Nexus 4 Owners:

[bytejunkie]

ive had a pretty quick re-release of 4.3 on both my nexus 4 and 7, so some of the bugs mentioned might get patched quickly.

[Stu C]

Got a Nexus 4 hidden away for Xmas, and am researching cases and screen protectors. Expert Shield protectors get good reviews, and were mentioned earlier in the thread, and the Ringke Fusion case seems to be about as good as it gets.

Question - are both screen protector and case needed, or is it overkill to have both?

[watercooled]

They serve different purposes, but some might argue either can take away from user experience; e.g. a case makes the device more bulky, and a protector probably won't feel as good as the glass screen. It's just down to personal preference really.

My reasoning for using a case is largely due to the glass back and lack of protection for the screen using a raised bezel for example. I might actually consider trying another case though, as the case I use is probably more bulky than necessary.

As for the screen protector, despite all these claims of near-indestructible glass, which do in fact stand up well to deliberate damage, they still tend to be susceptible to scratches from stuff like sand.

[jimborae]

So on my Nexus 4 I use a knock off bumper case and screen protectors front & back. To my mind this is the best compromise from having the phone skin and case free. The screen protectors I use are called Best Skins Ever from the U.S.. I've not found any better than these, they are really good, the mat version reduces screen glare in bright sun light and stops the device from being so slippy in the hand and on surfaces which is a big problem with glass backed devices.

[paul3281]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...n.app&hl=en_GB

This has been a great battery saver for my Nexus 4

[ik9000]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...n.app&hl=en_GB

This has been a great battery saver for my Nexus 4

I'm rather cynical about anything that thinks that turning wifi on periodically just to see if there is wifi available is a good idea. I travel past plenty of places with free wifi. Not one of them do I want my phone syncing my personal emails from.

[watercooled]

As I said earlier I'm cynical of 'battery saver' apps in general. It's curious that Qualcomm should release one, and some of the description doesn't make a lot of sense TBH.

This app seems to do as I was saying - reducing wakelocks, but I wonder how much processing needs to go into learning usage patterns in order to reduce processing?

As for the WiFi-based-on-location, it claims to use Android network location, in other words waking the processor and cell and/or WiFi radios in order to triangulate and contact Google for DB information. Vs the default of having the WiFi radio occasionally wake to listen for WiFi beacons - just because WiFi is 'on' doesn't mean the radio is sitting there constantly transmitting, drawing a load of power.

I can see this sort of app saving small amounts of energy in certain scenarios, but based on what's said in the description, in most cases I'd expect parity at best.

I use no such apps and battery life on my Nexus 4 is fine, aside from a few bugs I've encountered that apps wouldn't fix anyway. I check through system and app settings and disable any features/apps which I don't want/use, for example a load of the Google social rubbish, location reporting, always-on WiFi scanning, any unnecessary sync items, etc.

A few Android bugs have affected me though; a while back there was the msm_hsic_host wakelock bug, causing the CPU to wake from sleep frequently, which was eventually patched. Now there's another PowerManagerService.WakeLocks bug which Google kindly added in a patch not long after the previous bug was fixed - when it occurs, the CPU will not enter deep sleep *at all*, which rapidly drains the battery. Rebooting does restore normal operation, if you happen to use monitoring apps and notice the problem in time. After some research and experimenting, it seems this is caused if you don't unlock the phone before unplugging it. AFAIK devices will tend to keep the CPU 'on' while charging - it seems some process doesn't realise it's been disconnected unless you unlock first? I'm not certain if it also affects PC USB charging or just AC, although it seems unlocking isn't guaranteed to prevent it. Google just don't seem bothered about fixing such a fatal bug, and no sanboxed app will sort it either. /rant

[ik9000]

Now that could explain a lot!

[Amarrd]

I endorse a custom kernel as well, if you're willing to go through the painless rooting process I find that Franco Kernel gives me the best battery life I can get on the device. I hope you find a nice setup and enjoy the phone!

[monstercable]

I endorse a custom kernel as well, if you're willing to go through the painless rooting process I find that Franco Kernel gives me the best battery life I can get on the device. I hope you find a nice setup and enjoy the phone!

Which rom are you running? I barely use my N4 now, but when I used Franco Kernel my battery had become even worse somehow?! Maybe it was the actual battery or the fact that I was paying more attention to how quickly it went down though.

[polosistealth]

all battery saver are fakes and full of unwanted viruses