Google Nexus 5 Review
by Brian Klug on December 5, 2013 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- LG
- Android
- Mobile
- Snapdragon 800
- Android 4.4
- Nexus 5
As is often the case, the conclusion to this Nexus review is one part software, and one part hardware. I'll start with a discussion of Android 4.4.
Google adds a subtle but appreciated level of polish to the Android UI with its latest iteration of the OS. This has been true for a while now, but the Android we're talking about today is really a far departure from what existed back in the early 2.x days. Anyone who hesitated to move from iOS back then will find themselves with an OS today that is clearly a substitute good. What once was an OS that only appealed to a crowd that appreciated its flexibility is now just as approachable as anything else on the market, and just as powerful as it always has been.
Likewise, Android is now smoother than before thanks to further improvements brought forth by project butter and refinements to the GPU-accelerated 2D rendering pipeline that was introduced in Android 3.x Honeycomb. Like any platform, it's still possible to craft apps that jank, but you have to look hard for examples that truly drag the experience down, and on the whole almost all the system apps are polished and performant. Project svelte also reduces memory footprint for midrange (emerging market) devices with 512 MB of RAM, where most of the remaining growth is for the smartphone market abroad and at home. I can't wait to see how that bears itself out even on devices like the Moto G with 1 GB of RAM or less, since it's hard to immediately find the difference on flagships with 2 GB or more that aren't always under high memory pressure.
I'm glad to see the antiquated SMS/Messaging app gone, but I'm puzzled by the poor integration into Google's new Hangouts app. The Hangouts experience in Android remains incredible, but the SMS component is far from the sort of seamless integration I had hoped for.
The most disappointing part about Android 4.4 is the miserable camera UI, but I'll get to its impact on the Nexus 5 in a moment.
For the price, the Nexus 5 is easily one of the best buys on the market today. At $349 you not only get the absolute latest hardware, but the most accurate 1080p display available on an Android device. I really can't give Google enough credit here for doing what literally no other Android OEM seems to care enough about and actually shipping a display with proper sRGB coverage. It's not quite as good as what you'll get from a 2013 Nexus 7, but it's easily the best I've ever encountered in all of my experience with Android devices.
It's good to see the default storage capacity move from 8GB to 16GB, but I would really like to see Google embrace even larger options. There's no reason Google couldn't offer a 64GB Nexus 5, and/or be a little aggressive on NAND sourcing and push for a 128GB model as well.
The fact that the Nexus 5 ships unlocked at its price point is another huge selling point. It seems to me that what you can get for $179, $349 and $599 is improving substantially across the market. I would love to see Google extend the Nexus family both up and down the pricing spectrum to really provide excellent solutions for all segments of the market.
The camera story on the Nexus 5 is among the most frustrating aspects of this phone. From a hardware perspective, Google has settled on a combination of sensor and optics that's quite close to the most optimal configuration available today, and a dramatic improvement from the Nexus 4. The problem with the Nexus 5's camera is entirely limited to the horrible mess that is the default Android camera app. We're nearly into 2014 yet substantial shutter lag, focusing issues and a preview that doesn't reflect reality are still problems with the AOSP camera. The fact that many other Android OEMs have already worked around some if not all of these issues is hugely disappointing. Depending on how important the camera experience is to you will really determine whether or not the Nexus 5 is a good fit. Google has apparently told other publications that software fixes are on the way, but it's currently impossible to gauge the magnitude of improvement coming down the pipe.
Thankfully, we find ourselves in a time where there are a number of excellent options in the Android space.
Quite possibly the closest alternative to the Nexus 5, while still retaining the mostly-stock Android experience, is Motorola's Moto X. You lose out on core count and display resolution, but in return you get a smaller/more comfortable body, potential for color customization, and a far more usable camera today. The Moto X is just a much more polished device overall, and something you can also find on Verizon (not an option for Nexus 5). If having access to virtually-stock Android is of value to you and you want a cleaner experience today, the Moto X is a great alternative to the Nexus 5.
On the other end of the spectrum there's LG's G2 - the Nexus 5's closest hardware relative. Here you also get a much more functional camera offering and even better battery life. The tradeoff is of course that you lose the stock Android UI and the display isn't as accurate (it is however slightly larger), but it's absolutely a liveable option if you value things like a usable camera.
Google is really so close to perfecting the Nexus as a smartphone. Nexus 5 is a huge improvement over Nexus 4, and the obvious upgrade for Nexus 4 users, it just still needs a few refinements before I can comfortably recommend it to normal smartphone shoppers. For enthusiasts seeking the device that will get Android updates first, or shoppers looking for optimal value, the Nexus 5 is a definite buy.
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BearCatCow - Thursday, December 5, 2013 - link
What a great article! Very objective and evidence based. The attention to display accuracy rather than whoever pumped up the saturation the most, the clear analysis of the camera's hardware (potential) vs software (current usability), and the multitude of battery measures are very helpful.bioyuki - Thursday, December 5, 2013 - link
Brian: Did you notice any differences in real world rf performance between the Nexus 5 and Nexus 4? Only a few data points on my end, but it seems like the N5 performs on average 3-5 dBm worse than the N4 (LTE and HSPA on Band 4). Also, does the N5 contain any of Qualcomm's tunable front end parts?BearCatCow - Thursday, December 5, 2013 - link
Question: what were the differences in battery performance with ART runtime vs the default?nostriluu - Thursday, December 5, 2013 - link
how about a battery test that's really useful for most people, how a device lasts over the course of a day with a typical set of apps? these rundown tests are really not that helpful.NeoteriX - Thursday, December 5, 2013 - link
What do you specifically propose for an objective, repeatable, platform agnostic test, hmm? What is a typical set of apps? What about the fact that apps are always changing? What about the fact that many apps are not multi-platform or aren't standardized across platforms?The rundown test (based on something agnostic and universal like web page loading) is probably the best kind of objective test you're going to get; you'll just have to extrapolate your daily performance from that.
Besides, as a pragmatic matter, Brian's/Anandtech's reviews are already take so much time and effort to do, and that's with multiple a 5-9 hour long battery tests (LTE, 3G, Wifi...). One can't test any other feature of the phone while battery testing... you want to seriously add a suite of 12-24 hour tests on top of that?
Impulses - Friday, December 6, 2013 - link
Can't believe someone's actually pinning for less controlled/repeatable battery testing just because it might be closer to their own use... AT does the best battery tests bar none, whether they mimic your use or not is irrelevant, just find a phone you own or have owned on their list and extrapolate from there. It'll be far more accurate than a pseudo real world test with too many random variables to account for.flyingpants1 - Saturday, December 7, 2013 - link
Jesus Christ, I cannot believe some of the comments on here. The battery life tests here and everywhere else are terrible. None of them reflect real-world usage whatsoever.The only real test here is a synthetic web-browsing battery life test, and it gives results between 6-10 hours, I'll eat my monitor if anyone's phone actually lasts that long in real-life web-browsing. Obviously a synthetic benchmark can be a useful as a comparative tool between phones, but not much else. It's basically the equivalent of a 3dmark score.
It's a well-known fact.. actually, by now a universally foregone conclusion that smartphones die extremely quickly, and are super annoying to charge. Brian uses phrases like "It can last the whole day on a single charge" which are utterly meaningless. That just means you left your phone in your pocket most of the time. But when you actually want to use your phone in a pinch, or while travelling, or in an emergency, or for serious work, then it's a completely different story. Yet for some reason you wouldn't get that impression from most reviewers. And so we're forced to compromise.
Compare with laptops from a couple years ago, they'd advertise 5 hours of life, get 3 in reality in ideal conditions, and within a year be down to 2 hours. I'm sure a lot of people were happy with that. So what. The Macbook Air came along and gives you up to 12-16 hours. Now *THAT* is all day life. That is what we should be getting on smartphones. 12-16 hours of screen time and constant use. Then we won't need to go and do forty million battery life tests anymore, because the problem is *solved* for 99.9% of use cases. Instead we're getting price gouged like crazy for storage, and R&D goes to things like 500PPI displays and downloading at 150mbps, things which should be of slightly lower importance than making the phone stay alive.
No idle test. This is really important, the percentage drop should be less than 1-2% every 24 hours.
No video test.
No gaming test.
Nobody seems to care about texting. People usually send *way* more texts than they make calls, and texting drains battery faster than calls do. I often run out of battery life on the train while texting, seems like a percentage point every minute or two even with my display on 0%.
The reviewers are definitely on the manufacturer's side on every single issue here: against microSD, against removable batteries, but *FOR* pointlessly thin, even to the point of sacrificing battery life and functionality. If they were on the *consumer's* side, they'd be tearing apart every single 16GB device, advocating the $1 microSD slot for *EVERY PHONE*, and demanding *EVERY PHONE* have either a version with a removable battery, and/or EXTENDED (MAXX) battery version.
My ideal device would be a 5" screen, LG G2 or RAZR MAXX-like device, 10.5mm thick, 4500mah, with 64GB microSD and front speakers like the HTC One. The closest thing right now is the HTC Butterfly S, IMO the best phone on the market by far, there are no tradeoffs at all.
bountygiver - Thursday, December 5, 2013 - link
Well the camera UI didn't go miserable in 4.4, but since 4.3. Navigating settings in 4.3+ camera UI is a pain as toggles have no feedback and there's no tell whether an option is a menu or a toggle.For the not focus problem, just tap another place and tap the original position again to refresh it.
Krysto - Thursday, December 5, 2013 - link
I'm curious why you're calling 512 MB phones "mid-range", when you can find such a phone even for $100 unlocked these days. Even Moto G at $180 is a low-end to mid-range phone, and it has 1 GB of RAM. Is it because you don't want the iPhone to be considered mid-range?Pr3ch34r - Thursday, December 5, 2013 - link
Tell me how would you consider the 5s (or even the 5c) midrange, because of ram and screen size? Both are top of the line, like it or not...