OK, so here are my favorite devices, face 2 face.
I won’t go into deep details, just simple spec comparment, which might be helpful for those thinking about buying a new device from Android “heaven”…
So… Let’s get started.
The Google Nexus 5 has 138x69x8.6mm and Samsung S4 137x70x7.9mm. It’s a matter of mm’s, so I think it won’t be the most important point. Both phones will put 130g of weight in your pocket.
Screen
Google Nexus 5 has 4.95″ screen with full HD 1920×1080 IPS 445ppi display, on contrary to Samsung S4 with its 5″ full HD 1920×1080 Super AMOLED 441ppi display.
CPU
Google Nexus 5 comes with the latest Quad-core 2.26GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, while
Samsung S4 comes with “older” Quad-core 1.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor. (there’s also 8core version for some markets).
So, on paper the Google Nexus 5 beats the Samsung Galaxy S4 in processing power, and probably will offer an even smoother experience.
Battery
A bit of disappointment here, as the Google Nexus 5 comes with 2,300mAh battery, while the Samsung S4 is fitted with 2,600mAh unit, which is swapable, unlike built-in on Nexus 5.
As for claims (on paper for now), even with smaller battery, the Google Nexus 5 matches the Samsung Galaxy S4 in battery life. For real results we will have to wait for some tests to be done…
Software
As typival with all new Nexus devices, the Google Nexus 5 comes with the freshly released Android 4.4 Kitkat operating system, while Samsung S4 is “on the road” with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean operating system, with 4.3 rolling out now for most markets and versions (GT-I9500 >-I-9505).
Google Nexus 5 comes with completely vanilla user interface, in contrary to Samsung’s own Touchwiz user interface.
Cameras
For the photo “maniacs” it might be a bit of disappointment, that Google Nexus 5 has “only” 8MP rear camera, mated with 1.3MP front camera, while Samsung S4 comes with 13MP rear camera, 2MP front camera, however, the Nexus 5 has optical image stabilisation, which might help make sharper images.
Storage
The latest Google Nexus 5 comes in two versions, 16GB or 32GB of ROM coupled with 2GB of RAM. On the other side, the S4 comes wit three versions; 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of ROM,but has microSD card slot, which can cooperate with microSD cards up to 64GB. It has 2GB of RAM as well.
So, it looks like tough quest (at least for me), as both devices have their own advantages…
UPDATE : Samsung has released Galaxy S4 GT-I9506 with the new Quad-core 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor with LTE-A support.