It was only a few days ago that reports were landing that Google wanted a repeat of the Nexus 7's success, but in smartphone form, and now there's some hands-on reports of LG's Optimus G Nexus.

Android and Me are reporting from multiple sources that have told them that LG are working on a Nexus phone, with some hands-on information to go with it. Their source claims that he's not an employee of Google, but has access to one of the Nexus devices that were handed out last week for testing:

I can confirm the next nexus is LG Optimus based. The phone looks surprisingly like the Galaxy Nexus and does not have sharp corners like the LG Optimus we already know. It has a silver'ring like the iPhone 3G around the outer edge of the screen which seemed to be similar to the Galaxy Nexus in size but was much better in brightness.

 

I couldn't have said if it was larger in the few minutes that I had the phone. Also, it has Nexus written on the back like the Nexus 7 except there is a color element to it. The 'X' is in four colors. There was also the LG logo on the back.

 

Android 4.2 in its current state looked exactly like the 4.1.1 we love. There were no tabs on that build version for home-screens as you suggested from your other tipster. What I was amazed by is how fluid everything seemed to be from exiting apps, switching, etc. It seems like they've increased the number of transitions and their types. It still had the hodge-podge mess of multiple communication tools: Messenger, GTalk, Voice and SMS.

Exciting times! We could see a huge swing around from LG in the same way Samsung have turned into Apple's single biggest competitor in just a few years time. Life must be looking Good over at LG.