I hope it's not as bad as the Nexus 4 throttling, but I think S800 is much improved in general from S4 Pro in this regard even if Google didn't have proper thermal dissipation (which I sure hope they do). Every modern SoC does throttle to an extent though.
The iPhone 5S also goes back to 1GHz after two minutes. But it's better than the Nexus 4, it throttles in the custom benchmark but not much in real use. So it remains to be seen if the 5 is better or worse, these artificial full load benchmarks don't show how it would do in a gaming or other real world scenario.
I'd advise you to redo your research then. Look through the G2 review on this site, in fact.
And about the S800 S4 throttling. My S600 S4 can hit 1.9GHz on all cores for just a couple seconds before throttling. So if the S800 can do 2.3GHz for "a few minutes" then that's much, much better.
"The 2.3GHz max clock speed comes at a surprisingly low voltage thanks to the low power HPM process. Gone are the days of 1.4V to hit near-2GHz frequencies it seems, instead 8974 will hit 2.3 GHz at around 1V."
Voltage doesn't mean much.,Krait 200/300 are made on TSMC low power/low leakage process, while Krait 400 is on HPm node. Low leakage are going to have higher voltage for same TDP.
Yes, but it's more complicated than that, other parameters, such as leakage current also matter. It's not a simple matter of lower voltage = lower power consumption.
Here's an article:
"But here is the biggest problem: at a given technology node a transistor that leaks more performs better (faster) than a transistor that leaks less. That means if we use less leaky transistors in our IC its performance (speed) degrades while if we work on speed by pumping more and more leaky transistors our active and standby leakage power budgets go haywire. "
My S600 S4 has about the same behavior... but with all 4 cores running 400MHz slower. So it's pretty impressive that the S800 can keep its cores 400MHz faster than the S600 can, in the same amount of time.
According to Anandtech users, it's already DOA. No SD, no removable battery, repairability probably 1/10 according to iFixIt. Brian, again, is going to further prove that he's a NSA/Apple representative out for a bigger objective than what the site presents. /s
No removable battery is only an issue if the battery lasts less than a day (we'll see), no SD card is only an issue if you have more than 20GB of stuff you HAVE TO HAVE on your phone instead of cloud storage etc. (I don't), and my SGS3 had a repairability of 8/10, but that might as well have been 0/10 for all the good it did me when the screen went kaput. So...
I thought Android was all about Choice. Bad form to blast a device that aims for different [cost | slimness | screensize | batterylife | speed] just because it doesn't align to your needs.
Unless there's some reason why Nexus buyers always needs to prove they have the biggest cojones on the planet. Go buy some other device. There's a zillion different configurations.
It's supposed to be a flagship phone. Lack of a tool-less removable back cover, Micro-SDXC storage slot, removable battery, and Dual-SIMs will immediately relegate it to upper mid-range at best, and more likely, just plain old mid-range.
If Google is aiming for middle-of-the-pack then they just achieved it... again. The problem is that having pure Android and being the first to get updates may be interesting to some, but it's not compelling enough to help it rise out of the $250 to $300 price range (international unlocked, of course). That's a good way to get lost amongst the crowd. Even low-end competitors have more of these basic features than the new Nexus.
I have the Nexus 7 3G [Gen 1] and I don't see what the big deal is about pure Android. The bigger issue is the lack of internally expandable storage. That drives me nuts. Who wants to connect yet another cable and dongle their storage off the device via OTG? It's nothing short of wacko.
I want my phones and tablets (as much as possible) to eventually replace my PCs. Why do I want a device that has stunted internal storage? I don't.
So why would I want my otherwise favorite tech site to ignore the realities of the need for storage and actively dissuade the readers from accepting the reality that expandable storage is needed by many? I don't.
The credibility of AT is being damage repeatedly lately. I find it fascinating at times, because I wonder how people so smart can prioritize the 'jewelry' aspect of phones so much, while so aggressively being an 'apologist' for the manufacturers' shortcomings. Worse, this behavior is slowly invading the thought processes of others at AT, including the proprietor.
AT readership wasn't built on wisps of waffle. It was built on people who are enthusiasts and who fully embrace high capability new technology for what it can enable them to do - not how much it makes them look cool to others. We deserve better than this drivel that has recently become the norm in AT's mobile reporting.
It's clear that a strong correction in direction is needed at AT. I am hopeful that this silliness will be put to an end sooner rather than later.
There is still a lot more that our phones and tablets can do to replace our PCs and help our computing become more mobile. Omitting expandable internal storage isn't going to help that cause. Neither is omitting user removable batteries. Dual-SIMs are very convenient and AT's silence on this issue (regarding lack of choices in the North American markets) smacks of complicity with overbearing telecoms and lazy manufacturers. Further, where is the campaigning to get the base-band frequency mess cleared up so that a phone purchased in North America will work well in the rest of the world, and vice versa?
Let's hope for better next week. Most of the AT mobile reviews in the past few weeks fell significantly short of the mark.
Removable back cover: You replace your device every 12-36 months. At that rate, swapping batteries is a moot point if you have a usage like mine: my Xperia Z usage leaves me with 54% battery left at the end of a 14hour day out. With fairly hefty wifi usage too. Granted, I only have around one hour of screen on time, but with skype, steam and google services effectively blocking deep sleep, the point is moot.
MicroSD slot: its a question of preference. I like having one, but all my stuff fits in 16GB. Including Titanium Backup backups if I'm using it. Rest of the time, I have a laptop (or two) available, which is a better platform for pretty much everything I do on the move (web browsing, media playback, some coding).
The reason why the Nexus devices are so particularly attractive is the sheer core specs on them. They have top-tier CPUs, GPUs, RAM allocation and screens, things that to me are far more important. When comparing to closely specced devices, like the Xperia Z1/LG G2/SGS5 (when it gets released), you have to ask yourself: is the microSD slot really worth paying between 50-100% more? Besides that you also get a nice source tree you can use in your ROM-hacking and a fully unlocked bootloader. Apart from Sony, who else does that?
"I want my phones and tablets (as much as possible) to eventually replace my PCs." I sure as hell don't. there is no way you can fit in 1000W worth of components in a phone. You simply can't argue with physics. The end. Phones simply don't have the raw computational power to compete against a slow ultrabook, let alone a high-end desktop or top-of-the-line workstation. If you only consume light content, sure, but creators need the power.
"There is still a lot more that our phones and tablets can do to replace our PCs and help our computing become more mobile" See above.
"Dual-SIMs are very convenient" unless you live in a third-world country where you don't have unlimited calls/flat rate calling and call a lot; or travel a LOT, its really irrelevant. for 60AUD/mo, I can get unlimited calls and texts in Australia, making my provider choice entirely up to their network quality.
"Further, where is the campaigning to get the base-band frequency mess cleared up so that a phone purchased in North America will work well in the rest of the world, and vice versa?" You're arguing with physics again. You will lose. Eventually radio front-ends and antenna design will get there, but not yet. Remember, just 2 years ago, you had on, maybe 2 bands for LTE on an LTE device, with ridiculous battery usage if you just left LTE on idling. If you really want to help clean up the US, give T-Mo more of your money so you can get some real competition. The rest of the world has sorted their shit out and we roam cleanly and effectively with plentiful SIM-swaps.
"AT readership wasn't built on wisps of waffle. It was built on people who are enthusiasts and who fully embrace high capability new technology for what it can enable them to do" Indeed. But I feel a lot of the readership has moved to a multi-device approach, with different gear for different scenarios. It's just something that happens as you acquire increasing amounts of disposable income. Once upon a time, I wouldn't consider buying games and software, since even a high-end PC cost pretty much all my income. These days my Steam account is worth over 3000.00 USD and I have two laptops for different use cases alongside a triple-screen, dual-GTX 670 desktop.
Keep on crying loud enough and maybe the manufacturers will bring betamax back. You keep forgetting that it's not about you. In your neverending rant you never mentioned capitalism. You keep on mentioning what is important to you and your roomful of nerds. The realization that they build for the masses and are selling boatloads to the masses despite your objections has not quite sunk into your techno-dweebie brain. You have plenty of book smarts but no common sense. Think back to your last rant that those corporations can't take away your desktop and that the Gigahertz race must continue at all costs. That's what us techies want! I can't believe they are ignoring us!
In the end, you'll adapt. Just like you've done before. It's just that you adapt a little slower than the rest, despite being a "techie". It seems like there are plenty of others that are responding to your rant as well. It's a cry for help.
Personally I agree with most everything you say. And I guess it's simply AT's policy to be very positive: I always enjoy semiaccurate for the opposite angle, like dinner and desert. But you mustn't forget that Google isn't producing these phones to make money on the device: It's trying to create a greater pull towards Google services, which is where the money is earned. Essentially this device is a subsidized catalyst from a Google perspective. Putting more storage on it means making it more independent from Google and I see why they don't want to do that. As painfully more expensive as it is: If you want a PC replacement device you need to go somewhere else or live with the limits of the Nexus devices. I actually want very much the same and there are still some very important features missing on all Androids like a really good Gbit class wireless (or optical) network connect, with a Thunderbolt like feature set (but hopefully using straight PCIe protocols and no Intel proprietary stuff), which you can use to connect the "phone" without latency or bandwidth issues to full res display, network and peripherals all by just laying the phone on some pad, where it is (silently) cooled and charged at the same time as it ramps to full power and clocks for PC operations.
I'm currently using my original SGS which has 16GB, and I'm doing fine. Of course, fine is a relative term and the phone is slow as shit, so it's not like it's a great phone. But its shittiness isn't because of its storage (size).
My current phone has 16GB and I've never filled it. It really depends on how frugal you are with storage. Sure you can load up 300+ hours of music and tonnes of videos all the time. But you don't NEED that and you can't even really use it all because the battery only lasts so long.
There is no way in Hades that the repairability of the N5 will be a 1/10. That's reserved for the most difficult, 50 screw + glue devices.
The Nexus 4, with its non removeable battery, scored a 7/10 on repairability. Just because the back doesn't come off like it does on a Samsung Galaxy, doesn't mean that some of these "sealed battery" phones aren't easy to take apart.
it is not DOA. It is simply something worth pointing out as a negative feature. I have 70 gb worth of stuff on my phone, so a Nexus will not be useful to me in the near future. We are not asking for a murder of this kind of devices. What we would like is for a site as tech-knowledgeable as Anandtech, to give credit where its due (Sony and Samsung, mainly) and to spank those that take the easy way out, instead of falling into a catatonic state every time their precious hands touch that glorious Valyrian Aluminum.
What do you have that adds up to 70GB. How much of this stuff do you access on a daily basis? It's a phone not a storage device after all. I spend 4-5 hours a day on my phone, and I never felt I was restrained by 16GB. AndLTE takes care of online access.
I for example pay 40AUD per month for a miserable 500MB of data. Fat lot of good my LTE support does me if I can burn through the cap in under 2 minutes....
that's not the correct response. it's not your business to evaluate what it is, and it is the phone company's fault that we don't have things manufactured with a significant storage improvement in over 5 years (even though SSD's have improved by a factor of over 10 times in that time period)
That is quite irrelevant, but here it goes: * 35 gb of music: just a remainder, Spotify or Google Music are not available in every country. And of course, even if they were, they are not free. * 15 gb of Ghost in the Shell for the daily commute on the metro, without any kind of connectivity. This gets recycled often. Last month it was Battlestar Galactica. * 10 gb of personal pictures and videos * 10 gb of apps, mainly games like Real Racing, Chaos Rings, Devil's Attorney, Modern Combat, etc.
About daily access, I use music, videos and games. I do not watch personal pictures and videos every day, but I like having them there in case I get a sudden urge to see my daughter playing with her little toy train.
pd: of course, I am lying. I simply have 65 gb of porn in my take-everywhere device.
That really isn't "need", that's mostly "want". The only difference between a 16GB device and a 64GB device, based on your breakdown there is the minor imposition of offloading and reloading media occasionally.
Music: I like being able to hear the oncoming car before it hits me. I've gotten so used to it that I have caught myself relying purely on audible . Besides, earphones just keep falling out of my ears and headphones are bulky. I can see it used in cars though, since that's exactly what I'll be doing when I get my car. For as long as it takes me to get a real carPC set up somewhere in the trunk and wired into the console dash.... For now though, I have maybe 300MB of music on my phone, that I never listen to.
GitS: No Laptop/tablet? I usually pull out my 15" behemoth when on the train and do some coding myself, but to each his own...
Personal pics/vids: fair enough. I personally don't, but different strokes for different people, I guess...
10GB of apps: fair enough. I have only 2 since I stopped gaming on my phone. For mobile gaming I'd much rather a 3DS or PSVita. Nothing beats actual, mechanical controls.
Removable batteries and SD slots mean squat to 99% of users. Same goes for end user repair. This is an awesome looking phone and the upcoming Android device to have,
To me it means the difference between throwing away my phone after 18 mo and a $8 replacement of the battery in my HTC Sensation. Unless a company gives a 5 yr replacement guarantee, all claims it does not matter count negative for the phone.
What a bunch of silly and foolish comments. According to Anandtech users? Right. Most phones these days have no SD card or removable battery and more will. Very few people care or notice. Repairability? Thats a laugh. Who repairs their own smartphone? Nobody. That's just iFixit shilling for their tools and services. Obviously. I use an iPhone 5s and an iPad 5 btw. Now you can have a tizzy about that.
Brian, though your comments, in the podcasts in mainly, sometimes seem arrogant, abrasive, and condescending, you are brave enough to be truly honest. Obviously, you have integrity, which is not the case with everyone around there. The site wouldn't be half what it is without you on board. Anyway, after you get done hating me for indirectly disparaging your boss, maybe we can take a hike in Sabino.
Not sure what exactly you're expecting or why you're waiting for the review at all. If there was no reference to Apple that could only mean that device is so crappy that it's not possible to compare them.
Only black 16GB in stock on UK Google Play store. Says 'dispatched from warehouse in 1-2 business days' which is a big improvement on last year's situation with Nexus 4.
Shame about pricing though: it's £299. If you take $349, convert it at current rates and then add 20% VAT it only comes to about £260 or so. Wonder where that extra £40 comes from :/
most places in the US have about an 8% sales tax, so add that onto it first then convert. Makes the difference much smaller. Gotta remember, our prices dont include tax because every state is different, and some dont even have sales taxes
Looks good. Just goes to show that all the leaks were intentional. Even the price outing on Google play. Expecting the Nexus 10 refresh any moment now. I was really hoping for an IR port but still going to buy it regardless.
UPDATE-Black 16gb sold out already, white 16gb and black 32gb on second shipment date of 11/8. White 32gb only one left in stock. No surprise to me though, I don't like the white one... it needed to be ALL white for me to consider it.
Ordered a 32GB in white. I was having trouble deciding on the color, but I kind of like the storm trooper look, and my last several phones have been black or dark grey so why not switch it up. Not like I'll ever see the white anyway with a tpu case on the thing. Now someone in the family gets a nice hand-me-down N4...
Now I'm curious how HDR is implemented on each of the popular smart phones. I just assumed they all took multiple exposures and combined them. I know the iPhones take multiple exposures, but I'm not sure how my GS4 does it.
It's also a bit embarrassing that the Nexus 5 has OIS, but many flagship phones don't.
No support for the KitKat OS on the two year old Samsung Google Nexus 3? I'm hoping they will reconsider and support their own phones for more than just two years!
It looks like the lack of Galaxy Nexus updates for Android 4.4 is due to it using the TI OMAP SoC. TI is out of the phone SoC business now, so can't provide hardware driver updates.
Yeah, I bought a Nexus 7 2013 specifically because the phone was still good as a smartphone. Meh. I'm interested in the Nexus 5, but not going to spend another 350€ on a toy right now. :D
yeah, wtf. they're too lazy to compile 4.4 for the galaxy nexus? i thought by buying a nexus phone i'd have software upgrades as long as the hardware could handle them.
Considering TI is out of the smartphone business, it's possible that Google didn't want to use old drivers or build their own. I really don't see it as a laziness issue, just a pragmatic one. The GNex wasn't really supposed to get 4.3 since that came out after the 18-month support window.
I really wonder about the "OK, Google" functionality. It says "from home screen", but that does not explicitly leave out it working from sleep mode, or?
looks good. Based on my experience with both Nexus 7 2013 and 2012 being replaced a total of 5 times - I hope they pay better attention to build quality.
They list "60 hours of music playback" in the feature list (as announced by Google). Could it be hardware accelerated MP3/OGG/AAC decoding? No biggie seeing HW-accelerated video decoding has been around in smartphones for a pretty long while now, but I for one am excited to see what other types of accelerators we'll be seeing the future.
According to the Android 4.4 release announcement, yes, there is HW-accelerated audio decoding. Though that surprised me a bit because I thought we already had that. It's been in the OpenMAX spec for awhile and I thought many of these chips had those DSPs already.
Nexus 5 is a great phone in every aspect...I am planning to buy from US Google Play and use in India as the US store has the cheapest price for the N5 worldwide...If they had a universal model, it would have been perfect...but guess will have to skimp on the 4G in India though..since US and Indian 4G bands/technology are different. But guess its ok as 4G coverage is not prevalent even in major cities of India..May even take another couple of years for it to be widespread...
Great phone to own..with a promise of prompt and longer updates..
Gotta love Google with their Nexus program; 350$ for a brilliant smartphone? I won't say anything about the 5S but the Nexus just made the 5C look like a pretty crappy deal.
The interesting part is that both this and the last Nexus 4 were LG phones based around existing LG hardware, yet LG doesn't have a Google Experience version, and ends up being one of the last to update to the latest version. That's kind of sad, you would think that was one of the other big advantages of being the Nexus build partner. How hard could it be to port 4.4 to practically the same hardware!
2 real questions about this phone as far as I am concerned. #1, how good is the camera? Traditionally Google has trailed Apple and Nokia by quite a bit on the camera side and the LG this is based on has a good but not great camera given it's specs which are better than the Nexus 5. #2, has KitKat finally fixed Androids crappy scrolling and occasional UI hiccups. Sure things will launch fast on a Snapdragon 800 but even on top hardware, Android still has these little UI lags that just drive me nuts, iOS and even a mid to low end WinPhone have faster and more accurate UI responsiveness and it just drives me nuts when I am on a phone I know has lots of speed to see that UI lag and hiccups.
Thank you Brian for being the only author to NOT post erroneous information about the Nexus 4 having "terrible" battery life when discussing the Nexus 5's battery. I'm averaging 25+ hours a charge on mine with at least 2-3 hours of screen-on time (most of that is streaming 1080p video), wifi always on, Google Now and push notifications on (aka no deep sleep), etc. The only time I've run the battery down to zero was on purpose; not once have I had to stop and recharge my phone just to make it through the day.
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I have been quite pleased with the battery life on my Nexus 4 and expect the Nexus 5 to be even better thanks to new silicon and better optimization in Kit Kat.
Unfortunately, my 4 is still plenty powerful enough for my use so I'm having a hard time justifying another $350+ just for a screen resolution boost and a better camera. Maybe once I hit the 18 month mark...
My three years old iPhone 4 manages 8+ hours of screen-on time in 24 hours with some charge left, with WiFi and push always on. I would expect ~10 hours today from a new smartphone (and the LG G2 delivers this anyway).
Google says the Nexus 5 manages 8.5 hours on WiFi with all other radios off and cycling through 3 websites every 40 seconds. Judging from the fact that in reality you will want to be able to receive calls (and have the GSM/LTE radio on while on WiFi) and three websites probably will be completely cached while your real-life websites won't, I'm not expecting much here, really.
I'm really looking forward to a proper review. I expect about 6 hours on WiFi at most.
How do you measure screen-on time on an iPhone? The usage number in Settings only indicates time the device spends doing things (basically the time during which the processor is not in deep sleep). That's analogous to the "Awake" time in Android, not the screen-on time. I can manage 6-9 hours of awake time on my Nexus 4, but only 2-4 hours of screen-on. 4 hours mainly on Wi-Fi, 2 on mobile data.
The "awake but screen off"-time on iOS doesn't add up to more than a couple of minutes anyway as long as you don't have a GPS-tracker or VoiceIP app running. When the screen is off, the phone is almost all the time in deep sleep.
"Starting today, the Nexus 5 is available for purchase on Google Play for $349 (16 GB) and $399 (32 GB) in either black or white in the US, Canada, France, Germany, ..."
Actually, the price for Germany is 349€ (16GB), so about 480$ ( or 400$+VAT). Which makes it almost the same price as the Samsung S4 or the Sony Xperia Z which both have dropped below 400€ by now.
To each his/her own really applies with a smartphone. I'd bet the average user keeps a smartphone less than 30 months. Tech advances too much to keep it much longer than that.
I have more than half the space available on my 16GB N4 - and 2.3GB of what is used is music. I have zero problems getting through the day on a single charge (but I carry a charger in the briefcase anyway). Qi charging has always worked well with the N4 for me, I have not seen "stutter" or lag in the screen when using it. I could care less about removable battery or SD storage, but I care about the view quality and the user experience.
I will use my N4 and look forward to 4.4.....The incoming N5 is for my wife - I swear it!
Can't wait for the review but I have received mine for me and the wife. She got the white which looks great but is slightly inferior in hand feel in both our opinions. The weird thing is that the white is less grippy and the worst part is that the edges are glossy and not soft touch. The black is the best feeling phone made of plastic I've experienced and feels rather solid.
Also good riddance Verizon, I will miss your coverage.
I know you guys like to be thorough and I'm glad that you are, but man, 3 weeks for the review? That's a long time. I imagine most enthusiasts have decided whether or not to purchase one by now. Would've been nice to have a battery life preview/mini review at least earlier, since that was the testing most people were concerned about.
obviously Anandtech is now biased and probably paid by Apple now... all Apple related review gets released prior / on release date, while Nexus review gets delayed for what? 4 weeks now?
4 weeks now, and I agree completely. What a damn waste of time. Well, we know know that when the reviewer states "...we hope to have the full review as soon as possible." to not expect it in the same month (or year at this rate).
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xinthius - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Looks good. My guess is that the SoC is going to suffer from quite bad throttling though.xype - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Or from bad design. :Ptipoo - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
I hope it's not as bad as the Nexus 4 throttling, but I think S800 is much improved in general from S4 Pro in this regard even if Google didn't have proper thermal dissipation (which I sure hope they do). Every modern SoC does throttle to an extent though.Tehk17 - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
You are correct. S800 can hit top speed using lower power than S4 Pro.There will undoubtedly be throttling- pretty much every mobile device throttles- but it won't be like it was on the N4.
batoubatou - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
This is bullshit.http://www.brightsideofnews.com/Data/2013_6_22/Qua...
SP800 is almost twice the power consumption per core as Krait 200 in Nexus 4 with Qualcomm numbers.
Watch thermal throttling here for SGS4 with Snapdragon 800, after a few minutes it only works on 1ghz.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfkI4h212lQ
My undervolted(-150mV) doesn't throttle from 1.5ghz in same test.
batoubatou - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
My undervolted Nexus 4*tipoo - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
The iPhone 5S also goes back to 1GHz after two minutes. But it's better than the Nexus 4, it throttles in the custom benchmark but not much in real use. So it remains to be seen if the 5 is better or worse, these artificial full load benchmarks don't show how it would do in a gaming or other real world scenario.Tehk17 - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
I'd advise you to redo your research then. Look through the G2 review on this site, in fact.And about the S800 S4 throttling. My S600 S4 can hit 1.9GHz on all cores for just a couple seconds before throttling. So if the S800 can do 2.3GHz for "a few minutes" then that's much, much better.
Tehk17 - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
From the G2 review:"The 2.3GHz max clock speed comes at a surprisingly low voltage thanks to the low power HPM process. Gone are the days of 1.4V to hit near-2GHz frequencies it seems, instead 8974 will hit 2.3 GHz at around 1V."
batoubatou - Saturday, November 2, 2013 - link
Voltage doesn't mean much.,Krait 200/300 are made on TSMC low power/low leakage process, while Krait 400 is on HPm node. Low leakage are going to have higher voltage for same TDP.Tehk17 - Saturday, November 2, 2013 - link
I could be wrong but doesn't lower voltage mean lower heat since it isn't pulling as much from the battery?batoubatou - Sunday, November 3, 2013 - link
Yes, but it's more complicated than that, other parameters, such as leakage current also matter. It's not a simple matter of lower voltage = lower power consumption.Here's an article:
"But here is the biggest problem: at a given technology node a transistor that leaks more performs better (faster) than a transistor that leaks less. That means if we use less leaky transistors in our IC its performance (speed) degrades while if we work on speed by pumping more and more leaky transistors our active and standby leakage power budgets go haywire. "
http://www.elitequill.com/managing-leakage-a-chall...
Tehk17 - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
Just watched that video.My S600 S4 has about the same behavior... but with all 4 cores running 400MHz slower. So it's pretty impressive that the S800 can keep its cores 400MHz faster than the S600 can, in the same amount of time.
Krysto - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Why?sherlockwing - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
No worse throttling than G2 is my guess. Except AOSP doesn't benchmark boost.@Brain, How soon can we expect the Anandtech Nexus 5 review? I am holding back on purchasing until I see you review.
alloc - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
According to Anandtech users, it's already DOA. No SD, no removable battery, repairability probably 1/10 according to iFixIt. Brian, again, is going to further prove that he's a NSA/Apple representative out for a bigger objective than what the site presents. /sMr. Pedantic - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
No removable battery is only an issue if the battery lasts less than a day (we'll see), no SD card is only an issue if you have more than 20GB of stuff you HAVE TO HAVE on your phone instead of cloud storage etc. (I don't), and my SGS3 had a repairability of 8/10, but that might as well have been 0/10 for all the good it did me when the screen went kaput. So...designerfx - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
dont' say this garbage in 2013. even google music can eat up a couple gigs without even storing music offline.You'd be hard pressed to be willing to still believe that somehow 32gb is good enough these days.
hfm - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
I have been fine on my N4 with 16GB for the past year... 32GB is plenty for me..The only time I had any issue was on a vacation I had to start deleting some music to make room for video i was accumulating.. wasn't too big a deal..
jabber - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
Same here. I have around 9+ GB free on my N4.However, do I cope!
WaltFrench - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
I thought Android was all about Choice. Bad form to blast a device that aims for different [cost | slimness | screensize | batterylife | speed] just because it doesn't align to your needs.Unless there's some reason why Nexus buyers always needs to prove they have the biggest cojones on the planet. Go buy some other device. There's a zillion different configurations.
hrrmph - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
It's supposed to be a flagship phone. Lack of a tool-less removable back cover, Micro-SDXC storage slot, removable battery, and Dual-SIMs will immediately relegate it to upper mid-range at best, and more likely, just plain old mid-range.If Google is aiming for middle-of-the-pack then they just achieved it... again. The problem is that having pure Android and being the first to get updates may be interesting to some, but it's not compelling enough to help it rise out of the $250 to $300 price range (international unlocked, of course). That's a good way to get lost amongst the crowd. Even low-end competitors have more of these basic features than the new Nexus.
I have the Nexus 7 3G [Gen 1] and I don't see what the big deal is about pure Android. The bigger issue is the lack of internally expandable storage. That drives me nuts. Who wants to connect yet another cable and dongle their storage off the device via OTG? It's nothing short of wacko.
I want my phones and tablets (as much as possible) to eventually replace my PCs. Why do I want a device that has stunted internal storage? I don't.
So why would I want my otherwise favorite tech site to ignore the realities of the need for storage and actively dissuade the readers from accepting the reality that expandable storage is needed by many? I don't.
The credibility of AT is being damage repeatedly lately. I find it fascinating at times, because I wonder how people so smart can prioritize the 'jewelry' aspect of phones so much, while so aggressively being an 'apologist' for the manufacturers' shortcomings. Worse, this behavior is slowly invading the thought processes of others at AT, including the proprietor.
AT readership wasn't built on wisps of waffle. It was built on people who are enthusiasts and who fully embrace high capability new technology for what it can enable them to do - not how much it makes them look cool to others. We deserve better than this drivel that has recently become the norm in AT's mobile reporting.
It's clear that a strong correction in direction is needed at AT. I am hopeful that this silliness will be put to an end sooner rather than later.
There is still a lot more that our phones and tablets can do to replace our PCs and help our computing become more mobile. Omitting expandable internal storage isn't going to help that cause. Neither is omitting user removable batteries. Dual-SIMs are very convenient and AT's silence on this issue (regarding lack of choices in the North American markets) smacks of complicity with overbearing telecoms and lazy manufacturers. Further, where is the campaigning to get the base-band frequency mess cleared up so that a phone purchased in North America will work well in the rest of the world, and vice versa?
Let's hope for better next week. Most of the AT mobile reviews in the past few weeks fell significantly short of the mark.
Nuno Simões - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
If you want your phones and tablets to replace your PC, it's not a phone or tablet that you need. You need an ultrabook. Try a Surface Pro.Tablet are for consuming. Always were, still are.
ZeDestructor - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
Removable back cover: You replace your device every 12-36 months. At that rate, swapping batteries is a moot point if you have a usage like mine: my Xperia Z usage leaves me with 54% battery left at the end of a 14hour day out. With fairly hefty wifi usage too. Granted, I only have around one hour of screen on time, but with skype, steam and google services effectively blocking deep sleep, the point is moot.MicroSD slot: its a question of preference. I like having one, but all my stuff fits in 16GB. Including Titanium Backup backups if I'm using it. Rest of the time, I have a laptop (or two) available, which is a better platform for pretty much everything I do on the move (web browsing, media playback, some coding).
The reason why the Nexus devices are so particularly attractive is the sheer core specs on them. They have top-tier CPUs, GPUs, RAM allocation and screens, things that to me are far more important. When comparing to closely specced devices, like the Xperia Z1/LG G2/SGS5 (when it gets released), you have to ask yourself: is the microSD slot really worth paying between 50-100% more? Besides that you also get a nice source tree you can use in your ROM-hacking and a fully unlocked bootloader. Apart from Sony, who else does that?
"I want my phones and tablets (as much as possible) to eventually replace my PCs." I sure as hell don't. there is no way you can fit in 1000W worth of components in a phone. You simply can't argue with physics. The end. Phones simply don't have the raw computational power to compete against a slow ultrabook, let alone a high-end desktop or top-of-the-line workstation. If you only consume light content, sure, but creators need the power.
"There is still a lot more that our phones and tablets can do to replace our PCs and help our computing become more mobile" See above.
"Dual-SIMs are very convenient" unless you live in a third-world country where you don't have unlimited calls/flat rate calling and call a lot; or travel a LOT, its really irrelevant. for 60AUD/mo, I can get unlimited calls and texts in Australia, making my provider choice entirely up to their network quality.
"Further, where is the campaigning to get the base-band frequency mess cleared up so that a phone purchased in North America will work well in the rest of the world, and vice versa?" You're arguing with physics again. You will lose. Eventually radio front-ends and antenna design will get there, but not yet. Remember, just 2 years ago, you had on, maybe 2 bands for LTE on an LTE device, with ridiculous battery usage if you just left LTE on idling. If you really want to help clean up the US, give T-Mo more of your money so you can get some real competition. The rest of the world has sorted their shit out and we roam cleanly and effectively with plentiful SIM-swaps.
"AT readership wasn't built on wisps of waffle. It was built on people who are enthusiasts and who fully embrace high capability new technology for what it can enable them to do" Indeed. But I feel a lot of the readership has moved to a multi-device approach, with different gear for different scenarios. It's just something that happens as you acquire increasing amounts of disposable income. Once upon a time, I wouldn't consider buying games and software, since even a high-end PC cost pretty much all my income. These days my Steam account is worth over 3000.00 USD and I have two laptops for different use cases alongside a triple-screen, dual-GTX 670 desktop.
bigboxes - Sunday, November 3, 2013 - link
Keep on crying loud enough and maybe the manufacturers will bring betamax back. You keep forgetting that it's not about you. In your neverending rant you never mentioned capitalism. You keep on mentioning what is important to you and your roomful of nerds. The realization that they build for the masses and are selling boatloads to the masses despite your objections has not quite sunk into your techno-dweebie brain. You have plenty of book smarts but no common sense. Think back to your last rant that those corporations can't take away your desktop and that the Gigahertz race must continue at all costs. That's what us techies want! I can't believe they are ignoring us!In the end, you'll adapt. Just like you've done before. It's just that you adapt a little slower than the rest, despite being a "techie". It seems like there are plenty of others that are responding to your rant as well. It's a cry for help.
abufrejoval - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - link
Personally I agree with most everything you say.And I guess it's simply AT's policy to be very positive: I always enjoy semiaccurate for the opposite angle, like dinner and desert.
But you mustn't forget that Google isn't producing these phones to make money on the device: It's trying to create a greater pull towards Google services, which is where the money is earned.
Essentially this device is a subsidized catalyst from a Google perspective.
Putting more storage on it means making it more independent from Google and I see why they don't want to do that.
As painfully more expensive as it is: If you want a PC replacement device you need to go somewhere else or live with the limits of the Nexus devices.
I actually want very much the same and there are still some very important features missing on all Androids like a really good Gbit class wireless (or optical) network connect, with a Thunderbolt like feature set (but hopefully using straight PCIe protocols and no Intel proprietary stuff), which you can use to connect the "phone" without latency or bandwidth issues to full res display, network and peripherals all by just laying the phone on some pad, where it is (silently) cooled and charged at the same time as it ramps to full power and clocks for PC operations.
Mr. Pedantic - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
I don't use Google Music, so...I'm currently using my original SGS which has 16GB, and I'm doing fine. Of course, fine is a relative term and the phone is slow as shit, so it's not like it's a great phone. But its shittiness isn't because of its storage (size).
Flunk - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
My current phone has 16GB and I've never filled it. It really depends on how frugal you are with storage. Sure you can load up 300+ hours of music and tonnes of videos all the time. But you don't NEED that and you can't even really use it all because the battery only lasts so long.kyp275 - Saturday, November 2, 2013 - link
Funny, 16GB on my N4 was more than enough, obviously I'm doing it wrong :rolleyes:Tehk17 - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
There's other uses to removable batteries than for just being able to last through the day.Same with microSD cards and internal storage. There's other reasons for using a microSD card than just to get more storage.
fenneberg - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
"other uses to removable batteries"As in keeping a good phone for a long time !
Tehk17 - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
That, and also things such as getting out of bootloops, and cases such as Samsung's Flip Cover(which I own).jiffylube1024 - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
There is no way in Hades that the repairability of the N5 will be a 1/10. That's reserved for the most difficult, 50 screw + glue devices.The Nexus 4, with its non removeable battery, scored a 7/10 on repairability. Just because the back doesn't come off like it does on a Samsung Galaxy, doesn't mean that some of these "sealed battery" phones aren't easy to take apart.
apertotes - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
it is not DOA. It is simply something worth pointing out as a negative feature. I have 70 gb worth of stuff on my phone, so a Nexus will not be useful to me in the near future. We are not asking for a murder of this kind of devices. What we would like is for a site as tech-knowledgeable as Anandtech, to give credit where its due (Sony and Samsung, mainly) and to spank those that take the easy way out, instead of falling into a catatonic state every time their precious hands touch that glorious Valyrian Aluminum.jonup - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
What do you have that adds up to 70GB. How much of this stuff do you access on a daily basis? It's a phone not a storage device after all. I spend 4-5 hours a day on my phone, and I never felt I was restrained by 16GB. AndLTE takes care of online access.ZeDestructor - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Not all of us have unlimited data.I for example pay 40AUD per month for a miserable 500MB of data. Fat lot of good my LTE support does me if I can burn through the cap in under 2 minutes....
designerfx - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
that's not the correct response. it's not your business to evaluate what it is, and it is the phone company's fault that we don't have things manufactured with a significant storage improvement in over 5 years (even though SSD's have improved by a factor of over 10 times in that time period)apertotes - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
That is quite irrelevant, but here it goes:* 35 gb of music: just a remainder, Spotify or Google Music are not available in every country. And of course, even if they were, they are not free.
* 15 gb of Ghost in the Shell for the daily commute on the metro, without any kind of connectivity. This gets recycled often. Last month it was Battlestar Galactica.
* 10 gb of personal pictures and videos
* 10 gb of apps, mainly games like Real Racing, Chaos Rings, Devil's Attorney, Modern Combat, etc.
About daily access, I use music, videos and games. I do not watch personal pictures and videos every day, but I like having them there in case I get a sudden urge to see my daughter playing with her little toy train.
pd: of course, I am lying. I simply have 65 gb of porn in my take-everywhere device.
Flunk - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
That really isn't "need", that's mostly "want". The only difference between a 16GB device and a 64GB device, based on your breakdown there is the minor imposition of offloading and reloading media occasionally.apertotes - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
Of course it is "want". It was a $500 phone. Why should I limit to my needs? Really, if that is the best argument...ZeDestructor - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
Music: I like being able to hear the oncoming car before it hits me. I've gotten so used to it that I have caught myself relying purely on audible . Besides, earphones just keep falling out of my ears and headphones are bulky. I can see it used in cars though, since that's exactly what I'll be doing when I get my car. For as long as it takes me to get a real carPC set up somewhere in the trunk and wired into the console dash.... For now though, I have maybe 300MB of music on my phone, that I never listen to.GitS: No Laptop/tablet? I usually pull out my 15" behemoth when on the train and do some coding myself, but to each his own...
Personal pics/vids: fair enough. I personally don't, but different strokes for different people, I guess...
10GB of apps: fair enough. I have only 2 since I stopped gaming on my phone. For mobile gaming I'd much rather a 3DS or PSVita. Nothing beats actual, mechanical controls.
Jumangi - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Removable batteries and SD slots mean squat to 99% of users. Same goes for end user repair. This is an awesome looking phone and the upcoming Android device to have,djboxbaba - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
ding ding ding!! Exactly.Conficio - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
To me it means the difference between throwing away my phone after 18 mo and a $8 replacement of the battery in my HTC Sensation.Unless a company gives a 5 yr replacement guarantee, all claims it does not matter count negative for the phone.
apertotes - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
Sure, and Galaxies only sell because of marketing. I guess you work for HTC.anxyandy - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Sounds a bit like the iPhone 5S - I know which one I would rather have;http://versus.com/en/google-nexus-5-vs-apple-iphon...
nerd1 - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
It's not $199 with 2 year contract like some fruit phone.designerfx - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
that was a hell of a trolling post, alloc.Sancus - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Why would Anandtech users need a SD card slot or a removable battery?nerd1 - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
To actually use the phone.fenneberg - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
yes, DOA due non-removable battery+ no SD.darwinosx - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
What a bunch of silly and foolish comments.According to Anandtech users? Right.
Most phones these days have no SD card or removable battery and more will. Very few people care or notice.
Repairability? Thats a laugh. Who repairs their own smartphone? Nobody. That's just iFixit shilling for their tools and services. Obviously.
I use an iPhone 5s and an iPad 5 btw. Now you can have a tizzy about that.
[email protected] - Monday, November 4, 2013 - link
"Most phones these days have no SD card or removable battery and more will."not true. 99% of phones sold outside of USA have replaceable batteries, dual sims, and micro-sd slots.
USA is now a minority with iTarts and fruit phones.
jonup - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
@brian can you include NAND performance comparison between 16 and 32GB. 16GB is plenty in my N4DukeN - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Can't wait for the AT review!You know, the one where the conclusion praises Apple in some indirect or direct way.
Brian Klug - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
I'm pretty sure the Nexus 4 conclusion was criticized for praising the Nexus 4 too much, so much so that it was "hyperbolic," actually.-Brian
pdjblum - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Brian, though your comments, in the podcasts in mainly, sometimes seem arrogant, abrasive, and condescending, you are brave enough to be truly honest. Obviously, you have integrity, which is not the case with everyone around there. The site wouldn't be half what it is without you on board. Anyway, after you get done hating me for indirectly disparaging your boss, maybe we can take a hike in Sabino.UCLAKoolman - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Sabino... Canyon? I'm a grad student at UA...pdjblum - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
Yes, totally Sabino Canyon. In particular, Blacket's Ridge, but bike ride up the canyon is great too. U of A, nice.djboxbaba - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Why even reply to this troll Brian?Daniel Egger - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Not sure what exactly you're expecting or why you're waiting for the review at all. If there was no reference to Apple that could only mean that device is so crappy that it's not possible to compare them.andykins - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Only black 16GB in stock on UK Google Play store. Says 'dispatched from warehouse in 1-2 business days' which is a big improvement on last year's situation with Nexus 4.Shame about pricing though: it's £299. If you take $349, convert it at current rates and then add 20% VAT it only comes to about £260 or so. Wonder where that extra £40 comes from :/
mwarner1 - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
All varieties are available in the UK - for some reason, however, there are no links to versions other than the 16GB black:https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=n...
https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=n...
https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=n...
thesavvymage - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
most places in the US have about an 8% sales tax, so add that onto it first then convert. Makes the difference much smaller. Gotta remember, our prices dont include tax because every state is different, and some dont even have sales taxesSamunosuke - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Looks good. Just goes to show that all the leaks were intentional. Even the price outing on Google play. Expecting the Nexus 10 refresh any moment now. I was really hoping for an IR port but still going to buy it regardless.anactoraaron - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
16GB black sold out already - not even 30 mins in. I got a 32gb black at 1:03pm cstanactoraaron - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
UPDATE-Black 16gb sold out already, white 16gb and black 32gb on second shipment date of 11/8. White 32gb only one left in stock. No surprise to me though, I don't like the white one... it needed to be ALL white for me to consider it.Bob Todd - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Ordered a 32GB in white. I was having trouble deciding on the color, but I kind of like the storm trooper look, and my last several phones have been black or dark grey so why not switch it up. Not like I'll ever see the white anyway with a tpu case on the thing. Now someone in the family gets a nice hand-me-down N4...DukeN - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Did the fix the AOSP camera app?Or is it still the one early man came up with?
A5 - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
They didn't say anything beyond the HDR+ stuff, so I assume it's the same as JB.martixy - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Yay!Looks cool. I'll have to think hard about getting it. Real hard.
hammer256 - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Looks like the 16G black is in and out of stock intermittently, so just keep checking I guess? Just ordered mine.mike55 - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Now I'm curious how HDR is implemented on each of the popular smart phones. I just assumed they all took multiple exposures and combined them. I know the iPhones take multiple exposures, but I'm not sure how my GS4 does it.It's also a bit embarrassing that the Nexus 5 has OIS, but many flagship phones don't.
ioconnor - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
No support for the KitKat OS on the two year old Samsung Google Nexus 3? I'm hoping they will reconsider and support their own phones for more than just two years!sherlockwing - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
The promise is 18 month, not 2 years. They stretched it to even include 4.3 on it.jiffylube1024 - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
It looks like the lack of Galaxy Nexus updates for Android 4.4 is due to it using the TI OMAP SoC. TI is out of the phone SoC business now, so can't provide hardware driver updates.ZeDestructor - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
There's no much going on driver-wise.. PowerVR GPU; Yamaha DAC, but over I²C, so not much to do there... I mean, IO specs don't just change...The community will rise to the challenge I guess...
Yofa - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
no love for my gnex? i still like it...Death666Angel - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Yeah, I bought a Nexus 7 2013 specifically because the phone was still good as a smartphone. Meh. I'm interested in the Nexus 5, but not going to spend another 350€ on a toy right now. :Dquorm - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
yeah, wtf. they're too lazy to compile 4.4 for the galaxy nexus? i thought by buying a nexus phone i'd have software upgrades as long as the hardware could handle them.jordanclock - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
Considering TI is out of the smartphone business, it's possible that Google didn't want to use old drivers or build their own. I really don't see it as a laziness issue, just a pragmatic one. The GNex wasn't really supposed to get 4.3 since that came out after the 18-month support window.borchgrevink - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
I really wonder about the "OK, Google" functionality. It says "from home screen", but that does not explicitly leave out it working from sleep mode, or?errorr - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Does 4.4 have the overdraw region removal? Did they cut the srupid out of apps?hammer256 - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
You know that is a good question. I don't see that talked about anywhere, but hopefully Brian will comment on it when he does his review.Krysto - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
You may want to look through this:https://funkyandroid.com/aosp-JSS15J-KRT16M.html
hammer256 - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
Ok that's quite a list. This looks relevant:https://android.googlesource.com/platform/framewor...
sundragon - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
looks good. Based on my experience with both Nexus 7 2013 and 2012 being replaced a total of 5 times - I hope they pay better attention to build quality.xTRICKYxx - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Probably Asus' fault since they manufactured the device. The Nexus 5 is once again manufactured by LG.jiffylube1024 - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Those are ASUS devices - the Nexus 4 and 5 are LG devices. Different companies, different price categories, different repair histories.The Nexus 4 seemed to have good build quality and reliability. I think it's safe to assume the N5 should be pretty solid too. Fingers crossed!
Sancus - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
If you could get battery life testing results out ASAP that would be ideal. This is the biggest variable between the N5 and the G2.maltanar - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
They list "60 hours of music playback" in the feature list (as announced by Google). Could it be hardware accelerated MP3/OGG/AAC decoding? No biggie seeing HW-accelerated video decoding has been around in smartphones for a pretty long while now, but I for one am excited to see what other types of accelerators we'll be seeing the future.jwcalla - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
According to the Android 4.4 release announcement, yes, there is HW-accelerated audio decoding. Though that surprised me a bit because I thought we already had that. It's been in the OpenMAX spec for awhile and I thought many of these chips had those DSPs already.Krysto - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
Yes, and it adds at least 50 percent battery life when listening to music now, as long as your phone has an audio DSP, which I think most do.http://developer.android.com/about/versions/kitkat...
bensulli - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
I'm having trouble understanding those radio frequencies... does this support UMTS (normal T-Mobile, Wind Mobile, Mobilicity, etc) like the N4 did?lowlymarine - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Yes. Under specs, it says "WCDMA: Bands: 1/2/4/5/6/8/19" (with 19 being only on the NA version).T-Mobile AWS is Band 4. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS_frequency_bands
Losttek - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Minor correction, the front camera is only 1.3 MP not 2.1 MP.ramsrams - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Anyone know if I buy the US version, whether I can use it while traveling overseas, through a local carrier sim.TekGru - Thursday, October 31, 2013 - link
Nexus 5 is a great phone in every aspect...I am planning to buy from US Google Play and use in India as the US store has the cheapest price for the N5 worldwide...If they had a universal model, it would have been perfect...but guess will have to skimp on the 4G in India though..since US and Indian 4G bands/technology are different. But guess its ok as 4G coverage is not prevalent even in major cities of India..May even take another couple of years for it to be widespread...Great phone to own..with a promise of prompt and longer updates..
ananduser - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
Gotta love Google with their Nexus program; 350$ for a brilliant smartphone? I won't say anything about the 5S but the Nexus just made the 5C look like a pretty crappy deal.newandroidfan - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
OMG Nexus 5 is official!! Check out the hands-on with full phone specs right here http://goo.gl/E8sRgzdjc208 - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
The interesting part is that both this and the last Nexus 4 were LG phones based around existing LG hardware, yet LG doesn't have a Google Experience version, and ends up being one of the last to update to the latest version. That's kind of sad, you would think that was one of the other big advantages of being the Nexus build partner. How hard could it be to port 4.4 to practically the same hardware!fareed0694 - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
Do you know differences between LG Nexus 5 & LG Nexus 4? There is no major differences among them. Check them out here - http://goo.gl/6DL4NzVengenceIsMineX - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
2 real questions about this phone as far as I am concerned. #1, how good is the camera? Traditionally Google has trailed Apple and Nokia by quite a bit on the camera side and the LG this is based on has a good but not great camera given it's specs which are better than the Nexus 5. #2, has KitKat finally fixed Androids crappy scrolling and occasional UI hiccups. Sure things will launch fast on a Snapdragon 800 but even on top hardware, Android still has these little UI lags that just drive me nuts, iOS and even a mid to low end WinPhone have faster and more accurate UI responsiveness and it just drives me nuts when I am on a phone I know has lots of speed to see that UI lag and hiccups.thekdub - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
Thank you Brian for being the only author to NOT post erroneous information about the Nexus 4 having "terrible" battery life when discussing the Nexus 5's battery. I'm averaging 25+ hours a charge on mine with at least 2-3 hours of screen-on time (most of that is streaming 1080p video), wifi always on, Google Now and push notifications on (aka no deep sleep), etc. The only time I've run the battery down to zero was on purpose; not once have I had to stop and recharge my phone just to make it through the day.Maybe I'm in the minority, but I have been quite pleased with the battery life on my Nexus 4 and expect the Nexus 5 to be even better thanks to new silicon and better optimization in Kit Kat.
Unfortunately, my 4 is still plenty powerful enough for my use so I'm having a hard time justifying another $350+ just for a screen resolution boost and a better camera. Maybe once I hit the 18 month mark...
Sancus - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
The Nexus 4 does have poor battery life compared to its contemporaries.uhuznaa - Sunday, November 3, 2013 - link
My three years old iPhone 4 manages 8+ hours of screen-on time in 24 hours with some charge left, with WiFi and push always on. I would expect ~10 hours today from a new smartphone (and the LG G2 delivers this anyway).Google says the Nexus 5 manages 8.5 hours on WiFi with all other radios off and cycling through 3 websites every 40 seconds. Judging from the fact that in reality you will want to be able to receive calls (and have the GSM/LTE radio on while on WiFi) and three websites probably will be completely cached while your real-life websites won't, I'm not expecting much here, really.
I'm really looking forward to a proper review. I expect about 6 hours on WiFi at most.
stacey94 - Monday, November 4, 2013 - link
How do you measure screen-on time on an iPhone? The usage number in Settings only indicates time the device spends doing things (basically the time during which the processor is not in deep sleep). That's analogous to the "Awake" time in Android, not the screen-on time. I can manage 6-9 hours of awake time on my Nexus 4, but only 2-4 hours of screen-on. 4 hours mainly on Wi-Fi, 2 on mobile data.uhuznaa - Friday, November 8, 2013 - link
The "awake but screen off"-time on iOS doesn't add up to more than a couple of minutes anyway as long as you don't have a GPS-tracker or VoiceIP app running. When the screen is off, the phone is almost all the time in deep sleep.schreibo - Friday, November 1, 2013 - link
can I get the D821 (rest of the world) version anywhere here in the USA??ShieTar - Saturday, November 2, 2013 - link
"Starting today, the Nexus 5 is available for purchase on Google Play for $349 (16 GB) and $399 (32 GB) in either black or white in the US, Canada, France, Germany, ..."Actually, the price for Germany is 349€ (16GB), so about 480$ ( or 400$+VAT). Which makes it almost the same price as the Samsung S4 or the Sony Xperia Z which both have dropped below 400€ by now.
newandroidfan - Sunday, November 3, 2013 - link
Guys check out this awesome comparison between LG G2 and latest Nexus 5!! The battle is about to begin! http://goo.gl/cvFKbnJo_jo - Sunday, November 3, 2013 - link
Hi, if i buy nexus 5-d820 from US, will it work in India. need ur help. Thank uVagabondSteve - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 - link
To each his/her own really applies with a smartphone. I'd bet the average user keeps a smartphone less than 30 months. Tech advances too much to keep it much longer than that.I have more than half the space available on my 16GB N4 - and 2.3GB of what is used is music. I have zero problems getting through the day on a single charge (but I carry a charger in the briefcase anyway). Qi charging has always worked well with the N4 for me, I have not seen "stutter" or lag in the screen when using it. I could care less about removable battery or SD storage, but I care about the view quality and the user experience.
I will use my N4 and look forward to 4.4.....The incoming N5 is for my wife - I swear it!
iwanttoknow - Monday, November 11, 2013 - link
Eagerly awaiting your review Brian..errorr - Monday, November 11, 2013 - link
Can't wait for the review but I have received mine for me and the wife. She got the white which looks great but is slightly inferior in hand feel in both our opinions. The weird thing is that the white is less grippy and the worst part is that the edges are glossy and not soft touch. The black is the best feeling phone made of plastic I've experienced and feels rather solid.Also good riddance Verizon, I will miss your coverage.
Sancus - Tuesday, November 19, 2013 - link
I know you guys like to be thorough and I'm glad that you are, but man, 3 weeks for the review? That's a long time. I imagine most enthusiasts have decided whether or not to purchase one by now. Would've been nice to have a battery life preview/mini review at least earlier, since that was the testing most people were concerned about.w0203j - Wednesday, November 20, 2013 - link
Couldn't agree more. No idea why would it takes so long for the Nexus 5 review!!![email protected] - Monday, November 25, 2013 - link
obviously Anandtech is now biased and probably paid by Apple now... all Apple related review gets released prior / on release date, while Nexus review gets delayed for what? 4 weeks now?himjip - Tuesday, November 26, 2013 - link
Wonder if we'll get to see a review this year.I bit the bullet and bought a black one, couldn't be happier.
Got tired of waiting for an Anand review when there's so many others on the web
WeatherDave - Tuesday, November 26, 2013 - link
4 weeks now, and I agree completely. What a damn waste of time.Well, we know know that when the reviewer states "...we hope to have the full review as soon as possible." to not expect it in the same month (or year at this rate).