The elusive Nexus 4 has met with an overwhelming response since its launch in November last year and Google has been struggling to keeping pace with high demands. However, consumers in the UK have another option from where they can snag the smartphone as carrier Virgin Mobile is now offering the Nexus 4 on select monthly tariffs.

UK carriers O2 and Three are already offering the Nexus 4 on monthly contracts and with Virgin Mobile joining the bandwagon, consumers will now have more carriers to choose from. Unfortunately, Virgin Mobile is not offering the Nexus 4 on pay-as-you-go.

Virgin Mobile is offering only the 16GB version of the Nexus 4, which has a price tag of £279 in the Google Play Store (UK), but the handset is still sold out. The carrier is offering the Nexus 4 on a two-year contract with a monthly fees starting at £31.

For £31, you will get the Nexus 4 handset for free along with 200 minutes of voice calls, 500 texts, 500MB of mobile data. However, the deal from Virgin Mobile may not lure customers who have got their math right.

Virgin Mobile offer a SIM-only deal for £10 on a 30-day rolling contract, which includes 250 minutes voice calls, unlimited text, and 1GB of mobile data allowance. If you buy a SIM-only deal from Virgin Mobile and buy the Nexus 4 handset from Google Play Store for £279 you will end up spending £519 over two years.

However, if are unwilling to wait for stocks to arrive at the Google Play Store and take up a £31 monthly contract with Virgin Mobile, then you end up spending £744 over two years. Don't forget that you get slightly less voice calls, texts, and half the data allowance.

If the Nexus 4 is available from the Google Play Store, and if you have £279 to spend on a 16GB Nexus 4, then you can save over £200 over two years. Don't forget that you can also buy the 8GB version of the Nexus 4 from Google Play Store at £239.

If you do the math, purchasing the Nexus 4 on Google Play Store is a better deal. Only downer is you will have to wait till the smartphone is back in stock.

If you don't want to constantly check the Play Store to see of the device is back in stock, check out the Nexus 4 Stock Alert or Nexus Availability Checker app.