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I'm glad to see Anand focus so much on the price in the conclusion. A lot of the other reviews talked at length about lack of LTE etc, but that misses the point

I'm glad to see Anand focus so much on the price in the conclusion. A lot of the other reviews talked at length about lack of LTE etc, but that misses the point of this phone. While it may disappoint many people who just want the best at any price, you can't ignore the fact that the N4 is half the price of other phones in its class. The price really is the killer feature of this phone. I suspect there is lots of demand out there for this phone amongst regular folk. No want likes being chained to a carrier and everybody likes getting a great deal. I told my sister (non techie) about it and her eyes popped. She's very very excited about it.

MojoJolo 14y ago
That's right! I'm buying this phone because of its price. It's cheap compared to other phones with the same specs. The lack of LTE is not really a setback to me (and I think to all others that live in a third world country). LTE is almost "not yet" existing in our region/country.
dagw 14y ago
you can't ignore the fact that the N4 is half the price of other phones in its class. I wonder why the phone is so much cheaper (both in absolute and relative terms) in the US than it is here in Sweden. Here it's exactly the same price as the SGS3 and the iPhone 4S and quite a bit more than the HTC One X.
- fierarul 14y ago
  I think it's actually illegal in the EU to sell products bellow cost. We call it dumping but it seems Amazon and Google are able to do it just fine in the US. So that might be one reason.
  - kayoone 14y ago
    Its 299 (granted € not $) in Germany too, thats more expensive than in the US but still cheap for a phone like that! Cool phone, LTE is a non issue for me since its not widely available here anyway and with the tiny amount of data your get here (i have 300Megs included in my contract after which it gets slowed down to dialup speeds) its kinda useless.
    - BvS 14y ago
      The US price does not include sales taxe (19% in Germany). If you take this into account is's still more expensive in Germany but less than 10%.
      - fierarul 14y ago
        The odd thing is the Shenzhen Foxcon factory is closer to Berlin than San Francisco. Somehow, even excluding taxes, it's still more expensive in Germany. And a difference of 7% is substantial for a product with no margins.
  - polshaw 14y ago
    This is not why; the nexus4 is much cheaper than the SGS3 in the UK. (240/280 VS ~400). Moreover, google and amazon do NOT sell below cost. They are near cost, for the cheapest version, at launch. Go look at how much tablets sell for in China if you think their tablets are below cost. (or miumiu phones).
    - fierarul 14y ago
      I do think they might sell bellow cost. Of course, it's illegal to say it so they claim it's at cost. Amazon even brags there is no margin: http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/10/12/amazon-makes-no-hardware-margins-on-the-kindle/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/10/12/amazon-ma... but I wonder, if they are so desperate for market share, wouldn't get go a bit further. I think they do.
  - genkaos 14y ago
    In Spain Google is advertising the Nexus 4 for 299€ / 349€. So I don't really know what is going on in Sweden. Maybe is because they don't use the euro as its currency?
    - tonfa 14y ago
      Resellers don't sell it at the same price as the play store does.
- colin_jack 14y ago
  I liked the fact they took it into account too. I did find this review of the IPad Mini particularly amusing: "Lining those pluses and minuses up against those for the Nexus 7 – which garnered four stars – there's no doubt that this is indeed a five-star device. The 70% difference in comparative price is more than made up by the difference in build quality and software selection" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/oct/31/ipad-mini-review?INTCMP=SRCH http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/oct/31/ipad-mini-r...) Not arguing one way or the other but this and a few other recent reviews have made me wonder why tech reviewers seem to pay so little attention to price.
  - eloisant 14y ago
    Because they get all the devices for free?
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
kenjackson 14y ago
While it may disappoint many people who just want the best at any price, you can't ignore the fact that the N4 is half the price of other phones in its class. The price really is the killer feature of this phone. Ignoring OS, there are other phones that are getting much cheaper. Example is the new Lumia 920 that is $449 on ATT w/o contract. While it is $100 more expensive than the the 16GB Nexus you do get the following in addition: * 32GB (+16GB) * LTE * [Removed] Is this worth $100? I think probably so, but in any case, I think it shows that phones in this class (flagship like devices) are actually more price competitive than people may think. Edit: To remove wireless charging per comment.
- esolyt 14y ago
  Nexus 4 does have wireless charging.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- lawdawg 14y ago
  I'll take a lighter device + $100 over 16GB + LTE at least until LTE is widely available in my city (which is probably 2-3 years away). But again, ignoring OS which is generally not a good idea when making a phone purchase.
  - kenjackson 14y ago
    Ignoring OS is the only way to make a fair comparison, since OS preference probably trumps the feature and price delta ( whether you prefer WP or Android).
    - cryptoz 14y ago
      The only way to fairly compare devices is to ignore the single most important aspect? No, I don't think so.
      - kenjackson 14y ago
Einherji 14y ago
I agree completely. With the N4 google is finally making good on their initial mission with the Nexus line, that is, to get rid of the carrier subsidies nonsense. With a phone that is $349 off contract, this can really save people a good deal of money on phone contracts to. As for the lack of LTE, there is a good reason for that as well, as the N4 seems specifically aimed at T-mobile customers. T-mobile offers some of the best cellular deals for off contract phones, and if the other big carriers see customers flocking to T-mobile they will hopefully be pressured to lower their prices as well. I think it's great that Google is putting pressure on the carriers to get rid of the outdated on-contract model.
abhigupta 14y ago
I am curious, in US, most carriers don't offer any discount for bringing your own device. So, how does spending $349 on Nexus vs buying a subsidized iPhone for $200 going to save anyone money or makes Nexus a better deal?
- alanctgardner2 14y ago
  If you want to upgrade before the end of your term you typically pay back a prorated amount of your subsidy. So your free $600 iPhone costs $400 after one year, or $200 after two years. For a user who upgrades every 18-24 months, this device is almost cheaper than that fee by itself. At least here in Canada, we also have a few niche players (WIND, Mobilicity) who differentiate themselves with slightly lower costs than the big three, but no subsidy on phones. In this case, I can buy a $300 Nexus 4 and switch, saving about ~$35 a month on my bill. My prorated subsidy from Telus is $14 a month, so I still save $21 a month over buying a subsidized phone. Even the iPhone, which is very heavily subsidized, doesn't cover the price differential between these carriers and the big three. In conclusion: find a small, regional carrier that doesn't offer subsidies, save big money.
- stanleydrew 14y ago
  T-Mobile in the US used to discount their post-paid plans when you brought your own phone. They stopped doing that but started offering some pretty great prepaid plans: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans I am on the $30/mo unlimited text, 5GB of HSPA+ data and 100 voice minutes plan and it's great. I reduced my monthly bill by 60%.
  - bdimcheff 14y ago
    T-Mobile has discounted post-paid plans again if you bring your own device: http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/Packages/ValuePackages.aspx http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/Packages/ValuePackages.aspx I'm on the $30/mo "walmart" prepaid plan, but I'm considering switching back to post paid because you can't use any data roaming at all on T-Mobile prepaid.
mtgx 14y ago
I was actually surprised I didn't see more of Anand's jabs at Android or maybe too many comparisons with his conclusions with devices from other companies...and then I saw the article was actually written by Brian Klug. So good job Brian on this one.
Steko 14y ago
> you can't ignore the fact that the N4 is half the price of other phones in its class. You also can't ignore the fact that in the US other phones in it's class are subsidized by $400 or more, upending this comparison greatly. Yes you're locked into a contract but it's not like Nexus 4 users get some special monthly rate. For some use cases being off contract is a god send, for most though, a subsidized iphone 5 or galaxy s3 is a better option at $100 cheaper (and a higher resale in case you want to break that contract).
- lallysingh 14y ago
  On T-Mobile, yes, yes they do. I save $20 a month on my bill from bringing in my own phone.
- stumm 14y ago
  This not true for all carriers. T-mobile has cheaper non-contract plans. No-contract is 50 dollars for unlimited everything ($70 if you want 4G): http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans With a contract it is 90 dollars for unlimited everything (which I believe is roughly standard across the industry): http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/individual-plans.aspx http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/individual-plans.aspx
  - Steko 14y ago
    Yes all 3 people note that you can get a cheaper contract on T-Mobile. However the 500 lb gorilla none of them mention is that T-Mobile's network really sucks: http://opensignal.com/coverage-maps/US/San%20Francisco/ http://opensignal.com/coverage-maps/US/San%20Francisco/ T-Mobile in San Francisco makes AT&T's network look good and it's a shadow of Verizon everywhere.
- tempnick5 14y ago
  > for most though, a subsidized iphone 5 or galaxy s3 is a better option at $100 cheaper Is it really, though? As an example, T-Mobile prepaid offers $30/month for unlimited data (5gb @4g) & SMS, plus 100min voice. Poking at ATT's site the most comparable contract plan I see for iphone 5 is about $90/month. That's over $700 more out of pocket in a year if you go with the subsidized phone.

MojoJolo 14y ago

That's right! I'm buying this phone because of its price. It's cheap compared to other phones with the same specs. The lack of LTE is not really a setback to me (and I think to all others that live in a third world country). LTE is almost "not yet" existing in our region/country.

dagw 14y ago

you can't ignore the fact that the N4 is half the price of other phones in its class. I wonder why the phone is so much cheaper (both in absolute and relative terms) in the US than it is here in Sweden. Here it's exactly the same price as the SGS3 and the iPhone 4S and quite a bit more than the HTC One X.

fierarul 14y ago
I think it's actually illegal in the EU to sell products bellow cost. We call it dumping but it seems Amazon and Google are able to do it just fine in the US. So that might be one reason.
- kayoone 14y ago
  Its 299 (granted € not $) in Germany too, thats more expensive than in the US but still cheap for a phone like that! Cool phone, LTE is a non issue for me since its not widely available here anyway and with the tiny amount of data your get here (i have 300Megs included in my contract after which it gets slowed down to dialup speeds) its kinda useless.
  - BvS 14y ago
    The US price does not include sales taxe (19% in Germany). If you take this into account is's still more expensive in Germany but less than 10%.
    - fierarul 14y ago
      The odd thing is the Shenzhen Foxcon factory is closer to Berlin than San Francisco. Somehow, even excluding taxes, it's still more expensive in Germany. And a difference of 7% is substantial for a product with no margins.
- polshaw 14y ago
  This is not why; the nexus4 is much cheaper than the SGS3 in the UK. (240/280 VS ~400). Moreover, google and amazon do NOT sell below cost. They are near cost, for the cheapest version, at launch. Go look at how much tablets sell for in China if you think their tablets are below cost. (or miumiu phones).
  - fierarul 14y ago
    I do think they might sell bellow cost. Of course, it's illegal to say it so they claim it's at cost. Amazon even brags there is no margin: http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/10/12/amazon-makes-no-hardware-margins-on-the-kindle/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/10/12/amazon-ma... but I wonder, if they are so desperate for market share, wouldn't get go a bit further. I think they do.
- genkaos 14y ago
  In Spain Google is advertising the Nexus 4 for 299€ / 349€. So I don't really know what is going on in Sweden. Maybe is because they don't use the euro as its currency?
  - tonfa 14y ago
    Resellers don't sell it at the same price as the play store does.
colin_jack 14y ago
I liked the fact they took it into account too. I did find this review of the IPad Mini particularly amusing: "Lining those pluses and minuses up against those for the Nexus 7 – which garnered four stars – there's no doubt that this is indeed a five-star device. The 70% difference in comparative price is more than made up by the difference in build quality and software selection" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/oct/31/ipad-mini-review?INTCMP=SRCH http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/oct/31/ipad-mini-r...) Not arguing one way or the other but this and a few other recent reviews have made me wonder why tech reviewers seem to pay so little attention to price.
- eloisant 14y ago
  Because they get all the devices for free?
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]

kenjackson 14y ago

While it may disappoint many people who just want the best at any price, you can't ignore the fact that the N4 is half the price of other phones in its class. The price really is the killer feature of this phone. Ignoring OS, there are other phones that are getting much cheaper. Example is the new Lumia 920 that is $449 on ATT w/o contract. While it is $100 more expensive than the the 16GB Nexus you do get the following in addition: * 32GB (+16GB) * LTE * [Removed] Is this worth $100? I think probably so, but in any case, I think it shows that phones in this class (flagship like devices) are actually more price competitive than people may think. Edit: To remove wireless charging per comment.

esolyt 14y ago
Nexus 4 does have wireless charging.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
lawdawg 14y ago
I'll take a lighter device + $100 over 16GB + LTE at least until LTE is widely available in my city (which is probably 2-3 years away). But again, ignoring OS which is generally not a good idea when making a phone purchase.
- kenjackson 14y ago
  Ignoring OS is the only way to make a fair comparison, since OS preference probably trumps the feature and price delta ( whether you prefer WP or Android).
  - cryptoz 14y ago
    The only way to fairly compare devices is to ignore the single most important aspect? No, I don't think so.
    - kenjackson 14y ago

Einherji 14y ago

I agree completely. With the N4 google is finally making good on their initial mission with the Nexus line, that is, to get rid of the carrier subsidies nonsense. With a phone that is $349 off contract, this can really save people a good deal of money on phone contracts to. As for the lack of LTE, there is a good reason for that as well, as the N4 seems specifically aimed at T-mobile customers. T-mobile offers some of the best cellular deals for off contract phones, and if the other big carriers see customers flocking to T-mobile they will hopefully be pressured to lower their prices as well. I think it's great that Google is putting pressure on the carriers to get rid of the outdated on-contract model.

abhigupta 14y ago

I am curious, in US, most carriers don't offer any discount for bringing your own device. So, how does spending $349 on Nexus vs buying a subsidized iPhone for $200 going to save anyone money or makes Nexus a better deal?

alanctgardner2 14y ago
If you want to upgrade before the end of your term you typically pay back a prorated amount of your subsidy. So your free $600 iPhone costs $400 after one year, or $200 after two years. For a user who upgrades every 18-24 months, this device is almost cheaper than that fee by itself. At least here in Canada, we also have a few niche players (WIND, Mobilicity) who differentiate themselves with slightly lower costs than the big three, but no subsidy on phones. In this case, I can buy a $300 Nexus 4 and switch, saving about ~$35 a month on my bill. My prorated subsidy from Telus is $14 a month, so I still save $21 a month over buying a subsidized phone. Even the iPhone, which is very heavily subsidized, doesn't cover the price differential between these carriers and the big three. In conclusion: find a small, regional carrier that doesn't offer subsidies, save big money.
stanleydrew 14y ago
T-Mobile in the US used to discount their post-paid plans when you brought your own phone. They stopped doing that but started offering some pretty great prepaid plans: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans I am on the $30/mo unlimited text, 5GB of HSPA+ data and 100 voice minutes plan and it's great. I reduced my monthly bill by 60%.
- bdimcheff 14y ago
  T-Mobile has discounted post-paid plans again if you bring your own device: http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/Packages/ValuePackages.aspx http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/Packages/ValuePackages.aspx I'm on the $30/mo "walmart" prepaid plan, but I'm considering switching back to post paid because you can't use any data roaming at all on T-Mobile prepaid.

mtgx 14y ago

I was actually surprised I didn't see more of Anand's jabs at Android or maybe too many comparisons with his conclusions with devices from other companies...and then I saw the article was actually written by Brian Klug. So good job Brian on this one.

Steko 14y ago

> you can't ignore the fact that the N4 is half the price of other phones in its class. You also can't ignore the fact that in the US other phones in it's class are subsidized by $400 or more, upending this comparison greatly. Yes you're locked into a contract but it's not like Nexus 4 users get some special monthly rate. For some use cases being off contract is a god send, for most though, a subsidized iphone 5 or galaxy s3 is a better option at $100 cheaper (and a higher resale in case you want to break that contract).

lallysingh 14y ago
On T-Mobile, yes, yes they do. I save $20 a month on my bill from bringing in my own phone.
stumm 14y ago
This not true for all carriers. T-mobile has cheaper non-contract plans. No-contract is 50 dollars for unlimited everything ($70 if you want 4G): http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans With a contract it is 90 dollars for unlimited everything (which I believe is roughly standard across the industry): http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/individual-plans.aspx http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/individual-plans.aspx
- Steko 14y ago
  Yes all 3 people note that you can get a cheaper contract on T-Mobile. However the 500 lb gorilla none of them mention is that T-Mobile's network really sucks: http://opensignal.com/coverage-maps/US/San%20Francisco/ http://opensignal.com/coverage-maps/US/San%20Francisco/ T-Mobile in San Francisco makes AT&T's network look good and it's a shadow of Verizon everywhere.
tempnick5 14y ago
> for most though, a subsidized iphone 5 or galaxy s3 is a better option at $100 cheaper Is it really, though? As an example, T-Mobile prepaid offers $30/month for unlimited data (5gb @4g) & SMS, plus 100min voice. Poking at ATT's site the most comparable contract plan I see for iphone 5 is about $90/month. That's over $700 more out of pocket in a year if you go with the subsidized phone.