Why I purchased Google Nexus 5 and not its more famous counterparts

Nexus5-1401_678x452: Google Nexus 5 — Google Nexus 5

It’s about a week that I purchased Google Nexus 5 though Google Play pre-order. I had several options in front of me. Nokia Lumia 925 was a serious option. Then I had iPhone 5s/5c. I always reckoned that Nokia Lumia 925 is value for money but probably I wanted to experiment a bit with new version of Android after using Samsung Window phone for a long time. iPhone 5S/5C was a definite temptation. But, my ultimate choice was Google Nexus 5. A lot of considerations went into that while I reviewed all the available information in front of me. Let us review them one by one.

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Google Nexus 5: background

It’s now a norm that each year, Google finds a hardware partner, and releases a newer version of Android running on top of them. This is how Nexus phones came into picture. Google Nexus 5 is fifth such attempt and also coincides with a 5 inch display screen. So far, upto Nexus 4, the phones were more in line with a development device and suffered a bit on account of experimentation. Nexus 5, however, is a pleasant surprise. It is perhaps the most optimized hardware with a highly optimized software.

Google Nexus 5: Hardware

With Quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor and Adreno 330 GPU its very fast. Additionally, the handset offers built-in wireless charging and NFC (near-field communication), so you can juice up your phone and transfer files without any cables. Its 1080p display, 2GB of RAM, and a sizable 2,300mAh battery. Unlike other Nexus phones, this one is having a very good hardware specifications

Google Nexus 5: design

Google made a lot of effort on Nexus to optimize its cost and still not sacrifice its design and build. The weight of the Nexus 5 is very light. In fact, it feels incredibly lighter when compared its size. The Nexus 5 is actually bigger than HTC’s One but still weighs 13 grams less !!. Frankly speaking, I was always afraid of dropping it until I put on the Google supplied bumper which was procured in a hurry. LG is a fantastic manufacturer and they proved it again by providing almost endless screen with super-slim screen bezel. The Nexus 5 is made of soft touch matt black plastic. It may not be as gorgeous as the aluminium of theHTC One, but it feels good when in hand. One interesting thing is to be noted here, there are some subtle differences between black and white Nexus 5. While the black model is within a case of some soft-touch material, the white model’s side panels are shiny black plastic and it looks like the white model is comprised of two covers (front and back) fused together.

Software design wise, I liked the pure Google experience over the usual heavy skins put on by the reputed manufacturers. Earlier, according to my experience, these skins make the interface heavier and slower. Having said that, I want to admit that there are few excellent efforts from HTC (TV app) and Samsung (S pen suite) on customization of Android though these are predominantly exceptions.

Google Nexus 5: LED light

New hardware feature worth noticing is a well-executed notification LED placed at the bottom middle of the acreen. The light of the LED is diffracted slightly to give it a glow effect. This gives altogether a different dimension to the handset. Color of LED can be controlled in granular level by using a third party software.

Google Nexus 5: Google Now

New “Google Experience launcher” is accessible at the leftmost screen. The most attractive part of Google Now is its ability to understand Indian Engligh pronunciation. It pre-empts your daily job and need and keeps that information available in the form of cards.

Google Now is activated anytime with the “Hotword” “OK Google.” With voice command in simple English KitKat performs a Google search, get directions, open an app, or send an SMS. Unlike the Moto X, the Nexus 5 only listens to the “hotword” when the screen is unlocked, I found Google now very interesting and very accurate. I use SIRI in iPad. SiRI provides with an intelligent answer when it understands you but Google Now is marked by its accuracy. I believe that it is going to be more powerful in the near future.

Google Nexus 5: SMS

in Nexus 5, all your SMS messages are integrated into one place which is Google Hangouts now. It is forced by Google and frankly , I struggled initially but later on got accustomed with the idea. The current hangout in Android cannot make voice calls through Google Voice like its IOS counterpart but I guess, the same should be introduced shortly.

Google Nexus 5: Camera

Google Nexus 5’s 8-megapixel camera yields high quality pictures in solid lighting conditions. But in low light condition it produces grainy, fuzzy photos unless you’re in a well-lit area. This is a serious let down. On top of that, Google Nexus 5′s camera software is slow and clunky, the menus are access and navigate, options less, and I found that it often has trouble locking focus. The good part is that Google quickly came out with an update of the camera software which I heard to be good. The update should be pushed in next few days.

However, Nexus 5 cameras are having an advanced feature called HDR+. When you take picture, the camera not only takes several photos of different exposures, but it also takes a burst of photos at the same time. Overlaid altogether, these effects can yield suparb quality picture..

Google Nexus 5: Battery

Battterry in Google Nexus 5 is found to be good. With moderate usage you should get more than a day usage. However, if you are a heavy user you should be prepared to charge it sometimes in the evening. This phone is compatible to wireless charging and even the Google specified bumper case is not needed to be removed while performing wireless charging.

Google Nexus 5: Call Quality

Nexus 5, call quality is good and NOT superb. I have seen much better call quality in various phones. The sound is also generally a bit tinny. Though the phone is certainly usable for voice calling, but there are scopes of improvement. The loud speaker on the bottom isn’t that great either

Google Nexus 5: It’s affordable

The biggest selling point of Google Nexus 5 is its price. If you want it unlocked through Google, the price is for a very reasonable $349 (16GB) and $399 (32GB).

Conclusion

It’s not for people who associate price with quality directly. It’s not for people who are ready to pay a premium for look, touch or feel. It is an attractive proposition for those who research and study a lot before purchase to extract the best bargains. If you want value for your money there cannot be any other choice. We must tank Google and LG for this excellent piece of hardware and software combination.

To summarize, here are the salient points:

Highlights