Google is back with its latest smartphone. With a little help from LG, the Nexus 4 is the flagship Android phone. See also our in-depth Nexus 4 review
The Nexus 4 feels great in the hand, a true premium smartphone. There's a silver bezel around the screen and, if you flip the phone over, you'll find unique finish consisting of a matrix of tiny silver dots, each reflect light at different angles. It's a love it or hate it finish. Group test: what's the best Android phone?
We were initially a bit worried about the glossy finish of the Nexus 4, making it quite a slippery handset. However, between the front and back of the phone is a grippy rubbery finish. There's no removable cover and the phone feels sturdy and well-built.
See also: Google LG Nexus 4 vs Apple iPhone 5 comparison review.
The Nexus 4 has easily the best build quality for an Android smartphone we've seen in a long time. The starting price of £239 is simply astonishing and a game changer. You get a high-end handset for the price of a mid-range phone.
Inside the Nexus 4 is a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro, a quad-core chip clocked at a healthy 1.5GHz and 2GB of RAM. It set a new record for a phone of 2009 points in the GeekBench 2 test. It also matched the iPhone 5 in terms of graphics with 39fps in GLBenchmark.
The 4.7in IPS screen looks stunning with a detailed 768x1280 resolution, excellent contrast and rich colours. We found it performed particularly well outdoors. Check out our Google Nexus 10 review.
Storage is the Nexus 4's biggest downfall with only 8GB and 16GB models to choose from and no microSD card slot.
Connectivity includes dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC. However, there's no support for 4G in the UK. The 8Mp rear and 1.3Mp front facing cameras provided us with decent results. The easy to use camera app includes an HDR mode and Photo Sphere for 360 degree panoramas.
The Nexus 4 comes with the latest version of Android, 4.2 Jelly Bean. This incremental update brings a few new features such as widgets on the lock screen, quick settings, additional cards in Google Now and Daydream. The best improvement and our favourite is gesture typing on the keyboard.
We got comfortably through a day using the Nexus 4 with enough battery life left over for the next day. Wireless charging is a convenient way to keep the phone topped up.
The Nexus 4 is a top-end smartphone for a bargain price. It easily deserves our Gold award.
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