yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 4 General] :
I made the move from the iPhone 5 to the Nexus 4, not because I feel the latter is a better phone, but merely because of the price. Both are great devices in different ways; it's the same case with their associated services.

Few points:

iCloud offers full phone backup, including all app data, and it works brilliantly. Google offer nothing of the sort - basic settings backup, nothing more. This said, if you are constantly switching between different custom ROMs, you'll probably want this feature turned off anyway. I'm running CM10.1 on my device, and it works fine with Google's backup service for the standard Android bits and pieces (such as the AOSP keyboard). The alternative on Android is to do a Nandroid backup (which undeniably has a higher risk of failing), and individual app backups using an app like Titanium Backup, SMS backup using SMS Backup and Restore, etc. There are apps that can backup your phone to Dropbox, however.

Integration with their respective platforms is pretty much the same - Google services integrate perfectly with Android, Apple's perfectly with iOS. I'm not sure on iCloud integration with Android (there is some but I don't think any settings are officially provided), whereas Google integration with iOS is pretty good.

You'll probably find Gmail far superior to Apple's own iCloud Mail service.

iMessage has the advantage of being transparent - standard SMS messages and iMessages are tied in together, and if you're a Mac user, you can use iMessage on there too. Google Talk doesn't have this, and less people use it. However, Google Talk is probably the more reliable service. If you have many friends using iMessage, you probably won't be left out - everything will just be done by SMS instead.

More iOS users will be actively using Photo Stream than Android users on Picasa. Of course, Photo Stream is not available for any platform outside of the Apple world, meaning that you will be left out if you have many friends using it. This said, many people use Facebook for the same purpose. No idea which service is better, as I don't use them.

iTunes Match is largely inferior to Google Play Music, purely because it isn't free and is restricted to iTunes with a smaller range of supported formats. Google have a bit of work to do to make uploads a bit more reliable, but it's a fantastic service. I have two music libraries, one for iTunes, and one full of FLAC albums. Annoyingly, GPM requires you to use playlists in iTunes in order to upload music from the library, however I simply upload tracks by selected files in the iTunes folder.

I don't really doing lists of "this one is better, that one is better", because it varies depending on requirements. However, this is quite a nice simple summary of my observations :)
[Nexus 4 General] Androyed:
Actually, I'm pretty sure you can back-up your apps even on stock. It asks if you want to redownload all the apps you had backed up from the marketplace.
[Nexus 4 General] :
Doesn't restore app data though does it...? Yes, it does restore apps, I should have said that.
[Nexus 4 General] Androyed:
No, but does iOS really do that? For every single third party app?
[Nexus 4 General] :
Yep!
[Nexus 4 General] Androyed:
That's pretty cool, although I'm not sure I would use it. I don't even use the back-up features of Android; I just tweak too much I guess :P
[Nexus 4 General] :
iCloud backs up whenever plugged in and connected to Wi-Fi, in the background completely transparent to the user, it's a brilliant feature. Essentially, you can completely restore your phone (literally everything) by simply selecting the backup.

This said, I only ever used the feature each time I had to get my iPhone swapped out for another xD
[Nexus 4 General] Androyed:
Haha, well, it's a nice feature nonetheless. Like a slight less advanced NAND backup.
[Nexus 4 General] powerwagon:
I'm glad someone figured out how to use icloud... probably one of the most inefficient piece of **** programs ever written (besides iTunes that is).
[Nexus 4 General] Tomatoes8:
Wow! The Xperia Z is a drop dead gorgeous phone just like the Xperia S was. I would still be using an Xperia S if it wasn't for the outdated Qualcomm S3 chipset. Looks like they have a serious winner here. Too bad it isn't a Nexus device. I am now really curious how nice the Xperia X is going to look now.

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Fres...e-announcement-show-a-funky-power-key_id38410
[Nexus 4 General] :
I'll be completely honest, iCloud was always flawless for me, and everybody that I know who uses it. iMessage has had its fair share of problems however. iTunes is a different matter, even on the Mac, though the new one is much better.
[Nexus 4 General] csdibiase@gmail.com:
The issue with android updates is not the frequency of updates for OEM hardware but the lag between a new android version and the release of an update. Apple has the luxury of being both is vendor and device vendor. They can ensure that all iphones get the update day and date with is release. Google has been trying the windows model for software updates with android which just doesn't work because unlike a computer, mortals can't self load the latest os on their phone. It would be like having to wait for dell to release a special windows 8 image for the laptop you bought a week before windows 8 shipped. Or worse it would be like buying a brand new computer from HP and getting it with windows xp with no ability to upgrade it with out bits from HP.

That idea assumes that:

1 OEMs want to expend the energy on creating the update package. Most are still used to the ship it and forget it days of cell phones and really don't want to provide software updates

2. Google can get alpha and beta code in the hands of OEMS to facilitate that development.

Google really has been close to the 1 year release cadence. The problem isn't the frequency, it's applying the pc model of decoupled software and hardware to a market with less standardization to the hardware platforms.
[Nexus 4 General] mohamed.qadiqadi:
The Xperia Zl looks very nice,what do you guys think?I really like the nexus 4 because of direct support from google and better xda community(I assume.) However the Zl looks very nice.....
[Nexus 4 General] enrold:
I can`t wait more for purchase this mobile :( allways it isn't aviable in spain for this reason I'm buying galaxy note 2
[Nexus 4 General] vainqueur:
I got bad impression with LED, especially AMOLED, dont know if Sony LED Bravia Engine thingy will get burnt mark screen or not.
[Nexus 4 General] Androyed:
Is it called ZI? I thought just Z.

Anyway, it does look nice, but I'm not so sure what's so special about it. The extra pixels? From what I've read, you won't see the difference. That the screen is bigger is not really a plus or a minus for me. On one hand I think that there is something like "too big", but on the other hand: I'm fine with the screen size of the N4. I'm not so sure if I like the design of the Xperia Z, but that's just a personal preference. I don't like phones that are too rectangular. I love the shape of my Nexus S even though it's pretty bulky compared to other phones. The N4 is also very nice to hold. So, what else has the Xperia Z going for it? The price? Nope. The software? Nope. It has a better camera, I have no doubt about that. And the water resistance is also a nice touch, although peeling of those things everytime you want to listen to some music might annoy me.

I just don't see anything that other smartphones didn't already do. Not that the Nexus 4 was special when it was released, but at least with the N4 you have the plus that it's a nexus. Which is a huge plus for me. There have to be pretty major changes in hardware for me to leave the nexus line.
[Nexus 4 General] richteralan:
Deja vu Xperia S release again.
[Nexus 4 General] jonmorris:
I was at the Sony event and also saw the Huawei Ascend D2 (and Mate) all with 1080 screens. As others say, you can't really see the pixels but then you couldn't on a 720 screen at that sort of size.

Okay, really close up you might, but probably only the Huawei Mate with a 6.1 in screen could argue that more pixels are a good thing. It seems like a spec jump done for marketing reasons only.

I was also surprised at how noisy the photos were on the Z with its Exmor RS sensor. But they'd naturally argue its pre release software.
[Nexus 4 General] versd:
Keen when whatsapp updates to include voice like viber

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Thought the camera on the RAZR devices have always been sub par? The nexus 4 camera is a great upgrade from the galaxy nexus

Otherwise the RAZR maxx HD would be a closer contender
[Nexus 4 General] sinizter:
Sony has announced both the Z (glass back, water/dust-resistant) and ZL (rubberized back, smaller footprint). Both have near-identical internal specs and screen-size.
[Nexus 4 General] dr.m0x:
Sony are one of the worst vendors for software updates. I'll never look at one of their phones again.

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Sent from my AOKP powered Nexus 4
[Nexus 4 General] Domx92:
What do you think ?

Should i sell the N4 now and make.profit of it ? I think when it's released in stores it will bring 100€ less than now.

And what would be a good alternative phone ?
[Nexus 4 General] dr.m0x:
Doesn't make sense to me since a similar quality phone will probably cost as much as you make off the sale.

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Sent from my AOKP powered Nexus 4
[Nexus 4 General] fresh_TD:
Lol.. Do you buy phones because of looks?? How would you benefit from having a "good looking phone"??

Sent from my Nexus 4
[Nexus 4 General] dodgebizkit:
He probably means looks like in terms of'seems like', after looking at specs as nd reviews, not literally that it looks pretty.

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[Nexus 4 General] jtc276:
I'll probably be jumping ship to the Galaxy SIV whenever Samsung announce it this May or whenever. I, of course, don't know the specs, but I assume they'll be something like this:

Quad core Exynos with A15 cores

1080p 5 inch screen - hopefully RGB (I think this is a safe size considering the SIII is 4.8 inches)

Wolfson audio chip (hopefully they don't mess this one up again like they did with the SII)

3000 mah battery

Removable storage

Removable battery (although I could see them doing away with this one)

Some new Samsung features

Maybe an optional S-Pen option? (An unlikely wish)

Tons of accessories at launch (my favorite thing)

On all carriers within weeks of announcement (also great)

Subsidized (I have an upgrade, so what the hell?)

The reason I'm jumping ship is because I'm sort of sick of stock Android. I love it in terms of functionality, but I'm just tired of looking at it. Plus, the screen on the Nexus 4, while great, is boring when it comes the saturation and it definitely doesn't have anywhere near the best camera. And I would like to finally locally have all of my music on my phone. It's something I've wanted to do for a while but I've never had a device that had a good audio chip and an option to increase storage at the same time. And I feel like quality control issues are huge for the Nexus line since Google sort of rushes devices out. My Nexus 7 had to be returned for another because of light bleed and my Nexus 10's unevenly lit screen made me so angry that I actually took it back and bought an iPad (yes, I know. I'm a traitor). So I'm going Galaxy after this. They're fun, have top notch hardware in all areas, and have the best hacking community.
[Nexus 4 General] James.UBC:
roms/launchers/icon packs?

you'd have to shoot me before i buy another touchwiz/sense device.
[Nexus 4 General] jtc276:
I've gotten to the point where I'm almost too busy to do any modding. I have a month old version of Cyanogen running on my Nexus 4 right now and refuse to update because it's simply perfect. That's just how I am anymore. It's weird. I used to be really into rooting, romming, and doing other things like that. Now I would rather just root and be done with it if everything else is working fine. And Galaxy S devices don't necessarily have to have TouchWiz on them. You can easily put a fully functional Cyanogen or AOKP ROM on them if you want to.

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Oh, and I just want to say that I'm not dissing the Nexus 4. In terms of build quality, it's the best device I've ever had. The software is great even though I am bored with it. The camera is better than my previous smartphones. The price was amazing. My device has no faults. The software keys are nice. The screen is good even though my One X's screen was better. I like the dev community. Cyanogen runs great.

There's nothing wrong with this phone. I'm just looking forward to the SIV for the features I've always wanted that should be available if the evolution of the Galaxy series is of any indication.
[Nexus 4 General] dodgebizkit:
I hope the future galaxy s devices don't grow bigger than the s3 which has the perfect screen size

I love touch wiz and couldn't imagine android being so perfect without it, though if I don't feel the s4 or 5 whenever I'm ready for a new device is what I want or is enough to warrant an upgrade, if look at a nexus vs windows phone. Ios is fine for the tablet but unless it gets some drastic industrious ln overhauls I can't imagine it ever being something I want on a phone again.

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[Nexus 4 General] jtc276:
I also like TouchWiz. I don't think it's an improvement over stock Android, but I do think it adds more features and has a very functional feel which I like. It's definitely something that someone who has previously had a smartphone can pick up and start using. I really like the screen size on the SIII also, but if they reduce the bezel a little they can easily make it 5 inches. Plus, Samsung might go with software buttons this year (something I like) since it's becoming pretty normal. I also agree that iOS is fine for a tablet because it's smooth and has all the tablet features I need...but I would never want it on my phone. The lack of customization doesn't kill me on an iPad, but not being able to customize a phone is just horrible.
[Nexus 4 General] barondebxl:
If the screen is 1080p then pentile or not it won't even matter. But I think it has to be RGB at that resolution (not 100% sure :p ). I cannot wait for the Galaxy S IV.
[Nexus 4 General] Remy D. Marquis:
I was using LG for a long time now and always loved their devices "talking about the old ones, java OS" . For work and other reasons I switched to blackberry. They were annoying little bastards that never got me satisfied. I quit my job and went back to college and began saving up bit by bit to buy the LG 4X HD and when I heard about LGOG and Nexus 4 I waited till I bought my first android the Nexus. "No I am not a noob at android". Unfortunately, the Nexus 4 didn't give me the spark I had when I usually bought a new phone whatever it was. I liked it though. Fast, Fluid, Beautiful and Android. But there are downsides for me.

1- The battery sucks. I don't know how anybody could call it a smartphone if the battery drains within minutes of usage.

2- The battery is unchangeable. I mean not instantly when you need to just take the cover out and blast another one in.

3- The storage capacity is crab. Seriously, who still makes 8 and 16 GBs of memory? maybe on the blackberry 16 was enough but android..... nope it's not. I can't even fully transfer what was on my 16GB SD card, which by the way wasn't fully loaded.

4- USB OTG is still not working, even though it was mentioned as the main functions on google play store.

5- The camera was one of the most disappointing cameras I've ever used. My stupid blackberry Pearl 9105 had a better still shot camera than this. "I know mobile phones are not supposed to have a great camera, but look at other devices,sgs3 for example"

I am honestly thinking of selling my Nexus before it's price drops. I'd hate to go back to using one of my annoying blackberries but I think it's a must do move till a better device comes to market.

If anyone has another point of view, I respect that. Some help to get me to love my Nexus instead is welcome too. But I'm just sharing what's on my mind with tears dropping from my eyes, literally.
[Nexus 4 General] Drzfr3shboialex:
I'm not going to lie I feel like yours just being a fanboy, to the extreme may I add.

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1. I have amazing battery coming from a Galaxy Nexus.

2. I don't really mind, to each their own.

3. Not crap but I agree. Should of been 16gb,32gb and a 64gb.

4. Hopefully a software thing, still waiting on aokp to have more features.

5. I'm very pleased, but again to each their own.
[Nexus 4 General] Billy Madison:
440 ppi amoled with RGB ? ROFLOL :laugh: Don't believe they will make it in year 13. Maybe it will be Galaxy Note3 with 6.3" RGB fullhd amoled, it needs only 360 ppi or somewhere near that mark. But not any 5" fullhd RGB, no-no

This isn't an option? Did you try it?
[Nexus 4 General] KP_:
I wouldn't mind a bigger screen as long as the device remains within the same dimensions. I mean look at the Xperia ZL - 5" screen in a smaller package than S3 (albeit a bit chubbier). I can relate to the another user who said the ZL looks nice. Aesthetics are subjective and to some people, important, but the ZL also "nice" in the interior, as Sony (finally) put in current generation top tier components.

For me to even consider a Samsung, they would have to get rid of the cheap looks (imho) and physical buttons. Touchwiz i can get rid of myself if need be :)
[Nexus 4 General] Billy Madison:
Oh, c'mon people, do you really, really, really believe that Google is St.Nickolaus? And that Google intended to give you just THE BEST smartphone ever just for mere $350, like, for free? but something went wrong and they could only find cheap 8Gig &16Gig chips, no matter how hard they tried to put 64Gigs in? Are you still in kindergarten??? Just grow up, the *****ing about 16Gig'o'storage here and there is the most annoying mem of the 2013 Internet. Google intended N4 to be used with there clouds it just plain SO. Obvious. The 64G and 32G versions were not intended to be produced. Just like they cancelled GNex i9250 32Gig version a year ago. Maybe google will repeat it's step of Nexus7 32Gig and will release Nexus4 32Gig along with Key Lime Pie android 5 in May, which supposedly will see light on Sony's new Nexus 5. But to hope for that I'll be rather not
[Nexus 4 General] letom:
Are you claiming that people don't derive benefits from having a good looking phone? If so, that's a rather ridiculous thing of you to suggest!
[Nexus 4 General] mohamed.qadiqadi:
I didn't mean the outer look, i meant it overall looks nice....
[Nexus 4 General] ole12:
Coming from S3, I bought this device only because it was so sexy.

After a week usage, smoothness and memory management is on a whole new level.

The screen looks kinda boring right away, but now, it does look better then the overcolered amoled.
[Nexus 4 General] Kazliux:
Hello,

After trying hard to get this phone form the very November 13, finally I have it in my hands! Got it from MediaMark in Germany.

+

screen is fantastic, no amoled "cartoon" view

battery is quite ok

performance - amazing

material - solid, buttons are OK, feels not like a plastic

no yellow tint, no earphone buzz

production 201212K

camera is not the best, but it's more than enough

pure android experience!!! yammi

-

yes it looks fragile, but with proper treatment I do not see problems here

feels too big....

storage? it's a question (it's enough to my needs)

9.9 out of the 10

happy customer
[Nexus 4 General] Ariozo:
On the storage and battery i feel the same, 16gb for myself is no good.

But other than that and bad battery/heat it is a damn nice device.

Skickat från min PadFone 2 via Tapatalk 2
[Nexus 4 General] blackdragon5040:
For me :

+ Pure Android Experience, Android 4.2.1

+ Will receive updates first

+ Will receive updates for a long time (probably at least 2 years)

+ Great performance

+ Great screen

+ Wireless charging

+ Notification LED with multiple colors

+ Unlocked, easy to root and to install custom ROMs

+ 2GB RAM

+ Price

- Battery life (seems to be software related)

- Only 16 GB storage and no SD card

- No 4G (but not yet useful where I live)

- No OTG
[Nexus 4 General] barondebxl:
Spot on. Android 4.2.1 is definitely the culprit regarding the not so good battery life. Things are only gonna get better for the nexus 4 once Google rolls out 4.2.2/ 5.0.
[Nexus 4 General] jtc276:
Nearly every device being unveiled at CES is 1080p. Samsung will have to do it in order to compete.

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And I'm definitely not buying an air drive. Locally means on the phone.
[Nexus 4 General] snowmanwithahat:
It might be different these days, but that wasn't the case in the past. The original epic ruined non stock android for me. It never really has a stable version in the year that I used it.

Ive had the same experience with a thunderbolt and Motorola bionic and most recently a galaxy s 3.

Those experiences right there are the reasons I won't use anything but a nexus now
[Nexus 4 General] eretroactive:
coming from iphone 3 and 4, i have to say that the daily usage of the apple product is still superior than the nexus4.

because n4 lacks in so many areas, you are forced to the mod route. really minute features seem to be left out of the android version of things.

ie. saving a picture on facebook, scroll up and down text easily on instagram, simplicity of select all option, emoticons need minor tweeks in settings, 2 finger scrolling (i need to pay nova to do this), and a few others - not to mention exclusive iOS apps that i'm yearning for UGH.

given that i'm still learning this thing, really loving LiquidSmooth, franco, and the helpful xda communities (and the flame wars). if you have a load of time on your shoulders, the n4 is pretty much a game. screw COD or LOL, sometimes i'm tuning the phone day and night.

will i stay? who knows but u win some and lose some on every phone. just seemed that there were fewer losses with iphone since customisation was limited.

do you care? no.
[Nexus 4 General] blackdragon5040:
Yeah, I installed franco v28 kernel (which has the qualcomm battery fixes) yesterday and the battery usage is far lower than before. After 6 hours, I'm still at 80%.
[Nexus 4 General] barondebxl:
Hmmmm that's interesting.... Thanks for the info!
[Nexus 4 General] Androyed:
Not really a "help!" kind of question, but I don't want to make a whole new thread: is there anyone that came from a Nexus S? What do you think of the speed/smoothness of the N4 compared to the NS?

The Nexus S was my first (and only, until I can get my hands on a N4) smartphone. When I got it, I thought it was amazing. I said to myself: this is fast enough. Why would I need dual core phones (because that was totally the **** back then)? Well, people change. I get annoyed with the laginess of my Nexus S. It's gotten worse with every update. I will never get anything other than a Nexus. I know that in two years, I will think: damn, my N4 is slow, I wish I had the X phone 2 with a megaultracore processor. But I've just accepted the fact that I like new and shiny things.