Google Nexus 4 Review – Better Late than Never

March 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

nexus4

So  I was finally able to get my hands on the LG-made, Google Nexus 4 and I have been using it for about a month, now. It’s been a long time coming, but LG has done an absolutely horrid job of keeping it in stock. The only nice thing that came out of the ordering procedure was when it finally shipped (after about a week), Google was nice enough to upgrade my shipping to same day, which was good. Once I got the device though, I was stunned. As I took it out of the box, I was shocked at how gorgeous the device was. With absolutely nothing on the front besides the screen, it’s obvious that Google is going for a really simple understated design. Check out my review below.

Our Samsung Galaxy Note Review

Design: With glass on the front and back, it’s easy to see the design cues that the Nexus 4 took from the iPhone 4 and 4S. The problem with the iPhone though, was that it was very fragile. The nexus has Gorilla Glass 2 on both the front and the back, so this should help keep it relatively durable, although, I would still highly recommend picking up a case. The sides are made of a grippy, rubber feeling material that helped make it easier to hold. There is a chrome frame around the front of the device which really adds to the style that Google is going for.  On the front, there are absolutely no buttons, no logos and no carrier branding (thank god). It is one of the cleanest designed phones I have ever used. The biggest design feature is definitely the holographic sparkle pattern that shows up on the back of the device. It’s behind the glass so it doesn’t take away from the experience, but it looks very stylish.

Performance: The Nexus 4 ships with a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU. This is a 1.5ghz quad core cpu. In other words it’s REALLY good. This is BY FAR the fastest phone I have ever used. Apps open almost instantaneously. It’s almost as if there is no loading. Because of its’ 2 Gigabytes of ram, you can open up as many apps as you’d like and multitask without slowing down the phone in the slightest. Gaming is also really good because of its Adreno 320 GPU which is as good, if not better than the GPU in the iPhone 5, so gaming looks beautiful and performs great.

Screen: Rivaling the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S3, the Nexus 4 has a 4.7″ Super LCD 2 IPS display. This is the exact same display technology that Apple uses with their iPhones and HTC with their One X flagship phone. This display means incredibly wide viewing angles and extremely true to life colors. With a resolution of 1280 x 768, the Nexus 4 clocks in with a pixel density of 320 PPI (the iPhone’s is 326 PPI), so when you use the Nexus 4 you’re going to see super sharp images, really crisp text and incredibly clear videos.

Software: The Nexus 4 runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. This version brings quick settings in the notification bar, lock screen widgets, gesture typing and a totally redesigned camera app with 360 degree panoramas. Because this is a Nexus device (made by Google), it will always run the latest version of android for 3 or 4 years to come, which is an extra perk for your investment. The Nexus 4 is completely supported by Google and is the most optimized, fast experience you will get from an android phone.

Here’s how to Transfer anything wirelessly from your Android Phone to your computer

Battery Life: This is something that many, many companies overlook these days. In my opinion, this year should be the year of the battery, where all the tech companies put their effort into attaining much better battery life instead of squeezing out the slightest bit of performance. The Nexus 4′s battery is pretty good. It gets me through the day with heavy usage and 45 – 50% remaining when I put it on the charger at 11:30. Although it is not any better (or any worse) than the iPhone 5 or Galaxy S3, it certainly isn’t bad.

Camera Nexus devices have always had a history of having really average cameras. Although LG did attempt to change this, they didn’t do as good a job as they could’ve. Don’t get me wrong; the camera isn’t bad! I was actually very impressed with the 8 megapixel photos and the 1080p HD videos it produced. The low light performance was pretty decent, rivaling the iPhone, but don’t expect it to compete against the new HTC one’s incredible camera.

The Final Verdict – Although this phone isn’t available through a carrier (other than T-Mobile), it is available for a really good price. At only $300 for the unlocked version from Google Play, it is one of the cheapest unlocked smartphones that you can buy brand new. From there,  you can then pop in any GSM sim card and you’re good to go. What you get for the price is incredible.  I highly recommend this device for anyone who wants a well designed, fast, beautiful android phone.

 

Filed Under: 4g, Android, ATT, gmail, Google, Google Docs, Google drive, google play, Jellybean, LG, music, nexus, Reviews, Smartphone, technology Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Chromebook Pixel is a Great Deal, And Here’s Why

February 22, 2013 By 1 Comment

At first glance, Google’s new Chromebook Pixel looks like a horrible deal. Weak Operating system, middle of the road hardware, and a $1300+ pricetag. I even ranted about the price here. But then I reevaluated all of the extras Google was throwing in, and although it’s expensive, it’s actually a good deal. Look at the breakdown below for yourself.

Chromebook Pixel high-resolution display front

Value Breakdown: Looking at the $1500 model.

  • 1 TB of storage on Google Drive, free for three years. Total value: $50 per month, or $1,800. That pays for the computer in itself.
  • 12 Free Sesions of Gogo Inflight (review here) at $14 each, or $168.
  • 100 mb of free data per month on Verizon for two years (about $3 a month), $72
  • And of course, the computer itself. With an extremely high resolution touch screen, we’ll value that at $700.

Total Cost: $1500

Total Value: $2740

Actual Cost -$1240 if you use everything included.

The fact is, for this computer’s target market, it’s actually a steal. For the business traveller who likes the Pixel’s portability, they’ll use those free Gogo sessions, and the cloud storage, and of course the data while they’re on the go, so they’re actually SAVING money by buying this computer. That Cloud storage is so valuable that you’re actually better off buying a Pixel, than buying the storage on its’ own. The Pixel is so expensive that it’s not quite viable in price for most people, but to anyone that says Google isn’t providing good value, look at the facts and see that you’re incorrect. Anybody plan on buying the pixel?

Filed Under: Chrome, Google, Google Docs, Google drive, google play, Google Plus, laptop, news Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Chromebook Pixel Becomes Reality…Starting at an unreal $1300

February 21, 2013 By 1 Comment

Chromebook Pixel high-resolution display front

Last week I brought the news to you of a rumored high-end chromebook, along with a video, and within that span we’ve seen the actual low-key release of it, the Chromebook Pixel, which Google seems to be using as a weird experiment into “what if”.

For those of you that are unaware of Chromebooks, they’re laptops based on Google’s Chrome OS, all of which have fell into the low end until now. Current chromebooks retail for around $300 and offer a simple web-based internet experience, hailed as an affordable, safe, no-hassles portal to technology.

The Chromebook Pixel, released on Thursday, is Google’s weird attempt at bringing that concept of simplicity into the high-end. Essentially, they’ve focussed on the hardware, completely decking out the Pixel with an extremely high resolution multitouch display, an intel i5 processor, and 32 Gb of  flash storage built-in, plus 1 TB of cloud storage.

Like a tablet, there’s a wifi model, and a more expensive 4G LTE model. It’s a beautifully crafted device, and I almost considered buying one until I saw the price, starting at $1300. Despite the beautiful design, the hardware is not outstanding enough to demand $1300+. It has a dual core processor, and only 4 GB of RAM, plus only 32 GB of storage. It’s even weaker in the software category, which relies completely on the Chrome web store, an app store of sorts which offers browser-based apps, and games. Since the Chrome store has never really skyrocketed in growth (despite Chrome taking the world’s #1 browser slot), there are very few developers, and the selection of apps is weak, limiting the use of that fancy high-resolution touch display.

So what was google thinking? The Pixel, as many have pointed out, was never meant to fly off the shelves. It’s an experiment meant to hook in a few power-users, and attract developers, while also setting a new standard of chromebook. Google has traditionally outsourced manufacturing of Chromebooks to companies like Samsung, so the Pixel is meant to represent google’s vision, and influence future models. The slogan of the device is even “For What’s next”.

I like the Chromebook approach. Google is trying to take the tablet approach of flexibility, portability, and ease-of-use/simplicity, and apply that to laptops and computers, offering a new way to experience the web, with automatic no-hassle updates, and universal compatibility. I do think there’s work to be done improving the functionality of the OS itself so that it’s appealing enough to switch. The chromebook isn’t a perfect product by a longshot, but it’s a good experiment to help Google move in the right direction, and that should benefit us all.

Chromebook Pixel Fast Facts:

  • 239 PPI 13 inch touch display with Gorilla Glass protection
  • Backlit Keyboard
  • 4 GB DDR3 RAM
  • 32 or 64 GB of Flash Storage plus 3 years of 1 TB Google Drive Cloud Storage
  • Available with Dual-band Wifi or 4G LTE
  • 5 Hour Battery (a bit weak, but not bad)
  • intel core i5 Dual Core Processor and integrated graphics
  • 12 free Gogo inflight sessions (now there’s some value) See our review of Gogo inflight here
  • 3.35 Lbs
  • HD webcam
  • Available at Bestbuy and Google Play Store

Filed Under: Chrome, Google, Google Docs, Google drive, google play, Google Plus, laptop, news, operating system, OS, retina display Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Why Google’s Poor Earnings Don’t Matter

October 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

What does Google’s recent earnings fail and stock dip mean to you? Not much. It means I’m making a “killing” in the fantasy stock market speculating.

How Google is currently feelingThe magnitude of these things is often overemphasized. The low numbers don’t mark a slowdown for google. They mark a shift as Google evolves its’ business model.

The world is going mobile and tech companies are having to evolve their revenue stream to make money online.

For most of its’ history Google has made its’ money on ads. That business is naturally slowing as desktop use slows, but their mobile revenue has quadrupled and that’s a great sign.

Their Google Play store is gaining momentum. Google Plus has reached 250 million users in less than a year.

The self- driving car is less than two years from completion. Google Glass comes to consumers very soon.

The latest chromebook (came out yesterday) is cheap, light, and fast which will surely sell pretty well.

My point? Times are a-changin’ and with their tremendously diverse growth, Google has a bright future to look forward to. Am I right?

Filed Under: Android, finance, Google, Google Docs, Google drive, google play, Google Plus, news Tagged With: , , , , ,
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