LG and Google Announce the Nexus 4, Starts at $299
by Jason Inofuentes on October 29, 2012 12:39 PM ESTThis isn't how they wanted to do it, but LG and Google are going ahead with the announcement of the Nexus 4, and it's a steal. The lineage of the device is clear, with specs aping those of the LG Optimus G, but blessed with the latest update to Jelly Bean: Android 4.2. The Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro features four Krait cores clocked at 1.5GHz , the Adreno 320 GPU, and paired the requisite 2GB of RAM. The same 4.7" TrueHD IPS Plus display has a 1280x768 resolution, and the design is updated with a new back surface. Available in 8GB and 16GB configurations, the new Nexus will start at just $299, and top out at $349 unlocked and off-contract, through the Google Play Store on November 13th.
When Google's Galaxy Nexus was sold unlocked for $349 it was a stupendous bargain, despite somewhat dated hardware. With today's announcement, though, we have top of the line hardware being sold at prices that bend the price curve drastically against buying on-contract devices. We'll see how that all plays out over the coming months.
There's also some indication that announcements are imminent for the other devices that were in the works for today's canceled event, including the 32GB Nexus 7 and the new Nexus 10 slate from Samsung. We'll update as we hear more.
Update: And there it is! In addition to the Nexus 4, we'll also be seeing the Nexus stable expand with two new SKUs for the Nexus 7 and a brand new stablemate, the Nexus 10 from Samsung.
The first update to the Nexus 7 comes in a 32GB variant that takes the place of the original 16GB SKU at $249. The 16GB model now slots in at the $199 and both are joined by a new "mobile data" variant of the 32GB SKU that will be available unlocked for $299. The unlocked nature of the device indicates it may be 3G only, we'll dig in more in a second.
The Nexus 10 was first rumored just a few weeks ago, and piques our interest in a big way. Built in partnership with Samsung, the 10" tablet is powered by Samsung's Exynos 5 Dual (nee 5250) SoC, making it the first Android device powered by ARM Cortex-A15 cores. In this case, two Cortex-A15 cores, clocked as high as 1.7GHz, are mated to the Mali-T604 GPU and 2GB of RAM. On the front of the device you find a 2560x1600 10" display, making it the highest resolution Android tablet to date. The display is made possible by the Exynos memory subsystem that puts two-port DDR3-800 on the table for 12.8GB/s of bandwidth. The Nexus 10 will be priced at $399 (16GB) and $499 (32GB) and be available along with the rest of the line-up on November 13th on the Google Play Store. Interested shoppers can sign up for more information today through the store.
Source: Google
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trynberg - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
Further to my original comment:Anandtech, where are the articles regarding the Droid HD Razrs? The new Nexus 4? The new Nexus 7 and 10? Your site contains preview and rumor articles for Apple and even Microsoft all of the time, yet I don't recall seeing even a single article talking about these products.
JasonInofuentes - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
I'm actually working on the RAZR reviews while we speak. As far as the rumors of the Nexus 4, etc, we report what we know and what isn't embargoed. Our articles ahead of the recent iPhone announcement were a bit of a departure for us. Generally, if we make conjectures about future products we do so within reviews or articles discussing current products. Further, unlike other sites, we don't make these conjectures to spread rumors, we do it to establish the context of a device. If a new devices is about to be superseded by another much more competitive product then it's worth discussing.I've invited everyone to feel free to contact me directly about any of your concerns regarding bias in any of my posts, you can find me e-mail address on the byline. Cheers.
Jason
pmartin - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
So vote with your clicks and stop reading Anandtech. I'm sure there are tons of unbiased site you can readJasonInofuentes - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
While we appreciate the comments, there's never any need to tell readers to go elsewhere! :)Cheers
Jason
JasonInofuentes - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
If I can defend myself, I couldn't recall what the resolution of the new iPad was while I was writing this post. And I didn't have time to look it up, as I was drawn to wrap up the piece before heading to the basement and fixing my sump pump so my house wouldn't flood. If you're concerned about my bias you're welcome to send me an e-mail on the matter whenever you detect it. I invite you to do so.Krysto - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
That's insane pricing - basically half the price of the competition's flagships, with the same powerful hardware (or more powerful, like compared to WP8 phones).I have a request when - when you review the Nexus 10 and even the Nexus 4, please use whatever browser has the better Javascript performance, not just Chrome, so we can get a better sense of what the hardware can actually do, and not be hindered by the software.
For example, I've seen Exynos 5 Dual get 668 ms in Sunspider on the Chromebook, and "only" 1300 ms in a production unit of Nexus 10, and if that remains true in the final unit, then something is definitely wrong in the Chrome software. I think Chrome for Android is still a few versions behind the desktop Chrome, which means the V8 engine is, too. It also got twice the score for V8 and Octane compared to the Apple A6 chip in iPhone 5.
At least try to pinpoint why the same chip gets so much better scores in ChromeOS, but only mediocre ones in Chrome for Android (that is if it will still be case when you review it).
Torrijos - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
I feel on the contrary they should use whatever software comes pre-installed on the phone, since their aim is to present the picture of what customers are buying not how great it is once you've tinkered with it for hours to optimised the device.I think its OK to test with the latest OS, as long as it's a standard update some computer illiterate grandma would be able to do, everything else is a wrong representation (unless you add to the cost the rates of the time spent optimising).
The benchmarking discrepancies are probably due to Apple and Google optimising their respective browser to the test sets.
lmcd - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
I disagree; Android is optimized in the sense that it allows other rendering engines.Some computer-illiterate grandma won't buy any of these without guidance; thirty seconds of guidance with the out-of-the-box configuration is reasonable in that scenario. If the purchaser is looking at benchmarks, they can download an app.
pmartin - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
What "computer-illiterate grandma" is going to reading Anandtech? What "computer-illiterate grandma" is buying a phone based on its javascript performance, Lol? Bench the phone it right out of the box, apples to apples.dishayu - Tuesday, October 30, 2012 - link
Or the best option, have both... The best browser and the stock browser. The readers can decide which one is more relevant to them.