→ November 8, 2013 Google's Nexus smartphones have been the holy grail for die-hard Android fans since the original Nexus One was released almost four years ago. With quick software updates and minimal carrier involvement, users were able to truly experience Android the way Google intended. These devices never really sold well, at least compared to other smartphones from Samsung, HTC, and Apple, but that was never really the goal. The Nexus phones exist to proudly waive the Google flag, carrying with them a raw, brand new, and mostly untouched, version of the mobile operating system.
This year's Nexus 5 follows in its predecessors' footsteps, featuring high-powered hardware and, like the Nexus 4 before it, an incredibly low price tag. Thankfully, LTE-support is also included right out of the box this time around—a glaring omission with last year's model. But most importantly, the latest Nexus is the first device to ship with Android 4.4 KitKat, the most refined version of the OS to ever be released. Were Google and LG finally able to achieve Android perfection with the introduction of the Nexus 5? Keep reading to find out.
Based on the the recently-released LG G2, the Nexus 5 is equipped with some of the same hardware that dons the manufacturer's high-end device, including a powerful Snapdragon 800 System on a Chip and 2GB of RAM. LG's flagship was plenty fast as is, although was occasionally bogged down by the company's heavy-handed software tweaks. But when paired with a stock version of Android, the same hardware performs lightning fast and completely flawless, and benchmark tests tended to agree.
Using Geekbench 3, the Nexus 5 peformed better than Samsung's Galaxy S4 and the HTC One in both single and multi-core tests, and ranked just beneath the new Galaxy Note 3. With 3DMark tests, the latest Nexus sat between the Galaxy S4 and LG's G2. The Nexus 5 certainly has the hardware to keep things moving quickly, but it doesn't hurt that the device comes with the more efficiently-built Android 4.4 KitKat, either.
The latest version of Android also happens to be the best looking iteration of the operating system yet—with slight changes to font, colors, UI design, and navigation, giving it an overall more refined look and feel—and the Nexus 5 brilliantly displays how much the OS has evolved over the years. The now-transparent navigation and status bars, the revised home screen set up, and a more organized app drawer, can all be enjoyed to the fullest with the help of seamless graphical transitions on what would otherwise be a completely boring and uninspired handset.
In its most generic terms, a present-day smartphone is a rectangle slab with a screen on one side, and the Nexus 5 almost fits that description to a tee. Physically, there is almost nothing that makes the latest Nexus stand out, and if not for the metallic camera housing and branding on the backside, you would think this was a protoype device sporting the most inconspicuous casing imaginable.
This isn't a bad thing, though. While the Nexus 5 won't turn any heads, its design is clean, simple, and practical. It doesn't sport the same premium feel that aluminum or leather-clad phones have, but at least it doesn't have a fragile glass rear cover like the Nexus 4 or older iPhones. Along the left side of the device you'll find a flat metallic volume rocker, with the power button and microSIM card tray on the right, a headphone jack on top, and the microUSB port and stereo speakers along the bottom. The non-removable casing uses a rubbery plastic that is both grippy and soft to the touch, and the rear side features a slight curve, letting the phone comfortably sit in your hand when making calls or tapping away at the screen.
The Nexus 5's 4.95-inch IPS LCD screen boasts a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 and puts out a pixel density of 445 ppi. As a result, photos, video, games, and typography all look fantastic. The device auto-adjusts the display to be a bit brighter than it needs to be, but it does help the UI pop out more. The downside to this, of course, is a hit on battery life.
When the new Nexus was first announced, there were reasonable concerns about its ability to stay powered on for extended periods of time. The Nexus 5's 2,300 mAh battery is considerably smaller than the one found in the impressively long-lasting G2, and is only slightly larger than the battery in last year's Nexus 4. Unfortunately, the initial concerns were justified.
Light users will have no problems getting through an entire day on a full charge. Heavy users and gamers, on the other hand, will have a much tougher time getting to the day's end. Between handling emails, text messages, streaming podcasts and music, and social networking, the Nexus 5 was barely able to get through an 8 hour work day. Even worse,*playing games would drop the battery percentage at an alarming rate.
Half an hour with Plants vs. Zombies 2 or Kingdom Rush: Frontiers resulted in around a*20 percent drop in battery life. Video streaming had a less dramatic effect, with a single 22 minute television show on Netflix while connected to Wi-Fi draining 6 percent of the battery. Either way, if you plan on using the Nexus 5 for more than the occasional email or text message, you'll want a charger nearby. The device does feature wireless charging, so a strategically placed Qi charger would definitely help out.
The Nexus 5's 8-megapixel shooter takes quality photos, although not nearly at same level as other cameras found on high-end phones. Optical image stabilization and the new HDR+ mode help things out, especially in low and artificially-lit environments, where the camera actually performs quite well. In general, though, pictures taken with the Nexus are filled with slightly less color, less clarity, and are captured at a slower speed. Occasionally, the length of time between the initial tap of the on-screen shutter button to the camera focusing then actually capturing the image can be annoyingly long, even when taking photos in optimal conditions. Action shots also proved to be too much for the Nexus 5 to handle consistently, and it wasn't uncommon to be left with a blurry subject.
But the most problematic feature of the camera is the app itself. On the Android side of things, Samsung and LG found ways to give users quick access to a wide range of features through well-designed interfaces. The Nexus 5's setup, on the other hand, feel clumsy and unintuitive. Everything is hidden in awkward multi-level radial menus that bring you to a relatively limited number of shooting options. Considering how clean the Android UI has become with introduction of KitKat, it's unfortunate that the same level of polish didn't carry over to the camera app.
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This year's Nexus 5 follows in its predecessors' footsteps, featuring high-powered hardware and, like the Nexus 4 before it, an incredibly low price tag. Thankfully, LTE-support is also included right out of the box this time around—a glaring omission with last year's model. But most importantly, the latest Nexus is the first device to ship with Android 4.4 KitKat, the most refined version of the OS to ever be released. Were Google and LG finally able to achieve Android perfection with the introduction of the Nexus 5? Keep reading to find out.
Based on the the recently-released LG G2, the Nexus 5 is equipped with some of the same hardware that dons the manufacturer's high-end device, including a powerful Snapdragon 800 System on a Chip and 2GB of RAM. LG's flagship was plenty fast as is, although was occasionally bogged down by the company's heavy-handed software tweaks. But when paired with a stock version of Android, the same hardware performs lightning fast and completely flawless, and benchmark tests tended to agree.
Using Geekbench 3, the Nexus 5 peformed better than Samsung's Galaxy S4 and the HTC One in both single and multi-core tests, and ranked just beneath the new Galaxy Note 3. With 3DMark tests, the latest Nexus sat between the Galaxy S4 and LG's G2. The Nexus 5 certainly has the hardware to keep things moving quickly, but it doesn't hurt that the device comes with the more efficiently-built Android 4.4 KitKat, either.
The latest version of Android also happens to be the best looking iteration of the operating system yet—with slight changes to font, colors, UI design, and navigation, giving it an overall more refined look and feel—and the Nexus 5 brilliantly displays how much the OS has evolved over the years. The now-transparent navigation and status bars, the revised home screen set up, and a more organized app drawer, can all be enjoyed to the fullest with the help of seamless graphical transitions on what would otherwise be a completely boring and uninspired handset.
In its most generic terms, a present-day smartphone is a rectangle slab with a screen on one side, and the Nexus 5 almost fits that description to a tee. Physically, there is almost nothing that makes the latest Nexus stand out, and if not for the metallic camera housing and branding on the backside, you would think this was a protoype device sporting the most inconspicuous casing imaginable.
This isn't a bad thing, though. While the Nexus 5 won't turn any heads, its design is clean, simple, and practical. It doesn't sport the same premium feel that aluminum or leather-clad phones have, but at least it doesn't have a fragile glass rear cover like the Nexus 4 or older iPhones. Along the left side of the device you'll find a flat metallic volume rocker, with the power button and microSIM card tray on the right, a headphone jack on top, and the microUSB port and stereo speakers along the bottom. The non-removable casing uses a rubbery plastic that is both grippy and soft to the touch, and the rear side features a slight curve, letting the phone comfortably sit in your hand when making calls or tapping away at the screen.
The Nexus 5's 4.95-inch IPS LCD screen boasts a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 and puts out a pixel density of 445 ppi. As a result, photos, video, games, and typography all look fantastic. The device auto-adjusts the display to be a bit brighter than it needs to be, but it does help the UI pop out more. The downside to this, of course, is a hit on battery life.
When the new Nexus was first announced, there were reasonable concerns about its ability to stay powered on for extended periods of time. The Nexus 5's 2,300 mAh battery is considerably smaller than the one found in the impressively long-lasting G2, and is only slightly larger than the battery in last year's Nexus 4. Unfortunately, the initial concerns were justified.
Light users will have no problems getting through an entire day on a full charge. Heavy users and gamers, on the other hand, will have a much tougher time getting to the day's end. Between handling emails, text messages, streaming podcasts and music, and social networking, the Nexus 5 was barely able to get through an 8 hour work day. Even worse,*playing games would drop the battery percentage at an alarming rate.
Half an hour with Plants vs. Zombies 2 or Kingdom Rush: Frontiers resulted in around a*20 percent drop in battery life. Video streaming had a less dramatic effect, with a single 22 minute television show on Netflix while connected to Wi-Fi draining 6 percent of the battery. Either way, if you plan on using the Nexus 5 for more than the occasional email or text message, you'll want a charger nearby. The device does feature wireless charging, so a strategically placed Qi charger would definitely help out.
The Nexus 5's 8-megapixel shooter takes quality photos, although not nearly at same level as other cameras found on high-end phones. Optical image stabilization and the new HDR+ mode help things out, especially in low and artificially-lit environments, where the camera actually performs quite well. In general, though, pictures taken with the Nexus are filled with slightly less color, less clarity, and are captured at a slower speed. Occasionally, the length of time between the initial tap of the on-screen shutter button to the camera focusing then actually capturing the image can be annoyingly long, even when taking photos in optimal conditions. Action shots also proved to be too much for the Nexus 5 to handle consistently, and it wasn't uncommon to be left with a blurry subject.
But the most problematic feature of the camera is the app itself. On the Android side of things, Samsung and LG found ways to give users quick access to a wide range of features through well-designed interfaces. The Nexus 5's setup, on the other hand, feel clumsy and unintuitive. Everything is hidden in awkward multi-level radial menus that bring you to a relatively limited number of shooting options. Considering how clean the Android UI has become with introduction of KitKat, it's unfortunate that the same level of polish didn't carry over to the camera app.
More...
