone but that ghosting I couldn't handle. I'm going to wait for the G Flex 2, this phone is almost perfect so if they fix the minor issues with the screen and don't screw anything else up the G Flex 2 will be my next phone.
Proven to be an interesting phone
It's proven to be an interesting phone thanks to its curved, flexible body.
Featuring a 2.26GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 720p display P-OLED display with colors that have a certain pop.

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