Figured it was time to stop lurking and say hi. I've been following the progress of this next iteration of the Nexus for some time. I've got an LG G2 now, and have loved the phone for most of the past two years ... until Verizon totally mucked it up with its garbage version of Lollipop; just one more reason I'm looking forward to a Nexus phone next time around.
I use my phone for work and personal, and my company will not permit fingerprint sensor locks, so that's not such a big deal to me in that regard. That said, having used the G2s rear power button and volume keys for this long, I'm among those who will say that it's very easy to get used to and, after I did, I found myself wondering why everyone didn't put the things in that location. Very natural. I understand that there are different uses for the fingerprint sensor, as well, and I don't see any reason the location would be problematic at all when, for instance, making NFC purchases. As for waking and unlocking the phone, as others have said, there will undoubtedly be other methods; the LG G series offers "knock on" whereby you can wake the phone with 2 taps on the screen, for instance, in addition to pass code and pattern lock options.
Plus, yes, I'm all for the front-facing speakers.
While there's a part of me that, like many, would like removable battery and extra storage capacity, if there is a large enough internal battery and enough native storage as an option, this would not be a huge deal for me. The CPU and RAM will be of more concern to me. Lollipop (at least the VZW version) seems to be a RAM hog, and has made my phone slow and jittery, where it used to run everything quickly and smooth as glass.
As for the camera bump, I always use a case of some kind, so figure the effect will likely be minimized.
Though they may be relatively minor to some, the two features that I'm really crossing my fingers for in the LG Nexus phone are a notification LED on the front (I've relied on this since my old Blackberry days), and wireless charging. The Verizon variant of the G2 has wireless charging and I would definitely miss it.
Anyway, I've followed this discussion with great interest, and have appreciated all the information shared here. I will continue to look forward to the discussions here and, hopefully, will be able to add something to the conversation.
Here's hoping there's something for everyone in these devices.
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