Enjoying the Google Nexus 5

[Speedygi]

For me, it's good, not great.

Prior to the 4.4.2 update, it was pretty bad. Took long to open up the app, took long to focus and image, once you took a shot the lens had to refocus every single time, the images it took weren't particularly impressive either.

Now with the update, the camera app is definitely better. It's faster to open, faster to focus, doesn't have to refocus every time you take a shot, image quality is better, but still not great.

I'd put it behind the other 2013 flagships in terms of picture quality (behind the Galaxy S4, HTC One, Xperia Z1 and way, way, way behind the iPhone 5S), but it's still not bad and gets the job done. If you're wanting a phone with the absolute best camera, then the Nexus 5 unfortunately is not the device for you. Everything else about the phone is quite good (barring battery life).

While I like the N5 a lot, it's not the best phone I've ever owned. However for its price, it's damn hard to ignore. Bang for buck it's easily the best phone on the market.

I think they did well to make the camera app run faster, and that Google actually listened to the criticism.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

[cribble2k]

Yes, I love my Nexus 5 as well. Best phone I've owned .

Posted via Android Central App

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

I think they did well to make the camera app run faster, and that Google actually listened to the criticism.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

Yeah I absolutely agree. The camera app before and after the update is a pretty significant improvement in every aspect. And it is good that Google is listening to feed back and quickly improved the app.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just a bit disappointed when I heard things like Vic Gundotra saying they're committed to making Nexus phones insanely great cameras, I guess I just expected more than what we got, even after the update.

Now all they have to do is fix up the Hangouts app....

 

[Speedygi]

Yeah I absolutely agree. The camera app before and after the update is a pretty significant improvement in every aspect. And it is good that Google is listening to feed back and quickly improved the app.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just a bit disappointed when I heard things like Vic Gundotra saying they're committed to making Nexus phones insanely great cameras, I guess I just expected more than what we got, even after the update.

Now all they have to do is fix up the Hangouts app....

Sometimes the messages take a long time to load in hangouts, I agree. Lots of work to be done on every front.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

[TraderGary]

My last phone was the HTC One and at the time it had the best camera of any phone I'd owned up to that time. I liked it a lot and took thousands of pictures with it.

Since I have a large number of HTC One images to compare with how I'm doing with my Nexus 5, I have to say my Nexus 5 makes noticeably sharper and definitely more color accurate images. I attribute much of the sharpness to the Nexus Optical Image Stabilization. The HTC One lacks image stabilization.

Over the holidays I had guests using the iPhone 5s and had the opportunity to compare images made side by side. The Nexus 5 images were noticeably sharper. Color accuracy was comparable. Again I attribute the sharpness to the Nexus Optical Image Stabilization which the iPhone currently lacks.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

I attribute much of the sharpness to the Nexus Optical Image Stabilization. The HTC One lacks image stabilization.

That's not true. The HTC One has optical image stabilisation. HTC even have a page on their website dedicated to it: Optical Image Stabilization

Over the holidays I had guests using the iPhone 5s and had the opportunity to compare images made side by side. The Nexus 5 images were noticeably sharper. Color accuracy was comparable. Again I attribute the sharpness to the Nexus Optical Image Stabilization which the iPhone currently lacks.

Nexus 5 images noticeably sharper than the iPhone 5S? Well I strongly disagree. IMO the iPhone 5S camera, even without IOS, is quite a bit better than the Nexus 5 camera.

I actually dislike using the N5 camera. I've kind of assumed it just won't take much of a good shot.

 

[anon(8256055)]

My last phone was the HTC One and at the time it had the best camera of any phone I'd owned up to that time. I liked it a lot and took thousands of pictures with it.

Since I have a large number of HTC One images to compare with how I'm doing with my Nexus 5, I have to say my Nexus 5 makes noticeably sharper and definitely more color accurate images. I attribute much of the sharpness to the Nexus Optical Image Stabilization. The HTC One lacks image stabilization.

Over the holidays I had guests using the iPhone 5s and had the opportunity to compare images made side by side. The Nexus 5 images were noticeably sharper. Color accuracy was comparable. Again I attribute the sharpness to the Nexus Optical Image Stabilization which the iPhone currently lacks.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using AC Forums mobile app

My wife has an iPhone 5s, and we've taken many many photos side-by-side, and there is no doubt ( in our experience) that the N5 takes better pictures, especially in low light. When we go to concerts, she ends up putting her phone away and we use my N5, since her 5s can't handle the dark/light contrast in a concert setting.

 

[B. Diddy]

I actually dislike using the N5 camera. I've kind of assumed it just won't take much of a good shot.

Since you've been operating on an assumption, then perhaps try using the N5 as your dedicated camera for a week or so, and see if it changes your mind?

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

Since you've been operating on an assumption, then perhaps try using the N5 as your dedicated camera for a week or so, and see if it changes your mind?

I did that when I first got the phone and then again when the 4.4.2 update rolled out. Was snapping everything, wasn't too impressed with the results so now I just don't bother. If I have to take a photo, I'll use my workphone - the iPhone 5.

Just took these two photos of a rubix cube on my desk. IMO one is far better than the other, and it's not just due to better white balance.

http://i.imgur.com/cxO8Y26.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/OzHU5lm.jpg

 

[Troothdotcom]

so heres my thoughts after a full day of real world use with my Nexus 5... ITS ROCKS!!! the camera is a huge improvement over my old Nexus 4 (heres the deal the camera is amazing considering its a CELL PHONE camera, yes there is better cell phone cameras out there but for regular non professional pics this camera is more than good enough) the battery life is more than sufficient 13+ hours for me... the phone is fast as hell and no bloat ware. i dont see anything wrong with the phone and thats not even considering how inexpensive it is... and lets be honest we are getting android 5.0 before any one else except for maybe Nexus 5 2013)

 

[B. Diddy]

I did that when I first got the phone and then again when the 4.4.2 update rolled out. Was snapping everything, wasn't too impressed with the results so now I just don't bother. If I have to take a photo, I'll use my workphone - the iPhone 5.

Just took these two photos of a rubix cube on my desk. IMO one is far better than the other, and it's not just due to better white balance.

http://i.imgur.com/cxO8Y26.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/OzHU5lm.jpg

To be honest, I can't tell much difference between the two images, but everyone has different sensitivities to detail and color. Clearly for you, the iPhone is better.

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

To be honest, I can't tell much difference between the two images, but everyone has different sensitivities to detail and color. Clearly for you, the iPhone is better.

Fair enough. To me there's a pretty big difference between the two, and always is when I compare camera shots between the two cameras.

And that's only the iPhone 5, not the 5S which is even better.

Then again the N5 costs half the price so there is that.

I think the N5 is the better phone but IMO the iPhone has easily the better cameras.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[chrisb906]

Wish this cell had SD card slot

Posted via Android Central App

 

[flick0416]

Fair enough. To me there's a pretty big difference between the two, and always is when I compare camera shots between the two cameras.

And that's only the iPhone 5, not the 5S which is even better.

Then again the N5 costs half the price so there is that.

I think the N5 is the better phone but IMO the iPhone has easily the better cameras.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

What exactly are the differences you notice? To my untrained eye, I don't see a difference either. And which phone took which pic?

 

[flick0416]

I'd put it behind the other 2013 flagships in terms of picture quality (behind the Galaxy S4, HTC One, Xperia Z1 and way, way, way behind the iPhone 5S), but it's still not bad and gets the job done. If you're wanting a phone with the absolute best camera, then the Nexus 5 unfortunately is not the device for you. Everything else about the phone is quite good (barring battery life).

I think you're vastly over-exaggerating the difference in cameras. There are plenty of people saying the Nexus camera is just as good, if not better, than the 5s camera. The way you put it, the iPhone has an immediately-noticeable edge over the Nexus in terms of picture quality. I think you'd have to look pretty hard to notice any difference at all - if you can post some pics that demonstrate the clearly better iPhone camera, I'll believe you.

Anecdotally, I've taken some great pictures with my N5, in all kinds of lighting conditions. I was on vacation with my sister over Thanksgiving (which was before the 4.4.2 update) and she preferred the pics taken with my Nexus over her iPhone. And again over Christmas at a wedding.

I don't know enough to make a sweeping judgment one way or the other about the quality of each phone's camera, but I can say that whatever difference there is is slight.

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

I think you're vastly over-exaggerating the difference in cameras. There are plenty of people saying the Nexus camera is just as good, if not better, than the 5s camera. The way you put it, the iPhone has an immediately-noticeable edge over the Nexus in terms of picture quality. I think you'd have to look pretty hard to notice any difference at all - if you can post some pics that demonstrate the clearly better iPhone camera, I'll believe you.

Anecdotally, I've taken some great pictures with my N5, in all kinds of lighting conditions. I was on vacation with my sister over Thanksgiving (which was before the 4.4.2 update) and she preferred the pics taken with my Nexus over her iPhone. And again over Christmas at a wedding.

I don't know enough to make a sweeping judgment one way or the other about the quality of each phone's camera, but I can say that whatever difference there is is slight.

It's not an accident that the N5 camera doesn't get much praise from critics, whereas the iPhone consistently gets praised for its cameras. My own experience backs that up (as i only recently got an iPhone and didn't think the difference would be that drastic) as well and I have the two devices. Sure its anecdotal and my experience only, but it does seem to be reflected by the critics that the N5 doesn't have a superb phone camera. It's good, not great.

I get that this is an android site and particularly the Nexus is the 'halo' device that fans will overstate how good its features are, but I won't. IMO the Nexus line of phones have always had weak cameras compared to the competition and I don't think the Nexus 5 bucks this trend.

Luckily for the Nexus 5, I believe the camera performance can be improved with more software tweaks. I don't think the hardware is the issue and can be completely fixed via updates if Google put a lot of time and effort into improving it.

Just when I hear someone like Vic Gundotra saying they're working on 'insanely great' cameras in their Nexus phones and the N5 promotional line is about taking photos of moments that matter, I expected something better than we got.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[ottscay]

I went from a GNex to my N5 and the improvement is vast. I love this phone, don't have a single complaint with it.

Yeah, that would be a massive upgrade, congrats!