> The thing slides off of pretty much anything
This is incredibly true. An anecdote: I was sitting in the waiting room at my dentist's office; I knew I'd have a wait, so I turned on the access point so that I could do some work and set the phone on the seat next to me. 15 seconds later, it dropped to the carpet. WTF, so I picked it back up and put it on the center of the chair seat. It fell off 2 minutes later. WTF^2, so I picked it back up and, intentionally and very carefully, put it back on the chair seat. It didn't fall off, but it took me 3 tries to get the phone to sit on a cloth chair seat without falling off. And I'm sure it would have fallen off given more time.
It's incredible watching it slide ever-so-slowly on a surface that I previously thought was pretty much level.
That said, I've dropped it a lot of times and it only has one crack on the back so far
AT&T has a phone that's some serious shit. We got a demo the other day... and that thing resists drops, high temps, freezing, water splash (or underwater to a couple of feet... don't remember).
It was some serious hardware. Of course, it's not running Android, yet if you want indestructible, I was impressed with this thing.
Me, personally: My phones last approx 2 years. My iPhone 5 (got it around 1 year ago I think) is all busted up. I'm not an Apple lover, yet this thing is tough. EVERY panel on it is broken, bent, shattered... and it still works without a hitch. Props to Apple on that.
My N9 is well over a year old and has zero broken external parts. And of course the phone itself still works.
Given that a smartphone has virtually no moving parts inside, continued functionality absent being submerged or crushed is not a particularly noteworthy achievement.
This should be a feature of all phones. There's nearly zero number of times I want my phone to move from where I've placed it.
http://www.gsmarena.com/updated_nexus_4_design_adds_nubs_aro...
How do these things get missed in testing? Did no one throughout the entire testing process receive a call while their phone was on their desk? Did they not notice the phone running away from them every time they put it on a shiny surface?
They made me pay for the repairs ($150 each time).
Once I was climbing on some rocks, tried to send a text (yeah, I realize that was dumb), lost balance and ended up slamming the phone screen first on the rock supporting my weight with it. There is a 1/4 sandgrain width dent in the middle of the screen, barely noticeable unless you're looking for it in just the right light. As I said pretty indestructible for me.
I've not been particularly fond of LG hardware since a friend had an LG device spontaneously catch fire.
But it's fair to say that the designers had different priorities (primarily aesthetic ones - weight, thinness) which mean the device is more breakable than it could be. The iPhone is the same.
Hopefully the Moto X is better!
It is a joke, the phone might stick to it the first time you use it, if you're lucky. The only thing keeping the above mentioned slippery phone on the un-necessarily slanted charger is some slick rubber material. The rubber holds dust like a pro, but alas cannot grip the phone.
If you don't believe me read Amazon reviews: http://www.amazon.com/Google-Nexus-4-Wireless-Charger/dp/B00...
But yes, def truth, extra carets.
It's still a bad design, but once I figured that out it was useable again.
All this without the bulk of a case, for less than $5.
If you don't like to have a sticker some appropriate colour duck/duct tape works perfectly.
Not only prevents the potential sliding, but offers great protection for clumsy phone droppers like myself.
Most other cases are more fashion accessoire than they actually protect the device. This one adds some bulk in favor of actual protection. (ymmv yadda yadda)
Still, it's a fantastic device, and it's been running flawlessly w/ CM10 and an LTE hybrid baseband (TMO in LA) for months - much better than when I got it in fact.
It's the best Android phone I've used (4.2+ of course is a big factor), and the first one where I haven't really felt the urge to upgrade at all (haven't been convinced by the S4, One, or X).
I think I'd need some combination of ridiculous battery life, way better radios, GoPro3-like video quality, IPX7+, and sunlight viewable screen to get me excited.
I decided against some silly case/screen protector and mine is still looking as it did the day I received it. I see the magic slip feature as a bonus - no need to leave it casually lying around if you know it will fall.
I compared my phone with a friend's iphone - his was bulked out by the obligatory cheap and nasty case. He had the case because he would not be able to afford to replace his phone should it drop. Meanwhile, with the Nexus 4, you can afford two for the price of one lower-resolution screen iphone. Therefore, only when you have smashed one do you 'need' the case...
http://www.spigen.com/brands/google/google-nexus-4-screen-pr...
Didn't slide off anything though, I dropped it pretty harshly onto some concrete.