Smartphone help, please...

[32X]

Hello all, i have never posted here before but need help to understand a few things regarding a couple of smartphones in particular, i hope you can help.

Im looking to buy a smartphone and i have finally narrowed it down to either a Sony Xperia S or a LG Google Nexus 4. Every review or opinion i have read, heard or watched screams get a Nexus 4 yet i seem to favour what an Xperia S offers, regardless.

What is it am i missing?

Compared to each other the Xperia S seems to give me:

- A better camera - in megapixels at least.

- double the amount of memory (32gb) which is good because i like to put music on my phone

- better sound output for said music

- Slightly better screen - alledgedly.

- and i prefer the look of the Xperia S handset also

The Nexus 4 seems to give me:

- a quadcore processor - what activities actually require this at this point though? How much does it help, right now? For example, I have seen a video of both of these phones browsing the internet side by side and there is like 1/3 of a second difference or something at worse. That's it. Mostly equal though really.

- Much faster updates from Google - This i really need help on. Jelly Bean is the one at the moment, how many variations of that do Google tend to release after? Sony are slow getting updates to their smartphones but once Jelly Bean is on the Xperia S, do i really NEED all the variations there after? I dont know how long Jelly Bean will last before it's replaced again and another long wait will ensue, if the Xperia S would even get the update anyway.

Basically i dont know how much worth to place on the speedy updates of the Nexus 4 compared to Sony. The Xperia seems to fit my media needs, yet people just say get a Nexus.

If anybody can help me i would be very grateful. Sorry it got a bit long!

Which should i choose and why?

[SkyrimGuy]

Hands down Nexus 4.

Faster updates from google.

Quad core proc. You will notice this in your daily use of your phone.

Corning Gorilla Glass 2.

2gb Ram vs 1gb

Larger screen 4.7 vs 4.3

[32X]

Hands down Nexus 4.

Faster updates from google.

Quad core proc. You will notice this in your daily use of your phone.

Corning Gorilla Glass 2.

2gb Ram vs 1gb

Larger screen 4.7 vs 4.3

Thanks for the reply!

Is it that much faster to give up the better camera, screen and twice as much memory though?

Thats the trade off i cant quite decide on. Is the Xperia S not pretty quick any way?

[Olexijl]

The first thing you should know: Sony Xperia smartphones (the newest ones) have a built-in, non-replaceable battery.

This means: after 3-4 years, the battery should be replaced but cannot. You have to give the whole smartphone away and replace it with new one. That's a Sony way.

Now i would buy Samsung smartphones instead: they have a great community support, replaceable battery and (mostly) open bootloader (good for flashing)...

Samsung Galaxy SII or SIII is good. They are known as GT-I9100 and GT-I9300.

PS: As for the sound output: you have to buy Poweramp from Google Play Store (5 USD) . That makes a big difference in sound playback.

[32X]

The first thing you should know: Sony Xperia smartphones (the newest ones) have a built-in, non-replaceable battery.

This means: after 3-4 years, the battery should be replaced but cannot. You have to give the whole smartphone away and replace it with new one. That's a Sony way.

Now i would buy Samsung smartphones instead: they have a great community support, replaceable battery and (mostly) open bootloader (good for flashing)...

Samsung Galaxy SII or SIII is good. They are known as GT-I9100 and GT-I9300.

Thanks Olexijl. The Samsung S3 is out of my budget though right now. The S2 is quite old is it not? The Nexus 4 and Xperia S are pretty much the same price, right on my absolute limit.

The Xperia S seems to do everything i need really well, but everyone says get a Nexus instead. Everybody cant be wrong i guess. I just wanted to hear from people who know, why it is so much better.

It would be good to hear from anybody who has either of these phones though.

[Olexijl]

The first thing you should know: Sony Xperia smartphones (the newest ones) have a built-in, non-replaceable battery.

This means: after 3-4 years, the battery should be replaced but cannot. You have to give the whole smartphone away and replace it with new one. That's a Sony way.

Now i would buy Samsung smartphones instead: they have a great community support, replaceable battery and (mostly) open bootloader (good for flashing)...

Samsung Galaxy SII or SIII is good. They are known as GT-I9100 and GT-I9300.

Thanks Olexijl. The Samsung S3 is out of my budget though right now. The S2 is quite old is it not? The Nexus 4 and Xperia S are pretty much the same price, right on my absolute limit.

The Xperia S seems to do everything i need really well, but everyone says get a Nexus instead. Everybody cant be wrong i guess. I just wanted to hear from people who know, why it is so much better.

It would be good to hear from anybody who has either of these phones though.

Actually, i own S2 myself. It is old - that's true. But as for me it is not TOO OLD. I just wanted to tell my reasons to avoid Sony. I personally prefer S2 for lower budget and S3 for highend class (though they are both highend).

Besides having quadcore speed or dualcore speed does not much difference as long as memory chips for internal space are unefficient. They are slow as for now.

About RAM is another story: some games need much RAM and if you have 2GB it is better than 1GB... However if you do not download them...

Samsung is enrolling Jelly Bean for S2 in several countries, late end of March you will have it in all countries for S2. I would upgrade as well, however i am currently on Gingerbread (2.3.6), i have some reasons.

[32X]

I like the S2 also but i think i want a newer handset at this point. Cannot afford a S3 right now though or would take that.

If you had to choose between Nexus 4 and Xperia S which would you take? I like to play games, listen to music, search the web also. The Nexus has half the memory and poor speakers - allegedly. Not good for music i am guessing.

I think the Nexus battery is non removable too, like Sony do. Its okay i am not too fussed about that. In 4 years i will buy a new handset anyway.

[mara-]

Consider S2 plus, which is the same thing as as S2. But, it was released couple of days ago, which means it will be much longer supported.

Cheers ;)

[Olexijl]

If you love music: you have to buy headset separately from phone anyway.

consider Sennheiser MX 170 or any Sennheiser quality headsets: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Sennheiser-MX-170-Stereo-Headset-Headphones-Earphones-/150898792262?pt=UK_Mobile_Home_Phones_Bluetooth_Acc_ET&hash=item232244d746

[grouchysmurf]

Samsung is the product line I stick to. Simply put, better quality, better support. Any of the samsung products listed above will do you fine. Much better value for your buck.

Edit: If you root your phone, you can try this app for android. It is the full version,

http://forum.mobilism.org/viewtopic.php?f=429&t=458047

Power Amp v2.0.8 build 517. Comes complete with widget pak.

If you are not familiar with rooting, or "unlocking"...then do not do it.

There are a couple of steps to do to make it work. READ instructions first

[32X]

Thank you for the replies. I do like Samsung's too but, ultimately i will choose between the Xperia S and Nexus 4 anyway.

I was just asking advice on those devices to help me choose, as i am struggling to decide.

Any help is appreciated though!

[DKT27]

Thank you for the replies. I do like Samsung's too but, ultimately i will choose between the Xperia S and Nexus 4 anyway.

I was just asking advice on those devices to help me choose, as i am struggling to decide.

Any help is appreciated though!

You should be open to more phones though, keeping sight only on two phones will reduce the chances of getting the right phone.

Anyway, do you plan to store more content on the phones? If yes then you should forget about Nexus 4 (inspite of it being the fastest phone around). I personally will never go for something with no SD card support. I don't know about these phones, but you never actually get the space, like on a 8GB phone, you will get about or less than 6GB free.

[32X]

I am open to every phone, but these are the two i am left with after going through all the phones i could. I like some older phones i.e Samsung S2 but i don't want to root my phone so for OS purposes i would like a newer phone at this point.

Yeah, you never quite get the memory amount they say, unfortunately.

I do need a good amount of storage myself, but not tons and tons. The Nexus has a 16gb version, which i think would do for me. Plus cloud storage if really, really necessary. The Xperia S has 32gb, that would be more than enough. I think storage space on either phone would be okay for me though. I wouldn't be uploading full movies or full music albums or anything like that.

If anybody has personally seen the screen quality on either (or both!) of these phones i would love to hear about that.

[chlorophyll]

see this n decide urself

http://www.smartprix.com/compare.php?ids=2317,2041,2346

what i came to know is u r being comfort with SONY

now wil give my personal view.

jan 2012 i took xperia LWW wt19i .had bad experince with sony.no good cutomer support.a big disappointment really .

within a few days am gonna get s2/s3.

samsung gives good support regarding firmware upgrades etc..

u pls once consider samsung products also.they r really good.pls choose samsung within ur budget only.no need of going for s3 etc

thank u for reading this

[Olexijl]

May i ask why do you not want to have rooted access? This is essential for so many apps...

I would understand you if you would really lose warranty, but this is not the case. Yes, you lose the warranty if you are rooting. However you can recover it by simply flashing the stock firmware. This will remove the custom kernel you need to have root access.

And this will remove any tweaks you flashed before to make your phone better.

[majithia23]

My advice ---

You are in a tech community with many experienced geeks , trying to get some advice for purchasing the right piece of technology .

And that is what the members are trying to do .

Giving you good advice to help you get a good piece of electronic hardware .

What i can figure out is , that you are looking for answers to get self convinced and thus satisfy your choice .

You have already made up a choice and now need some more words to tell yourself that " Yes , i made the right choice ! " :P

Thats not wrong . Of course it makes sense , but as Dkt said , widen your scope .

If you are indeed spending some bucks , why not go for the best that can be bought ! ;)

Or,

See , if you like something , simply get it ! Dont ponder over :)

or

If you want something better , than heed the opinions given .

I would say , stay away from Sony in the mobile segment .

But then again , its your choice . :)

[32X]

Thanks guys.

I appreciate your advice.

I heard a lot about Sony bad customer service, that does put me off i must say.

I thought rooting your phone voided the warranty forever, i didn't realise that Olexijl! Still, i think Majithia is right, when he says just buy one. I will avoid Sony though, like you say.

I will take the Nexus 4 over the Xperia now. It has great specs and constantly has the newest Android OS that is available. I will go for that one now for sure.

Your help is appreciated! Thanks.

[chlorophyll]

majithia23

"What i can figure out is , that you are looking for answers to get self convinced and thus satisfy your choice ."

s da same i came to know from his conversations right from the beginning.for da same reason i too said that he was comfort with sony n sticked to that COMFORT ZONE.

i want him come out of that zone n go for more options.

[RadioActive]

If they are priced the same then I'd suggest you go for the Nexus 4.