5 ms·

Any chance of a Nexus 3 for people who don't want a tablet in their pocket?

phaus 13y ago
I'd really love it if there were a 4" or 4.3" phone that still featured high-end specs. Unfortunately most of the "mini" devices seem to be intentionally bad in comparison to the flagships. If they weren't so expensive, I'd rather have the much smaller iPhone 5S than a Nexus 5, but the price is so cheap I can't really justify going with Apple. There was a time when I was on-board with the large-screen phone trend, but now that I have a tablet that I take pretty much everywhere, I don't really need a gigantic smartphone in addition to it.
- dman 13y ago
  Look at the Sony Z1f.
  - phaus 13y ago
    That actually looks close to perfect. Unfortunately early price estimates put it not too far from the iPhone 5S.
    - mtgx 13y ago
      It's a high-end phone, just like iPhone 5S. If you want a mid-range phone, you can look at cheaper ones.
      - Zak 13y ago
        The Nexus 5 is also a high-end phone that's spec-comparable to the iPhone 5S. For me, and I think a lot of other people, the Nexus brand has come to mean high specs, stock software, future upgrades and low price. Those asking for an iPhone-size Nexus are asking for a device under $400.
        dman 13y ago
        I think apple, google and amazon are in a unique position because they can sell hardware at or below cost. These companies have other ways in which to make money off the userbase. Its hard to expect hardware companies to be able to cope with this. What this means in the long term I dont know, but I think its going to become increasingly harder for pure hardware companies to beat ecosystem companies on cost.
        dman 13y ago
        I think apple, google and amazon are in a unique position because they can sell hardware at or below cost. These companies have other ways in which to make money off the userbase. Its hard to expect hardware companies to be able to cope with this. What this means in the long term I dont know, but I think its going to become increasingly harder for pure hardware companies to beat ecosystem companies on cost.
- ZoFreX 13y ago
  I had a play with a whole bunch of small to mid-size Android phones and concluded that the S4 mini is quite nice. It isn't as anemic relative to the S4 as the S3 mini was to the S3, and it looks and feels good. It's about the size of a Galaxy S2 for reference (seems weird that that's now a small to medium size phone, when I owned one I hated how big it was).
devindotcom 13y ago
Honestly, I recommend the HTC First. I have one, it's the perfect size, 720p screen, solid specs. You can get one for a song these days and FB home turns off with a couple taps. You probably won't get 4.4, though...
- isnotchicago 13y ago
  From what I have read, the radios in the HTC First lock you into AT&T. On T-Mobile, you will only get 2G speeds.
  - devindotcom 13y ago
    Nope, I get 4G. On the old bands, that would have been true, but not any more.
- mwilcox 13y ago
  The HTC First was discontinued, and mostly repackaged into the 'HTC One mini'. You'd be better to look at the Moto X
- dnissley 13y ago
  Seriously the best deal on the used market right now. I got one about a month ago for $140 shipped from gazelle through their ebay store.
rmk2 13y ago
That's what I was thinking when I was rather sorely disappointed by the measurements. I still use a Nexus One (AMOLED) and am generally very happy with it, though I would like to get Android 4.* (which I can't without repartitioning my already rooted phone and then running a system that was never meant to support this hardware). I like the older 3.7" form factor. The Nexus 5 is about 1cm wider and 2cm longer, which is a lot... Guess I will skip yet another generation of modern Android device and just keep on rocking an ancient CM7 "nightly".
snogglethorpe 13y ago
In a way, it's kind of a relief that they're taking the bloat road. With many tech products, I find myself lusting after stuff I really don't need, but with phones these days, it's more like "OMG! That looks so cool! I gotta ... oh wait it's the size of a kitchen table." What I'm going to do when my current phone dies, though, I dunno... TT
- coldpie 13y ago
  Haha, I had the same conclusion when I upgraded this past January. I was looking at the top-end phones, and every single one was at least 4.7 inches, and most of them larger. I ended up with a mid-spec HTC Incredible 4G which is 4 inches, and I refuse to go larger than that. In the end, it saved me about a hundred bucks!
Recoil42 13y ago
The Nexus 5 is actually physically smaller in all dimensions than the Nexus 4.
- alexhill 13y ago
  Nexus 5: 69.17 x 137.84 x 8.59 mm [1] Nexus 4: 68.7 x 133.9 x 9.1mm [2] It's wider, taller but half a mm thinner. [1] http://www.google.com.au/nexus/5/ http://www.google.com.au/nexus/5/ [2] http://www.google.com.au/nexus/4/ http://www.google.com.au/nexus/4/
  - thaumasiotes 13y ago
    Thanks for posting this. I was worried about the phone growing too large; I think it's safe to say I won't notice the extra half-millimeter of width (for something I hold in one hand, width is the "usability" dimension).
  - cptskippy 13y ago
    I'd convinced myself that it was significantly bigger to avoid being tempted by it, and maintaining this disillusionment through sheer laziness. Seeing those numbers has me checking my bank account. You are a very bad man.
dangravell 13y ago
My first foray into Android was with a Motorola Defy. It was actually a really good little phone. 3.7" with a x800 resolution. Unfortunately it bricked and I fell back to my spare Nokia N95 which is taped together. Having a taped-together phone (with water damage which affects call quality) isn't really where I want to be but I refuse to purchase any of these huge new phones. I just want something that fits in my pocket, has a >= x800 resolution and can act as a wifi hotspot. My tablet can take care of the rest.

phaus 13y ago

I'd really love it if there were a 4" or 4.3" phone that still featured high-end specs. Unfortunately most of the "mini" devices seem to be intentionally bad in comparison to the flagships. If they weren't so expensive, I'd rather have the much smaller iPhone 5S than a Nexus 5, but the price is so cheap I can't really justify going with Apple. There was a time when I was on-board with the large-screen phone trend, but now that I have a tablet that I take pretty much everywhere, I don't really need a gigantic smartphone in addition to it.

dman 13y ago
Look at the Sony Z1f.
- phaus 13y ago
  That actually looks close to perfect. Unfortunately early price estimates put it not too far from the iPhone 5S.
  - mtgx 13y ago
    It's a high-end phone, just like iPhone 5S. If you want a mid-range phone, you can look at cheaper ones.
    - Zak 13y ago
      The Nexus 5 is also a high-end phone that's spec-comparable to the iPhone 5S. For me, and I think a lot of other people, the Nexus brand has come to mean high specs, stock software, future upgrades and low price. Those asking for an iPhone-size Nexus are asking for a device under $400.
      - dman 13y ago
        I think apple, google and amazon are in a unique position because they can sell hardware at or below cost. These companies have other ways in which to make money off the userbase. Its hard to expect hardware companies to be able to cope with this. What this means in the long term I dont know, but I think its going to become increasingly harder for pure hardware companies to beat ecosystem companies on cost.
      - dman 13y ago
        I think apple, google and amazon are in a unique position because they can sell hardware at or below cost. These companies have other ways in which to make money off the userbase. Its hard to expect hardware companies to be able to cope with this. What this means in the long term I dont know, but I think its going to become increasingly harder for pure hardware companies to beat ecosystem companies on cost.
ZoFreX 13y ago
I had a play with a whole bunch of small to mid-size Android phones and concluded that the S4 mini is quite nice. It isn't as anemic relative to the S4 as the S3 mini was to the S3, and it looks and feels good. It's about the size of a Galaxy S2 for reference (seems weird that that's now a small to medium size phone, when I owned one I hated how big it was).

devindotcom 13y ago

Honestly, I recommend the HTC First. I have one, it's the perfect size, 720p screen, solid specs. You can get one for a song these days and FB home turns off with a couple taps. You probably won't get 4.4, though...

isnotchicago 13y ago
From what I have read, the radios in the HTC First lock you into AT&T. On T-Mobile, you will only get 2G speeds.
- devindotcom 13y ago
  Nope, I get 4G. On the old bands, that would have been true, but not any more.
mwilcox 13y ago
The HTC First was discontinued, and mostly repackaged into the 'HTC One mini'. You'd be better to look at the Moto X
dnissley 13y ago
Seriously the best deal on the used market right now. I got one about a month ago for $140 shipped from gazelle through their ebay store.

rmk2 13y ago

That's what I was thinking when I was rather sorely disappointed by the measurements. I still use a Nexus One (AMOLED) and am generally very happy with it, though I would like to get Android 4.* (which I can't without repartitioning my already rooted phone and then running a system that was never meant to support this hardware). I like the older 3.7" form factor. The Nexus 5 is about 1cm wider and 2cm longer, which is a lot... Guess I will skip yet another generation of modern Android device and just keep on rocking an ancient CM7 "nightly".

snogglethorpe 13y ago

In a way, it's kind of a relief that they're taking the bloat road. With many tech products, I find myself lusting after stuff I really don't need, but with phones these days, it's more like "OMG! That looks so cool! I gotta ... oh wait it's the size of a kitchen table." What I'm going to do when my current phone dies, though, I dunno... TT

coldpie 13y ago
Haha, I had the same conclusion when I upgraded this past January. I was looking at the top-end phones, and every single one was at least 4.7 inches, and most of them larger. I ended up with a mid-spec HTC Incredible 4G which is 4 inches, and I refuse to go larger than that. In the end, it saved me about a hundred bucks!

Recoil42 13y ago

The Nexus 5 is actually physically smaller in all dimensions than the Nexus 4.

alexhill 13y ago
Nexus 5: 69.17 x 137.84 x 8.59 mm [1] Nexus 4: 68.7 x 133.9 x 9.1mm [2] It's wider, taller but half a mm thinner. [1] http://www.google.com.au/nexus/5/ http://www.google.com.au/nexus/5/ [2] http://www.google.com.au/nexus/4/ http://www.google.com.au/nexus/4/
- thaumasiotes 13y ago
  Thanks for posting this. I was worried about the phone growing too large; I think it's safe to say I won't notice the extra half-millimeter of width (for something I hold in one hand, width is the "usability" dimension).
- cptskippy 13y ago
  I'd convinced myself that it was significantly bigger to avoid being tempted by it, and maintaining this disillusionment through sheer laziness. Seeing those numbers has me checking my bank account. You are a very bad man.

dangravell 13y ago

My first foray into Android was with a Motorola Defy. It was actually a really good little phone. 3.7" with a x800 resolution. Unfortunately it bricked and I fell back to my spare Nokia N95 which is taped together. Having a taped-together phone (with water damage which affects call quality) isn't really where I want to be but I refuse to purchase any of these huge new phones. I just want something that fits in my pocket, has a >= x800 resolution and can act as a wifi hotspot. My tablet can take care of the rest.