It's spending season this fortnight, that time of the year when you're most likely to be splurging your money on a gadget. In this series, our crew of gadget-obsessed boffins pick the best deal in each category, from entry-level dual-SIMs to superphones, tablets, ultraportables and luxury laptops. We've spent plenty of time deliberating on our choices, saving you the trouble of poring through a sea of specs sheets, reviews and benchmarks. Today we're gonna tell you why we think the LG Nexus 4 is the best mid-range smartphone to buy. Feel free to debate your choices and suggest alternatives in the comments below.

LG Nexus 4- Overview
Usually by this time, the winners and losers of the year are quite clear, but it is playing out differently this year with many promising entries coming in later than usual. LG’s Nexus 4 has been announced, but the phone’s haven’t begun shipping yet. However, the price and configuration combination of the Nexus 4 makes it one of the most anticipated smartphone releases of the year, and poses a serious threat of iPhone with its comparable specs at nearly half the price. 


Specs
Display: 4.7 inch IPS Plus capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, 768x1280 pixels (~318 ppi)
CPU: Qualcomm APQ8064, quad-core 1.5 GHz 
GPU: Adreno 320
Storage: 8/16 GB storage, 2 GB RAM
Camera: 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, 1080p@30fps, Secondary Camera
Connectivity: HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, DLNA, Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP, TV-out, microUSB (MHL) v2.0, A-GPS support and GLONASS
Battery: Li-Po 2100mAh

Pros
Carries the latest version of Android that adds some nifty features
NFC, MHL, wireless charging
Offers great, if not the best value for money

Cons
The phone is unreleased, so it’s not field tested
Does not have SD card reader, instead relying on online storage

Bottom-line:
Nexus 4 is expected to start shipping in North America and other regions sometime this month; however, India cannot be that far behind on the list. Those in the market for mid-ranged smartphones may want to hold out until this one is out.

Alternatives under 20k: Galaxy Nexus, Lenovo S880, HTC 8S, Desire X, Atrix 2, Lumia 800, Xperia Sola