LG Nexus 5 review: Back to the future

Introduction

Nexus phone releases are timed to let Google have the last word - and what a way to have it! A phone that matches any flagship on specs and premieres the latest OS version, but costs barely half as much as some of them. The Nexus 5 promises a great finale to yet another exciting smartphone season and it's not only the droids that stand to attention.
This could have been a deja-vu moment for everybody but the fifth gen Google phone will probably have to work harder than ever. There's already a bunch of Snapdragon-800-powered Android flagships, while Qualcomm's latest is ticking inside Windows Phone-powered devices by Nokia too and Apple has the new 64-bit A7 chipset.
On a second thought, Nexus phones have never been too keen on getting into the skirmish, keeping their distance, aloof and somewhat out of touch, nothing to prove to anyone. The best of Google on your homescreen - that's what it's all about - and at a price that's almost too good to be true.


Nexus 5 official photos


The search giant is partnering with LG for a second year in a row. Whether the Koreans are offering the best production cost or both sides were happy with the Nexus 4, it's a choice we don't mind at all. Anyway, Android 4.4 KitKat on a five-inch full-HD screen, powered by a Snapdragon 800 is a package no one would say not to.
Check out the key specs to see what we're on about.

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.

Unboxing the Nexus 5

Trying to keep the price in check, the Nexus series of smartphones have never flaunted exceptional packaging bundles. Google has always included only the bare minimum of accessories and the Nexus 5 is no exception. So the box of the Nexus 5, while being quite stylish, doesn't hold much.


The retail packaging of the LG Nexus 5

Inside it, there's just a SIM ejector pin, AC adaptor and a microUSB cable. Traditionally, headphones aren't included in the retail package, let alone some fancy accessories.

LG Nexus 5 360-degree view

The LG Nexus 5 is as compact as 5" smartphones get right now. It measures 137.9 x 69.2 x 8.6 mm, which is just a hair thinner and narrower than the LG G2 that it's based on. Compared to the Nexus 4, it's half a millimeter thinner and 9 grams lighter.
With a weight of just 130 grams it's lighter than the LG G2, as well. In fact, it weighs the same as the Samsung Galaxy S4 and has about the same footprint as the Samsung flagship. This is achieved thanks to the choice of lighter materials as well as reduction in the battery size. The LG G2 boasts a 3000mAh battery, while the Nexus 5 packs just 2300mAh one. We'll cover the battery in a greater detail later on.

Design and build quality

Now, let's focus on the design of the Nexus 5. Right off the bat, it's apparent that this is not just a copy/paste affair and the Google purebred is quite different from LG G2.
First and foremost, the Nexus 5 is built around a 5" True HD IPS display, which is responsible for the phone's smaller footprint compared to the G2. However the difference is smaller than the size difference suggests as the bezels surrounding it aren't quite as thin as they're on the G2.
Overall, the design is quite simplistic and underplayed with nice matte finish. The Nexus 5 is a decent looking bloke and even if it won't win any design contests, its looks certainly won't be held against it.


The Nexus 5 matte plastic looks nice and feels great to touch

The whole body of the phone is made of a soft-touch plastic, quite similar to the one on the back of the Google Nexus 7 2013 slate. It's actually great to the touch and to our joy is quite resistant to fingerprints and smudges.
Despite not flaunting a metal-clad body, the Nexus 5 is very sturdy. The plastic shell didn't creak nor give in to pressure and twists. It certainly holds up better than the glass back of the Nexus 4, too.
Speaking of the back, the battery cover of the Nexus 5 isn't removable in spite of the cutout lines that separate the front and back parts of the phone. They would let you think that you can access the battery of the phone, but that's not the case.
Another notable design feature at the back is the 8MP camera sensor, which has been made a lot more prominent than on the Nexus 4. It's protected by a large glass casing, which makes the camera look enormous. Moreover, the protective glass protrudes a bit leaving it susceptible to scratches.
The front of the Nexus 5 is protected by Gorilla Glass 3, which combined with the plastic shell and give you an additional peace of mind in case of drops. We're not entirely sure how the glass in front of the rear camera is going to fare, though.

Controls and handling

Other than the display at the front, there's a 1.3MP front-facing camera above it. As per tradition, there's also a notification LED light at the bottom. It pulsates when there's a missed call or a new message in 10-second intervals. Sadly, Android provides no out-of-the-box way to customize the duration, so you'll have to use third-party apps for that.

The front-facing camera at the top • LED notification light at the bottom
The left side of the LG Nexus 5 holds the volume rocker, while the right houses the Power/Lock key. All buttons are made of ceramic and feel extremely solid. A slight downside is that they can sometimes feel rough since their edges aren't perfectly smooth.
Below the Power/Lock key lies the micro-SIM card slot tray that's accessed via the provided pin tool. Using tools for accessing the SIM slot isn't ideal when you need to switch cards on the go, but luckily that's not something that happens too often.

The buttons on the Nexus 5 are made of ceramic
The top of the Nexus 5 is where you find the 3.5mm headphone jack and the secondary microphone. The microphone is used for active noise cancellation, but unfortunately it doesn't enable stereo sound recording out of box. You can enable that with a tweak if you are knowledgeable enough, but it's downright disappointing that you need to do that in the first place.


The 3.5mm headphone jack and secondary mic are on top
The bottom part is pleasantly designed with precision cut holes that sadly hold a single speaker and a microphone, rather than a stereo setup. It's located on the left to the microUSB port.


The bottom looks cool with the cutout grills
Finally, we come to the back, where the 8MP camera is heavily accented by the protruding and large protective glass cover. Below it sits the LED flash and a large Nexus logo joined by a smaller LG one below it.
The Nexus 5 carries a low price tag, but this shouldn't get you fooled into thinking it's a cheaply made smartphone. It's not and feels solidly built with its underrated minimalist design. The soft touch plastic at the back helps the grip quite a lot.


Handling the Google Nexus 5
The 5" form-factor has reasonable operability with one hand, while pocketing the smartphone is rarely a problem either.

Battery life

Under the soft touch back cover sits a 2,300mAh Li-Ion battery, which Google rates to last up to 17 hours of 3G talk time. Naturally, we run the Nexus 5 through our circle of battery endurance tests and it managed an endurance rating of 40 hours. You can find a full breakdown of how it did in our dedicated