I've had a chance to play around with the Nexus 4 for about a week now and I'm ready to give my full review on it.
Display:
The Nexus 4 has one of, if not the most, beautiful displays on any device I have every used. I know the word "retina" is thrown around a lot, but seriously this display is absolutely gorgeous, especially on full brightness. The viewing angles are the highest of any device i have ever used. Text is crisp on any app you use and I have still not seen any pixels. I have read that the One X's display is better, but since I have never used it, I cannot say if it is or not. But anyway, this screen is so bright and vivid and the colors really do pop. I wish the navigation bar buttons did not take up so much room or if the entire bezel was used for the screen, because, in my opinion, they take up too much space.
Design:
I believe this phone has the best design out of any phone in existence, The front is very flush and when the screen is off, you cannot even tell where it ends and where the screen begins. The rubber like band around the phone makes it very grippy and does not slip out of the hand. The back is absolutely gorgeous with the flush glass and the pixelated design really is beautiful. It is one of those things you have to see in person. Although there is a plastic banding in front of the rubber banding that is prone to nicks and scratches, like the T-Mobile Galaxy S II I had previously. There are reports of peoples phones getting very hot, the screen turning yellow, some rattlings from the camera housing, and some other problems with the hardware. This is expected for first round devices. My phones only problem is I too hear the rattling if I shake my phone, but I only hear it if I try to hear it. Another problem is the phone SLIDES OFF OF EVERYTHING. Seriously I bet my of the people that break this thing will be because it slid off of something. A case prevents this though.
Performance:
Stock Android 4.2 Jelly Bean has one of the smoothest UI's of any device. It even tops my iPad 3. There is absolutely no lag in the OS whatsoever. This is because "Project Butter." When you touch the screen, the CPU gets fired up and is ready to go instantly. You can see this if you go into SetCpu and watch how the amount of CPU speed increases the exact moment you tap the screen. All of the stock apps run perfectly. (Except theres no December in the Peoples app ) The app switcher is just amazing and fast. It is so much better than any other app switcher available and it is great to have a dedicated button for it. The Nexus 4 is great at running graphics and performance intensive games like dead trigger, cod zombies, shadow gun, mini motor racing etc. all of these games have no lag whatsoever, because of the 1.5ghz quad core processor and 2 gigs of ram this thing is packing. Also, Google Now is amazing and completely integrated into your life. You will fall in love with all of its features like weather, traffic updates, sports, flights, translations, appointments, and regular search. But all of this amazing performance and features come at a price...
Battery Life...
I wish I could say this 2100mAh battery keeps this thing alive all day but alas, it does not. If you are a heavy user, which I am guessing most XDA users are, it will not last you throughout the day. On low brightness, sync off, and location services off, I find myself having to fully charge it again before the day is over. Now if you are a moderate user, you will not experience this as much. But let me give you an example of what happened today: I was at a restaurant with family for Thanksgiving. I left the house at 5:50 PM with 95% battery. At dinner I used the phone for a little over an hour and a half just browsing the web like looking at laptops on tiger direct, reading gizmodo, endgadget, cracked, etc, and when I got home at around 8:30 I had 46% battery left. I s**t you not. So heavy users beware. I hate using cases, especially for a phone this beautiful, but I might have to find a battery case to get myself through the day.
Storage:
This phone not having an SD Card slot like most android phones is a real killer, especially because it only has 8gb and 16gb. I unfortunately got the 8gb. I knew I was not gonna get the full 8gb, on my iPod touch 8gb I had roughly 7gb of usable space, but on the Nexus 4 you get barely over 5gb of usable space, and that just sucks for most people. Using the cloud to save pictures and music does help, but you can not get as many high graphics games because of this low storage. Which sucks because the Nexus 4 is great when playing high performance games. Again, I would highly recommend getting the 16gb. It is only $50 more. Im most likely gonna sell my Nexus for as much as I can and pay the difference for the 16gb when more are in stock. Hopefully Google does what they did with the Nexus 7 and makes the 16gb the same price as the 8gb and makes a 32gb model.
Camera:
This phone has a great camera. When you are outside, it takes some of the best pictures for a phone. Even the front camera does. And little things like how you tap the screen to access the many camera settings and the new photospehre, you will just fall in love with them. All of my photosphere pictures stitched perfectly. This device is not very good in low light situations, though. This is helped with the devices on board flash though. You can also easily edit your photos through the stock gallery app, and there are plenty of editing options for all of you instagrammers out there. They are mostly all very nice and work well. There is one problem I did have with the camera though. The HDR setting did take better photos, but I could rarely get them to focus, even when I focused manually. Maybe a software problem? Hopefully this is fixed in future updates.
Mobile Stuff/Miscellaneous:
Call quality on this phone is great and I have not got any dropped calls or any complaints from people on the other end. Text messages and picture messages send quickly. The new keyboard with its swype like feature is very good and accurate. I get great speeds on HSPA+. I am in Chicago and can get 25mbps download and 5mbps upload, which is great. You can also get it to connect to LTE if your network uses band 4 for it, like T-Mobile's will later this year, which is great for us Nexus 4 users on T-Mobile. The voice to text is absolutely amazing and almost always gets what you say. I have used Siri and voice dictation on iOS and it just does not even compare. I love how it types what you say as you say it.
Conclusion :
The Nexus 4 right now, in my opinion, is the best android phone out there. And maybe the best phone overall. It is a great phone at a great starting price. This thing has an amazing screen and has no lag in whatever you are doing. Really the only thing that kills it is the storage. If this had a micro SD slot is would just be so much better than it already is. The camera is great when outdoors and when you have sufficient light, flash helps a lot in low light, and the many camera and gallery features are great. The battery life is sub par, but when you're at home or work, you can almost always give it a quick charge when you need it, but you can not just add more storage when you need it. (Except if you use OTG devices.) I would highly recommend this phone to anyone out there looking for a great device. It is not complicated at all and it very noob friendly.
If you have any questions or want me to add anything please just comment or PM me and I will try to help as much as I can! I will add more to this thread if I have more to say later on.
great review!
tuffballa said:
great review!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
Yeah pretty good review. I find battery life to be very good on the N4 believe it or not. I reach almost 5 hours on screen time with 15 hours off charge. Thats with heavy use. My brightness is on auto, i browse the web switching from cellular to wifi depending on where im at, sync is off and i turn it on during the day to check my emails, stuff like that. Do a lot of tapatalk, few calls, lots of texting and little youtubing. I use it normally, not to fool myself and try to reach 2 days just to be satisfied. Oh yeah lol, since last night im using a custom kernel.
Great, unbiased review! This review made me want the Nexus 4 even more! Hopefully I can get one soon. :fingers-crossed:
barondebxl said:
Yeah pretty good review. I find battery life to be very good on the N4 believe it or not. I reach almost 5 hours on screen time with 15 hours off charge. Thats with heavy use. My brightness is on auto, i browse the web switching from cellular to wifi depending on where im at, sync is off and i turn it on during the day to check my emails, stuff like that. Do a lot of tapatalk, few calls, lots of texting and little youtubing. I use it normally, not to fool myself and try to reach 2 days just to be satisfied. Oh yeah lol, since last night im using a custom kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please share with us the custom kernel you are using. Thx.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Out with the family for thanksgiving for 2ish hours and using the phone for 1 and a half of those... The true spirit of thanksgiving!
Nice review though
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
llustig said:
Please share with us the custom kernel you are using. Thx.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=34480134
And this is me
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Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
cyberkid2002 said:
Out with the family for thanksgiving for 2ish hours and using the phone for 1 and a half of those... The true spirit of thanksgiving!
Nice review though
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I knew that was gonna look bad but I had to say it. Anyway my family can be dull at times
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
barondebxl said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=34480134
And this is me
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's impressive :good:
ctowne said:
That's impressive :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw you post it before which is great, but I cannot go through the day with service sync off. To me that just defeats the whole point of the phone. Perhaps with an incremental update battery life will get better. Seems maybe too much stuff is syncing in the background and is keeping the CPU from sleeping. 5 hours is good though... I'd like more but that's really all I need.
ctowne said:
That's impressive :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And I was using it heavy, like there was no tomorrow
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
---------- Post added at 05:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:20 PM ----------
Jayrod1980 said:
I saw you post it before which is great, but I cannot go through the day with service sync off. To me that just defeats the whole point of the phone. Perhaps with an incremental update battery life will get better. Seems maybe too much stuff is syncing in the background and is keeping the CPU from sleeping. 5 hours is good though... I'd like more but that's really all I need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I turn on sync every hour or so. Just don't need it on all the time unless I'm expecting an important email or something. But people should use their phones as they normally do, not just to reach a certain amount of screen time cause that's just ridiculous. So yeah, if you need sync on then just leave it on, personally I don't need it on all the time.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
barondebxl said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=34480134
And this is me
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why isn't your phone awake when the screen is on? I can't really remember but I think that on every Android i've had, when the screen is on, the phone is Awake
Picked up my N4 today and have been getting to grips with it, initial impressions are. It's fast though have had slow down. Gets very hot during anything using GPS or when playing games. Camera is average and when using the flash images are washed out. It's a bit early to say much about the battery life but after 1hr38mins, its down to 73%. build quality seems good. I thought it would be a bigger leap up from my old phone but am a little disappointed currently. I will continue but if it doesn't impress further it will go back. Do love jelly bean!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
raul90 said:
Why isn't your phone awake when the screen is on? I can't really remember but I think that on every Android i've had, when the screen is on, the phone is Awake
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good question, I have no clue. I just checked my current stats as I'm writing this comment, I'm 9 hours off charge with 2h 15 min on screen time and no awake time
I checked my battery stats when I had the note 2 and the line is all blue when the screen is on. I don't know....
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
you used your phone for an hour and a half at family thanksgiving dinner??
Related
There is only one thing that I find really important in any mobile phone: battery life.
Please post the battery benchmarks and real world experience with battery life in this topic. I am especially interested how it compares with the Samsung Galaxy SIII, HTC One X(+) and Apple iPhone 5 in normal day use.
Agree. I'd be very interested in hearing this. Everyone raved about the S3's battery life and I found it really average.
i think the battery life will not be very good thought the XZ have FHD screen
A good italian reviewer said that the battery life lasts only 10-11 hours under heavy usage WITH Stamina mode on, LTE and HSPA+ turned off and push notifications on via 3G from mail, Whatsapp and a couple more apps (you can decide which app has the permission to keep on running even in Stamina Mode). He also says that the LTE module kinda warm the device under stress, the viewing angles kinda suck and that there are mini lags in the UI (problem solved using Nova Launcher).
you can disagree with me all you like.
but to me, there are far too many problems with this phone, and like i say, i think it is outdated tech.
there will be a lot of disappointed people out there.
and battery life is by far and away terrible on this phone.
i've used it.
i can guarantee you will be charging this phone up every 4 hours, unless you know, you don't want to have the screen on at all.
samxool said:
you can disagree with me all you like.
but to me, there are far too many problems with this phone, and like i say, i think it is outdated tech.
there will be a lot of disappointed people out there.
and battery life is by far and away terrible on this phone.
i've used it.
i can guarantee you will be charging this phone up every 4 hours, unless you know, you don't want to have the screen on at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes because you have clearly used the phone. Think I'll believe my own hands on with the device with the half hour I had and the battery life wasn't that bad. If you want bad battery life then go use the Nexus 4 or One X - The One will be the same. Go back over to the Samsung forums with the rest of the mindless sheep. Samsung fans are no different from Apple ones. :good:
I tried out phone calls in the three store today nothing wrong with it atall.
So, any real battery tests by users?
Battery life is Decent,
Screen according to the Docomo units and xiFIL is brilliant and nothing to be ashamed of, Viewing angles as proved in the Xperia Z screen discussion thread is not much oof a problem, although samxool likes to look at his phone sideways
Battery is replaceable, just give it to Sony within the 2 years and they will change it for you if seomthing goes wrong, failing that i am sure guides will pop up how to remove the back cover
terrible phone quality, DO NOt judge a phone when you have never used it,
HTC M7 HAD to be clocked higher with the SAME processor as Sense is laggy and slows the phone down,
Samsung octa core propoganda clearly got to you, its 4 + 4 processor, two quads, they do not work together, only one quadcore will be active at any time,
Out of all of the posts here, none had anything to do with the thread. It was all off topic. PLEASE guys, if someone says something that gets under your skin, don't respond to it, report it. Or just move on to another thread
Cleaned thread. Lets stay on topic
Al Gore said:
So, any real battery tests by users?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using the Z yesterday I had over 9 hrs of use with 3.5 hours with the screen on (about 20 minutes of that with full brightness, rest of the time I had it about half brightness), 4g data, wifi and bluetooth on all day, facebook and twitter syncing every hour, email every 30 minutes plus a gmail account for push email, gtalk running full time, about 6 accounts syncing also used the camera a little bit for burst shots before I plugged it in to charge when I went to bed. Still had around 20% left. That is without the stamina mode on or any other battery saving features.
This phone last so much longer than my ion or TL. I don't think there is an issue with battery life here.
Re: Xperia Z battery life
No LTE on the version you currently have is that correct Spectre?
robertopod1968 said:
No LTE on the version you currently have is that correct Spectre?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
he said 4g data...
Re: Xperia Z battery life
m00moo said:
he said 4g data...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't LTE the US name for 4G?
Sent from my LG-P880 using xda premium
Re: Xperia Z battery life
robertopod1968 said:
No LTE on the version you currently have is that correct Spectre?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct LTE on the C6602 just HSPA+
jayman1986 said:
Isn't LTE the US name for 4G?
Sent from my LG-P880 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not quite. AT&T and T-Mobile have muddied those terms. Yes it's true 4G but they also call HSPA+ 4G.
Sent from my Sony Xperia™ Z
Re: Xperia Z battery life
Today's usage:
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Sent from my Sony Xperia™ Z
Spectre51 said:
Today's usage:
View attachment 1742483
View attachment 1742487
Sent from my Sony Xperia™ Z
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's actually pretty crap screen time. Nexus 4 and HTC One X times... This makes me sad
recklesslife85 said:
That's actually pretty crap screen time. Nexus 4 and HTC One X times... This makes me sad
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Note 2 lasts only 5 hours with screen on, and it has 3100mah. Most smartphones last 3-4 hours of screen time... since when average is crap ? It's just that - average, nothing special, nothing amazing.
Re: Xperia Z battery life
Akiainavas said:
My Note 2 lasts only 5 hours with screen on, and it has 3100mah. Most smartphones last 3-4 hours of screen time... since when average is crap ? It's just that - average, nothing special, nothing amazing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, my Note 2 on average gives me 5hrs screen on, at a push I can get slightly higher but my brightness has to be really low. Those shots above look good to me, they are without stamina mode on aren't they?
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
Akiainavas said:
My Note 2 lasts only 5 hours with screen on, and it has 3100mah. Most smartphones last 3-4 hours of screen time... since when average is crap ? It's just that - average, nothing special, nothing amazing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since my iPhone 5 manages 6/7 hours. (And no I'm not a apple fanboy) 3h is rubbish! My S3 managed just over 4h and i know the Z has a bigger screen and resolution but no excuse for putting small batterys in phones that have big screens and high res.
What if you want to compare your battery life with other people using the same Nexus 4. You can do a subjective assessment like the ones in this long tread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1992627&highlight=battery . But every body uses their phone differently and have different programs installed.
I was thinking what could be a good test that complies with the following:
• Be Simple
• Be Repeatable
• Be Comparable between users
• Can spot hardware failure in the battery / charging system.
What do you think of this procedure
1. Backup your phone
2. Charge it 100% and keep it plugged
3. Take out your SIM
4. Do a factory reset (wipe/format)
5. Do the initial configuration skipping everything (no simcard, no wi-fi, no google account, no name)
6. Go to display settings and set brightness to maximum.
7. Turn off Wi-Fi
8. Shut down the phone
9. Disconnect it from the charging cord
10. Turn on your phone.
11. Click on the clock on the home screen and start the StopWatch.
12. The stopwatch screen will prevent the screen to turn off.
13. Wait for your phone to die and record the time it lasted
14. Share how long it lasted in this thread
This would be a synthetic test (does not resemble a real usage scenario) but also is comparable and repeatable because does not measeure a lot of variables or differences between set ups.
RESULTS:
First charge
Battery time 6h 02m
Here is a screen shot taken just before it died.
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Second charge
Battery 5h 53m
And an screen shoot taken after charge it again and then turn it on
I can only explain that the in the second charge the battery lasted less because in the first charge I left the charger connected a couple of hours after it reach 100% but in the second charge I started the battery test the moment It showed reached 100%.
It just died at 6h02m. This is for the first charge of a new phone. I really don't know if this batteries have to be conditioned or not. I will ran the test again tomorrow.
Hopefully someone can replicate for the test to be useful.
6h with no use ?
Sent from my Nexus 4
I have gotten about 6 days standby, and at the end of the night my phone is at like 50-70% with moderate to heavy use. I am impressed, I don't see why everyone else is having problems
Sent from my Nexus 4
mirGantrophy said:
I have gotten about 6 days standby, and at the end of the night my phone is at like 50-70% with moderate to heavy use. I am impressed, I don't see why everyone else is having problems
Sent from my Nexus 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You think ppl who has problem knows whats causing it?
Thats why thread like this is made. We want to know to solve this!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
jeeeeeeeeeeeez... 6 hrs of stopwatch... doesn't mean NO USE
this is interesting though... I will keep reading this thread
All this means is how much time your screen can last with little to no use, factor in network,WiFi, and processor and that number halves
I generally get through the day with 60% juice left, and that's more than enough for me. I feel no need to compare with others since real life usage really varies greatly.
A day at work for me is 10hrs. When I'm at work I set my phone in my locker. When I'm on break I'm on it constantly reading reddit, xda, Facebook and Twitter. Usually get about 2 hrs sot using just data and leave work around 50% get back home and use wifi and get around 4.5hrs by the time I go to sleep and charge. With my old epic 4g touch I'd only get a max of 1.5hrs and that's while using airplane mode with my phone in my locker. I'm fine with how long this phone lasts...
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Double
---------- Post added at 07:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:00 PM ----------
jiayit said:
I generally get through the day with 60% juice left, and that's more than enough for me. I feel no need to compare with others since real life usage really varies greatly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You haven't even read the op right?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Might try this when I get the time. I've tried a lot of different things and cant get more than 3 hours of screen time on a single charge. It Usually gets me through the day but not always.. standby seems to have improved with 4.2.2.. But when I read about all these people who get 5-6hrs of screen on time with similar usage I'm obviously going to feel like somethings wrong since I have the same phone.. So yeah, I'd like to see if on a standardized test we get the same battery.. then we can slowly narrow down other factors to figure out whats causing the difference.. Cause even with battery stats I dont know why mine isn't lasting as long as other peoples..
Comparing to my iPhone 4S
When downloading apps and browsing the web and stuff, I give the edge to the iPhone. I can stream Slacker Radio and browse the web for about 4-5 hours before hitting 20%. The Nexus only lasts me about 3 1/2 hours. Not a big deal.
Standby also goes to the iPhone. I can fall asleep at night and wake up with about 3-5% drain. The Nexus is about a 10% drain.
The Nexus wins at charge time though. I can fully charge it in less than an hour. The iPhone takes at least 1 1/2 hours.
The Nexus also wins with WiFi. I see no difference in battery drain when connected to WiFi or it turned off. The iPhone takes some noticeable drain when using WiFi.
I give the trophy to the iPhone. Although Android completely voids the inferior battery. Nexus > iPhone.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
I have the exact same impression, coming from iphone 4s
And that's why I'm mad pissed....
Could have been an awesome switch, but this battery issue blows all the enthusiasm
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
pesante said:
I have the exact same impression, coming from iphone 4s
And that's why I'm mad pissed....
Could have been an awesome switch, but this battery issue blows all the enthusiasm
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This thread is an interesting idea.
For those with poor battery life check the [BATTERY IMPROVEMENT] thread in this section. This phone went from my worst battery life phone ever, to my best.
Sent from my Full JellyBean on Mako using xda app-developers app
ridobe said:
For those with poor battery life check the [BATTERY IMPROVEMENT] thread in this section.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just did and I´m having positive feedback, I´m on the second cycle now... fingers crossed... will see
pesante said:
Double
---------- Post added at 07:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:00 PM ----------
You haven't even read the op right?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I read OP, every single word. But what I'm saying is that if your battery life is great and is enough to last you a whole day, there's no need to check the battery life.
Updated results
I have updated the original post with updated results.
Hopefully someone do the test for comparison.
jiayit said:
Yes I read OP, every single word. But what I'm saying is that if your battery life is great and is enough to last you a whole day, there's no need to check the battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually theres a great reason to check. If you can make it thru the day with a phone with a crapped out battery, that wont be an issue for you but it will be an issue for the next person who owns your phone. It matters because of the resale value of your phone. If you can get an rma that will benefit the next owner, then you should do it just so that it sells better in the future.
So you run the test and find out your phone is damaged on arrival even if you didnt notice at first, and you get it replaced.
It would be very interesting to find that everyone's battery lasts approx the same lol under this situation.
The only limitation of this method is that we do not take into account any leakage of a certain, a more or less efficient processor or modem on someones phone.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
younix258 said:
Actually theres a great reason to check. If you can make it thru the day with a phone with a crapped out battery, that wont be an issue for you but it will be an issue for the next person who owns your phone. It matters because of the resale value of your phone. If you can get an rma that will benefit the next owner, then you should do it just so that it sells better in the future.
So you run the test and find out your phone is damaged on arrival even if you didnt notice at first, and you get it replaced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is funny because this is actually why I crated this test. This phone is a RMA replacement of the one I had before with battery issues. It was a pain to know for sure if the problem of my previous Nexus were SW or HW related in this forum I only found subjective opinions on battery life. Nothing to compare and be 100% sure it was in fact a defective battery and not some misbehave app.
So at least I now have a base line to compare if some battery life problems arise again.
Waiting for someone else to run the test to see if results are similar in other nexus 4
So with just stop watch & screen on the phone is getting 6h total time ?
Nexus⁴
http://m.gsmarena.com/lg_nexus_5-review-1011.php
This includes battery results , display labor results , camera results
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Short summary:
Poor battery
Poor Contrast
They confirm that g2 is using an other panel
Numbers make no sense when compared to the LG G2. The LG G2 gets twice the battery life with a battery that is only 30% larger? Apparently LG's software is RIDICULOUSLY efficient. . . .
muyoso said:
Numbers make no sense when compared to the LG G2. The LG G2 gets twice the battery life with a battery that is only 30% larger? Apparently LG's software is RIDICULOUSLY efficient. . . .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it does seem rather strange, isn't 4.4 meant to be more efficient in general as well? This should close the gap not increase it!
muyoso said:
Numbers make no sense when compared to the LG G2. The LG G2 gets twice the battery life with a battery that is only 30% larger? Apparently LG's software is RIDICULOUSLY efficient. . . .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a more efficient screen into the account (the G2's LCDD posts VERY impressive power results), less throttling and some alternatives to Google services. Nexus battery life always sucked on stock, something is up with Google services, they are unoptimized or some ****. Nothing surprising here really.
BoneXDA said:
Take a more efficient screen into the account (the G2's LCDD posts VERY impressive power results), less throttling and some alternatives to Google services. Nexus battery life always sucked on stock, something is up with Google services, they are unoptimized or some ****. Nothing surprising here really.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Almost none of that is relevant for the call time test. I just don't get how the G2 with a 30% higher battery can have double the call time.
muyoso said:
Almost none of that is relevant for the call time test. I just don't get how the G2 with a 30% higher battery can have double the call time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are lot of variables. What goes on in the background, how much resources the dial app takes and what services it starts, how hot the phone gets during call, powering the microphones and speaker - and then there's reception. I trust GSM Arena does the test at the same place, so if the Nexus 5's antenna isn't as good at getting signal as the G2 for whatever reason (different module, different construction, different placement etc.), results can be vastly different.
"Those who favor more natural reproduction will certainly be happy with the Nexus 5 screen, though."
I'm all for natural reproduction....
did not need a review to confirm these details for me.. heh.
phone has left me less than impressed.
Tung_meister said:
Yes it does seem rather strange, isn't 4.4 meant to be more efficient in general as well? This should close the gap not increase it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who said 4.4 was supposed to be more efficient? What I saw for the past few weeks were random forum members making assumptions. No official statement at all. In addition to that, people making assumptions that skins use more battery. I think a lot of us knew deep down inside this was going to happen, more or less.
Also note, the G2 has the GRAM feature that they advertised as a battery saver.
cyburke said:
did not need a review to confirm these details for me.. heh.
phone has left me less than impressed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. I'm still using my Moto X because the N5 just doesn't do it for me. I pick it up and fiddle with it from time to time but that's about it.
_MetalHead_ said:
Same here. I'm still using my Moto X because the N5 just doesn't do it for me. I pick it up and fiddle with it from time to time but that's about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you like so much about the moto x? I prefer talking to real life people rather than to a phone...
caribouxda said:
What do you like so much about the moto x? I prefer talking to real life people rather than to a phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't even use the touchless control, it's been disabled since day one. I love the screen, the feel in the hand, the build quality, ridiculously good battery life, and the icing on the cake- active notifications. Sure the N5 is slightly faster (barely), but this day and age that's not enough. The Moto X is the full package, the N5 is just... meh. Of course that is just my opinion. If the Moto X wasn't around, I'd likely be singing praises about the N5. But since I have the X to compare it to, it doesn't fare so well.
Comparing the battery results it looks like the biggest difference between Nexus 5 and LG G2 is in video playback and web browsing, so when the screen is on and not as much on 3G talk time, when the screen is off.
So, i wondered how these tests are done and according to here http://www.gsmarena.com/gsmarena_lab_tests-review-751p6.php, it looks like they are done on 50% brightness. But, after searching a bit more, i found this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47174975&postcount=42, which shows that the Nexus screen is fairly brighter than G2.
In the gsmarena review http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_nexus_5-review-1011p3.php, in the comparison table on the bottom of the page, the nexus seems twice as bright as the G2 at 50% brightness.
So, correct me if i am wrong, but where i am trying to conclude is that doing the tests in the same brightness through each phone's settings isn't very accurate and thus the bigger than expected difference between the two smartphones.
giannis_ch said:
Comparing the battery results it looks like the biggest difference between Nexus 5 and LG G2 is in video playback and web browsing, so when the screen is on and not as much on 3G talk time, when the screen is off.
So, i wondered how these tests are done and according to here http://www.gsmarena.com/gsmarena_lab_tests-review-751p6.php, it looks like they are done on 50% brightness. But, after searching a bit more, i found this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47174975&postcount=42, which shows that the Nexus screen is fairly brighter than G2.
In the gsmarena review http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_nexus_5-review-1011p3.php, in the comparison table on the bottom of the page, the nexus seems twice as bright as the G2 at 50% brightness.
So, correct me if i am wrong, but where i am trying to conclude is that doing the tests in the same brightness through each phone's settings isn't very accurate and thus the bigger than expected difference between the two smartphones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with you. Screen battery tests should be calibrated by brightness, not by percentage. Otherwise, dim screens win by default, which is absurd. Nexus 5 display is very bright. VERY. I had to install Lux to just dim it a bit as auto-brightness was too aggressive out of the box.
Having said that, for me battery life is pretty good. I am coming from Galaxy Nexus and N5 gives me close to double battery life in my everyday usage. I'm sure we will see battery saving ROMs pretty soon too, so folks who need to bleed their phones to the last drop will have the opportunity.
I find battery reviews massively subjective - I just want a phone that won't die if I don't charge it after getting out of bed @ 7am, before 10pm.. after a few calls and 2 hrs of screen on, fbook, texts, etc. My N5 has been on battery almost 13hrs now and is at 66%... my old SGII would be at 10%, so personally this is a massive improvement.
If you always want the latest and greatest all around, Nexus phones typically aren't going to fill the boot. If you upgrade your phone every year and a bit or less and are logical enough to factor in price, they will.
Interesting that the G2 is over 4x brighter at 100% brightness than at 50% brightness according to GSMArena. That probably helped its battery life score with them a fair bit.
http://blog.gsmarena.com/apple-iphone-5s-battery-test/
iphone 5s 10 hrs web browsing ..
I love nexus ... but 4 .. seriously ?
_MetalHead_ said:
I don't even use the touchless control, it's been disabled since day one. I love the screen, the feel in the hand, the build quality, ridiculously good battery life, and the icing on the cake- active notifications. Sure the N5 is slightly faster (barely), but this day and age that's not enough. The Moto X is the full package, the N5 is just... meh. Of course that is just my opinion. If the Moto X wasn't around, I'd likely be singing praises about the N5. But since I have the X to compare it to, it doesn't fare so well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its funny because I came from the moto x and I couldn't disagree more... It just goes to show that everyone is different and likes different things I guess haha
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Fatelord said:
http://blog.gsmarena.com/apple-iphone-5s-battery-test/
iphone 5s 10 hrs web browsing ..
I love nexus ... but 4 .. seriously ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Iphone 5s screen is also half as bright as nexus 5 at 50% brightness.
For most people this kind of batt life is fine (Stock)
Background: Ever since I switched from AT$T to T-Mobile last month, my iPhone 5's battery life has taken a huge nosedive for the worst, to where it can easily lose 1% every 2-3 minutes, Wi-Fi on or off, and even if airplane mode is on but Wi-Fi is on (Apple Store won't replace it since it's 60 days out of warranty, and a new battery honestly probably won't help since the capacity and other diagnostic readings are showing signs of a normal battery). Popping my AT$T SIM back in, I immediately get much better numbers. Either T-Mobile's network sucks the crap out of batteries, or the phone has yet to be optimized for the network. I'm thinking it's the latter, because I've used other T-Mobile phones, such as the LG Optimus L9, and battery life was really good. Since the Nexus 5 is a very affordable off-contract device, I decided to give it a try.
I understand that the battery life is itself questionable for the Nexus 5, but it supposedly gets better as time goes on.
My white 16GB Nexus 5 arrived yesterday (ordered it on the 6th when it said it'll ship between 3-4 weeks). Using a ghetto paper-based mold for my nano-SIM, it worked just fine in the N5's micro-SIM slot.
It took a number of hours to eventually get things the way I like it, but here's my current setup (the icon and folder setups are nearly identical to how I had them on my iPhone 5, and every third-party (App Store) app I had there was also available on Android, or at least a good alternative was available):
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Overall, I'm very happy with Android 4.4 and its general performance on the N5.
So, some complaints.
First, LTE. On my morning commute, I noticed it completely lost a signal (no bars, just an outline) three times in areas where my iPhone 5 would have at least 2 bars (dots) of LTE. I would at least expect it to drop to HSPA+, but it didn't do that... In the building I'm in, I always got at least 3 bars of LTE on my iPhone 5. My Nexus 5 can't seem to hook onto it, even after flicking airplane mode on and off a few times. It's instead connected to HSPA+ (fluctuating between that and 3G when idling, as expected). Yes, HSPA+ works, but I want LTE if I have access to it, which I do. EDIT: Changing the data network from LTE to 2G, then back to LTE brought LTE back. EDIT 2: Well, where I've been at for the past 10 minutes, I get a full signal of LTE. It randomly decided to drop to full HSPA+/3G.
I always also hoping that general compatibility with T-Mobile was better. The raw decibel signal readings do seem to be in my favor, but the LTE problems and prior signal drops are hopefully things that won't happen again.
Next, battery life. Yes, as mentioned, I know that it's supposed to get better. To be honest, my initial battery life numbers don't seem too bad. Here are some of my initial numbers (N5 came out of the box at around 80% battery, used it down to 5% before charging it all night):
At that screen on rate, I'd estimate about 5.75 hours of total screen on usage, and 9 hours of total standby. That's much better than some of my recent iPhone 5 numbers, and I hope that they can increase. Battery life is really the deciding factor if I keep the N5 and sell my iPhone 5 or not.
I've already gone through all of the battery saving tips (turning Wi-Fi auto search off, battery saving location mode, disabling OK Google, etc.). My usage isn't too heavy, but I do leave Wi-fi OFF (yes, off), get hundreds of texts, checking and replying to them, using Twitter (Tweetings), listening to music through headphones (PowerAmp), checking email automatically every 15 minutes via K9, dealing with those from time to time, and opening some pages with Chrome.
Next, the speaker. I was expecting it to be loud, louder than my iPhone 5, but it's noticeably quieter. I guess there's a hardware hack for it, but I'd rather avoid that, should I end up returning the thing. It sounds clear, and seems louder in certain apps than others (even if the volume is up all the way). Not sure if it needs to be broken in first.
I just noticed that music through headphones doesn't get very loud either, even with things turned up to their maximum values in PowerAmp.
I've yet to take a picture with the camera, and I heard it could be better (and probably will with a software update).
Speaking of software updates, I imagine Google could easily improve on almost all of these areas, including battery life?
One of my concerns was whether or not I can deal with the larger phone for one-handed operation. And really, I haven't had any complaints there.
Overall, I'm very satisfied with it. Just anxious to see what my battery life numbers will be as time goes on.
Battery life probably won't get drastically better. You just need to see what kills your battery the most. If there are things on in the background that your not using such as an app that would save battery life. But most likely is just the screen
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
If you can live with Google Play Music for listening to your music, it should use less battery then poweramp by using the special kitkat dsp audio engine.
If you don't have stable LTE, it will really suck the life out of your battery. I just run HSPA+ most of the time and my battery life is ridiculous now.
Dr Tone said:
If you can live with Google Play Music for listening to your music, it should use less battery then poweramp by using the special kitkat dsp audio engine.
If you don't have stable LTE, it will really suck the life out of your battery. I just run HSPA+ most of the time and my battery life is ridiculous now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One big thing I really like is when songs crossfade between each other, which the Google Play Music app doesn't do. PowerAmp's equalizer and other audio adjustment settings are things I can't really go without anymore. Battery life when using it seems fine (for now).
LTE where I am is generally pretty stable. I'll do some tests with LTE off since that will probably help a bit (didn't matter on my iPhone 5, since the battery life would decrease at the same rate regardless of which type of data connection I'm on). Think a software or radio update would help?
You are complaining about nearly 6 hours of battery life?!!? If I get a Nexus 5 and get that much screen on just browsing, I'd freaking celebrate!
Let's not forget that you started at 80%!! EIGHTY PERCENT!!
darkgoon3r96 said:
You are complaining about nearly 6 hours of battery life?!!? If I get a Nexus 5 and get that much screen on just browsing, I'd freaking celebrate!
Let's not forget that you started at 80%!! EIGHTY PERCENT!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, my iPhone USED to get really good usage numbers under similar usage scenarios.
I've got to admit, I was expecting another "iPhone 5 is way better than Nexus 5" rant...
Kudos to you sir, I thought you made a pretty good review and fair comparison between the two.
I've been having similar issues on T-Mobile as of late, so I understand where you're coming from. The battery and network connectivity issues are most likely on their side.
As for software issues, the sound output being drastically different per app will likely be fixed in an OTA soon. The camera actually exceeded my expectations on a recent family outing to a Texans game last weekend, with HDR+ it takes amazing pictures! The autofocus could be faster, but I'm sure that'll be addressed in an OTA as well.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts bud, it's not often we get unbiased opinions here... It's refreshing to see a review by someone who isn't an iOS fanboy or Nexus apologist.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
besweeet said:
Well, my iPhone USED to get really good usage numbers under similar usage scenarios.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its not similar conditions with a 4" screen.
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Battery life is incredibly subjective and can vary wildly from user to user. Location, carrier, usage patterns, etc. are different for everyone so it's hard to definitively predict battery life on the N5.
My experience? My first week I was incredibly worried because battery life was significantly worse than my GS3. Granted, I was playing with it a lot and testing out different things, but I was averaging about 3 hours of screen time and scraping about 12 hours of total life. Pretty terrible for what I was used to. I will say that when I was testing out the Moves app, to test the movement tracker, this absolutely slaughtered my battery.
I lived with mediocre battery life for a few days, then when Franco came out with his kernel (I believe I started at r10) I flashed it and then started getting insane battery results. Each kernel update has gotten better (now on r14) and I'm finally happy and able to easily make it through a full day.
For the past week, I usually take my phone off the charger at 7am and it goes back on at 11pm with around 25-35% remaining. During this time my screen on time is between 3-4 hours. So that's 16 hours with a quarter of the battery remaining and a decent amount of screen time on. I'm very happy.
I'm assuming a custom kernel requires a root, which then requires everything to be wiped? I wish I knew that prior to getting everything setup. Probably won't get into any of that for a while.
rootSU said:
Its not similar conditions with a 4" screen.
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Click to expand...
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It's also not similar conditions when the iPhone 5 has only a 1,440 mAh battery, that's something like ~63% smaller than the Nexus 5's battery (which many of us already find to be disappointingly small compared to other Android flagships).
I'm a hardcore Android user, always have been since I owned an OG Droid and Nexus One, but I concede that whatever Apple does with iOS and their SoCs to squeeze so much screen on time out of the tiny little batteries in the iPhones is pretty impressive.
besweeet said:
I'm assuming a custom kernel requires a root, which then requires everything to be wiped? I wish I knew that prior to getting everything setup. Probably won't get into any of that for a while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A custom kernel doesn't technically need root, but it does need the bootloader to be unlocked which is what wipes the device.
You can try to backup with an app called "helium" which apparently backs up a fair bit.
I also saw a thread to unlock bootloader without wipe. I didn't read it though. Possibly in themea and apps subforum. Try a search of xda at the root if the n5 forum
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Could you tell us more about your experience on Android vs iOS? I had an iPhone 4S prior to switching to Android, and aside from the consistency of the UI and fluidity, there isn't much else that I miss. Oh, maybe the excellent color accuracy of the iPhones (especially whites, which aren't too blue). The biggest thing that I was glad about dumping was iTunes, followed by iOS restrictions on what you can and can't do.
besweeet said:
I'm assuming a custom kernel requires a root, which then requires everything to be wiped? I wish I knew that prior to getting everything setup. Probably won't get into any of that for a while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting doesn't require a wipe, but unlocking your bootloader does. Step 1 when aquiring phone, unlock bootloader, optionally root if you want, then set up. Bootloader unlock is most important for custom kernel.
Did you try viper4android for general sound enhancement. Don't have mine n5 yet - but on other phones it is amazing.
You can find viper in the play store.
Greets...
Sent from my LG-P990 using xda app-developers app
ExodusC said:
It's also not similar conditions when the iPhone 5 has only a 1,440 mAh battery, that's something like ~63% smaller than the Nexus 5's battery (which many of us already find to be disappointingly small compared to other Android flagships).
I'm a hardcore Android user, always have been since I owned an OG Droid and Nexus One, but I concede that whatever Apple does with iOS and their SoCs to squeeze so much screen on time out of the tiny little batteries in the iPhones is pretty impressive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True. Completely different hardware and os makes any comparison pointless.
I actually think the N5 battery is great. Its bigger than my S3 my 200 mAh but it lasts much longer proportionally.
The best way to make the decision between the 2 is to see which is a better fit for "your" usage and habits, which you enjoy the most and whether the battery is "enough".
For me, an iPhone battery would last days,.but it doesn't suit me.
Best thing is to consider battery last. Let passion make the decision
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rootSU said:
I actually think the N5 battery is great. Its bigger than my S3 my 200 mAh but it lasts much longer proportionally.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm actually relieved and excited to hear that. I had an S3 for many months and it was the first smartphone I've ever owned that I felt had really good battery life.
I'm on a Galaxy Nexus on Verizon right now, which is notorious for having insanely abysmal battery life, and it was like a slap in the face compared to my S3, which easily lasted all day.
So I figure just about anything will be better than what I'm on now.
Gorgenapper said:
Could you tell us more about your experience on Android vs iOS? I had an iPhone 4S prior to switching to Android, and aside from the consistency of the UI and fluidity, there isn't much else that I miss. Oh, maybe the excellent color accuracy of the iPhones (especially whites, which aren't too blue). The biggest thing that I was glad about dumping was iTunes, followed by iOS restrictions on what you can and can't do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While even Android 4.4 on the Nexus 5 could be smoother in terms of frame rate. I thought I'd get annoyed by it, but it doesn't bother me much. I kinda miss iTunes, keeping syncing things organized within one central program, but I rarely used it.
rootSU said:
True. Completely different hardware and os makes any comparison pointless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll have to disagree there. They're both phones that can do similar things, and both have similar hardware features (although they obviously differ). When usage scenarios and network conditions are as close as possible, only then can the battery life really be compared. So, I think that it's appropriate in my particular case.
ExodusC said:
I'm actually relieved and excited to hear that. I had an S3 for many months and it was the first smartphone I've ever owned that I felt had really good battery life.
I'm on a Galaxy Nexus on Verizon right now, which is notorious for having insanely abysmal battery life, and it was like a slap in the face compared to my S3, which easily lasted all day.
So I figure just about anything will be better than what I'm on now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My comparison is like for like here. My network doesn't yet offer lte and my s3 was not the lte version. Bear in mind my s3 was quad core 1.4Ghz so im not sure how my S3 compared to yours.
But my N5 I am doing 16 hour days (8 hrs low signal area) with 4.5 hrs+ screen on. I could get that on my s3 if I didn't leave the house but a normal day would be 3 hrs on s3.
I am undervolted by 50 and using greenify though
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---------- Post added at 07:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:55 PM ----------
besweeet said:
I'll have to disagree there. They're both phones that can do similar things, and both have similar hardware features (although they obviously differ). When usage scenarios and network conditions are as close as possible, only then can the battery life really be compared. So, I think that it's appropriate in my particular case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fair enough I respect your disagreement. Although for me I disagree that they do similar things too. On the face of it they do, but for the hardcore of us I don't feel that's true. Not to spark an iPhone / android debate here (so this will be my last word on ios) but I see ios more as a "feature phone" than a "smart phone".
If the iPhone does all you need and you can get better battery, its a no brainer. Its just the os work completely different. The n5 is much more powerful and bigger screened and the architecture is incomparable.
On the face of it they do the same "calls, emails, web and some apps" but the comparison stops there I feel. It depends how involved you wish to become.
As I say, go with your heart on which you prefer. Take battery into consideration but don't let it rule the decision. Go for what suits you, not what anyone else says
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So I've convinced myself to wipe & root later, backing up with Helium and the normal Google backup (for system settings and such). That should get me mostly setup the way I had pre-wipe, right? I should have some time this weekend to just start from scratch again, but would definitely like to avoid most of it if possible, which it seems like it is.
hi. i see many here who have bought this gorgeous tablet. im in the planning of buying it. i honestly dont want the exynos version cause of my past experience with this chipset being hot and no so stable. and sadly its the only one available here.
im TOO much convinced to get iPad Air 2 because it wipes the floor with these 2 tablets. but i really dont like Apple at all. so much so, i HATE apple! but the S-Lag is pushing me more towards Apple more than ever before... lag on a 2014 Flagship tablet is PLAIN UNACCEPTABLE!
anyways, lets come to the point. WHATS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH THIS TABLET? whats the best thing about it? what did u find so-so in this tablet? and what is the worst thing according to YOU in your tablet? pls mention ur model (10.5 or 8.4 and also share the chipset, Snapdragon 800 or Exynos 5420 and also Wi-Fi only or Lte one)
(its only gonna take 3 mins to type and reply to this thread, so pls share ur experience. might be very helpful for some!)
You lost me as soon as you said that the iPad wipes the floor against this tablet. Lol
Sent from my SM-T800 using XDA Premium HD app
I have zero lag with my Exynos Galaxy Tab S 10.5 WiFi running stock NK1 firmware and debloated and all graphic intensive games play smooth and it multitasks faster then my Note 4. The screen is in a league of its own and my jaw drops every time I look at it. Battery life is awesome at around 8-9 screen on hours and tablet runs cool to the touch at all times and it scores around 40,000-41,000 in Antutu which isn't too shabby considering it only uses the the 4 x 1.9ghz cores during the test. Well worth the $399 @ Best Buy and development is decent for it with CM 11 being stable and Lollipop coming in a month or so. I bought three of them instead of the Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2 because it's LCD looked crappy just like IPad Air 2.
Worst thing is scrolling in many apps like tapatalk and even play store is jerky not smooth, both in stock and cm port. Best thing is the screen. If it weren't for the screen I wouldn't get it
guys, 3 days and only 2 people shared their experience? come one dont just view the thread, share what you think to help others buy it.
Not clear to me what the point of this thread is. Much of the discussion on the entire forum is about peoples' experience with the tablet. Maybe if you ask a more specific question, you'll get more of a response.
I'm using this tablet for 4 days now I came from the iPad retina. The screen is so beautiful comparing with the iPad but it has its downsides.
Pro's
-screen
-android (can stream mkv to this device)
-battery life
Con's
-sometimes lag (hopefully the lollipop update will kill the lag)
-design (it's not bad, but the iPad feels more high quality)
Conclusion
I'm using the tablet for watching series and movies in my bed, for this purpose it's the best tablet I've ever been acrossed. Hopefully the lollipop update kills the lag and activate full 64 bit (I've heard the cpu works I'm 32 it mode at the moment)
Model: T800 WiFi (10.5)
Processor: Exynos 5420
I got my tab 2 weeks now and I'm really impressed by it.
I have to say that I've debloated it and trying to get more out of it because I'm not really happy with the amount of RAM used. Out of almost 3GB it uses 60-70% on idle, with no running apps.
I believe this is due to TouchWiz and (I think) some other Samsung stuff.
As for the screen: It's absolutely amazing! Big and Amazing! But, a battery drainer for sure, especially with full brightness.
About the battery life: Reasonable. I don't really watch movies on it and use it more for work, 3rd monitor, reading. Basically everything except watching movies. And still I find that the battery performance could be better. It's not bad, but I find myself plugging it in way too often then I would like. (But I guess that's the sacrifice you make for getting a big awesome screen).
I've also tried the latest CM11 ROM for it, and performance wise it got better.
Faster, smoother and way less RAM used (700MB instead of almost 2GB), but I found that it's missing a lot of Samsung features the stock ROM has to offer (which in turn made it useless IMO, unless you don't need them.)
And I'm also sure that the Lollipop update will do a lot of good things for it, and let's not forget the custom roms that will probably be made once Lollipop is available for this tablet. Things can only get better!
I wouldn't change my Tab S for anything else, although it may sound like I'm a bit negative about it, I absolutely love it.
My experiences so far, hope it helps you decide.
GeorgeP said:
Not clear to me what the point of this thread is. Much of the discussion on the entire forum is about peoples' experience with the tablet. Maybe if you ask a more specific question, you'll get more of a response.
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i have said that in the 1st post man . simply state Pros and Cons you found out in this tablet. what do u use it for mostly and how long does it run (battery life)?
Test
---------- Post added at 10:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:45 PM ----------
DUHAsianSKILLZ said:
Test
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I can finallt post on here! Anyway I have the Galaxy tab s 10.5 with exynos chipset.
I have had this since lauch and no problems so far.
Display, The display is awesome event in direct sunlight you can still see it. Heck its even bright at night. It can rung videos up to 1440p and its way better then lcd. But there is one thing to look out for. Since its amoled, you may get burnt or stuck pixles. I have only one as of now. I have no idea how it happened but its really really tiny to see it. To aviod this problem is to not use applications such as facebook for 6 hours straight. Then you should be fine if you watch movies.
Speakers, great treble and some bass. The quality of it is clear and plays most music perfectly. Depending on some movies they may be quiet but for most its really loud. There are one speaker on the left and right on each side which is a good placement for a thin tablet.
Vibration. Oddly enough this tablet has vibration for nonfications and even when you type! Its not the best like most phones but works well.
Hardwarebuttons/keys. There is a backlight when you press the back or recent apps buttons. They light up which is a plus for me and the home button works well. The home button fingerprint scanner is ok.. But the Ipad air 2 scanner is better. This is due that samsungs home button is oval or the software has been made perfectly like the ipads. But it works most of the times.
Wifi, signal on this tablet rocks! It can detect my neighbors wifi signal and still have 3 bars. It works well on most routers and downloads are faster and more stable since its wifi antenna is really strong.
Battery, I get about 8 hours of screen on time which is really good. I wish i could get more but this is better than the ipads.
UI, samsungs Ui may be laggy but can be fixed by installing nova launcher and disabling knox / some system apps. The multitasking feature works well but not all apps are supported. You would need root to use all apps for multitaking. Also, Samsung lacked of getting updates to this tablet. There has ony been 2 or 3 updates since launch. After the first week I rooted and later install cm11. Its been blazing fast so far with no stutters. There is also custom roms for both the 8.4 and 10.5 inch tablet.
Build quality, very fragile. One drop and there goes your tablet. I would recommend getting a case or somesort to protect this tablet. The screen does pretty well in scratches too. Camera is good for outdoor use and has a great flash. The back has a good cover to put your hands on and prevent slipping. Altougb it has vert thin bezels in which it can be hard to hold in one hand.
Customization, more than the ipad and you can also fox the lag but doing a few things. Rooting can get you way more things like backing up your whole rom in case of a bootloop in which you can restore too. You can also flash custom roms and get tons of features. You can also add sd card for more storage.
App support for this tablet is ok. Most apps work well and some intensive games lag because it isnt optimised for this tablet. I only get lag at the loading screen.
Overall, this tablet is a great one with tons of customozation and features, but its fragile like the ipad air 2. But alteast its a bit thick then the ipad air. If you are a video watcher/ streamer, this tablet is good for you as it had great battery life,screen quality, and also different modes of color ehanments to choose from. Heck this is also my tv remote as it can change channels do other stuff with the ir sensor.
I've had my 8.4 WiFi Tab S for about a month now, here are my thoughts:
1) The stock ROM is laggy, and really betrays the specs of this tablet. Even installing Nova launcher and debloating as much as I can did little to speed it up. This was my biggest disappointment out of the box, and continued to frustrate me until I finally rooted it and installed CM11...more on that later
2) RAM usage/allocation is not good on the stock ROM. Dolphin browser for example will crash when more than a few tabs are open, where on my other devices this is not an issue.
3) The screen is gorgeous - it really is a class leader. Nothing comes close to Samsungs SAMOLED displays, this one has a 1600 x 2560 360ppi dazzler. It's really that good.
4) Most stock Samsung apps are gimmicky and useless. They just take up memory and shouldn't be there, or at least be optional to install.
5) This is XDA, so it's likely if you're reading this you're thinking about rooting the tablet. My advice? In the case of the Tab S 8.4 - DO IT. Do it NOW. CM11 in particular washes away my concerns above, and the tablet performs as it's specs suggest - super quick, minimal lag and powerful. It's like having a new tablet all over again, and things will only bet better once Lollipop comes out.
aami.aami said:
hi. i see many here who have bought this gorgeous tablet. im in the planning of buying it. i honestly dont want the exynos version cause of my past experience with this chipset being hot and no so stable. and sadly its the only one available here.
im TOO much convinced to get iPad Air 2 because it wipes the floor with these 2 tablets. but i really dont like Apple at all. so much so, i HATE apple! but the S-Lag is pushing me more towards Apple more than ever before... lag on a 2014 Flagship tablet is PLAIN UNACCEPTABLE!
anyways, lets come to the point. WHATS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH THIS TABLET? whats the best thing about it? what did u find so-so in this tablet? and what is the worst thing according to YOU in your tablet? pls mention ur model (10.5 or 8.4 and also share the chipset, Snapdragon 800 or Exynos 5420 and also Wi-Fi only or Lte one)
(its only gonna take 3 mins to type and reply to this thread, so pls share ur experience. might be very helpful for some!)
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iOS is a much better OS than Samsung's Android. Let's be honest, the software really lags. But I'm buying the specs, and putting in CM. So with CM, and the specs... it works very well for me. No complaints. Depends on what kind of user you are and what you plan on doing with the tablet. I like a customized ROM, great battery for watching movies and surf the web and do very little gaming... Tab S 10.5 is perfect for me.
---------- Post added at 11:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:46 AM ----------
interfreak said:
I've had my 8.4 WiFi Tab S for about a month now, here are my thoughts:
1) The stock ROM is laggy, and really betrays the specs of this tablet. Even installing Nova launcher and debloating as much as I can did little to speed it up. This was my biggest disappointment out of the box, and continued to frustrate me until I finally rooted it and installed CM11...more on that later
2) RAM usage/allocation is not good on the stock ROM. Dolphin browser for example will crash when more than a few tabs are open, where on my other devices this is not an issue.
3) The screen is gorgeous - it really is a class leader. Nothing comes close to Samsungs SAMOLED displays, this one has a 1600 x 2560 360ppi dazzler. It's really that good.
4) Most stock Samsung apps are gimmicky and useless. They just take up memory and shouldn't be there, or at least be optional to install.
5) This is XDA, so it's likely if you're reading this you're thinking about rooting the tablet. My advice? In the case of the Tab S 8.4 - DO IT. Do it NOW. CM11 in particular washes away my concerns above, and the tablet performs as it's specs suggest - super quick, minimal lag and powerful. It's like having a new tablet all over again, and things will only bet better once Lollipop comes out.
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This guy's response is dead on. :good::good::good::good::good::good:
Running CM11 and I have nothing to complain. Just onhe thing annoys me, the hardware button on the bottom (in landscape). I would like to press iut with my thumb, but that's too far away. Especially when I am browsing lying in bed, pad on my chest/belly.
I have a tab s 8.4 LTE Exynos for about a month now.
Hardware build is fine but could be better. Tablet is very delicate, you have to be careful with it. Feeling in the hand is great, especially the soft back.
Display is absolutely amazing, but you already know that. Really bright, it can also go insanely dark if you want, and sharp as a knife. Colors can punch your face in, or be more natural, depending which mode you want and choose. One thing is for sure, expect screen orgasm all day every day with tab s
Software is mixed bag. There are great software additions for productivity etc but the best option is to put different launcher on it (Nova is great, but I found that smart launcher works even better).
Performance is good but with a different launcher it becomes much better. You have to keep in mind, this display has an insane number of pixels, runs what is probably the most heaviest android skin in existence (TouchWiz), and has note 3 procesor inside. With all this in mind, I was actually surprised with the performance, with multitasking and games as well.
Games run perfectly with some lag here and there on more demanding titles. I love how you can play GTA:San Andreas for example, then go multitask do a ton of other things, and then just hop back to GTA and it will not reload the game, you can just continue playing where you left of.
Speaker is good, lacks more bass, but loud and clear, I have no problem with it.
Battery is good, about 7h average of screen time. I use it heavily with 50% brightness, reading articles, browsing, games and a ton of movies and youtube. With power saving mode, or if you root the tablet and debloat you can go even further with battery.
Also I'm not rooted, yet.
Should you buy this tablet? For me, answer is yes. Kudos to all other great tablets out there, but I wouldn't trade this display for anything in the world.
very unsatisfied
Very unsatisfied. Would return immediately if possible . The screen is just too large and too wide, also the text is very small, and color temperature should be warmer .
Also not possible to hold it in one hand .
Very very unstasfied for reading and browsing . Very bad buy for me .
For watching movies it would be OK i guess .
I am using the 8.4 Wifi Tab S. I have it rooted and debloated a large number of system apps by using Titanium Backup. Using a stock ROM with Nova Launcher makes this thing fly. Also using CM11's latest build from 12/2/14 and everything is working fine so far. I highly recommend using Nova Launcher even if you are not rooted.
peterf81 said:
Very unsatisfied. Would return immediately if possible . The screen is just too large and too wide, also the text is very small, and color temperature should be warmer .
Also not possible to hold it in one hand .
Very very unstasfied for reading and browsing . Very bad buy for me .
For watching movies it would be OK i guess .
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Nothing wrong with the tablet, but with your decision to buy it.
So you are the one to blame, not the tablet.
Buy phone for elderly. It has a small screen with big fonts. Perfect.
---------- Post added at 03:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:01 PM ----------
I have a tablet for one day, so I can't really post a long experience essay, yet, but so far i am totally impressed and love it from the inside out.
From software perspective it is Android as android (tried at least hundred custom roms in last 4 years or so, from phones to tablets), nothing to blow my mind there. I have to mention i came to TabS from Asus Infinity and it is like i am discovering a whole new world. TabS really is that better. The one thing that ruined the Asus tablet, which was perfectly fine from specs perspective, was the cheap internal storage, which was so slow that sometimes I had to wait more than 30s or a minute for screen orientation to change. I won't go into details, but it was a 700€ tablet which i almost threw into the wall because of all the frustration it caused me. So, maybe i am not looking objectively here, but TabS is faaaar superior.
There are some hiccups now and then, but i don't really think it is due to Samsung apps or HW.
From experience i think it is just the android that has problems. CM is just so heavily tweaked to overcome it, but put AOSP rom on the device, and i bet after few days you'll get the same problems as with any vendor built roms. Not as much, but still. I could be wrong though.
Anyway, from a day of playing with the tablet, i am impressed.
It is responsive, the screen is gorgeous and currently there is nothing to complain about.
I did root it, but didn't debloat it yet, because i don't see a reason to do it, yet.
If it comes to that, there are still other options - like CM and so on.
So far, very happy.
I recieved mine yesterday and a couple of quick thoughts:
-Screen is incredible, my <480P videos look terrible and pixelated almost because the screen is too good. Not the screens fault.
- TouchWiz is annoying and crappy. Nova Launcher helps but i hate the pull down menu. I wish CM offically supported this but it looks like you XDA guys <3 have done a solid job porting CM11 over. If i decide to keep it , I will root and flash CM on here.
-Alot of cool free gifts with the tab, NY Times. Marvel, etc.
-Fingerprint scanner is not bad. Alittle bit finicky though.
-love the MicroSD Card,
-the back is a bit slimy and annoying to hold up.
-Seems like there is some lag switching between apps. I wish this had a better CPU.
All in all, I am unsure what to do. I like the tablet but I think a N9 would be great also. I have 2 weeks to decide, if I see a good deal on a N9 I might switch to that. I would be worried in a year or so the Tab S will be quite laggy...
thoughts?
This cursed tablet is causing me depressions . It is so cold and big, not cozy and warm . It is the devils work . Unusable in landscape and even more in portrait . I warn you !!! Dont buy this piece of crap, buy something smaller with lower resolution what u can hold in one hand .
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But I cannot return it because I bought it from internet from china . I want to change DPI in android so text is larger and even this is not possible . Total unreadable microscopic text . Hate it 1!!!!!!!
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https://www.dropbox.com/sc/2biqnw9ujjfe5h3/AACRNBe-RzFe4F_qKrqiemy0a
So that you see the difference between my nice EIZO monitor in "text" setting, which is perfect for browsing and office work, I can work non-stop with this monitor.
And the Tab S 10.5 in "Basic" display setting - which is the warmest (but there is not much difference in white temperatuer between the 3 settings).
After 20 minutes of browsing on this tablet my eyes are crying "WTF are u doing to us". Add headache to this and then u know how it is to work with this tablet .
If I would see this comparrison earlier I would not buy, but the reviews are not reviewing this most important stuff as thorough as they should . I BLAME THE REVIEWERS FOR THIS !! may the rot in hell .