My Sprint contract ends next month, so I'm in the market for a new Android phone. It doesn't look like the Nexus 5 is coming anytime soon, so the best options out there right now seem to be the Nexus 4, the HTC One, or the Samsung Galaxy S4.

My gut feeling is that the Nexus 4 is my best bet. I won't have to worry about a contract, it has wireless charging (albeit not as good as what the Palm Pre had four years ago ) and the performance gap compared to the newer phones seems to only be around 10-15% on most benchmarks, which doesn't seem like a difference worth worrying about. Plus, I'll retain the Nexus line's advantages of getting more consistent attention from the ROM community.

The downsides seem pretty minimal to me. The screen isn't as pretty, but since I'm stepping up from a ~3 year old phone, I think I'll be pleased with the upgrade even if it's not 1080p, which on a ~5" screen, seems like overkill. The HTC's camera is getting a lot of nice reviews despite the lower raw pixel count, but I can't imagine it makes up for the extra cost.

The one wildcard seems to be the One's hardware design, which seems to be nicer and sturdier than the Nexus 4's glass. Still, hard to imagine the nicer exterior and better camera are worth hundreds of dollars over the life of a two year contract.

Can anyone think of anything else I'm not considering that would make one of the non-Nexus phones worth the extra cost and hassle of a contract? I've just about talked myself out of them already, but thought there might be some owners of the other phones here who could share their experiences.

The battery isn't easily replaceable, but for most people nowadays that's not a consideration.

If I didn't already have a Galaxy Nexus, then I'd get a Nexus 4 with little hesitation.

Cheers

Yeah, I'm okay with a built-in battery.

One thing I forgot to mention is that the LTE advantage of the newer models isn't something I care about, since there's no T-Mobile LTE here, and no sign that it's coming soon.

Yeah. And most reports on LTE include "poor battery life". That will likely change eventually, but..

Right, and by the time that happens, I'll be ready to upgrade to a Nexus 5 or whatever the new hotness is in Android phones.

Wait until Google I/O (next week?) and see if anything is announced. Assuming that there's nothing new and shiny, then I'd save some coin and go with a Galaxy Nexus rather than a Nexus 4. It's only dual-core rather than quad-core, but you can replace the battery and it's less likely to shatter when dropped. (I've dropped my GNex many, many times, and it's still in fine shape.)

I'll note that more and more phones are capable of being unlocked without too much hardship and are then supported by CyanogenMod and the like, letting you have the "pure" Google experience without vendor cruft (which, supposedly, has become less crufty over time).

IMO, there's no question that you should wait for Google IO. If a new phone isn't announced then, it's probably not going to be announced until the fall/December.

Unfortunately the leaks have been very few about a new phone. Early on it was the rumors of the Motorola X phone, which I thought was the last of the pre-acquisition pipeline (which even Google reps were calling crappy). Then there were rumors of a good Motorola phone, but still not a "Nexus" device. Then the last I heard was that LG would again make the next Nexus phone, but who knows?

I have a Galaxy Nexus, and I've had it since release day. For a while there, I'd rooted it and installed the AOKP ROM, which I regret due to the immense aggravation it caused due to HORRIBLE performance issues. It was awful, and I don't know how anyone is using that piece of crap. Once Verizon/Samsung got off their collective asses and finally updated their GN to 4.2.2 I went back to stock and I've been much happier.

If a Nexus 5 gets announced, I will be buying it.

The only non-Nexus device I've ever considered is the One due to its extremely good hardware design, but as long as it has Sense UI on it, I will never ever go near it.

There's no way in hell I would EVER purchase a Samsung phone again. Especially a non-Nexus device. I recently had to help someone out with their S3, and the UI was an utter mess. The S4 looks even worse.

If no phone is announced soon, get the Nexus 4 or a used Galaxy Nexus. No question to me.

Yeah, I forgot I/O was coming up. I'll wait to see what happens there -- at the very least, an N5 announcement should put downward pressure on N4 prices.

Historically, that's not been the case. The Nexus handsets already have "low" prices at launch, so there's no huge amount of discounting to be done when a new model is announced.

New models don't come out until the fall anyways.. way too early for that right now, apart from perhaps a T-Mobile/LTE variant of the N4.

They haven't in the past, but that doesn't mean they'd never step up the release schedule so they could compete with modern phones. But you're right, it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't announce a new phone.

From what people are saying, it's sounding more likely that they'll release a new Nexus 7-sized tablet with a high-res screen. I'd be interested in that too...

It's already changing. The initial issue was that the phones stuffed two discreet cellular modem chips in. The LTE chips were first generation, meant more for MiFi and USB WAN adaptors. The mobile phone market has become so competitive, phone makers used these first gen chips.

More recent LTE phones offer a single chip solution using second, or now even third generation LTE modems. The Nexus 4 has one of these inside it, but the LTE portion is disabled.

Rumors seem to be that Google I/O may see a slight bump in the Nexus 4, enabling CDMA and LTE, along with offering larger flash storage. Seems reasonable, since the work to do this is minor and could fit in well to a midcycle update to the phone.

That'd be perfect for my needs. I feel like I jumped on Android bandwagon at the wrong time by committing to a two year contract with the Nexus S just a few months ahead of the Galaxy Nexus release, so getting something off-contract that just received a spec bump would give me the flexibility to trade up to the N5 whenever it comes out, or stick with the N4 if the N5 is a dud or there's something better on the horizon from one of the other manufacturers.

I'm not a huge fan of the Nexus 4. I think the screen could be larger, I prefer AMOLED, and I prefer removable batteries. However, one of the biggest problems is the glass back of the Nexus 4. I have never owned a phone that has slid off the couch so much. To correct this, I had to put a TPU case around it and I hate putting cases on my phones.

The back glass of the Nexus 4 is not any sort of fortified/Gorilla Glass material. It will get scratched fairly easily if not protected. The camera lens sits against this scratch-prone glass, so that wasn't the best design decision.

Other than these personal preference issues and lack of LTE, the Nexus 4 is a really powerful phone (especially for the price). The camera is also one of the best I've used on a phone.

I also hate using cases, and I'm aware of the problems people have had with glass, but I just can't see coughing up $600 for the HTC One with the N5 on the horizon. I'm basically seeing the N4 as a 6-12 month rental with the possibility of an extension if it works out.

For the price, it's hard to go wrong with the Nexus 4 even if you only intend to keep it for a short time. I just hope the Nexus 5 improves on these issues.

I don't know about the couch, but when it comes to other surfaces, Tony might not have to worry as much about that. The new nubs should also help a little to protect the camera when you place the phone on a table.

Yeah, N4 it is for me. No updates at Google I/O, but I really can't see spending 300 clams for a nicer screen/camera, a removable battery, and an SD slot. Does look like a nice phone for anyone who wants to keep it for at least a couple years, though.

It's not worth $650. There's no way I'm ever buying a Samsung phone again anyway, but $650 for a phone with that build quality is a ripoff. The Nexus 4 isn't the phone the S4 is, but at half the cost it's a bargain...

I went ahead and placed my N4 order last night. I've read enough bad/mediocre reviews of the wireless charging orb that I think I'm going to go with some other Qi solutions instead, at least in the beginning. For my car, I was thinking about this product, but I'll probably have to order a different mount for it the way the guy in the video did, since I would need to mount it on my dash and not on my windshield.

The company that makes it has a package deal where you get the car dock and a Qi wireless charging mat for $86, which seems like a pretty good deal since charging mats alone seem to be going for $40-$45 on Amazon.

Really wish they'd just done the Touchstone thing with the wireless orb. Fuckin' magnets -- how do they work?

If I was looking for a cheap answer, I'd track down a GSM Galaxy Nexus. One Amazon vendor has it for $369. I'm assuming they can be had cheaper.

For the high-dollar set, hopefully the much rumored Google/Motorola X Phone will be coming out in December (just when my Verizon contract is expiring).

I know I have to be missing something about that statement, because it makes no sense to me whatsoever. Not when there's this. I'm pretty sure there's little debate over whether the N4 is a better phone than the Galaxy Nexus, especially when you're talking about GSM, in which case neither phone has LTE at the moment for those carriers...


Well, the hope is that it won't be the "high-dollar set," but instead be released at the same price that the N4 is listed now, as the N4 gets phased out.

I suspect that a GSM GNex can be bought for less than the N4 on Google Play. But even if they're about the same, the GNex at least gives you a replaceable battery and is somewhat less likely to spontaneously crack.

Whever I'v looked, the GSM Galaxy Nexus has been available at $300 for the last 8 months or so. $369 sounds steep.

$300 sounds steep! I don't really see how a replaceable battery is worth not upgrading to a much better phone.

I have a Galaxy Nexus, and I have a spare battery - I never use that spare. It's just too much of a hassle and my backup is never charged.

My N4 arrives tomorrow. In terms of phone plans, I think T-Mobile's $30/month 5GB/100 minute prepaid plan is perfect for me. I've averaged around 200 minutes of voice in the last few months, but even if I go over by 100 minutes, it's only $10 more, and I can always use GrooveIP to save on minutes if I need to.

I've read conflicting things about how you can get T-Mo's $30 plan. Older posts online suggest that it was a Wal-Mart only thing, but this post suggests you can just order a Micro-SIM online and activate it with the $30 plan on T-Mobile's web site. I'm going to try that.

The problem, of course, is I need to wait for the Micro-SIM to arrive, and I'll have the phone in my hands tomorrow without a SIM. I've never owned a GSM smartphone before -- will I be able to do anything with the phone without a SIM? I was hoping to be able to do the initial setup, downloading apps, etc. on my home wifi at least. Is there some way I can buy a cheap prepaid SIM with data service in a store somewhere to use it for a few days until my T-Mo SIM arrives? If so, where's a good place to get one?

Clueless as to your local SIM availability, but you should be able to do everything not related to making non-emergency calls (emergency calls should still work even on a phone w/o card) or mobile data traffic (WiFi works). Some settings regarding the SIM card (enable mobile data traffic etc) I'd think not be available until the phone sees a card... Loading and configuring apps (unless, I imagine, they for some reason need phone or non-WiFi data traffic - haven't stumbled on any such apps myself) is perfectly possible - I've just done much of this process for my aunt.
Once she got here it was just a matter of swapping the card over from her old phone and enabling data traffic - everything else was already loaded and configured.

It'll be fine, Tony. Many people hang onto their old phones to use as PMPs. Basically without the SIM they're just like an iPod Touch. You can still do everything you need to as long as you're connected to WiFi.

Which is fine, because you really want to do all that initial setup over WiFi anyway, since it'll be faster to download all the apps and re-sync your email/calendar/contacts. It ends up being a good bit of data.

I'm really jealous of you. I'd love to get an N4, but at this point I might just stick it out. I'm still on my contract for my Galaxy Nexus, and while I know the N4 is a nice step up from my phone, it's not worth the cost of the phone plus the ETF. Hopefully by the time my contract is running out, there will be a real Nexus successor for me to jump to, and not an overpriced Samsung product...

Yeah, the N4 should be fully functional (except for the mobile voice/data features) without a SIM card installed. So use Wifi to set things up and customize it, add apps, explore, etc.. until you get the SIM.

Cool -- thanks, guys. I guess I don't need to bother getting a burner SIM for just a few days, then.

Matt, I felt the same way when the GNex came out and I still had a year plus left on my contract. I'm actually jumping into the N4 a month before my Sprint contract ends so I have a GSM phone to take with me on international travel next month. With a $30/month plan, it won't be so horrible to pay for two phones for a month, and it gives me the flexibility to stay with Sprint if anything goes wrong with my T-Mobile experience.

Frankly, if your whole thing with the $30/month TMobile plan works out, that would really go a long way to justifying the ETF for Verizon. I'd make up the difference in a couple months, sadly.

At first I was worried about the voice minutes, but I just looked at my usage. I realized that I spend most of my long voice calls (remote support sessions with clients) on my computer through Google Voice, and those don't count towards my Verizon minutes.

Tony, you may have talked about GrooveIP before, but could you tell me about your experiences with it?

I think I might be following your lead, Tony

ps-I don't suppose you get wifi tethering with that $30/month plan, do you?