What phone will replace your N4?

[happy0506]

I've had my N4 for over a year and I've been as fond of it as I was my N1. Well, on my second N4 due to losing one. My big issue right now with the N4 is the lack of battery life. The N5 looked like a nice incremental upgrade, but didn't blow my doors off. I'm a big fan of the pure Android experience, so I've been hesitant to get a HTC, Motorola, or LG. I'm very curious to see what the next Moto X will look like. Maybe wait for the N6, hoping the rumors I read about ending the Nexus line are not true. The N6 is still a ways away, so I'm considering a phone outside of pure Android.

What do you think?

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

If the battery is the only issue, get yourself a couple of the RavPower wireless chargers. That will make your charging life MUCH easier.

My N4 16G is only 5 months old, I've only had it for 2 months. Pending any damage to mine, and it lives in a Ringke Fusion case with a screen protector, I don't plan on replacing it with anything else for quite some time.


Hypothetically speaking though, it's going to be hard for me to Ever go back to a carrier branded phone again.

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

[lion7718]

I thought the Moto X was as close as Nexus you could get without being a Nexus.

 

[lunatic59]

I'm still feeling a whole lot of love for my N4. Battery life has been fantastic for me since the 4.4.2 update. I think that the phone that will replace it hasn't been released yet.

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

In all honesty, if I won one of the 5 S5's, I'd be about 25% inclined to use it and keep the N4 as an insurance phone and about 75% likely to sell the S5 and with the 3 free months you also win having my cell bill for almost the next Year paid for and the money in the bank also for "phone insurance" for the N4

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

[John Bean]

Battery life has been fantastic for me since the 4.4.2 update.

Ditto. I see nothing to complain about with the battery life of the N4 compared with other phones I've used so I suspect the OP's problem is down to usage patterns - perhaps particular apps that eat battery. If that's the case I also suspect that the same will apply whichever replacement phone is chosen.

But to answer the question: I don't see any current new phones that offer me anything I want/need than I don't already have with the N4; that will change at some point of course, but that point is not in the immediate future.

 

[acejavelin]

I have an LG G2 as a work phone, it is amazing actually... it is the first phone that I don't care if it's a Nexus or not. The battery life is phenomenal, it is easy to root and ROM, currently running Beanstalk... I really have no negatives to the G2 and it could easily replace just about any phone.

 

[D-U-R-X]

I'm gonna stick with my N4 for a while longer.

As others have said, battery life is pretty decent (much better than my old DHD) and there's nothing out there yet that has enough of a wow-factor to make me really want a new phone.

Think it helps that I've just signed up for a 1 year, SIM only plan (

 

[codesplice]

I'm not ready to replace my N4. It still does everything I need it to, and it does it quite well.

I've mentioned elsewhere that if I lost it or destroyed it today, my go-to replacement would be a Moto X. As lion7718 mentioned, the X is about as close to stock Android as you can get on a non-Nexus - and the additional features are actually quite useful instead of just bloat (Samsung).

Realistically, I'm going to wait for the Nextus™ and see how that looks in the Fall.

 

[SiempreTuna]

Another one who's relatively happy with battery life and is sticking with the N4 at least until the N6 comes out (assuming it does).

Even then, I may not upgrade. I'm not sure how imporant is to have the latest and greatest phone anymore: I think Moto were right concentrating on the mid-market as these days, mid-market phones do pretty much everything most people - me, for one - need.

It's not like anyone's come up with a new, killer feature for phones since Nokia put a GPS chip in the N95. Everything else has just been refinement - including touchscreens. Not sure I need an even faster processor or an even bigger screen.

 

[happy0506]

My issue with the battery life is not about actually charging the phone, so I don't really need the wireless charger. I have a charger at home, in my car and at work. Most days I'm fine because I'm near a charger whenever I need juice. I get frustrated when I go out and the phone dies at 9-10-11pm at night after fully charging it at work until 5pm. I haven't looked into which apps are draining the battery yet. This is one area I wish Android would improve. I've tried many battery saving apps over the years, Juice Defender had limited success. I just wish Android had a better way to identify battery usage. I know screen time is usually the main culprit. Also, I would love to see a Droid Maxx type option for the Nexus. I know it will never happen, but my ideal phone is a Nexus that is 3-4mm thicker with twice the battery life. I think there would be quite a market for extended battery life phones, as it is usually one of the top gripes about new phones. I wonder what the sales success of the Droid Maxx was. If it didn't do well, I guess I'm in the minority that would choose an extended battery life phone. I carry a mobile battery charger when I travel, but it isn't ideal. I also know they have battery cases, but those things are huge and add significant weight to the phone.

The overall sentiment from the posts are pretty much what I am thinking, there isn't anything out there that would be a significant step up from my N4. I'll probably follow my pattern of upgrading every other Nexus release.

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

As you yourself have alluded to, if you're killing a full charge in 4-5-6 hrs then you're either Using it almost ALL of that time or your issue is a power drain one, not a battery one.

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

[MacFett]

With the cm nightlies after the last milestone my battery life has been pretty great.

I am looking to the oneplus one though due to lack of storage space and no USB otg. I also shattered the back glass on my n4.

 

[andruoid]

Whatever phone suits my needs when the contract is up in 1.5 years.

I mentioned this in the rooted section but my N4 battery has shown a really nice increase since wiping out GApps except Play. The N4 is unplugged at 11am and doesn't get plugged in until just after 2am. My shift at work is 10 hrs and for 9 of those hours I listen to audiobooks. I also surf on breaks (forums, facebook, etc all in the browser, not apps that poll and use data + battery time.

 

[bjacks12]

I have only had my phone for 9 months... So i have no idea what I'll get to replace it. Probably the nexus 7, lol. It should only be a few months away after my phone hits two years.

 

[John Bean]

I doubt there will ever be a Nexus 7 phone for several reasons, not the least of which are the two existing Nexus 7 tablets. Enough confusion already

 

[bjacks12]

Lol, that was a brain fart on my end. You know what i mean though.

Sent from my Nexus 7 (2015) (Phone) using Tapatalk.

 

[John Bean]

I did know exactly what you meant but where's the fun in that?

Meanwhile I was imagining what you'd look like with a 7" LCD phone up against your head.... Another reason a Nexus 7 phone is unlikely

 

[bjacks12]

There's a guy on a Lexus forum that I'm on who sold his Note 3 and bought an N7 and used it as a phone for a while. He finally gave up and bought a N5.

 

[jhonb]

I read somewhere that around September the new Galaxy Nexus will be released. I Think that it actually came from a Google guy. I think I will be ready by then for a new toy.

 

[codesplice]

I read somewhere that around September the new Galaxy Nexus will be released. I Think that it actually came from a Google guy. I think I will be ready by then for a new toy.

October-November is usually Nexus season. I doubt it will be a Galaxy, too

 

[SiempreTuna]

Actually: good point. I wonder who'll make the next Nexus? Google may not want to go 3-in-a-row with LG in case it upsets the other 'partners'.

Personally, I don't think they should go with Samsung as they're already too dominant - besides, they had their turn.

Moto are probably still out with the sale going through.

I can't believe they'd go with Huawei because the spyware thing would put off too many people (me, for one) - besides, Google want to be the ones doing the spying

I'd kinda like them to go back to HTC as they've been making some awesome - and seriously cute - phones lately .. but then, they also already had their turn.

I guess it may just be Sony's turn. Which would be a bit disappointing as Sony haven't done anything too interesting in a while - can't recall the last time I saw a Sony in people's best phones lists.

Having said that: LG weren't really on the radar until they made the N4. Maybe a Sony Nexus would be the kick in the pants Sony need (and they definitely need something ).

 

[acejavelin]

There are some other considerations here besides the "big boys"...

Oppo makes an amazing phone, although they are tied pretty tightly with CyanogenMod at the moment... The quality is there and they have the resources to make a large market penetration if they were in a position to do so with proper backing.

Also, don't forget some of the other smaller players... with the right backing they could do some amazing stuff. ZTE and Pantech could also fill this bill if they wanted to get into higher end devices, the quality is there, they are just more in bed with the low to mid range products at the moment.

ZOPO, Xiaomi, Blu, Plum, and K-Touch are remote possibilities, although extremely remote, but I don't think they have the reputation or resources to manufacture a Nexus device.

Personally, I would love to see an Oppo Nexus device... Imagine a Nexus version of the Find 7, although, it almost is open enough already.

 

[bjacks12]

I think we read too much into things sometimes. I bet Google sticks with LG because it's working.

 

[lion7718]

I still think we'll see a Moto Nexus next...unless HTC throws Google a whole lot of money.