Samsung Galaxy S4 vs. Google Nexus 4: It's Not Just the Price, the Galaxy S4 Simply Won't Get Updated as Fast

The "Google" edition of the Samsung Galaxy S4 recently hit the Google Play Store, and while it might seem at first glance to be a great purchase, there seems to be one major flaw when compared to the Nexus 4.

Before we begin, however, it's important to make one thing clear: the Galaxy S4 is definitely the technically superior of the two. In fact, the Galaxy S4 is better than most of smartphones overall, except remember one thing - the LG Google Nexus 4 costs $299, and the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google edition runs $649. 

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Google edition was created for one main reason: people are sick and tired of waiting months for a new version of Android. Google-tied Nexus phones and tablets receive Android straight from Google, meaning that they're first devices running the latest version of Android. Smartphones from manufacturers like Samsung have to usually wait a few months, and even longer if they are carrier-specific variants. In the end, the Galaxy S4 Google edition is supposed to deliver the same experience, on a top-of-the-line platform.

There's one problem, however. While it may seem that the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google edition is running stock Android, it's not - as AnandTech revealed. Instead, the handset is actually running a modified kernel, meaning that no, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google edition won't be getting it's updates straight from Google at the same time as Nexus devices.

"That might sound confusing or disappointing, but I wager that this means GPe (Google Play edition) devices will lag behind their canonical Nexus counterparts at most on the order of days or weeks rather than months thanks to the emphasis being placed on them and the end-run around somewhat pointless at this point US operator update testing (remember that both GPe phones are US operator tested and approved hardware, they're just running different software)," writes AnandTech's Brian Klug. 

So when it comes down to "who will get updates faster," it's going to be the Nexus 4. 

So what do you think? Is the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google edition still worth $649 upfront?