yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Nikschavan:
I am using this phone for last 4 months. Just have a screen protector installed.

I dropped my phone two times. Not even a scratch. I was lucky I guess!
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Sk8trfred:
Had mine about 3 months with a bumper case dropped it a couple times at waist height. Still good
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] asako_us:
The glass back sucks...

2 weeks after I got my phone, the glass broke for the first time. After nearly 3 weeks of ordeal (e.g. simply updating the status of the phone to "Received" in their on-line system took them five days after delivery was confirmed by Fedex) and charging me an arm and a leg to repair it (they claimed the damage was outside of the warranty), they did not return my original phone but instead sent me a refurbished one. To top it off, three days after I received the fixed phone, it broke again (despite being wrapped with a protective cover)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wouldn't mind if there had been any special, rough, etc. handling which caused the glass to break, but in both cases of the glass broke during routine handling.

I've had Smart/pda phones for over 10 years now this is the first time I've experienced broken glass of any type. Unfortunately, I am not the only one to have experienced this and the news is finally getting out... Just google nexus 4 glass back

I'm so ... I've started looking into starting a class action lawsuit as this is a LG design issue yet they are foisting the cost of remediation/repair on the consumer

:mad:
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] HarryH123:
Its not my back that had problems, my front slipped out of my pocket onto hardwood and got all scratched up and a day ago I tripped and it feel out of my hand and cracked near the bottom so now the soft keys don't work I had to get another application. Reply if you know any stores in the USA that can repair it :( I don't know if I should try to repair it myself.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ikarma:
Its a crack caused by temperature change. You should RMA it. I gave up ordered one of these:

http://dbrand.com/submodels/nexus-4/

---------- Post added at 05:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:33 AM ----------

Go for it, if you can see well and have steady hands you shouldn't have a problem. These phones are very modular these days. I see a day in the near future these phones will be user hardware upgradeable.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Jakaloke:
I've had my N4 for about 2 months. I've always hated screen protectors and cases (why buy a beautiful phone with great screen if you're going to just cover it up?). I had my Nexus S for about a year and a half, dropped it several times and never had a problem. I had never dropped my Nexus 4 until yesterday. It fell about 20" onto a tile floor and the back is not totally spider-webbed. I don't think the back is Gorilla Glass.

Not only that, but I was under the impression that the front is Gorilla Glass 2, which I would assume is an improvement over the original, but I noticed a nice big scratch right in the damn centre of the screen, two days after I got the phone. I have no idea how it got there. This is the most fragile phone I've ever owned, and I've had many over the years.

Edit: I just got off the phone with Google, and apparently the back glass is covered by warranty. Woohoo!

Edit 2: Apparently that Google rep was misinformed.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Rusty!:
you dropped your phone ffs (onto tiles no less), what were you expecting to happen?
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Panichdi:
So far everything's been good.

Had a protector on front and back, but got annoyed with the front one so I removed it.

Also got a couple of cases, including the official bumper, but couldn't stick with them, can't have that thing wrapped up too long.

I still have the protector on the back, which works fine, has already a ton of scratches but protects the glass (outside of drops that is).
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Alaris:
What kind of protector do you have on the back?
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] andy o:
I've also been looking for a back transparent protector that's thicker and/or more rigid than the average screen protector. I used to have a Best Skins Ever, and the phone survived I think one fall, but then it broke when I had a little accident (it doesn't count, wasn't a normal phone drop). So, I don't have enough information about how stronger it made it. I just bought a new back for a bit less than $55 and I'm again putting a BSE protector on it, this time the matte one, but if anyone has ideas for a particularly strong one, I'm all ears.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dirtyhamster73:
Sgp dual ultra crystal is a little bit more thicker than most screen protectors, not sure how thick you want it. It comes with a front and back protector. Amazon has them, $13.99.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Alaris:
K thanks that's exactly what I ordered. Is it to thick to put a case one over it?
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] andy o:
Thanks for the heads-up. I actually came across that last night before I settled on ordering the BSE again, but got immediately turned off by all the marketing buzzwording. Good to know about it now, but I only need the back protector. I'm doing the math and I think instead of paying $14 + shipping for a back transparent protector, I think if I can get the back to last at least a few months, I could just buy another new back for not much more in the future.

Also, more options than replacing the back are available now. There are Chinese all-plastic back replacements (sans antennae), but for some strange reason, they sell almost at the same price, but I think those should go down fast. Also, an eBayer is selling plastic replacements for only the glass, which I know is something I was looking for before, and some others too, but right now it's inexplicably expensive as well.

EDIT: just a heads up for anyone looking to buy a glass replacement back. Check the photos. The ones that come with the electronics are probably true OEM, but are more expensive. The ones at about $55 come without the antennae and most likely aren't OEM. Mine apparently doesn't even have the LG logo and the other weird logos, but that's a plus for me. Still very expensive for a glass back that you're gonna have to put some work into besides just replacing it.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] andy o:
OK, so I just changed the back for one of the ebay ones.

First of all, to update my edit above, The LG and the other logos are there, they're just covered by tape. Basically I think it's the same as most others. There are others which show the electronics in the picture, but you might wanna ask the sellers to be sure. They are more expensive.

So... freaking hell.

As you can see in the iFixit teardown, you'll need to take out the NFC/Wireless charging antenna. This thing has a very strong glue, and the black part is copper tape, which probably doesn't do much, but you probably wanna keep it intact, and it's extremely easy to break. This antenna also is glued to the glass, so depending on where your phone shattered, you could be dealing with many shards, and you may be spending a lot of time with tweezers to get them out, and of course may get cut. Another thing is that all those copper contacts you see are actual circuits on stickers, that make contact with the phone. I don't know what they are, but they close circuits when they're connected. Maybe antennas? So you'll have to take them out and put them very carefully on the new back. Fortunately there are little dots that you can use to align them.

Right now my phone is apparently working fine, and wireless charging is working. Tomorrow I will be testing more, but I REALLY recommend if you're gonna buy a new back, buy one that comes with the stickers/electronics already there. Unfortunately they seem more scarce and expensive.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] AlBigGuns:
I've had my Nexus 4 for about a month, it still has the front plastic cover on it however the back plastic cover fell off last week. During a phonecall last night I heard a loud crack come from the phone that lasted a second or two. After the call I looked at the back and the rear glass has cracked the entire width of the phone. I should stress that I haven't dropped it, this literally happened in my hands during a phone call.

I spoke to lg and they reckon that the glass isn't under warranty, but I know that's not lawful in the UK. My issue is that it almost sounds implausible that glass could crack in my hands, however as ridiculous as that sounds it is what happened. I haven't been able to read through the entirety of this thread but has anything similar happened to others? There is no way expensive hardware should break like that.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] donwhall70:
The day I got my phone I threw on a Nexus bumper and a dbrand vinyl skin on the back.. Device seems to be holding up great so far. I don't use a screen protector on the front.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sn0warmy:
I've had my N4 since launch and it's been caseless for about 3 months now. I do not have a screen protector on the front but i do on the back.

So far my phone is holding up just fine. The front screen has no scratches, the back screen protector has a few and the silver bezel has a few. But all in all the phone is holding up great and I do not baby it much anymore.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cb474:
Yeah, it is. Apple has just been cagey about acknowledging their use of Gorilla Glass in the iPhone.

I was being sarcastic for the sake of making a point, when I said, why not just make the entire phone out of gorilla glass. You're missing my point and responding as if I were being literal. The point, which seems to elude most people, is that adding glass surfaces to the phone does not make it equally durable because it already has a glass screen. The more fragile parts there are, the less durable the phone is. It doesn't have to be perfectly resilient, as some fantastically suggest, but a phone shouldn't be more fragile than necessary just to have a pretty pretty glossy back that shines and makes people feel good. It's not an art object that you keep on a pedestal, it's a practical device that you carry with you and needs to be able to withstand, as best as possible, the ups and downs of daily use. There are plenty of good, aesthetically appealing, functional designs that do not gratuitously add fragile parts.

*

I feel like the people who need to defend the Nexus 4 against any critique of any part of it, just want to act as if the phone is perfect and can't possibly have a poor design choice about any element. It seems like people can't like a phone and also admit that it's not perfect. It's very black and white, simplistic thinking.

And the people who somehow think they can say they won't drop the phone and magically it will never happen are fooling themselves. No matter how careful you are accidents happen. People are going to drop this phone. LG/Google should have done what they could to minimize the risk of damage, not enhance it.

*

That aside, as the OP, the point of this thread was to ask what experience people are having with the Nexus 4 who actually own it. Have they dropped it? Has anything happened to the back? How's the back holding up?

I'm really not interested in people's defense of a design choice that obviously makes the phone more fragile. Is it aesthetically appleaing? Yes. But, If you want to believe that glass doesn't shatter, even magical unicorn powered Gorilla Glass, then I can't help you.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] irishrally:
I'll decide how durable the phone is and if it was a poor design decision after owning the phone for a while. Hard to tell how it will hold up just looking at it.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] otariq:
I'm sure the back will eventually scratch by placing it on various surfaces like tables that's why I'm gonna get a rear skin for it (bestskinsever). Not only will it protect against scratches but it'll also give more grip
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] stratax:
the nexus 4 is a few grams heavier than the galaxy s3 which is all plastic. do some research before talking crap on a product. im sure a 32gb variant will come out eventually like on the nexus 7. I would rather have nice looking/ durable glass than cheap go phone plastic lol. My phone is, LG/Google cant please everyone. No company can.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] lostinbeta:
I've only had the phone since noon, been out all day, phone has been in and out of pants and jacket pockets multiple times. So far no scratches, though I have only had it a few hours and haven't dropped it or slid it across any hard surfaces (nor do I plan to) so it's hard to speak towards durability for sure at this point.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] SevenSe7enSeven:
havent received my N4 yet but from my experience with the 4S it should be fine if you have a small tpu case or bumper. i think it looks great but a bad design choice but i did manage to keep my 4S in new condition up until the day i sold it and havent had a single scratch on the front or back using a case and no screen protector
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] stratax:
yeah im probably going to baby the crap out of this phone (once I get it), until I can get a bumper and full body coating. I will still probably baby it afterwards though lol. when I had a iphone 4 I never got a scratch on it, so since the glass on this is even stronger that makes me feel better.

edit: just like the guy above me said haha.

if you are one of those people who actually take care of you stuff then I don't see a problem. if you are one of those people who just throw your phone around then I suggest you get a cheap plastic Samsung phone.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] threeclaws:
It's glass. It's holding up fine. I have all my faculties, so I've never manged to drop my phone from such a height that anything broke and I don't expect that to change with this one.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ferozfero:
actually the glass is awsome..and ul feel a lot safer with the bumper case..but...the bumper case hinders one of the beautiful design aspects of the phone..the curved edges with the melted on glass along the sides..theres jus this good feeling of letting ur finger slip down the sides wen swiping..using a case will hinder this aspect of design,..as far as i can see thats the only problem..
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Ricolando:
The glass back concerns me, but I've always put my phones in TPU cases so it shouldn't be a huge deal. It won't look as pretty, but life happens and I'm getting this phone for the internal hardware more than anything.

Sent from my GNex - BAKED ROM w/ Franco Kernel
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] kickokim:
The thing is that with the Samsung nexus we had all the iphone people going on about how cool their design was and how cheap samsung feels. All the android guys were saying that the iphone's design was stupid because the glass is useless and only causes more issues and on the other side defending samsung saying that plastic is more durable and handles impact better. Now with LG everyone is denying this and defending Google's choice and calling Samsung cheap to!

I'm probably going to get this phone anyway if they relese a 32 gb version since for the price is the best you can get and I really love the vanilla android (the gnex is still smoother than the s3 in JB) but I onestly preferred Samsung's design choices, they just seem more practical to me: it's a smartphone, not Ferragamo shoes, the Gnex feels like you can drop it and not worry about it too much even without a cover(I actually have many times), phones are used all day every day and they do get dropped no matter what they look and feel like!

Finally the One S/X feels and looks great, it's also plastic and in my opinion feels and looks better than any iphone or galaxy, that kind of design would have been a better choice.

Ps. Battery is not at all easily removable according to ifixit.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Dragooon123:
Anybody willing to test, how does it hold up against a straight drop on concrete from a couple of feet?
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Tibbz96:
I've only had it for a day but it's scratch less so far. I'll get back to you after a few days.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Richieboy67:
According to I fix it the nexus 4 has a repair rating of 7. If the battery wears out which is doubtful it can be replaced.

As for the glass, this has nothing to do with the iPhone.. I think the glass is cool and makes the phone feel rigid and solid. If you don't like it or if you think you need something more durable than buy something else.

Funny how I hear all these complaints about everything and yet still I spent many hours trying to order and am now on back order. I wish more people hated it... Then I would have one right now.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Ratlegion:
Fair enough. I got the back order email also, but one of my two orders is shipping today anyhow. It was a couple of 8gbs. I felt the experience was so bad, they've lost me to the Note II this generation, although I am still getting 3 for my family. I don't know if I will give them another chance next year, but Google really hurt themselves this time and threw away much of the respect I had for them. I'm convinced they did this on purpose. Unacceptable. People have a right to complain and the poor build quality piles up valid frustrations. I hope you will enjoy your model, though.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sotorious:
i cant wait for the otter box to come out. i had that on my iP4 and ive dropped it so many times, not a scratch anywhere. Right now i still have the original plastic that comes in the rear, might get an invsi shield in the meantime
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Richieboy67:
I would be so happy with that note! That was what I wanted but I just can't afford it especially unlocked. I am also totally disappointed in Google now. I make a living using the internet, seo, etc and the things they do with analytics is amazing. I just can't understand this at all. I am so disappointed.

sent via xda premium with nexus 7-Xbox live-loneleppard add me
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nba1341:
Yes. Androidauthority.com will. In a few weeks when you see their latest drop test video

---------- Post added at 08:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:11 AM ----------

first world problems
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Ratlegion:
Yeah, I just paid for my Note through T-mobile. I thought about getting the international version but I felt being able to insure it through them was worth giving up a few roms. I've only used Aosp and Sense, but I've found the hardware in the Note II so powerful I think even of I wanted to get rid TouchWiz, the phone shouldn't have any problem with it running in the background under something else. I have found also that I prefer it over Aosp, too, but again, this is a very powerful phone, and I never experienced Tw before Butter and Quad core.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] unisound1:
A: It's not holding up that well ;-(

I just dropped my phone about 1 FOOT between my couch and it hit the metal railing and that's all she wrote for the back glass. When I say I dropped the phone it actually slid off the couch and into the crack due to the slipperiness of the phone. I will be calling Google Monday to complain. IDK if that will help any but it's worth a try...
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Ratlegion:
When I saw their announcement video and how they unfolded the phone from a cloth , I thought it was quite elegant. When I read reports about easy scratches, I knew they had planted the device to be found on purpose. How else could it have been used any length of time, and then lost and the reviewers still saw it as brand new? It scratches too easily.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] unisound1:
Definitely. This thing is so slippery it's ridiculous. I should have ordered the bumper but didn't want to let go of the phone in my cart as it had jumped out about 5 or 6 times when I was trying to buy. It is easier reeling in a sturgeon than catching a Nexus 4...
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] iucidium:
In English?

Sent from my Nexus 7
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] unisound1:
Why, U no comprende?
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jakejm79:
He dropped his phone between the couch cushions, his couch has a frame (maybe a sleeper couch) and it hit one of the metal bars of the frame, total distance fallen about 1 foot.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] unisound1:
Thank you jakejm79. It is a sectional with double recliners connected with metal rails.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] unisound1:
For clarification & because I have too much time on my hands...

Here are the pics...
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rumthin:
I think you might officially be the first non tech site review person to have broken their phone. I'm trying to look on the bright side here. :silly:
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] unisound1:
I know. I've had the s3 since day one and it is flawless. I guess that's the way the cookie crumbles, lol. I thought about putting it on Craigslist to at least get my money back $335). They are going for $400-$450 for the 8gb. Maybe after Monday...:laugh:
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cb474:
Sorry to hear about your phone, unisound1, that's a bummer. Thanks for posting and providing the images of how the back cracked.

*

To those who said the glass back does not make this phone more fragile, because the word "Gorilla" has been placed before the word "Glass," and any time you use the word gorilla in the same phrase with the word glass you make that thing industructable, well, here we are. Just yesterday I said that sooner or later these glass backs are going to cause problems and shatter. One day later, we see the first instance of this. And it's less than a week since the phone came out. The phone didn't even fall that far (one foot, as compared to say a phone slipping from someone's hand onto the sidewalk).

I forget who it was, but one of the reviewers with a pre-release unit did warn that not only is the back fragile, but that the back also makes the phone more slippery and likely to inadvertently slip from surfaces. Sounds like it's exactly this combination of problems that befell unisound1.

*

As someone else said, I still might buy this phone if there's ever a 32GB version, because the price is right for this quality of a phone. But the unnecessarily fragile back does concern me. People who say, "if you're so worried about the back, don't buy it," are just missing the point. I started this thread to try to get some information from owners of the Nexus 4 about how the glass back is holding up. It should be possible to have a conversation about this, without people getting all defensive of the Nexus 4, like I kicked their puppy. I like the Nexus 4 a lot and think is very well made in many respects. But that doesn't mean I feel the need to close my eyes, cover my ears, and pretend that the phone is prefect. I just want to be able to have an adult conversation about the glass back an its potential pitfalls.

*

Sorry again, unisound1, about your phone. Hope you're able to work something out with Google.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jakejm79:
Do we think that a bumper, skin/screen protector or silicone case would have provided any protection against this.

I have broken a few digitizers in my life, but normally it required some effort, there have been countless times that I have dropped my phone and they have landed on the plastic back, with a 50/50 shot of hitting glass or plastic I wasn't too worried, but with 100 shot of hitting glass, I don't like my odds.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Richieboy67:
I feel for you buy what are you going to complain about? The phone being slippery? I think they give you so many days to exchange out return but the fact is you dropped it dude. That sucks man..