Database Users

Possibly looking at the GS3, would like some opinions

I have a friend who is letting me use the upgrade on their line at the end of September to get a phone so I can keep my unlimited. As it sits right now I have a Galaxy Nexus. I love the phone but want something with newer tech. I had a few questions though.
The first being battery life of the phone compared to the GNex. I'm not at all satisfied with the performance of the Nexus regarding the battery. I average under 2 hours screen time and medium usage, and that sort of stinks. Since the S3 has the same size battery as my extended I have now, is the batter life good in those regards?
Secondly there are some good looking phones coming down the line. I'm a picky person when it comes to screens. Is the quality good regarding the screen? I have some burn in on my nexus and I don't know how the S3 is. Also, the nexus has an annoying issue where the screen loses sensitivity after a while. Does that happen on the S3 as well?
Would I be better waiting for the Note 2, RAZR maxx HD, or the HTC device or getting the S3?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

Here's my personal opinion;
If you're looking for newer tech, why don't you wait for the new Nexus phone(s) coming around December? The S3 is bound to lag behind upcoming phones because technology is moving really fast.
Since the Galaxy S3 has the same screen as the Galaxy Nexus, it is bound to be affected by screen burns after a year or more. The screen quality is excellent but Super AMOLED screens are prone to burn-ins. The Note 2 has a better screen, in my opinion.
The battery life of the S3 is superb! Really. My friend's Nexus doesn't last long at all whilst my S3 can last for a long time!
Stick with the Nexus for now.

Thanks for the honest responses. I wish more companies would follow HTC and use super LCD2, the screen is awesome and crystal clear. I like the note 2 but I fear it might be just too big.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

Just wait a bit for the optimus g or a bit more for the new nexus. The sg3 is great, but there are going to be a few better choises very soon, at least hardware-wise. Then razr maxx hd looks promising, It might be a good bet considering the google acquisition of moto...

I have never been a fan of LG, they always seem to be lacking. I heard a rumor about the new nexus being the 5 inch phablet from HTC. Not sure how I feel about having a super big phone. I'll have to check out the note 2 to figure out if I could handle it.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

chrisjm00 said:
I have never been a fan of LG, they always seem to be lacking. I heard a rumor about the new nexus being the 5 inch phablet from HTC. Not sure how I feel about having a super big phone. I'll have to check out the note 2 to figure out if I could handle it.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
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The razr maxx hd looks nice on videos and articles, but Its a bit thick and has a dual core cpu. Lg makes great hardware, but I've never liked the software and slow updates. There are probably going to be other devices with a s4 pro(quadcore) chip soon I would wait and go for one of those.

SGS3 is awesome... Best phone I ever had (and I had quite a few..).
Battery lasts me all day (just email, browsing & reading newsfeeds), no problem. Screen is nice, no complaints. The S3 is just gorgeous and really speedy. I use mine with a 64GB SD-Card, which is the reason why I passed on the GNex.. I need storage space for movies and music!
Best of all, I hook my S3 up to my 42in flatscreen TV (LG), and the picture is nice and crisp...
Did I already suggest you should get an S3 (Quad core)?
Sure, there will always be better & faster phones coming out, but this one just has everything you (probably) want.
Just one thing I really hate about the S3: the physical 'Home' button. HTC did that better on the Rezound (a crappy phone w/ a nice screen...), even though those morons gave it 4 buttons. - How dumb is that?
I certainly will never get another HTC as long as 'Sense' is around - even though I used to root all my phones and put Custom ROMs (preferably CM) on them anyway...
However, I have to admit that after using Samsung TouchWiz (in JB flavor) for the last 6-8 weeks, I have no desire switching to some always half-broken CM ROM anymore.
With TW, at least, all the features work.. right away!!!
Sent from my rooted GT-I9300 running Samsung's 'leaked' Android 4.1.1/JB [XXDLI7] using xda-developers app (blue)

Isnt there a new HTC one x5 coming out? (seeing as you said you like htc screens, this ones meant to be 5 inches and full 1080p) could be just a rumour but have a look: http://blog.gsmarena.com/the-htc-5-phablet-to-be-the-google-nexus-5/

I am having this phone and after using a store model I found it pretty smooth.

i have to honestly say this phone is amazing. not a single fault with it.
its heavily supported by the community, paranoid android is amazing too. etc etc etc.
but as always, just look at what you need. theres never any point looking for the greatest tech, because another this or that will come along in a month and be the new 'best'.
for me, external SD card was a must, removable battery is always nice, etc etc.
either take the dive and get an S3 which will be a really really solid phone for the next 12 months and probably longer, or wait another 6 and get the next big thing, be it nexus, galaxy, HTC <insert name here>... but just make sure it does what you need (and with the number of custom roms out there, this is becoming more and more flexible)

diz_dizane said:
i have to honestly say this phone is amazing. not a single fault with it.
its heavily supported by the community, paranoid android is amazing too. etc etc etc.
but as always, just look at what you need. theres never any point looking for the greatest tech, because another this or that will come along in a month and be the new 'best'.
for me, external SD card was a must, removable battery is always nice, etc etc.
either take the dive and get an S3 which will be a really really solid phone for the next 12 months and probably longer, or wait another 6 and get the next big thing, be it nexus, galaxy, HTC <insert name here>... but just make sure it does what you need (and with the number of custom roms out there, this is becoming more and more flexible)
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Same here, this phone is great, lots of fun and also needed an SD card and battery I could swap. Nothing worse than arriving somewhere and having to wait for the phone to charge!

I was thinking of jumping from the Sensation 4G with Tmo to the GS3 since they are offering an upgrade 2 months early...I think I will stay with my rooted Sensation a bit longer its awesome anyways but I think Tmo will be getting a new line up before Christmas...Im considering the Note 2 but it may be too big Im not sure yet...just dont wanna waste an upgrade and a month later the lastest and greatest hit the market....
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda app-developers app

A lot comes down to personal preference.
Like the first reply said why not wait until december.
I had the Galaxy S3 and I hated it.
Found it very uncomfortable to use. Impossible to operate in one had. I would try it out yourself, i wish i did, its not as smooth as everyone makes out. However, i was advised to do lots of things to it which would have made it smooth like rooting etc (i couldn't be bothered with the hassle of that)
Screen is very good but not as good as other phones and its really bad in sunlight. Almost unusable.
Dont know what battery other people have got but its not very good. You wouldn't get through a day with it thats for sure. Android fans had a tough time over the years with battery but this is an improvement.
Also, the device is not very pretty as others seem to think. Again this is personal preference. Its very plasticy and flimsy. One drop and its dead. Poor build quality.
As you can see my post is very negative due to the experience I had with it. Personally, if your an android fan wait til december.

The opposite of what he ^ said.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

antdawe said:
A lot comes down to personal preference.
Like the first reply said why not wait until december.
I had the Galaxy S3 and I hated it.
Found it very uncomfortable to use. Impossible to operate in one had. I would try it out yourself, i wish i did, its not as smooth as everyone makes out. However, i was advised to do lots of things to it which would have made it smooth like rooting etc (i couldn't be bothered with the hassle of that)
Screen is very good but not as good as other phones and its really bad in sunlight. Almost unusable.
Dont know what battery other people have got but its not very good. You wouldn't get through a day with it thats for sure. Android fans had a tough time over the years with battery but this is an improvement.
Also, the device is not very pretty as others seem to think. Again this is personal preference. Its very plasticy and flimsy. One drop and its dead. Poor build quality.
As you can see my post is very negative due to the experience I had with it. Personally, if your an android fan wait til december.
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An opinion, that most people do not share. I would just wait for the next Nexus or look at what HTC is brining out. Something tells me the new Nexus phone may be a disappointment, I do hope I'm wrong though

Who came from GS3?

Who came from a Galaxy S3? And how do you like the change? I'm coming over from being loyal to Samsung since the vibrant ( was HTC only before that). I Havnt liked the iterations of sense on previous HTC phones that's why I have been going with Samsung. Is the new sense 5.0 a lot better?
Those switching from s3 to one I would appreciate your opinions

my opinion is that I would never by a cheap piece of over priced plastic ever again. still holds true after holding an S4 yesterday.. software alone doesn't win me over.

me
I come from a galaxy s3....
I dont regret it a bit...
Wait till you hear the speakers....you will love it...

xdracco said:
my opinion is that I would never by a cheap piece of over priced plastic ever again. still holds true after holding an S4 yesterday.. software alone doesn't win me over.
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I always thought you buy HTC for the software and Samsung for hardware. I still have an sgs2 with jb touchwiz (almost the same as the sgs3 ) but I believe Samsung is still lightyears behind HTC software wise. When I got the sgs2 I went for its specs but in the end it's software that gives you a pleasant experience and that pleasant sense experience turned to be very hard to port to Samsung devices.

I previously had a Galaxy Nexus with a port of TouchWiz on it, does that count?
I've actually owned both HTC and Samsung phones, and to this day I still prefer HTC. I started with the Nexus One, and really loved the build quality. I remember disliking the Nexus S when it came out because of its really cheap plastic construction. Samsung did finally win me over with the Galaxy Nexus because of the 720p screen, but it didn't take long to start getting some AMOLED burn on the top and bottom of the screen, and that really annoyed me. Plus the blacks on the N1 and GN weren't really true black anyway, as you can see the "black" pixels are actually still dimly lit when viewing the phones in complete darkness. It's a moot point compared to the display quality of the new Super LCD3, which is pretty acceptably "black" for me in low light.
By going back to the HTC One, I don't have to worry about screen burn, and I get the awesome HTC build quality. Most of my friends that still prefer Samsung are rocking a Note instead, because the S-Pen is really the only unique feature that they need. All the other TouchWiz specific apps are just rehashes of existing Google and other third party apps, so there's no point in spending extra to get the Samsung experience. There's also much less bloat in Sense 5, and I actually love using the IR blaster, and I think BlinkFeed is a pretty decent alternative to Flipboard and Google Currents, at least when I don't want to spend a lot of time configuring my news feeds.
For me, Sense 5 pretty much hits the sweet spot in terms of additional functionality versus bloat. I'm still accustomed to having huge developer support on Nexus devices, but I'm more comfortable running stock Sense than I was with stock Android, and may just keep the stock ROM for a few more months, or even indefinitely.

godutch said:
I always thought you buy HTC for the software and Samsung for hardware. I still have an sgs2 with jb touchwiz (almost the same as the sgs3 ) but I believe Samsung is still lightyears behind HTC software wise. When I got the sgs2 I went for its specs but in the end it's software that gives you a pleasant experience and that pleasant sense experience turned to be very hard to port to Samsung devices.
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true. very true. the software, in the end, is what end users will adapt to. personally, i don't care about the stock software as I end up customizing it anyways. however, i cannot agree that Samsung is for hardware unless you mean bleeding edge hardware and not so much the plastic. Even then, I could care less if a CPU is 200MHz faster than X as memory is a better determining factor, for me anyways.

I came from gs3 lte with 2GB of ram and I still have it. I use gs3 from time to time because I have some game on it with my data.
I have to say, WOW! The One is just so much better in every aspect, I mean every, I cannot think a single thing which it lacks of.
The screen is much clearer, sharper, lighter, it does not have the over saturated colour but still provide deep black.
The smoothness of the os is just so much better on One, even they both have 2 GB ram, s3 just lags here and there, even the basic things. When I did not get the One, I never realised the lag, but now I really can't go back to s3.
The sound, the build quality, the specs, and the camera, do I need to mention again?
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

I personally came from an HTC Desire HD, but my girlfriend has an S3 and for a while I thought I was going to go with one. Great phone and very slick. The plastic construction didn't even bother me as much as I thought it would. I really loved my DHD in the beginning but the newer Sense updates made the phone feel more sluggish IMO, so I was pretty much decided on either an S3 or Nexus 4. The way I saw it, I wasn't going to get an S4 because the improvements were pretty incremental, with a huge amount of bloatware and gimmicky features that I wasn't interested in. Considering I could get an S3 for free on a cheaper, better contract, it just didn't seem worth it.
Anyways, once I saw the phone I was tempted to go back to HTC, and trying it out in person totally cemented it. The screen, speakers and camera are fantastic, and Sense actually provides useful, and completely unique features that really appealed to me. It obliterates Touchwiz in speed and minimalism, whilst improving on the stock Android look and feel. HTC Zoe, lowlight photography and HDR microphone are killer features that I would really miss now if I was to switch to any other phone. It's the best bit of tech I've ever used, and has completely restored my faith in HTC.
To top it all off it's also cheaper than an S4, meaning I'm finally on an unlimited data plan for an extra £12 per year compared to what I was paying before. So with cloud storage I don't even need expandable memory. HTC has done so much right with this phone, and while I can see it's not perfect for everyone, it comes as close as humanly possible for my needs.

I came from S3 having owned S2 before that. Waited till S4 was released to have play with it not impressed soon as held one knew I had to get it. The speakers are awsome so is camera and features everything about it really lol
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

I came from s3 and I'm happy s3 is laggy, and TouchWiz is evil
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DimonVideo.ru

Didn't come from a GS3 but I do respect that phone alot. Fantastic device.
However, I was heavily debating between the GS4 and the One. I must say, the One takes the cake, hands down.
Sense 5 is beautiful, fast, and functional - not nearly as bad as it used to be. I (truly) have not noticed any lag at all yet.
In my personal opinion, I don't care for the GS4 based off the design and TouchWiz.
After you hear the speakers, use the camera, and hold the One... I think you'll be sold, I was.
Just my 2 cents, friend. Let us know what you decide!

I went from a HTC Desire Z --> S3 --> One.
In fact the only reason I chose S3 over the One X last year was because I needed AWS (was on Wind mobile for a while). I actually would have bought the One X if I had the choice.
To me, the S3 is kind of ugly. The plastic (especially the flimsy battery door) really made the phone feel cheap. It's not to say that all plastic phones are cheap, only the way samsung makes them. I had a Nokia N9 for a couple of months and loved the build quality.
The screen on the One is definitely nicer. I prefer the bright, crisp look of LCD vs the pentile screen of the S3.
And the thing that really sucks on samsung devices is the touchwiz. It doesn't matter if you are running gingerbread or jellybean, it pretty much looks the same.
And coming from an desireZ I was surprised that the roms were not compatible even with the identical hardware (ie Wind S3 vs T-mobile S3). With my DZ i used to flash G2 roms all the time even though they had different hw. It seems to be the same case for the One.
The things that bug me about the One are the missing menu button (I know there are some hacks available) and the fact that NAND is write protected (until we figure out S-OFF). I also miss the quick notification menu settings but I'm sure there are apps/hacks that can add this functionality (haven't bothered looking yet).

I also came from a GS3. Its an underwhelming experience on many aspects in comparison to the One. Hated the lag when opening contacts and the dialer, evil Touchwiz. Very uninspiring.
Having said that it was an older device.
The One is just mesmerising....in all the right areas.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium

Came from the S3 and it was a great upgrade
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

I came from the S3. I love the One. To me Sense 5 is less "cartoonish" than touchwiz.
The cool Touchwiz features like smart stay and such were cool at first but after a while a never used them. To me the incredible sound on this device trumps everything else for me. I watch YouTube and use speaker phone all the time. It makes such a different to use those things on a phone like this.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

I still love my S3. It was my first truly fast phone and was the largest upgrade in speed, features, and screen. It always worked perfectly and I really didn't "need" an upgrade, but my wife did so I got the One and gave her my S3
The One seems nice so far. There are a few qwirks I'm hoping HTC can address soon, but I expect to like this phone just as much.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

I'm coming from an S3 as well. I'm far happier with the One than I ever was with the S3. I always found that Samsung gave their phones a ton of features that never really seemed to work. Like using the accelerometer to flip between pages and using the front facing camera to see my face so that if I'm lying down it doesn't auto rotate. These are great features on paper but in practice they never worked or didn't work very well. The HTC One is pretty much a no frills handset (compared to the S4 in terms of features) that's beautifully designed. Honestly, I hope HTC does well with this phone, it's finally an android experience that I've been happy with.

Came from the GS3. I wasn't sure I wanted the gs4 because it was so similar to the gs3. Once i held the htc one, it was over.

s4
I came from a S4,I didn't like the plastic and now with my One I'm so happy!!
I love sense,build ,sound,display etc etc..........
byebye Samsung!:fingers-crossed:

I came from the Canadian dual core galaxy s3 and I have to say that the One is at least 1000 times better. Sense isn't filled with a bunch of useless software things that clutter up your phone and the battery life is incredible. Not to mention that in games it's much quicker and have yet to experience any lag at all in any games including modern combat 4 which lagged like hell on my SGS3

[Q] Is the s4 worth the upgrade?

Like the title says is the GS4 worth using my Upgrade or should I wait for something else? I've been on the iPhone for years now I've own several android devices which I still have an hp touchpad running on cyanogenmod 9 nightly on it which is fantastic. What I liked about the iPhone it was just simple and iOS was smooth (starting out with the iPhone 3G vs earlier android devices) now that years has gone by apple is stuck with the same stuff and I'm tired of it. What drew me to the GS4 was all the features it has, but been reading a lot about it and seems most of those features barely works and a lot of people are having problems with it. I would love to get a 32 gig s4 but do you guys think I should wait for something else to come out later this year? I

It is definitely worth the upgrade in my own opinion. The battery life excellent. I am getting 6 hrs screen time vs the 8 I got on the note 2. The screen is gorgeous and not too small. Works great 1 handed. Features are a bit gimmicky but I do like the air gesture and air view. The camera was the biggest selling point to me. Feature rich and fantastic images.

Absolutely, no question in my mind. Battery life is amazing, camera is superb, and even the sound quality out of the speakers is surprisingly excellent. And not to get snarky, but does your iPhone scroll down automatically just by reading your eye motion as you read a webpage? Because my S4 does .
I'll put it this way: I'm a mobile dev, and usually the first thing I do with a new mobile device is go home and root it. I was so happy with my S4 that in the week I've had it I haven't had any inclination at all to make any additional customizations. I'll do it eventually to get rid of some of the bloatware, but the UI is so satisfying out of the box that I don't think I'll ever bother adding a custom ROM or anything like that.
Happy shopping!
Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

Starbuck 0507 said:
the first thing I do with a new mobile device is go home and root it. I was so happy with my S4 that in the week I've had it I haven't had any inclination at all to make any additional customizations.
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Same here. Everything I want this phone to do, it does. I don't have the need to root to gain any features that isn't there in stock firmware.
Beyond that, I'm pretty much just echoing the sentiments of those above. Battery life is excellent (today I'm getting about 6 hours screen on time with an hour of voice calls and plenty of WiFi usage), the hardware is just fantastic and I'm even warming up to TouchWiz, which I hated in the past. It's nice to be able to use my phone and not instantly worry about how I'm affecting my battery life for the rest of the day.

I have 4 upgrades, so I figured why not. The 1080p is a very noticeable step-up and the SoC is very powerful compared to S3 or other phones, except HTC One and Sony Xperia ZL.

MistaBojangles said:
Sony Xperia ZL.
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The S4 kills the Xperia ZL in performance haha. As for the HTC One... DDR3 vs DDR2
(disclaimer: not trying to start a phone comparison war here)
On Topic: The S4 is a great device and it's worth the upgrade from any phone!

I'm definitely going to get the s4! Everyone sold me on it. But rumors are there's going to be a GS4 zoom with a 16MP camera and a GS4 Activ which is dust proof and water proof. So hard to decide! Lol

[Q] Considering a Nexus 4, a few questions for long time N4 owners

Considering picking up a Nexus 4 and would love to hear some pros and cons from long time users of the N4 on XDA that have had the phone for months now, and their real-world usage and opinion (like how the performance/battery holds up after x months of use). I also wouldn't mind hearing about comparisons to other phones with regards to performance if other N4 owner have/use other phones, older or new.
Some background info:
I'm coming from a 2010 HTC Windows Phone, so I'll probably be blown away by what a 2012/2013ish phone hardware is like. WP7 on my HTC HD7 still runs very fast/smoothly in the core OS experience, but once you get to 3rd party app load times on startup, it becomes painful. On top of that MS has all but abandoned WP7, and features-wise, its seriously dated and missing key basic but essential features of smartphone OS's, like ahem orientation lock and a more modern mobile web browser, not even 3rd party apps can help there.

Like you said any 2012/13 phone will amaze you from the phone you have now. You might not even notice the differences between all these new phones.
The closest comparison to this phone would be the s3.
nexus 4 slightly outperforms the s3, you would most notice the smoothness between the two. Battery life, they're roughly the same, except if you use your phone a lot... like extensively than the better choice is the s3. Camera is also better on the s3. Storage goes to s3. But I feel the nexus is the more complete phone... I guess you can say less hiccups.
I would probably choose s4 and htc one over nexus though. Haven't played with them yet, but simply because they're newer lol
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

I love my n4. I'm not a "long time" owner being 2 weeks of owning it, but I'll tell you I love it. I came from a One X running a custom rom and it didn't compare to the speed of the stock n4. It may be a dual core vs quad but still, aosp is just fantastic. Battery is pretty good I'd say. It gets through the day, I'll show some pictures. The lack of LTE and storage isn't a big deal to me because all my music is coming from the cloud and HSPA is fast enough. I haven't even switched to the HSPA+ plan yet because lazy. However, it doesn't play music near as loud as my One X through headphones, but they have a mod for that.
Oh and it charges pretty fast.
Sent from my fridge using XDA Premium

I love my n4. I'm not a "long time" owner being 2 weeks of owning it, but I'll tell you I love it. I came from a One X running a custom rom and it didn't compare to the speed of the stock n4. It may be a dual core vs quad but still, aosp is just fantastic. Battery is pretty good I'd say. It gets through the day, I'll show some pictures. The lack of LTE and storage isn't a big deal to me because all my music is coming from the cloud and HSPA is fast enough. I haven't even switched to the HSPA+ plan yet because lazy. However, it doesn't play music near as loud as my One X through headphones, but they have a mod for that.
Oh and it charges pretty fast.
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Nexus all the way. It's been a little less than a month of owning it, and it's great. Everything works like it's supposed to work, custom ROMs are easy to install, and I unlocked the bootloader/rooted it in a little less than an hour.

I got mine since december of the past year, and I love it more than ever, looks amazing, runs smooth, can run any game without lag, it fit my needs.
I must warn you to be careful don't drop it
My sister have an galaxy s3 and honestly the Nexus 4 is at higher level

I have the S3 and Nexus 4 and Whereas I love my S3, the N4 is the better phone all around. The S3 has it's better things like storage, LTE, S Calendar, OMLEAD (sp.) Screen (where black background takes no power but on N4 it does) and the camera. The camera is by far the best. Beats the heck out of N4 so if you take alot of pics, you'll want the S3. The N4 does okay on its camera but is no where near S3. BUT...performance wise, the N4 wins, hands down. ASOP is better in my opinion as some of these custome UI's really take a lot of power, etc. Plus, for $350, you get a highend phone for a midrange price. It's a no brainer in my opinion.

I'm happy with my N4. If you need an unlocked phone, for the price you seriously can't beat it. If price is no issue, I agree with Teo032 and I'd go with S4 or HTC One based on hardware.
The one thing about the N4 I'm still getting used to is the lack of storage size. I STRONGLY suggest getting the 16 GB. I got the 8 and I would totally pay $50 for another 8 gigs. I think it currently comes with a free bumper, if not, get one, they're actually pretty cool and my N4 kept slidding off crap because the screen is so smooth.
Good luck!

Nearing two months here. Upgraded from the LG Optimus 2X, the world's first dual core Android.
I absolutely love my N4. For the price it's a steal. The performance just blows me away (I am running CyanogenMod, not overclocked) compared to my old phone which had s**tty drivers and often had lag spikes even with overclocking.
If you compare the N4 to a stock unrooted Galaxy S4 or HTC One (the two powerhouses of 2013), you will actually find that when exiting apps and going around the home screens, the N4 is faster than either phone, because those two powerhouses have to deal with the overhead of rendering an ugly custom skin that adds no value Of course when actually inside an app those two phones will be the performance kings, but the N4 is no slouch either - it nails pretty much every game I throw at it.
These are the only real reasons to forgo the N4 in favour of something else:
1. You have the $$$ and want better build quality
2. You can't live with only 16 GB of internal storage, non-expandable
3. You like having a removable battery (or at least a removable cover to make accessing the SIM easier)
4. You want officially supported LTE that isn't 1700 Mhz
5. You think 4.7" is too big (a fair reason) and want something more compact.
If none of those points apply to you, then by all means, GET THE NEXUS 4!!! Also as a bonus you can load on a Metro UI skin if you miss WP

It's been like ~2 months now, and as most lads above I can sincerely say that it was the best choice possible at the moment (still is imo). Seeing that I simply agree with most of whats above this post, peformance wise n stuff, ill poke it from another point of view. Being an iphone4 user (jailbroken of course), the very first time I had the chance to fiddle with the nexus4 - it stole my heart completely. Versatility is just beyond any limits and if youre looking for a smart purchase, good performance/price ratio AND quality product - N4 is the best choice possible right now. The reason ive been using an iphone for quite a bit was actually lack of android based quality products (well, apart from a couple of htc's maybe ). It is crucial for me since I hate using a phone that reminds me of a plastic toy. N4 is the perfect solution in this case - official android based product combined with decent materials. You have to keep in mind though - it is a fragile piece of equipment and if you have like slippery hands (lol) or simply drop the phone pretty (too ) often - you must get yourself a case/bumper (i would recommend a piece of screen/back protector as well) cuz it might hurt if it bangs the floor

The Best...just saying

I have it for a long time and i must say its a nice phone.
You must be aware tho that there are random wifi issues on this phone that will probably be corrected with a system update.
The stock rom is ok and the stock google kernel uses the perf. branch so do not expect great battery life on stock even when the phone's idle.
A protective case is required or you will screw the back glass easily.
Photosphere is a nice feature included on the phone.
Phone overheats easily
You see the digitizer on screen
But its a great phone and im happy with it. Nothing would beat the galaxy s2 i had lol
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Ordered mine on day one and received it the following week. I came from an iPhone.
I have had no issues other than Android itself. Some of it is half baked, and fixes can be non-existent. Battery life is OK if you come to the conclusion that some apps are the main cause of poor battery life on Android... it is a bit of a free for all here. I have seen significant improvement since installing Qualcomm's Battery Guru. I have seen 13.5 hours on battery with 2hr 46min screen time and 50% battery left. While it ain't quite an iPhone, it is more than sufficient.
The phone is very poorly documented and much of how it works is a "discovery by braille" experience. The stock mail client is unusable for business... thankfully I found a better one (AquaMail). The little speaker on the back is useless. I mean USELESS.
If I had it to do over again I don't think I'd do anything differently. The only other phone I would consider at this point is the HTC One (almost twice the price). At $350 I am very comfortable using my phone and not worrying about damaging/losing it. If I toast it it is not that big a deal to replace it (unlike the $600-$800 for some competing phones). It does almost everything well, and the little rough spots are minor. I do miss the accessory/software ecosystem that is iOS, but at this point I think I would miss widgets and the open file system even more.

As far as aging goes, I've had mine for a while and it's stood the test of time. My battery life has only gotten better and better, but that's mostly due to constantly improving custom kernels (I use Faux123's). It plays all the games out there. The only drawback is storage.
Sent from an N4 blessed with AOKP and sanctified by Faux123!

Why haven't you changed phone yet?

Curious to see why all fellow members haven't changed from their SGS3 to a newer phone.
In my case, I still haven't found a phone that is at least 2x superior in every aspect. The SGS3 still has a very good camera, big HD screen, 1080P video recording, lots of storage (48GB in mine), Android 4.3, etc.
I tried the Nexus 5 recently but ended returning it. The vibration and Wi-Fi signal were very weak. They were worse than on my SGS3. Also had the microphone audio problem when recording videos. Screen was great. Camera was worse than my SGS3. The overall tone and colors were darker and pictures were a downgrade. I'm still amazed at the picture quality of my SGS3. It takes great pictures, and I like having the peace of mind of having enough storage to shoot 100 minutes of 1080P video (I do record a LOT of videos using my phone).
Also battery on the Nexus 5 is not such a big improvement. It's better, but I would have preferred to upgrade to 3000 battery and maybe a 13Mpx camera.
Only thing I dislike of my SGS3 is the speed animation and fluidity. Animations are not consistent. I tried turning animations off but don't like it either. I've also tried CM11 and it's good, but still animations are not 100% consistent and quick.
So what about all of you? Why are you still using your SGS3 and haven't upgrade?
I will wait for SGS5 and LG G3.

Sensamic said:
Curious to see why all fellow members haven't changed from their SGS3 to a newer phone.
In my case, I still haven't found a phone that is at least 2x superior in every aspect. The SGS3 still has a very good camera, big HD screen, 1080P video recording, lots of storage (48GB in mine), Android 4.3, etc.
I tried the Nexus 5 recently but ended returning it. The vibration and Wi-Fi signal were very weak. They were worse than on my SGS3. Also had the microphone audio problem when recording videos. Screen was great. Camera was worse than my SGS3. The overall tone and colors were darker and pictures were a downgrade. I'm still amazed at the picture quality of my SGS3. It takes great pictures, and I like having the peace of mind of having enough storage to shoot 100 minutes of 1080P video (I do record a LOT of videos using my phone).
Also battery on the Nexus 5 is not such a big improvement. It's better, but I would have preferred to upgrade to 3000 battery and maybe a 13Mpx camera.
Only thing I dislike of my SGS3 is the speed animation and fluidity. Animations are not consistent. I tried turning animations off but don't like it either. I've also tried CM11 and it's good, but still animations are not 100% consistent and quick.
So what about all of you? Why are you still using your SGS3 and haven't upgrade?
I will wait for SGS5 and LG G3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've paid 600€ for my s3... And the next time im gonna paid so much money for a smartphone it must be the ultimate high end smartphone.. At the moment there is no Phone i would buy.. Maybe Note 3 But better wait for s5.... And i defenitly stay on Samsung.. Best Displays for.. Hardware is top.. Only the Software could be better.. And if you drop ur smartphone often u gonna like the plastic .. Also Samsung is the Only one Who still bring update for a 2 years old device.. (Google too But dont like their devices.).. So I am Lucky with my s3.. Still Stock Sammy look and firmware... No issues with the Phone even i have an insane Chip..
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Because it's still being a very good option comparing it with other phones. I will wait for S5 or a Nexus.....

I'm still locked in my contract until June, also there's nothing that exciting right now.
In June the S5 will probably be out, but I'm reluctant to buy Samsung again with the Knox BS, so I'll see what I can get.

It's a solid device
Like other posters said, the performance gap between an S3 and say a Nexus 5 isn't really enough to justify a new expensive handset. I'll reconsider later in the year when the Nexus 6 is announced.
The replaceable battery and SD card have really made a difference that I didn't expect (I only got the S3 as an insurance replacement for Nexus 4). It would be hard to give them up.
The S3 is still very popular worldwide so there is a solid dev scene - example OmniROM - which means I don't really miss out too much on a Nexus device.

i dont like the direction phones are being designed, everyone is putting HD or UHD screens on phones (read: overkill), faster hardware to match, most getting too big also, battery usually stays the same in terms of how much you can actually use your phone...
would only wish for lil more horsepower on s3 gpu and it would be a perfect phone

S3 could be the successor to the HD2, nearly 5 years old and still being developed.
As many people updating to the S4 find, it's no fun owning one on your own -developer support is everything and the S3 has such a huge user base
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No money to afford it
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app

here in brazil phones are very expensive

Because I paid 40k (indian rupees) for it:laugh:
Anyway the device is still pretty solid overall with no major limitations and awesome dev support. I think i will consider upgrading it when Note 4 comes, I will buy the, then cheaper Note 3 :highfive:

No need, still works like a charm. I don't see anything compelling for me to upgrade, I'll be keeping this for a couple more years easily.

Because bought it half year ago lol,with contract. And I won't have money after the contract will end to buy a new phone,so I think I will stay with this one for 2 or maybe even more years.
But S3 is the world's best selling phone. It's popular,huge user base,it has one of the best development support,and S3 is already fast enough in real world performance and even new games,so I don't need a new expensive phone to just do the same I do in my S3 but have A LITTLE smoother animations.

Because I was saving money for vaction and on top of that, the S3 is still a very solid performer. So there was no real need to upgrade. The ROM developments are active, it has Android 4.3, and the screen is still awesome. I will be changing phone this year though, most likely to the S5.

Simply because my SGS3 is so fast with Nova Launcher, it has great battery life, a pretty good camera and every app I want to use works perfectly fine with it. I only upgrade when the apps I want to use do not run or run bad, or when my phone dies of course
I had the SGS1 before this, I really felt the urge of upgrading when the SGS3 came out, but now I never even thought about upgrading.
EDIT:
Also, when 4G gets mainstream (read:affordable) I will probably want to upgrade, but only if there are proper 4G phones that work on practically all 4G bands. That is a feature that might get me to buy a new phone, as you will get real internet which can be used to properly video call and game on the go.

Coming from the s3 lte to a note 3. The difference is huge but not praticle. I love the note 3 but in some ways the s3 lte was just perfect. Had great size, speed and also every app was designed on it.
Like even mc4 is optimized on the s3 but not the note 3. So we don't get the good graphics.
Anyways everyone stay with the s3 till it dies
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Ive had mine for 1 and a half year and i see little incentive in changing it. Buying it for almost 65k Pak rupees and now finding the resale is less than 40% of that value, Maybe 25k for one in perfect condition, but going as low as 10k if it has a damaged screen as mine which is absolute rubbish.
Its a legendary phone that started the high end smartphone battle. Its just a pity about the electronic wastage that goes on, in 1 year a device can not only become old and outdated but turn into an antique, a term that used to be used for being decades old. Camera never ceases to amaze, half HD and full HD screens look the same if your not holding it close to your face and focusing on the pixels.
Battery? Smoothness? I can say my s3 feels just as fast if not faster than the s4 and note 3. The great dev support is pushing battery and performance capabilities to never before seen limits. Theme changes make you believe you own a new phone. In the case of the S4/note3 roms, you are convinced you have an S4/note3 as in S4 Revolution or Glamour S4/Note3.
The cool gimmicky but useless features you might ask about? Smart Pause/Smart Scroll have already been ported. The Note 3's air command is hardly hardware related, and could show up in a few months if not less. So we got all and ever more that we need from our S3.
Im proud to have an S3.

Because my work pays for my phones, i get 230 euro a year to get phone for, if i don't buy one i can save the money so the year after have 510 euro to buy a phone for. So i´m saving money right now

I don't see any reason to buy a new phone other than a old gpu in s3, but i'm sure it'll run fine for next 1 year

To be honest, custom samsung roms 4.3 made me not want to change so soon. Before that, phone was really bad. Lagfest with 4.1 with no ability to multitask. Aosp melted way to much battery for my liking. With 4.3 I got some of the multitasking power back, nearly no lag and very good battery. If it dies, i'll get a nexus 5 as it's the best bang for the buck. If not, I'll stick around. Depending on samsung with their knox tech though, the day they shove such crap down my throat is the day they lose me as a client.
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I am seriously still with my Galaxy S2!!
This is because it worked great, until now ;P
I hope I switch soon to OPPO's new winner, or cyanogenmods new phone !