LG Nexus 4
Phone Scoop Review
Dec 7, 2012 by Eric M. Zeman
The Nexus 4 is the fourth-generation pure Android smartphone from Google. It is built by LG, and works on AT&T and T-Mobile USA's networks. Unfortunately, the great Jelly Bean operating system outshines the hardware from LG. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
The Nexus 4 is the first Android phone I've ever fell in love with.
RECEPTION AND CALL QUALITY:
Calls come through very clear and the hear piece speaker is pretty loud.
DISPLAY:
The display is extremely good on the Nexus 4. It is very vibrant and sharp. Second only to the iPhone 5's in my opinion.
BATTERY LIFE:
Battery life is pretty solid, but not great. Prepare to pack a charger.
CAMERA:
Photo quality is decent and camera is full featured.
EASE OF USE:
Stock Jellybean is amazing and very intuitive. The UI flows so smooth and everything runs blisteringly fast.
DESIGN AND FORM FACTOR:
This is the very first android phone I place up there with the iPhone in terms of build quality.
PORTABILITY (SIZE / WEIGHT):
The Nexus is big without being overbearing. The design makes for a comfortable and very portable device.
MEDIA SUPPORT:
The Android OS can tackle pretty much anything you throw at it. And with a 720p screen, viewing is a joy as well.
DURABILITY:
Much like the iPhone 4/4S the front and back are made of glass. The phone feels really solid, but I would avoid dropping it.
ECOSYSTEM (APPS, ACCESSORIES, ETC.):
Google's ecosystem is robust and there plenty of third party accessories to use. For example a playstation 3 controller.
The Nexus is an amazing phone and in my opinion the best Android phone on the market. That is if you can find one.
It has all the bells and whistles needed for today's smartphones, minus LTE. The build quality and OS are both top notch. I would definitely recommend the Nexus 4 to anyone looking to buy a new phone. I tip my hat to Google and LG for bringing the a device to the world.
Nothing short of amazing!
So to start, let's just clear the air. The LG Nexus 4 is hands down one of the best phones out! I can't believe that LG has done such a great job! If you don't own one you should get one!
Pros:
Beautiful phone
Awesome display
Great camera
Blazing fast 4G (13+ mb/s t mobile 4G)
Quad core beast
Android 4.2.1 Is crazy smooth
Snappy with zero lag
Battery life is good
Cons:
No sd slot (not a deal breaker with cloud storage)
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Nice phone, would have stuck with it if...
Short story- phone was great (especially given it's ~$300 retail/online/unlocked price): Form factor, size, display, connectivity (almost) It was the phone I jumped to to use (unlocked) on GSM carriers after switching off of Sprint. Used it for about 1.5 years.
Main complaint of course would be battery life- at best probably would have been able to get 4 hours actual use on it. However, with the recent update to Lollipop (KUDOS GOOGLE!), the standby time definitely looks to have improved.
I do wish it had included LTE- if so, I probably would have waited longer before switching to a newer phone 3 months ago.
For better or worse, I still have the phone as a backup for now. Its digitizer/touchscreen seemed to be glitchy (after dropping it a few times?) before I switched to a Sony Xperia Z2 3 months back, but of course now my Nexus 4 touchscreen seems to work normally again (after buying and using my Sony...)
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A Solid Upgrade
I jumped on the Google discount and could not be happier. Coming from the HTC One S, this is a far better device. It's the best smartphone "phone" I've used, with excellent sound. The One S did not function well as a phone, and I found there was too much HTC and TMo stuff crammed into the phone, so performance-wise, the 4 is exponentially better. HSPA+ where I live and travel is reliably fast, so I donât miss LTE. The wifeâs iPhone is slower by comparison when running on LTE (Not a hater comment, just the truth) so Iâm very pleased with this phone. Not too concerned with the aesthetic, but it looks fine and is obviously well built, and doesnât have all the gimmicky nonsense of the Galaxy line. Battery is solid and better than expected. I figure all will continue to get better with new software releases too. (Quick note: You have a computer in your pocket! Itâs got to give out sometime)
If the Nexus 5 ever shows up, I figure it will be more of the same, but Iâm good with the 4 until it gives out. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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Very nice phone, all things considered.
This was a massive step up from a Droid X2. Display and resolution are sharp. The stock Android UI is very clean and buttery smooth. Even with only one bar in my home (2G on T-Mobile, Lancaster PA), call clarity was mostly on par with landline. Price is very reasonable compared to the other high-end phones currently on the market, before factoring any trades. Being a Google phone, it'll also get cutting-edge OS updates, at least for the near future.
Cons:
- No microSD card slot. For me this was the only major negative to not have a phone that I could use my 32GB card.
- Battery life. Qualcomm has a management app called BatteryGuru, which is a must-have for this phone. But even with this installed and aggressive settings, my phone would be down to ~50% charge after a day at work, which barely gets signal or more than a few minutes of browsing. As of this posting, Android 4.3 has been pushed to the Nexus 4 and brought significant improvements in standby usage. After the update, that number jumped to ~75%.
- The camera isn't great among smartphones. HDR is a nice feature but the auto-focus is pretty touchy.
- Somewhere between v2.3 and v4, contact management got unwieldly. This is an OS issue.
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Love it, best Nexus yet
I reluctantly upgraded from the Galaxy Nexus as I did not think the Nexus 4 was going to be enough of an upgrade to justify the cost. Boy was I wrong. This phone is great! It's much faster than the Galaxy Nexus. Also, the screen is just beautiful. It takes great pictures as well. I've been satisfied with the battery life. Yes, it doesn't have LTE but I've gotten almost 15mbs down on T-Mobile's HSPA+ network which is more than enough even compared to LTE.
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Impressed
Pro's, Design, fits in pocket well, screen is fantastic without over saturation. Nor is it bland like some other LCD's. Call Quality is good, excellent hspa+ with TMO.
Cons. But knew it going in, no SD card. I know this is a contraversal argument. Having an SD card slot is more then just about having storage, its about not being wipped out everytime you add a new rom or reset the phone. External storage keeps stored data like irc servers for andchat, photo's and music.
Great device
I have just switched from an Iphone 4s to a Nexus 4 and I could really see the improvement!! It operates so much smoother and is so much faster! Call quality is great and display is amazing. Would recommend to any of my customers and friends!
