The biggest problem most people have encountered with the LG-manufactured Google Nexus 4 so far seems to be getting a hold of one. The Nexus 4 supply disaster has generated quite a few headlines, but at least it shows demand is strong. Reviews have been good (here’s our Google Nexus 4 review) and there’s no doubt the Nexus 4 represents great value for money. Fans of the pure Android experience will have a tough time seeing past it right now.
Every device has its teething problems and quirky issues tend to rear their ugly heads soon after launch. In this roundup, we identify some commonly reported Nexus 4 problems that some owners may encounter and we try to find solutions.
Problem: Cracked glass back
Just like the iPhone 4 and 4S, the Nexus 4 has a glass back panel. It’s a stylish look, but there is obviously a risk that it will crack, especially if you drop it. There have been several reports of back cover cracks after knocks and drops.
Workaround: Get a case or a screen protector for the back. If you use a good Nexus 4 case or screen protector, you should be able to avoid any cracks in the first place. And if you’ve already got a crack on that back panel, a case could be used to hide it.
Solution: Send it back to LG for repair. This will cost you $64. You can contact LG or contact Google to arrange it.
Problem: Buzzing earpiece
There have been quite a few complaints about a buzzing sound coming from the Nexus 4 earpiece or speaker. This sound is present for some people outside of calls, whether the screen is on or off. Some reports have also complained about hissing and static distorting calls. A slight buzz when you hold a phone right up to your ear, even when the screen is off, is not unusual and it’s probably not something you’d notice, but if it’s audible without holding it close, you may have a problem.
Solution: Contact Google, LG, or the retailer/carrier where you bought it and get a replacement. The voice call quality on the Nexus 4 should be excellent so if you’re getting distortion it’s probably the hardware at fault. You also shouldn’t be experiencing an audible buzz during normal circumstances.
Problem: Camera won’t take a photo
If you’ve ever gone to take a photo with your Nexus 4 and tapped the blue circle to no avail, know that you’re not alone. There have been quite a few reports of the camera freezing and refusing to take a photo. Some people have also reported that the flash will not turn on. There isn’t a permanent fix for this yet.
Workarounds:
- You can always reboot the phone by holding the Power button down and choosing Reboot. This will reset the camera and it should work as normal, but the problem may reoccur.
- You can switch to video mode for a second and take a short video and then switch back to camera again and it should work as normal. Again, the problem might reoccur.
Problem: Yellow tint on the screen
Some new Nexus 4 owners have reported a yellow tint or even a yellow blob on the display. It seems to be most commonly seen on the left side near the bottom and some users report it being more noticeable after gaming or after the device heats up. This has actually been a common issue for smartphones in general. It cropped up with the iPhone 5 and the Sony Xperia S.
Possible solutions:
- Some people have suggested this is caused by the glue and that once it dries completely you won’t see the yellow tint anymore. You could wait a while and see if it resolves itself, but it really shouldn’t take more than a few days to disappear if that is the issue.
- You could try calibrating the screen, but the popularly suggested Faux Clock app requires you to root the device.
- Contact Google, LG, or your carrier/retailer to arrange a replacement.
Problem: Overheating
Every smartphone will heat up when you use it, especially if you use it for extended periods of time, or run intensive games or apps, but it shouldn’t get uncomfortably hot. Some users have encountered problems with the Nexus 4 heating up when they are online using Chrome. Many suggest that using Google Earth for a few minutes causes their Nexus 4 to get very hot; others suggest it is related to calls or apps. In extreme cases, the Nexus 4 is getting hot enough that it is automatically shutting down.
Solution: Depending on where you bought the phone, you should contact Google, LG, or the retailer and get a replacement device.
Problem: Random rebooting
Some users have reported random rebooting and the occasional shut down of their Nexus 4. This is most likely linked to the Android 4.2.1 update and incompatible apps. If you had a lot of apps installed and then updated to 4.2 then it’s possible one of the apps is not playing nice with the latest version of the operating system.
Possible solutions:
- You could check which apps are running by going to Settings > Application manager and looking at the Running tab and then try removing them one at a time. If you remove one and the reboot happens again, you can eliminate that app from your investigation. Rinse and repeat until you find the culprit.
- Do a factory reset to delete everything by going to Settings > Backup & reset > Factory reset and enter your pattern, password, or PIN when prompted, then tap Erase everything.
Problem: Proximity sensor turning screen off during calls
A few people have encountered an issue where they make a call and the screen turns itself off during the call and then it remains black when the call ends. This could be caused by a screen protector, in which case it’s easy to fix (See: solution 1). However, if the screen doesn’t turn off when you hold it up to your ear, or you continue to encounter problems with no screen protector on the phone, then you might have a hardware fault (See: solution 2).
Possible solutions:
- Remove your screen protector. If the screen protector doesn’t have a cutout for the proximity sensor, then you should get a different screen protector or cut a hole in your existing one.
- You should get a replacement phone from wherever you bought your Nexus 4.
Problem: Poor battery life
A lot of people complain about poor battery life with the Nexus 4, but this is a very common complaint for all smartphones. Your battery life depends entirely on how you use your device. You can get some insight into what is eating your battery by going to Settings > Battery. It is unlikely to be a hardware fault.
Possible solutions:
- Turn off anything you aren’t using: NFC, Bluetooth, GPS, mobile data, etc.
- Reduce screen brightness.
- Turn off automatic updates of accounts like Facebook within the relevant app.
- Watch out for battery hogging apps in Settings > Battery.
That’s it for common Nexus 4 problems and suggested solutions. When we say “common” we mean the problems that have cropped up the most in forums and at Google support. Like most smartphones and tablets on the market, it is generally only a very small percentage of users who encounter issues.
If you have any Nexus 4 fixes or workarounds that aren’t listed, or you’ve encountered another problem, please post a comment and share it.
I use the Juice defender free app and it has greatly increased by battery life. Never had an issue since installing that app.
Really good article. Thanks.
One of my friend is facing the overheating problem. It started after 20 mins from unboxing nexus 4.
I bought 2 Nexus 4, both work perfectly. Google Now really help me a lot, photo instant upload is a super good function, 8G storage is never a problem for me. And the event indicate light is so useful, different color means different event, One of my friend use iphone 4s, he envy this function so much, haha.
I received my Nexus 4 about four days ago and besides mediocre battery life..there appears to be a dust spot inside the actual camera mechanism. The outer glass is in perfect condition and I’ve tried multiple camera apps so it’s an anomaly with the camera sensor. It’s such a bummer because I’ve been waiting since November for this damn phone. You get what you pay for I guess.
I heard the 4.2.2 update helps with the rebooting issue.
I’ve Android 4.2.2 and always rebooting problems.
My friend, my wife had that problem, and I had to isntall all of her favorite programs one bye one every week. I discover that the problam was cause by one of them. The issue was solved not installing that program again. Cheers.
Was it Dropbox?
Hi, it was something called “Virtual Secretary”. The only way to detected, is make a list of all your programs, restart the phone, install one program, and use the phone normally for about 2 days, you will feel if the program recently installed produce an undesired behavior of the phone. Hope it helps. Cheers
we have 2 handsets my husband and eye, both 16 GB. mine has ear piece buzz but only during some call! in some calls it is really irritating that i either hang up or use headphones.
My husband’s mobile is excellent and had no issues, few times camera crashed and once or twice rebooted.
today we got 4.2.2 update hope it is good
I cracked my front screen can i still send to LG or Google to fix it ??
If you have insurance, go through your phone company. If not LG would be the next step, though you’d get quicker results going to a local shop to get it fixed, probably will cost you less also.
Is this fixed? I also had same problem? What solution you did?
Bought N4 last week. I let it run flat yesterday. Plugged in charger. Nothing happened. Charger’s fine (works with my old HTC). tried holding down open/close button for +/- 10 secs. Nothing. Anyone have suggestions?
Did you buy it from Google? If yes,when did you order it and how long did it take to receive it?
I purchased a Nexus 4 because I liked my rooted Nexus 7 so much. The idea of wireless charging was very appealing. Unfortunately I was forced to return the phone to Google yesterday. I had great difficulty connecting to wifi networks even when I was only 6 feet away from the router. When the plastic protector is removed from the back, the phone would not stay on the wireless ball charger. It would slide off and fail to charge. I had high hopes for this device, but is a massive fail. I found the battery life to be very mediocre. It lacks an SD expansion slot. My recommendation is to avoid this phone, because it suffers from just too many serious bugs. Plus Google’s customer support is at times extremely poor.
I bought my google nexus 4 from UK . In India when i am using with Vodafone network most of the time i am not able to either receive or make a call and the people say that the no. is not reachable. Can you please help me in how to overcome this problem
One of the most annoying issues is , cant pick up call most of the times as touch is disabled. Phone keeps ringing and you cannot not drag to pick up the call.
Here the problem I’ encountering: I often get the comment from people I talk with, that the volume of my voice drops as if I was holding my phone mic away from my mouth. But I talk still and also don’t put my finger on the mic.
Anyone having similar issues? Evtl. some mic calibration involved? I also have some sound analysing apps installed (decibel, Noise Meter): possible influence/conflict?
Lastly: when rcording a concert sound is horrible! Is there a way to regulate the input level of the mic or is there a video-app that allows this? Or an app allowing to record with an external mic?
Looking forward to your answers ;-)
Seb
Going in and out of range, I find that often the phone doesnt pick up T-mobile (UK) signal again. Solved by turning airplane mode off and on and it regains signal this way. Sometimes it displayed 00000 instead of the network (and has no network access) – again solved by using airplane mode.
Anyone else had this?
I got Nexus 4 just a week back.When I make a call,screen turns into black and I cannot have a control to cancel the call for few seconds. It’s torturing.
I am experiencing a very peculiar problem with my nexus 4 here in India. When someone calls me on my number, he would get ringing tone in his phone but there won’t be any ring in my phone but if I press the lock/unlock button, my phone would start ringing. This happens in more than 5 out of 10 times one calls me. Can someone please help me and let me know whether this is a software or a hardware problem and what should I do?
I guess even I have faced this..couple of times I felt my be I wasn’t near the phone but this has happened sometimes even when I am sure I didn’t moved out of the room. Any suggestion ?
I bought my nexus 4 here in India from someone who had got it from USA. I am facing a peculiar problem with my phone which is that when a caller calls my number, he will get the ringing tone, but there will be no ringing on my phone. But if I press the screen lock/unlock button while someone is calling, my phone would start ringing. This does not happen every time as sometimes my phone receives calls normally also. Can someone help me and let me know whether this is a software or a hardware problem and what should I do?
If your GPS drops off line (as noted in Google Maps as “Searching for GPS”) uninstall Yahoo Weather. While a very nice app, Yahoo weather appears to have a confict with the Nexus 4 GPS.
Nexus 4 for third party application’s like Skype and Fring is a disaster.Dont understand why the proximity sensor keep’s on blacking out the screen during video call’s.
Is it a problem with my Nexus 4 or anybody else have the same issue.
I bought the Nexus 4 couple of days prior and admit it is has been a disaster since then.
Nexus 4 has issue’s with proximity sensor for third party application’s.
When iam talking with my friends over a video call using Skype or Fring the Screen just blacks out for no reason and comes back again and sometimes wont for many time’s though have the Proximity sensor area uncovered.
Is it just with my Nexus 4 or all of you facing same issues using skype or fring?
My n4 is 2 months old since i got it. Its really a great device until i got a problem with my power button. I have to press soo hard if i want to wake or lock my phone. It really make me disappointed. Anyone of u have the same problem as mine?? If so, what’s the solution to fix it? But i don’t wanna root it in order to install the touch control app. So sad ;(
Bought my Nexus 4 few months ago. I was never too happy with the performance. Very often I lose connection during live streaming. I setup 4 email accounts and only the google and yahoo ones seem to work fine. My wireless’ service provider one is losing connection and I get a message “cannot sign in” which means the inbox doesn’t sincronize. When I check emails on my desktop, I see a lot of them that don’t show up on my phone. On top of it, the phone doesn’t syncronize/communicate properly through my car (Acura RDX 2013) bluetooth. I can use the phone in receive mode but is not uploading phonebook and call history or rather it seems to do it but after few seconds is greyed out and I cannot access it. Can any of you give me some hints? thanks!
Sometimes, when I accidentally call a wrong number and want to cancel the call, the screen turns black during the first seconds of the call and there’s NO WAY I can cancel the call. Even pressing the on/off button to try to get a response from the phone (and get the screen on again) won’t cancel the call. This happened to me at least 5 times and it’s REALLY annoying!!
one of the most frustrating issues with my nexus 4 is entering the date and time of a new event in the calendar. the scroll moves so fast that it overshoots most of the time and so it is back and forwards,back and forwards until finally it stops in the right spot. surely google could fix this.
During a call, I am often unable to bring up the touch screen and the power button is unresponsive.
I have bought a Google Nexus 4 couple of days back. The phone was alright when I have started using it. But from last evening it started creating problem and the problem is
When I make calls through my GSM operator other party can’t listen to me. But when I make internet call through SIP other party can listen to me clearly.
I purchased my new nexus 4 in January 2013 since then I have been back and forth to the mercedes showroom complaint that there is something wrong with the car as my new phone pairs up with the car but I have no audio for calls although it does ring out and in but neither party can converse!! This is very annoying as iris essential that I have blue tooth facility in h car. I finally have just had the mot latest software update on the car. Sadly this has not resolved he problem and I am being told that the phone in to compatible with my mercedes a class 61 plate. This situation requires googles immediate attention to resolve as I currently campaigning 3 to give me a new phone as they did not tell me about the fault. Please advise?
Geez, so many problems. Thought I would add the other side and let readers know, I have had mine for about 2 months and I have not had any problems. Battery life brilliant, gets me through a day easily even with use of my apps. Great phone.
Hai, i have a problem with my nexus 4..My song have a different picture album art..but why, when i transfer my song via usb cable, all the picture album art are same picture..why?can u tell me why? thank you.. NB: SOrry my english not good
aaa…when i keep it charging and is shut down shows me download mode…but its updated already… and i try to start it it doesnt…the phone is crap…restarts… overheat…that thing with the camera.. almost all ive seen on this report…they told me will fix it 3 times and then change it…i think it is lame…
ny nexus 4 is a crap
I have a problem, I woke up three days ago and my nexus 4′s screen had cracked. My phone was on charge overnight, I haven’t dropped it it goes from handbag, to desk to ear. it is 6 weeks old. I still has the screen protector it came in plus a hard back cover. first I was told that the warranty didn’t cover the screen, four conversations later I persuaded them i wasn’t lying and the screen had broken without me knowing why, i was referred to a specialist team 4 hours later I received an email saying that they would replace my phone, with no mention of payment. 24 hours later they sent an email saying i had been misinformed and that i would have to pay for this. So my advise, don’t buy this phone it has either cracked while on charge in the middle of the night or the movement from handbag to desk to ear has been so rough that it cracked after 6 weeks of use!! not fit for purpose and google aren’t fit for customer service
My phone does not indicate missed calls. I have to proactively access the list to see if there were any. For me this is a huge minus.
Text messages delivery report won’t work for me. I use at&t now and before I had T-Mobile and it worked. Anyone have the same problem? Please help!
My wife and I both have Nexus 4 and love them. Yesterday we were charging both phones and her phone was making a clicking noise and screen was jumping like it was corrupted. Took charger cable out and it stopped, put it back in and again the same problem. Shut down phone 3 times before it stopped happening. When charger was connected it lost % of battery life.
Hello, I just want to say that i have the problem of random rebooting, but often when I receive a call or a SMS, and with that I’ve cracked sound when playing audio file (sometimes when the phone rings, often when I just play a file). Has somebody hear that for a problem of the Nexus 4? Thank you for this nice blog.
using this device after s3.working perfect faster than s3..only battery issue solved by just installing GT battery saver from play store…..now device is perfect and love it…………………….
I have my Nexues 4 just 1 week, and last nite seem it is over heat, the next day the phone just completely shoot down, I push the restart button , but completely not work, and recharged it 5 hours, It still completely shoot down, even push hardly the restart button. no way.
I buy it online, now. I don’t know where to fix it. is there any workshop to fix it?
Very few micro usb chargers will work on it, why? I also have a moto photon, and any charger i connect w/it works perfectly.
Where do my emails go, they pop up for about 5 seconds but then disappear and I can’t find them.