I don't usually post on here but really wanted to share my opinions on the N5 as a Nexus enthusiast. Before I start I'd like to point out that on top of owning all of the previous Nexuses, I was trained as an industrial designer and currently work at a tech company doing software UX design, so I cover it in depth from both points of view. I've also never flashed a custom ROM and have always used my Nexus as a regular consumer would, so bear that in mind as I cover the software. Oh and apologies in advance for the length.
Hardware
The Nexus 5 hardware is excellent. It's the most refined and understated industrial design of any Nexus so far. Nothing is arbitrary; for once there are no egregious lines or curves. There's no more 'hump' on the bottom like the Samsung Nexus'. There's no glittery back like the Nexus 4. It's similar to the Xperia Z1 and iPhone 4 in its strive for simplicity. Even the controversial camera lens serves a purpose- you can almost always feel when you have a finger on it, preventing photos with a blurry pink intruder.
The build quality is also a new high point for the Nexus series. Even though the Nexus One was made out of metal, HTC hardware hadn't matured to where it is now with the HTC One, and there were imperfections in the machining and fitment. The Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus were typical Samsung with large gaps between the screen and bezel-that were prone to collecting dust and debris. The Galaxy Nexus also had visible witness lines (where the tool separates in the injection molding process) along the sides. The Nexus 4 was well-built, but its construction with the chrome bezel felt outdated and harkened back to iPhone 3G days.
The Nexus 5 features some amazing tolerances between the screen and bezel, too small to let dust in, and resulting in a very precise feel when you run your finger over the edge of the glass. The parting line between the back panel and the bezel possesses this same level of precision. The Nexus and LG logos on the back are more than meet the eye- upon close inspection there is actually a reflective plastic layer inlay inside the debossed characters- probably what Matias Duarte was referring to when he mentioned in an interview that the casing goes through several post-processes, including 'lasers'. I'm guessing the reflective inlays are laser cut and then glued into the deboss.
The only hardware letdown are the power and volume buttons. In theory they should be great; the button themselves have a precise, machined feel to them and you can actually see the layers of ceramic when light reflects off them. The issue is the way they are attached to the phone- they move around a bit within their housings, something I haven't felt since the Nexus S. There's also a bit of backlight that leaks around the edges of the display, only visible when you're looking at the display from the side.
The camera is better than the Nexus 4, and that's good enough for me. I've always felt that smartphone cameras are what you make of them, and the Nexus 5 gives me a lot more to work with. I've taken some incredible shots with even the Galaxy Nexus camera, and if you know how to steady a camera and work with exposure, the Nexus 5 can take great photos. That said, iPhone cameras have an amazing ability to make anyone's haphazard shots turn out great, and sadly the Nexus 5's camera can't compete in that regard.
Software
On the software side, KitKat is a great update that really lets apps shine. From a design perspective, it makes sense that they got rid of 'Holo Blue' in the system UI, because it really did clash with some of the looks developers were trying to achieve in their apps. The full-screen 'immersive mode' is great, but the black gradients at the top and bottom really bother me. It looks like the edges of the screen are burnt, especially when there's a light background like in Google Now. In a DevBytes video on Youtube Roman Nurik said something like "in this iteration it's a gradient", which suggests to me that this was a controversial decision and leaves some hope that these horrendous gradients will be fixed in a future release. I think the transparent bars really lends itself to some apps with full-bleed views like Maps though, and I can't wait for an update that enables them.
The new dialer adds a lot of utility; I've only used it for a couple days but it seems like it will get smarter in time as it learns who I contact the most. So far it looks like it's going to make the People app obsolete for me.
That said, some changes may be hard to swallow for Android enthusiasts. One of the things I missed the most is the network activity indicators for Wifi and network in the status bar (those little up and down arrows), as well as the blue color that showed you were connected to Google's servers. The indicators still exist, but they now live in the quick settings in the notifications shade. I'll miss being in an app and seeing whether or not it was accessing the network just by glancing at the top right corner of the screen.
The fact that Google Now is a swipe away from your homescreen is nice, but not entirely necessary- it was a swipe away anyway, by pulling up from the home button. The fact that Google Now is on the left also means that your homescreen is the leftmost one, and the ability to have screens on the left and right of the homescreen (present since the beginning of Android) is now gone. I used to keep my widgets on the left and apps on the right of my homescreen so this is a big change. This is slightly abated by the fact that you can long press to zoom out, and then fly through all of your screens, but for some infuriating reason, it doesn't select the screen I want on a single tap- I have to press it twice. This may be the first time since Gingerbread that I'll use a custom launcher.
Hangouts and SMS integration should be great in theory, but in practice it's a mess. SMS and hangout threads are actually separated and not blended into one conversation, and if you're using multiple accounts it gets even more complicated because you'll now have two separate inboxes.
Overall the hardware is a great upgrade from the Nexus 4, and is definitely the best looking Nexus so far. The software has some great additions to increase usability, but also has some omissions that Android enthusiasts know and love. As we all know, Android is a very iterative piece of software; I'm just wondering whether my expectations based on advancements in the user experience of previous iterations has left me disappointed in KitKat's subtle improvements.
Odd and Ends
Yes, the display is fantastic
So far, the battery seems better than my Nexus 4
The Snapdragon 800 is a beast
So how's the touch response? Since the Nexus S: it's gotten progressively worse. What's the average Prs and Size values?
Nice review. :good:
Isn't it possible any more to configure which elements are in the notification bar (e.g. "location")?
Nice review!
great review, thanks.
Your review sounds very fanboy-ish...well I guess it's kind of expected from a nexus enthusiast.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
in reality no, the nexus 5 is as he has described , and will get better with updates .
highend01 said:
Isn't it possible any more to configure which elements are in the notification bar (e.g. "location")?
Nice review!
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To my knowledge you could never customize what appears on the right side of the notification bar in stock Android.
I never ever ever ever ever been a fan of stock android but kitkat paired with an S800 is so smooth and fast that I'm in love with this nexus 5. And battery life is actually quite good for me. Easily lasts me a day.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Your battery is far better than on galaxy nexus, hopefully..?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Related
I just rejected a "recertified" replacement Droid3 due to it having what appears to be a bad screen.
I have multiple batteries/back covers, so I was able to place the replacement unit side-by-side with the original one.
The "PenTile grain" on the replacement's screen is quite notable compared to the original. The graininess appears to be at what I'll call the "edge of perception", i.e., one second you can discern it, the next you can't. And at least for me, this is much worse than having it be constant. On my original phone I can see the "hashed/grainy" appearance of solid colors (e.g. battery indicator) and small fonts, but it is fairly tolerable. On the replacement, it was obnoxious by comparison.
The screen on the original has a brighter white/bluish hue, while the screen on the replacement is duller and browner. This was evident on all screen brightness settings available from the "Power Control" widget.
I'll be sticking with old phone at least until the update is made generally available in the hope that all of my issues with my original Droid3 may well be in the software.
I don't know if this a widespread or one-off issue, as my sample size is two phones. But if you happen to have an extraordinary dislike for your Droid3's display and can't understand why most others are okay with it, I'd recommend heading over to a Verizon store and comparing it to as many others as possible.
I tried taking pictures of the issue, but my available cameras lacked the fidelty to show the issue.
I noticed the same thing with my most recent replacement. Though I did keep it. The blueish screen looked to be worse than the brown/red one in my opinion. On another replacement the screen would almost flip it's image on the top quarter of the screen, it was quite distorted and would go away when something would redraw, very annoying.
Same story here, kept it anyways. Screen isn't that bothersome.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium
I have to admit, I LOVE THE SCREEN, I really hated the Droid 2 (Milestone 2) screen, it was too yellowish, had to much space between display and glass, and it was too sharp. YES, too sharp, for me. I love the fact that the new pentile screen is notable as what it is, a SCREEN. Its easy to read outside. Compared to other screens it's extremely bright (white) and even little fonts in the Browser can be read without any problems. I love the little motion-blur effect and the screen matrix, especially when playing games it feels like a console like the psp, with my Droid 2 it didn't feel like that.
I'd first like to give everyone a big hello as I am normally a wall flower in this sense. I wanted to discuss the whole evolution in the mobile and PC world, specifically using the nexus 7 as an example. For instance I tend to find the new PC keyboard much easier to use, and the predictive text with auto correct seems to actually help than hinder. I am excited to try the new swype like keyboard in 4.2 but I'm hoping it soon takes on the keyboard in keymonk. I have noticed that things seem to be running much smoother in 4.1.2, namely screen transitions. In my experience the slides used to have a slight jitter, yet now they are back to their flawless motion. I am a not urked that we don't have a micro expansion or a rear facing camera as both features were put in the galaxy tab 2 7inch. I have experienced one drop already, it fell screen down completely naked and only suffered a small scrape to the bezel of the device. Lastly I'd like to see some more nexus friendly peripherals, like a manufactured attachment for surface charging or cases with built in storage and batteries. Sure you'd face the ever ugly sacrifice size for capacity and performance..but what can you do. I was a bit upset when only patrons who purchased the 16 got upgrade offers, and I'm hoping that by the end of the year maybe if the device goes through enough revisions I can claim my warranty and maybe get a newer model. Oh and one final note is a fine point stylus! I would love a stylus like the note, it seems so much more accurate compared to the rubber tips. Maybe bluetooth enabled so it can use angle sensors, or provide map able keys. Or maybe a nifty half case keyboard like the I pad and windows 8 tablets have. So in turn I want to hear what others think on that level. Maybe we can get some solid ideas in one place for the higher ups to see.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Edit: My Display Solution is : FauxClock. It has gamma correction and color tweaking. It's a paid app but it's inexpensive and def with it.
You can follow Faux123 work on the Nexus for kernel development as well as it rocks but not necessary for the color/gamma tweaks.
His thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2008222
Hey Nexus 4 Community,
I've read endless articles about how the Nexus 4 display is inferior to the iPhone and is bland and gamma raised way too high. I'm a photo-enthusiast, tech fanatic, and work in the field of mobile apps. With that said, I'd have to agree that the screen is amazing but has many short falls that it quiet frankly shouldn't.
I've dealt with screens from the old Palm Pilot Days (For those of you who remember the Treo ), TFT screens, Amoled (Or Super Amoled as Samsung so articulately imaged, and now IPS. I've dealt with high PPI's, to well... BlackBerry's. In the end, and after my last Galaxy Nexus... I took the screen out of the box and I was blown away with the sharpness and detail. Once that wow factor subsided I then got hit with the "Ummm..." factor of the washed out effect. I was one of the few that got mine from T-Mobile. I've experienced Google in the past shifting colors on releases and it's very frustrating to say the least.
I did some reading-up on tests and internet reviews and apparently our phone (the Nexus 4) actually has a better contrast rating and blacker blacks then even the iPhone 5. But, that doesn't make sense because I have an iPhone 5 (well, my girlfriend does actually) and I "went in" on details and video's to see which screen looked better. The colors in comparison on the Nexus 4, were off. The colors seemed so much more rich on the iPhone 5 as well. Now, trust me, I'm no iSheep. However I do appreciate quality. My Digital lenses (particularly my 85mm 1.4) in my Nikon collection afford me the ability to truly appreciate the low light shooting and quality of what true imagery can render in a photo.
It frustrates me to no end that Google hasn't gotten it right yet on this one. And I do emphasize yet, however I truly believe it's going to take one of you geniuses to actually get this screen calibration corrected. I *do* believe our screen is better then the likes of the Galaxy S3 (though opinions come into play here as some people like the Amoled saturation better) and even the iPhone line-up. I've personally tested the sharpness to be greater than both. With the right game adjustments and color calibration I know this can be done.
I'm not complaining...(well maybe a lil) I love my phone. Best Nexus device to date, IMO, as I've had them all less the Nexus One. I just want to use it at its true potential. I remember tweaking my Nexus S with Voodoo drivers and that made a lot of difference. I've even used FauxClock which I can appreciate for its color tweaking ability on the kernels, including the Nexus 4 one rooted, but I still need game control. I certainly hope if google fails to correct this display issue that someone here gets it right.
Well, that's my rant... oh yeah and one more thing. Those that question those of us who do complain about the washed out look. It's a bit insulting to hear that we are used to certain devices (such as Amoled) as there are so many devices to compare our screens to and unfortunately most give ours that washed out feel. It's unfortunate to have what I believe to be one of the best screens on the market and be hindered like this. Everyone has the right to their opinion and if you like the screen as is... you're not alone as many do, including me. But it can be better. That I know.
In hopes of the Nexus 4 to its utmost potential,
Rome
(PS. All of our phones are slightly different in regards to the screens, so what might be slightly greener on mine might be a touch more red on yours. Just remember that everyone's experience differs.)
Have you tried this?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nexus4displaycontrol
tocirahl said:
Have you tried this?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nexus4displaycontrol
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Click to collapse
Hi and thanks for the recommendation. I have tried that and it distorts the colors even worse for me over 255 making all of my white yellow.
My colors currently aren't horrible or anything but could use improvement but more over I'm even more interested in the gamma to be lowered so blacks on the app page and over all color isn't as washed out.
Thanks for taking time to try and help though. Its appreciated.
Rome
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Supposedly the developer of that app is working on a gamma setting feature for a future version.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Catchpen said:
Supposedly the developer of that app is working on a gamma setting feature for a future version.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be awesome. I'll be looking out for that. Thanks for the info.
Rome
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Catchpen said:
Supposedly the developer of that app is working on a gamma setting feature for a future version.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can wait for it, the screen is too warm, the white looks yellow
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
The screen is a bit washed out. Colors just seem to be a tad light. Also, it seems that blues are a bit undersaturated.
manlisten said:
The screen is a bit washed out. Colors just seem to be a tad light. Also, it seems that blues are a bit undersaturated.
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Click to collapse
My issues seem to fall right in line with yours. Undersaturated aka high gamma. Also washed out colors.
Despite my initial post stating the screen is beautiful and device just needs some tweaking such as gamma controls and color adjustment I'm sure people will start with the whole "we are used to amoled" crap Lol so be prepared to hear it.
That a side I'm happy but could be fully content with those adjustments in a new release or tools to fix these issues as Google hasn't normally in the past corrected color calibration issues in a timely manor in the past, if ever at all.
Lastly it seems there are a good bunch who are dealing with the yellowish screen issue (I'm not personally) and not sure if that goes away in time as I've heard that could be do to the glue on the screen. Again not sure as I'm not experiencing it.
Rome
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Chad_Petree said:
Can wait for it, the screen is too warm, the white looks yellow
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
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here is a picture, left side old one which i sent back cause it had a cracked in the back glass and right side the one i have and it seems like the yellow tint killin it.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/64014163/DSCN0649.JPG
romeoliny said:
My issues seem to fall right in line with yours. Undersaturated aka high gamma. Also washed out colors.
Despite my initial post stating the screen is beautiful and device just needs some tweaking such as gamma controls and color adjustment I'm sure people will start with the whole we are used to smiled crap Lol so be prepared to hear it.
That a side I'm happy but could be fully content with those adjustments in a new release or tools to fix these issues as Google hasn't normally in the past corrected color calibration issues in a timely manor in the past, if ever at all.
Lastly it seems there are a good bunch who are dealing with the yellowish screen issue (I'm not personally) and not sure if that goes away in time as I've heard that could be do to the glue on the screen. Again not sure as I'm not experiencing it.
Rome
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Yeah, I actually think this screen is worlds better than Super AMOLED even with the slightly faded color pallette. My point of comparison is the SLCD on the HTC Sensation. While not an IPS screen, the colors are definitely deeper and more vivid than the Nexus 4, especially the blues (see image).
Red Wolf said:
here is a picture, left side old one which i sent back cause it had a cracked in the back glass and right side the one i have and it seems like the yellow tint killin it.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/64014163/DSCN0649.JPG
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Click to collapse
Wow that's definitely some serious yellow tinting going on there v thanks for sharing the pictures and I hope the fix comes soon for that
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
manlisten said:
Yeah, I actually think this screen is worlds better than Super AMOLED even with the slightly faded color pallette. My point of comparison is the SLCD on the HTC Sensation. While not an IPS screen, the colors are definitely deeper and more vivid than the Nexus 4, especially the blues (see image).
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Click to collapse
I see what you mean. From the picture it also appears you're dealing with the yellow tinting as well. But the blues are of for sure. My blue seems a bit on the purple side. I played a video by Katy Perry (the one with the blue hair on vevo in hd to see the resolution/quality) on my nexus 4 vs the iPhone 5 and to my surprise I was paying more attention to the colors being so misrepresented I forgot I was comparing sharpness.
Then I checked other videos and i noticed more and more. I guess all of our phones are of in different ways. Sort of complicated the matter further I'd imagine.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
romeoliny said:
Wow that's definitely some serious yellow tinting going on there v thanks for sharing the pictures and I hope the fix comes soon for that
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
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yup don't know what to do is this yellow tinted problem hardware or software related?
I'm not picky about colors or displays as long as i can see in bright sunlight. Usually in a dark room at night i notice very faint backlight bleed from the top when screen is dark black @ 30-50% brightness, like in some older LED notebooks.
Hi, can you also compare the whites and sharpness on iPhone 5 and nexus 4 respective screens. I really love reading text on beautiful white screen of iPhone 4S.
Catchpen said:
Supposedly the developer of that app is working on a gamma setting feature for a future version.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Francisco's work for the GNex was brilliant, including a good bit of calibration tools. He'll get there (he hasn't even received his N4 yet!).
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Supercurio is the man we want working on our screens. He's done absolute magic in the past
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
I'm cross-posting my reply to this thread here because it touches on the differences in displays and what I've observed.
2defmouze said:
I've heard from a lot of more educated folks and some devs how the common "washed out screen" complaint your seeing is not really accurate at all. Many of us (especially coming from Samsung phones) are used to those SAMOLED displays which oversaturate the colors. The colors you will see on a high quality IPS display like the Nexus 4 are actually a true representation of what they are supposed to look like. At first it is going to appear weird and "washed out" to you, but after adjusting a bit you should be able to appreciate that you are seeing the colors the way they were designed, by Google, to be viewed. Just some info I wanted to pass along
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I'm sorry, but I'm really going to have to beg to differ on this. When I got my Nexus 4 and showed it the my girlfriend next to my Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch Long Name phone, she instantly said, "The old one looks a lot better." I told her that the SAMOLED screen was merely hyped up because of all the usual reasons, but the difference DID bother me. I told myself, "No, this is more natural. It's not washed out. You're just used to the old screen," but I can't do it any longer. My screen IS washed out; it IS inaccurate. I'm not sure what to do about it.
I'm a semi-pro photographer (meaning I've made money from my work, but it's not my day job; see my stuff here) and thus really picky about image quality and fidelity. I also used to be a DVD reviewer for a couple of major sites and had to calibrate my home theater setups to properly grade A/V quality. I just recalibrated my main computer's display - a Dell UltraSharp U2410 IPS-panel connected via DisplayPort using a GretagMacbeth Eye-One Match 3 calibrator - and compared my current wallpaper (NSFW, so not linked; skin tones are a good source to judge because of the subtleties of complexions) from mine and other Flickr users work and the differences are there and problematic. I even dug out my OG EVO 4G to compare because it was its too-cool/bluish display that paled (no pun) in comparison to the GS2 was what made me thunk down $500 to buy the latter unsubsidized. I had to use the Movie setting in Display properties to get the least-hyped picture because Standard and Vivid were just acid-trip crazy.
Compared to the GS2, the N4's colors are flatter, paler and washed out, especially in highlights on skin which are getting close to being blown out to white. It looks cooler until you throw the EVO into the mix and see what really cool, bluish color cast looks like. When looking at all three, the GS2 looks the closest to the PC monitor; the N4 is clearly less saturated and skewed toward yellow (note: I do NOT see the yellow color cast on pure white that others have reported; it just looks like more red is needed); the EVO looks really cool (blue).
Checking another photo (again NSFW; tanned partial nude woman in vivid magenta leather jacket) shows similar issues. The N4 is flatter in contrast and the highlights are blown out; the wall in back doesn't look creamy, but almost white; the jacket looks pink, not magenta; the burgundy wash on her hair is almost unnoticeable. I couldn't check with the EVO because it's having a cow about updating (gee, it's been offline for 14 months, could that be the problem?) but since it's obsolete, who cares? The GS2 looks really close to the monitor and the N4 doesn't.
Using the LCD test patterns here - LCD monitor test images - the most damning one isn't the Black Level one (browser color profiles seem to mess with it) or the Gamma test (all the phones look waaaay out of whack) but the White Saturation pattern which demonstrates how brighter values are rendering. On my computer, I can see the difference between 254 and the 255 background. The highest the N4 shows is 247, meaning everything from 248 on up looks the same as pure white, 248-254 = 255 = not good. The GS2 goes four steps up to 251 and the difference between getting 96.9% of the way and 98.4% makes a difference. As someone who usually shoots black-clad musicians in dimly-lit clubs with black walls, the difference of a few steps is the difference between seeing a guy in a black shirt in a black room playing guitar or seeing a floating guitar and arm. (This is an all-time worst case example.)
The hardest thing to do in publishing is color management and printers and pre-production houses spend thousands of dollars trying to get their workflow together so that what designers see on the screen will match what's on the page when it's printed. It is said that a man with one clock knows what time it is but a man with two clocks is never sure and what may look fine in isolation may suffer in comparison to something else. (Like how your significant other may be cute, but stand them next to the latest Sexiest Man/Woman Alive and you realize you're in a relationship with a mortal.) The trick is to determine what is CORRECT. For clocks, you get one of those atomic deals and set your watch to that. For displays, you color calibrate and use test patterns.
This is what I've done and while there is a element of personal taste involved - like when you adjust the tone controls on your sound system to boom the bass or whatnot - I'm not interested in preference, but accuracy, and the screen on my Nexus 4 simply isn't accurate. Maybe it's isolated bad unit; maybe it's an issue with 25% of units; who knows? All I know is that some people say it's washed out; others say it's as good as the best-in-class HOX; some try to rationalize what they're seeing by attributing it to the differences between LCD and SAMOLED; and I just want a faithful version of what's being displayed.
Have you tried adjusting using Franco's display control app? Should be able to get pretty close to what you want.
The N4 is already a way better screen than the N7 I'm typing this on.
Edit: A few seconds tweaking got the white level to 253. Gamma as you say is way off..
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
I would, but for some reason Play is saying I don't have any qualifying devices and doesn't even show my N4 in the dashboard, so I'm SOL to even try it.
EDIT: Was able to buy it from my phone, but what settings do you use. The lack of even labels on the RGB sliders and no sample image makes tweaking difficult.
EDIT #2: I refunded it because there wasn't enough info to work with in just 15 minutes. I was able to randomly slide things around and get White Saturation block 251 to appear (up from 247) and at one point it almost appeared to get the skin tones on the ballpark, but time ran out. I still think a gamma tweak would do a lot to help as well.
http://smartphoneblogging.com/2013/01/review-nexus-4-hardware-impressions/
This is really a disruptive device if you combine the price tag, hardware power and build quality as well as pure Android at its best. Very impressive demonstration of what Google is capable of, together with a partner like LG. And finally no Pentile Garbage screen!
Its the best Nexus Device ever. Never would have thought to say this about an LG Device.
Nicely written.
I find it interesting that cite these design factors as two of your main highlights on why the Nexus 4 is so special:
"It doesn’t have a curved display this time, but instead an interesting touch where the left and right display edges are wrapped around the corners. This makes touch gestures like scrolling horizontally feel much more natural, when you start at the edges."
and
"I really appreciate the multi color notification light which is positioned beneath the screen. There is an app called color flow which allows you to specify notification colors for each app seperately, this is a great feature to let you know what the context of the notification you just received is without even turning the screen on."
Good to know Samsung's Galaxy S3 design bodes well with LG and Nexus users..
Also funny that you deleted my comment on your blog and I had to post it here.
ingenious247 said:
Good to know Samsung's Galaxy S3 design bodes well with LG and Nexus users..
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The S3 has rounded glass on the face? I think the large bezel(on the S3) ruins what the N4 has going for it.
The front camera is 1.3MP not 3.2MP as stated in the review.
Though the review was good, you may want to go back and check for I's that aren't capitalized and so forth. For me at least, it makes the review lose a small amount of credibility. Otherwise, I enjoyed it greatly.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
AW: My Nexus 4 Review after some Weeks of usage
Thanks for your reply.
The comment wasn't deleted, its live.
You couldn't see it initially because I check comments manually before they are shown online, in order to delete spam.
ingenious247 said:
I find it interesting that cite these design factors as two of your main highlights on why the Nexus 4 is so special:
"It doesn’t have a curved display this time, but instead an interesting touch where the left and right display edges are wrapped around the corners. This makes touch gestures like scrolling horizontally feel much more natural, when you start at the edges."
and
"I really appreciate the multi color notification light which is positioned beneath the screen. There is an app called color flow which allows you to specify notification colors for each app seperately, this is a great feature to let you know what the context of the notification you just received is without even turning the screen on."
Good to know Samsung's Galaxy S3 design bodes well with LG and Nexus users..
Also funny that you deleted my comment on your blog and I had to post it here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AW: My Nexus 4 Review after some Weeks of usage
nightf0x said:
The front camera is 1.3MP not 3.2MP as stated in the review.
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Click to collapse
Yes, my mistake. Fixed it.
AW: My Nexus 4 Review after some Weeks of usage
Thanks. Sadly an old Version of my review went live due to some WordPress issues, I already fixed some errors. Will check the spelling after work today.
tanner4137 said:
Though the review was good, you may want to go back and check for I's that aren't capitalized and so forth. For me at least, it makes the review lose a small amount of credibility. Otherwise, I enjoyed it greatly.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ingenious247 said:
I find it interesting that cite these design factors as two of your main highlights on why the Nexus 4 is so special:
"It doesn’t have a curved display this time, but instead an interesting touch where the left and right display edges are wrapped around the corners. This makes touch gestures like scrolling horizontally feel much more natural, when you start at the edges."
and
"I really appreciate the multi color notification light which is positioned beneath the screen. There is an app called color flow which allows you to specify notification colors for each app seperately, this is a great feature to let you know what the context of the notification you just received is without even turning the screen on."
Good to know Samsung's Galaxy S3 design bodes well with LG and Nexus users..
Also funny that you deleted my comment on your blog and I had to post it here.
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Except the Galaxy Nexus had a multi-color LED before the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy S3 does not have curved glass that wraps around the sides of the screen...
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
There is an app called color flow which allows you to specify notification colors for each app seperately
It's Light Flow not Color Flow.
mixedguy said:
Except the Galaxy Nexus had a multi-color LED before the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy S3 does not have curved glass that wraps around the sides of the screen...
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
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Sorry, maybe I should have said "Samsung's" design, not the S3 then. Because they made the Galaxy Nexus
And the S3 has curved glass on the edges, giving the exact experience when gesturing from the side that he mentioned in the review. Not having it wrap around the entire side was smart IMO as it only makes the phone more fragile.
Point is, two main "wow" factors are actually Samsung designs that have been.. shall we say, "expanded" upon? (to be nice..)
But I don't dislike the Nexus, or his review, I just found it funny that those two points were written as if to insinuate that it was "new" design tech that improved the user experience over existing devices. Whereas I would have said something like, "similar to some of the key design features of the Galaxy line" to give credit where credit is due. I mean he even references the position of the power button which, again.. Samsung..
AW: My Nexus 4 Review after some Weeks of usage
Totally agree with the power button issue. But the multi color notification was already present on the Nexus One. And I don't know if probably some Windows Mobile Device from ages ago had this. So I'm always very careful when claiming that somebody did invent something.
I mentioned the two issues (display and notification light) not because I think its extremely innovative, but because the features are there and it makes sense to mention them.
ingenious247 said:
Sorry, maybe I should have said "Samsung's" design, not the S3 then. Because they made the Galaxy Nexus
And the S3 has curved glass on the edges, giving the exact experience when gesturing from the side that he mentioned in the review. Not having it wrap around the entire side was smart IMO as it only makes the phone more fragile.
Point is, two main "wow" factors are actually Samsung designs that have been.. shall we say, "expanded" upon? (to be nice..)
But I don't dislike the Nexus, or his review, I just found it funny that those two points were written as if to insinuate that it was "new" design tech that improved the user experience over existing devices. Whereas I would have said something like, "similar to some of the key design features of the Galaxy line" to give credit where credit is due. I mean he even references the position of the power button which, again.. Samsung..
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If anyone wants to claim the idea of the multicolor LED, look toward RIM. The original Blackberry Perl had a multicolor LED behind the trackball. Samsung was still making toy phones back then.
OK I am not saying that Samsung "invented" these things lol
Just that they already have them present in a flagship Android phone that is still on the market right now, and is the most popular Android phone ever, that's all I am saying..
But yes, perhaps RIM had something original and cool back in the day.. they are fighting for their life right now though
AW: My Nexus 4 Review after some Weeks of usage
ingenious247 said:
OK I am not saying that Samsung "invented" these things lol
Just that they already have them present in a flagship Android phone that is still on the market right now, and is the most popular Android phone ever, that's all I am saying..
But yes, perhaps RIM had something original and cool back in the day.. they are fighting for their life right now though
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Yes, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be happy that the Nexus 4 has that features too.
AW: My Nexus 4 Review after some Weeks of usage
Psyclism said:
If anyone wants to claim the idea of the multicolor LED, look toward RIM. The original Blackberry Perl had a multicolor LED behind the trackball. Samsung was still making toy phones back then.
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Didn't know that. Now let's see how good BB10 is. I have a playbook and I'm waiting for the update...
For those saying the N5 has a washed out screen i advise you to watch this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlNcuBcnnoU
The N5 has a top notch screen, the viewing angles are abit off but the actual quality is amazing! It clearly outclasses the Xperia Z1, a £450+ phone which only got released recently, and the screen on that is meant to be an improvement on its predecessor the Z1, I feel sorry for the people who bought that O.O
GalaxySN00B:0 said:
For those saying the N5 has a washed out screen i advise you to watch this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlNcuBcnnoU
The N5 has a top notch screen, the viewing angles are abit off but the actual quality is amazing! It clearly outclasses the Xperia Z1, a £450+ phone which only got released recently, and the screen on that is meant to be an improvement on its predecessor the Z1, I feel sorry for the people who bought that O.O
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To say that the N5's screen is great because it's better than the Z1's isn't saying a whole lot. That's like calling yourself fast bc you're only the 3 slowest kid in gym class. I've had both phones and still currently have my N5. I do find the N5 screen to be dull compared to most phones I've used and compared. That being said, as you raise the brightness the screen does look much nicer. It seems the brightness levels have more to do with it than the actual quality of the screen. The Z1 is a great phone but one plagued by terrible viewing angles. The screen which is still quite nice, isn't the best part of the phone so I wouldn't use it as a base of comparison to build up the N5's screen. I don't put a lot of weight into those "complaint threads" because the phone costs $349-$400, for what you pay you get a pretty good phone.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Forum Runner
A lot of people confuse over saturation as a nice screen and natural as dull. Since you can't really test the difference on a phone, if your TV has a standard or vivid mode then throw it on that. Then throw the TV into movie mode. It would look dull at first but that is the closest picture to a calibrated level you will get out of the box. Once your eyes adjust to that picture, then try going back to standard mode. You will never be able to watch an over saturated fake picture again.
Look at the picture in a movie theater, you can call that dull as well but these is what natural and real life look like.
Now, if they boosted up the contrast, that would improve the screen.
looks like we need someone with calibration equipment to do some testing. i mean compared to a samsung with whatever the latest iteration of amoled screen most do look dull. that doesn't mean the samsung is better. samsung tends to artificailly over saturate the colors and they usually have a high color temp and sometimes a green tint.
any photographers or printers out there willing to test the screen?
Dani897 said:
looks like we need someone with calibration equipment to do some testing. i mean compared to a samsung with whatever the latest iteration of amoled screen most do look dull. that doesn't mean the samsung is better. samsung tends to artificailly over saturate the colors and they usually have a high color temp and sometimes a green tint.
any photographers or printers out there willing to test the screen?
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I'm really looking forward to the inevitable Anandtech review of this phone. Their reviews are almost absurdly detailed and they have lots of great, objective data.
Next to my Moto X and Note 3, my Nexus 5 DOES look washed out. That's the AMOLED effect.
I compared it to both my Nexus 7 and iPad Air and it looks almost identical. Almost every review I have seen claims that it is "washed out", but I'm beginning to think it's just a color neutral LCD screen.
Angeloftech (check out her youtube channel) does some very extensive screen tests in her reviews and talks about the calibration and what the numbers mean. She hasn't released her Nexus 5 review yet, but I suspect it's due any day. That will give us a little better indication of what this screen is about. For example, she called out the LG G2 as being oversaturated and nowhere near accurate. That screen looks great to me, but the tests don't lie. I think we have just become accustomed to oversaturated screens and it's skewing our perspective a little.
The colours are fine it's the white balance that's off it's too warm.
greyhulk said:
Next to my Moto X and Note 3, my Nexus 5 DOES look washed out. That's the AMOLED effect.
I compared it to both my Nexus 7 and iPad Air and it looks almost identical. Almost every review I have seen claims that it is "washed out", but I'm beginning to think it's just a color neutral LCD screen.
Angeloftech (check out her youtube channel) does some very extensive screen tests in her reviews and talks about the calibration and what the numbers mean. She hasn't released her Nexus 5 review yet, but I suspect it's due any day. That will give us a little better indication of what this screen is about. For example, she called out the LG G2 as being oversaturated and nowhere near accurate. That screen looks great to me, but the tests don't lie. I think we have just become accustomed to oversaturated screens and it's skewing our perspective a little.
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You can have a "natural" colors and still have a "dull" or washed out screen. This isn't simply a case of AMOLED over saturation vs N5 and it's "natural" colors. My HTC Butterfly to me has the best screen I've seen. Mind you I own a 5S, Note 3, Butterfly S and N5 all currently. Its color reproduction, saturation, viewing angles and clarity to me best the others. The N5's colors are closer to "natural " then AMOLEDS however that being said is still on the dull side. The note has a clear, bright screen and tends to have improved the cartoonish saturation effect especially when in Movie Mode. Overall I think the N5's screen is OK but not my favorite.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Forum Runner
Her reviews make many of the big boys look like novice fanboys. She does in depth testing with LOTS of real world use reports. She takes the time to actually use these things and not be the first out the door with a review. Most importantly, she will put the screen under a scope so we can see what is going on. The nexus 5 screen to me looks amazing, very reminiscent of the calibration apple uses. Compared o the broken calibration that was the nexus 4, I think it is great.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
Nexus 5 is coming with 2 different panels
There are users who ordered 2 phones and these are different screen, one of them washed colors and yellow whites and the other is more cold and real whites like nexus 4
I prefer nexus 4 cause white is real white not sepia
Enviado desde mi GT-N5110 mediante Tapatalk
fjavierm said:
Nexus 5 is coming with 2 different panels
There are users who ordered 2 phones and these are different screen, one of them washed colors and yellow whites and the other is more cold and real whites like nexus 4
I prefer nexus 4 cause white is real white not sepia
Enviado desde mi GT-N5110 mediante Tapatalk
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This wouldn't entirely surprise me. I've been scratching my heads about the threads about the yellow whites. I believe some people are experiencing it, especially since people have provided pictures. The white on my phone is a neutral or slightly cool white.
No yellow colors here. my xperia t has a more yellowish screen + is washed out a lot more
As far as I have used this device for a week, it seems color temperature is a bit too high. I hope there will be some kernels that has color temperature options.
Dani897 said:
looks like we need someone with calibration equipment to do some testing. i mean compared to a samsung with whatever the latest iteration of amoled screen most do look dull. that doesn't mean the samsung is better. samsung tends to artificailly over saturate the colors and they usually have a high color temp and sometimes a green tint.
any photographers or printers out there willing to test the screen?
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Click to collapse
There was already a calibration test done. There is a link somewhere in one of these threads. It tested that the N5 had the closest colors to reference out of all the phones they tested. Maybe someone will find the link and post it here. They also tested brightness and contrast.
It was the contest that is scored towards the bottom of all the phones they tested.
greyhulk said:
Next to my Moto X and Note 3, my Nexus 5 DOES look washed out. That's the AMOLED effect.
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Exactly. You can't go comparing Amoled against ISP. There two totally different technologies. When I compare the N5 to other ISP phones mine looks pretty damn good. Like any LCD though I will calibrate it to my taste once the kernels allow for that. This whole thread is literally "in the eye of the beholder."
I've seen 2 different Nexus 5 units here in Canada (at Virgin Mobile kiosks) and in both cases the colors were accurate and very good, though the
whites are a slight bit on the yellowish/warm side. Compared to an iPhone 5S, the whites on the 5S are brighter and cooler.
Well, the good news is that franco kernel is well under development (according to the original nexus development thread) and once it's complete, we should be able to use his app (Display Control) to calibrate the screen if we want to.
Here are a couple of tests run on the N5 and some other flagships and the results. Link pulled from another thread here.
http://translate.google.co.uk/trans...s-schermkwaliteit-scherp-en-dik-in-orde.html
[email protected] said:
Here are a couple of tests run on the N5 and some other flagships and the results. Link pulled from another thread here.
http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A//tweakers.net/reviews/3298/7/google-nexus-5-toptelefoon-met-scherpe-prijs-schermkwaliteit-scherp-en-dik-in-orde.html%0A
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Lol I read the article and wondered why it was written in English but read like the auther was drunk until I saw the web address and saw translate. Good read though, points are easily understood and sum up the comments of most.
Sent from my HTC Butterfly s using Forum Runner
i think comparing the Z1 to N5 isnt fair anyway.
So what if the screen on the N5 is technically better? I've used both and...i didnt think the Z1 screen was that bad really. And viewing angles?
How many people use a personal device tilted to the sides? Most people are going to be looking straight at the thing when they're using it, 100% for me, it's a personal device and i'd be rather happy if others couldnt see whats on the screen.
And also "the Xperia Z1, a £450+ phone which only got released recently, and the screen on that is meant to be an improvement on its predecessor the Z1, I feel sorry for the people who bought that O.O"
really.
Feel sorry for the people who bought a very solid and well build phone?
Feel sorry for the people who dont have rattling buttons?
Feel sorry for the people who can happily drop it down a toilet and still have a functioning phone?
Feel sorry for the people who have a camera that's superbly better than the nexus 5?
Well done there mate.