Google unveiled the Nexus 5 along with Android 4.4 KitKat on Halloween. There was a long lead-up to the Nexus 5's unveiling, including a back-and-forth between tech observers as to whether the handset would be made by Google-owned Motorola or by LG Electronics.
LG turned out to be the Nexus 5's OEM, using some of the same part as the company's flagship, the LG G2. So it begs the question, which smartphone is better from a specs and price perspective? Here we'll stack them up, and run them down.
Display
The LG G2 offers an unconventionally sized screen, at 5.2-inches. The company says that's the largest handset the average person can hold and use comfortably. There's not much of a difference between the Google Nexus 5's 4.95-inch display, but it is a little larger.
There's also not much difference in the resolution of both displays. Both feature 1080 x 1920p Full HD on a True HD-IPS + LCD touchscreen, but the Google Nexus 5 stands out a little with a slightly higher pixel density, at 445 pixels per inch compared to the LG G2's 424ppi.
Power (Processor and Battery)
Both the LG G2 and the Google Nexus 5 come with a non-removable Li-Po battery, with the slightly upsized LG G2 offering 3000 mAh capacity compared to the 2300 mAh battery in the Nexus 5.
This means that, while both manage about 17 hours of talk time, the LG G2 blows the Nexus 5 away in stand-by, tripling the Google handset's 300 hours.
The LG G2 comes with a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, which LG also put in the Google Nexus 5. However, the Nexus 5 will out-perform the LG G2, though both are so fast that it'd be hard to tell a difference in almost any common task.
The Nexus 5's Snapdragon chip is clocked to 2.3GHz with 2GB of RAM, compared to the LG G2's 2.26GHz with 2GB of RAM. Also consider that the Nexus 5 runs a clean version of Android 4.4 KitKat, which was designed to use hardware much more efficiently, so that it can run on low cost handsets with low specs. Meanwhile, the LG G2 runs the clunkier, older Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, with LG's own user interface piled on top of that.
Camera and Storage
Google went the cheap direction with the camera sensor for the Nexus 5, installing an 8-megapixel shooter that won't zoom in as far, or with as much picture quality as the 13-megapixel LG G2 main camera. Both feature Optical Image Stabilization, using a gyroscope sensor on the lens to compensate for camera shake.
Neither the Nexus 5 or the LG G2 feature a microSD card slot, meaning that once you've committed to a handset with a given storage size, that's all the physical storage you'll have going forward. Both phones only come in 16GB and 32GB sizes, though cloud storage can help expand you phone's capacity.
Release Date, Price, Availability, and Other Considerations
The Google Nexus 5 was made available on the Google Play Store on Halloween. As with Google's Nexus lineup, it's priced as "unlocked," meaning you can get the phone and sign up for practically any LTE service (with the notable exception of Verizon Wireless), without signing a contract. That means you own the Nexus 5 outright for about $350 for the 16GB version and about $400 for the 32GB version. (Word to the wise, don't go to Best Buy for this handset, they're overpricing it by a lot.)
The LG G2 launched in October across all major U.S. carriers with LTE capability, including Verizon Wireless, which launched a snazzy LG G2 with silver "Rear Key" (that's the LG G2's volume rocker and power button located on the back, instead of the sides) and wireless power charging station.
You can get the LG G2 for $200 or less on contract, which is less than the Nexus 5, but it also means you're locked into two years of a specific service. The unlocked version costs about $560 or above, meaning if you're looking to switch services or use a small, pre-paid wireless plan, the Nexus 5 may be your handset.
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