The Google Nexus series of phones have become immensely popular since the launch of the first Nexus back in January 2010. The Nexus series of phones set themselves apart from the rest by not having any manufacturer or mobile carrier modifications. These devices run on Android and have been developed by Google and several OEM (Original equipment manufacturers. The Nexus 5 is the latest and greatest Nexus phone and it’s hitting Indian shores this November!
What’s all the fuss about?
When the first Nexus was launched in 2010, it caused quite a bit of stir. The Nexus One ships with an unlockable bootloader allowing developers to participate in the Android Open Source Project in addition to developing applications. The phone received positive reviews and Google launched a new Nexus handset every year since then. Google hit a new peak with the launch of the Nexus 4. What was on offer was a top of the line smartphone for a relatively low-cost. Combining an excellent design with some intelligent features, the device sold like hot cakes. But, there were a few areas where there was still room for improvement – storage space, battery life, etc.
Fortunately, the Nexus 5 improves upon last year’s model in nearly every possible way: It features the best display, the best processor, a respectable amount of storage space and it also launched in both black and white, so customers are getting a choice from the very beginning.
Display and Design
The phone features scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass 3 on the front and polycarbonate plastic on the back. The size of the phone is slightly bigger compared to the Nexus 4. The phone’s dimensions are 137.9 x 69.2 x 8.6 mm but it’s also a bit lighter at 130gm. The screen size has been increased to 4.95 inches from 4.7 inches on the Nexus 4. The screen resolution has been bumped up to 1920 X 1080p and the pixel density is an amazing 445 ppi.
What it means for us is a bigger better phone with a bloody good display that puts a lot of other phones to shame. We’ve heard reports that the white and black coloured back panels offer a different feel due to their texture and we’re waiting to get out hands on the phone to see if this is true.
The Technical Side of Things
Like most other high-end phones these days, the Nexus also used a Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 chipset, which consists of four 2.26GHz Krait 400 cores and a quad-core, Adreno 330 GPU clocked at 450MHz. It also comes with 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM clocked at 800MHz. What we expect from looking at these specifications is an absolute monster of a phone. Also, this phone seems to be made for multi-tasking. It probably is the most advanced phone based on these specs and the kind of hype it’s generating in the market could be justified by these specs alone!
The device is the first to feature Android 4.4 Kitkat. Performance optimization is the name of the game, and indeed, the operating system and preloaded apps have been trimmed down substantially in size. Android is leaner and meaner, and performance is quicker, making Android 4.4 more efficient for lower-end devices that don’t have the same powerful internals as flagship devices.
Camera
The 8 MP camera on the device is quite similar to its predecessor. The focal length on the camera gets an upgrade to 4.5mm from 3.97mm. A new feature on the phone is called HDR+, which according to Google involves taking burst shots and using special algorithms to put them together into one shot. Overall, we understand that megapixel count isn’t the best indicator of the quality of photos a phone can take but with the competition coming out with 12+ megapixel cameras, we would have loved to see a bigger camera on the Nexus. The camera also records full HD 1080p videos and based on what we saw in the older model, we expect these videos to be great. The front facing camera is 1.3 MP and is used for Skype and video calls.
What we expect
The Nexus 5 will be launched in India this November. The phone packs an impressive set of features that is bound to entice the masses. This device will cause quite a stir in the mobile market and we think the demand for this phone will far outnumber the supply.
Summary
Simply put, the phone is a masterpiece. Combining state of the art features with some exciting new developments, the phone promises to be one of the hottest devices of the year. The phone has already been launched in many countries and is receiving rave reviews. When it is launched, the phone, we expect will sell like hot cakes.