[metatronscube]

Yeah for instance when Apple did this design a few years ago it was mostly unacceptable among Fandroids and HN crowd. Now its good, because its Android. Its no secret that HN is heavily biased against Apple (and to some extent MS). I don't know, must be all the Google employees here or something. Its always interesting to watch how these conversations turn out. Its been getting a lot more noticeable over the years on here.

[Goronmon]

Yeah for instance when Apple did this design a few years ago it was mostly unacceptable among Fandroids and HN crowd. Now its good, because its Android.

Or the people who disliked it when it Apple did it are a different group of people that like it when an Android phone does it. Or they see it as an acceptable trade-off given the non-subsidized price of the Nexus 4.

But hey, don't let that stop you from pointing out such a grave injustice.

[nollidge]

> HN is heavily biased against Apple

This is absurd. HN is not a monolith. Every time Apple has a new product there's plenty of people fawning over it, plenty deriding it, and most people somewhere in between who don't care enough to comment.

[mikelward]

According to The Verge, it was a choice between faster data on the one hand, and timely updates, better battery life, and lower price on the other.

I'm guessing for a lot of the Nexus's target market, and for Google, faster updates win out.

http://mobile.theverge.com/2012/10/29/3569688/why-nexus-4-do...

[Irregardless]

I'm just surprised they're alienating so much of the U.S. market. People here were writing off the Galaxy Nexus because of the missing SD card slot alone. Take away LTE and the removable battery and this thing has absolutely zero chance of being successful in the U.S.

[xur17]

I'm not so sure that people in the US are "writing off the Galaxy Nexus". Especially when combined with a prepaid plan (such as Straight Talk, Simple Mobile, or TMobile Monthly4G), this phone is a really good deal. $300 is similar to the starting prices for some phone ON contract.

A lot of people really don't need the extra space from an SD card, and LTE is just a more costly option with slightly higher speeds. The lack of a removable battery is somewhat of a let down, but be honest, when is the last time you replaced your phone's battery? I never have. People also seem to indicate that you can still replace the battery by removing a few screws, it is just a little more difficult.

I think the US market is moving towards prepaid, non-contract plans, and this is the PERFECT phone for it. On top of that, most of the rest of the world uses prepaid phone plans, which this is perfect for.

[metatronscube]

Absolutely, I get why they did it, and its a nice device (if a bit big for me). However I feel its more about getting it into as many markets as possible as well.

[rafaelm]

Please compare the price of an unlocked iPhone to the price of this unlocked, powerful phone. If you have more money you can go with the S3 or any of the other Android phones with all the features that are missing in the N4. The power of choice...

[deelowe]

"Fandroids" - really? sigh...