莫博士测评谷歌Nexus 4

Google's GOOG -0.18% Android operating system is used on hundreds of smartphones and tablets. But the flagship Android devices, the ones the company calls 'the best of Google,' are labeled Nexus. They are meant to show the world all that an Android device can be, and are designed and sold directly online by Google. Next week, the company will begin offering the latest phone in this line, the Nexus 4.

谷歌(Google)的安卓(Android)操作系统被应用于数百种智能手机和平板电脑。但旗舰安卓设备（该公司称之为“凝聚谷歌精华的产品）是以Nexus为品牌的，它们旨在向世界全面展示安卓设备的优秀性能。Nexus由谷歌设计，并由谷歌网站直接销售。谷歌从上周开始销售Nexus系列最新款手机──Nexus 4。

This new phone is part of a Google-designed portfolio that now includes two other devices: the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets. The phone, which features a new version of Android, hits the market at a time when Apple AAPL -0.30% has had early success with its iPhone 5, and as Nokia NOK1V.HE +0.46% and HTC are bringing out devices with a fresh version of Microsoft's MSFT +0.78% phone software, Windows Phone 8.

这款新手机搭载新版安卓系统，属于由谷歌直接设计的产品系列（目前该系列还包括其他两款设备：Nexus 7和Nexus 10平板电脑）。这款手机的面市正值苹果公司(Apple) iPhone 5取得初步成功之际，与此同时，诺基亚(Nokia)和宏达(HTC)也在推出搭载微软(Microsoft)新版手机软件Windows Phone 8的设备。

I found the Nexus 4 more evolutionary than revolutionary. It has some nice features and carries on Google's recent tablet tradition of low pricing. But there's no knock-your-socks-off stuff in the new phone. Even the new version of Android is just a further iteration of the current variant, called Jelly Bean, rather than an all-new edition, such as Google introduced last year at this time with the prior Nexus phone.

我认为Nexus 4更多是一种改进，而不是创新。它有一些不错的功能，并且延续了近期谷歌平板电脑的低价惯例。但这款新手机并没有让人印象深刻的亮点。就连新版安卓系统也只是在现有的糖豆(Jelly Bean)版本的基础上做了一些改进，而没有采用全新版本（谷歌去年这个时候推出上一款Nexus手机时就采用了全新版本）。

And the Nexus 4 is missing two important features: the ability to use LTE, the most consistently speedy 4G network in the U.S.; and a memory capacity greater than 16 gigabytes, the amount most smartphones start with. The new phone also lacks a memory-expansion slot. The phone's most touted new capability, the ability to capture 360-degree pictures, worked poorly in my tests.

Nexus 4缺少两项重要功能：首先，它不能使用LTE网络（美国最快、最稳定的4G网络）；其次，它的存储容量未能超过16GB（而多数智能手机的存储容量为16GB起）。这款新手机也没有存储扩展槽。此外，在我的测试中，Nexus 4炒得最热的新功能（即拍摄360度照片）效果也不尽如人意。

Otherwise, I found the latest Nexus to be a solid, reliable, phone and a good value. On Nov. 13, Google will begin selling it starting at $299 for an unlocked version─one that has no carrier plan or contract─with a puny 8 gigabytes of internal storage. A 16 gigabyte unlocked version will cost $349. You'll have to add the cost of a contract or prepaid plan from T-Mobile, AT&T T -0.09% or carriers that use the same network technology to those prices (the phone won't work on Verizon or Sprint). T-Mobile will be offering the 16-gigabyte version for $199 with a two-year contract. To grasp how inexpensive the Nexus 4 is, consider that Samsung's popular Galaxy SIII is about $550 unlocked; $199 with a two-year contract.

但撇开这些不论，我认为最新版Nexus算是一款结实可靠、性价比不错的手机。谷歌从11月13日开始销售Nexus 4，无锁版（无运营商计划或合约）售价为299美元起。299美元款的内置存储容量仅为8GB，16GB无锁版售价为349美元。用户需要在上述价格的基础上加上与T-Mobile、美国电话电报公司(AT&T)或使用相同网络技术的运营商签署合约或加入预付费计划的费用（这款手机不支持Verizon和Sprint的网络）。T-Mobile将推出附带两年合约的16GB版本，售价199美元。要想看看Nexus 4究竟有多便宜，与三星(Samsung)手机对比一下即可。三星的畅销款手机Galaxy SIII无锁版售价在550美元左右；附带两年合约的版本售价为199美元。

The Nexus 4, built for Google by LG of Korea, has a large 4.7-inch screen with high resolution, higher than Apple's 4-inch Retina display on the iPhone 5, though with slightly fewer pixels per inch because it's spread over a larger display. The new Nexus is 20% thicker than the iPhone 5 and 24% heavier. But its curved rear edges made it feel comfortable in my hand.

Nexus 4是由韩国LG公司为谷歌生产的，配有4.7英寸高分辨率大屏幕，比苹果iPhone 5配置的四英寸Retina显示屏分辨率高，不过由于显示屏较大，Nexus 4每英寸像素略低于iPhone 5。新款Nexus比iPhone 5厚20%，重24%，但其背面边缘为弧形，手感很舒服。

It's made of plastic, but is clad in relatively sturdy Gorilla Glass 2 on both front and back. There's a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front and an 8 megapixel camera on the back. These cameras took sharp, vivid pictures and videos and you can apply filters to snapshots.

这款手机用塑料制成，但其正反两面均包裹着比较结实的Gorilla Glass 2玻璃。手机配有一个130万像素的前置摄像头和一个800万像素的后置摄像头。这些摄像头能够拍摄出清晰、生动的照片和视频，你还可以在拍照时使用滤镜。

While I didn't do a formal battery test, the Nexus 4 lasted a full workday in mixed use, including Web surfing, lots of app use, email, texting, viewing of short videos, occasional music playback and voice calling.

我没有进行正式的电池测试，但Nexus 4在我进行多项操作的情况下维持了整整一个工作日，我进行的操作包括上网，使用许多应用软件，发送电子邮件，发文本信息，观看短视频，偶尔回放音乐以及拨打语音电话。

A new feature in the Nexus 4 allows you to charge the battery, which is sealed inside, without plugging in an adapter, by merely placing it on a charging pad plugged into the wall. These pads, which Google doesn't sell, must comply with an industry standard called Qi. I had mixed results trying this. I tested it on two Qi pads and only one worked with the Nexus 4.

Nexus 4有一项新功能，允许用户在不接适配器的情况下为电池（封装在手机内部）充电，只要将手机放在插在 上的充电板上就可以了。这些充电板谷歌并没有销售，它们必须符合一种被称为Qi的工业标准。我的测试结果好坏参半。我测试了两种Qi充电板，只有一种与Nexus 4相配。

Instead of LTE, the Nexus 4 relies on a 4G standard called HSPA+, which is more common outside the U.S. This network standard can be as fast or faster than LTE in places, but in my tests comparing the Nexus 4 on HSPA+ with an iPhone 5 using LTE, the differences were often stark. In one location, the two were about the same, at just under 15 megabits per second for downloads. But in two others, in two cities, the Nexus 4 on HSPA+ managed average download speeds of just 2.8 mbps and 3.8 mbps, while the iPhone 5 on LTE averaged nearly 30 mbps. Some other phones offer both LTE and HSPA+.

Nexus 4不支持LTE网络，而是依靠一种名为HSPA+的4G标准，这种标准在美国以外的地区更常用。在一些地方，这种网络标准可以和LTE一样快，甚至更快一些，但在我的测试中（我将使用HSPA+的Nexus 4与使用LTE的iPhone 5进行对比），更多的情况下两者的差距很明显。在其中一个位置，两款手机的速度差不多，下载速度接近每秒15MB。但在分处两座城市的其他两个位置，使用HSPA+的Nexus 4平均下载速度仅为每秒2.8 MB和每秒3.8MB，而使用LTE的iPhone 5平均下载速度接近每秒30MB。其他一些手机则同时支持LTE和HSPA+。

I found voice calls to be clear and reliable, but the external speaker sounded weak and it's worse when you aren't holding the phone because it's located on the rear.

我发现Nexus 4的语音通话清晰而可靠，但外置扬声器声音不太清楚，如果不把手机拿在手上的话效果会更差，因为扬声器位于手机背面。

The phone's fast processor, coupled with improvements in the new version of Jelly Bean, called Android 4.2, made the Nexus 4's touch screen fast and fluid. One new feature of the latest operating system is called Gesture Typing, which allows you to compose text by swiping from key to key, rather than tapping them. This worked fine, but is similar to a system called Swype, which has long been available on other Android phones. Another nice feature in Android 4.2 is improved auto-correction. It now tries to anticipate the next word likely to be typed. So, if you type 'Monday,' it suggests 'night' and 'morning.'

这款手机的处理器速度很快，再加上新版糖豆系统（名为安卓4.2）进行了一些改进，使得Nexus 4的触摸屏用起来又快又流畅。最新版操作系统的一项新功能被称为“手势输入(Gesture Typing)，该功能允许用户通过在按键之间滑动，而非轻触按键来编辑文本。这项功能使用效果不错，但它其实就是类似于一个名为Swype的系统（Swype在其他安卓手机上已经使用了很长时间）。安卓4.2另一项不错的特性是经过改进的自动纠错功能。它现在可以尝试预测用户可能输入的下一个单词。因此，如果你输入“周一的话，它会提示“晚上和“早晨。

However, I found the most touted new feature on the Nexus 4, an enhanced panorama photo feature called Photo Sphere, disappointing. A Photo Sphere is a 360-degree image of a scene, in which you can pan around to see up and down as well as side to side. Google has made it easy to take such a picture, guiding you with blue dots as you move from around a starting point, automatically adding more of a scene in all directions until you decide to stop.

不过，我发现Nexus 4炒得最热的新功能（名为Photo Sphere的加强版全景照片功能）令人失望。Photo Sphere拍摄的是360度全景图，你可以通过平移，上下、左右观看照片。谷歌使这类照片的拍摄变得简单起来，它用蓝点引导你从起点处开始移动，自动加入各个方向的景物，直到你决定停下来为止。

However, in all four of my Photo Sphere tests the results were poor. Objects like chairs, roofs and even people came out distorted and uneven. Google officials said they couldn't explain my results.

然而，我对Photo Sphere进行的四次测试效果都比较差。椅子、屋顶等物体甚至人物拍出来都有些扭曲和失衡。谷歌管理人士称，他们无法解释为什么我会拍出这样的效果。

Also, you can only fully share these Photo Spheres with others, for now, via the company's Google+ social network. If you email them, they arrive as static scenes.

此外，目前你只能通过谷歌的社交网络Google+来完整分享Photo Spheres。如果用电子邮件发送照片，它们会显示为静态景物。

The new version of Android introduced on the Nexus 4 also has an enhanced version of Google search, which yields more answers, rather than just links, and speaks some of the answers back to you when you search by voice rather than typing. But the same new features were just released in a new version of Google search for the iPhone. In my tests, the iPhone version sometimes gave richer answers, such as hourly temperatures on weather searches, missing from the Android version.

Nexus 4搭载的新版安卓系统还拥有一项加强版谷歌搜索功能，可以生成更多答案，而不仅仅是给出链接，它还能在你用语音而非键入搜索时以语音方式给出部分答案。不过，iPhone的新版谷歌搜索也刚刚推出了相同的新功能。在我的测试中，iPhone的版本有时会给出更为详尽的回答，比如搜索天气时能给出每小时的气温，而安卓版则不可以。

Overall, the Nexus 4 is a good phone, with especially good prices for unlocked versions. But I'd advise Android buyers to consider other models with LTE, better speakers, and the ability to add more memory and work on all carriers.

总体而言，Nexus 4是一款不错的手机，无锁版的价格尤其诱人。但我建议用户考虑购买使用LTE网络、扬声器效果更好、能扩展存储容量、并能支持所有运营商的其他安卓机型。