After a long wait since its launch back in October, Google’s latest Nexus device, the LG Nexus 4, has finally arrived in Malaysia. After some controversy over rumours of inflated prices of the device, the Nexus 4 is now currently available via pre-order at DiGi as part of its Smart Plan data bundle. With the telco confirming with us that those who have pre-ordered the device will receive them from January 15, here’s a sneak preview of Google’s latest offering.

Head on after the break for more.

The Nexus 4′s top: (L-R) Mic, 3.5mm audio jack

The Nexus 4′s power/lock button is on the right side

Bottom (L-R): Mic, microUSB port)

The Nexus 4′s left side (R-L): Volume rocker, micro SIM port

Our review unit, courtesy of DiGi, is the 8GB version of the Nexus 4. However, the ones that will be sold here will be the larger 16GB capacity. Otherwise, there are no differences between the two. As a quick recap, the Nexus 4 has some seriously powerful hardware; in fact it is one of the most powerful smartphone in its class. The 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor with Adreno 320 graphics and 2GB of RAM is still one of the most potent hardware combinations in the market right now, and a flurry of the new 5-inch 1080p smartphones are using the same Qualcomm chipset – such as HTC’s Butterfly, Oppo’s Find 5 as well as Sony’s Xperia Z.

The Nexus 4′s rounded edges makes it a comfortable phone to hold, and the not-too-thin 9.1mm chassis is pretty solid too. Granted, it’s never going to be as tank-like as the Lumia 920, but we feel there’s nothing to complain about so far. At 139g, it is also heavier than the Samsung Galaxy SIII and the iPhone 5.

One main reason behind the added weight is due to the inclusion of a glass back panel, which shows off the cool signature patterned design of the Nexus 4. At first glance, it looks as if the back of the Nexus 4 is nothing more than a black panel with a large “nexus” branding on the upper third, but move it around under some light and you’ll notice that there are hundreds of little gold dots splattered over the entire panel, all of which reflect light at different angles, making it a pretty sight.

However, the one disadvantage of employing a glass back panel on the Nexus 4 is the extreme ease with which it picks up unsightly fingerprint marks. In addition, there were already some scratches adorning parts of the glass back when we received the device (we believe it wasn’t a new unit).

Moving on to the front, the Nexus 4′s display is a very good looking one. The 4.7-inch True HD IPS display on the Nexus 4 has a resolution of 1280 x 768. Viewing angles on the Nexus 4′s screen, just like other IPS screens, is amazing.


The Nexus 4′s lockscreen features panels to the left and right to quickly launch apps

The Nexus 4′s Quadrant benchmark scores

We will spend some more quality time with the Nexus 4, and will be coming up with a full review of the smartphone very soon. In the meantime, keep calm and read Lowyat.NET!