Nexus 5: Your personal experience?

[mkchillin]

Can someone who has the Nexus 5 tell me how your experience with it has been? I ordered mine Saturday and it'll come in a couple weeks. I have a GS4 so I need to know primarily how battery life, call quality, LTE/WIFi speeds and display are, which I've heard are considerably worse than. If it doesn't stack up to the S4 I'm gonna return or cancel it.

Tell me about ALL aspects please

 

[clevin]

Can someone who has the Nexus 5 tell me how your experience with it has been? I ordered mine Saturday and it'll come in a couple weeks. I have a GS4 so I need to know primarily how battery life, call quality, LTE/WIFi speeds and display are, which I've heard are considerably worse than. If it doesn't stack up to the S4 I'm gonna return or cancel it.

Tell me about ALL aspects please

Go read that sticky massive review thread, got everything you need to know.

@T-Mobile GN3

 

[BartmanJax]

I have the 32gb black running on T-mobile here in Florida. Fortunately I live in an area where I have great LTE coverage. Coming from a Galaxy Nexus, I have been very pleased. The only real issue I've had is with several apps that aren't 4.4 compliant yet. Call quality has been very good both with the built in speaker and with headphones (the Samsung earbuds I get with my Nexus S several years ago).

The phone is FAST!!! Start up time is much faster than my GNex and my screen looks amazing. The one thing I don't like is the headphone jack being on the top of the phone. My past phones, that jack was on the bottom.

Battery life is excellent for me. Currently, my phone has been on 9hrs 27mins today. Screen on time is just a tad over two hours and talk time (I do a LOT of conference calls) is just over three hours and I still have 53% battery left. I have WiFi, Data and Bluetooth on and run mostly on wifi.

Last night, I switched from Dalvik to ART (JIT vs. AOT). Took a while for it to do whatever the phone needed to do, but I swear it runs even faster. They say ART is still in beta, but seems to work fine for me. I also run Nova Launcher, 8SMS and a few other specialized piloting applications on the phone as well as the normal stuff (1Weather, FB, SoundHound, IMDb,Chromecast, Flipboard, blah, blah, blah). I have a lot of "Google" services disabled (Books, Movies, Magazines, Games, G+, Hangouts, News, Picasa uploader, Quickoffice and the Koren KB's).

I'm 6'8", 280lbs and have fairly large hands. The size of the phone has taken some getting used to. My GNex in an OB Defender case fit me good. I'll be much happier with this phone once my iBlason Armor case gets here from Amazon. The N5 is thin and light. I really need the case.

Overall, I'm very happy with the phone. This phone is my primary source of communication (voice and text). I don't do much gaming on it. I have my N7 for that. I'm glad I got it and look forward to a few years of good service out it.

If you have some specific questions, please ask and I'll do my best to answer them.

 

[pseudoware]

Can someone who has the Nexus 5 tell me how your experience with it has been?

It lets me capture the everyday and epic in fresh new ways.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

 

[mkchillin]

How is it for navigation? Does it lock on well?

How do you activate ART?

Do you mean the phone is really big or really small? I have the S4 and am aware they're similar size and don't want a phone much bigger than it. I told myself after the S4 that it's size was JUST fine and any bigger would be a no-no.

Do you use the phone with 100% brightness? How are colors?

 

[Sentrix]

Can someone who has the Nexus 5 tell me how your experience with it has been? I ordered mine Saturday and it'll come in a couple weeks. I have a GS4 so I need to know primarily how battery life, call quality, LTE/WIFi speeds and display are, which I've heard are considerably worse than. If it doesn't stack up to the S4 I'm gonna return or cancel it.

Tell me about ALL aspects please

I came from the GS4 so I'll address a few specific points.

Physically, the bottom bezel on the Nexus 5 will initially seem pretty large, as the S4's screen takes up basically the entire phone. There's a lot of phone after the bottom of where the screen ends (notification pulse light is located there) and also, the on-screen buttons take up some of the 4.95" display so it may look like you don't have as much room to view things at times, compared to the S4. These aren't necessarily negatives for me, just things I had to adjust to. The N5 is also thicker than the S4 and will feel a bit bulkier (especially with a case on it) but again, it's something you adjust to. Building on the display, I personally like the N5's IPS display better than the S4's AMOLED. At first I thought colors were a bit washed out, having been used to the S4, but I quickly appreciated the accuracy of the colors and now the S4 to me looks overly saturated and not as visually pleasing.

The Nexus 5 is considerably faster than the S4 at pretty much every task... there is pretty much no lag or wait times for anything, whereas occasionally you will experience such on the S4. In terms of reception, my Nexus 5 is actually much better than my S4 was in every way. Areas where I typically lost service or had one bar on the S4, I'm seeing 1-2 bars and no lost connection on the N5. Areas with LTE (My apartment, for instance) that would occasionally drop to HSPA, have remained solid LTE on the N5. Straight up, my Nexus 5 is much better than my Galaxy S4 in terms of data reception and voice reception... and it was something that I honestly did not expect to be the case. Also: I'm not having the issue where WiFi drops or becomes slow or requires a restart, but many people are. WiFi has been exactly the same for me as it was on my S4, but just something to keep in mind.

Battery life is about the same on both devices... I think the S4 wins barely, but not enough to make a difference really.
Call quality, too, seems about the same.

Overall, the Nexus 5 is the better device and should be your next phone.

 

[mkchillin]

This is exactly what I wanted to hear. Good to know that it's not going to be a downgrade. Except for maybe the camera...

 

[JeffDenver]

Can someone who has the Nexus 5 tell me how your experience with it has been? I ordered mine Saturday and it'll come in a couple weeks. I have a GS4 so I need to know primarily how battery life, call quality, LTE/WIFi speeds and display are, which I've heard are considerably worse than. If it doesn't stack up to the S4 I'm gonna return or cancel it.

Tell me about ALL aspects please

Battery life will depend heavily on how you use it. I was able to get about 4.5 hours of heavy use out of mine. But people have posted battery charts on here of 13 or 15 hours of moderate use and 17 hours or more of light use. The phone does really well when doing low powered stuff (calling, reading books, music). It does not do well on stuff that uses a lot of CPU (some games, web browsing). The battery holds a charge very well, so when the screen is off and the phone is idle, you can expect to lose no charge.

LTE speeds are not awful...I am getting about 11mb down, 5mb up, in an area with a known poor connection on T-Mobile. Wifi is better than my Nexus 4 was.

Call quality is better than the Nexus 4 and GS3 for sure.

Whether it stacks up will depend on your needs. It does not have SD expansion like the S4, and probably not quite as good a stock battery (in addition to the fact that you can upgrade the battery on the S4 anyway). It does not have IR. But the camera is better (IMO...low light is much better), it's faster, and it's vanilla Android. It is definitely a smoother UI experience. Touch response is the best I have seen on any Android phone so far. I am not a huge fan of the hardware button on Samsung phones, and I despise touchwiz. But the S4 is a great phone, hardware-wise. If touchwiz does not bother you, and the UI feels smooth enough, you should stick with the S4.


Battery Comparison
Our Nexus 5 battery life test is ready

Comparison of WIFI reception

 

[yousra sultan]

does the non removable battery is a matter of issue?

 

[mkchillin]

It is but I can get used to it. I did like being able to remove it for the sake of manual reboots in case the phone ever locked up though

 

[BartmanJax]

How is it for navigation? Does it lock on well?

How do you activate ART?

Do you mean the phone is really big or really small? I have the S4 and am aware they're similar size and don't want a phone much bigger than it. I told myself after the S4 that it's size was JUST fine and any bigger would be a no-no.

Do you use the phone with 100% brightness? How are colors?

I've only played with it for a short time for navigation purposes, but it works well. I just wish my Garmin GPS's were as up to date as Google maps.

ART activation is done through the "Developer Options > Select Runtime."

The phone is smaller that my old GNex. Much smaller and thinner and lighter. It feels weird in my hand. Once I get a case wrapped around it, it'll be much better.

 

[Johnly]

Thanks to Android Centrals nexus 5 contest I have one. I love you AC! That aside, my first 24 hours on this device have been impressive. The OS is grown up and refined. I love how the ICS blue has been replaced with a polished gray. Classy I tell you. The display is the best I have used on a phone to date. The battery live is not a complaint. The ceramics are sweet. The camera and software actually make taking pictures fun. The nexus 5 is faster than the note 3 in that regard as it takes and processes pictures more briskly. You will not regret the nexus. Go ahead and put a Google zen garden in your pocket!

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[I don't have an iphone]

I have had my nexus 5 for 2 days and loving it. This thing is FAST. Coming from a galaxy nexus, my ONLY complaint is the headphone jack on the top are you serious? I sit at a desk all day and having the headphone jack on top is very frustrating. Other than that I love this phone.

I also wanted to note that I love the square sides. I feel as if I can hold the phone more securely.

I keep offering to get the wife one but she is not interested, she is happy with her GNEX.

Posted via Nexus 5 Android Central App

 

[JeffDenver]

does the non removable battery is a matter of issue?

I don't like it, but I agree, you do get used to it. Lack of SD hurts more.

 

[trekk]

Coming from an S4 the N5 is both smoother and faster. Battery life is comparable between both phones

 

[gmanunited]

I am coming from a combo of Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Nexus.....So I can address a few specifics also.....

I am not as excited about the N5 as I was with the GNEX a few years ago. But the N5 with the design like the N7 tablet will grow on me. The
GS4 although slimmer is a little bigger in the hand to me than N5. The Screen on the N5 is a little washed but not too bad. But you also can see the Screen in direct sunlight. (unlike the GS4). The Infrared or IR Blaster is useful on the GS4 and will be missed on the N5. Both phones are fast just in my case the N5 is not stacked with carrier junk. Cameras are Okay I don't expect much from a cell phone camera and this what I expected. LTE Coverage seems to be good and fast wherever I am even in rural areas.(D/FW).There are some of the Samsung Apps like all share that just work that will be missed on the N5 but they can be replaced.

It all boils down to personal preference. I have used the GNex for almost 2 yrs a few months ago got an S4 for $30 bucks on Contract. At least the N5 doesnt come with all the carrier bloat.

 

[Johnly]

Going to leave this here. The LED notification on the nexus 5 is classy. When it illuminates, there is no cheap trace of the cut out......it illuminates like a perfect orb.....no harsh lines breaking up the light. The location is reminiscent on the of the OG nexus.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[dkhmwilliams]

Going to leave this here. The LED notification on the nexus 5 is classy. When it illuminates, there is no cheap trace of the cut out......it illuminates like a perfect orb.....no harsh lines breaking up the light. The location is reminiscent on the of the OG nexus.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

The phone overall is classy. I was looking at it today thinking that it was really a sexy piece of tech.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Johnly]

The phone overall is classy. I was looking at it today thinking that it was really a sexy piece of tech.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

It really is. My nothing against the moto x, but it did not have that higher end premium feel (though it did not feel cheap) and on the moto x, that shiny plastic around the rim was tacky looking. I noticed on all moto x devices, there is a flawed half moon cutout on the front facing camera. The nexus seems to have every corner polished and milled to premium specs. What a premium device, and it is hard to believe the cost and no shiny plastic!

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[dkhmwilliams]

It really is. My nothing against the moto x, but it did not have that higher end premium feel (though it did not feel cheap) and on the moto x, that shiny plastic around the rim was tacky looking. I noticed on all moto x devices, there is a flawed half moon cutout on the front facing camera. The nexus seems to have every corner polished and milled to premium specs. What a premium device, and it is hard to believe the cost and no shiny plastic!

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

The Moto X was the other phone I was interested in. I would love to have the always on feature. But I bought the Note 3 instead and loved that phone. I said to myself that I wasn't going to buy another phone this year and keep the Note 3 because it was that good. Then the Nexus 5 was released and some guy who preordered the 32 GB model got it on the first day it shipped to people and put it on Craigslist for cash or exchange for a Note 3. It was too much. Seemed like the phone was calling me. I couldn't help myself.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk