Google Nexus 4

Best Price: Starting from Rs.22,099 - Rs.26,199

Google hasn’t released any devices with its stamp of approval after it acquired Motorola. Google has followed Microsoft in promoting its Android platform as an independent OS. It has tried to remain impartial by having its Nexus devices developed by different companies that have licensed its product, and LG having the honors for this version of the device. To the dismay of many customers, the first Nexus 4 devices were sold out within no time in Google's Play Store. The second wave that was available from December 6th was again out of stock just before Christmas. Seen objectively, this is no surprise. The combination of the low price and state-of-the-art hardware is not the only selling point. Its innards are comprised of a quad-core Krait clocked at 1500 MHz and 2 GB of RAM alongside the Adreno 320 GPU. The buyer can select between a storage capacity of 8 or 16 GB. There are no color options; it is only available in black. Google's new super weapon was a hot topic and was eagerly awaited even before it was launched. Read in our review whether it can meet the high expectations and how we rate it against the competition.

Case

The design of Google's Nexus 4 has not undergone any significant changes compared with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. It is still a plain black block at first glance. However, it becomes apparent that various materials have been used and that it is in no way an ill-considered design when looking closer at the device. Just like the iPhone 4 range, the non-removable back cover is glass. The entire surface of the device is covered by glass. The border is made of a polycarbonate material. The lower part is matte black and encloses both hardware buttons and naturally the ports. The upper part features a dark silver color and serves as the display bezel. The display's left and right outer edge exhibits a slight downward curve. Samsung's Galaxy S3 features a similar curve but in the exact opposite direction. The display bezel does not protrude and consequently does not provide the screen with additional protection against scratches.

Probably everyone knows this problem: You just polished the touchscreen and five minutes later you would again like to reach for the microfiber cloth. Cleaning the Nexus 4 is twice the effort because the back is just as susceptible to fingerprints as the front.

The  different materials of construction give an impression of high quality. The smartphone can be twisted marginally with moderate force but is largely pressure resistant. Our test model exhibited one point of particularity. A rattling noise was heard from the inside when we shook it. The noise is produced by the camera's image stabilizer and is absolutely normal.

The case is only available in black and its size has only been modified insignificantly. With a length of 133.9 mm, it is marginally shorter than the Galaxy Nexus (135.5 mm). However, it is thicker, wider and heavier. The Nexus 4 has a width of 68.7 mm (difference: + 1.9 mm), a thickness of 9.1 mm (difference: + 0.2 mm) and weighs 4 grams more than its precursor. The Nexus range follows the current smartphone trend of increasing display size. The manufacturer LG manages to install a 0.05 inch larger screen due to the slightly larger dimensions.

Connectivity

The Nexus 4 closely follows the interface positioning of Samsung's Galaxy S3. The phone exactly copies the port arrangement of the Galaxy S3 with regards to the power button, headphone jack and the volume rocker. Nothing stands in the way of multimedia entertainment on a big screen with the right cable. More information about that can be found here. Beside its use as a multimedia interface, the micro-USB port has two other important functions. It can be used as a removable drive when linked to a computer or for recharging the battery via the modular charger. Like in all iPhones, the 2100 mAh battery is not removable and can only be serviced by a licensed technician. As mentioned in our review of the Nexus 10, Google doesn't want to ‘complicate the user experience’ for the user and thus omits a microSD for memory expansion. Since this is also true for the Nexus 4, the potential buyer should carefully consider how much capacity is needed before ordering the device.

Our test device features flash memory of 16 GB (net: 12.92 GB useable). There is also a model with 8 GB of memory capacity available in the Play store.

Software 

There is no need to worry about updates. It is not an insignificant advantage when both hardware and software come from the same developer. But as the device becomes older, its ability to run newer iterations of vanilla Android becomes lower and lower until any further update would render the device unusable. Google's latest flagship is powered by the Android operating system Jelly Bean 4.2.1. Superfluous bloatware will not annoy the user and s/he can take delight in a very powerful and slim operating system. Shortly after the release of version 4.2, there was a minor update to squash a few bugs in the operating system. The latest 4.2 version includes a few new features. One of these is dubbed "Photo Sphere" and enables taking 360° panorama shots. This feature is very intuitive and using it works right away with a remarkable results. The navigation bar has always been an integral part of Android and is indispensable for the system. To increase utility even more, a subtle and nondescript facelift was given to the user interface. Now, it is possible to exhibit further widgets in the right upper area when the message bar is opened. "Daydream" can be used when the device is connected to the charger or in a docking station. This feature is easiest explained with the word "screensaver". The current time, a slide show or other contents glide over the dimmed screen when the corresponding setting is selected beforehand.

The Nexus 4 features a vast array of communication modules. The high-end device even sports an LTE chip although neither LG nor Google specifies it. This chip is disabled and cannot be used (in Germany). An HSPA+ 42 module is installed in order to ensure sufficient speeds for internet browsing. This makes a theoretical downstream speed of 42.2 megabits per second in the UMTS network possible. Naturally, features like NFC (near-field communication), Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS are a must. According to the specifications sheet, the main Wi-Fi module supports 802.11 b/g/n standards. However, a reader pointed out the 5 GHz capability according to standard 802.11 a. We often noticed that the Wi-Fi module had problems reconnecting to a previously identified access point during the test period. This can only be remedied by manually deactivating and reactivating the Wi-Fi module. We did not experience any problems with other access points during our tests.

The installed GPS module connects within a few seconds indoors when standing next to a window. The accuracy increases outdoors and in "line of sight". We did not ascertain any unexpected connection interruptions in our test scenario.

Cameras & Multimedia

On behalf of Google, LG installs two camera modules in the Nexus 4. The primary camera alongside a flash is on the back and features a resolution of 8 megapixels. The front-facing camera can be used as a webcam for video calls via Skype. It features a fairly low resolution of 1.3 megapixels. Both cameras can record videos in Full HD quality. The front-facing camera achieves a resolution of 720p (1280 x 720 pixels) and the primary camera records in 1080p (1920 x1080 pixels). The primary camera's small sensor responds with slightly blurred details in moderate indoor light. Many cameras have great difficulties reproducing badly illuminated objects. This is often reflected in heavy image noise. The 8 megapixel sensor delivers a decent picture although the entire representation is much darker than that of the reference camera. Like most front-facing cameras, the picture quality is unfocused to take snapshots. The primary camera shoots good outdoor pictures. The focus is decent and the brightness deviation decreases when compared with the reference camera.

Photo Sphere

Almost every smartphone now features an 8 megapixel camera sensor. To stand out from the masses, Google installs a nifty feature in its latest Android version. "Photo Sphere" enables taking pictures in a 360° panorama shot by lining up several frames. The result surprised and awed us at the same time. Great pictures were possible right away and it was easy in contrast to taking such a panorama shoot with a digital SLR camera. It feels like you are standing in the middle of a room and can see every angle of the object when viewing the 360° panorama in Android's standard gallery.

Accessories

We have gotten used to the fact that manufactures do not always overwhelm us with a large number of accessories. This supposition was again confirmed since the included accessories are very sparse. Beside the smartphone, we only found a modular power supply and a quick start guide in the box. Regrettably, Google does not even include a headset for its bestseller. However, it is also questionable whether the customer can demand that in view of a price of EUR 349 (~$450) for the 16 GB version.

Google touts the Nexus 4 with the option of recharging the device without any charging cords. An optional, inductive charging mat on which the Smartphone is placed is required for that. A compatible, third-party charger is available for EUR 49.99 (~$65).

Warranty

LG offers a limited 12 month warranty on behalf of Google on the Goolge Play website. But other retailers (like Saturn) offer 24 months warranty according to their website.

Input Devices & Controls

The capacitive touch screen is able to recognize ten-finger input. All touch-inputs are implemented accurately and quickly. The device also copes with all kinds of touch gestures. The default Android keyboard is preinstalled. Owing to the large 4.7-inch screen, the touch keys are sufficiently sized to ensure accurate typing. The keyboard often covers small screens by about 50% in the landscape mode. This is not the case in the Nexus 4. The Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5 still rely on a physical home button. The Nexus range now omits this button and only uses touch control on the screen. The three touch buttons "back", "home" and "menu" rotate along with the screen by 90° in the landscape mode. This also means that approximately 5 millimeters of the screen are always "lost". We think that the competition's concept, such as that of Samsung's Galaxy range, makes more sense. The main navigation buttons are outside the touchscreen.

Display

A resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels in a 4.7 inch screen is pretty good. There are other screens that have higher pixel density but we do not hold it against the device as a drawback (iPhone 5: 326 ppi). The screen in the Nexus 4 impresses with rich color reproduction. The average brightness of 275.3 cd/m² is not the brightest and should have been better. HTC's 8X (293.8 cd/m²) achieves slightly better rates but it cannot be compared to the brilliant screen in the iPhone 5 (486.8 cd/m²). The illumination of 93% leads to a homogeneous brightness distribution which allows it to hide the fact that the brightness level is not high enough. Differences are not visible to the human eye. We recorded a black value of 0.24 cd/m² using the Gossen Mavo Monitor. This results in a very high contrast of 1179:1.

Main Features: 4.7-inch IPS LCD display | Android 4.2.1 (Jelly Bean) | 1.5GHz Quad Core processor, 2GB RAM | 8MP Rear Camera, 1.3 MP Front Camera | 16GB Internal Storage | GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, 3G, 4G LTE, USB, HDMI, NFC | 2100 mAh batteryGoogle Nexus 4 sports a 4.7-inch IPS LCD multi-touch Capacitive display which bears a display resolution of 768 x 1280 pixels with a pixel density of 318 ppi. Running on Android 4.2.1 (Jelly Bean) operating system the Nexus device is powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro Krait processor accompanied by 2GB of of RAM to deliver a buttery smooth performance.
The Nexus 4 from Google packs an 8 megapixel rear camera with LED flash, Face Detection, Autofocus, Smile Detection, Exposure Compensation, White balance Presets, ISO Controls, Geo-tagging, Voice Activation and a lot more features. It offers its users an onboard storage of 16GB.
On the connectivity front, the Google Nexus 4 includes GPS, 4G LTE, Bluetooth, WiFi, 3G, USB, HDMI, NFC and DLNA as its features. It is fueled by a 2100 mAh battery.
Other variants: Google Nexus 4 8GB

Google Nexus 4 16GB Reviews

• 4G LTE
• Tremendous Processor
• Superb Display
• NFC