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In a bit of a dilemma between the GNex and the N4

Right now, I have an Xperia X8. I've had this phone for over a year, and it's my first smartphone ever. During this year, I've flashed a lot so I know the basics around that stuff. And that's why I fell in love with Nexus phones. No possibilities of bricking your phone with just simply unlocking your bootloader (which I've done with my X8 once) and stuff like that.
Problem is, I currently live in Macedonia. Here, the new GNex costs 300 euros with a one year warranty. There's still no Nexus 4 here, but my friend's dad is in the US right now, and he may be able to buy one for me, but he'll be back here in about 2 months. And I can get the GNex in less than a week here. I already have the money as well. If he buys the Nexus 4 for me from the US, it'll cost about 300-320 euros. So the price is pretty much the same.
Now here's the problem: I don't know if I should wait for the Nexus 4, or just buy the GNex. I've been really impatient about buying a new phone. My brother bought a GNex a couple of weeks ago, and it's really good, especially for my standards.
The Nexus 4 is basically a performance upgrade, but mostly in heavy gaming. And I'm not really a heavy gamer. I only play small games like Temple Run and stuff like that, and not so frequently. And those run very smoothly in my brother's GNex. Even NFS:MW runs smoothly, and it's a heavy game.
What I don't like about the N4 though, is the fact that it's completely made of glass and there's a big chance I can break it. Plus, if I buy it from the US, the charger won't be compatible here. And I'm afraid that if I use some other one, it may not be good for the phone's battery. But that's just a theory of mine, not sure if it's actually true. And I've read that many people have had to exchange their original shipments because of some hardware factory bugs. And there's no possible way I can exchange mine.
Your input would be greatly appreciated. I really have no idea what to do. I'm leaning more towards the GNex though.
TLDR: Have to wait 2 months for Nexus 4, and less than a week for a new GNex. Same price here. Which one should I buy?

I was in the same situation 2 months ago. My two brothers have the Gnexus and I decided to wait for the N4, i had a friend in the US and asked them to order one. I waited impatiently for 1 month(it actually got delivered 10 days after i placed the order, but i had to wait another 3 weeks for the guy to come back to Jordan).
Anyway watching reviews/comparisons between the Gnex and N4 I thought they are almost identical, i thought the N4 is just a minor upgrade at best. Now whenever i look at the Gnex or hold the two phones in my hand i know for sure I made the right decision. The N4 performs quite better and is snappier in general, the Gnex screen looks pixelated and blurred compared to the N4's. Also it looks better and feels better in the hand, plus the 2GB of RAM is a huge advantage.
Thats my opinion , so I say wait for the N4 and hopefully you wont regret it.
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Having owned both I would wait for the n4. Better screen, better hardware, feels and looks better, and it will receive support from Google a bit longer than the GNex. Just protect that back glass on the n4.
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Nexus 4 is better in every way

I can't understand why you would get a "dated" model, when you can get a new one that's better in every point of view. Nexus 4 is one helluva phone and at least 50% of issues you're reading about here, are a bit over exaggerated imho. Go for it.
EDIT: And don't order it from the US, wait till it arrives to your country, they're just beginning to come back to stock..

Get the Nexus 4! I've had both and it's a safe bet to wait and grab the N4!
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The gnex isn't made completely if glass, the Nexus 4 is.
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the only thing you would need to ask yourself is, do i want to wait ?
also what will you be doing on the phone ?
do you need the quad core/ 2gb ram ? compared to the gnex ?
u want removable battery or no ?
you want IPS screen or AMOLED ?
price obviously isnt a problem
its just your preferences.
overall the nexus 4 is of course better than the gnex.
But the gnex is still an amazin phone

The N4 is better in every way for sure, but my concern would the warranty and tech support. The defect rate for the N4 seems high. I had to do an RMA once and the second unit's wallet app doesn't work out of the box. Had to deal with Google support over a period of two weeks. Don't know how well the N4 is supported in your country, but you may want to take that into account.
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moses992 said:
I was in the same situation 2 months ago. My two brothers have the Gnexus and I decided to wait for the N4, i had a friend in the US and asked them to order one. I waited impatiently for 1 month(it actually got delivered 10 days after i placed the order, but i had to wait another 3 weeks for the guy to come back to Jordan).
Anyway watching reviews/comparisons between the Gnex and N4 I thought they are almost identical, i thought the N4 is just a minor upgrade at best. Now whenever i look at the Gnex or hold the two phones in my hand i know for sure I made the right decision. The N4 performs quite better and is snappier in general, the Gnex screen looks pixelated and blurred compared to the N4's. Also it looks better and feels better in the hand, plus the 2GB of RAM is a huge advantage.
Thats my opinion , so I say wait for the N4 and hopefully you wont regret it.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
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That's amazing. That post was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks a lot man!
0rigin said:
I can't understand why you would get a "dated" model, when you can get a new one that's better in every point of view. Nexus 4 is one helluva phone and at least 50% of issues you're reading about here, are a bit over exaggerated imho. Go for it.
EDIT: And don't order it from the US, wait till it arrives to your country, they're just beginning to come back to stock..
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I just saw that they brought a Nexus 4 in one of our mobile network providers or whatever you call those, but it's going to cost like 500 euros. Unfortunately I don't have that kind of money...
joshnichols189 said:
The gnex isn't made completely if glass, the Nexus 4 is.
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Yeah I meant the N4, just a typo. Fixed it now.
HellBunny said:
The N4 is better in every way for sure, but my concern would the warranty and tech support. The defect rate for the N4 seems high. I had to do an RMA once and the second unit's wallet app doesn't work out of the box. Had to deal with Google support over a period of two weeks. Don't know how well the N4 is supported in your country, but you may want to take that into account.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
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Yeah, the warranty is a huge problem. Well, not the actual one year warranty as much as the fear of getting a defected phone and not being able to exchange it due to the phone already being brought back to my country. But, the above posts suggest that I shouldn't worry about that. Why did you have to do an RMA the first time? I don't use Google Wallet so I don't really care about that.

edinchez said:
Yeah, the warranty is a huge problem. Well, not the actual one year warranty as much as the fear of getting a defected phone and not being able to exchange it due to the phone already being brought back to my country. But, the above posts suggest that I shouldn't worry about that. Why did you have to do an RMA the first time? I don't use Google Wallet so I don't really care about that.
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The first phone had a busted ear piece. You can hear constant buzzing no matter you are on a call or not. It also had bad crackling sound (like a blown speaker) while on call. There is a thread about that. Seems to be quite common, at least among early hardware revision.
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HellBunny said:
The first phone had a busted ear piece. You can hear constant buzzing no matter you are on a call or not. It also had bad crackling sound (like a blown speaker) while on call. There is a thread about that. Seems to be quite common, at least among early hardware revision.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
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Ah. Well, that's sucks! Anyway, thanks a lot for your reply.

Back when i lived in Australia, i used the service, comgateway.com to get US only items shipped to me(they create a pseudo address for you at their warehouse) . That's how i got my nexus one and galaxy nexus. It only cost 30aud to ship it and it got there in less than a week. I don't know if they ship to Macedonia, but you can sure find out. Save waiting months.

Wait for the Nexus 4
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Sv: In a bit of a dilemma between the GNex and the N4
Definately wait for Nexus 4
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Wait, man. Seriously, there's a night and day difference between the GNEX and N4 when you hold them and use them in your hands.
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Is the N4 worth buying at this time?

Hey all, been rocking a Galaxy Note for about six months or so after unloading an iphone. Very pleased with my Note...love the screen size...but have to admit it's large size can be a bit of a hindrance at times. Have been seriously considering switching to a Nexus 4 which is what I originally wanted but was back ordered for too long. Problem is I'm torn on picking up what I believe is a great phone versus waiting another 6 months for the Nexus 5. I know the SG4 and HTC One are coming soon, but I have to admit, I really want stock Android without all the extra features which I find useless. Basically, is the N4 still worth purchasing? Or is it a foolish move this late in the cycle?
Thanks!

Htc One, not a major inovation.
Galaxy S4- they ran out of ideas.
I think the Nexus is still worth it, especially now, when its price went down a bit.

I was actually in a close situation about 2 weeks ago. I was basically up to get a new phone and was looking around for what to get. I wanted the Nexus 4 since launch, but my impressions of AT&T (the only provider in my area that is GSM) weren't good and I wanted to stick with Verizon. After months of waiting, I finally narrowed it down to waiting for the Galaxy S4 and signing a contract with the (again, opinion) superior service provider Verizon or switching to AT&T and staying off-contract with the cheaper phone with comparable specs. There was also the possibility of waiting for the next Nexus to come out (Nexus 5?) when it does.
Well, I decided on the Nexus 4 on AT&T and haven't looked back. I couldn't be happier. As far as Nexus 4 vs Galaxy S4 and HTC One is concerned, I am more than happy with my decision. The hardware is amazing, but the main reasons I'm so happy is the vanilla Android and the community. I love how Google really doesn't care about rooting and modding (it's like 1 or 2 commands in a command window to unlock the bootloader, that's awesome). Then there are forums like this that help you with stuff. Yeah, there are Galaxy S3 sections and they are helpful, but I just feel that the Nexus 4 forums are....I dunno...more friendly? more helpful? I don't know how to put it, but I just like the community better.
Now on the debate of getting a Nexus 4 now or waiting for the next one to come out. I actually liked being 6 months into the release. That way, you avoid back-order issues, and everyone has had time to develop and fix issues with ROMs and whatnot. 6 months in, all you have to do is read a "Nexus 4 101" sticky thread and they have step by step instructions for completely customizing/flashing/etc. it. I will probably continue waiting 6 months after release to buy a new Nexus phone for those two reasons.
Well there's my two cents. Feel free to consider it.

Thanks guys. Appreciate the insights.
Johmama, sounds like we're in very similar situations. After giving up on the N4 and going with the Note a few months ago, I made the switch from Verizon to Straight Talk. While it's not perfect service, it's 1/3 the monthly bill which allows me to forgive the occasional issue. That also is why I'm strictly debating N4 vs. N5 now. The purchase price of the Nexus line makes it very affordable compared to $650+ for the other options. Basically, by the time I unload my Note and accessories, it should be a pretty even swap, so cost isn't an issue. Just wanted to know if the device is still considered a smart buy. Seems like most are more than happy with it, so I think I'll make the jump.
Again, thanks for the help.

I came from the DNA, and was planning on just keeping this till ONE is released, but I'm keeping it. Sure I miss the screen size a bit, but I love this phone and am thinking I'm only gonna be a Nexus guy from now on. Its worth it. Also having good dev support is way cool
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big70tom said:
I came from the DNA, and was planning on just keeping this till ONE is released, but I'm keeping it. Sure I miss the screen size a bit, but I love this phone and am thinking I'm only gonna be a Nexus guy from now on. Its worth it. Also having good dev support is way cool
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Same for me! This phone is simply awesome! I have it for 6 weeks now and I really love it! Screen size, resolution, amazing hardware, amazing software, no bloatware,... Nexus is the way to go!
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I just got my phone couple weeks ago cause I got a fabulous day on Craigslist. Full well knowing the HTC One is coming out I could easily sell this for a profit but decided this phone is not $300 less of a phone then the HTC One.
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Get it while its still hot! but be careful when you hold it!

Nexus 4 or wait

Come to the end of my s2s contract and im looking at changing, had my eye on the n4 for a while and I was holding out for a big announcement at the recent i/o either for more storage or even a n5 release, sadly nothing but an expensive stripped down s4 that wont as yet be coming to the uk. So what should i do? Grab a n4 now with its super low price and accept that it might get replaced in 6 months or hold out for hopefully a n5 announcement that might not come for a while and might bring with it a price hike?
Opinions on my dilemma please guys

I would get the nexus 4... It's a great phone and will last atleast another year or year and a half. This is hands down the best android device I've ever owned.
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hegemytouch said:
I would get the nexus 4... It's a great phone and will last atleast another year or year and a half. This is hands down the best android device I've ever owned.
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What he said :thumbup:
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stuiegreen said:
Come to the end of my s2s contract and im looking at changing, had my eye on the n4 for a while and I was holding out for a big announcement at the recent i/o either for more storage or even a n5 release, sadly nothing but an expensive stripped down s4 that wont as yet be coming to the uk. So what should i do? Grab a n4 now with its super low price and accept that it might get replaced in 6 months or hold out for hopefully a n5 announcement that might not come for a while and might bring with it a price hike?
Opinions on my dilemma please guys
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Get the N4, don't renew your contract with your carrier. The N4 is an awesome device, and while it may not be as powerful as the S4 in terms of raw power, I've never found myself wanting more.
ALSO, it is very important to note that the Nexus devices hold their value almost as well as iPhones. If a N5 comes out in 6 months or a year, you will still be able to resell your N4 for almost as much as you paid for it. The N4 has been out for 6 months now, and is selling used for exactly what it sells new.

Do you recommend the N4 now?

Hi,
due to the recent price drop I really think about buying one.
My GF needs a new phone and I want to give her one this christmas. But she may get an "old" IPhone 4 from her parents.
So I thought maybe I buy the N4 now and use it myself till then. If she gets the IPhone 4 then I'll just keep it myself.
I wonder if that is a good idea. I'm still on NexusOne to the day and actually would not need a new phone unless it breaks down.
I mean if there will actually be a cheaper IPhone version, that would probably strengthen competition and we might see cheaper Android phones that don't suck.
If Google just sells out its N4 stock I and I'm not buying now I might miss a great chance for a cheap but great phone, right?
Would you buy now in this case?
What are the problems of the N4? I mean besides the unchangeable batterie and non-extendable memory?

DarsVaeda said:
Hi,
due to the recent price drop I really think about buying one.
My GF needs a new phone and I want to give her one this christmas. But she may get an "old" IPhone 4 from her parents.
So I thought maybe I buy the N4 now and use it myself till then. If she gets the IPhone 4 then I'll just keep it myself.
I wonder if that is a good idea. I'm still on NexusOne to the day and actually would not need a new phone unless it breaks down.
I mean if there will actually be a cheaper IPhone version, that would probably strengthen competition and we might see cheaper Android phones that don't suck.
If Google just sells out its N4 stock I and I'm not buying now I might miss a great chance for a cheap but great phone, right?
Would you buy now in this case?
What are the problems of the N4? I mean besides the unchangeable batterie and non-extendable memory?
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Mate, you missed the party Just wait for the N5. Allthough if you want a good phone for a very very low price this is the one to buy.

At $250 for 16gb? Yeah, jump on it. If it comes to it you can always resell it for $150-175 when N5 comes out.

You won't get the thrill if you get it now. Rather wait for the new one.
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Thanks, to be clear: this is not for people who want the top notch phone and pay dozens of dollars for it. I opened this thread for people that want to get a good phone at a reasonable price. And due to the recent events might consider the N4 now

If you dont want to wait for a possible nexus 5/2013 nexus 4 then yes I would recommend getting it. This phone is amazing and even more so now with the price cut. You're getting a good phone spec wise off contract for the price of any other on contract priced phone. IMO that's a great deal. I've had mine for about five months now and still love it. One of the best phones I've ever used.

The price cut make it really attractive, even if it is a bit old in today's standard.
Seriously, it is an unbeatable price/performance device at the moment.
Since we don't know exactly when the next Nexus will be announced and we also don't know what will be it's pricing, the Nexus 4 is very tempting. This device is so stable, reliable and Smooth.
The only part that is not very good is the camera, it's ok when you know how to use it properly, but it could be better. But, why would I complain for a device that is sold at 199$ when all others are sold at 500$+

YES !
sent from the state where marijuana is NOT illegal !!

Depends on how much after tax, I would just wait for next one at this point.
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And it has slimport/qi charging too
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I suggest getting it now, Because the prices are now a LOT CHEAPER!

Nexus 4 has no value anymore

Hey. So im trying to sell my nexus 4 to get a nexus 5. The highest offer i have gotten is about a hundred bucks. I know the value dropped because of the N5 but i didnt think it was that bad. Anyone else experiencing this?
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No. I put mine on the market to see what I could fetch. Someone offered 230 so value hasn't dropped off that much. Give it time. Also, ask this in Q&A next time.
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xZip- said:
Hey. So im trying to sell my nexus 4 to get a nexus 5. The highest offer i have gotten is about a hundred bucks. I know the value dropped because of the N5 but i didnt think it was that bad. Anyone else experiencing this?
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I've try to sell mine for 250 €, and i've get a lot of people interested..

Really? Where are you posting them to get such offers?
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xZip- said:
Really? Where are you posting them to get such offers?
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I live in France, and I've just stick a paper which say that I sell it for 250€ on the ground floor of my building, and I've got a lot of call that day, but i've denied all, I think the nexus 5 doesn't worth it, maybe I'd buy it later, but for now ... no

Washington DC. Honestly you just have to be patient. I put it up with the idea of getting a Nexus 5, but the update just isn't worth it yet. Battery life is on par with this phone, which is my main concern.
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Anyone offering you below 200 Bucks doesn't know the first thing about this phone to be honest.
Or they know exactly what it's worth but try to haggle you down in order to resell it for a profit.
Long story short, don't sell for less than 200 if you really mean it.

$100? No way. I wouldn't even sell it for $150.
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They seem to be selling for $200-250 on eBay right now.
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How much do you expect to get from a phone that sold for 299 and 349 brand new? Your money back? You wish. :crying:

ismethajametovic said:
How much do you expect to get from a phone that sold for 299 and 349 brand new? Your money back? You wish. :crying:
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I bought two of them for $249 brand new, while some people were selling used for $240. Yeah right! $10 savings, what a deal!
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This thread is a disappointment, I came here with my flame hat on just to discuss resale value.
Doesn't matter, it's still valuable for me because its still fast and function perfectly. If you buy a phone for its resale value, don't buy Nexus, get the latest iPhone instead.
I do like how the Galaxy Nexus is finally lowering in price, what a steal for $150 and install KitKat on it. I rather have affordable Nexus and it help drive down the unrealistic price for flagship devices as well.

eksasol said:
This thread is a disappointment, I came here with my flame hat on just to discuss resale value.
Doesn't matter, it's still valuable for me because its still fast and function perfectly. If you buy a phone for its resale value, don't buy Nexus, get the latest iPhone instead.
I do like how the Galaxy Nexus is finally lowering in price, what a steal for $150 and install KitKat on it. I rather have affordable Nexus and it help drive down the unrealistic price for flagship devices as well.
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Keep the hat on.
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Value? Are we talking about value or market value? I have a nexus 4 for some time now and I can assure It has economical value but, even more, an special value for me. For me was incredible to join this nexus family after selling my nexus 7 (I wasn't using it too much so I sold it).
I bought a Google phone for 299€. It had 4.2.1 when I got it, and it was the smoothest phone in the market. The design was amazing, simple, black, as google likes, with an amazing glass back case. The screen was sooo big compared with my xperia arc s (which was also big) and we could think it was going to have a worse resolution, but that xxxxxxhdpi 768 x 1280 pixel IPS LCD screen got me when it booted for the first time. A good 8mpx camera, a worse internal one, but not everything was going to be perfect. Anyway I made some amazing pics and good 1080p HD videos. An very powerful quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.5GHz combined with 2GB RAM did the rest. The adreno 320 graphic processor did the rest of the job when playing whatever games, and I was still noticing zero lag. When I learnt how to use it, the battery was good enough for me, and now even more with kit kat. I got latest features in a moment when NFC was just a concept, and just for 299€...
don't u think this is valuable?
Even if u compare it with the best phones out there, the nexus 4, after some time, is still amazing, gets latest updates and.... yes, it's in my opinion the most economical phone in the market.
This phone is valuable, and has an incredible value for me, because made me jump into another android level.

The real problem is Google kinda screwed us by selling the phone for 199/249 for like 3 days because people say, oh I could've bought a new one for 199.
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Just because someone tried to lowball you, you assume the n4 has no more value lol...

To be honest I'm not interested in getting the nexus5. It wasn't improved enough for me to switch yet.
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i was thinking of selling and buying n5 too but i thought then i would be paying 200 on top of what i got for a phone that does nothing better than my current one
dont get me wrong n5 is incredible but if u already have the awesome n4 it doesnt make much sense to buy a new phone except to get the "latest"
Trolololed from my iPhone 5S

The N4 is so cheap to buy brand new that it is essentially disposable. I wouldn't go through the hassle of selling it just for $150-200, even if I get a new phone. I would just keep it as a backup and/or learn more about Android modding/development.

Selling a phone with our phone's specs for 200$ should be ilegal.
My brother got a new nexus 5 and I can assure you it is not worth it. It is better? Yes, of course, nobody is going to doubt that, so, if you have money and you like mobile phones yes, buy it, it is a great phone. If you, like me, aren't rich and have a nexus 4 please DON'T sell it for less than... 400$ (which is impossible) which should be it's real value. Trust me... our 4.4 binaries will arrive, and if you have the possibility to have a n4 and a n5 in both hands you will see that isn't worth it...