LG Nexus 4REVIEW
GOOD
- Improved build quality
- Android 4.2 is fantastic
- Excellent price for a device of this caliber
BAD
- Lacks LTE
- Screen a bit washed out
- Glass backing breaks easily
The Nexus 4 is absolutely wonderful, but it's also vexing. Frustrating. Annoying. It's easily the best Android phone on the market right now, and has some of the most powerful software that's ever been put on a mobile phone. It's an upgrade from last year's Galaxy Nexus in every way. It's terrific — save for one small thing.
In the US, a flagship phone without LTE is like a muscle car with no wheels. For other networks in other countries, and for the lucky T-Mobile customers out there that are getting great speeds on its HSPA+ network — great. No problem. Go get this phone. But for others — many others — it's hard to imagine buying this device when you know it's a generation behind in terms of network technology.
A little over a year ago, I bristled at the fact that the iPhone 4S didn't have LTE, but I also admitted that the phone was a still a "force to be reckoned with." The same can be said for the Nexus 4, with a caveat. The mobile industry has changed a lot in the last 12 months. LTE is the norm, not a nice-to-have, and its performance has shown the cracks in the aging GSM networks of the US. No flagship device is released without it. Not even the iPhone.
For a phone and an OS built for the cloud, I think it's unacceptable to not offer a version that takes advantage of our fastest mobile networks.
If you buy the Nexus 4, you have to decide whether you're willing to compromise data speeds for the purest and best form of the Android OS. After comparing the options and seeing the gulf between Google's flagship and other devices on the market, I've decided it's a compromise I won't be making again.
In the US, a flagship phone without LTE is like a muscle car with no wheels. For other networks in other countries, and for the lucky T-Mobile customers out there that are getting great speeds on its HSPA+ network — great. No problem. Go get this phone. But for others — many others — it's hard to imagine buying this device when you know it's a generation behind in terms of network technology.
A little over a year ago, I bristled at the fact that the iPhone 4S didn't have LTE, but I also admitted that the phone was a still a "force to be reckoned with." The same can be said for the Nexus 4, with a caveat. The mobile industry has changed a lot in the last 12 months. LTE is the norm, not a nice-to-have, and its performance has shown the cracks in the aging GSM networks of the US. No flagship device is released without it. Not even the iPhone.
For a phone and an OS built for the cloud, I think it's unacceptable to not offer a version that takes advantage of our fastest mobile networks.
If you buy the Nexus 4, you have to decide whether you're willing to compromise data speeds for the purest and best form of the Android OS. After comparing the options and seeing the gulf between Google's flagship and other devices on the market, I've decided it's a compromise I won't be making again.
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