THANKS TO ITS ALL-ROUND TOP PERFORMANCE AND A PRICE THAT UNDERCUTS
ITS CLOSEST RIVALS, THE NEXUS 5 IS OUR NEW FAVOURITE SMARTPHONE
PRICE $399 (16GB); $449 (32GB)
SUPPLIER play.google.com
If the Nexus 4 was a breakthrough for Google’s smartphone brand, the Nexus 5 could be the model that sees it stride ahead of the rest of the market. Why? Because it takes a successful formula and adds improvements all round, yet retains the main draw of the original – a very reasonable price.
The 16GB Nexus 5 costs only $399, undercutting the outright price of all its near rivals – the Samsung Galaxy S4, the HTC One, the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c. However, there’s nothing cut-price about this unit. The Nexus 5 isn’t as glamorous as its predecessor, but it can certainly hold its head up.
In fact, its design is similar to the recent Nexus 7 tablet, with a matte- black, soft-touch plastic rear, the Nexus branding emblazoned upon it in large letters, and a camera lens housing that slightly protrudes. It doesn’t have the premium feel of the HTC One or the iPhone 5s – and it isn’t the slimmest around, at 8.9mm – but there’s nothing cheap about this phone. The Gorilla Glass 3 on the front means it should resist scratches and drops better than most, too.
DISPLAY
The Nexus 5 has a 4.95in IPS display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 and a pixel density of 445ppi. Yet, despite the large screen, LG – the device’s manufacturer – has managed to limit the size of the phone so it doesn’t feel bulky in the hand.
Screen quality is excellent. It isn’t as richly saturated as the Super AMOLED panel on the Galaxy S4, but its top brightness of 508cd/m2 is far better, which leads to better readability in bright sunlight. The 888:1 contrast ratio also ensures images, video and graphics all look their best. The HTC One’s display, on the other hand, is a touch brighter and has a higher pixel density. Otherwise, they’re neck and neck.
INTERNALS, PERFORMANCE
AND BATTERY LIFE
When it comes to hardware grunt, however, the Nexus 5 motors ahead of its two big rivals. Inside is a quad-core, 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 CPU – the same processor found in the lightningfast Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (web ID: 384823) – and it’s coupled with an Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM. With the new Android KitKat operating system onboard, navigating the OS and browsing the web feels slick.
It’s a combination that delivers superb performance in benchmark tests, too. With scores of 2539 in Geekbench 2 and 24fps in the demanding GFXBench 2.7 T-Rex HD test, it’s faster than both the Galaxy S4 and the HTC One, and it shines when tasked with taxing games such as Asphalt 8: Airborne.
Battery capacity isn’t as high as that of the Galaxy S4 – 2300mAh compared to 2600mAh – and it showed in our tests. We carried out a series of typical tasks over 3G in one 24-hour period and noted the capacity remaining at the end of that time; the Nexus 5 lagged behind its rivals, with 50% remaining on the gauge at the end of our test period. As with most modern smartphones, you’ll need to charge it every day; in fact, you may have to plug it into the mains at the beginning of the evening, too. The Samsung and HTC will give you a few more hours.
CAMERAS
Oddly, the Nexus’ turn of speed doesn’t translate to the device’s 8-megapixel camera, a curiously underpowered inclusion considering the competition. It’s reasonably quick to fire up – plus you can launch it from the lockscreen with a quick left-swipe of the camera icon – but it can take up to three seconds from pressing the onscreen shutter button to image capture, which is frustrating.
Image quality is so-so. Often, we found the autofocus failed to get a lock, resulting in soft, blurry photos. Metering was inconsistent, too: with areas of light and dark within the frame, such as a bright sky and a shadowy city street, we found that the camera struggled to find a balance, either overexposing the former or underexposing the latter.
This is a shame, since the sensor and optical image stabilisation system are capable of producing detailed snaps. The camera is effective in low light, too, and can shoot steady, handheld video at 1080p. Also, if you switch on the new HDR+ feature, the metering issues are largely addressed, lightening foreground areas and keeping bright skies in check. However, this slows shot-to-shot times further, and doesn’t work well with moving subjects.
KEY SPECS
• Quad-core 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 CPU
• 2GB RAM • 16/32GB storage
• 4.95in 1080 x 1920 IPS display
• GSM/WCDMA/3G/HSDPA/4G
• dualband 802.11ac Wi-Fi
• 8MP/1.3MP rear/front cameras with 1080p/720p video
• 2300mAh battery
• Android 4.4 (KitKat)
• 1yr RTB warranty
• 69 x 8.9 x 138mm (WDH)
• 136gw
CONNECTIVITY AND AUDIO
Finally, as you’d expect from a top-end smartphone, the Nexus 5 delivers in terms of connectivity: you get dualband 802.11ac Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 4, GPS and 4G support. Audio quality is fine, too, both in-call and from the speaker at the bottom edge of the phone.
The one black mark against the Nexus 5 is the absence of a userreplaceable battery or a microSD slot. However, as reported on teardown site iFixit, the rear panel can be removed far more easily than most.
VERDICT
The Nexus 5 is a superb smartphone: we like the design; it’s as powerful as they come; the screen is great; it runs the latest version of Android; and the camera – although a weak point – is capable of producing good snaps and video if you’re patient.
It’s the price, however, that swings things in favour of this Android handset. At $399 for the 16GB version, and $449 for the 32GB one, it undercuts its rivals significantly. That, coupled with its all-round capabilities, help to push the Nexus 5 to the top of the PC&TA A-List. Jonathan Bray
Android 4.4 KitKat
One of the principal attractions of investing in a Nexus handset is the fact you always receive the latest Android updates when they’re released; owners of HTC or Samsung handsets have to wait. The Nexus 5 runs Android KitKat, the successor to Jelly Bean.
KitKat isn’t a step-change for Android, but it brings with it significant refinements and new features. The first is a slightly simpler design. What were clearly delineated bars at the top and bottom of the screen are now transparent, which makes the homescreen feel more spacious, and the Widgets tab on the app drawer has been done away with. (To add a widget in KitKat, you hold a finger on the homescreen background for a second or two.)
Google Now has been given greater prominence, with a swipe from the left of the homescreen – in addition to the familiar drag up from the home button – now launching the search/personal assistant. The Nexus 5 comes with Quickoffice preinstalled, complete with word processor, spreadsheet and presentation software, integration with Google Drive and 25GB of Google Drive space.
Google has introduced a caller ID service, too, which attempts to match business names with incoming numbers for callers not in your address book. You also get extended voice-control features, and, in a strange move, Google Hangouts now handles text messages.
