Some say first impressions are important, and they're definitely right. This was my first encounter with LG and never owned one personally before. I've set my expectations accordingly to the price of the phone. Coming in at $299 for 8 GB and $349 for 16 GB, my expectations were not as high as it was when I tried the Nokia Lumia 920, which comes in at $450 or $599 depending where you buy it.
LG has never been known for their build quality so I was pleasantly surprised when I un boxed my Nexus. The phone is glass on both surfaces and soft rubber textures along the edges. The display comes in at 4.7" and at 720p, gives an average 320 ppi beneath the Corning Gorilla Glass II. Several reviews I've read and seen complained about the lack of saturation when viewing the display. It definitely is not as saturated as Samsung's AMOLED and Super AMOLED phones but it's not too bad. The phone is perfectly weighted and feels great in the head. But just like most phone owners, I got a case for the phone as soon as I could to protect the glass back as well as the chromed bezel from scratches and dents. There are only 2 buttons on the phone, volume toggle and power button across from each other on the left and right side. 3.5 mm jack on top and micro USB charging port on the bottom. A couple attention to detail that delighted me in the design of the phone are 2 screws located on the bottom of the phone. They gave the phone even more industrial / iPhone 4S esque feel. Black of the phone has a slit of speaker grill on the bottom right and upper left is the 8mp camera with LED flash below that. Opposite of that is the 1.3 mp camera which is adequate for selfies and hair checking before a meeting. Beneath the glass back is a layer of design that can only be described as jewel like and carbon fiber-ish. It looked too fashionable in photographs but during day to day use, it's very understated and can only be seen clearly under direct light.
Overall the design of the whole phone is quite pleasant and it's really a shame that most Nexus 4 owners, including myself, puts a case on the phone to protect it from drops. The rubber edges of the phone provides the user with sufficient grip to minimize phone slippage accidents while holding the phone. I got the LG made Nexus 4 bumper and it works just like the iPhone 4 /4S bumper and has additional hardware to the existing buttons.
Overall, the phone is a buy. There's no doubt that it is the definitive Android phone currently available.
Below is the video review I shot for twit.tv/byb