For the fourth consecutive winter (and what, November – almost too winter) is one and the same event, the awakening of sleepy fans Google, causing them to thrash F5 on the online broadcasts and save money on it – a new smartphone series Nexus, which Google has orders from one of the major manufacturers. But this time, due to the hurricane in America presentation did not take place, so was sent to the press release: Meet the new LG Nexus 4.
? # About Positioning
When Google in partnership with HTC has launched its first smartphone – Nexus One, the idea was very simple: it is a relatively affordable device that can get the developers to have on hand as much as possible “net» Android. A very similar situation happened with the Nexus S: the phone itself was technically cut down compared to the Samsung Galaxy S.
But when a Galaxy Nexus is something subtly changed: the design was absolutely unique, widely considered the first device is a beautiful smartphone based on Android, and HD-screen with a diagonal of (literally earlier showed Note) became the first in the market. Summed up the Galaxy Nexus camera is weak and questionable choice of processor.
Now Google has ordered LG absolute, uncompromising “iron” Monster: HD-display, quad-core processor with a powerful GPU, a decent camera, a stunning design. The strength of the “bare» Android, over which did not give more fun to any manufacturer, should be shown here in full. It wants Google.
? # About Ethnicity
According to the author, this is really the most beautiful ever released on Android devices, the exterior of which is very unusual – it is clear that there is more bother than two designers. In the life of Nexus 4 looks absolutely not the case, as in the images: the squares do not look stupid, the glass is not very much, and Mark. About the back of the unit should be treated separately, especially impressed by her girls (the guys on the note). The only negative – the glass. Of course, this material is in the hand feels much nicer than the plastic, but it’s not perfect: after a single contact with a table unit acquired two small, but very unpleasant-looking scratches.
as “spin” and “face» Nexus 4 protected by tempered glass Corning Gorilla Glass 2 (on the strength of his already mentioned), which is hidden under the screen with a diagonal of 4.7 inches, a front facing camera, proximity sensor, and light, a small LED display and … everything. There are no buttons – all of them appear on the screen when you turn it on. This solution allows for a more efficient use of space front panel: in some applications (in YouTube, for example), these buttons disappear, freeing the maximum usable space. The disadvantage of this solution – to turn on the necessary each time to reach for the button. The only overt glass place on the front – it’s the earpiece, which is extremely fast starts clogged dust .
On each side of the display
several projects from the entire body – something that was HTC One X / One X +. In this option there is a drawback: it is very easy to split the protective glass, though the top and bottom plastic covers it up a bit.
under the glass on the back of the phone, in addition to eye camera, flash, logos and several dozen of shimmering squares that did not. But what is the logic followed by the designers and engineers, making the camera lens is on par with all the “back”, and a protective plastic edging giving outbreak is unknown.
On the right side of the device is located is the same button, which is almost ideally placed for the thumb, and the tray microSIM-cards, on the left side of the settled volume rocker – find it somewhat problematic, but over time can be used. At the top end put a headphone jack and a microphone on the bottom – two screws, another microphone jack and micro-USB. One of the key features of the design, which is difficult to learn from the pictures – it’s the sides of the material: it uses rubberized plastic, which are not visible fingerprints. Incidentally, the non-slip device for the same reason.
Nexus 4 nicely in the hand: thanks to the rounded edges of the phone does not rest in the hand during long conversations, and all traces are removed from the surface of the glass is easy enough. To build no claims, the device does not creak, nothing anywhere not loose. Nexus 4 is more diagonal than its predecessor, but the difference is negligible, and the size of the body and visually it does not affect.
Skin smartphone creates the right impression: welcome, as is known, by their looks, but here used the latest collection from leading fashion designers.
? # About insides
In
Nexus 4 is one of the most powerful SoC on the market: Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8064. This solution is much more powerful and more economical than Tegra 3, similar to the iron used in the ASUS Padfone 2 and LG Optimus G. The CPU consists of four core families ARMv7, clocked at 1.5 GHz. Chip made on 28-nanometer process technology.
Google has decided not to waste time on trifles, so inside the Nexus 4 is set as much as 2 GB of RAM, which is wicked smile competitors, but a positive impact on multitasking: easily can simultaneously keep in mind NOVA3 and Asphalt 7, the browser opens a 20 tabs, and reload the page starts after the seventh site – when browsing heavy enough resources.
trying to make a smartphone as cheap ($ 300 U.S.), Google released a model with 8GB of memory. For the user, this economy turns around constant trade-offs: a pair of favorite TV series or a few albums of music? Heavy games or photos and videos? The user is available only 5.7 GB, so after installing above said NOVA Asphalt 3 and 7 seats almost gone. The main disadvantage – not even the limited memory, and not the quality of the OS with a small amount of free memory (about 500 MB): Gmail refused to sync in the background of the applications from Google Play just have not been established, some refused to update. Due to this fact is a sober assessment of their needs: just being absolutely certain modesty of their requests, it is necessary to take a model with 8 GB. Otherwise there is a risk to face the instability of the phone.
The overall rate of
certainly pleases all built-in applications are running smoothly, with beautiful animation. But when it comes to third-party programs, there is time to time is not necessary. One example – Plume: strange brakes during normal scrolling tape annoying. For unknown reasons, also refuses to run ShadowGun DeadZone: the problem may be in the game – the beta version may not be the most stable. Another well-known problem – heat: the active use of GPS and games back wall is almost scalding. Rumor has it that if, after such a “stove” put the device on a cold, glass back wall may crack – physics has not been canceled. The last glitch – blue screen. How he managed to get – it is not clear: perhaps some combination of keys jam in the pocket.
In tests
smartphone displays are almost always the best results. But the advantage over the other flagships very modest. It should be noted that the results LG Optimus G, which is the “iron” analogue Nexus 4 above.
| Quadrant 2 points | 4725 |
| Linpack Single Thread, Mflops | 50,08 |
| Linpack Multithreaded, Mflops | 112,295 |
| Basemark 2.0 Taiji, FPS | 58,45 |
| AnTuTu Benchmark 2.9, points | 15220 |
| Vellamo, scores | 1326 |
| Smartbench 2012 (performance / game), points | 2967/3209 |
seen that the call can not be a perfect operation of the device: it is not per se. The only consolation – all of the above problems are quite fixable at the level of software (other than cracking the glass), so the update should improve the situation.
? # About Contact
company Qualcomm, the chip that is used in the Nexus 4, has always been famous for quality implementation of wireless modules, and the latest “Google phone” – is no exception. GPS quality is higher than in the Galaxy Nexus, the satellites are searched on average faster – just a couple of minutes at cold start. The error in the route guidance is negligible.
Wi-Fi in the device supports standard b / g / n, signal catches confidently. In tinctures can be set off Wi-Fi in sleep mode, and enable optimization to prolong battery life.
In
Nexus 4 is used in Bluetooth version 4.0, which has nothing to complain. Thanks to NFC, you can quickly “pairing” two devices.
voice quality during phone calls is high, the interlocutor is heard well, even when the volume is far from the maximum. The main disadvantage of the main speakers – its location: When your phone is on the table, the sound is muffled, but noticeable vibration, if the device is in a pocket of the jacket, the call is hard to miss.
? # Pro Screen
If you omit all the beautiful phrases in the title of the display, you will find that it is a screen with a diagonal of 4.7 inches and a resolution of 768 by 1280 pixels, made by technology IPS. When compared with the screen Galaxy Nexus, the display less contrast, but the colors are more natural – as is usually the case when comparing the IPS and AMOLED. Viewing angles are close to the maximum, although some display fades at high angles of inclination. Maximum brightness with a stock had a rare sunny winter day, and the sensor is kept adequately recognize depression even at a temperature of -20 ° C. Supported Number of touch points is equal to eight, a figure even more redundant. The maximum brightness of the display is quite high – 403 cd / m 2 . Black with the lights on is more or less a standard level – 0,494 cd / m 2 , which gives the contrast of the order of 815:1. The color gamut is only slightly narrower than the space sR GB. Overall, a good display.
It is protected by glass Corning Gorilla Glass 2, which was discussed above. Around the screen are light sensors and proximity to their work no complaints. But the LED, which is traditionally located below the display has become somewhat less clear-cut than was at the Galaxy Nexus: if before he looked like a very clear terms, it is now due to the effect of “smearing».
? # About Autonomy
once lived phones a week, but now the situation has changed – not save even powerful battery for 2100 mAh, one of the most fuel-efficient chips and optimization of most Google: the device is home to around 10-11 hours of average use at 2 ,5-3-hour working screen. Similar figures showing all the same Galaxy Nexus with the extended battery, but this can increase the battery only with the help of surgery or external cover with an additional charge. Alas, to recognize such a result can not be worthy: First, Galaxy Note II has a much better battery, and secondly, at the slightest increase in the load (playing in something heavy), you can stay without a phone before the end of the day.
? # Pro Entertainment
Google recently introduced in the Russian services «Play Books” and «Play Movie”, will soon promised appearance «Play Music.” The program itself is already installed on your smartphone, it’s – the standard player system. You are provided with the possibility of different sort your songs and Holo-interface, and with a little magic, you can now connect the cloud, which will be free to store your record.
Gallery also undergone processing, miniatures now become bigger, it helps to focus.
One of the important drawbacks – of the games do not go on the device, but soon the developers need to fix this problem.
Starting with version 4.1 of the system is the default browser Chrome, which practically does not slow even when a large number of tabs, and in everyday life works exceptionally smoothly. Another handy feature – Sync with your desktop Chrome over to Google. But there is a drawback – you can not quickly see the story, only the last opened tabs.
One of the major changes in JB – camera interface. Now all settings appear when you click on the screen and move between them must flick. The decision was experimental in the browser Android 3.0, now it was transferred to the camera. Everyone can decide for himself whether he is comfortable – or not, but here’s a random cycle the notice, most likely, the vast majority of users.
The camera itself is not a breakthrough, but the quality of shots – good and shooting – fast. Trying to replace the Nexus 4 camera professional camera – is absurd, but as a bar of soap is quite possible to use the phone: Instagram to fit precisely. For the most impatient hipsters have shooting mode HDR, but here it is implemented in software. Video is written in Full HD, the device gets heated decently.
Here you can download the archive with full-size photos.
is impossible to ignore the shooting spherical panoramas. To create high-quality photos of all 146 percent and 365 degrees will have a very long spin in one place. Art requires sacrifice, what to do.
? # About Conclusions
When the first publication of the new device Nexus, almost all agreed on one thing: the design of the model is average, and the back cover – even hack a child from kindergarten. If you communicate with the device in my life for some time, looks likely to change somewhat.
Nexus 4 good pick up, and its “paper” performance put on the blades of most of the current champions, starting with the Sony Xperia TX and ending with the Samsung Galaxy S3. Everything in life is a little bit worse: the heating and subsequent brakes, not the best battery – all of these problems can not be called LG Nexus 4 the best smartphone in the world. Perhaps in the future, with updates, life will be better (and the grass – green), but while a blind eye to all the “flaws” can only be achieved if the unit is sold at a price of Google – $ 350 for the version with 16 GB of on-board (8 GB – a very niche solution) look very “tasty” proposal.
In our country, the smartphone is officially sold only in “The Messenger” – there for the version with 8 GB of RAM want to 19,990 rubles, and prices on the Internet fluctuate around the level of 20 300 rubles, which is comparable with the official price for the Galaxy S3. The device definitely has a future, especially after the patch, but so far at this price Nexus 4 will be an interesting solution only for geeks and users who need the latest version of Android. In addition, with the advent of official deliveries should slowly drop the cost of “gray” models.
main advantages:
- Great design
- Impressive “paper” performance
- Constant quick update Android
Main disadvantages:
- Permanent heating
- presence of lags in the present
- Average autonomy.
