Review: Google Nexus 4
By Mike Wheeler
LG hasn’t had the best track record when it comes to smartphones – it’s not that their handsets aren’t any good, it’s more that the likes of Samsung and Apple devices have just been better, therefore you feel LG has been in catch-up mode.
By Mike Wheeler
LG hasn’t had the best track record when it comes to smartphones – it’s not that their handsets aren’t any good, it’s more that the likes of Samsung and Apple devices have just been better, therefore you feel LG has been in catch-up mode.
Enter the Nexus 4, a handset that sees LG and Google join forces to make a dent that is fast becoming a duopoly of smartphones in Australia.
What we first like about the device are its lines. It has Gorilla Glass 2 on the back and front, which might not be ideal if you’re handset gets knocked around, but it sure helps give off a great first impression. We also like the size of the device, as it sits comfortably in the hand and is nice and light.
Its operating system (surprise, surprise being a Google handset!) is Jelly Bean 4.2 – in other words the latest the company has to offer. To the lay person this means the operation of the handset is very smooth with navigation a breeze, and is complemented by the obligatory touch screen user interface. One of our bugbears with some recent touchscreen handsets is the amount of pressure you have to exert on the screen when in use. We’re pleased to say that this is not the case with the Nexus 4 – a light touch is fine.
It does have a 1.5Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset, which certainly helps in the speed department when watching videos, playing games, or mucking around with third-party apps, and it comes with 2GB of RAM – very smart.
Its camera ticks all the right boxes as does the video application, with a few easy-to-use modes thrown in for good measure; ie, you can choose between 1.3MP or 8MP pictures, while in video mode you have a choice of resolutions. The pics we downloaded and videos we took were at the top end of performance you’ll get from a smartphone.
Overall we think LG and Google can give themselves a pat on the back for a very solid effort while attempting to take on some of the leading players in the market. Although we don’t think it is quite in the same realm as Samsung’s Galaxy S4 or iPhone 5, we do think it will find enough takers to give Google confidence heading forward in this space. And should the Nexus 4 have the above-mentioned tech giants looking over their shoulders? We think ‘yes’.
Pros: Light, good processing power, sleek design,
Cons: Glass housing, while nice, means it won’t handle too many hard knocks
4.2 Shacks Out Of 5
