I’ve had my Google Nexus 4 on Straight Talk for about two months now, and I wanted to follow-up on my previous article. This is actually going to be a pretty simple and straightforward update.
First off, I want to give you my feelings about the phone itself after having had it for eight weeks. Simply put, it is incredible. Off the top of my head, I have not come across any drawbacks with the phone itself (hardware and software). I’m not really a phone dropping kind of guy, but about a week after I got the phone in the mail, I dropped it all the way down the stairs at my house. And these are not soft, carpeted stairs either. The stairs in my house are hardwood, and I could see how easily things could break after tumbling down the WHOLE stairway. I’ve read some early reviews about how delicate some people thing the hardware is, but I have not experienced this in the slightest. As it stands, I don’t see any hairline scratches, dings, dents, or cracks at all. Again, I’m usually nice to my phone, but I have my times. Still, not a single blemish on this thing. I’d call that impressive.
Software wise, Android 4.2.2 is heads above previous Android releases. Google Now is a feature that I knew was going to be fun to use, but had no idea just how much I would like it. I use it all the time. It feels kind of like this phone knows me — kind of like a personal assistant. It will tell me, “Church is in 20 minutes. Leave within the next 5 minutes to be on time.” Did I have to tell it that? Not really. It just knows (based on my calendar, and driving habits). The user experience on the phone is super smooth. I remember one time that I rebooted the phone, and that was just because I updated the software to 2.2.2. One small downside I have noticed is the battery life. I wish it were a little more efficient, but it’s no worse than I expected. For moderate use, I usually have to charge it once every 36 hours or so.
The camera has good quality, as well as the video. I did my first photosphere about a month ago, and was amazed by how easily it stitched all of the images together into a 3D “sphere.” It can be viewed on Google Maps. Think of a photosphere as a 3D panorama.
Straight Talk has been a solid performing carrier for my Nexus 4 as well. The coverage has been solid. Speeds have been reasonable (not THE BEST, but still good), and I have not had any issues with data caps(maybe because I only use 500MB a month or so). Unfortunately, it looks like Straight Talk has stopped selling AT&T sim cards for the time-being. They have not specified why, but all I know is that I am still fine. The problem would come for new customers wishing to use Straight Talk’s AT&T sim. It looks like T-Mobile sim cards are the only ones being offered now. Hopefully they will have them back in a reasonable amount of time.
So, I will say that all my expectations have been met and exceeded. I still recommend the Nexus 4 and Straight Talk’s sim program (as long as you can get T-Mobile coverage in your area). As a side note, my wife has had a standard Straight Talk phone (one where we didn’t need to buy a sim card), and it has been great as well.