Hey guys, I've been wanting to upgrade my gnex for a while now.. Am still happy with the phone except for its camera, battery life and screen size(soft buttons)
Now a bit disappointed with the rumoured n5 specs.. Likely to come with 4.95 inch screen, 8mp camera and 2300mh battery.
Should I wait for N5 or fork out a bit more for the Note 3? I know its pretty dear atm. But using 28 degree I'm hoping the price would get down to 600ish after 6months?
NOTE 3 or NEXUS 5?
chew_chew on 06/10/2013 - 20:07
Comments
To be fair, a lot of the 'garbage' can be easily disabled. I have a Note II and although I hate TouchWiz, I really, really like the phone. The Note series is really a great line of phones with features like; very good battery life, impressive screen size and quality, S-Pen (very fun and precise) and speed (nothing it can't handle).
Also, the specs of the N5 aren't even official yet, so we don't know what to expect from it.I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can't go wrong with the Note.
I have a Galaxy S4, and even prior to rooting I was able to reduce the the bloatware to comfortable level by simply disabling all apps/features I didn't use via the settings and reducing animation speeds to 0.5 in dev options. Touch Wiz is much better than it used to be (although I still prefer stock android)
There is no bloatware on Nexus devices.
All apps that are preinstalled serve the same purpose as the 'bloatware' that the iPhones are boxed with.
Lesson learned. Never speak of apple to Andriod users.
Had the GNex before moving onto a Nexus 4 and S3 and i can still understand your main issues.
Camera: As with most higher-end Samsung/HTC phones, the camera software runs rings around Google's stock camera application (Nexus). I've recently played with the Note 3's camera (as this is an important function for me too!) and was very impressed by the quality and focus of the lens…. And that ridiculous burst speed it has!
Battery life: Note's are known to hold one of the biggest batteries (mAH-wise) in branded smart phones. And having it removable (and replaceable) might also be an plus over the Nexus.
Screen size: I'll assume you're referring to the on-screen buttons decreasing the potential size of the screen. Besides flashing an alternative ROM and reducing the size of the on-screen button bar, the Note will take it here if you're in for a bigger screen.
I'd get the Note 3 if price wasn't an issue for you.
It does seem note 3 will be better than n5 in terms of battery and screen size. Not sure if the 13mp will be better than n5s 8mp with ois though :)
How's ur experience with the n4 and s3? I have never tried out touchwiz. How does it compare to stock android?Looking at the camera specs, since LG will also be making the n5, id say that as good as it might be, it will still be strapped down by the stock camera software :( (As is with my N4)
As it's already been said in comments made here, Touchwiz does come with some bloatware and is known to eventually experience small, slight bits of lag here and there when the phone starts to fill up with apps. The Note 3 does have 3GB or RAM which will serve to lower the instance of that happening though.
Stock Android on my n4 is smooth. I've had it since the start of this year and haven't experienced any type of lag at all. Coming from a GNex, I'd say you'd already have some sort of idea of that. Compared to my N4, my S3 just seems a little slower on the interface side. No bugs, just performance-wise; I've had to rely on alternative gallery, messaging and calendar apps to replace the preinstalled Touchwiz ones as they started to get a little slow. The N4 is my primary phone now.
There's a lot more to take into account between these two however, for the main points that you listed, I can't see how the N5 would compare with Note 3 for your needs.
Maybe go in store and have a go at the Note 3 for yourself.
What's wrong with the stock android camera app?
Also, nexus 4's can use a variety of camera apps.There's nothing wrong with the stock camera app. It's just not as good as the Samsung one. I'm not just talking about features, but the quality of photos, and especially recorded video - seems to be more refined to each Galaxy model rather than a stock camera placed on all Nexus devices.
You're right; Nexus 4 and every other droid has access to every alternative camera app in the play store. But personally, few come close to the apps provided by Samsung and HTC.
at the risk of being captain obvious - if u can handle the size note3 is the better unit… nexus 5 is a good device though
do you need the digitizer stylus functionality provided by note 3?
if yes then get note 3, otherwise go for nexus 5.Not sure if I'll end up using the stylus as I have never owned a note or note 2. But i have heard reviews that the stylus is getting more useful?
Any insights on the s-pen?
Any insights on the s-pen?
Had the device for a day or two (brother's phone, which he left at my house so I played with it).
Its awesome for taking notes. The handwriting recognition is impeccable. There's also the S-Finder, which is sort of like an Omni-Search bar that can sift through your apps, contacts, emails and your handwritten notes.
I thought I would never use the stylus on a phone but after playing with it I'm actually thinking of splashing out for a Note for my next device.There's also some other features associated with the S-Pen, some of which cool and some gimmicky.
Note 3 vs leaked device. Not sure if the arguments make any sense.
My partner has the note 3; the main con I have with it is TouchWiz (easily replaced by a custom launcher) and the plasticity feel of the back. I'm not sure how much more premium the Nexus will feel (the white Nexus 4 certainly looked pretty though).
Note 3 has seriously amazing battery life.. camera is great too.
Nexus 5.
why would you want touchPiss? Also recently all the Samsung phones are getting sim locked to their regions I think. Also it will be much cheaper at ~$350-400. I'm in the same boat as you wanting to upgrade from my GNex. Note will probably be stuck on 4.3 while Nexus gets the latest AndroidNEXUSWARRIOR #HOLOYOLO
are you also going to upgrade to Nexus 5? considering anything else?
Yes, I plan to upgrade at around March when my GNex voda contract finishes. Sticking with Nexus because that's how you get the best Android experience. Also the N5's screen size is probably the maximum for me.
not sure about the price, I've heard that n5 will be a high end phone unlike the n4. Thus, expecting to be pricey than before.
I would wait until it comes out and wait a bit till the price goes down a bit.
Agree since its going to come with 4g as well.
However, not sure how much the price could drop by if it's going to be sold through Google directly. Perhaps $100 off before the n6 is released? :P
If you like a bigger size, and have the money to spend, get the Note 3. Otherwise, wait for the nexus and then you can make a decision based on official info.
Personally I would go Nexus. While I have been using samsungs for a while, the stuff that they are introducing into their phones (region lock, e-fuse to prevent rooting etc) has put me off. While I agree that most of the population couldn't care less about the rooting thing, region locking pretty much is designed to kill the grey market which ozb-ers love.
4.95 inch, am wondering if i can use one-hand ?
Settings > accessibility > enable One hand use
Simples!
dafuq why would you buy a huge device to use the small screen feature
that's like buying an iPad and only using the iPhone apps without scaling upIn the event that you only have one hand available, but you're usually perfectly capable of using two. You would hardly use it all the time.
I have the perfect example for that, but it would get an "in-appropriate" flag if i just post in here.
:D
i've got a gnex, and i'm waiting for the n5 to come out
i was waiting for the note 3, but at a realistic ~$800 to buy it outright it's damned expensive, i was hoping more $600, and while all the samsung software inclusions can be neat from time to time, i'm quite happy with the 'vanilla' android you get with the nexus phones.
i have it on good authority that there'll be a proper announcement in the next 2 weeks, if you've waited this long you may as well wait for the N5 price to be announced :)
Both handsets have Snapdragon 800 processors spec wise and screen definitely go with the Note 3 provides an extra 1GB of RAM and it's 13 megapixel camera and its huge screen with phenomenal 386 PPI. The Nexus 5 is most likely priced at a budget side if your going for cheaper solution Nexus 5 is definitely worth buying.
There's no competition. Note 3 by miles.
……what about price?
Hardware wise the Note 3 wins hands down and I would choose it in a heartbeat because I Heavily modify my software (root/rom) for the average user, a more fair comparison would be:
Note 3 pros:
Lots of features
1gb more ram
Digitiser
Removable 3200mah battery
Expandable memory
13mp camera capable of 4k video.Possible Cons:
Touch Wiz
Slow updates
Large dimensions.
Locked dock icons in Australia model (unless you root)Nexus pros:
Probably boatloads cheaper
Less preinstalled bloatware
Android 4.4 on release
Faster updatesPossible Cons:
No expandable memory
No removable battery
Less features
No digitiser support
Inferior cameraOf course details may change for the nexus 5 therefore this is only a rough comparison right until the details are officially announced, and reviews released.
how could you compare the Note3 with a phone(Nexus 5) thats not even released yet? going by leaked or rumored specs?
my 2c is you either like the pure nexus experience or you dont
you either like the 5.7" screen and stylus or you dont
you`re the one using the phone, no one can make that decision for you dude. ultimately it comes down to what YOU want."how could you compare the Note3 with a phone(Nexus 5) that's not even released yet?"
You do it in your second paragraph ;)
Provided the OP is aware (which he does mention in his post) that the comparison is between a released product and an unfinished product there is no harm in speculation, especially when he has 6 months to think about the purchase anyway. :)
Too early to say without seeing the official N5 specs, but the camera in the N5 looks promsing:-
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Nexus-5-to-be-first-smartphon…
Nexus 5 :)
In the end, it's not worth wasting your money for the rubbish Samsung includes with their devices. Since you're already accustomed to the Nexus experience, the Nexus 5 will be a worthwhile upgrade for you.