iPhone 5 vs Nexus 4 battery tests: LTE phone fares better than non-LTE handset

Comments

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

The Nexus 4 is going to soon be launched at which point we’ll have a plethora of comparisons out between Google’s latest flagship handset and its main competitors, whether they run Andorid, iOS or Windows Phone 8.
Meanwhile, AnandTech has already performed a variety of benchmark tests on the Nexus 4 – but also on the Nexus 10 – and today we’re going to focus on battery life. According to the publication, the Nexus 4 isn’t apparently ready to offer great battery life, despite being an LTE-less handset. That’s certainly interesting considering that Google cited battery efficiency among the main reasons for not including 4G LTE support in its latest Nexus, while downplaying the fact that its relationship with carriers is actually the one to blame for this decision.

Getting back to battery life, AnandTech performed a more complex series of tests that mimic every day smartphone usage in order to come out with results closer to actual battery usage:

We regularly load web pages at a fixed interval until the battery dies (all displays are calibrated to 200 nits as always). The differences between this test and our previous one boil down to the amount of network activity and CPU load.

Other factors, such as “aggressive browser caching,” baseband idle state and CPU workload were also taken into consideration when performing the test:

We also increased CPU workload along two vectors: we decreased pause time between web page loads and we shifted to full desktop web pages, some of which are very js heavy. The end result is a CPU usage profile that mimics constant, heavy usage beyond just web browsing. Everything you do on your smartphone ends up causing CPU usage peaks – opening applications, navigating around the OS and of course using apps themselves. Our 5th generation web browsing battery life test should map well to more types of smartphone usage, not just idle content consumption of data from web pages.

The battery tests were done on “multiple air interfaces” using 3G, 4G LTE and Wi-Fi, and all Android tests were performed using the Chrome browser and 5GHz Wi-Fi “unless otherwise listed.”
The results? The Nexus 4 can offer from 4.18 to 6.27 hours of web browsing over 3G and Wi-Fi, respectively. The device was outperformed by its most important Android competitors, including the HTC One X, the Samsung Galaxy S3 or the new Motorola RAZRs but also by iOS devices, with the iPhone 5 topping the tests at 8.19 and 10.27 hours of browsing over 4G LTE and Wi-Fi, respectively.

So how is it that the Nexus 4, which doesn’t have an LTE power-hungry connection, only offers about half the battery life of the iPhone 5, an LTE device, at least according to these tests? AnandTech explains:

As always we test across multiple air interfaces (3G, 4G LTE, WiFi), but due to the increased network load we actually find that on a given process technology we see an increase in battery life on faster network connections. The why is quite simple to understand: the faster a page is able to fully render, the quicker all components can drive down to their idle power states.

It is also worth pointing out that certain early Nexus 4 reviews out there are saying that Nexus 4 battery life is quite healthy (The Verge), while others seem to disagree (Engadget).
Naturally, we’ll see more Nexus 4 tests once the handset comes out, at which point we’ll be able to better determine its power efficiency.

Read More

LG Nexus 4 and Samsung Nexus 10 get benchmark tests done, can now be compared to the competition

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

The LG Nexus 4 and the Google Nexus 10 are just 10 days away from launch. That’s exciting news for Nexus fans. Over the last month or so, we’ve gotten a lot of information about the Nexus devices. We know their specs, their ship date, some exciting features coming on Android 4.2, and apps being updated to work with the Nexus devices. Of course, it’s not all good news, as there is some bad news about the Nexus devices as well.
One thing people won’t have to guess at is the real world performance of the Google devices. They are sure to be awesome. But how do they stack up against the biggest and brightest devices out right now? AnandTech got their hands on both the Nexus 4 and the Nexus 10 and ran it through a number of benchmarks to answer that very question.
If you’d rather view it than read it, the pictures are below. You may notice that there is no Quadrant Benchmark scores or any other kind of graphical scores. This is likely because graphic tests are generally taken with a grain of salt as they don’t measure real world performance very well.

So how did the Nexus devices do on the benchmarks?

They did very well, but not as well as some would expect. While the Nexus 10 topped at least a couple of the tests, the Nexus 4 had a lukewarm performance. Granted, all these test scores are impressive, but there was a little higher of an expectation there.
In addition to being tested against other Android devices, they were also texted against iOS devices like the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4S. Needless to say, they blew the iPhone 4S out of the water. It’s to be expected when you put this year’s tech against last year’s tech.
AnandTech also notes that there are a few tests where the Nexus 4 should at least be doing as well as the dual core Snapdragon S4 devices. Spoiler alert, it didn’t. There are a few times where the Nexus 4 was beaten out by devices like the US variants of the Samsung Galaxy S III and the AT&T HTC One X.
You can view the results of each test below. Are you a little disappointed in the scores, or is just being among the best in the world good enough? Let us know your thoughts.

Read More

Google’s Nexus 4 system dump is out and about – apps, wallpapers, ringtones and more up of grabs

The inevitable has happened. With a few days left before its official launch, and with review units being sent out to some lucky hands, a Nexus 4 system dump has been uploaded online, giving everyone access to the phone’s many Android 4.2 goodies.
Those with the right set of skills can extract apps found on the system dump of Google’s flagship phone and install them on their device, though some tinkering is obviously required. Seeing that the apps may not be fully compatible with older versions of Android, we suggest you take some extra precaution before getting your hands dirty.

Things are less complicated if all you after is the phone’s wallpapers, ringtones, sounds and videos. We’ve posted the wallpapers from the LG Nexus 4 above. If you want the complete system dump, you can hit the source below.
Prior to the leaked files, we’ve gotten a taste of the latest Jelly Bean’s keyboard app, which comes with a Gesture Typing feature. The system dump almost completes the Android 4.2 experience.
Are you planning to be a proud owner of the Nexus 4?

Read More

T-Mobile will not support WiFi calling on the LG Nexus 4

Google’s recently announced Nexus 4 will go on sale later this month for $299 unlocked and unsubsidized. There is one American operator who will be offering it on a contract however, T-Mobile. They’ll gladly sell you a Nexus 4 with a 2 year contract for $199, which sounds appealing, but the folks at TmoNews have recently learned that WiFi calling will not be supported on the device. Some background: T-Mobile has a service whereby you can make phone calls over your wireless network at home instead of having to go through the cellular network. It’s useful if you live somewhere that has spotty coverage, if you’re traveling abroad, and the best part is you don’t get billed for the minutes you make when on WiFi.
Now that we know the Nexus 4 isn’t going to support one of T-Mobile’s best features, this poses an important question: Should you buy this phone on contract? Buying phones unsubsidized is commonplace in many parts of the world, but for Americas it’s still considered a taboo for reasons we don’t quite understand. The amount of money you can save by going with a prepaid operator and then buying a phone unlocked is startling.
Take Straight Talk for instance, which lets you pick whether you want to use AT&T’s or T-Mobile’s network. They’ll give you unlimited everything for $45 per month. That’s half what the big boys charge. We can’t stress this enough, when using Straight Talk you’re on the same network that your friends and family are paying double to use! How is it so cheap? Straight Talk doesn’t have retail stores, they don’t subsidize phones, their customer service leaves a lot to be desired, and they go out of your way to be a dumb pipe.
When was the last time you called the company that provides you with electricity or water? Exactly. That’s what prepaid operators are like.

Read More

Nexus 4 to have bumper accessories available, not for the same reasons as the iPhone 4

The Nexus 4 and iPhone 4 seem to share some similarities. Both were lost in bars in California by testers working for Google and Apple, respectively, and both share the same interest in glass. Yes, the front and back of the LG Nexus 4 are made of glass also, and it looks like the device will get bumper accessories when it launches, but not for the same reasons.
The iPhone 4 was plagued at launch by an unexpected problem, the Death Grip, also known as Antennagate, which prompted Apple to offer free bumpers to users that observed cellular signal attenuation when holding the handset “the wrong way.”
The bumpers were supposed to serve as protection for the device, without hiding the front and back glass panels, but they ended up protecting the antenna of the iPhone 4 from human touch as well.
The LG Nexus 4 doesn’t come with an Antennagate problem out-of-the-box but buyers will apparently have access to a similar accessory to protect the glass design.
Moreover, the handset has an edge-to-edge screen, so a bumper may be indeed needed to protect it. Google’s Dan Morrill revealed on Google+ that such accessories will be indeed in stock:

We’ve actually got some bumpers (ring-like cases that wrap the side but not the back) coming as accessories for Nexus 4, if that’s how you roll.
On the back, there is indeed a small raised ridge, which should prevent scratches if not breaks.

He answered thus to comments to a recent posting in which he explained that his favorite Nexus 4 feature is that edge-to-edge glass finish, applauding LG’s design in the process.
So, will you buy Nexus 4 bumpers to go with the device?

Read More

Leaked Nexus 4 manual confirms 8GB and 16GB models, wireless charging

The Nexus leak factory has been relentlessly churning its goods in the past weeks, and it doesn’t look like there’s any sign of slowing down. Two days ago the world got their hands on the Nexus 10 tablet manual early, now the Nexus 4 too has its “Quick Start” booklet revealed ahead of its introduction.
The Nexus 4 manual is as official as it gets, because you can download it from LG UK’s website.  But really, there isn’t anything new to learn of the phone from it.

If there’s any doubt that the Nexus 4 will come in two flavors, 8GB and 16GB, the screenshot above just about confirms it. As for the wireless charging ability of the phone, the manual confirms that there’s an  induction coil on the back side of the LG Nexus 4. It’s likely that Google will introduce an accessory on October 29 to utilize the feature.
And that’s about all we have on today’s Nexus leak episode.  Although Google’s Android event will be held on Monday, don’t discount the possibility of seeing more leaks — if there’s still any left.

Read More

LG Nexus 4 lost and found in a bar way back in September

Stop me if you’ve heard this before – and yes, I know I have recently started an article with the exact same opening – but a giant corporation’s employee supposed to test new devices in the wild, who clearly doesn’t hold his liquor, recently forgot a high-end unreleased smartphone in a bar.
This time it’s not Apple, whose iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S prototypes were lost in bars in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Of the two, the iPhone 4 has been leaked to the public a couple of months ahead of its launch by the folks at Gizmodo after having purchased it from the finder. This time it’s Google and the LG Nexus 4.
Just like with the iPhone 4, we also know everything there is to know about the LG Nexus 4 ahead of its announcement, but unlike in the iPhone 4 case, the LG Nexus 4 unit that was left in a bar is not the source of all the leaks.
Wired reports that the LG Nexus 4 was found at the 500 Club in San Francisco’s Mission District at some point in late September by a bar keep “after a slow Tuesday.” Jamin Barton realized this is not your average Android phone when he saw the Google logo on the back of the device and a “not for sale” sticker.

A regular customer told Barton this is the Nexus 4, a yet-to-be-released Google handset, and the same person called Google to tell them what has happened. And apparently Google was pretty pissed off about the whole incident:

“Dave” — Barton says he does not know his full name — “sort of freaked out. ‘Google lost a phone,’ he told me. ‘You just got a guy fired…. The Google police are coming’”
After that, the texts and phone messages from Dave became a torrent.
“I probably shouldn’t have shown it to him. But I did. He didn’t work for Google, but Google had him pretty worked up. They told him he could be an accessory or something.”

Google sent Brian Katz, global investigations and intelligence manager at Google to retrieve the lost device on the night of September 20, and he retrieved it at around 1AM that night from a lawyer acquaintance of Barton. Katz even offered a free phone to Barton with a likely retail value of $300, if he kept quiet about the incident until after Google unveiled it.

But Barton sold his story to Wired, which published it just hours ago, right alongside pictures of the unreleased handset that were taken when the device was found.
In fact, looking at one of the photos Barton took, we can clearly see that this LG Nexus 4 was running a Jelly Bean version at the time of the incident. At least that’s what that lock screen seems to suggests, given that it’s so similar with the Nexus 7’s lock screen.
However, it’s worth mentioning (again) that this isn’t the phone we’ve seen in crystal clear photos posted all over that Byelorussian site that got early access to it – and even posted a pre-release review of the handset.
One of the main conclusions of this story is that Google was very desperate and pissed off to have lost a phone like that. Which means it’s even more upset to see all the LG Nexus 4 that hit the web in the weeks following the incident – it’ll certainly be interesting to see whether the company will mention any of the leaks, or even this incident, during the October 29 event.

Of course, the other more important take away is that if you’re in charge of testing unreleased handsets in the wild, you may want to stay out of bars, or if you go there, at least learn how and what to drink to make sure such things don’t happen.

Read More

LG Nexus 4 pre-order page pulled, phone not running Android 4.2?

We continue our ride through strange LG Nexus 4 waters today with more rumors and reports surrounding the listing of the handset on Carphone Warehouse earlier today.
In case you missed it, the UK retailer put up the phone for pre-order, revealing in the process an official image that looked like the press photo we saw a day before and the phone’s specs and features – not that they were any secret before the page went live.
From there we learned that the handset is going to feature 8GB of storage and that it is going to run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Unless it was Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean or Android 4.1 Jelly Bean:

With that in mind, we have received a couple of tips on this strange LG Nexus 4 listing, which we’d like to share with you. Bare in mind that nothing is official and we encourage you to take everything with a grain of salt.

Nexus 4 running Android 4.1.2?

The first report comes from Android.gs and reveals that the Carphone Warehouse LG Nexus 4 page is down – that much we can confirm ourselves, just see the image above.
But the publication goes forward to say that it has revealed an email from a Carphone Warehouse employee that basically says the Nexus 4 runs Android 4.1.2 out of the box and not Android 4.2 and that the image used by the retailer is a fake. Naturally, this can’t exactly be confirmed, but here’s the entire contents of that email:

Hello,
First of all, I would like you to know that I want to remain anonymous. You can publish this email’s content but not my name or email address.
I am a Carphone Warehouse employee and I’ve been hands-on with the Nexus 4. I can tell you for sure that it runs Android 4.1.2 and the image on our website isn’t real. The interface looks exactly as the Galaxy Nexus.
I informed my team about the mistake and they took down the page until they are able to fix the errors.
Thank you,
Redacted name

Now even if the email above (see a screenshot of it below) is fabricated, the fact remains that Carphone Warehouse did pull the LG Nexus 4 page. Did Google intervene or is it really something fishy about the contents featured on that page? We certainly observed the discrepancies on the product page ourselves earlier today when looking for more Android 4.2 details only to discover current Jelly Bean versions listed in the features area.
What’s safe to say is that Carphone Warehouse definitely benefited from the extra attention today, as everyone and their grandmother talked about the new Nexus listing – it’s probably common practice to leak such details well in advanced, as this is definitely not the first leak originating from Carphone Warehouse.

16GB LG Nexus 4 available from carriers only?

Moving on, we’ll focus on a secondary story related to today’s leak that seems to reveal more details about the faith of the UK Nexus 4. According to Land of Droid, the Nexus 4 will come in a 16GB variant also, only it won’t be available from Google Play, at least in the region.
Apparently this publication has also received “an email from an unknowns [sic] source,” that shared these details. Remember that grain of salt we mentioned? Go get another one because we definitely need it with such email “confirmations.”
But for the sake of the argument we’ll play along, so here’s what could be in the cards for the UK LG Nexus 4:

For the first 30 days (in the UK) the handset will be exclusive to Phones 4 U, Carphone Warehouse and O2.
The prices for the play store version are currently unknown though it is expected that it will come in somewhere between £299.99 and £349.99.

The same Android blog says that Google will launch just one Nexus-branded smartphone next week, which is something we kind of knew by now, and that the Samsung Nexus 10 will also be unveiled on October 29 – again, something we think we know.
There we have it folks, more LG Nexus 4 rumor bonanza, with just a few days to go until the new Nexus smartphone gets official. Anyone else tired of everything Nexus-related being spoiled well ahead of its announcement?
Thanks, tipsters!

Read More

LG Nexus 4 may be sold directly by the Google Play Store in Australia

Australia has often received Nexus devices quite a bit later than many other major markets such as the United States. This pattern changed when the Nexus 7 debuted, and is likely to continue with the LG Nexus 4. Hoping to get your hands on the Nexus 4 in Australia right away, without a contract? The Australian Google Play store seems to have released a small hint suggesting that the highly-anticipated smartphone will be sold directly by Google.
The evidence of its imminent arrival onto Google Play comes in the form of a very subtle change to the site’s “Devices” icon. Originally the icon only showed the image of the Nexus 7 tablet, now there is a tablet and a phone. Up until now, the only device sold or mentioned on the site was the Nexus 7.
While this is far from an official confirmation from Google, it certainly looks hopeful for those that don’t want to buy the phone on contract from a carrier. Any Australian readers interested in the LG Nexus 4? If so, will you look for it on-contract or would you prefer to buy it directly from Google at full-price?

 

Read More