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Battle of the Androids: Samsung Galaxy S4 vs. LG Nexus 4

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Nexus and Galaxy. The two brands represent opposing ends of the Android spectrum. Nexus devices have always been Google’s pure, untarnished vision of its platform. Samsung’s wildly-successful Galaxy devices, meanwhile, still use Android, but also threaten to overshadow it. What happens when you put the best of each side-by-side? Read on, as we compare the specs and features of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and LG Nexus 4.

Size

The Nexus 4 is a bit shorter, narrower, and thicker. But – when you look at smaller rivals like the iPhone 5, or phablets like the Galaxy Note II – you realize that the size differences here are pretty minor.

Build

It’s easy to poo-poo on Samsung’s use of plastic, but you could also argue that it allows the company to focus more of its expenses on things like 1080p displays and octa-core processors.

The front and back of the Nexus 4, meanwhile, are made of Gorilla Glass. LG helpfully placed a rubbery band around the phone’s edges, allowing for an easier and more comfortable grip.

That extra grip is a good thing, considering that – no matter how strong Gorilla Glass is – it’s going to be more prone than plastic to cracks and scratches.

Both sets of materials have their pros and cons, and this is probably one of the first big areas you’ll want to think about when deciding between these two handsets.

Weight

It’s impressive that LG managed to make the glass Nexus 4 only 9 g (0.32 oz.) heavier than the plastic Galaxy S4. We suspect the GS4’s larger battery has something to do with that.

Display

The Galaxy S4’s display is both larger and sharper than the Nexus 4’s screen.

Once you get to a certain level of sharpness (probably around 300 pixels per inch), cramming in more pixels ceases to play as big of a part. Both of these screens are razor sharp, and your eyes won’t likely see any individual pixels on either one.

That means the display technology will play a bigger part. The Galaxy S4’s Super AMOLED has blacker blacks (technically no light comes through black pixels) but hyper-saturated colors. The Nexus 4’s IPS display, meanwhile, leads to better viewing angles and more accurate color reproduction.

Read more: GizMag

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