Because I previously had the Galaxy Nexus on Verizon I am at a great position to comment on not only the design of both phones but the difference between LTE and HSPA+ so I will be making a lot of comparisons with the Galaxy Nexus in this article to explain where the Nexus program is going.
The Design:
The Nexus 4's design is probably the most attractive android phone I've seen yet. I've come to really appreciate the on-screen capacitive buttons so I'm glad Google decided to keep that. In terms of the front of the phone, you may have realized that it is almost exactly the same as the Galaxy Nexus with the exception of moving the camera and earpiece to make for a more clean experience. And then there is the back of the phone. By comparison, the Nexus 4 absolutely blows the Galaxy Nexus away. The build quality of the unibody design paired with the glass back makes for a massively attractive phone. That being said, I immediately covered it up with a case. That being said, I really like the TPU cases that are offered by Cruzerlite. It protects the phone well, without bulk, while continuing the attractive experience on the Nexus 4. +Cruzerlite
The OS:
While Android 4.2 isn't mutually exclusive to the Nexus 4, the hardware on this new device really allows it to be super snappy. Although the Galaxy Nexus on Verizon was perfectly capable of running Android 4.2, it came only in the version of CM10.1 and other AOSP based ROMs which inevitably had bugs that would cause lag and dropped frames. Therefore, it is really hard to say what the true AOSP Android 4.2 experience would have been like on the toro but Verizon doesn't seem to have plans to give their users that gratification. Since this phone is truly a Nexus and will get updates directly from Google as soon as they are released, for the first time I don't have a very big desire to root my phone. At least not yet. However, I'm tempted because I know that the developer of Tiamat kernels has been working on an optimized kernel for the Nexus 4 because the stock one is simply inefficient and he is very good at making kernels. He has one for just about every HTC phone, ever. Check out his website here and keep an eye out for the Nexus 4 kernel. http://www.tiamat-dev.com/ . With the iteration of Android 4.2, Google added lockscreen widgets as an option. At first I was a huge skeptic because I didn't like the idea of putting my personal information right on the lock screen for people to easily access, even if my phone is locked. However, since I no longer have cyanogenmod on my phone, I started thinking about what I could do to improve my lockscreen experience, particularly in terms of seeing the weather quickly and efficiently without having to unlock my phone and navigate to an app or even a widget. I found a gem that a lot of people found before me but might not have had the luxury of vanilla android to take advantage of it. HD Widgets is a beautiful app that actually allows you to show the weather on your lockscreen just by clicking the power button to turn on the phone. It's very customizable and I highly recommend it, even for $2.
The Battery:
There isn't a whole lot I can say about the battery on this phone. The main difference that I can note is that it is the first time I have had a phone with the battery being non-removable. Technically, with the screws on the bottom of the device the battery can be removed and replaced but the average user would find this work a bit too intimidating to do themselves. At least it can be done, though, so an old, burnt out battery doesn't mean you need to buy a new device. In terms of battery life, I can easily get 14 hours of life out of my Nexus 4 compared to about 6 hours of equivalent use on the Galaxy Nexus. I had gotten used to charging my Galaxy Nexus more than once a day but I can certainly get used to not having to do that. I realize that the 2-chip LTE architecture in the 1st generation LTE phone that was the Galaxy Nexus had a lot to do with the inefficiencies that led to the horrible battery life but I like to think that the Nexus 4 has a lot going for it that gives it a better battery life such as the larger battery and the lack of LTE chip and more efficient processor.
Other Hardware:
The screen on the Nexus 4 is vibrant and with the IPS display being a lot closer to the glass, it just looks so much better and the colors are a lot better than it was on the Galaxy Nexus. I used to think that SAMOLED was the best, I particularly liked how black the blacks were but the whites are much less yellow on the IPS display and I have to appreciate that a lot more. The camera sensors on this device are a huge upgrade from its predecessor, too. The pictures I've taken on the Nexus 4 have been noticeably better, which is really saying something. I've not gotten the opportunity, yet to try out the wireless charging but at this point it seems like it might be a bit of a novelty. It's been said that the LG charging orb will be available soon but I've also heard that wireless charging is much slower than charging through the standard micro USB port. As much as the wireless charging sounds like a great idea and very practical for someone who spends a lot of time at their desk, such as myself, the $60 price tag for the charging orb paired with how slow it charges the phone makes it much less practical to me.
Straight Talk on AT&T:
I really didn't know what to expect going from Verizon to Straight Talk because I had almost no experience with GSM networks in the past, particularly strictly HSPA+ devices. I know plenty of people with iPhones on AT&T but a lot of them have gotten new phones (iPhone 5) or I wasn't close enough to them to play around with their phones before I really got into the mobile industry. At any rate, coverage is pretty good, it is AT&T, after all. I also live out in the sticks which was something that I was initially worried about but I was pleasantly surprised by my service out there. So far, my best download speed has been 5.37 Mbps (left) and you can see it is actually fairly akin to the download speed I got in roughly the same location on my LTE Galaxy Nexus which I pictured to the right. What you cannot see is the fact that my phone bill has been cut in half by switching to Straight Talk. Previously, I paid about $70 per month on a business account with grandfathered unlimited data. Now, I pay $45 per month with still very good coverage, unlimited data and I can tether without having to worry about big brother coming to get me! One thing you should note about Straight Talk, and I imagine the same goes for Net10, they like to call you and text you a lot to remind you to set up auto-refill and this that and the other thing. You can get them to stop calling you but I haven't figured out whether you can get them to stop texting you. It's really not that big of a deal, it's certainly something I can live with but it's something worth noting if you're thinking about getting into it.
Wrap Up:
At the end of the day, even though I was really excited about the Nexus 4 and of the hardware goodies it had in store, I wasn't as mesmerized by the device once I got it as I expected I would. Why? The OS was nothing new to me. Since I had been running Android 4.2 on my Galaxy Nexus before, I wasn't really that blown away when I finally got the chance to try it out on the Nexus 4. I'm by no means trying to discourage people from buying it, it's an amazing device but maybe if you have the Galaxy Nexus already, you might be able to hold off for the Nexus 5 or whatever it's going to be called to come out later this year. Straight Talk is a great service and I highly recommend it, particularly if you already use AT&T or T-Mobile. You will save a few bucks and get unlimited data! If you have any questions or comments send them to me in the comment section below or ask me or Facebook, Twitter or Google+.
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