Nexus 4 review: The 2012 LG-built Nexus — flagship power at a shockingly low price.
The 2012 Nexus that broke the price barrier.
The Nexus 4 delivered flagship power and Qi charging for $299, undercutting rivals dramatically. Its lack of LTE dated it; today it is a beloved relic.
01Display
46/10046/100 is one of the weaker display results among flagship phones of 2012 — 20 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
02Camera
30/10030/100 is one of the weaker camera results among flagship phones of 2012 — 28 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
03Performance
18/10018/100 is one of the weaker performance results among flagship phones of 2012 — 35 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
04Battery
36/10036/100 is one of the weaker battery results among flagship phones of 2012 — 24 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
05Build
50/10050/100 is one of the weaker build results among flagship phones of 2012 — 11 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
06Value
56/100At 56/100 this is one of the strongest value showings among flagship phones of 2012 — 8 points above the cohort average.
- Flagship Snapdragon S4 Pro for just $299 — a price disruptor.
- Qi wireless charging — rare for 2012.
- Clean, fast stock Android.
- Glass design with a glittered back.
- No LTE on the original model.
- 8 GB base storage; no microSD.
- Fragile glass back; software ended at Android 5.1.
- Discontinued.
How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 82-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .