As much as I loved my Nexus 4, there's no denying its camera and battery were quite poor. I wouldn't call it the best phone ever made, even at its time
On the other hand, I agree with you that there's plenty of room for improvement on the N4. But I don't think I've seen a significantly better phone. Certainly every phone I've had since then (and I'm careful to choose phones that meet my needs, not go for the flashiest model) has been worse.