A Nexus with power, potential, and the right price

Finally, we have an Android handset that deserves the Nexus name. The Nexus 5 is fast, gorgeous, and stocked with features (including LTE) and it is the device for showing the true power of the Google universe and the Android operating system. And, at $349 (16GB) or $399 (32GB) at the Play Store -- about $250 less than other top-tier flagship smartphones -- it's a great deal whether you're on a budget or not (and whether you're an Android fan or not).

Yes, with a fast Snapdragon 800 processor, a sharp 1080p touch screen, and a competent battery, there's a lot to like about the Nexus 5 even if you never get past the main menu. But it's really the Android 4.4 KitKat operating system that we're here to see. Though not long on flashy new features, KitKat brings an ever deeper integration with Google's expanding array of services and a promise to end the age-old scourge of Android fragmentation.

Still, at that price, sometimes it makes it difficult to judge the Nexus -- is it a top-tier phone for cheap, or a midrange device that's bizarrely souped up with great innards? Do its variable camera and relatively dim screen get a pass because it's a $400 handset after all, or should I be expecting better from a Google flagship? And it is a flagship, much more so than the Nexus 4 and even the Galaxy Nexus were, but pinning it down further is difficult.

However you want to consider it, one thing's for certain: the phone's specs are indeed high-end, and its reliable performance further bolsters its appeal, despite its flaws. For what it's worth, the Nexus 5 is the best unlocked phone on the market.

The price tag makes it conceivable that you might buy the Nexus 5 off-contract and then seek out the best deal for service. If you have the cash ready, you'll almost certainly get a better deal that way. Just in case you don't, O2 and Vodafone are offering it for no money down on two-year contracts.

I never expected to fall in love with the Nexus 5, but it seduced me. It certainly has its flaws, and we'll get into them in due course, but it's also a beautiful phone that sets a new benchmark for Android.

The Nexus 5 is a vessel. Google's flagship is supposed to compete at the premium end of the market, but it would prefer the software, not the hardware to be the star of the show. To that end, it is almost completely devoid of superfluous detail.

As I rest it vertically on the arm of my couch it conjures visions of the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. To soften it off and make it more comfortable to hold, the corners are rounded.

This black slab (which also comes in white) is all about the screen and the entire front of the Nexus 5 is glass. The only details that break it up are the round earpiece centre top and the front-facing camera to the left of it. There is actually an LED notification light down below the screen, but you'll only see that when it blinks into life.

Despite having a five-inch display, the Nexus 5 measures just 137.9 x 69.2 x 8.6mm and the bezels are nice and thin.

With a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, which translates to 445ppi, the Nexus 5 display looks crisp and accurate. It's an IPS display, and while critics will point to AMOLED's superior brightness and black levels, you'd be hard pressed to notice.

The back and sides are soft-touch, matte plastic and it only weighs 130g, just like the Galaxy S4.

Flip it over and you'll see a couple of design flourishes. The word "Nexus" is embossed in lowercase gloss, with a tiny LG logo below it. Up top on the left you'll find the glaring round eye of the 8MP camera, which is surprisingly big. A tiny LED flash is just below.

The bottom edge has a standard microUSB port and there are two grilles either side of it - the Nexus 5 only has one speaker in there; the other hides a microphone. Up top you'll see the standard 3.5mm headphone port and a tiny hole for an extra microphone.

On the left spine there's a ceramic volume rocker, with no markings. On the right spine there's a ceramic power button and the SIM tray, which you'll need a SIM tool or a pin to pop out. The Nexus 5 does not open, so there's no microSD card support or battery switching.

The Nexus 5 is one of the most comfortable phones I've ever used. It is comparably slow to heat up, so there are no issues holding it while watching movies or during extended gaming sessions. The soft-touch finish contrasts perfectly with the ceramic buttons, which makes them very easy to find and use without looking.

There are negatives. The camera lens protrudes enough to make you worry about it taking the brunt of any impact when the Nexus 5 is put down on a flat surface. That glass expanse, without any protective lip or border, suggests that a drop could easily result in disaster and scratches might be easy to come by.

There's also the inevitable smudging from fingerprints, which turns up on the back and the front, but that's a common problem.

It's not a flashy design, but the Nexus 5 does feel solid and well made. It may be a little big for easy one-handed operation if you don't have big hands, but the extra screen size will justify that trade-off for most people.

At this price, the design of the Nexus 5 is impressive. It's understated, almost making the iPhone 5S look gaudy, and it feels more expensive than the Galaxy S4.

Key features

Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
Penta-band 3G with HSPA; LTE cat3
4.95" 16M-color 1080p True HD IPS Plus FullHD capacitive touchscreen
Corning Gorilla Glass 3 display protection
Android OS v4.4 KitKat
Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400 CPU, 2 GB RAM, Adreno 330 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset
8MP autofocus camera with LED flash, geotagging, optical image stabilization, photo sphere, 1080p video recording @ 30fps with continuous autofocus and stereo sound; HDR mode, Dual recording, optical image stabilization
1.3 MP front-facing camera
16GB/32GB of built-in storage
microUSB port, USB host support, USB on-the-go, SlimPort TV-out
Bluetooth v4.0
NFC
Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA
GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS
Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
Voice commands
Accelerometer and proximity sensor
Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
2300mAh Li-Po battery, wireless charging

Main disadvantages

Non-expandable storage
Poor video and audio codec support out of the box
Non user-replaceable battery
Comparatively poor battery life (except for calls)
Loudspeaker is on the quiet side
Limited availability at launch

Although there's almost no physical resemblance to back it up, the Nexus 5 is based on the LG G2 and that's not a coincidence. The Nexus 4 last year was based on the Optimus G, so history's clearly repeating itself. At least as far as what's under the hood.

Otherwise, the Nexus 5 has one of the most understated exterior designs a flagship smartphone has ever had. It's not an attention-grabber like the iPhone 5s, the HTC One or the Xperia Z1, as if wanting to underline that what matters is inside.

Google Nexus 5 live photos

The latest major release of Android as usual premieres on a new Nexus phone. The Nexus 5 runs Android 4.4 KitKat, which brings even tighter OS integration with Google services. There are a number of other improvements and hints at what's to come. But before we get to that, we'll focus on the Nexus 5's build and finish. The Android 4.4. KitKat overview will follow right after, so without further ado, see you after the break.

The price

The big USP that differentiates this phone from the crowd is the value for money it represents. £299 for a premium Android smartphone that's this good is a steal. Even at £339 for the 32GB version, the Nexus 5 is seriously undercutting the competition.

Apple devices are expensive. The iPhone 5S starts at £549 for the 16GB version and you'll have to lay out an extra £80 to get a 32GB model for £629, or pay a whopping £709 if you want the 64GB version.

While Apple is comfortable with its premium pricing strategy, you get the sense that the Nexus 5 has really put pressure on the competing Android flagships.

When the Samsung Galaxy S4 was first launched, it was around £600 for a SIM-free handset. It's possible to get your hands on the SIM-free 16GB Galaxy S4 for £420 now.

It's a similar story with the HTC One, which cost around £500 on release, but can now be snapped up for as low as £430 for a SIM-free 32GB handset.

The LG G2 is significantly cheaper at £350 for the SIM-free 16GB version and around £400 for the 32GB model. The Nexus 5 was also manufactured by LG and is partly based on the G2, with very similar specs, although the G2 trumps the Nexus 5's 8MP shooter with a 13MP camera, and has a much bigger 3,000mAh rated battery compared to the 2,300mAh battery in the Nexus 5.

Whatever way you cut it, the Nexus 5 is a lot of phone for your money, and it looks like a real attempt to drive prices down, which can only be a good thing for consumers.

The camera

It would be fair to say that the camera in the Nexus 5 was a bit of a disaster on release. It's an 8MP shooter with optical image stabilization that's intended to be a good substitute for a point-and-shoot camera.

There's nothing wrong with the hardware, but the software let it down badly. The camera was far too slow to focus and could be slow to launch, which killed your chances of capturing those spontaneous moments with friends and family.

In ideal conditions the Nexus 5 camera could capture stunning shots, but how often do you get ideal conditions?

Google listened to the criticism and quickly released the Android 4.4.1 update to deal with the slow focus issue by balancing speed and image quality a bit better.

Where previously it would take forever to capture a shot, as you waited for the auto-focus, especially in low light conditions, or with fast-moving subjects, after the update it's much faster.

It also enables the camera app to load a little faster, and improved the contrast to produce more vibrant colours. The HDR+, which is exclusive to the Nexus 5, gets a much-needed progress indicator.

Swipe right to left on the lock screen or tap the camera icon and you'll be ready to snap a shot within a couple of seconds. Results are generally very respectable. You can take a look for yourself in the camera section later in this review.

Speed

The Nexus 5 is really about speed and power. The snappy processor dovetails with the Android 4.4 platform beautifully.

Google did not cut any corners with the quad-core 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 processor. It is a cutting-edge CPU that has been paired with the Adreno 330 GPU. That's the same combination you'll find in the LG G2, the Sony Xperia Z1, and some variants of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

Actual performance varies from device to device because sometimes the speed is throttled to prevent overheating. Suffice to say the Nexus 5 is very, very fast.

Interface and Performance

The display on the Nexus 5 is excellent, which makes this a great device for consuming entertainment.

LG's mature IPS LCD technology really delivers. The colours look accurate and the 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution on the 4.95-inch screen translates to an amazing 445ppi (pixels per inch).
To put that in context, the iPhone 5S has a ppi of 326 and even the Galaxy S4 trails a tiny touch behind on 441ppi.
Put it side-by-side with an iPhone 5S or a Galaxy S4 and you might detect a yellow tint. The display on the Nexus 5 is also not as bright as its competitors, which has a slight impact on legibility, particularly in direct sunlight.
On the whole, Google's compelling proposition is a premium smartphone that doesn't have to feel uncomfortable in flagship company. It has achieved a winning price without compromising on quality.

As the poster phone for Android 4.4 KitKat, the Nexus 5 shows off the latest version of the platform beautifully, and it has a few exclusive extras.
We fully expect it to be at the front of the queue when Google hands out its next delicious upgrade. According to Google's reasoning for not updating the Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.4, the Nexus 5 can expect to get updates for at least the next 18 months.

If you're coming from an earlier version of Android then there are lots of little improvements to enjoy. I cover the full details in my Android 4.4 KitKat review, but highlights include productivity extras, a redesign for the messaging and phone apps, and a general boost in performance which comes under the banner of Project Svelte.
The interface has been significantly lightened and slimmed down. Icons are white and menus are grey, where once they were blue, and the Roboto font looks as though it has been on a diet.
The Nexus 5 also boasts the exclusive Google Experience Launcher. You'll find the touch sensitive trio of back, home, and multitasking at the bottom.
The app dock sits above them with an app drawer icon in the centre which will take to you full app list. The rest of the dock is customisable so you can add your favourites and have them accessible on every home screen.

Swipe right to left and you'll access additional home screens. White dots at the bottom of the screen indicate how many home screens you have and which one you're on, although sadly you can't tap on them to shortcut to another screen.
Drag an icon to the right and you can create a new home screen. There doesn't seem to be a limit, and if you empty a home screen it simply disappears.

Long press on any home screen and you'll see your full scrollable list and get access to wallpapers, widgets, and settings. By dumping widgets from the app drawer and making the app icons bigger, there are now four across a screen instead of five, the interface is easier to navigate and clearer.
Swipe left to right on the home screen and you'll find Google Now, which can also be brought to life by the magic words "okay Google" uttered on the home screen (though you will need to set your language to US English in Settings > Google > Search > Voice for that to work).
Notifications and quick settings are easily accessed by pulling down the notification shade from the top of the screen. Android has the best notification system around, and you can find everything you need to know in here.

Part of the reason that the interface is so accessible is the speed. The Nexus 5 is a top performer. It has a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 with an Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM.
When I ran Geekbench 3 the scores were 885 for single-core and 2579 for multi-core. That's higher than the Galaxy S4 and way higher than the HTC One.

It even beats the iPhone 5S (on 2486) for multi-core performance, although Apple's flagship gets a freakishly high score of 1379 for single-core performance.
By combining that processing power with the carefully optimized Android 4.4 platform Google has delivered a completely lag-free and highly responsive experience. The Nexus 5 is a dream to use.
You can skip in and out of apps and games without any stuttering. Even with more than 20 entries in the multitasking menu there's no hint of a pause.
You can snag the Nexus 5 in 16GB or 32GB versions. The actual capacity is always less; in this case you get 26.7GB on the 32GB version and around 12GB on the 16GB version. If you consider that it's not unusual for graphically impressive games to be over 1GB in size, you'll see the sense in opting for the 32GB version.
Remember that you can get an extra 15GB of free cloud storage by using Google Drive, and it's worth automatically backing up photos and videos, so you never lose them.

Sweet KitKat Android premieres on Nexus 5

Google Nexus 5 is the first smartphone to run on Google's latest Android 4.4 KitKat OS. Just like the previous Jelly Bean iterations, KitKat doesn't bring any game changers. Instead it polishes further the user experience, overall system performance and experience, plus brings along some handy system app updates. For example, Android KitKat comes with the latest Hangouts app that combines SMS, MMS and Gtalk chats into just one single app. It also introduces a new powerful Phone app and an even easier way to interact with Google Now.
First things first though, here is our traditional video walkthrough to get you started.

Google Now gets better

Google Now was first introduced back in Jelly Bean 4.1 and is definitely one of the most interesting aspects of the Android OS. Simply put, it's Google's version of a personal assistant. Google Now is in the same neck of the woods as Apple's Siri, but it learns constantly from your daily routines.

It's accessed by holding the home button (plus an upwards swipe), swiping to leftmost pane or just by saying "OK, Google". We found out that the Nexus 5 fires up Google Now on the first G of the command, so you can just say "OK, G" or "OK, Go" and that will be enough. For all it's worth, "OK, Jesus" and "OK, Grandpa" worked too.

Google Now gives you short overview of information it believes is relevant to you right now in the form of cards. Going to work in the morning? Google Now knows this and lets you know there's a big traffic jam on your usual way to the office, so it offers you a re-route.

It can interpret a lot of things from your search history as well. If you've been searching for, let's say, your favorite football team, Google Now will prepare a card showing you the next match the team is playing and will provide you score updates once the game begins.

Google Now

Google Now, if you allow it, can scan your email for upcoming flights, deliveries or restaurant reservations and let you know when they are due. There are also numerous kinds of cards like birthdays (yours and those of your contacts) and what distance you've walked in a particular month. The last one could definitely feel creepy for some users, but it's easily turned off from the Google Now settings menu.

Google Now in action

Google has also integrated Voice Actions into Now. They can handle stuff like sending messages (SMS or email), initiating a voice call, asking for directions, taking a note or opening a site. Google Now can also launch apps, check and manage your calendar and look for nearby places of interest and stuff like movie openings in theaters.

Google has added lots of more customization on Google Now in Android 4.4 KitKat. You can now set your default transportation method, you favorite sports teams, company stocks you are following, places you are interested to visit and more. Once you add items you want to keep an eye on Google Now will do this instead of you. It will automatically inform you for various changes, news and updates.

Customizing Google Now behavior

The More section of the customization will update automatically with topics you can choose from once you've start using Google Now search capabilities.

You can now set reminders straight from Google Now's UI. Just hit the bottom left icon (the palm with a stretched index finger). There you can add reminders or just check all the past, ongoing or upcoming reminders.

Adding a reminder manually • A reminder

One big advantage of Google Now is that the voice typing functionality doesn't require an internet connection to work. You can enter text by speaking anywhere you can use the on-screen keyboard - be it the Messaging app or a note taking app - without the need for a data connection as long as you have pre-downloaded the needed language packs (and those only take about 20-25MB of your storage per pack).

Making voice typing available offline also made it faster as it's not dependent on your connection. What's even more impressive is that the transition hasn't cost it anything in terms of accuracy.

Battery life

I have had to charge the Nexus 5 every day since I started using it. Starting out with a full battery it's generally 30% or below by the end of the day, and for really heavy usage days it needed a top-up before bedtime.

Now, there isn't really any such thing as "normal" usage, but it would be fair to say that I'm a heavy user. I take my phone everywhere and use it frequently. I left Wi-Fi and mobile data on at all times, enabled location tracking with high accuracy, and opted into Google Now.

A typical day will include a cumulative hour of gaming, maybe 90 minutes worth of web browsing, a couple of photos, and a smattering of app action in Facebook, eBay, Twitter, and Flipboard, not to mention obsessive email checks (even with it set to a 15 minute refresh rate).

What this reveals, beyond my worrying smartphone addiction, is that the Nexus 5 is fairly typical.

The battery lasts, on average, a good third longer than my 18 month-old Galaxy S3, but it's nowhere near the longevity of the last phone I tested, which happened to be the BlackBerry Z30. That's probably not an entirely fair comparison, because there was a lot less to enjoy on the BB.

Initially the battery life is very erratic, but this is no cause for concern, because you should find that it settles down after the first few days. Remember that downloading and installing a burst of apps tends to eat the battery life fast.

Downloading and installing an exceptionally large game, such as Asphalt 8: Airborne, which is 1.6GB, using Wi-Fi actually ate a staggering 10% of my battery.

If you use the Nexus 5 to navigate with turn-by-turn directions or play a graphically intensive game, like the aforementioned, Asphalt 8 then you will really notice a major drain.

The Nexus 5 battery dropped 3% in ten minutes of gaming. Streaming a 55 minute episode of Breaking Bad through Netflix ate 20% of the remaining battery life. A 15 minute call drained just 2% away.

I should also point out that my home is outside 4G range, so if you've got LTE coverage that could drain the juice faster. On days when I was able to get an LTE connection I didn't notice a major difference, but your mileage may vary.

The Nexus 5 battery is rated at 2,300mAh, a bit lower than the Galaxy S4's 2,600mAh battery.

Our 90 minute video NyanGareth battery test, with the screen at full brightness, knocked the Nexus 5 from fully-charged down to 74%.

Source

GSM Arena LG Nexus 5 Reviews (Desing 8.2/10, Features 8.3/10, Performance 8.6/10) - Nov 13, 2013

Engadget LG Nexus 5 Reviews (Critic Reviews 8.4/10, User Reviews 9.1) -Nov 5, 2013

Slash Gear LG Nexus 5 Reviews (9/10) -Nov 8, 2013

Techradar LG Nexus 5 Reviews (Design 4/5, Features 4.5/5, Performance 4/5, Usability 5/5, Value 5/5) -Jan 28, 2014

PCMAG LG Nexus 5 Reviews (4/5)

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Where to Buy

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$99.99 (With 2-year contract) Best Buy LG - Nexus 5 with 16GB Memory Cell Phone - Black (Sprint)*free shipping