By 
With high-demand for the reasonably priced Nexus 4, LG has been kicking their factories into overtime, pumping out as many devices as they can to minimize wait time for eager backorders. But sometimes when you ramp up production, quality control can suffer as a result.
We’re not sure if that’s what’s going on today, after reading reports from some users who received the “2nd batch” of Google’s Nexus 4’s only with something missing. Namely, the flashy backing of the device featuring a glittery pixel pattern. Apparently, now it’s a lot less… bedazzled. In fact, attempting to view the design from any angle, in any lighting, no longer yields a glint or shimmer anywhere. Of course, depending on your preference, this could actually be a good thing.
Still, some are wondering if this was an intentional move by LG to address concerns of the back glass cracking without much effort. It’s possible LG could be using a different material than the original (read: extremely fragile) glass backing found in the initial batch. As a result, the glitter just doesn’t shine like it used to. Of course, there’s still the very real possibility that glitter doesn’t come cheap and they’re merely pulling back to avoid a world wide glitter shortage. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to live in a world like that.
But we’re curious. If you received a Nexus 4 from the infamous “2nd batch,” are you finding it difficult to find the glitter on the back of your device? Is it there at all? Let’s take a quick poll:
[polldaddy poll=6804379]
UPDATE: There’s seems to be some confusion regarding the image used in the article. This was never meant to show the glitterless backing reported by some users. It was an image grabbed from the source article showing simply put: an image of the Nexus 4. Nothing more. It’s since been changed to another image of the device showing… you know, the back.
Apparently, some mistakenly took this post as factual, though nothing was ever stated as a fact. Far from it. We were simply letting you guys know about the article (which some are calling a scam site), asking if any of our readers noticed the same. At the time of writing, LG had been contacted and we’re still waiting to hear back from them. Title of the article has also been edited for added clarity.
Thanks, YourMainDude!
[via Autoomobile | XDA]
Got mine on Monday and it was probably Ke$ha’s.
hahahahahahahahaahahahaha!!! Best laugh all day!!
If it smells like a bottle of Jack, then it’s probably hers.
I just hope it’s not going to die young.
Who? I’m ollllld
If you think Manuel`s story is neat,, a month ago my dads girlfriend
basically earned $7829 putting in a 20 hour week in their apartment and
they’re classmate’s sister-in-law`s neighbour did this for eight months
and got over $7829 parttime from a laptop. the guide on this address, jump15.comCHECK IT OUT
Who’s Manuel?? I don’t know if I can trust him when he keeps linking me to spam websites…
How long ago did you order it? I can’t seem to find an estimated wait time *anywhere*.
November 28th 4-5 weeks, received Monday
Typical LG POS logic! Throw quality right out the door….oh wait, they were to have quality control in the first place?!?
Do you even have a Nexus 4? It feels great in hand. Runs like usain bolt too.
First it is an LG and second I am on Verizon…so no. I like phones that are actually new and not 2011 rehashes.
Just because the face looks similar to the Galaxy Nexus doesn’t mean it’s a soulless rehash. Have you seen the whole phone? The software is the main drive when it comes to a Nexus, anyways. But LGs higher level of design quality compared to Samsung’s is a big deal to.
I’m sorry, but you need to go find one and actually use one. I don’t care if you’re on verizon, that isn’t my problem. The Nexus 4’s screen is better, the processor is way faster, its just a really nice phone. LG made a really nice phone. Quit complaining about it. It’s 300 off contract. Go find something that competes with it.
Quality built wise LG is right up there with HTC. If not better.
HTC…you aren’t really helping your argument.
What’s wrong with htc? Yes, Motorola is up there in quality build but there is nothing wrong with htc’s build quality. And LG is only screwing up in software. Hardware has been pretty decent.
You’ve not had an N4, have you? Mine came new out of the box with a ding in the paint and a buzzing earpiece (and that’s a common known fault of the handset) – amongst other issues (washed out screen, awful touch response, rubbish camera).
I wasn’t prepared to pay for that sort of poor design and build quality, no matter how cheap. The only thing that phone had going for it was the software, and that’s because LG had absolutely nothing to do with it. Everything else about the phone was “meh” at best and “this is very bad” at worst.
EDIT – oh, apart from it looked quite pretty.
How does the lack of a Twilight Saga backing affect the quality of the phone? I’d prefer it without it, but if you’re buying a Nexus 4, it’s for the whole phone and not the glitter.
Glitter = Ghetto
Glitter=Ghetto lol if you have glitter in the ghetto you’re a mark man
Because you see so much of it there…
I got mine and it was a lot more subtle than I thought it would be. I’ve got it in a case anyways, but the way it showed up in reviews it was like hyper glitter.
The AP review specifically made an effort to represent the glitter accurately; I love my glittery bedazzled phone.
Yeah, I mean I was in anyway, but I think mine doesn’t look quite like the ones in the reviews. I don’t care either way. I love it.
Glitter is not for me.
Yes, just stay there in the closet.
tugging away on his 9mm
Hey, people can be as kinky as they want in their closet… no judgement by me.
I really hope you aren’t that uncomfortable with your sexuality that you can’t have a phone with a slightly shimmery backside.
Actually, I’m comfortable enough with my sexuality to know that glitter is something I DON’T want. If I was confused with my sexuality, THEN I would probably sport glitter. BTW your response is not your own. You’re just a sheep repeating what other sheep keep repeating: Baa-ahh…..
This isn’t any ordinary glitter though, this is man-glitter.
Glitter shouldn’t make you question your sexuality. If you were comfortable you should be able to walk down the street in pink shorts doing cartwheels whether you are straight or gay knowing it doesn’t matter. That is being secure.
I can understand how society wants you to think that is normal, but for me that is not. We are all entitled to our set of morals and values, and for me, that is a little on the gay side, to do cartwheels in pink shorts. You guys can down vote all you want. I’m proud not be a sheep.
You sound like an ignorant fool. Not all gay men are the stereotypical feminine type with sugar in their walk doing cartwheels in pink shorts. Yes, SOME are super flamboyant. However, the majority are very straight and masculine in appearance. There are many gay men, who unless they told you they were gay you would never know. They serve in the military, they play professional sports, they work in Silicon Valley engineering the products you buy. Go to West Hollywood and 99.9 percent of them look like muscle head body builders that could probably put you in a head lock. Would you like it if someone stereotyped you as a white trash hillbilly NRA freak based upon your picture? Gay teens around the country grow up in pain and commit suicide because of stupid comments like yours. Frankly, you can take your morals and values and shove them.
IF you would have paid attention to the conversation, I’m not the one that brought up cartwheels in pink shorts, someone else did. Secondly, I happen to work in an industry where there are alot of gay men, and like you say, some of them you would never guess were gay. Also, making assumptions about people shows your level of intellect.
Wouldn’t go with the gun toting image – not good for the self esteem.
WOW you love the phone so much, that you will make any excuse for it’s downfalls, eh?
edit, wrong place.
What i’m talking about, is people in the Nexus cult, blindly accept any Nexus device, regardless if it has downsides. Like Glitter. Like non-removable storage. Like non-removable battery. Shall I continue?
better than my g1 lol
That’s sad, that we have to compare a “flagship” device to a BETA device, to justify it’s merits.
its a good phone for the price, and im guessing google isnt thinking about becoming the number one phone in the world… sooooooo
er NO !
If people are happy with it, they buy it, if they’re not, they don’t,
There is no cult.
There is a cult. You must not see it. I like every Nexus device EXCEPT the Nexus 4. My Nexus cult membership was revoked because I dared stand up to the design flaws of the Nexus 4.
Glitter and Semi Automatics don’t mix
OK – I’ll be your only +1 in -11
Now… excuse me while I secretly bedazzle your gun collection and place a hidden camera for youtube gold… :)
I sure got raped here today for expressing my dislike of glitter LOL
oh xda and your polls lol
…phandroid.
It glitters…must be a vampire!
Or a stripper.
Just sayin’
If my glitter ain’t on my phone, RMA immediately. Hard being an android pimp these days; no gots to have that glitter. lol.
Chris !!! Stop the madness !!! We have grown men in here arguing & fighting over….glitter ? WTF ???
Glitter is pimpin..
Who said they were grown men?
RIGHT?! Lmfao
I ordered my Nexus4 on Nov 28th and I got it on Dec 31 2012. My phone is all shiny like everyone elses
Why so much hate over glitter?
Oh noes GLITTERGATE!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, i was unfortunately not able to order one yet, but I want the fancy back thing…. dang it
Sounds like you took the bait for a fake story here phandroid.
Here’s how the article came about: Noticed users on XDA reporting that their devices didn’t have the glitter. Was wondering if our readers noticed the same. Asked LG about it too.
Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Until someone can prove that some XDA members and 91 of our readers (from the poll) are lying, this post was meant to be nothing more than a report. Not fact.
Just like when users in the forums report reception issues, or earpiece crackling, or Galaxy S3 mother hard bricks — we reach out to our readers, asking them if they’ve noticed similar, while also asking the manufacturer for comment.
Well I just voted on your poll that mine has no glitter. Mostly because I found it funny that you fell for this hoax. I know of one other person that skewed your polling results as well, so i’m pretty sure the other 100+ either are screwing with you, or do not know exactly what you’re asking. I don’t even own a Nexus 4.
Online everyone is guilty! Yes, I know what you did last summer!
I think it looks better this way honestly. The glittery crap looks awfully gaudy and loud.
THANK YOU!
You’d have to see it in person. It’s actually not as shimmery as some pics make it out to be.
Maybe this is the reason for not being in stock ?
Hmmmm…. Good point.
I got one for my son that arrived today. It wouldn’t have bothered him if it didn’t have it but alas it does shimmer like Edward in a rain forest.
Got mine on Monday and it has glitter. Not like I really care one way or the other :P
Journalism fail. Way to fall for someone else’s bs story! http://www.androidcentral.com/those-glitterless-nexus-4-stories-are-bullshit?utm_source=ac&utm_medium=twitter
Okay, this issue was reported by members on XDA. This article was merely reporting on THAT, asking if any of our readers noticed similar. I don’t get it?
Journalism? It’s a blog…..
http://www.androidcentral.com/those-glitterless-nexus-4-stories-are-bullshit
Been questioning Phandroid for awhile now, shame to see what this blog has become.
What’s there to question? This article was merely stating that some users from XDA said their Nexus 4’s didn’t feature a glittery battery cover, and I was asking if anyone noticed something similar.
We reached out to LG for comment — at the time of writing — and will update with another post once/if they do so. Thanks.
Firstly, if you even bothered to read the XDA thread you cited as a source, you would find that only one person in that entire 13-page thread claimed he didn’t have a “sparkly” back, but then a page or two later said that he looked again and it did have the actual pattern, just not as sparkly as he thought it would be. A reasonable person such as yourself who has no doubt at least read a few reviews of the Nexus 4 should have been able to deduce that he was likely not looking at it in the right light or at the right angle, since the “glittery” effect is muted depending on the angle and the light that hits it, and it probably means nothing.
Loads of other people in that same thread chimed in and said the glass back of their just received devices had the glittery backing. So where are these “users” that you claim to source? I’m assuming you didn’t read your own source, or if you did it was only through the first couple of pages. I know we shouldn’t hold bloggers to journalistic standards, but that’s just poor blogging.
Secondly, the other “source” article should have never been cited in the first place, as it is a completely unreliable source of information and shouldn’t be thought of to have any integrity. As you already have found out, all they did was steal a picture that Phil from AC took in their review of the N4 and claimed it showed a device without a glittery back. It wouldn’t have taken a very long time to do some fact checking to see if the picture was authentic (actually, all you had to do was go over to the AC review and look there for the same exact picture). Combine that with the fact that the XDA article itself was completely based on THIS same source (not the other way around as you are trying to get people to believe in your other comments), and yeah, it’s poor blogging.
And this is what I mean when I said I was questioning you guys. Any person with a reasonable intelligence level who would put in at least 10 minutes of research before writing a single word woud have concluded that this was all BS, and never would have posted this story. And like I said before, I know we shouldn’t hold bloggers to actual journalistic standards, but the fact that more reputable blogs didn’t even bother to run this story (probably because they put some thought into it beforehand) shows that there are more reliable sources of information in the blogosphere.
And yes, Chris, this story is BS. 100 percent. Instead of running from it by saying you were just reporting blah blah blah, at least own up to it and say this was false.
First: Nobody said this was FACT. Nothing in my article stated it as such. I looked upon the source article skeptically and wanted to get further input from our readers to see if they experienced a similar. If nobody voted an absence of glitter from there devices we would have proved the source false. There are millions of images of the Nexus 4 posted on the web, it’d be silly to cross reference every. single. image. of the Nexus 4 with AC. I can’t believe you’d even suggest that. As far as sources go, no source is every 100% reliable and when they’re not, we use proper wording in our article so that our readers know it is such.
Hey Chris, I can fly. No really, when I hold my Galaxy S3 in my left hand, and flap my right arm vigorously I lift off the ground and can soar with the eagles. You probably should write up a quick story and seek further input from your readers. It would be silly for me to cross reference any video proving I CAN fly, and I doubt you’d even suggest that. Let me know when the story is up.
Android Central is reporting that this story is, as they say, “bullshit”.
This story isn’t bullshit. We were reporting on what the source article said, what some members on XDA noticed, and asked if any of our readers noticed anything similar (absence of glitter) to corroborate, while reaching out to LG for comment.
At this point you are just appearing weak and pathetic. Admit it is a disgrace, and remove it for what’s left of your sites integrity.
Bullshit. Android Central called this crap site out!
yup not coming to phandroid anymore
http://www.androidcentral.com/those-glitterless-nexus-4-stories-are-bullshit
please read it is about this post
Updated our post addressing this.
Way to steal the image from Android Central and crop out their watermark. You should be ashamed! http://www.androidcentral.com/those-glitterless-nexus-4-stories-are-bullshit
The image was grabbed from the source, and not cropped by us. Just thought it was a nice picture showing the back of a Nexus 4. We’ve since updated with an image of our own showing the back of the device.
All I know is Phil’s face looks like a wart on my ass
Certainly wouldn’t take his word as Gospel from his writings either…
Apparently after AndroidCentral reported that their picture was stolen and cropped, the other tech sites found out and changed their pictures or deleted their stories immediately. Not saying this is what happened on Phandroid, but it’s funny to see how many of these tech sites just read some other pages story and rewrite it as their own completely.
http://www.androidcentral.com/those-glitterless-nexus-4-stories-are-bullshit
Does no one realize that Ke$ha is actually renound for being a complete genius?
I wonder what “reports from users” Phandroid was looking at, since none likely exist.
OMG idiots! Clearly that picture is WITH the plastic foil on the back otherwise the IMEI wouldn’t be blacked out. Remove it and get your glidder!
This whole story is apparently a hoax! http://www.androidcentral.com/those-glitterless-nexus-4-stories-are-bullshit
Can the author who regurgitated this link bait article either correct the grammatical error in the title, or actually post pictures of the Nexus 4’s shipping WITH glittery backings along with the Nexus 4’s shipping WITHOUT glittery backing?
And just in case you don’t get it, the ” ‘s ” shows possession. Thus, “Nexus 4’s shipping” implies the shipping of the Nexus 4. If you meant multiple Nexus 4 units, then for the love of God, remove the apostrophe.
Chris, your attempts to backtrack are pretty lame. You say you were only reporting what users on XDA said. Well, I read the XDA thread you linked and couldn’t find one user reporting this. Not one! So you just repeated the same BS story the other sites did. Don’t now try to say you researched it when clearly you didn’t. I don’t really care either way but lazy and deceptive journalism makes me angry.
Sorry you feel that way but as you can plainly see, 127 of our readers reported no glittery on the back of their devices. Placebo? Perhaps. But like I said to another commenter, things like this happen all the time. Users in forums/etc. report issues with their devices and we report on THAT attempting to find out if it’s more widespread or simply an isolated issue. We do this all the time.
Has something like this happened in the past? Definitely. When the first HTC EVO launched back in the day, it featured a pearly, glittery battery cover. A few batches later, HTC removed the glitter altogether.
I merely took exception to your statement regarding how you were “reading reports from some users” that they had received Nexus 4 units with no glitter. I read the thread you cited. There is the OP posting the original BS article and then a bunch of user comments stating that all their phones were glittery. Not one report from a user that they received a non-glittery unit. Obviously, since there were none. So it was just a patently false statement.
You don’t need to make it sound more solid than it is. Could say “someone posted this” or “this website reported this”.
“as you can plainly see, 127 of our readers reported no glittery on the back of their devices. Placebo?”
no – just that the poll is rigged – where is the ‘My Nexus 4 is just fine’ tick box. Also the placebo is your article – lead a horse to water and it will drink.
**edit** So the ‘My Nexus 4 is just fine’ tick box is the kesha thing – hmm the icon for 12 year old girls my bad that I’m not down with the kids enough to have gotten the glitter joke – not that I would have listened to kesha when I was 12 or the other one for that matter – beeeeeeba ffs.
There seems to be quite a few of these ‘lazy’ stories/rumours being put out as ‘Articles’ lately and not just this site.
i want glitter really. Y Y
It just goes to show the reliability, integrity, accuracy and accountability of these “bloggers”……ZERO on all counts!
I bought some glitter but there was no Nexus 4 on it :(
Ordered Nov 29, received January 2. Missed out the the second batch of bumpers though. Glitters like snow at Christmas.