Google Nexus 4 First Impressions/Reviews

MazoMark

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First full charge on battery gave me 17+ hours. Mainly on wifi, Web surfing, reading email, listening to music, with Bluetooth speaker and GPS on and auto screen brightness, so I would call it light to moderate use.
 

tuukka87

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Switched from a iphone 5 to this and I am so happy I did. Amazing phone, love the screen size. Battery is fine,gets me through my day with moderate use.
Lack of LTE is no big deal as I am very rarely in a LTE area. On HSPA+ I get around 10 mbps. So far so good
 

donm527#IM

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going from iphone 5 to the nexus 4 i am guessing you are using AT&T still?

I'm wondering because I am still in contract with AT&T on my 4s until May but thinking of getting the Nexus 4 and just running it with my AT&T sim in it to play with Android for the first time... but wondering how HSPA+ is on it... whether I will get better speeds than my 4s which is suppose to utilize HSPA+ but rarely seen great numbers.

Thanks.

Switched from a iphone 5 to this and I am so happy I did. Amazing phone, love the screen size. Battery is fine,gets me through my day with moderate use.
Lack of LTE is no big deal as I am very rarely in a LTE area. On HSPA+ I get around 10 mbps. So far so good
 

tuukka87

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going from iphone 5 to the nexus 4 i am guessing you are using AT&T still?

I'm wondering because I am still in contract with AT&T on my 4s until May but thinking of getting the Nexus 4 and just running it with my AT&T sim in it to play with Android for the first time... but wondering how HSPA+ is on it... whether I will get better speeds than my 4s which is suppose to utilize HSPA+ but rarely seen great numbers.

Thanks.

Yes still on At&t and HSPA+ is just fine for me
 

legec117

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Were you able to transfer all the info/data from your iPhone to the Nexus easily? I have a Gmail account with my contacts synced to it, but am unsure about the rest of it.
No problem at all. Contacts synced from my gmail account instantly. My music and videos were transferred by connecting the phone to my MacBook Pro and just dragging them over. I have all of my pictures loaded to google+/picasa, so those are available on my phone as well. Process was very seamless. I have not transferred my onld text messages from my iphone, simply because I don't know have and have not looked it up yet.

The only thing that threw me off was I guess the phone shipped with 4.1 and I was getting used to using it (lock screen swipe directions etc...) and an update came up which I guess was 4.2.

I saw someone say that their phone is running hot, I have not experienced this yet. However, I have not pushed the phone yet. I sampled a movie on it for about 5 minutes, but nothing more extensive than that.
 

VSG28

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Like others here, I also came from an iOS background on my iPhone 4. But I had a Samsung Galaxy Tab for almost an year which eventually got Android 4.0 and my gf has the Galaxy Nexus so it was not a rough transition by any means. Took about 20 minutes to get all the contact syncing done, and then immediately got the OTA update. My phone shipped with no battery charge whatsoever, as when I started it up it immediately shut down :D

Camera is not the best out there, but I absolutely love the build and the screen. One issue I have is the new double finger swipe fails a lot after having gone to the apps page and coming back to the main home screen. No biggie, a small bug I guess. My phone also runs cool even after some benchmark tests (which are in the same region as the ones reported by others) and also has no rattle. So far, I am really happy. I can't wait for my ATT contract to end and head over to Straight Talk.

In a way, the biggest contribution from the Nexus 4 (for me anyway) has been to drop the shackles of contracts. I hope this happens to other people as well. The first iPhone pretty much started the inflated contract pricing from carriers, and it is about time this stopped.
 

dwd3885

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Ok so I know there may be a few other threads detailing first impressions of the Nexus 4. I have a short first impressions/unboxing video here: Nexus 4 Hands-On - YouTube

Here are my main thoughts on the device after not much time using it.

Build Quality

The Nexus 4 is built incredibly well and solid. There is no flex anywhere. The backside is really nice, and the NEXUS words with the small glitter look really good. I haven't found the phone slippery at all. No more than a normal S3 or other phone. The rubberized sides give it a good grip. I am being SUPER careful with this because I feel like it's really delicate. I'm not sure if that's due to reading the other threads here or reviews mentioning the phone scratches easily and can crack easily. I'm not sure, I just try to take care of it the same as I would another phone, but my mind is freaking out a little that I'm going to break it.

Screen

The screen is terrific. MUCH better than the Galaxy Nexus. It is super clear and you cannot tell pixels at all. The screen is a little muted or washed out looking compared to the S3. I'm not sure if this is a stock Android thing or because of Super AMOLED, but I can tell. The colors look more natural so there's that.

Camera

Haven't played around with the camera too much. I like the interface. Quality of the photos are fine. Nothing too great, not as good as the S3 or One X but much better than the Galaxy Nexus. To me the camera of the Galaxy Nexus was a MAJOR turnoff. The camera on the Nexus 4 is really good, but nothing special. There's a BIG difference there. I don't feel like the camera on this phone will prevent someone from buying it, like the camera on the Galaxy Nexus.

Operation

Jelly Bean 4.2 is really smooth on this phone. I feel like its faster than on the S3 running CM10. I'm sure it is. It's much faster than the Galaxy Nexus. Swiping is smooth. It's great. The edges on the actual phone that curve down DO make a difference and I do notice it. That's nice. The notification light is smaller than on the Galaxy Nexus but it gets the job done and is still multicolored.

Network

Now this is a big one. I know many of you are planning on switching to a prepaid with this phone. I would caution you to do so, there are things to ponder before. Make sure T-Mobile/AT&T's coverage is good in your area. T-Mobile may be faster, but it can be WAY slower if you don't have good signal. I'm in St. Louis and when I get good T-Mobile signal, I have ran speedtests and average about 11mbps down/2mbps up. I'm very pleased with those speeds. I actually left AT&T postpaid and went T-Mobile prepaid $30 plan for now to see how it goes. The minutes may be low, but that can be adjusted if need be.

Overall

I feel like the Nexus 4 is a superb phone. The build quality is excellent and it feels like a premium device. I will be getting either the bumper or a case as well as screen protectors. This is nothing different than what I do on every phone I have owned though. I ALWAYS use screen protectors (rarely on the back) and use a case often. I think you may need to be more careful than usual with this phone, but that's what happens when the phone isn't made of plastic. There are tradeoffs both ways. If you want a premium device, you are going to have to protect it either with a body skin or case or something.

Should I upgrade?

I have owned the One X, S3 and Galaxy Nexus. I feel like those are the phones people interested in the Nexus 4 would be coming from. So here's what I would say:

If you have the GSM Galaxy Nexus, upgrade UNLESS you don't want to baby your phone. If you throw your Nexus around and hard handle it, the Nexus 4 may not be what you want. But the Nexus 4 is a better phone in EVERY WAY than the GSM Galaxy Nexus.

If you have the One X, upgrade if you want 4.2. The camera, screen and build aren't as good as the One X. You can get by without a case on the One X, something I don't think you can do with the Nexus 4. I don't like the Sense UI much and I don't really enjoy ROMing all the time, so stock Android on a phone is terrific for me.

If you have the S3, I probably wouldn't upgrade unless you hate Touchwiz. The S3 has a better camera, comparable screen, and you don't have to feel like it will break in your hands. Again, maybe it's just the fact that I've read all these scary threads about how the Nexus 4 will break and scratch if you aren't careful, so maybe I'm paranoid.

Honestly, it's all about the OS. It may seem obvious but the One X, S3 and Nexus 4 all run VASTLY different UI's. If you plan on putting CM10 on anything, then the One X or S3 would be better to me. I didn't like doing that all the time, so having a device that is the Google device works for me.

Good luck in your decision and hope you like the Nexus 4 as much as I do!
 

sx4dude2013

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Just got mine today....YAY!!
Im coming from a Galaxy Note 2 and a Galaxy Nexus on VZW before that.

First impression is that its very light :) Coming from the Note 2, the Note seems to be a much clunkier device, and of course it is.
So far the hardware itself seems nice with a quality feel. I think if i dropped it, it would shatter, thats why im waiting on a case before I use it (im paranoid).

The screen seems decent, better than the samsung galaxy but not as good as the Note 2 :(
I will know more as I use it. For the price, I dont think there is a better device.
 

soma4society

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I. Like. This. Phone.

I'm coming from iPhones--all of them from the original up to the 4S--and I am glad to have something that feels and acts different in my hands. The size is definitely something that is going to take a while to get used to. This is especially true as I purchased the bumper, which adds a little girth around the edges. My hands are medium large for a male, so I'm sure I'll adjust--but does Google have to make their flagship phones THIS big? At any rate the thing feels solid, and as others have mentioned, also a little lighter than expected. Screen is very, very nice: sharp, colors do seem a bit cool, but not annoyingly so. The OS is *smooth*....and this is one of the reasons why I waited to take the Android leap. All I can say is I'm glad I did. I've had this in my hands for less than two hours and I'm already thinking that I'm going to Craigslist my unlocked 4S. Gotta check the network reliability first though, only had it on wifi so far.

This device was without question worth the wait and launch day hassle.
 
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Ricolando

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So far I have to that I'm ecstatic with my Nexus 4. It's vastly superior in every way to my Galaxy Nexus, and is by far the best phone I've owned. Battery life is the only aspect I can't judge yet since I have only had the phone for a few hours, but so far it seems at least comparable to my GNex. Since I use Straight Talk lack of LTE is a non-issue. I'm sure I'll update with more thoughts once I've owned it for a few days.
 

maven1975

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I have had mine over the weekend and I love the build and feel.

Two things that I have issues with.

First:

The phone has obviously been down clocked when compared to the LG OG. I understand there are thermal issues, but it seems after the update no faster than my GN. (Normal Tasks) I guess we will have to wait for a proper kernel to come out of the development community. Chrome for example is way too chunky and stuttery.

Secondly:
The haptic feedback vibration sounds like a whirl in a quite environment. Love the feedback, but its pretty tacky.

So, like most of us Nexus users, we know this well be fixed by custom roms and kernels. (Except the Haptic) I just wish Google would have refined it more before shipping the device instead of playing it safe and just down clocking it.

Oh, and for all you complaining about the rattling. The Lumia 920 and iPhone 5 do it as well. This is not unique two the LG NX.
 

I Can Be Your Hero

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Finally got my Nexus 4 today. First impressions is that the phone is absolutely gorgeous. Love the look and feel of the phone. Feels solid and and very high end. Prior to the Nexus 4, I had a Galaxy S3, which was alright, but this is so much better.

The pattern on the back of the phone looks great too. Doesn't look like a cheap case.

I love the display. Nice to have normal colours and the text seems sharper than it did on the S3. I prefer this screen much more than the AMOLED screens.

The phone absolutely flies. This Snapdragon S4 pro smashes anything you throw at it. I'm struggling to see it struggle with anything, no matter how many apps you have in the background.

The camera is pretty good too. Photosphere is great and works really well.

Too early to make a call on battery life. Doesn't seem to have any crazy drain or anything.

So first impressions are that I love it. I really cannot find anything to fault the phone about. Storage and LTE don't bother me. If it did, I wouldn't have bought the phone.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
 

soma4society

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The haptic feedback vibration sounds like a whirl in a quite environment. Love the feedback, but its pretty tacky.

So, like most of us Nexus users, we know this well be fixed by custom roms and kernels. (Except the Haptic)

So is there any way to disable this haptic feedback then or am I misreading your statement? I shut off "vibrate when touched" in settings but that did nothing.
 

rclifton

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I have had mine over the weekend and I love the build and feel.

Two things that I have issues with.

First:

The phone has obviously been down clocked when compared to the LG OG. I understand there are thermal issues, but it seems after the update no faster than my GN. (Normal Tasks) I guess we will have to wait for a proper kernel to come out of the development community. Chrome for example is way too chunky and stuttery.

Secondly:
The haptic feedback vibration sounds like a whirl in a quite environment. Love the feedback, but its pretty tacky.

So, like most of us Nexus users, we know this well be fixed by custom roms and kernels. (Except the Haptic) I just wish Google would have refined it more before shipping the device instead of playing it safe and just down clocking it.

Oh, and for all you complaining about the rattling. The Lumia 920 and iPhone 5 do it as well. This is not unique two the LG NX.

Oddly enough your post reminded me that I forgot to mention something in my impressions entry, but just goes to show that nobody will ever be able to create a phone that everyone loves. I find the haptic feedback fantastic, having owned way to many phones to list it is far and away better than any of them in my opinion. I guess I've been lucky as well because neither my 920 or my N4 have the dread volume button rattle, sadly the 920 went on Craigslist today.
 

Steve_S_T

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I'm not entirely decided on battery life yet, I'll give it a few more days to settle down before judging, but when it's plugged in I am continually surprised by how fast this thing charges (and on various different chargers too). Unfortunately I have no scientific evidence to back this up, I've not done any tests or anything sensible like that, so has anybody else noticed this or am I simply imagining it?

Steve.
 

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