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Nexus 4 - Should I keep it?

B

bcracer220

Gawd
Joined
Dec 7, 2006
Messages
526
Hey guys,

I just bit the bullet and purchased a nexus 4 16gb on ebay because I just didn't want to wait till whenever for this phone to come out. I thought it had the best specs on the market and that is why I bought it, but with this new thermal throttling issue I was wondering if I should even bother opening the new package. The HTC Droid DNA has the same internals and gets almost 9000 on quadrant while the nexus 4 struggles to get 5000. Should I sell it while it is still unopened or do you guys think there might be a software fix for this in the future? What would you do if you were in my position?

Thanks,

Bcracer220
 
All Nexus phones have crazy amounts of development. Check out xda-developers and see if there is a root and custom ROMs available for your phone that will allow you to make the most of it. On top of that, Nexus phones ALWAYS have support from Google.
 
Thanks for the response, but i really dont like to mess with roots and ROMS though to be honest. I'd rather just have a phone that works as its supposed to out of the box, not something that i have to mess with to get it to behave the way it should. I have a friend with an htc droid DNA that got a super high quadrant score of 9000, and that phone has the same hardware. i just want my phone to do the same, so i guess the question is will there be a fix that doesnt require a root or ROM?
 
Benchmarks have been proven time & time again to be arbitrary numbers, and NOT something that should be a guideline. The simple fact is, the DNA and the Nexus use the same SoC, so performance should be about equal. Personally, I'd trade your Nexus to me for my Lumia 920, but I'm just saying...

Seriously though, I like the DNA and it works on US GSM carriers. I like the Nexus and development it'll have, plus no Verizon branding. Toss a coin.

Also, keep in mind that Quadrant was updated to "work" on 4.1, but NOT 4.2. Hence the discrepancy.
 
bcracer220 said:
arent benchmarks supposed to show what the phone will face in the future in terms of software?
Click to expand...

No. No matter how you look at it, any phone you buy now will be "outdated" in 6 months, when new phones come out. This applies to most areas of technology. Benchmarks do NOT determine what the phone will face in the future in terms of software, the amount of developers do. One thing that should be noted is that there is a HUGE amount of development for the Nexus.

If you compare the Nexus and your friend's DNA side by side, I can almost guarantee you will not see any huge discrepancies in performance and if you do, it's most likely your head telling you that your Quadrant scored less than half of the DNA. If you want to be a benchmark queen, go ahead, but don't let a score judge whether one phone is better/worse than another.
 
Since you don't care about development and you obviously are willing to pay Verizon for its service, please get a 4G capable phone on Verizon. Droid DNA is a good phone on Verizon. So is the Galaxy Note 2. But I would get the Droid RAZR Maxx HD.
 
entropism said:
Benchmarks have been proven time & time again to be arbitrary numbers, and NOT something that should be a guideline. The simple fact is, the DNA and the Nexus use the same SoC, so performance should be about equal. Personally, I'd trade your Nexus to me for my Lumia 920, but I'm just saying...

Seriously though, I like the DNA and it works on US GSM carriers. I like the Nexus and development it'll have, plus no Verizon branding. Toss a coin.

Also, keep in mind that Quadrant was updated to "work" on 4.1, but NOT 4.2. Hence the discrepancy.
Click to expand...

This. A benchmark proves how well a system does at a given benchmark...nothing else.

That being said, OP I *hate* Sense and HTC is jumping the shark IMHO with their crap...and Sense isn't getting any better, like FireFox they're upping the version # and not fixing UI glaring flaws. I'd sell the Nexus4 in a minute. Screw handsets that are broken by design you can sell it now for more than you bought it for.
 
The Nexus 4 is the best android phone available. So selling it for any other android phone is a downgrade.
 
OpStar said:
The Nexus 4 is the best android phone available. So selling it for any other android phone is a downgrade.
Click to expand...

Substitute "best" with "newest" and we'd agree. If it wasn't for the Nexus branding, you'd be laughing at a phone released at the end of 2012 without LTE.
 
Not everyone gives a shit about LTE man, the phone is 42mbps hspa+...

The previous nexus was 21, I went from an LTE verizon phone to the 21mbps nexus and I still am very happy with my download speeds.

I find the OMG NO LTE laughable at best...
 
Guys, what the OP is talking about is thermal throttling that specifically happens with the N4. The Optimus G doesn't have this problem. The throttling lowers the speed of the N4 to about 1.2 GHz, and the performance is similar to the MSM8960 found on the GS3 and the One X.

But as a few people have written above, what's really important is the speed is real world usage. The N4 is still one of (if not the) fastest phone available, it's buttery smooth with everything from the reviews I've read. I think you will be happy with the N4 in real-world usage, benchmarks notwithstanding.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6440/google-nexus-4-review/3

Rattle said:
Not everyone gives a shit about LTE man, the phone is 42mbps hspa+...

The previous nexus was 21, I went from an LTE verizon phone to the 21mbps nexus and I still am very happy with my download speeds.

I find the OMG NO LTE laughable at best...
Click to expand...

I agree, if you get even half of that 42 Mbps that's already as fast as home internet. The ping may not be as good as LTE (at least that's what I hear people write around here) but who cares, you're not doing competitive gaming on it. I'd wager that if you did a blind test people wouldn't know the difference between HSPA+ and LTE.
 
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Skripka said:
Substitute "best" with "newest" and we'd agree. If it wasn't for the Nexus branding, you'd be laughing at a phone released at the end of 2012 without LTE.
Click to expand...

It has LTE. It will work on T-Mobile's LTE network in 2013. It already works on LTE in Canada.

That said my area of Arizona doesn't even have HSPA+ so I'm not missing out on anything.

It amazes me that people don't consider that LTE isn't nationwide.
 
OpStar said:
It has LTE. It will work on T-Mobile's LTE network in 2013. It already works on LTE in Canada.

That said my area of Arizona doesn't even have HSPA+ so I'm not missing out on anything.

It amazes me that people don't consider that LTE isn't nationwide.
Click to expand...

So it has LTE, but it doesn't work with any existing LTE networks in the US? That's great.
 
OpStar said:
It has LTE. It will work on T-Mobile's LTE network in 2013. It already works on LTE in Canada.

That said my area of Arizona doesn't even have HSPA+ so I'm not missing out on anything.

It amazes me that people don't consider that LTE isn't nationwide.
Click to expand...
It has a LTE chip that was supposed to be dormant. A simple workaround was able to activate it.

Now Google has pulled all Nexus 4 images from AOSP and all Binaries. It's obvious that the FCC isn't very happy with them for including an LTE chip that was not physically disabled.

It's clearly not supposed to have LTE
 
I've done some benchmarks and they were pretty standard but using the phone I've found it to be completely up to the task in every programme I've thrown at it. It's butter smooth and very responsive. I've only had it for almost a week but no complaints so far.

So, there's only one 4G network in the UK with a tiny a bit of coverage so the lack of LTE doesn't matter in the slightest to me. I doubt even in 2 years that we'll have decent coverage and competitive prices but who knows?
 
The throttling issue reportedly becomes noticeable when you're playing graphically intensive games. But there are workarounds to keep it from throttling so quickly, though you don't seem to want to go through the hoops to apply them (and I don't blame you).

Personally, in terms of real world usage, if it really throttles, it hasn't affected my usage so far as I don't seem to notice it. But I only play simple to moderate graphically intensive games on my N4. The one minor thing I notice about it is that it does get a little warm on the back after a while of heavy usage, but nothing out of the ordinary.

My favorite thing about the N4 and the latest version of Android is that multitasking is just dreamy smooth...it's finally at that point for me (now granted I am sure other more expensive phones are also capable). I mean, having 20 tabs open in Chrome, email open, a couple apps open, and playing a strategy game or streaming an MP4 video from my Win 8 Desktop PC...my 1 yr old netbook couldn't pull this shit off. I've been able to justify getting rid of my netbook and cancelled my plans to get a better laptop to replace it because of this $350 phone.

So in your shoes (and depending on how much you paid on eBay... :) ), I'd just keep the N4 and enjoy it right now. If there's something that is marginally better in 2013 (Galaxy S4), then move onto that..though me personally, the bang/buck is just too good with the N4 to leave it so quickly for something that is going to be only a little better and a lot more expensive.
 
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I completely agree every phone becomes outdated after 6 months so you can't sell it every time and for me Nexus 4 is a great buy,if i were you,i would not sell it!
 
keep the nexus .... the pure android experience will outweigh the perceived higher "score" of the DNA ...


ALso - benchmarks, as said, dont mean shit. They dont measure actual performance, and I think it was said, is not fully functioning with 4.2 which the Nexus 4 will have ....
 
The Nexus has LTE, but no antenna or amplifier for it. So you'll get a signal (barely), which is weak as can be, in very particular areas, and has less use than the HSPA modems you'll be falling back on. It wasn't enabled on purpose: So LG could market their Optimus G as the "better" phone.

As far as the phone not having LTE? GOOD! I get about 50mb/s LTE in my area, and about 7mb HSPA. I'd prefer the HSPA and all day battery than the absolute drain LTE is on my phone. If I got an LTE phone, I'd prefer one with a toggle I could shut off (and AT&T doesn't allow that).
 
I've got the N4, and like others have said, it's buttery smooth for daily use. I don't game on it much so can't really comment on the throttling issue. I have played a couple of basic games for a little while and it does get a little warm to the touch. But I've not noticed any slow downs.

For me, cheap prepaid phone service, the fact that its factory unlocked, allowing me to easily swap carriers and take it overseas, and Android updates straight from Google, far outweigh a minor throttling issue.
 
I also have the N4. It is an awesome phone. I have only had it a couple of days, but is smooth and reacts instantly. Anyone want a Nexus One?:D
 
lawlz_xd said:
If you compare the Nexus and your friend's DNA side by side, I can almost guarantee you will not see any huge discrepancies in performance and if you do, it's most likely your head telling you that your Quadrant scored less than half of the DNA. If you want to be a benchmark queen, go ahead, but don't let a score judge whether one phone is better/worse than another.
Click to expand...

Actually you *will* see a huge discrepancy in performance - but with the N4 curb stomping the DNA. Same SoC, but with far, far fewer pixels to push. Also, Google knows how to make Android fast on their phones, something HTC has never really figured out.

Side note, Quadrant is a horribly bad benchmark. Things like disk IO are heavy factors in the score but are not things you'll notice, and it's a benchmark that's super easy to get huge scores on without actually making the phone faster at all. Especially since it doesn't do anything multithreaded, and the "GPU" tests are super basic crap.

The N4's thermal throttling isn't as bad as it sounds - it only happens in one or maybe two benchmarks, and crucially that throttling allowed it to actually *COMPLETE* the test whereas the Optimus G crashes instead.
 
I love my Nexus 4. Sacrificing LTE is worth it..I'm on a WiFi connection >75% of the time anyway and am still using a grandfathered 2GB plan from my Atrix 4G. No complaints here..the IPS display is beautiful and phone feels great in the hand.

FYI BENCHMARKING YOUR PHONE DOESNT ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING. If you really care about numbers go back to your desktop..
 
Keep the N4, the annoyance of bloatware and slow updates aren't worth it. Cyanogenmod 10.1 is a dream, stable and customizable, without shitty icons from Samsung or HTC.
 
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