LG Nexus 4 – Initial Impressions

Having finally got my hands on a Nexus 4 yesterday (massive thanks to Dan!) I wanted to write down some quick first impressions before I do a full review.

Screen

Wow! What an upgrade. So much sharper than the Gnex. Everything looks crystal clear. The improvement is just huge. Colours also look so much better. Much more realistic than the over saturated colours you get with AMOLED. But the black levels aren’t quite as good, partly because LCD just works differently to AMOLED and so they can’t be as dark.

Performance

This thing is fast. I’m not talking about benchmarks, they’re not really my thing. I mean actual day to day performance. Boot up is quick, apps launch instantly, everything responds beautifully. I never felt like my GNex was slow, but the N4 makes it feel like a relic. Even when doing the initial install of all my apps, nothing lagged for even a second. I’m very, very impressed. I’ve never used a phone this quick.

Look & feel

I love the glass back. Obviously I’m a little worried that it makes it that little more fragile, but he crystal reflection pattern just rocks. It makes the phone glitter as it reflects light and adds some much needed character and design flair.

The device has a nice heft to it, although it’s by no means heavy. It just feels substantial, in a way that the GNex never did. One thing I don’t like though is the chrome ring around the screen. To my eyes it’s a tacky and wholly unnecessary.

The N4 is also a little wider than the Gnex and I’ve found that this makes typing far more pleasant. There’s just that little more extra room and the keys feel slightly bigger. It’s a welcome change.

Why oh why is the headphone jack at the top? It just makes no sense to me. Keeping at the bottom means that you can the phone is the right way up when you pull it out of your pocket. It’s also mega annoying when listening to music and charging the phone at the same time as you have cables sticking out of the top and the bottom.

Battery Life

It seems okay so far. But I really need to give it some more time before judging.

Camera

It’s better than the GNex, but I’m still not blown away. I’m going to take some more photos to give it a fair chance. But the LED is way too powerful and totally washes out shots to the point where they’re unusable. It’s not bad, but I don’t think it’s going to challenge the iPhone 5.

Overall

This phone is just awesome. No really. If Google ever get any back in stock, you really should get one.  We’ll be bringing you a full review in the next few days.

Comments (3)

  1. horse has already bolted
    • Anonymous