Apple iPhone 5 vs Google Nexus 4 #BOTF12 Round 1


After yet another close-call battle ending up in Nokia’s favour as the 808 PureView came out as the winner, we are now onto the grand finale battle of Round 1. Yes, when we say “Grand finale” battle of the Round 1, we mean it. The original iPhone was supposed to be the Google phone with Google itself, a partner of various services that debuted on the iPhone, but as the industry changed, a lot of things have changed. Google has been at the forefront of the Android juggernaut that is currently the most used smartphone software on the planet and hence, it is a no brainer that Google has its own range of Android devices, called the “Nexus”. And their flagship smartphone? The Google Nexus 4. Made with LG’s help and partnership, it is all set to take on the iPhone in the real world as well as here. Let the battle begin then!

Apple iPhone 5 vs Google Nexus 4

The Apple iPhone 5, as we all know is the most desirable smartphone since it made its debut in 2007. It was a market disruption, and till it now it remains the only inflection point that revolutionised the smartphone industry. Six generations of the Apple iPhones have passed and the excitement for each and every release has been nothing short of overwhelming and it has been constantly increasing. With that said, the Apple iPhone 5, the sixth generation of the iPhone has seen a visual upgrade and a little bit more. Lets quickly take a look at the highlights of this one –

  • Taller 4 inch retina display with more pixels
  • New unibody aluminium casing
  • Slightly updated camera with new Sapphire optics
  • Extremely thin at 7.6 mm and light at 112 grams

The Apple iPhone 5 unlike the iPhone 4, was not much of a departure from its earlier versions. However, it lost its brittle glass backing and definitely got much better looking, especially in the dark gray version. With the iPhone 5 launched the newer iteration of iOS, which too, was much like the hardware, not much of a departure from its earlier versions. While this sounds underwhelming as a whole, the iPhone 5 is still an iPhone and hence, there is always a lot going for it.

The retina display, originally introduced on the iPhone 4 is still a marvel to look at and it has been vastly improved upon, in the iPhone 5. The taller display makes way for a better movie watching experience because of the 16:9 aspect ratio and yes, a new row of app icons on the home screen. The camera, again, since the iPhone 4 has been amazing. The 4S had a brilliant camera unit and it stays the same with the iPhone 5, save for the new sapphire lens. The camera still proves to be a major plus, when you think of the iPhone. It easily rivals point and shoots and the full HD video recording is nothing short of stunning. The internals too, received an upgrade with the A6 chip, a custom Apple design that has a ARM A15 class dual core processor, and a powerful Power VR quad core GPU to run immersive games. And that leads us to the most important bit of an iPhone, the software.

The software, which covers both the OS and the apps, has been a major selling point for the iPhone. Thanks to the first mover advantage, iOS gets all the newest games and high quality apps, partly thanks to the user base too. Even if the apps have been coming all the while, the OS user experience has become somewhat stale with conflicting designs, and shows its age. Apple knows it’s time for a rehaul and only that can save iOS from more user repulsion. With that said, the iPhone still remains the most desirable smartphone, it is not going to change soon and it is definitely not going to stop getting all the apps and games first. But what if competition offers more for less? And that’s where the Google Nexus 4 comes in.

The Google Nexus 4, made by LG, is a part of Google’s Nexus program in which it selects OEMs for producing the device that carries forward the Google brand, in hardware. After the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, it was time for LG to make the next Nexus device and it was based on the LG Optimus G. Lets quickly take a look at the highlights of this device –

  • 4.7 inch 1280×768 IPS TFT zero gap display
  • 1.5 GHz Quad core Snapdragon S4 PRO processor
  • Has a glass back and a cool pattern
  • 8 MP camera, an improvement over its predecessor
  • Carries the pure Google experience, always up to date software

With specifications almost similar to the LG Optimus G, and a better design thanks to Google, the Nexus 4 is much better than its predecessor, while the factor of price makes it ridiculously desirable. The display, like the Optimus G is one of the best IPS panels on a smartphone. It easily rivals the iPhone 5’s retina display. The internals too, like the Optimus G, are one of the best in class, in terms of performance.

But the most important factor of buying a Nexus device has been always about Google. You get all the pure Google awesomeness with a Nexus 4, it’s certainly the way how Google wants it to be, and in reward, you get all the latest flavours of Android instantly. Not only that, you get to pay a shockingly low price to get your hands on one of the Nexus devices. As always, when the price factor comes into play, any other argument is invalid. Off contract in the United States, you can get a Nexus 4 device for a measly 299$, with compromises in storage. But pay 50$ for double the storage and you are all set. But the buying experience has been not pleasant for the consumers due to various issues that arose with the Nexus 4 launch.

With that said, the Apple iPhone 5 and Google Nexus 4 are certainly the most desirable devices on the smartphone market right now, each for their respective reasons. So, which one do you desire the most? Vote away!

And that’s it! A resounding victory for the Google Nexus 4!

Check out other battles and the current standings here. 

 


Author: Bharadwaj Chandramouli

Bharadwaj is a content creator who has been obsessed with technology since the early days of smartphones. He loves talking about tech, is a fan of good design and photography. You can follow him on Twitter @gadgetbuff_ to know what he's upto!