Published in Mobiles

Nexus 5 is official

by on01 November 2013

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$349 for 16GB model

The Nexus 5 is official, after weeks and weeks of leaks and speculation. Needless to say, the official announcement didn’t tell us much we didn’t know already.

 

It’s powered by a Snapdragon 800 clocked at 2.3GHz, backed by 2GB of RAM and either 16GB or 32GB of storage. The screen has been bumped up to 1080p and at 4.95 inches it’s slightly bigger than the 720p screen on the Nexus 4. Luckily the phone itself isn’t bigger, as the bezel is somewhat smaller.

In terms of features, the new Nexus finally brings LTE, along with Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11ac wireless and NFC, so connectivity shouldn’t be an issue as it supports practically every standard out there.

The glass back is gone, replaced by a matte finish and the phone will be available in white and black. The front is protected by Gorilla Glass, which also covers the 1.3-megapixel front facing cameras. The main camera still features an 8-megapixel sensor, but this time around it has optical image stabilization and something Google calls HDR+, which is supposed to be like “real” HDR. OIS will definitely help multiple exposure shots, so HDR+ should be able to live up to its name.

The prices are $349 for the 16GB version and $399 for the 32GB one. There is no more 8GB version, good riddance – it was about time. The prices sound very reasonable for what is essentially a top notch flagship phone with pure Android and timely Google updates. It costs significantly less than other Android flagships and even the iPhone 5C.

Although some high-end Android phones may boast a few extra features, we don’t get the feeling Google cut too many corners with the Nexus 5. For example, the Nexus 4 lacked LTE and shipped with just 8GB to 16GB of storage, but the Nexus 5 doesn’t appear to have any glaring omissions.

Of course, it ships with Android 4.4 KitKat, which we’ll deal with in subsequent articles and reviews.

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Last modified on 01 November 2013
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