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Review: The Google Nexus 4 In Action

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Its been about a month since I got the Nexus 4 and I have put it through it’s paces, I took a week to put all my Apps on it and configure to the way I want. So I have been using it for about three weeks as my main phone and abusing it in every possible way. First off it is a much better phone then the Galaxy Nexus, I am honestly happy with this experiment that Google did with LG, if it was Motorolla I would have been really worried. Google gives an opportunity to each manufacturer to show their coolest features and LG won them over this time, Samsung has been known for the SII & SII, as well as the large Note line, not for the Nexus line even though it was a solid phone. Samsung would always save the best for it’s S line like the SII & SIII, but I didn’t like layer they install over the basic or vanilla Android OS, so the Nexus line was always second class to the Samsung S line, the case was the same with the Nexus S & Galaxy Nexus. For the first time a Nexus phone feels like it is the best that Google has to offer on a hardware point of view, and their OS always feels clean and light.

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Specifications:

  • Screen 4.7″ diagonal – WXGA IPS
  • 1280 x 768 pixel resolution (320 ppi)
  • Corning® Gorilla® Glass 2
  • Dimensions 133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1 mm
  • 139g
  • Camera 8 MP (main)
  • Camera 1.3 MP (front)
  • NFC (Android Beam)
  • Wireless charging
  • 16GB Memory
  • 2 GB RAM
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU
  • Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)

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What I Like:

  • The New 8 MP Camera is fantastic, especially with HDR feature and extra tools while in use with the camera
  • The Processor is powerful, you never feel that this phone is sluggish
  • Its smooth and light, doesn’t feel bulky for a nice screen
  • The Screen is Beautiful, crisp and very clean
  • The Wifi signal is strong, it grabs on to the weakest signal without an issue
  • The rear speaker is decently loud to my surprise
  • LED flash on the camera is great a flashlight too
  • Gorilla Glass on the front, it shows smudges but doesn’t scratch easily
  • You can really tell they put a lot of effort into the design of it
  • Jellybean 4.2.1 is perfect on this Machine, it is what makes it great
  • I haven’t had a chance to try Wireless charging yet but I’m looking forward to it
  • My 3G connection on this phone is better then my Galaxy Nexus, streaming isn’t an issue and almost never looses a signal
  • This one almost never drop’s calls, even in locations that are known to drop calls it seems to hang on for its life which is a nice surprise, and the call quality is excellent
  • The Battery life is pretty decent under normal use, lasts me from day until night, but defining normal is difficult

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What I don’t Like:

  • This is Gorilla glass and glossy on the other side, I love that it is but its insanely slippery so it may fall at anytime and you won’t even realize that it’s moving depending on the surface your place it on
  • No LTE, honestly doesn’t make too much of a difference to me but it would have been nice to have it and working, but for now the normal 3G speeds is more then enough for me
  • Under high abuse use the battery takes a pounding and barely lasts 10 hours, and that is extreme use such as steaming audio, while surfing and nonstop use of WhatsApp
  • No removal battery, sometimes I want to remove or change the battery but it seems they went for a cleaner design rather then a functional one
  • No SD card, sometimes we want to expand the memory, 16GB is not enough but I’m making due with it

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I honestly love this phone and that it has such a well done operating system, smooth and powerful, and has never hung on me. The screen is beautiful, love scrolling through Instagram on it, and reading my Google Reader feeds, very clear, and easy to look at. Google gambled with LG and it’s paying off, they built an amazing machine with this phone and I hope that they make an even better one. I honestly don’t think I want any other feature on the phone then what I already have, its really good, you always want better but this was really worth the wait.

Check out The Verge Review for an extremely detailed breakdown

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