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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Omid.M - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
What's wrong with Google? How is this phone of any use at 16 GB?Should've launched in two sizes: 32 & 64 or just 32
And I heard from someone that VZW will never get another Nexus phone. What a shame; Verizon is run by a bunch of greedy people.
If this came out before iPhone 5, battery life was good and this was 32GB and on Verizon, it'd make me reconsider the iPhone 5.
@moids
A5 - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
Google wants you to put everything in the cloud, so it's not that surprising. 16GB is enough for what I do, but I can definitely see use cases where that would be limiting.ImSpartacus - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
I don't think Google wants to replace the high end. They are taking a page from Apple's book and offering more expensive versions with larger capacity. The profound difference is that Google is letting its partners cover that part of the market while they supply the cheaper lower capacity devices.Google deals with the razor thin margins while the HTCs of the world get chubby Apple-esque margins. Everyone wins.
bplewis24 - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
Well said.Heisenburger - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
Should've launched in two sizes: 32 & 64 or just 32I suppose that's why the title of the article states:
"Starts at $299"
Is the build quality of LG as good as ASUS? Not that LG will do the actual fabrication.
ImSpartacus - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
I think the common stereotype is that Asian-centric smartphones are typically tougher than the stuff we get. And since LG has a decent presence in Asian markets (and basically no market share in the west), we might expect their stuff to be at least as sturdy as the competition if not a little tougher. And if Google vouches for it, I wouldn't worry.c4v3man - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
"Is the build quality of LG as good as ASUS? Not that LG will do the actual fabrication."It is manufactured by LG and it's partners. Their quality seems good, however their software support is terrible. Since Google taking care of the software support side of things, this is a decent phone if you're fine with no LTE.
That being said, I wouldn't buy any other LG Android phone... far too risky. The LG Spectrum got ICS a week or so ago... and it launched AFTER ICS.
ZeDestructor - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
Its a Nexus. Google takes care of ALL FW updates, so that is not an issue at all.I'm thinking of selling my One X and getting a Nexus 4...
UpSpin - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
The sizes are fine. If you want a smartphone for daily use and usual stuff, you'll buy the 8GB version. It's enough for apps, documents, pictures and normal sized music collection.For more music most people use a streaming client. For more data most people use GDrive, Dropbox, etc. For movies you use streaming.
If you have a large offline music collection and want to watch some movies on the go, then you can buy the 16GB version.
I have an Android Smartphone with 16GB and it's plenty for music, apps, pictures, backup. 8GB is a bit harsh, but most people won't even use 8GB.
32GB on a smartphone would be cool, but right now and especially with great cloud solutions not really a necessity.
And btw.: If you don't like what Google gives you, you're free to buy the 'original' LG version with LTE and SD-Card, but well, you won't get it for $350, but the iPhone 5 you bought was also twice as expensive as the Nexus 4, so your complaining is BS.
Mumrik - Monday, October 29, 2012 - link
It's plenty for any person in the world who doesn't insist on having a large portion of their music/media library on the phone."How is this phone of any use at 16 GB?"
It's of great use as a (smart) phone.