- Joined
- Mar 6, 2011
- Messages
- 8,643
I love my Galaxy S2 still but it needs another battery and officially (sprint variant) it will never get off android 4.1.2 though unofficially we have 4.3. I would really like something with decent support for CyanogenMod or software support in general.
No better phone for open source or stock support than a Nexus. But the LG Nexus 4 killed me. I was not only mad that Samsung wasn't making this model, I was mad about the non removable battery, the back glass, the lack of usable LTE, basically the whole damn phone.
As much as I would like a Galaxy Note 3, Enter the LG Nexus 5:
Still has a battery not easily removed and Googles hate for MicroSD is still present. But at $349 outright off contract and the same CPU and GPU as the Galaxy Note 3 and other high end phones there is some forgiveness in my heart.
Screen
The size is bigger than the 4.52" of the Sprint GS2 and on par for the average Android these days. The 1080P IPS display is not only a huge difference in resolution the screen itself is better. As nice as OLED looks the super high res AMOLED displays are bullshit. Using 2 colors per pixel instead of 3, alternating every other producing improper color expecting your eyes and mind to make up the difference. OLED burn in after 2 years on my phone is limited to the status bar area on my phone. But had I ever used it like some people do it would have been MUCH worse.
LTE
The Nexus 4 carried over the LTE chip from its LG counterpart however because it was not FCC certified for operation it wasn't utilized. It only worked on 1 band used by a GSM carrier at launch (AT&T band 4) which had little to no coverage at all. My phone uses WiMax which has gone to shit ever since Sprint switched to LTE. No android 4.3 build works with WiMax either. My next phone had to have LTE and the Nexus 5 fits.
Battery
My phone barely gets 2 hours of screen on time maybe 8 hours of moderate use, maybe 50 hours of no use at all. Up until phones like the Razr MAXX there was almost no such thing as a smart phone whose screen could be left on for hours. Lately there have been a few phones that could do 12 plus hours of watching video over 4G. That would be awesome but the Nexus 5 likely won't be that extreme.
Packing a non removable 2300mah battery it doesn't seem like much. I love being able to carry a second battery but no go here external pack is all I can do. The device should be pretty efficient and judging by the rated stats I see 2 things here. The 17 hour rated talk time and 7-8 hour 4G time tells me I can probably get 16-24 hours out of the phone with 6-8 hours of screen on time. The standby time has gone down from the Nexus 4 a significant amount and this tells me features like listening for "OK Google" to wake the phone have taken their toll. Qi wireless charging is nice and with a broad range of compatibility means this is no longer a gimmick, I think I have just about worn out the USB port on my phone.
CPU
I haven't taken a look but the Snapdragon 800 quad core @ 2.3Ghz is pretty common for the hottest phones coming out right now. Considering the Nexus is actually a midrange device (despite its reputation, likely caused by the first model being outrageous) its a nice touch to see a NOW cpu and gpu in such a device. The HTC One & Galaxy S4 use the Snapdragon 600 and it would have been just as easy for Google to cheap out here. If its anything like the Nexus 4 the cost savings that allow this come from sharing designs with other high end LG hardware.
The disadvantage to a Nexus is the same as its advantage. It comes with stock android that gets updated before any other device on the market sometimes months ahead of others. Stock android in the past often lacks apps and features that might come on your bloated OEM phone. But with the open source drivers for the hardware projects like CyanogenMod make up the difference. CyanogenMod and other AOSP based firmwares bring many features from OEM and custom roms. They also have a tendency to be out in stable form before US phones gets updates of the same android version.
No better phone for open source or stock support than a Nexus. But the LG Nexus 4 killed me. I was not only mad that Samsung wasn't making this model, I was mad about the non removable battery, the back glass, the lack of usable LTE, basically the whole damn phone.
As much as I would like a Galaxy Note 3, Enter the LG Nexus 5:
Still has a battery not easily removed and Googles hate for MicroSD is still present. But at $349 outright off contract and the same CPU and GPU as the Galaxy Note 3 and other high end phones there is some forgiveness in my heart.
Screen
The size is bigger than the 4.52" of the Sprint GS2 and on par for the average Android these days. The 1080P IPS display is not only a huge difference in resolution the screen itself is better. As nice as OLED looks the super high res AMOLED displays are bullshit. Using 2 colors per pixel instead of 3, alternating every other producing improper color expecting your eyes and mind to make up the difference. OLED burn in after 2 years on my phone is limited to the status bar area on my phone. But had I ever used it like some people do it would have been MUCH worse.
LTE
The Nexus 4 carried over the LTE chip from its LG counterpart however because it was not FCC certified for operation it wasn't utilized. It only worked on 1 band used by a GSM carrier at launch (AT&T band 4) which had little to no coverage at all. My phone uses WiMax which has gone to shit ever since Sprint switched to LTE. No android 4.3 build works with WiMax either. My next phone had to have LTE and the Nexus 5 fits.
Battery
My phone barely gets 2 hours of screen on time maybe 8 hours of moderate use, maybe 50 hours of no use at all. Up until phones like the Razr MAXX there was almost no such thing as a smart phone whose screen could be left on for hours. Lately there have been a few phones that could do 12 plus hours of watching video over 4G. That would be awesome but the Nexus 5 likely won't be that extreme.
Packing a non removable 2300mah battery it doesn't seem like much. I love being able to carry a second battery but no go here external pack is all I can do. The device should be pretty efficient and judging by the rated stats I see 2 things here. The 17 hour rated talk time and 7-8 hour 4G time tells me I can probably get 16-24 hours out of the phone with 6-8 hours of screen on time. The standby time has gone down from the Nexus 4 a significant amount and this tells me features like listening for "OK Google" to wake the phone have taken their toll. Qi wireless charging is nice and with a broad range of compatibility means this is no longer a gimmick, I think I have just about worn out the USB port on my phone.
CPU
I haven't taken a look but the Snapdragon 800 quad core @ 2.3Ghz is pretty common for the hottest phones coming out right now. Considering the Nexus is actually a midrange device (despite its reputation, likely caused by the first model being outrageous) its a nice touch to see a NOW cpu and gpu in such a device. The HTC One & Galaxy S4 use the Snapdragon 600 and it would have been just as easy for Google to cheap out here. If its anything like the Nexus 4 the cost savings that allow this come from sharing designs with other high end LG hardware.
The disadvantage to a Nexus is the same as its advantage. It comes with stock android that gets updated before any other device on the market sometimes months ahead of others. Stock android in the past often lacks apps and features that might come on your bloated OEM phone. But with the open source drivers for the hardware projects like CyanogenMod make up the difference. CyanogenMod and other AOSP based firmwares bring many features from OEM and custom roms. They also have a tendency to be out in stable form before US phones gets updates of the same android version.
