Google Nexus 4 Review - Google's new Flagship
by Brian Klug on November 13, 2012 8:45 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- LG
- Android
- Mobile
- APQ8064
- Nexus 4
- Android 4.2
- MDM9215
The display on the Nexus 4 is another shared component between the Optimus G, and is a 4.7-inch IPS WXGA (1280x768) LCD, which is of course home to an RGB stripe and in-cell touch, or as LG calls it, "zerogap" touch. LG Display unsurprisingly knows how to make LCD displays, and the Nexus 4 display looks subjectively very good. At 320 PPI I can’t see any pixels, and don’t think we need to get into the whole visual acuity discussion again, it’s very good on the Nexus 4. The added width over straight 720p is something I noted was actually very refreshing on the Optimus G when playing with that device in Korea. Most apps scale appropriately and take advantage of it without any issue, and the extra width definitely is noticeable in Chrome, Plume, and all my daily drivers.
The Nexus 4 display goes very bright, at 466 nits, and achieves a contrast ratio of 1352:1 at that maximum brightness setting. This is a huge step over the barely 200 nits that the Galaxy Nexus could eek out.
| CalMAN Display Comparison | |||||||||
| Metric | iPhone 5 | iPhone 4S | HTC One X | Samsung Galaxy S 3 | Samsung Galaxy Note 2 | Google Nexus 4 | |||
| Grayscale 200nits Avg dE2000 | 3.564 | 6.162 | 6.609 | 4.578 | 5.867 | 7.686 | |||
| CCT Avg (K) | 6925 | 7171 | 5944 | 6809 | 7109 | 8506 | |||
| Saturation Sweep Avg dE2000 | 3.591 | 8.787 | 5.066 | 5.460 | 7.986 | 8.517 | |||
| GMB ColorChecker Avg dE2000 | 4.747 | 6.328 | 6.963 | 7.322 | 8.185 | 7.531 | |||
I’ve mentioned that Google continues to struggle at calibrating their displays. The truth is that everyone except for Apple, HTC, and occasionally Samsung, struggle at calibrating mobile displays. This continues to be the case with the Nexus 4, and the result is that accuracy could be better. I’m convinced the results that we’re getting out of the Nexus 4 basically represent no attempt at calibrating the display, and as a result the numbers suffer.
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meloz - Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - link
>It's really cheap, though.Until you include the price of a carrier plan? Or were you planning to use this smartphone without any phone capabilities? Apple iphone sells so well *inspite* of its premium price because most people who buy it buy with plans.
doobydoo - Thursday, November 15, 2012 - link
The iPhone 5 is $199 on contract, right?How much is the Nexus 4 on contract?
Guspaz - Thursday, November 15, 2012 - link
Hard to do a direct comparison when you can't find the thing anywhere. None of the major Canadian carriers have the Nexus 4, but the LG Optimus G was $50 less than the iPhone 5. A list of what I saw:iPhone 5: $180
LG Optimus G: $130
Galaxy Nexus: $0
iPhone 4S: $0
Sabresiberian - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
This is the best thing Google does (make phones that can be used on any service provider), in my opinion. $300 (or $350) for a top-end phone you can use on any carrier? Almost makes my desire for a Nokia 920 Win 8 phone go away.Then, I think about Android compared to Win 8, and realize that will likely never happen.
;)
crankerchick - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
Thanks for the thorough review. Too bad this phone will go largely unnoticed in the US amongst non-enthusiasts, and almost wholly ignored by any one on CDMA. Those of wanting LTE (who also acknowledge that a nexus on VZW is a hard feat to accomplish) are left wanting more, and *gasp* looking at the iPhone 5. I wanted this to be my next, but I'm not willing to switch to have it.I hope the folks around the world make this phone super-successful and can make this phone a game changer in the Android landscape (and here in the US where carriers rule and the customers drool). That's a lot to ask, but I'm still hopeful.
superjim - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
WTB Nexus 10 review. Sure there's plenty on the net but I specifically wait for the AT review.Pipperox - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
I do not understand how Google can sell a "flagship" phone which is unable to complete a 3D benchmark without thermal throttling.This is unacceptable, do they expect people who run intensive 3D apps such as games to take a liquid cooling kit with them?
Also unacceptable is the lack of browser optimizations for this SoC.
The Snapdragon S4 Pro is a BEAST, with 2x the theoretical CPU power than pretty much any other ARM SoC (with the exception of the Cortex A15 which is only for tablets now), and yet one sees lackluster performance in most browser related tests.
This is a diamond which hasn't been polished at all... the only thing going for it is the price.
JohnnyL53 - Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - link
The throttling is not an issue if it doesn't result in any real world performance slowdown. Although the reviewer adds subjective comments to the battery life section, I would like to see some comments as to how benchmark performance actually relates to real world performance. What seems to be poor performance in a benchmark may not even be apparent when playing a 3D intensive game.meloz - Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - link
>The throttling is not an issue if it doesn't result in any real world performance slowdown.Yes, because in real world everyone will use this device in temperature controlled room (mom's basement?). I mean, who goes out on a hot summer day?
doobydoo - Thursday, November 15, 2012 - link
The bottom line is that if you have to use a freezer to get results from a phone in the same situation where other phones don't have such a requirement, there are issues.The reality is that this phone probably gets too hot so the throttling was a necessity rather than a choice.