After the significant price drop of the Samsung galaxy s4 and the Sony xperia Z, people started to get confused as these phones along with the Nexus 5 were available at the same price tag!
All the three of them have something that other just doesn't, so how do you choose?
Let's find out in my in-depth comparison of the Nexus 5, galaxy S4 and the xperia Z!
Nexus 5 always keeps things clean and this results in a clean and nice looking device. Nexus 5 matte finish plastic back which is not specifically eye catchy but is comfortable and extremely light weight. Nexus 5 is not particularly a premium device but it is still better than the other plastic phones out there.
On the Samsung booth, we have the Galaxy S4 with the same old plastic Samsung design with back that feels utterly cheap and doesn't match up Nexus 5 whatsoever! However it is still very light weight but not even near a premium device.
The Sony Xperia Z on the other side however comes with a much more premium design and build than its competitors with the glass back and front that can be fragile at times but feels really premium and is a pleasure to hold!
Sony has gone for TFT - albeit with 1080 x 1920 pixels, giving a pixel density of 441ppi, which would explain why it looks a bit washed out. The screen is razor sharp when look at it straight but the problems comes in when you tilt it a little as their the colors just wash out because of the poor viewing angles!
With a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, which translates to 445ppi, the Nexus 5 display looks crisp and accurate. It's an IPS display, and while critics will point to AMOLED's superior brightness and black levels, you'd be hard pressed to notice. Viewing angles are great and outdoor visibility is no problem too!
Finally, The Samsung Galaxy S4 Super AMOLED Full HD display, which is 1920 x 1080 pixels, if you're asking, meaning an amazing 441PPI. The display is one factor where the S4 shines, it is gorgeous!
The Nexus 5 has an 8MP main camera with a 1/3.2-inch CMOS sensor and an F2.4 30mm equivalent lens. The OIS (optical image stabilisation) helps you eliminate camera shake, and it's pretty easy to point-and-shoot and get good results.
All the three of them have something that other just doesn't, so how do you choose?
Let's find out in my in-depth comparison of the Nexus 5, galaxy S4 and the xperia Z!
DESIGN AND BUILD.
When it comes to design and build in this comparison, all of them come from a different perspective and have different pros and cons, let take a look.
Nexus 5 always keeps things clean and this results in a clean and nice looking device. Nexus 5 matte finish plastic back which is not specifically eye catchy but is comfortable and extremely light weight. Nexus 5 is not particularly a premium device but it is still better than the other plastic phones out there.
On the Samsung booth, we have the Galaxy S4 with the same old plastic Samsung design with back that feels utterly cheap and doesn't match up Nexus 5 whatsoever! However it is still very light weight but not even near a premium device.
The Sony Xperia Z on the other side however comes with a much more premium design and build than its competitors with the glass back and front that can be fragile at times but feels really premium and is a pleasure to hold!
The Winner here is not really specific, while the Sony xperia Z gives a premium phone, it is not really that comfortable when compared to the Nexus 5! So, if you want a better grip you should go for the nexus 5 else the Xperia Z. The Galaxy S4 loses completely in this category.
DISPLAY.
Display is actually same on all of them when it comes to resolution but as I say in my articles, it's the tech used for the display that matters.
Sony has gone for TFT - albeit with 1080 x 1920 pixels, giving a pixel density of 441ppi, which would explain why it looks a bit washed out. The screen is razor sharp when look at it straight but the problems comes in when you tilt it a little as their the colors just wash out because of the poor viewing angles!
With a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, which translates to 445ppi, the Nexus 5 display looks crisp and accurate. It's an IPS display, and while critics will point to AMOLED's superior brightness and black levels, you'd be hard pressed to notice. Viewing angles are great and outdoor visibility is no problem too!
Finally, The Samsung Galaxy S4 Super AMOLED Full HD display, which is 1920 x 1080 pixels, if you're asking, meaning an amazing 441PPI. The display is one factor where the S4 shines, it is gorgeous!
Display is great on this device with great color reproduction, outdoor visibility and viewing angles.
Here we have two winners actually, Nexus 5 and the Galaxy S4! The Xperia Z here washes out with its poor viewing angles.
HARDWARE.
When we talk about connectivity options, all of them support everything from NFC to USB OTG!
In the storage department, you get Micro SD expansion up to 64GB on Galaxy S4 and Xperia Z but the nexus 5 doesn't support Micro SD card.
Internal storage is 16GB on all the devices but on Nexus 5, you can also get a 32GB variant which is a little expensive.
The Xperia Z however is IP67 certified that means it is dust and water proof.
We will talk about the battery life later in this article.
SOFTWARE.
Software is the aspect where all these devices differ a lot with different UIs.
Nexus 5 as you all would know comes with the stock android UI that means it looks cleaner and comes with android 4.4 which is the latest. The software on the Nexus 5 is for those who want a cleaner android experience with no lags whatsoever!
The Samsung Galaxy S4 however comes with the highly customized TouchWiz UI along with Android 4.2.2 Jellybean that can be updated to kitkat 4.4.
TouchWiz comes with a lot of extra features like Smart scroll, Smart Stay, Air gestures,S health and many more. These features are not really that helpful when it comes to everyday usage as they use a lot of battery life, Sure you will have to something to show off but you kind of stop using these features after a month or so!
Lastly, Xperia Z comes with the Sony's own customized Timescape UI along with Android 4.1.2 Jellybean that can also be updated to Android 4.4 KitKat.
Sony's TimeScape UI is considered as the near to stock android UI which is quite right but the black look of the UI is getting a little old like the Samsung's TouchWiz. The UI also comes with a lot of features like Themes, Quick apps and much more. The Timescape is not a feature rich UI like the TouchWiz nor it is clean like the stock android, it stays in the middle which can be good for some but also can be a real bummer.
It's on you whether you the clean stock android, the feature packed TouchWiz or stay in the middle of the both by going for the Sony's TimeScape.
PERFORMANCE.
The Nexus 5 is a top performer. It has a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 with an Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM.
When I ran Geekbench 3 the scores were 885 for single-core and 2579 for multi-core. That's higher than the Galaxy S4 and way higher than the HTC One.
By combining that processing power with the carefully optimized Android 4.4 platform Google has delivered a completely lag-free and highly responsive experience. The Nexus 5 is a dream to use.
You can skip in and out of apps and games without any stuttering. Even with more than 20 entries in the multitasking menu there's no hint of a pause.
On the other side, we have the Sony Xperia Z which can't be quite matched with the Nexus 5 with Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait along with the Adreno 320 with 2GB RAM which is sufficient for a lag free experience but when compare it to the Nexus 5, it fails!
Next is Samsung Galaxy S4 with Quad-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7 along with PowerVR SGX544MP3 assisted with 2GB RAM which is extremely powerful when we compared to any phone in its range but as I said before when we compare it to the Nexus 5, it is not as fast.
Another problem on the Galaxy S4 and Xperia Z is the heating issue which is quite a big drawback and pull these phones back in this comparison!
So, in the performance category, the Nexus 5 wins hands down!
CAMERA.
Camera is great on all the devices but we have a winner here.
The Nexus 5 has an 8MP main camera with a 1/3.2-inch CMOS sensor and an F2.4 30mm equivalent lens. The OIS (optical image stabilisation) helps you eliminate camera shake, and it's pretty easy to point-and-shoot and get good results.
Extra options are accessible via the icons at either side of that shutter button. Tap the camera icon and you'll find the video, panorama, and photo sphere options.
The camera on the Nexus 5 is good but not the best, it takes decent shots in sufficient light but low light conditions or indoors, it completely fails and results in images with noise.
The Xperia Z's 13-megapixel camera uses an Exmor RS sensor, which is designed to be particularly impressive in low light.
As for the actual camera, results unfortunately will not wow you. Photos tended to look better on the screen before they were actually shot, but then when transferred to a computer screen, they just looked cheap. Colors are presented well, but there seemed to be a lack of sharpness, and even mildly zoomed in, they came out more like something from a budget or mid-range handset.
Indoor shots are passable - ambient light helps but they still look a little blurry when enlarged - although the low light capabilities of the new Exmor sensor really are impressive compared to the competition.
Samsung Galaxy S4 13MP shooter is capable of taking some stunning photos and comes with a decent auto mode, which enables you to get really great shots no matter what the framing.
There are a lot of features to play with in the settings like the Drama shot, Best face,HDR and lot more.
When it comes to low light, this phone is not the best either like the HTC one(2013) but it captures decent images and the Night mode helps a lot too.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 is the winner with color reproduction in all light conditions!
BATTERY LIFE.
Now battery life is a real concern when it comes to flagships, let's see how these phones performs.
The Nexus 5 comes with a 2300mAh non removable battery that is as most of you might know is not that great. On moderate usage, you will have to charge your phone at least once every day and on heavy usage, you might charge it twice! Battery life is one of the issues on the Nexus 5, company is promising to fix that in the future updates but no official news just yet.
The Xperia Z comes with a 2330mAh battery life that is non removable which is always a bummer. When we talk about the battery life, it is not great either and almost identical to the Nexus 5!
The Galaxy S4 however comes with a REMOVABLE 2600mAH which is great compared to the other two.
I am not saying you can get two days out of it but you can probably get 1.5 days out of it on moderate usage.
Here also the Galaxy S4 wins with a removable and better battery.
TO SUM UP...
All of the phones are great in their way, however I think the Sony Xperia Z is totally out of competition!
If you want a better and cleaner android experience, go with the Nexus 5 but if you want more features, go for the galaxy S4 but the heating and the lagging issues will push you back!
ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU FOR READING, IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE SUGGESTIONS OR QUESTIONS ON THIS ARTICLE , COMMENTS ARE ALWAYS WELCOMED OR YOU CONNECT ME ON TWITTER@phonesoldier or Facebook!
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