Nexus 4 is about to become my first smartphone. So far I have been a
Google Voice person (free calling) and my mobile solution has been a Net10 prepaid. I will very much continue with Google Voice. But the Net10 phone is about to be ditched for a Nexus 4 come November 13.
Finally a phone that meets my high standards. $299 is a cute price point.
You buy the phone for $299 and then go shop for a plan. I think I am looking at
T-Mobile's unlimited talk, text, web at $50 a month. I get the impression there is unlimited international calling for $10 more. But international better not mean Europe only. I am looking at
Nepal and India.
Rumor has it the Nexus 7 tablet will drop to $99 by the end of the year. That would be tempting. Finally a one laptop per child price.
I am a Google fanboy. The iPhone never competed with the Nexus brand in my world.
Now give me gigabit broadband.
Google's Nexus 4: To buy or not to buy?
will likely be as relevant in 10 months as it is today. ..... Nexus 4 is hands-down the best overall Android smartphone experience and value you can get your hands on right now. ..... software integration and upgrades ..... With the Nexus 4, all that stuff is handled completely by Google. ..... With the Nexus 4, Google has taken the best parts of the Optimus G and polished them to near-perfection. ..... You have an awesome display -- quite possibly the best available on any phone at the moment -- along with absurdly fast performance, a great camera, and a distinctive and cool-looking design that's Nexus through and through. Then, of course, what really makes the Nexus 4 a Nexus: its pure Google Android 4.2 software, with guaranteed fast and frequent updates directly from Google in the future. ..... the real kicker: You get all of that for $300 to $350, unlocked and off-contract. That kind of pricing is unheard of for this caliber of device ..... take it to a prepaid provider for 30 to 50 bucks a month ...... This is market-shifting stuff we're talking about here, folks. ...... Maximum HSPA+ speeds in the States -- via T-Mobile's or AT&T's network -- run from 21 Mbps to 42 Mbps, depending on your connection. With the Nexus 4, I'm regularly hitting speeds around the 18 Mbps mark. ..... The phone comes only with 8 or 16GB of internal space and offers no SD slot for external expansion.
Android off-contract: My prepaid journey, 3 months later
T-Mobile's $30-a-month prepaid plan. .... 100 minutes a month along with unlimited texting and unlimited data (with the first 5GB at 4G HSPA+ speeds). A hundred minutes a month isn't much, but thanks to Google Voice and some crafty location-aware call forwarding I have configured on my phone -- in conjunction with Google-based VoIP "phone lines" I have set up in my home and office -- I rarely use more than that
Nexus 4 vs. Galaxy Nexus: Worth the upgrade?
the Nexus 4 is a vastly superior phone in almost every way. ..... the Nexus 4's construction feels far more solid and substantial than the Galaxy Nexus's plasticky build. (The downside, of course, is that the Nexus 4's glass back could increase the risk of breakage if you drop the device.) ..... The Nexus 4 has a gorgeous True HD IPS screen that pretty much puts the Galaxy Nexus's HD Super AMOLED display to shame. ..... After you've had your eyes on the Nexus 4 for a while, you definitely won't want to go back to the Galaxy Nexus's screen. ...... the N4's screen is also easy to see in direct or indirect sunlight, while the Galaxy Nexus becomes almost useless in those settings. ...... a 1.5Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor along with 2GB of RAM ...... The Nexus 4 boots up about 30 seconds faster than the Galaxy Nexus ..... loads Web pages five to 10 seconds faster .... any task you do just feels zippier on the Nexus 4. ..... The Galaxy Nexus's camera was never great ..... it's better in both areas (significantly so with Wi-Fi while moderately so with GPS). ....... The Nexus 4's speaker is noticeably louder and clearer-sounding than its predecessor's
Smartphone service for $30 a month? Yes, please
bring in your own device and use it at prepaid plan prices. Prices like 30 bucks a month -- a flat rate with no sneaky fees or unexpected overages. ..... he's using a Galaxy Nexus on T-Mobile's network, paying just $30 a month for service ...... T-Mobile lets customers use any compatible device with its Monthly 4G prepaid service -- something other prepaid carriers don't allow. ..... For $30 a month, he's now getting 100 minutes, unlimited texting, and 5GB of 4G (HSPA+) data. The closest equivalent on Verizon -- 450 minutes a month, 5GB of 4G data, and unlimited texting -- would cost nearly four times that amount. Even factoring in the unsubsidized cost of the phone, Bowdre's saving nearly $1700 over two years' time. ...... deals with the lower monthly minute limit by using a VoIP app to make calls from work and home; he also keeps an extra prepaid balance on his account so he can use additional cell minutes if he needs 'em. T-Mobile charges 10 cents a minute if you want to go over your monthly prepaid-plan allotment, so you're basically looking at an extra 10 bucks for every extra hundred minutes you use -- all paid in advance, of course
