iPhone 4S to Nexus 7?

Associate
Joined
17 Mar 2004
Posts
1,562
Hi all,

I've got a problem with my 4S where the camera doesn't work. It just shows a black screen, or the shutter. There are hundreds of topics regarding this online and there doesn't seem to be an official fix - I've reset the phone numerous times and set it up as a new phone rather than restoring but nothing.

It's out of warranty so my only option is to get it replaced with a refurb from Apple for £140 with no guarantee that the same thing won't happen again - (there was quite a few reports of the problem happening on brand new phones that hadn't been used too).

I've been looking at the Nexus 4, seems a bargain for the price.

Main advantages for me would be:

Bigger screen (I find myself wishing for a bigger screen when browsing on the iPhone, although I wouldn't want one as big as the HTC One / S4 etc - I think the Nexus 4 is a good compromise?)

Faster CPU (admittedly you probably can't tell the difference 90% of the time)

The Android version of Google Maps supports "offline" mode.

The wireless charging and photosphere stuff is pretty cool too.

I don't really have many apps on my iPhone and the ones that I do are available for Android.

The only thing that puts me off is all the crap that seems to be installed on Android phones although from a quick Google it appears that it can be removed with a bit of tweaking. I've had iPhones for the last 4 years and I like the simple clean interface (even if that means less ability to customise / tweak).

Should I go for one? Or are there any other phones I should be looking at? The Mrs has just got a Samsung S4 mini which I think is the ideal size for me, but you have to scroll through 2-3 pages of unwanted apps / bloatware. It also feels "cheap" compared to the iPhone.

What to do?!
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
15 Nov 2007
Posts
13,101
Location
Enfield
If you're not wed to the iPhone and you want a phone that is fast, streamlined and very very extensible the Nexus 4 is the phone for you.

Main advantages for me would be:

Bigger screen (I find myself wishing for a bigger screen when browsing on the iPhone, although I wouldn't want one as big as the HTC One / S4 etc - I think the Nexus 7 is a good compromise?)

I have an HTC One and a Nexus 4 and I find the Nexus 4 easier to handle.

The wireless charging and photosphere stuff is pretty cool too.

It is, but the official wireless charger isn't available here which is annoying.

The only thing that puts me off is all the crap that seems to be installed on Android phones although from a quick Google it appears that it can be removed with a bit of tweaking. I've had iPhones for the last 4 years and I like the simple clean interface (even if that means less ability to customise / tweak).

There is no preinstalled rubbish on Nexus devices. They ship with stock Android straight from Google so all you get are the apps that you need - e.g. email, browser, gmail etc. etc. There is no bloatware.

Should I go for one? Or are there any other phones I should be looking at? The Mrs has just got a Samsung S4 mini which I think is the ideal size for me, but you have to scroll through 2-3 pages of unwanted apps / bloatware. It also feels "cheap" compared to the iPhone.

What to do?!

The Nexus 4 feels like a premium device compared to any of the recent Samsungs I've seen. I say go for it, but with one caveat - there is likely to be a new Nexus phone announced in the next few months. That said, the N4 is so good and so cheap that I'd be very surprised if the new one was much better.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
17 Mar 2004
Posts
1,562
Oops, I meant Nexus 4!

Great to hear there's no bloatware - I wondered if it'd be different with it being sim free from Google. I know on the Samsung for example there's loads of stupid chat / connect type stuff which irritates me.

I thought the Nexus 4 had just been refreshed?
 
Soldato
Joined
15 Nov 2007
Posts
13,101
Location
Enfield
Oops, I meant Nexus 4!

Great to hear there's no bloatware - I wondered if it'd be different with it being sim free from Google. I know on the Samsung for example there's loads of stupid chat / connect type stuff which irritates me.

I thought the Nexus 4 had just been refreshed?

Yeah, the Nexus line is designed as the first place to get new versions of pure Android, so it's popular with developers, geeks and people who don't want someone else's idea of good software on their devices.

The new Nexus 7 came out recently, yeah, but the current Nexus phone (Nexus 4) came out last November.

The current price drop is probably to clear inventory before the new Nexus phone comes out.
 
Associate
Joined
16 Jun 2006
Posts
208
They could keep the nexus4 for another year at a very low price point and introduce a 5" nexus5 phone in November maybe based on the guts of the LG G2.
 
Back
Top Bottom