back to article Google puts Nexus 4 back on sale, sells out pronto

Google’s Nexus 4 smartphone is back on the UK Google Play store, but you’ll have to wait until the new year to get hold of one should you place an order. The LG-made handset has been much in demand and after its launch quickly sold out. Early reports suggested the initial allocation of the secretly 4G smartphone sold out …

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  1. Rob Kendrick
    Meh

    Shipping

    My order confirmation says "Delivered in 3-5 business days". Either Google's shipping estimates are a fine source of entropy, or they had multiple tranches with different shipping windows.

    1. djack

      Re: Shipping

      I say entropy. When I ordered the Nexus 10, it said to expect dispatch in 2-3 weeks.... two days later it was witing for me at a TNT delivery depot.

  2. Stefing
    Happy

    Not 5-6 weeks for everyone

    If (like me) you got your order in in the first 10ish minutes after they appeared - at around 1700 GMT yesterday - your estimated delivery time is 1-2 weeks, after that it's 5-6 weeks, which suggests stock arriving every 4 weeks, which also seems to be the pattern in the US.

    1. Ian McNee
      Go

      Re: Not 5-6 weeks for everyone

      Different supplier naturally but my Nexus 7 3G that the website said would ship in 1-2 weeks last Wednesday arrived on Friday - deep joy!

      Maybe I'm being cynical but perhaps the pessimistic delivery promises are part of the marketing hype? If that's so Google ought to be careful - Apple have probably patented that too...

      </facetious troll>

      1. Stefing

        Re: Not 5-6 weeks for everyone

        Or possibly lowering expectations so that people aren't disappointed but actually pleasantly surprised - which is something Apple certainly don't have a patent on.

        </troll raised to the power troll>

        1. Tom 7

          Re: Not 5-6 weeks for everyone

          Apple may have a Jesus phone but they cant stop Xmas fucking things up for business that doesn’t involve homodegradable* plastic.

          Unless they are part of the unit-cost price for alcohol campaign of course.

          *homodegradeable plastic is that plastic that disintegrates in late January after human contact when the invisible ink on the receipt has faded. It will however last forever in landfill and has the other remarkable property of being impervious to all glues invented by man.

    2. daveake

      Re: Not 5-6 weeks for everyone

      Got my order in at 5:18pm and my confirmation says 1-2 weeks.

    3. Jon Gibbins
      WTF?

      Re: Not 5-6 weeks for everyone

      5pm? I ordered mine (N4 16GB) at about 1.30pm and got the 4-5 weeks notice ... Ah well, wait and see, I guess!

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    8GB? what is it, 2007 all over again?

    1. Silverburn

      8gb in 2007 cost a lot more than this (exc inflation)

    2. Piro

      I agree that 8GB or even 16GB is paltry. It'd be fine with a microSD slot. As it stands, I wouldn't even consider it.

      1. Lunatik

        Horses for courses, not everyone needs OMG TEH MEGGZ. I doubt I've ever had more than 2-3GB of stuff on a phone.

        Even now I have a 32GB device it's mostly empty.

        1. Stefing

          Yep - people just think they'll miss an SD card because they're used to having them - IT'S 16GB FOR FECK'S SAKE - what are they going to do, store BluRays on it?

          I have a Transformer Prime and the SD card has only ever been used for (as it turns out, unnecessary) backups - ditto my previous Samsung Galaxy S3.

          1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

            Stefing,

            I have 25GB of music and 45GB of podcasts on my iPod. I could manage the podcasts better - keep fewer on the device and synch more often if I had to. However I do want my entire music collection available. Otherwise what's the point of having it?

            Also, I've just moved, and found a bunch of un-ripped CDs in boxes, so that music collection's about to get larger. I've not had an Android in a while, but surely with the new better screens, apps are going to be wanting more storage than before as well.

            1. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge

              @¬Spartacus

              I can understand the music. You never know when the mood will take you. And 25GB isn't all that much.

              But 45GB of podcasts?! How many hours is that? Do you just sit there and listen to them, end to end? Have you got every episode of In Our Time word perfect?

              1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
                Happy

                Re: @¬Spartacus

                I'll never listen to all the podcasts. Every time I catch up with one, so I'm listening to it each week as it comes out, I find 2 interesting new ones that I sign up to. By the time I die (at age 2113/4) my relatives will clear out my place and find that they can't move for all the external hard disks with podcasts on them piled throughout my house. Well those and all the books...

                I probably listen to a couple a day on the way to and from work, plus maybe another while I'm cooking dinner. So somewhere from 15-20 a week.

                Then the BBC go and release the entire archive of something like 'In Our Time' and I download them all, deluding myself that I'll actually listen to more than a couple. Although it was interesting listening to all the Alistair Cooke 'Letter from America' talks on Watergate last week.

          2. auburnman

            Why not? Okay, not full BluRays obviously, but a few years back I had to endure a long bus commute twice a day for about 6 months. The only thing that kept me sane was my PSP. Long after I got bored with the games it continued to prove it's worth as I plowed my way through seasons of spooks, Battlestar Galactica etc which had been compressed down onto the card. I can't see why people wouldn't do the same with their phones now that the screen resolutions and available storage space allow it.

            The other thing that makes people stick with removable cards? I can't overstate the convenience of just being able to pull the bloody thing out of the mobile device, whack it into the PC and drag and drop your files like you would any other drive or USB stick vs. Fannying around with proprietary connectors and/or terrible transfer software. Android used to do plug-in drag and drop quite well but they have knackered this a bit in recent updates. I'm sure things will eventually improve, but I'll still stick to a phone that has removable memory just in case.

            1. Mark .

              It's also worth noting that even if you don't remove the card, and just stick with plugging the phone into the PC, separate SD cards have the advantage of being able to be mounted as an external drive, which often isn't possible with internal storage for technical reasons. Though Android does at least support the open standard of MTP, and I like that in Windows for example, this is presented similar to as if it was just another external drive (though indeed, it isn't quite as good, as you say).

          3. Mark .

            "what are they going to do, store BluRays on it?"

            But that's an interesting point in itself, especially if we look at certain tablets that also lack microSD. Given the HD resolutions of phones and tablets, not to mention the higher-than-Full-HD resolutions of the Nexus 10 and recent ipads, and given that one of the primary purposes of these high resolutions (especially for tablets) is for viewing videos, I find myself wondering, how does one store movies with high enough resolution to actually take advantage of it? Full HD Blu-Ray is 25GB per disc. One could perhaps use better codecs, but even at best, IME 40 mins of Full HD is over 1GB, so that space quickly fulls up. And that's using Internet-quality codecs that probably have lower quality anyway, so it's a false economy to have higher resolution if you just end up reducing the quality.

            Of course there's streaming, but not many people are on a plan that can download many GBs per month. So that leaves sitting on the sofa at home, but I'd rather do that on my big LG smart TV, or on a 17" laptop, than having to awkwardly hold a small tablet. I'm not saying there isn't a use, but I do find this obsession of super high resolutions, simultaneously with limited storage space, an odd choice. (And never mind microSDs, I wonder why no one's made a large tablet with a hard disk - if a primary purpose of tablets is to view media, and one can buy small mp3 and video players that have over 100GB of hard disk space, it seems like it should be possible to put that into a larger device?) It would also be fine if there was lots of storage as standard, but many phones/tablets get limited at 16GB (S3 and Nexus 7/10 at least has 32GB option, and the Transformer Prime you mention has up to 64GB).

            This isn't a criticism against the Nexus 4 btw - it's a low cost device with better specs than the competition, despite the lack of microSD, and one can always buy an S3 if you want that. But I do think it's reasonable to criticise limited storage options.

          4. jason 7

            Got 16 GB of fixed storage on my phone. Got all my apps, email etc. in it. Some pictures and video clips.

            Lets see...13.5GB free.

            Oh I so wish I had more.

            Seriously, I cent understand the need to carry my whole 'digital lifestyle' around with me.

            I bet those that scream they need 64GB+ only ever have around 10GB in constant churn the rest sits there unread from the day it was installed.

            1. pepper

              I got Maemo 5, NITDroid and Debian installed on my N900, space used 11.4 GB used out of the 24.4GB assigned as a FAT32 partition. There are remaining partition with the NITDroid install on it to fill it up to 32 GB.

              Oh, and I still have a slot for a external SD card, I plan on using this to install Ubuntu on it. I also use it as a fileserver, backup device, music and video device.

              So yes, some people use the space some dont. And to be fair, is it really that difficult to provide a space for a SD card? My 30 euro MP3 player can accept SD cards to increase storage size!! When I see phones without it I think its a scam to force people into expensive models/replacements.

              1. miknik
                FAIL

                When I see phones without it I think its a scam to force people into expensive models/replacements.

                Its a £239/£279 phone which is better specced than many costing double. I felt like a scammer buying one!

                1. pepper

                  Re: When I see phones without it I think its a scam to force people into expensive

                  Miknik, my point was that my cheapo MP3 even has a SD slot. I understand the Nexus is quite cheap for its specs and really isnt a bad buy.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      Erm, get the 16Gb then...

      if anything trying to store everyone you ever owned on your mobile phone is rather 2007.

      I know iCloud is shit, but don't assume all other cloud systems are....

      1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

        Re: Erm, get the 16Gb then...

        I've no idea if other options are better than iCloud, having never really used it. But I do know that all cloud storage systems are shit, at the point you have no signal. And the point you have no signal, is the very time when you need that file that you stuck in the cloud...

  4. MrWibble

    Ordered at 1705 (in a bit of a rush, as I was on a train with free wifi, and had to get off at 1708!). Order processed and sorted within 2 minutes, and expected delivery within 3-5 days... We'll see how true that is!

    1. jnievele
      Thumb Up

      Same here, 16GB ordered (from Germany) within the first 2 or 3 minutes. Play first said 1-2 weeks, order confirmation said 3-5 business days, and today I got the tracking code for the parcel which is now in the hands of DHL :-)

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Rather cynical

    I was refreshing my browser window for a few minutes after 5pm. At about 5:05pm, the page changed from "Not available" to "order now", but listing "1-2 weeks shipping time", which to me translates as "still out of stock, but pre-order now"...

    Didn't order as I figure I may as well wait until they actually have them.

    1. Stefing

      Re: Rather cynical

      So, you'd rather wait than... wait?

      1. Code Monkey
        Gimp

        Re: Rather cynical

        I can't speak for the OP but I'd rather pay my money with confindence of receiving the phone shortly afterwards. Until then the money can stay in my account.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

        2. Afflicted.John
          Stop

          Re: Rather cynical

          Google does not charge until shipping...

        3. daveake

          Re: Rather cynical

          Well, you don't get charged till it does ship.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      Re: Rather cynical

      Then you will have a long wait. Clearly the tickbox "associate this device with my Google account", means when you order, you actually have a device with a real serial number that's been manufactured, and on it's way. The 1-2 weeks is to get to them and then get to you.

      Either way, your loss, as that batch is now sold out and it's 5-6 weeks, so they are allocating the ones that are being boxed in Korea, rather than the ones that are in transit..

      In short:

      2-3 days "we have them"

      1-2 weeks "they are on their way to us"

      5-6 weeks "they are being prepared to be send to us"

  6. paul 97
    Meh

    17:07

    Ordered at 17:07 - delivery 4-5 weeks :(

    1. Luke McCarthy

      Re: 17:07

      Same here, but I ordered 2 hours later than you.

    2. Bob H
      Go

      Re: 17:07

      17:04 confirmation came through and the order says 1-2 weeks for 16GB

      & For those who say 16GB isn't enough: I would have liked an SD card slot, I probably would have been satisfied with an 8GB model with microSD, but for me I find that my tablet with 16GB is sufficient. I can't put my music on there because that weighs down a NAS, my photos are over 30GB, so I just have some pragmatism or find a 1TB microSD card.

      1. Luke McCarthy

        Re: 17:07

        Download Google Music Manager, tell it where your music is and it will upload it all to Google's servers. Then use the Google Play Music app for Android to play music. Works very well.

  7. Big_Ted

    Ordered a 16 GB at 17:05, delivery 3-5 days

    Then ordered an 8 GB at 17:07, delivery 3-5 days

    Will wait to see but hope for both by mid next week or I will be chasing them for a refund on shipping due to lateness.....

  8. John Moppett

    Keep your money

    Perhaps the poster that said they would keep thier money needs to read Googles T&C. they don't take your money until the item is despatched!

  9. gskr

    Managed to snag a 16Gb one last night @5:10. 1 - 2 weeks away it says - just hoping before Christmas!

    The un-expandable memory is a slight downer - but I figure I can scrape by with 16Gb, and everything else about it is awesome. The killer feature though is that its a pure google phone (sim free) so will get all the future updates from google. Any other android handset has a limited lifespan (without resorting to custom ROMs of course)

  10. Mondo the Magnificent
    Devil

    No stock? Pity us third world residents!

    I get this message from the Play Store "Sorry! Devices on Google Play is not available in your country yet. We're working to bring devices to more countries as quickly as possible.

    Please check back again soon."

    Perhaps it should be named the Google "Nemesis 4" because getting hold of one on this end of the planet will be a fucking nightmare....

    1. Khaptain Silver badge

      Re: No stock? Pity us third world residents!

      Not just in the third world countries, here in Switzerland it's exactly the same

      "Désolé ! Les appareils sur Google Play ne sont pas disponibles dans votre pays pour le moment.".

      Secretive world banking and tax evasion is Ok but not the Nexus 4....

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    but you’ll have to wait until the new year to get hold of one should you place an order.

    Nope, I ordered yesterday, and mine says 1-2 weeks....

  12. Joe A
    Thumb Up

    Joe

    Ordered my 16gb at 1705, and it showed 1-2 weeks. I've heard of some getting 3-5 days earlier as well. There is either more stock of the 16gb version, or lower demand as the 8gb version went to 5-6 weeks much much faster than higher end model.

  13. SiempreTuna
    Thumb Up

    Also ordered around 17:07 ..

    .. delivery quoted as 3-5 days. But then I ordered the less popular 16GB (apparently there are plenty of people who are even tighter than me - who knew?)

    E-mailed the Reg to thank them for not letting the great unwashed know about the new stock until after I'd got my order through - though it seems Google have a lot more phones this time: the 16GB model is still showing as available .. in 6 weeks :)

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    17:08

    Claimed 1-2 weeks in email conf, cant see any update on there :|

  15. Tom 7

    Friend just got one

    but it seems to be too useful - he seems to use it rather than shove it in your face to show you some of the things a computer and phone can do.

  16. Fink-Nottle

    I wonder ...

    .. how many units have been sold worldwide. Anyone care to estimate?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I wonder ...

      30k went in 5 minutes last time around, just in the UK.

      Lets assume all other Euro countries are thee same and US is double that, that's quite alot of phones.

      Going by how much longer the phones lasted this time, and how many more people knew about the Nexus 4, I think it would be safe to say the shipments this time were 4x the size of last time...

      That is of course, just the Google Play store, so not including o2 and CPW sales.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I wonder ...

        Google play isn't available in all EU countries IIRC

  17. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

    Clearly, I'm living under a stone.

    What's up out there?

  18. Andrew Jones 2

    Haven't seen any mention of this but perhaps this is the reason the 16GB is still in stock -

    After you purchase a 16GB Nexus 4 the sale page informs you that you cannot buy another one. The 8GB page however lets you buy two before telling you that you cannot buy any more. Personally I am glad they have imposed the limit as that should help to cut down on the eBay listings. I guess it also shows that lots of phones were bought in November simply to flog them on eBay.

    For info - the order process was still not error free, but I only had to cope with "due to high demand, there was an error processing your order" 6 times before it went through!

    1. Whitter

      Error during ordering process

      I got a garbled error message too: not sure whether I've got one ordered or not as a result. Email says yes; on screen message said no at some point, claiming "errors" would be updated over the next 24hrs. However, if they took any money, that's a contract no matter what their systems do.

      I'm in the 5-6 weeks camp, so imagine they can cope with the odd glitch in ordering in this group.

  19. IHateWearingATie
    Thumb Down

    Storage too small for us cheapskates...

    ... with limited bandwidth in our bundles. Cloud services (such as spotify) are fine, but my paltry 500Mb a month gets eaten pretty quickly (it is however a very cheap bundle)

    With a decent amount of music, apps, a couple of Peppa Pig videos for the kids and a bunch of photos I'm already over 16Gb.

    Shame really - I was hoping to replace my iPhone with one of these at some point :(

    1. Luke McCarthy

      Re: Storage too small for us cheapskates...

      You're a cheapskate yet you own a >16GB iPhone?

    2. Afflicted.John

      Re: Storage too small for us cheapskates...

      Principal reason why I am switching to £12 per month GiffGaff. I fought hard before I took back my Nexus 4 to CPW as the data tariff was not good enough. And it was too bloody expensive.

      My better judgement got the better of me last night and I reordered. I will make the damn cloud work for me damn damnit! Otherwise the stunningly glorious Nexus 4 will become bitter and twisted like me...

      1. Richard Barnes

        Re: Storage too small for us cheapskates...

        If there's still time before you switch, you might want to search the Reg's forums for comments on GiffGaff - it's not universal praise by any means.

  20. Afflicted.John

    A tale of two geeks...

    Oh and check out a running commentary on my order with a fellow geek here: reading back the SMS trail I thought it was funny (but then I would)...

    http://www.androidgenus.com/news/miscellany/ordering-the-nexus-4-a-tale-of-two-texts/

  21. Mark Stronge

    Ordered at 17:10 and it said 1-2 weeks. I unticked the associate with my google account - what was that about?

    1. MrWibble

      Simply that when you get it out of the box, it connects to google for you - saves you typing in your details / time on set up.

      Plus, if you've already got an android, it'll automatically download your apps for you.

    2. Alan Edwards
      Happy

      If you associate it with your account it'll set Gmail up for you, and drag in wifi passwords, email accounts etc. from any other Android device you've got (maybe only Android 4 or higher).

      It also installs apps you've put on the other devices. It may be only ones you've still got, I can;t remember.

  22. Martin
    Happy

    Just in case anyone is doing some sort of survey...

    ...my confirmation email (at 17:11) said 1-2 weeks. (16G).

    So, given luck and a following wind, I should have it by Christmas.

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    2GB of RAM? It's a phone!

    1. Luke McCarthy

      Wrong! It's a portable computer with cellular connectivity. I look forward to the coming 4GB and 8GB "phones".

  24. Tony Paulazzo
    Gimp

    Goddamnit! Now I want one, after reading all the comments, and how I can't actually have one... Why am I so weak?

  25. Dapprman

    Just looked now (UK Google Play site)

    And they still have 16GB versions going with 5-6 weeks delivery time, 8 GB obviously all sold out.

    Got one in my basket at the moment, I only just about 4.5GB on my Desire Z (phone and 8 GB micro-SD), just thinking about it, oh and the £10 P&P they want to charge.

  26. Surreal
    Thumb Up

    Got one, not from Google tho

    I wandered into a T-Mobile store two weeks ago and was surprised to score their last 12GB Nexus 4 (I'm in Arizona, fyi). Now the missus has my venerable Blackberry, and I've got a "relatively huge" network device clamped to my belt.

    One downside, one-day battery-life aside, is the lack of a proper case for it. I bought an Otterbox from Amazon and had to perform surgery with a dremel tool, adding holes for the camera, flash, and most importantly, the proximity detector on the top-left of the display. Without the prox detector uncovered, it assumed that it was constantly mashed against my ear, making it impossible to hang up a call without powering the device off.

    The Otterbox also makes it a big ol' device, instead of the shiny, slim, metrosexual accessory that it so yearns to be. I'll live, and so will it, even after I inevitably drop it on a hard surface.

    I also had to download a 3rd-party volume-control app to be able to actually hear the remote end of a phone call. That's just weird, but problem solved.

    I'm rather enjoying running approximately the same OS on my phone as I do on my desktop (RHES 5.8, btw).

  27. Jason Hindle Silver badge

    Are Google trying to flood the market with these phones

    They would seem to have deep enough pockets to do so if they wish. Assuming they're shipping in sufficient numbers and still not keeping up with supply, this could change the the face of the smartphone markets they're entering.....

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Are Google trying to flood the market with these phones

      They probably just aren't making all that many. Certainly not the at the rate Apple stamps out iPhone 5s and Samsung stamps out GS3s. They have to walk a line between meeting demand and keeping their partners happy.

      If the demand was high enough and production fast enough that it became the #1 selling Android phone, I don't think Samsung would be too happy about that. This is what they were worried about with the Motorola acquisition, though perhaps to smooth ruffled feathers they had LG produce this one. It may not steal sales from the GS3, but it would be stealing sales from Samsung's mid range offerings. As Samsung goes more dominant, the risk that they consider forking Android increases, which an outcome I'm sure Google wants to avoid.

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Order times

    It'd be interesting to hear as and when you all receive your various Nexii. I got my order in for a 16Gb model about 1708 yesterday and got a confirmation email at 1710. I have an estimated delivery in 1-2 weeks, like others who got theirs at the same time. No dispatch notice in my inbox today I'm sorry to say.

    All the chat about the lack of storage got me thinking - I'm replacing a Nexus S with the new Nexus 4 so I'm replacing 16Gb non-expandable memory with the same. A quick audit of my current phone shows that I'm actually only using 7Gb of the available flash memory - much of which is email attachments / contents of the download folder which I could happily clear out, but I still couldn't bring myself to stump for the 8Gb model. The lack of expandable storage is annoying, but from Google's point of view, it's likely to cause a shift towards the use of Drive which would work out well for them...

  29. Norweegie

    Shipped already

    I ordered Tuesday evening and it reported a wait of 5-6 weeks, but I just received a shipped notification for my 8GB Nexus 4.

  30. AlexS
    Thumb Up

    Bought mine at 9pm last night. Today it was out for dispatch. Hopefully will get it tomorrow or Friday.

    1. Martin
      Unhappy

      Anyone got a "despatched" note for a 16G yet?

      Just wondering...

      1. Retuer
        Meh

        Re: Anyone got a "despatched" note for a 16G yet?

        Not here - email states 3-5 working days - today's day three...

  31. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Patience is a virtue

    There will always be something far more exciting available in 12 months time. (That's what I tell myself anyway, since I am currently half way through a contract.)

  32. Paul Harrow
    Thumb Up

    Nexus 4 Shipping now

    I ordered mine on the 4th at 7:42pm.

    It originally said delivery 4 - 5 weeks but shipped last night with TNT for delivery today.

    1. Dr Rob
      Happy

      Re: Nexus 4 Shipping now

      Similarly! Ordered 16GB model on the 4th Dec, quoted 4-5 weeks, arriving this afternoon, 3 days later! Brill.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        FAIL

        Re: Nexus 4 Shipping now

        That sucks. Ordered my 16Gb at 17:09 with estimated 3-5 day delivery - so far NOTHING.

        I see Google are opting for the pot luck delivery system.

        1. Fink-Nottle
          Unhappy

          Re: Nexus 4 Shipping now

          Pot luck indeed! I wonder if it has anything to do with payment method or location?

          N4 (16GB) - 5:06:14 PM - Mastercard - Edinburgh - 1-2 weeks estimated delivery.

        2. Retuer
          Flame

          Re: Nexus 4 Shipping now

          Finally got an update from Google on my 3-5 day delivery order:

          They've admitted on the phone to shipping them in the wrong order, and in an email this morning have informed me that they're now out of stock, and my device is on back order with a 4-5 week lead time.

          Not impressed. Not one bit. But on a brighter note - they've generously agreed that after shipping they'll refund the enforced £9.99 delivery charge. Not sure that' really good enough though, do you?

  33. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    survey

    I got the string

    Estimated Ship: 1-2 weeks

    with an order date of

    Order date: Dec 4, 2012 9:14:05 AM PST

    or 17:14 UK time..I think...

    Time will tell......

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