Google Nexus 5  


              The Google Nexus 5 is the fifth generation of the Google-designed Nexus Android smartphone line, which is now faster, slimmer and even better.

              The Nexus line represents the best of Google in a smartphone. Google chooses a manufacturing partner – in this case LG as it did with the Nexus 4 before it – and gets involved directly with the creation of the hardware as well as producing the software.

              It is Google hardware, running Google software, and is as close to the iPhone’s one-company manufacturing model as is possible with Android. The Nexus 5 is built by LG, but it is a Google phone through and through.

              As with previous generations of Nexus smartphones, the Nexus 5 is based on pre-existing internal hardware from LG – in this case the LG G2. That’s a good thing, as the LG G2 is a superb phone hampered with poor software integration, something Google can completely iron out with its Nexus line of phones.

              The Nexus 5 is, as the name might suggest, a 5 inch phone. It is a relatively small 5 inch phone, however, as there is barely any bezel around the screen’s left and right hand sides. The bezel above and below the screen is about one little finger’s width, and holds the speaker, front-facing camera and ambient light sensors up top, with the notification LED at the bottom.

               It is worth noting that a 5 inch phone is quite hard to use one-handed if you have small hands. With my average-sized hands, I can more or less reach every corner of the screen with my thumb, but it can be a bit of a stretch. It is a trade off for a large screen, but for those moving from a 3.5 or 4in phone like the iPhone 5, it certainly takes some adjustment.

               The phone looks rather understated and plain in black – not something that is necessarily bad – although a white model is also available. Short of the glass front, the rest of the phone is coated in a soft-touch plastic, which feels almost silky in texture and provides a good balance between being smooth and having enough friction to stop the phone sliding out of your hand.
  

               A rounded back to the phone also feels very nice in the palm of your hand, while the light 130g weight makes the phone easy to hold one-handed. For comparison, the similarly shaped HTC One weighs 143g, while the Samsung Galaxy S4 weighs 130g, and the smaller iPhone 5S 112g.

               Short of the Nexus logo, a small rear camera bulge in the top left-hand corner is the only feature of note on the back. It means the phone rests on it when laid down flat, which is an odd choice giving it little to no protection.

               The front of the device is dominated by the 4.95 inch screen. It is a pin-sharp full HD IPS Plus LCD display, which means text on websites and eBooks looks crisp and easily legible, with photos and videos looking detailed and colorful. The screen is also very bright, making it much easier to read in direct sunlight than some competing screens on other device

Specifications:

Height	137.9mm
Width	69.2mm
Thickness	8.6mm
Weight	130g
Size	4.95-inch
Resolution	1920 x 1080 pixels, 445ppi pixel density
Colours	16M
Battery capacity	2300 mAh
Standby	Up to 300h
Talktime	Up to 17h
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 2.3 GHz quad-core chipset
OS	Android 4.4 KitKat
RAM	2 GB
	Internal storage 16 GB / 32 GB
Network	4G LTE
Camera resolution	8-megapixel, 3264 x 2448 pixels, OIS, auto focus, LED flash, 1080p video recording at 30fps

Battery is a little inconsistent, but alright:

              This brings us to the battery. When testing the Nexus 5’s camera, around 40 shots and a single, one minute video were taken. A few were shared on several social networking sites, emails were read, apps installed and messages sent. After five hours, the battery was down to 47 percent. Add in some gaming in the afternoon, and the phone needed to visit the charger in the late evening. Not terrible, but not great. Light use during another day indicated the battery should last for two days before needing a recharge if you don’t use it a lot.

Conclusion

              To judge the Nexus 5, we need return to the Nexus 4 for a moment. For all its greatness, the year-old phone failed to break into the mainstream, as regular buyers still flocked to Samsung for their Android smartphone fun. Is the Nexus 5 Google’s breakout device, ready to take on the accepted giants of the industry, such as the Galaxy S4 and the HTC One? At $350 unconnected for the 16GB model, it has every right to popularity; it’s half the price of its competitors. It’s also just as powerful with a screen just as sharp, and the standard Android user experience is far better than any manufacturer user interface we’ve used.

However, its limited availability with carriers in the United States is a problem. Sprint and T-Mobile are the only carriers that will sell it in-store, and the benefits of standard Android are irrelevant to most people. All this would be solved if the Nexus 5 stood out for some other reason than its SIM-free price. But instead, it’s a bit too safe in its feature list and design. It’s vaguely related to the LG G2, which will look considerably more “exciting” to buyers, thanks to the rear-mounted buttons and attention grabbing (though largely useless) extra software features.

   The Nexus 5 then, will probably remain the Android phone of choice to those in the know, or bargain hunters who do their research. It’s unlikely to be challenging high-selling Samsung phones for supremacy. Don’t get us wrong, it’s a comprehensive upgrade over the Nexus 4, can match the pace of phones costing twice as much, and those who do buy it will get themselves one of the best Android phones available. But this phone won’t set your heart a-flutter. The Nexus 5 is a no-nonsense smartphone which shows off everything Android (and LG, to an extent) is capable of in a most convincing, but clinical, fashion. Just don’t let that put you off.

Highs

• Gorgeous screen
• Android 4.4 is the best version yet
• Nexus phones get updates straight from Google
• Tightly integrated voice control
• Solid build quality
• Ultra-competitive $350 price

Lows

• Boring design
• Lacks the wow factor
• The camera, though improved, isn’t fantastic
• SMS integration into Hangouts needs work
• Battery life is inconsistent