yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cb474:
I wonder if a bumper would have helped. Maybe. (Although it still seems pointless to me to intentionally design a phone to be beautiful, but in a way that makes it so fragile you have to put a cover on it and cover up the design.)

In this instance, from where the glass started to shatter, it appears that the phone may have hit the metal rod on its end, not directly on the glass, and still shattered.

I wondered if this sort of impact would cause problems. If you look at promotional videos of gorilla glass 2, they show how flexible the glass is. But that assumes that pressure is placed exactly at the center of a sheet of glass, with nothing behind it. It makes for impressive video, but hardly covers all possible impact scenarios. I wondered, how the glass performs with an impact near the side of a sheet, with something behind the glass, or against the edge, rather than the surface of the glass.

Perhaps unisound1's unfortunate experience reveals some of the weaknesses of gorilla glass 2.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cb474:
Wow, that's really nice. You're a nice guy.

*

Don't listen to this stuff unisound1. It's prefectly legitimate for you to call and complain that a phone should be able to survive a one foot fall. They claim Gorilla Glass 2 is sufficiently durable to be used as external case material for a phone. Not being able to survive a one foot drop I think does not qualify. You may not get what you want. But I think you have a perfectly legitimate basis for a complaint. Companies are responsible for their design decisions and for how products perform in reasonable use scenarios. Placing a phone on a couch cushion is a reasonable use scenario. It shouldn't go slidding away and break after a very short fall.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Ratlegion:
I don't think anyone here stands against anything you've said, but the man is being outright open and honest. He wasn't trying to be ugly or anything. I'm not sure there is anything a buyer can do to get justice in this circumstance. The whole sale, shipping and quality control went wrong. What do you really think Google will do?
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nba1341:
They must have lied about gorilla class 2 being used?
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] unisound1:
I'm sending it back as a defective product with the defect being the damn thing slides by itself down couches, off pants, off anything not level. It can't hurt to ask.:fingers-crossed:
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cb474:
I think he was being rude and kicking someone when he was down. If unisound1 wants to try to return the phone, let him try. Telling him that basically his complaint is silly and it's just his fault, while pretending to express sympathy, is rude.

Whether or not buyers will have recourse with a broken back like this, I think, will depend up how many people eventually have this experience. Was this a freak, unlucky, occurence? Or are these phones going to start turning up with broken backs from all sorts of ridiculously short falls?

Products are recalled sometimes. I doubt that will happen with the Nexus 4. My point is that sometimes manufacturers do have to own up to faults in their design decisions, if enough people have problems. This happened with the iPhone 4, when it was experiencing a lot of broken backs and screens early on. It was bad PR for Apple and they did replace quite a few of the phones, even though you could say well the owner of the phone just dropped it an it's their fault.

So we'll see what happens, the phone is still less than a week since release.

Good luck again to unisound1.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] unisound1:
You are correct. The impact mark is right behind the charging port where the rubber meets the glass. That caused the glass to chip and create the two long cracks up the glass. From a higher fall depending on how well that bumper is built people may have issues. Also it would be nice to know the thickness of the Gorilla Glass 2 used on the front and back. Are they identical in thickness?

---------- Post added at 11:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:05 PM ----------

I'm not worried about it. When it comes down to it it's still only a phone. What it does for me is expose the issues I will have without repair service. With Sprint I would have taken it back, paid the deductible or tried to talk myself into a new phone from customer service or retentions. With a pre-paid provider it's all on me...

---------- Post added at 11:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:19 PM ----------

Well put and thank you. I'm sure this is just the start.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] wraithbone:
Covered by legislation?

I dont know about in the US but here in little old NZ we have legislation called the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (CGA) which asserts that the consumer has a right for complaint if the product is:

A: Not fit for "purpose", which can be explicit or implied.

and

B: The product is under "reasonable use", that a normal consumer would consider acceptable.

In fact the CGA specifically places durability as an aspect of reasonable use.

You could argue that a phone is a portable device, which affords it some degree of implied durability, such as resistance to a short fall (less than half a metre (1~1.5 feet) ).

Giving you a legitimate cause to complain.

Thats in NZ, dunno about elsewhere.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cb474:
Now that I think about it, I suppose part of the potential problem with the Nexus 4 back (and perhaps front also) is that the glass goes all the way up to the edge of the phone. So when the rubber edge hits somthing, as it did with your phone, it can pretty directly transfer the force of the impact to the glass. As you suggest, it does not bode well for drops from greater heights, if a fall of just one foot (with the right impact angle) was enough to cause this damage.

I dropped my Nexus One once, from about four feet onto concrete. It got a good ding in the edge, but not a mark on the screen. But on the Nexus One the glass of the screen does not go all the way up to the edge of the aluminum frame, especially at the top and the bottom of the phone. This provides, in a sense, more of a crumble zone (like on cars) that can absorb the force of the impact before potentially transferrring it to the glass.

Of course, it's nice to have the glass go all the way up to the edge, especially for the screen and swiping on it. But perhaps that also makes the glass more prone to damage.

I wonder also if the Gorilla Glass on the back of the phone is the same as with the screen, either in terms of thickness or some other factor.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cb474:
Interesting comment from AnandTech about why phones with glass backs, like the Nexus 4, and prone to getting scratched. And also another example of a review unit not making it through the review without getting scratched.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6440/google-nexus-4-review
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Ratlegion:
I hadn't read that review yet, thank you.

One thing I have noticed over and over again is that most reviewers are saying it feels great in the hand and has a good grip, whereas the glass durability and sensitivity of the phone many times is relegated to an afterthought. I wonder how much aaffect it will have for people to reverse what all these reviews have said by saying the phone is slippery in hand and the units themselves are critically undermined the by the basic design principles of the phone.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rbrucemtl:
It funny in the verge interview at 4:25 they ask Google if making a phone out of glass will be pron to easily breaking and they completly dance abound the question.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66-4uMQqerA&feature=youtube_gdata_player
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] lerijiso:
Yeah..I remember watching that. That google guy was cheeky.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DonDizzurp:
i dont know if its mentioned but the iphones can have the back replaced with brushed metal plates instead (ie. http://iphone4parts.com/shop/att-iphone-premium-brushed-metal-back-cover-plate-black-p-544.html)

hopefully google or LG or even a third party will do something for us
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EvoYas:
When iPhone 4 came out with the front glass and back it was the same issue with some people not caring enough and breaking the glass than blaming Apple for it.

Samething is happening with Nexus 4. If you cant take care of delicate goods dont buy em or learn to be more protective. Its that simple. I have been rocking my Note 2 without a case and a screen protector for a month and a half now and not a single dent or scratch on it still.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rec71:
I got my phone on Thursday and have just noticed a small scratch on the back. It's faint, but I have no idea how it got there as I always keep it in my pocket on it's own - no keys, coins, etc. I must of put it down on a table and it scratched that way. I'm surprised it scratches so easily though.

And boy is it slippery. It's already fallen off the arm of the sofa (onto a soft rug luckily) a few times.

Extra care is required but this is going to catch a lot of people out I think! They read "Gorilla Glass" and think that it's scratch proof.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] question.com:
same issue here. I posted about it here http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=34321900&postcount=131

I have babied the phone. I dont place it on hard surfaces, always the only thing in my pocket. I wonder if i came this way from google.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] question.com:
just got off the phone with google. They will replace the phone. I'll wait till its back in stock before having it exchanged. since it bascially came this way, I wont have to rush to send it back within the 15 day period. I made sure he noted that just in case.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Ratlegion:
Excellent, man. I'm happy for you.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cb474:
Hmm, what I feel like I've read overall in the reviews is people saying the phone feels great in the hand and has a good grip, because of the rubbery sides, but that it's very slippery when you put it down on its back, because of the glass back. So depending on the context to me it sounds like the Nexus 4 is both grippy (in the hand) and slippery (when put down).

Yeah, what he says in that video really contradicts what the AnandTech reviewer said. He claims there is a lip around the back of the phone to protect the glass when the phone is put down on a hard surface. But the AnandTech reviewer explains that the phone barely has a lip around the glass on the back, at all, and this is why it scratches so easily (even from dust, apparently). I also noticed that there really is no lip to speak of, when I handled the Nexus 4. The guy in the video also focuses on the grippiness of the sides of the phone, as a way of claiming the glass is somehow durable because the grippiness means people won't drop the phone. But that actually just avoids the question of how the glass will perform when the phone is dropped (which is inevitable with any cell phone). Nor does it address the slipperiness of the phone when you're not holding it, as a lot of people are experiencing. That video pretty much convinces me that Google knew the glass back would be fragile, but went ahead anyway for other reasons (because LG wanted it, for RF transparency, to look cool, what have you).

I was thinking a replacement back might be a good long term solution for those not wanting to have to tip toe around their Nexus 4, for the entire time they have the phone. Something made out of the same soft touch material as on the sides of the phone would be nice, I think. A solid sheet of aluminum I guess could create RF interference (not an issue with the iPhone 4, because the antennas are in the sides of the phone).

Thanks for the link to your photos. Sorry to hear you too have experienced scratching right away on your phone. I wonder if the demo unit I saw at the T-Mobile store which was already scratched on the day they got it was also perhaps scratched on arrival. Either way it doesn't seem good. Either all you have to do is put the phone down on a hard surface (or something) once, to scratch the back. Or the back is so scratchable that they can't even get the phone put together and in the box, without scratching it, before shipping. Or there is some flaw in the manufacturing process of these phones or even of the glass itself.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cb474:
So this person had the glass back shatter around the speaker slit, while the phone was in his pocket at the movies. He didn't drop it or anything. It was just in his pocket at the movies, he drove home, did not bump into anything, and when he took the phone out, it was completely shattered around the speaker slit. That really surprises me and is even more fragile than I had imagined the back might be.

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=34295644&postcount=1

This is the original post in the thread that question.com posted his images of the scratches on the back of the phone.

By the way, later in the thread, this person says he was babying the phone as much as possible and was not even using it when standing over concrete, in case he dropped it.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Ratlegion:
You're probably right. I haven't handled one yet so I can only go off whatiI have read.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] baldric:
mines been dropped already and the back and front survived, but it makes the phone so slippery when places on a small surface such as the arm of a sofa or sitting with it in my pocket.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] kanetheninja:
On the other hand, I've had the phone in my pocket and even drove back from the movies with it in there without pulling out a pile of shattered glass, so, as they say, "ymmv"
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cb474:
I don't really see how that is relevant. As baldric posted above right above your post, he's even already dropped his phone without damaging the back. Just because something happened and did not cause damage, does not demonstrate anything about the durability of the phone. It's when, how often, and how the phone does break that offers a measure of the relative durability, in this case, of the back.

There's no reasonable way the back of the phone should have broken just sitting in someone's pocket while they went to the movies. Either that particular back was flawed in it's manufacturing or the glass back of the Nexus 4 is even more fragile than people imagined it might be (when they were only worrying about dropping the phone).

As it currently stands, just because your phone has held up fine so far (in less than a week of ownership) I wouldn't be making a lot of assumptions about whether or not that will continue to be the case over the months that come.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] SQ3.0dotJP:
Because its my money and I done want a phone(front or back) to look like a spiderweb
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] kanetheninja:
I was just being a little snarky and trying to say that one guy who broke his phone and says it wasn't his fault is no more convincing than me saying i didn't break it.

As someone else said in that thread, without calling the guy a lair, the phone's glass didn't shatter all on it's own. The more likely explanation is something hit it whether he noticed it or not.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] SQ3.0dotJP:
I dunno. GG2 HASNT IMPRESSED. On my second GS3. FIRST shattered after one drop getting out a car. Second has a phantom scratch(chip) from...I'm not sure. I have enough friends with shattered I phones to be weary enough to hold off on this batch of N4. I'll wait until early next year or another Nexus. I want to to love it, but the limited storage, and glass are huge turnoffs. The no LTE isn't a deal breaker, I usually disable it on my S3 anyway.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cb474:
I don't really see how snarkiness helps or contributes to the conversation. There's is way too much snarkiness and rudeness already in this thread and in the thread that I linked to. If people think something is silly or not worth discussion, they should ignore it, rather than leap into make dismissive comments that no one who's interested in the conversation is going to appreciate.

That aside, if you read the whole thread where this guy posted about how his glass back shattered around the speaker opening (rather than making assumptions like you're doing), you'd see that he fully acknowledges somehow some sort of pressure must have been applied to the phone to cause it to shatter. But all the snarky, dimissive people just assume he's an idiot claiming it spontaneously shattered on its own. That claim is more of a reflection on the thoughtlessness of the people who make it than the guy who started the thread.

Clearly, some sort of pressure was applied to the back somehow, for it to break. But it was in his front pocket. He was not wearing tight jeans or something like that. He describes himself as someone who was babying the phone as much as he could. And he cannot recall bumping into anything or any sort of event that would have caused the back to shatter. So whatever happened, it was minor enough not to be noticed.

There is just no reasonable way that a phone should not be able to hold up to that kind of use. Everyone should be able to expect to put their phone in their pocket and have it hold up to the most minor unnoticeable bumps and pressure of day to day use. So either this reveals a general problem in the design of the Nexus 4 glass back or that particular unit was manufactured poorly (which itself might more generally reflect on LG's quality control).
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cb474:
I feel the same way. It's maybe just one too many compromises. I'd like to at least see a 32GB version come out.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Ratlegion:
I haven't seen anyone try putting a screen protector on the back yet. Maybe that will make a considerable difference. Seems extreme, bit maybe it's worth a shot?
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dwd3885:
Listen, the back and front of the phone are made of glass. You need to be careful. You can't drop the phone and expect it to be OK. You also need to set it on smooth surfaces.

I don't see how this is a problem. Nothing any iPhone user hasn't dealt with for years.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] donec:
What is strange to me is that both sides are glass and yet no one has broken the front all I have heard about is the back being broken. Given the circumstances described on the different occurrences I would say the back glass is not protected well enough and that means it is a design flaw and should be covered by Google/LG.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cb474:
The iPhone 4 was notorious for people being unhappy with how much more the glass back made the phone fragile. There was a lot of bad PR for Apple around this issue, when the phone first came out. And as you know there's already another user experiencing the glass back breaking just carrying it around in his pocket. This phone is also getting scratched easily from just being placed on "smooth surfaces" as you suggest. It's prefectly legitimate for people to discuss the shortcomings of this design choice.

Yes, people should be careful with their phones. But something designed to be carried around and used day to day also needs to be reasonably durable, not unnecessarily fragile. It is not obvious the Nexus 4 is going to hold up to the standards of the average smartphone, in this respect. We'll have to wait and see how many people have problems. But so far, it's seeming like lots of people (reviewers at popular websites for example) predicted this might be a problem. And it's turning out that at least some people are having problems in situations where you wouldn't expect them, before the phone is even a week old.

Yeah, I've wondered the same thing. Is there something different about the construction of the back vs. the front that makes the back less durable.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ynrozturk:
So when people get a plastic phone, they complain that it feels cheap. When people get a glass phone, they complain that it's too fragile. If people were to get a titanium/carbon fiber/magnesium phone, they would complain that it is too expensive.

...make up your damn minds.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Exodian:
Dropped about 18 inches onto carpet floor and now have a scratch on the back. Also went and bought a universal screen protector and put it after I saw the scratch. I do like the glass back and i know scratches are going to happen. Hope my case arrives soon.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Ratlegion:
What kind of case did you decide on?
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mfouco:
I really love this phone. It's quick, it's got a great feel. It doesn't hick up. It's an awesome android experience. I would love to keep using it naked, but the back plate scratches too easily. I hope that you can get some replacement ones on eBay. I just hate to see it get more scratches. As I know it will. I've seen other people's iPhone's back covers after a while and the mount up pretty quick.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jakejm79:
And the bread always lands butter side down.
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] alexwolf47:
I have a small scratch on the back of mine (hardly noticeable), and I am usually very careful with my phones (Galaxy Nexus was in perfect condition after a year). Migh
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] donec:
That's because you always butter the bottom side.;)
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ulta!:
Guys if we use good case for N4 will it be helpful? Will it protect glass back?
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cb474:
If you actually read this thread, you'll see that more than one person has already said the same thing, Your point is not new. And you can also read, above, responses to why this argument, although superficially appearing to be clever, is in fact a misrepresentation of what people are saying and what the real world possibilities are with case design on phones. Your statements are far from summing up all the possibilities and solutions to the concerns people have. It's just a straw man argument. It's also off topic, since this is supposed to be a thread for people who actually have the Nexus 4 to report on their experiences with the glass back and how it's holding up (not a thread to debate whether or not it's legitimate for people to express concerns about different types of case designs).
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cb474:
Joking aside, I wonder if there is a reason why the phone, when it falls, would tend to be more likely to land on its back. Perhaps the battery, as the heaviest/densist element in the phone weights the phone more toward the back and makes that side want to turn downward as the phone falls? Just a thought. Another possiblity, of course, as discussed above, is that there's a reason the back is more fragile. Perhaps the glass is thinner, even if it's still Gorilla Glass?
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cb474:
Another person posting that the glass back of his phone broke, somehow, while it was in his pocket:

And someone else saying the back got scratched even when he was trying to be careful with the phone:
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Bohemus:
So far so good!
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nba1341:
Front glass on phone = Gorilla Glass 2

Back glass on phone = Cheapest material they could mass produce

Back is NOT gorilla glass 2 folks so do not treat it as such

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlgG33n71m0
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Clarkster:
Nope, both sides are Gorilla Glass 2. Matias Duarte said it himself. One video of the glass breaking does not prove it isn't. Gorilla Glass breaks from falls all the time, it's still glass. ;)
[Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nba1341:
Matias Duarte lied. Sorry but gorilla glass 2 doesnt break from a 2 foot fall

Just like how the Nexus 7 had gorilla glass 2...... right?