11 
What, did you think a little hurricane would hold the Nexus 4 back? Bah! LG has let loose with the 4.7-inch (gulp) Nexus 4, which will be available from November 13th on our shores.
Running on a Snapdragon S4 Pro processor with 1.5GHz quad-core Krait CPU, it’s stocked with Android 4.2 (though they’re still calling it Jelly Bean), which should look nice on that 4.7-inch WXGA True HD IPS Plus display (it’s got 1280 x 768 pixels, pixel-counters).
Unfortunately internal storage is rather limited — we’re talking a choice of either 8GB or 16GB, with no sign of a microSD card slot.
The camera is an 8MP job, and I swear I counted 1.3 million pixels in that front-facing sensor, too. Perhaps the most enticing feature of the Nexus 4 is the 2,100mAh battery; last year’s Galaxy Nexus had just a 1,750, from memory.
Other draw-points which you’ll certainly marvel at, but might not necessarily use? Wireless charging, and NFC. Granted, wireless charging could indeed change my life; I’ve just not had the luxury of using a phone with it in-built, yet.
Rounding off the specs list, here are some more stats for ya: the Nexus 4 measures 133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1mm, and weighs 139grams.
Right. Who’s buying one? Google’s flogging them SIM-free from £239 for the 8GB model, and £269 for 16GB. Say what you will about LG’s build quality / the lack of storage, but they’re some cheap prices, right there. [Google Nexus 4]
Gulp indeed…That’s fairly hugemongous…But the insides sound very appealing!
4.-7″? So is that like 3.3″?
I got -3!
same
Hangs head in shame
and it was all because of that pesky decimal point!
I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for you pesky kids!
I was typing as fast as I could, you guys
Super Pedant Man, Awaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!
Full specs:
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon™ S4 Pro processor with 1.5GHz Quad-Core Krait CPUs
Operating System: Android 4.2, Jelly Bean
Network: 3G (WCDMA), HSPA+
Display: 4.7-inch WXGA True HD IPS Plus (1280 x 768 pixels)
Memory: 8GB / 16GB
RAM: 2GB
Camera: 8.0MP rear / 1.3MP HD front
Battery: 2,100mAh Li-Polymer (embedded) / Talk time: 15.3 hours / Standby: 390 hours
Size: 133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1mm
Weight: 139g
Other: Wireless charging, NFC
Gah, how hard would it be to release a 32GB variant as well?!
It doesn’t make sense, especially when they are abandoning the 8GB Nexus 7. I am disapointed in the lack of a 32GB model, But have been find with 16gb on my GNex.
I’ve found 32gig to be about right. Not sure I could live with 16 what with apps getting larger and 3G being a little bit patchy at best.
No LTE? No expandable memory?
NFC and wireless charging but no SD slot or LTE.
If it does end up less than £400 sim free then it’s a beast.
It’s a nexus, this is the 3rd generation of Nexi without expandable storage, it’s just what they do. As for LTE Thats not a problem this year for me.
Ah, for some reason I thought the G Nexus had an SD slot.
But yea, as I said for the right price, this is a Beast.
Ah Fuck me it’s £279.00.. for 16GB. Fuck Apple now haha, no chance I’m getting an iPhone when this is out at that price.
At that price, buy 2 16gb models if you need 32GB of storage.
Cant believe how cheap this is? Hopefully this will kick Apples ass and make them change their pricing structure, as I was tiniking of getting an iPhone 5 or a SGS3, but the Nexus 4 just blows them out the water (price wise and by the looks of it, spec wise.)
Or just one iPhone 5…
Other than the price and the wireless charging it doesn’t seem like a massive upgrade from the Galaxy Nexus. But then I think the price is a pretty important one!
Darrell, I require your assistance. I have just received my Galaxy SIII. You are in the know. I’m still within the 30 day returns, should I return it and get this instead?
Not Darrell but I’d say yes, return it, get this and enjoy the spare cash.
No, I got this on a sneaky upgrade by threatening to leave, so I’m only paying £20 a month. So they’d be at a similar price point. Assuming the same price point, what would you say?
If you care about performance then the nexus 4 is a better phone. Better performing CPU, double the RAM, but you lose expandability, battery exchange and possible features like MHL etc. But this will perform better for sure.
Mmm, given I’ve had my S3 for a week, and its 16 Gb is full, and half of the 32Gb card is full already, I think I’m gonna stay with it. Isn’t the quad core exynos comparable to the S4?
Hard to make that call for you, since I don’t know your use case, you say your have used a lot of storage, Is that largely music which you could put in the cloud when Google music launches officially over here at the same time as the Nexus 4? Have you looked around and found a better deal that you could get network wise if you were sim only? Is having the latest version of Android along with the best Rom modders of great importance to you. do you have (or can you save up) £269 to spare? These are all questions that would need to be considered before advising you.
Short answer. If you are happy with your network contract stick with the S3 and maybe by buy the N4 as and when you can afford it. Otherwise return the phone and see if you can negotiate a better contact for being sim free (which you should be able too). Please note this is just an opinion, you mileage may vary, but at least you have a choice.
sooooo cheap
suuuuucccchhhh a shame about the lack of storage
Doesn’t sound very good at all, oh wait, it’s an LG, nevermind.
Anyone wanna explain why we want wireless charging? That sounds like a step backwards to me.
How is an additional feature over standard charging a step backwards?
The only problem I see with wireless charging is that it makes it difficult to the phone while it is charging, but the phone still has a micro-usb port for charging.
This. what’s the point of wireless charging if i can’t hold it, use it and wirelessly charge it at the same time?
Easy…Cables…so many cables for everything. So many tangled cables…:( It would be great to not be tethered to a plug socket when the odd message comes in whilst it’s on charge too.
you know that wireless charger still requires a tethered plug socket, just not tethered to the phone… cable is not that hard to carry around but wouldnt say wireless is that easy… but it is an option nonetheless, nice to keep it on your most common spot for charging w/o using additional cables (dont know how awkward the cable for the wireless charger will be another story…)
I understand that. But on the occasion where I need to use the phone when it’s charging it would be nice not to have to be tethered by a tiny lead to the wall. I can pick it up….Do the task needed and pop it back.
Doesn’t sound very good? Are we reading the same article?
Any indication on price and availability for the rest of Europe?
The Netherlands in particular.
£270 for 16GB Sim-Free!!!1
skldhdfkahsomgwtfbbqpizzawejng
Think I’ll stick with my new iPod touch thanks…..
Did you not get the memo? It is being re-branded as the iPad mini now.
*nano
Good price IMHO
fantastic price
Only one problem, it’s an LG.
Trust me when I say, FUCK LG.
ah its good to see someone who shares my hatred for the crap that LG pump out!
I just shelled out for a SIM-free Xperia T. Wasn’t really considering this Nexus, mainly because I have doubts over LG’s build quality.
But now I know the price. £279 for 16GB.
Thank you Google. Between this and the Nexus 7, they’re setting a new trend for devices that don’t come with excessive, bloated profit margins. Now I’ve got a tough choice to make…
Isn’t it obvious why they only release 8Gb and 16Gb, it’s to get you to depend on the Cloud more but at least Google music is free.
There was me considering getting a Galaxy Nexus or a S3 second hand. This blows them out the water for me. Fantastic price. I know where £269 of my money is going this Christmas!
Please get a second hand galaxy nexus, I could sell you one…
I actually put in an offer for a Galaxy Nexus a week ago or so. I offered him £165 as it had a scratch, he declined. Since then he’s asked if I still wanted it, to which I said no xD
Isn’t this the first of several new Nexus phones, or has that been dismissed as purely rumour?
If there are more phones coming, maybe one of those will have more storage, just to try and set each model apart?
they certainly have a price point to beat
Maybe each company has been given a different price bracket to fulfill?
i hope they battle around this price
highly unlikely as the spec on this handset is pretty awesome, and the whole “you can now get a nexus in 4, 7 or 10″ would be silly if there was a shitload of models for each.
Err Glen, the nexus 4 is 4.7″ only kiddie phones have 4″ screens
and the nexus 10 is 10.1″, go figure.
Yes, but following the normal conventions of rounding, 10.1 = 10 to 1 S.F., While 4.7 = 5 to 1 S.F.
Seriously impressive for the cash.
Here’s hoping they do a Nexus 7 and a 32gb is in the works. That’d get me to switch for sure, but even now I’m thinking it’s an upgrade to my 4S for very little cost.
Not in the works, its out. Got one today from PC World, N7 32gb thank you.
He means he hopes they’ll offer a 32GB Nexus 4 down the line.
Ahh ok thought they meant the N7
Interesting. Seems like big G is going for the same strategy as it did with N7…. not making any profit of the phone either and just selling at cost price
Ok, I am drooling.
Can’t knock the price, build quality will be questionable but for the price I can see it selling well..
I do wonder though if the contract offerings will reflect the price to buy off contract, this should really be free on a 12 month deal..
i reckon the companies will push it as if its a higher price, and tie customers in longer
free on 12 months sounds a good deal
Maybe one of the networks should release a 12 month deal on a phone like this just before Christmas ever year. Could be a winner, popular with the adults and for the kids alike..
i have always hated it when they switched to 24 month contracts, its just too long, at this price now, i reckon more people will buy the phones out right and go to sim only plans.
i reckon the networks work together to keep contracts about the same price ( i know its illegal, but thats never stopped all the other companies lol)
you right the company that does that would make a killing
i admit i HATE LG and i also hate lack of expandible storage, but thats a mighty fine price point and spec and i do love having a nexus device. but i have a nexus 7 and dont know that i want a phone that big
If that price is correct, Google/LG have just fired a pricing broadside over not only Apple but every other Android handset manufacturer. Even the nice Motorola RAZR i was fairly decently priced at £350 approx cash, and the Galaxy S2 (not S3) at £350 is now obsolete.
Wow, oh wow, Google are going all guns for a lime robo takeover.
Can anyone tell me the easiest way to move everything from my unrooted 2.2 Desire to a JellyBean phone? Lots of articles talk about Titanium Pro and rooting but that all seems a bit overboard.
i sync everything on my laptop, so surely its just a case of copying your media folders, and then syncing your contacts via google or a pc
on a side note, the desire are such a well built phone, i really like them
depends what you want to move.
contacts, calender mail sync with google
pictures use drop box or Bluetooth them over or just use your pc.
Apps just re-download
apps with specific data you dont want to loose some backup programs can do it like you said or connecting to a pc to transfer or file explorer and Bluetooth.
cant think of any app i have that wont just sync with google or their own websites, but if not the data can be found in the file systems
I think the only thing not covered there are my SMS’s in Handcent.
Cheers
oh sorry SMS you can get apps that either output them all to a file on sd card and then you can bluetooth that file over and use the same app to upload them back
or get an app to sync them with google account like i have. u get a new label in mail called SMS where they all go and can be reuplaoded
(warning will loose multimedia messages)
definitely don’t do that – in gaining root access (which you need for Ti) I’m quite sure you need to factory reset, eliminating the benefit.
As already mentioned, your most important info (contacts) is sync’d to Google anyways, but it’s probably worth checking by logging onto Gmail and visiting the “Contacts” section. Download a “message backup” from the market and run it to store all your SMS’, then copy your entire external storage device into a folder on your computer which you can then put on your new phone.
Unfortunately much of your app data isn’t archivable. I’d recommend rooting your new phone when you get it solely for this reason.
Just seen a tweet that says Google Music is coming to Europe, including the UK.
Can also buy selected movies in the Play Store now. Hopefully something that will rapidly increase and will be followed by TV and Magazines within a year…
Parity with the remaining Play store features would be a pretty major component in the Nexus 10 being worth it here. The Nexus 7 excels in the markets we currently have available – but movies, tv shows and big magazines would not work half as well as on the larger size. I feel the 7″ form factor is pretty much perfect for a lightweight, utilitarian tablet – but 10″ is still going to come out on top for true multimedia portability around the house.
Oh! My! Science! That is awesome. So cheap. Though I agree with pretty much everyone else, a 32gb model would be great and expandable memory would be good too. Otherwise, this is a cracker. I might just have to get one for my birthday!
Very tempting to trade in my S3 for this… The fact that the price is so low means I can actually sell my S3 for a -profit- and still get this phone…
Though I’d probably absorb the costs and get the 16GB one instead of the 8GB if I bought it.
Very tough decision. What’s the beef with LG’s rep in the comments, though? Are there any consistent problems with previous LG phones?
That’s what I’m thinking, never heard that LG make horrible products.
From my experience of old past products from years ago they tended to be on the cheap side and had bad build quality. My brother and i had the same LG phone and they both died. Next one of different model i got 2 replacements of, then bought after it was stolen of another model and that was ok but underpowered. But that was a number of years ago. design wise they are very nice seems to just be a hardware reliability thing in the past. Probably much better now
Given the level of back and forth between Google and Asus over the build and design of the Nexus 7 (enough to really get on the Asus engineers’ tits), I don’t think build quality would be that much of an issue here.
Got two weeks of reviews to come before it’s available, though. Guess we’ll know more by then.
For the love of God, though, no-one be stupid enough to try buying it on the Play Store. The Nexus 7 was a bad joke there.
“For the love of God, though, no-one be stupid enough to try buying it on the Play Store. The Nexus 7 was a bad joke there.”
pourqoi?
Those of us daft enough to bother pre-ordering the Nexus 7 on the Play Store had to put up with a combination of a complete lack of information from Google (including any release/shipping date – although at least they’ve got a date in stone this time) – but also them shipping off retail units to shops and eBuyer first. People who randomly bought one on eBuyer with no pre-order were able to get theirs before the Play Store pre-orders even had a -shipping notice-.
It was a complete farce. If you pre-order from the official website for the product, you should be first on the list. At the very, very least, you should have solid information on when you’ll get your product in advance of the average Joe going to a middleman and getting it as an impulse buy.
Maybe they’ll have learned their lesson, but I’ve definitely learned mine. Either pick it up in a shop, or get it on eBuyer.
that’s a bit shit. :/
I pre-ordered my Nexus7 with Google play, as did 10 or so other people I know, nobody had any problems whatsoever.
Just because YOU had a problem, don’t assume everyone else did too.
Just me, everyone I knew ordering one and basically everyone posting on XDA and Google Plus. But, obviously, you and your 10 friends didn’t have any issue, so the many more that did are obviously just whiners.
Anyone want an iPhone 5?
Truly excellent price, I owned the previous nexus and I managed to pick it up for £250 second hand.
Love the nexus range!
Glass front and back? iPhone 4/4S anyone?
I love apple and I love android but I love money more so I totted up the cost for the full family of gadgetry.
Ipad 4 32gb wifi only = £479
Ipad mini 32gb wifi+3G = £449
iPhone 5 16gb = £529
Total = £1,457
Nexus 10 32gb wifi only = £389
Nexus 7 32gb wifi+3G = £239
Nexus 4 16gb = £269
Total = £897
Price difference of £560 which is two extra nexus 4′s with change
oooo, and there was me waiting for the galaxy nexus to drop when this came out… now I think I’ll just get this one
What’s the price in the states? I’m likely to be going end of Jan and was thinking of picking up a nexus 7 while there maybe this too though I’m not so sure I can wait that long.
Big jump in size from the ol’ desire
just to answer myself:
8 gb is $299 (<£190), 16gb is $349 (<£220)
Don’t forget that in America you pay your tax at the till. You won’t be saving very much in the end – not on a device being sold at cost like this.
Ok Google, you have my attention. This had better be a damn good phone. I’m not spending a penny on anything less than a 4.5 star device, taking into account that one of those stars will be awarded for value alone.
Looking forward to the reviews….
It’d be a tempting prospect had I not recently gotten a Galaxy Note 2, but oh well…
That camera is going to be put to pretty damned good use in Android 4.2, as well with the Photo Sphere feature:
http://youtu.be/0poff-mHQ4Q
Basically, Street View of anything and anywhere, in your hands (you can even upload it to Google Maps!). Panoramic photos have never really interested me before… but this is something special and completely unique.
Also, The Verge has a pretty awesome video looking into the Nexus 4 and the Nexus 10 at Google itself. Probably the closest we’re going to get to what we would have had tonight but for Hurricanes:
http://youtu.be/66-4uMQqerA
That second video (the Verge one) is excellent and unless reviews are awful I now know I’m going to be getting a Nexus 4.
Does anyone know if this has Micro sim card?
It looks ghastly (in my opinion, of course), and the specs aren’t too great really – but, my, it’s cheap! £269 for 16GB? You have yourselves a deal, Google and… Oh yes. LG. Ha.
Nah, I’m not falling for your tricks again, LG! You got my once with your £99 touchscreen phone known as the Cookie… And unfortunately I’m still lumbered with it. But no more! I shall not be taken in by your sumptuous pricing strategy, grumble grumble grumble, ya-da ya-da yah.
A £99 smartphone? Everything’s held together with spit and wishes at that pricepoint.
Smart? Ha!
To be fair, I was 13 at the time, and easily swayed by marketing. I’m only 16 now.
Not everything, I have an Xperia Tipo that cost me £99 PAYG (I don’t use much 3G data) it run ICS is quick enough for me and has solid build quality. The music quality is fine too. Ok it won’t run top end games or play films but I have a Nexus 7 for that.
I agree, I’ve always found Sony Ericssons to be quite nicely put together.
Specs aren’t too great? Much better than the iPhone 5
I’m really tempted to sell my Galaxy SII and get the Nexus 4. I’ll cost only 90 pounds for a device that is much batter than the one I have now…
Does anyone have any idea as to whether this will live up to LG’s build quality history? Surely being a Nexus device, LG would have put extra care into making sure this is the best phone they’ve made, therefore making the build quality on par with rival phones?
That’s £30 less than I bought my Galaxy nexus for about two weeks ago.
Why couldn’t you have predicted the ridiculous price point?
Now it’s time to see if people on eBay realize this yet…