![]() In general, the aesthetics of the UI remain about the same: Roboto is still the dominant font, menus and icons keep the same minimalistic look, and the elegant simplicity of ICS is retained overall. Unlike the overhaul that was the change from Android Gingerbread to Honeycomb to Ice Cream Sandwich, the change from ICS to Jelly Bean is subtler. Though there were times when the richer palette made photos and videos look better on the S3, the Nexus 4 displayed colors that were truer to life without being muted. Dark colors, like black and brown, were harder to distinguish from one another. Colors on the Galaxy S3 were more saturated, greens looked deeply green, and whites had a subtle blue hue to them. On the other hand, differences compared with the Samsung Galaxy S3 were much more prominent. There were a few times when colors on the Nexus 4 had warmer tones and less contrast, but these instances happened so rarely that it's difficult to make a call between the two. Understandably, on the Optimus G and and the Nexus 4, photos and videos looked practically identical. Even the slightest touch will register, without being inaccurate, and typing with Gesture Touch (more on that later) was exceptionally smooth. Something about swiping my fingers across it and letting them fall off the edges felt incredibly slick. Having said that, however, the screen is still impressive - it's bright, text renders crisply, colors are true to life and vivid, and it's sensitive to touch input. There are others, however, who don't like it and say it makes the phone look like a "Sailor Moon" sticker card. You can only really see it in the light, and it reminds me of either Tetris or "The Matrix" (two things I'm fond of). Now, about that distinctive sparkling back plate: personally, I don't mind it. The back of the phone houses an 8-megapixel camera and an LED flash. Above the display in the top right corner is a 1.3-megapixel camera and below the screen is an LED notification light. The sleep/power button is on the right spine, and the Micro-USB port is on the bottom edge. On the left is a volume rocker and up top is a 3.5mm headphone jack. ![]() If I were to sum up my impression of the LG Nexus 4's look in one sentence, it'd be this: even though the smartphone has LG's logo slapped on its back, it has Google written all over it. A handset this high-caliber should have LTE capability, especially these days, when so much time has passed since LTE's launch and even midrange devices come with it. But now that LTE is so widespread, the Nexus 4 shouldn't get a pass. I was disappointed then, too, even though the network wasn't as robust. And yes, I know the Galaxy Nexus didn't have LTE, either, when the technology was available. Jelly Bean and the pure Android experience will be important for OS enthusiasts, but this phone should have had both. Truth is, while HSPA+ can be as fast as LTE, for the average consumer LTE is expected on high-end phones. ![]() But for those who had been planning on buying the unlocked model and using it on, say, AT&T's 4G LTE network, the news is truly a downer. If your carrier is T-Mobile you won't care much, since the network runs on HSPA+ anyway. Instead, it operates on "4G-ish" technology (GSM/HSPA+), and comes unlocked from Google (starting on November 13, the 8GB and 16GB versions will be $299 and $349, respectively) or on T-Mobile (after signing a carrier agreement, the 16GB model will be $199 and will begin selling the day after).
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