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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funky247 - Thursday, November 15, 2012 - link
I would like to know this as well. The AOSP browser on my Gnex performs much better than Chrome and I'll be reluctant to get the N4 if I'll be stuck with Chrome.staticx57 - Saturday, November 17, 2012 - link
You can try this:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1...
tvdang7 - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - link
How exactly does this phone get less talktime and wifi hotspot then a gsm galaxy nexus which has like 25% less batter capacity...................I am dissapointed. This s4 pro chipset sucks they should have just stuck with the regular s4 chipset , I don't care about gpu performance.plion - Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - link
so why doesn't the optimus g suffer from thermal throttling? Isn't it pretty much the same insides as a nexus 4?Freedomuser - Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - link
It does suffered, it fall out off the tests suit. They had to do the tests independently.plion - Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - link
ah i see,. thanks for the replythebeastie - Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - link
Just comparing it to other major unlocked phones I can buy http://www.kogan.com/au/shop/phones/Nexus 4 seems like a complete rip off really, With the HTC One-X I can get 32GB of flash for virtually same price and have %50 more battery life and beat the nexus in most CPU benchmarks etc.
http://www.kogan.com/au/buy/htc-one-x-white/
I think they will still sell a lot of these though, the phone market moves too fast for people to notice other phone prices are falling underneath them.
ericbentley - Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - link
I'm just wondering if putting a case on (to protect that glass back, ugh) would hinder or prevent the phone's wireless charging capability.I notice that Google only makes the bumper accessory, which leads me to believe it would be an issue
Anyone have any insight on this?
Freedomuser - Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - link
I read on Qi's standard, now charge up to an inch from the inductive charger. With a case you should be straight. Google's orb is angled, it uses N4's back glass to hold still.kgh00007 - Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - link
Have you ever put an iPhone in the freezer and published the resulting benchmarks, or any other phone for that matter?Something smells funny here! I always thought Anandtech to be impartial before.