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LG Nexus 5 Mobile Review

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S Aadeetya
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Google launched its Nexus 5 smartphone globally and much to our surprise the company redeemed itself for the mistakes it made with Nexus 4 in India by bringing the latest Nexus much earlier than last time around (almost an year to be precise). The stock Android 4.4 KitKat version is the best way to differentiate between the experience of a Nexus device and other vendor branded devices. Nexus 5 is no different and carries the tradition of being an excellent value-for-money product.

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Features

LG has flourished under the stewardship of Google which has enabled the company to iron out their flaws (LG G2 is a prime example). With Nexus 5 LG has taken the expectations to whole new level. So what's all the hoopla about Nexus 5 you ask? For starters, it sports a 5 inch Full HD display, runs on the latest Android 4.4 KitKat OS, packs 2.2 GHz Snapdragon 800 CPU with 2 GB RAM and then the usual culprits; 8 MP rear and 1.2 MP front cameras, connectivity options and a 2300 mAh battery completes the package.

Performance

Not the most good looking but a definite step up from the glossy looks of Nexus 4. That said with Nexus 5 you get a well built sturdy device which comes with Corning Glass 3 display. During our usage we found the display to be effective and even after some rough treatment the display refused to wither down. The other change is the placement of speakers on Nexus 5 which is now more conventionally placed at the bottom unlike the one on Nexus 4 which was there at the rear side of the device. Stock Android version has its hits and misses. The performance is smooth but we did miss some applications that should be pre-installed. One really interesting thing is Hangout being the default app for messaging as well as SMS, so one has to install an SMS app from the Play Store to give them SMS as a standalone option. The full HD display is bright, crisp and offers colorful viewing experience. Even at 130 grams the phone is lighter on hands than Nexus 4 (it weighs 139 grams).

Camera is a big improvement on the Nexus 4 but still well short of the major devices in the market most notably Nokia Lumia 1020 and for its pricing, the Nexus 5 offers images of credible quality. But, the imaging capability in real time is sluggish and auto-focus and clicking images is not the smoothest ride. Battery life on the Nexus 5 is average and during normal usage of 2 hours web surfing, messaging, 3 hours on Wi-Fi, 3-4 hours on 3G and 1 hour of gaming lasted for little over half a day which is not really something to boast about. Notable mention about Google Voice feature which stands out for its effectiveness and accuracy. It's quick, effective and informative with any information delivered in no time.

In terms of raw performance the Nexus 5 scored 21754 on Antutu, 7813 on Quadrant, 13402 (Unlimited) on 3DMark and 1353 on Vellamo HTML5 against Nexus 4 which had scores of 16440, 4245,7075 (extreme) and 1159 on the said benchmark tools.

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