Google's Nexus 4

LG and Google have teamed up to bring us the Nexus 4, the latest flagship phone to lead the Android pack. It's a quad-core blower with a high definition screen -- sounds expensive, right? Guess again. The Nexus 4 is almost half the price of the iPhone 5.

The Nexus 4 is built by LG and powered by Google's Android software. That Nexus name is reserved for phones that have a clean version of the software built-in, so no pesky extras have been added to slow the phone down. And if you love being bang-up-to-date, you can rest assured that any phone bearing the Nexus name is first in the queue for new features and improved performance with each Android update.

And the price? Just £239 for an 8GB version, or £279 for the 16GB model -- nearly half the £600 cost of a 16GB iPhone 5.

You can buy the Nexus 4 unlocked now, direct from Google, and pop in a SIM card from any phone network. The phone is available from online store Google Play from 13 November, and it'll be in shops at the end of November.

O2 will be the first phone network to sell the Nexus 4, and will be the only network to do so for a month. After that it's a safe bet the other networks will sell it too.

The Nexus 4 measures 134mm by 69mm. It's 9mm thick and weighs 139g.

The screen is a 4.7-inch job, the same as the Samsung Galaxy S3. The resolution is 1,280x768, which will be great for watching movies, TV and games in high definition, giving you highly crisp detail of 320ppi -- basically the same level of detail as the iPhone's retina display.

The Nexus 4 is a skinny 9mm thick and its screen is protected from scratches by Gorilla Glass.

The screen has gently curved glass edges, and is protected by scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 2.

Processor

Under that eye-popping screen is a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and Krait CPUs, with 2GB of RAM. It's one of the first 2GB phones, and with all that power under the bonnet it's a beast of a phone, likely to handle multiple apps and burn through games and videos without breaking a sweat.
All that power has to come from somewhere, and the Nexus 4 has a suitably beefy 2,100mAh battery. LG promises 15.3 hours of chatting away to friends, family and customer service centres.
But what's most interesting about the battery is that it charges without the aid of a cable. It's powered by wireless charging, which means you just have to plonk the phone down on a special mat and it'll start powering up.

You still need the special dock or mat that comes with the phone, so it doesn't completely free you to charge your phone anywhere. It's still a fun feature, however. The Nokia Lumia 920 is another major new phone to boast wireless charging, so cable-free power could be the next big thing.

Speaking of next big things, one thing missing from the Nexus 4 is 4G. The first UK 4G phone network has arrived at the same time as the Nexus 4, but the super-fast network won't work with this particular phone.

Software

As a Nexus phone, the Nexus 4 is loaded with the latest Android software, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Unlike phones bought from phone networks, there are no extra apps or features added on top of the basic Android software. That means you lose out on a few extra features, but also means you don't have pointless apps cluttering up the place -- and most importantly, there's nothing stopping you from receiving the latest Android software updates before anyone else.

Nexus devices always run a basic version of Android, which means you'll always be first to get the latest update.

New features in Jelly Bean include Google Now, which essentially reads your minds -- it looks up information you might need before you even think to ask for it, by looking at where you are or checking your schedule. For example, if your calendar says you have an appointment somewhere, the phone looks at where you are and plans the best route -- without you having to check.
Built-in apps include Google Maps, complete with turn-by-turn GPS navigation, live traffic info, and driving, walking and public transit directions. You can switch to a 3D view or check out your destination with Street View and Indoor Maps.
Another new Jelly Bean feature is Photo Sphere. It snaps pictures in every direction and stitches them together into a panoramic picture that stretches all the way round you.

Photo Sphere allows you take panoramic photos, that will resemble Google Street View snaps.

Regular photos only let you see what's directly in front of you, but when you look at a Photo Sphere you'll be able to 'turn around' within the shot and see what was behind the photographer, and above and all around.
The Nexus 4's main camera is an 8-megapixel snapper, while on the front there's a 1.3-megapixel camera for video calls.

Outlook

LG and Google's Nexus 4 is a beast of a phone, packing quad-core power, a high definition screen and the very latest Android software. The specs are up there with the heavyweight likes of the Samsung Galaxy S3, with the added bonus of wireless charging -- and all for a fraction of the price of rivals. LG hasn't produced many phones to get excited about, but we're very excited about the Nexus 4.