The nexus 5 is a very powerful and balanced phone at an amazing price point. Here’s what I found out in my first month of use:
Design: An awesome looking phone which feels sturdy and secured in the hand. It has thin bezels. Not the best looking phone but certainly not the worst too. It is elegant.
Screen: 4.95 inch 1080p IPS display with a pixel density of 445 per inch. Unfortunately, the screen is easy to scratch and should be covered by a protector. It is easy to smudge and is a fingerprint magnet.
OS: Recently got an update to android 4.4.4 Kitkat. The phone has still 10 months of’official’ update support from Google left till may 2015 but Google generally updates it phones for more than the 18 months from launch. The OS is latest and is super smooth. It will be one of the first phones to receive android L when it is released officially.
Performance: It has a snapdragon 800 quad core processor clocked at 2.3 Ghz. It also comes with 2GB of RAM which is a delight. The graphics are very nice. Everything runs smooth and is snappy and speedy.
Camera: Where the phone disappoints is the camera. It says 8MP but the photos look grainy and look as if they are clicked by a 5MP camera. The only time the pictures look nice is in bright daylight. Though it has many camera options like HDR+, panorama etc. The front facing 1.3MP camera is quite average.
Interface: Comes with Google experience launcher. I like the part that the phone is always listening to you when at home screen and you just have to say "ok Google" followed by the command you want to give. The interface is clean and nice with big icons. But, I feel the app drawer is way too simple. Although this can be easily taken care of with a different launcher.
Call Quality: It is nice. The phone catches signal easily and I hardly found a problem in this category. The sound is loud and clear.
Battery: The 2300 mah battery is quite under-whelming. For such a powerful phone the battery life is a little below average. Even on a little heavy use and some casual gaming, you would find yourself charging the phone before going to bed. Furthermore, the battery is non-removable.
Others: There is no expandable memory which can be let down for some. But there is a 32 GB version of this phone as well. Stock android from Google means that this phone receives android upgrades in a jiffy and before the others. There are on screen buttons.
Verdict: This phone is a beast and is very good. I am very happy with the phone although the camera and battery is a let down. I bought the 16 GB version out of which I got 12 GB free. And I recommend this phone to anyone who wants an excellent phone.
It is rightly said that " You can’t Beat the Nexus 5 at its price point".