Nexus 4 Review – the best pure Android phone of 2012
by Paul Wilks
Dec 3, 2012 6:22 AM –
The Nexus 4 made by LG is Google’s latest in the Nexus series and a device that has been getting plenty of headlines since its announcement in October. Some of these headlines are for the right reasons- it’s an incredible device with the very best and latest Android software. However, after a shambolic launch that saw customers either unable to buy a device at all or told that they may have to wait weeks for delivery, Google has managed to alienate it’s mobile user-base in exchange for those publicity-grabbing ‘sold out in minutes’ headlines.
Now there’s a good chance that either you’re still waiting for a device, thinking about buying one when they eventually go on sale again or are reading out of abject amusement at the whole circus. I’m sure you will have read reviews of the Nexus 4 already, but here’s AndroidTapp’s take on pretty much the hottest mobile device on the market right now…
Price: $299 for 8GB model, $349 for 16GB model
Carrier: Various GSM
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Sleek hardware design!
- Impressive specs!
- The latest Jelly Bean 4.2 software!
- Incredibly fast!
- Enhanced camera!
Cons
- No LTE support (although this is up for debate at the moment).
- Lacks removable battery.
- Lacks upgradeable SD card.
Design
So the Nexus 4 is essentially a gorgeous slab of nicely weighted glass. It takes a little getting used to having a glass front and back, and it certainly makes the device a little ‘slidey’ if you balance it on your knee or on the arm of your sofa but it undoubtedly ‘feels’ quality. The glass goes from side to side with just a sliver of chrome around the edge. Now, I’m not a fan of chrome and perhaps the design would be better without it, but it still looks good.
As you move around the device you then come to a matte-finished rubber which ultimate gives the device some much-needed grip. This curves at its base and eventually gives way to the glass back. On the rear of the device you have the camera and flash top left, silver Nexus branding across the back, the LG logo and finally a microphone slip housed bottom right. The pale pixel effect shimmers across the back- it looks a little retro, a little Matrix and wholly original. The rubber edging homes another two small microphones, the headphones socket, volume rocker, power button and charger socket.
By a long way it is the best looking of the Nexus (Nexii?) phone family, making the Galaxy Nexus feel somewhat cheap in comparison. It’s shiny, very, very black and overall very compressed- there’s no give whatsoever when you squeeze the device. It also has a surprising weight to it. While I think some might view this as a negative, this is actually quite reassuring.
Naturally, with all that glass, there’s the worry it’ll break. There are enough drop-test videos and ugly close-up images already online to make you want to wrap it in bubble wrap as soon as you get it- those shattering effect is enough to make you weep. It’ll be a device all but the bravest users put in a case.
Regardless of this, in your hand, case-free, the device feels like a million dollars.
Features
OK, a few of the stand-out specifications:
- 4.7-inch WXGA IPS display with Corning Gorilla Glass 2
- 1.5 Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor
- 2GB of RAM
- 8GB or 16GB storage
- Rear facing 8 mega-pixel camera
- Front facing 1.9 mega-pixel camera
- 1280 x 768 pixel screen resolution (320 ppi)
- NFC (Android Beam)
- The latest Jelly Bean OS – 4.2
While much has been said about the limited storage, the 2GB RAM really stands out and makes the device incredibly fast to use. This, combined with Google’s Project Butter in Jelly Bean, makes the Nexus 4 insanely smooth and provides a glitch and lag free stock experience.
Jelly Bean 4.2 which, as I write is being rolled out to Galaxy Nexus devices, provides a number of much-publicised features such as the 360 degree panoramic camera, swipe-keyboard, quick settings from the notification bar and a very cool new clock functionality. With this software, and the gorgeous overall hardware design, you automatically get the impression of the Nexus 4 being a premium device.
Camera
Video Sample
Watch on Mobile | Watch in HD
4G LTE?
A great number of eyebrows were raised when it was announced that the Nexus 4 would not feature LTE connectivity. Then many of those eyebrows turned into a frown of mild confusion when it was discovered the device does actually contain an LTE chip. While there have been mixed results trying to use the chip, time will perhaps tell whether Google or LG come clean as to why it’s there in the first place.
There are a few carriers here and there that run an LTE network but the fact remains that most users around the world DO NOT have LTE. While it might put off some users, especially if they use an LTE-supporting network, I somehow think Google may well release a proper LTE version at some point soon.
Call Quality
My experience with call quality has been excellent. It’s of good volume, very clear and the device handles the louder volumes of your speakerphone well- there’ not tinny feedback sound you sometimes get with other devices.
Performance and Battery life
With the 1.5 Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor inside, it’s a powerful beast of a phone, despite its sleek looks. While we are regularly told that benchmark tests means very little… I’ll just leave this image right here…
AnTuTu Benchmark test. Unlocked, unrooted, stock Nexus 4.
I have been deeply impressed with the battery life (although perhaps coming from HTC devices I’ve encountered some pretty inefficient phones overall). I’ve been getting a healthy 14+ hours out of it each and every day, with up to 3 hours screen-on time. Below is a screenshot of a typical day battery usage…
Impressive battery life, this is with between 2-3 hours screen on time
Pictures
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Basic homescreen
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Google Voice Search and Google Now are present and correct
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New clock interface (1)
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New clock interface (2)
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New clock interface (3)
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New clock interface (4)
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New clock interface (5)
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Lock screen
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Lock screen transtion
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Runs the latest Jelly Bean 4.2, although this has been upgraded to 4.2.1
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Impressive battery life, this is with between 2-3 hours screen on time
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AnTuTu Benchmark test. Unlocked, unrooted, stock Nexus 4.
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Using the new 360 degree panoramic feature with 4 (1)
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Using the new 360 degree panoramic feature with 4 (2)
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Using the new 360 degree panoramic feature with 4 (3)
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Using the new 360 degree panoramic feature with 4 (4)
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Using the camera functionality (1)
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Using the camera functionality (2)
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Using the camera functionality (3)
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The ‘December’ issue- now resolved by 4.2.1
Additional Comments
Like many people, I was disappointed when trying to buy the device on its launch day. It went on sale, here in the UK anyway, at 8.15am- just as I was getting ready for work. I noticed it at 8.17am and frantically tried to buy the 16GB version unsuccessfully. I think many, many people suffered the issue of the site crashing or not progressing to the checkout properly.
There’s the argument that Google were not expecting such demand- purported perhaps even more by the fact that many users who did manage to buy the device on launch day were soon told they would have to wait up to three weeks for shipping. But I suspect this isn’t actually true. It’s Google, one of the biggest companies in the world and an organisation that has already botched hardware launches. There’s no way they would make the same mistake again unintentionally. Instead I think the launch went exactly how Google wanted it to go.
In other words, Google launched with limited stock and did so for two reasons:
1) Publicity- I did a search for ‘Nexus 4 stock’ 3 days after the launch. I gave up of scrolling through after 10 pages of news stories all telling of the Nexus 4 being sold out within ‘minutes’. Regardless of how you look at it, such headlines create even more desire in the market as people are made to reflect on how popular this phone must be and maybe they should order one themselves when they can.
You think Google will release an actual number of how many units they had initially? I doubt it somehow as it will give away their strategy. Still, I’d be happily be proved wrong.
2) Google have to maintain relationships with carriers and launching a phone on wholesale- which removes these carriers from the process for a while- isn’t good business sense. So, Google created the desire and suddenly the only place where you can hop to get stock are from selected partners who are offering the device at a highly inflated price.
Google’s aims were wholly met with this launch. Unfortunately this was at the expense of the customer. 
Tags:
Android 4.2,
Android Phone Review,
Android Smartphone,
AndroidTapp.com Review,
Galaxy Nexus,
Google,
Jelly Bean,
Nexus,
Nexus 4,
Nexus 4 Review
Categorised in: Android Phones, Featured, Featured Device, News
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