Have you cracked your Nexus 4 yet?

natehoy

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Did you drop it 5 or 6 times without the Otterbox on it? If not your story is anecdotal and proves nothing :)
Also a Iphone is not a Nexus a direct corollary can not be assumed.
That being said the dam phone is slippery and a Otterbox would be wise.

No case provides absolute protection and no drop is guaranteed to destroy a phone. A lot of damage or lack thereof is random chance.

A good case has shock absorption and impact standoff at key points to minimize the chances of the phone absorbing impact forces.

A great case reduces your chances of damage considerably.

A fantastic case adds grip to the phone surfaces to help prevent slips and drops.

Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt
 

zedorda

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I believe the designers thought more about profit than durability. Easily broken phones equal more bought phones since consumer cattle are predictably stupid.
 

saeufer

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Perhaps this is due to the touch sensor and screen on the front? Just pointing out there is a lot more going on than the glass on the front.

Could be, but the effect I'm referring to is quite a bit of diffraction (prism effect) in the reflection on the front; it sure looks like it's coming right off the glass vs. the back that reflects more like regular glass.

Thanks for the picture and sorry about the accident. Hopefully you fared better than the phone, and hopefully you can pick up a new one when they are sold in the Play store today!

I got a pretty awesome cut on my knee that needed stitches but I'm otherwise fine. Unlike the N4, I'll heal. (though also unlike the N4, I can't buy a new self) The bike's a dualsport and only took ~$50 worth of damage. I'm glad to have provided some entertainment for my fellow Android nerds, and I was able to order another one about 5 mins ago through the enter-key mashing method. I'll be in a different state by the time the replacement ships, so it was $20 cheaper thanks to the taxman.

I plan on experimenting with the already-cracked back a bit later to see what will and will not scratch it.

ETA results: every metal object in my apartment failed to scratch it--this includes keys, stainless steel knives, carbon steel knives, US, CA, and EU coins, pens, a razor blade, a steel file, etc. A piece of concrete didn't scratch it, but a stone I picked up from my crash (see above) left very shallow scratches if pressed hard. Unsurprisingly, a diamond file scratched it quite seriously as soon as it made contact.

I got the same results on the front and back--the only thing that scratched it easily was the diamond file.
 
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varsityhacker

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Glad that your confident that your otterbox saved your phone. If that makes you feel safe then it's worth the bulk. I do think it's funny how Otterbox no longer offers to replace your phone for free if it's damaged in their case. I wonder why?
 

flumdog

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Don't underestimate how slippery the phone is. It's a shame to cover up such a beautiful thing with a case but I can tell you from personal experience you don't want this phone to slip off something and land on a hard surface. I was in my comfy arm chair reading the boards and, ironically, thinking about buying the bumper when my brand new Nexus 4 slipped off the arm of the chair (all by itself), fell about two feet on to hardwood, and became an unusable brick. Screen was totally wiped out. Must have just landed right to cause the damage but ... did I say this phone is slippery?
 

anon(94115)

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Glad that your confident that your otterbox saved your phone. If that makes you feel safe then it's worth the bulk. I do think it's funny how Otterbox no longer offers to replace your phone for free if it's damaged in their case. I wonder why?

I am guessing fraud would be out of control with that kind of deal. Break the phone, go buy an otterbox, make a claim.

Sent from my X-Band Modem... TY Genesis
 

black.rhino

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watstheword87

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I underestimated how fragile and slippery the phone actually is, I had no cover no screen protector nothing, it slipped from about 2 feet above and slid on floor
 

palitsyn

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What if I have a warranty claim because of the rattling issue, will they replace the phone despite the scratches?

There is no such thing as rattling issue :) It's normal and will exist on all of them. It's the autofocus. Here is how this can be proved. Turn the camera on and start tapping the top of the phone. You will hear the rattle. Now focus on something very close, whilst still tapping. The rattle goes away.

The same "issue" came up with iphone 4 and then 4s and now 5. It is normal!!!
 

palitsyn

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I underestimated how fragile and slippery the phone actually is, I had no cover no screen protector nothing, it slipped from about 2 feet above and slid on floor

Yeah, that's unfortunate. It is quite slippery. I've come from iPhone 4s and for the first few days was seriously worried about dropping the phone. But now that I got used to the size I feel a lot more confident. In terms of the phone slipping off surfaces, I had the same with the iphone, so I am used to placing safely.

p.s. iphone feels like a toy now :)
 

falcor87

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I guess when this phone gets replaced it still has another use. It has shown me that a lot of seemingly flat surfaces may not be as level as I thought they were.
 

FYourProblems

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There is no such thing as rattling issue :) It's normal and will exist on all of them. It's the autofocus. Here is how this can be proved. Turn the camera on and start tapping the top of the phone. You will hear the rattle. Now focus on something very close, whilst still tapping. The rattle goes away.

The same "issue" came up with iphone 4 and then 4s and now 5. It is normal!!!

This times 1000, it's the focus on the camera. I've had 3 iPhone 4's and they all have the same thing, tap the camera and you hear a slight rattle. Nothing to worry about.