Nexus 4 Prices Slashed to $199 & $249

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by xendula

Sockmonkey, I have both the Nexus 4 and the latest iPod Touch, and if you only need a media player, I would recommend the iPod Touch over the Nexus 4, because the Nexus 4 battery is attrocious, and the device is much bulkier and heavier than the iPod Touch.

The next gen iPod T is right around the corner, if Apple releases an upgrade this fall, so the price on the current one may drop or an even better one may go on sale soon.

Obviously, if you'd be popping in a SIM card and using the Nexus 4 as a phone, the above statements are irrelevant.

Got my Nexus 4 yesterday and I'm loving it. I have no intention of putting a SIM card in it. To me, it's a mini tablet. Spec wise, it's nearly identical to my Nexus 7v2.

When deciding what to get, the iPod touch 5 had too many shortcomings; so I ruled it out fast.

Thanks for the tips anyway. As to my iPt4, it'll still provide me with valuable service. It'll reside in a speaker dock and play music, audiobooks and old time radio shows.

[Marseille]

I tried to resist this deal, really wanted AMOLED, but within a few hours of the price cut, I grabbed an 8GB. It replaces one ereader/PMP/PDA and one blackberry flip phone, both from 2009, and neither were exactly cutting edge at the time. Oh the lag. Got mine of Tuesday and I'm a big fan.

I wanted AMOLED for lower brightness, higher contrast night reading, but I have to say, this LCD is far more versatile than my old Touch Pro2's was. My eyes haven't been this comfortable reading at night in a long time. Applying Screen Filter (a contrast adjustment style 'dimmer' that just shades colors darker) hasn't been useful on any other LCD I've tried it on, but on the N4, it really works for me. I honestly don't know why, but I'm thrilled with the results. 3rd party readerware like moon where you can have non-white text on black backgrounds work better too, basically you're doing the same thing.

It's not a device without compromise, especially the 8gb model, but it is a bargain without parallel. Even in the chinese market, where I was watching some interesting hardware, you can't get this kind of bang for the buck, and certainly not with hspa+ on tmo and att or nexus fringe benefits.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Funny you should mention the Nexus 4, tubmonkey ("What did you just call him?"): I kept that product page open for a week.

I might have bought one if I hadn't just picked up a Galaxy S4 and grown attached to its mSD slot. (I was waiting for the Note 3, but my phone committed seppuku just as I was moving to another city.)

I'd buy one for my grillfiend right now if she didn't need something with more internal space. She needs that because she's not allowed to play/stream music files on her work computer and phone/data reception in that building is putrid.

Still, a friend of mine who writes apps for iRectangles worships the N4. He's owned one for about six months.

As soon as he bought it, he began ticking off the iPhone's comparative faults and even asked which DAW programs I thought were best for the PC. Before he experienced that one Google phone, he'd always used Logic on Macs.

The Nexus 4 was so good that it put him on course for a total OS defection.

§§§§§§§

Originally Posted by Graham

Hmm, not so sure. I love my Nexus 4 but the one thing that I'm not so sold on is its sound quality through headphones or output to a stereo. The audio sounds 'thinner' to me. It's OK, but the sound was much richer on my Galaxy S, and neither could beat my old Creative Zen Micro.

The original Galaxy S released in June 2010 had a Wolfson DAC, which is why it still sounds better than nearly everything else. Subsequent iterations in the U.S. have sounded far worse; they use a Qualcomm chip with an awful Yamaha DAC. Only the international versions of modern Galaxy S phones use Exynos chips and therefore Wolfson DACs. Unless you buy the global version of the GS3 or 4, the Nexus 4's SQ is not inferior to it. I don't know whether that's a consideration if you live in the UK, however.

Still, internal sound quality doesn't matter when you own a phone (like the N4) that's compatible with a $32 combination Sabre DAC and OTG cable or (if you want to spend $70 dollars more) the FiiO E17. The catch is that you'd have to use this kernel and "almost any" ROM (according to the dev).

I use that $31 USB DAC with my GS4 every day. (The only advantage to the S4 is that it ships with USB audio enabled and no ROM or kernel is necessary.)

By contrast, the only DACs which are compatible with the iPhone cost $400 or more.

§§§§§§§

Originally Posted by hwlester

YAs afv011 pointed out, it's comparable in price to a subsidized Galaxy S4 where you're locked into a 2-year contract.

Not necessarily. I bought a GS4 up front and use it off-contract with MetroPCS, which now features T-Mobile's 4G network for that one model: Same network as the mainstream carrier at a far lower price.

[tubemonkey]

16GB now sold out!

That's it, the Nexus 4 is no more. Time for Nexus 5 to take the stage.

I'm loving my Nexus 4; it's a great mini tablet. Once Google slashed the price, I knew I was getting one and have no regrets for bypassing the Nexus 5.

[Graham]

Really interesting post, Prestidigitweeze, thank you. I must do some further research into external DACs and what's possible.

Graham

[Marseille]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

16GB now sold out!

Nexus 4 was a game changer when it first arrived, and once more just before it disappeared. There are worse ways to live.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by Graham

Really interesting post, Prestidigitweeze, thank you. I must do some further research into external DACs and what's possible.

Graham

If MR were a music-inclusive site, I'd have posted this as soon as I read about it: Samsung just struck a deal with Wolfson!

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsu...ablets_id42064

Also, the Note 3 is going to be 24-bit and 192k-capable -- at least in Korea (we'll see whether those specs make to the UK or Stateside):

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_gala...-news-6651.php

The LG G2 looks like an excellent option for 24-bit audio:

http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/09/lg-g2-review/

We probably won't see the MX-3 stateside, but look at the specs, and notice that it ships with 128 GB internal memory. Meizu made decent mp3 players long before it switched to smartphones:

http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/02/meizu-mx3-launched/

And when you're conducting your research, be sure to peruse this thread. Every five pages, a member named Dan Ba updates the compatibility list for as many Android phones and DACs as Head-fi members can test:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/andr...-usb-dacs/2985

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

If MR were a music-inclusive site, I'd have posted this as soon as I read about it: Samsung just struck a deal with Wolfson!

Would love to have a music forum on MR; also one for audiobooks and one for library books.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Funny you should mention the Nexus 4, tubmonkey ("What did you just call him?"): I kept that product page open for a week.

I might have bought one if I hadn't just picked up a Galaxy S4 and grown attached to its mSD slot. (I was waiting for the Note 3, but my phone committed seppuku just as I was moving to another city.)

I'd buy one for my grillfiend right now if she didn't need something with more internal space. She needs that because she's not allowed to play/stream music files on her work computer and phone/data reception in that building is putrid.

Still, a friend of mine who writes apps for iRectangles worships the N4. He's owned one for about six months.

As soon as he bought it, he began ticking off the iPhone's comparative faults and even asked which DAW programs I thought were best for the PC. Before he experienced that one Google phone, he'd always used Logic on Macs.

The Nexus 4 was so good it that put him on course for a total OS defection.

I wanted more storage too. Personally, I feel 32GB should be the absolute minimum for a mobile device without a card slot. I would've grabbed an N4 last year if it had a 32GB option. Since it didn't, I held out for either a hefty price drop or an N5 with more storage. When the prices were slashed, I jumped.

I agree with your friend; it's a great device!

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Would love to have a music forum on MR; also one for audiobooks and one for library books.

Me, too, Monk. We could always post a request thread! And I agree with you about 32GB being the minimum storage for smartphones and tablets.

Graham:

Here's the most recent DAC compatibility list. Search the page for the Nexus 4 and you'll find it:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/andr...0#post_9783879

Looks as though Nexus 4 owners have to use USB Audio Pro for the moment, but that's an excellent sounding recorder/music player. The catch is that your music files have to be FLAC.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Me, too, Monk. We could always post a request thread! And I agree with you about 32GB being the minimum storage for smartphones and tablets.

Graham:

Here's the most recent DAC compatibility list. Search the page for the Nexus 4 and you'll find it:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/595071/andr...0#post_9783879

Looks as though Nexus 4 owners have to use USB Audio Pro for the moment, but that's an excellent sounding recorder/music player. The catch is that your music files have to be FLAC.

Thanks again. My music's mostly FLAC. :-)

Graham

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Me, too, Monk. We could always post a request thread!

It'll just go ignored; like previous requests I've made for audio and library books.

[xendula]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Would love to have a music forum on MR; also one for audiobooks and one for library books.

I agree, stockingmonkey, I'd love an audiobook and library forum as well, but the number of users may end up as small as that of the Spanish forum, which is tiiiiiny.

Of course, not everybody has - like - 12 different library cards like you do!!

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

It'll just go ignored; like previous requests I've made for audio and library books.

Really sorry to hear that. Your requests are good; a lot of us would like to see those kinds of forums.

I hope it doesn't bother you that we play with your username. It's a fun name and you seem to embrace the persona, but I can see how expressions of bemused overfamiliarity from strangers might get tedious after a time.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Really sorry to hear that. Your requests are good; a lot of us would like to see those kinds of forums.

Thanks

I hope it doesn't bother you that we play with your username. It's a fun name and you seem to embrace the persona, but I can see how expressions of bemused overfamiliarity from strangers might get tedious after a time.

Go for it. I'm a very laid back monkey. It doesn't bother me in the least. Fact is, I rather enjoy it.