The LG Nexus 5 has finally been released and upon first inspection the design catches the eye, particularly in my opinion in the white variant, which delivers a modern look that wouldn’t look out of place even in the most modern of apartments.

The display has been stretched in comparison to the Nexus 4 and at 5-inches, of which 4.95-inches are visible; this mobile phone just qualifies as such. Another inch and we would be classing the Nexus 5 as a phablet.

Without getting too technical I will just mention that the screen offers 445 pixels per inch, so you get a nice crisp image.

LG Nexus 5 Operating System

The first thing to note is that the performance of this smartphone is very good and this is due to the 2.3GHz quad-core processor, 2GB RAM and the latest operating system from Google, Android v4.4 KITKAT.

This latest operating system brings a few enhancements to the user of which most are related to the growing trend of larger and larger screens. Just like apple on its last software update, Google has opted to increase the size of the icons, refine the icon designs and upon launching an app the notifications and menu buttons disappear allowing the user to experience every inch of the screen.

Further developments offered by Android v4.4 include collating all of your messages, from SMS to email into one location. You can also manage your wallpaper and widgets by holding your finger on the home screen, so this is much quicker and easier than finding the options in the menu.

LG Nexus Features

The Google Now app presents a nice gateway into what is important to you at any moment in time. From this app you can view the weather for your location, see traffic reports, keep up to date with your calendar or follow the news for your favourite sports team.

Google Wallet has now also been introduced to Android and this wireless (NFC) tap to pay system might just catch on!

Camera

My Google Nexus 5 review takes a strange turn here! On board we find an 8 megapixel camera which is odd as the phone is modelled on the LG G2 that has a 13 megapixel camera. Here potential buyers will need to decide between a high-end camera or the latest operating system.

I may however argue here that you can’t see 13 megapixels on a phone screen or PC for that matter, so unless you want to zoom in to minuscule detail you may as well opt for the Nexus and enjoy the benefits of Android v4.4.

The camera on this phone is however backed up with loads of cool features. These include Photo Sphere for capturing 360 degrees panoramic photos that you can later interact with by zooming around and panning to the left or right.

Video recording is also possible and there is a software editing suite that will allow you to enhance your captured images with a range of filters.

Conclusion

Monthly tariffs are slightly cheaper on the Nexus 5 compared to the LG G2 so if you don’t mind a slightly lower camera specification then the Nexus would be a good buy.