I recently picked up a Nexus 5 to dabble around in Android, and these are my first impressions.
I ordered a white 32GB Nexus 5 and a wireless charging dock two weeks ago, and they showed up at my door today.
I’ve never actually ordered a physical product from Google before, so I was pleasantly surprised at the simple, tasteful packaging.
After opening the box, you’re immediately presented with the device itself. The screen protector has the Nexus 5 logo directly in the middle, which I’ve heard can be annoying for people keeping it on until they get a proper screen protector.
The wireless charger comes in 4 pieces, which assemble into a very compact unit.
The charger is actually smaller than I thought it would be.
Here is a size comparison to a 4 inch iPod Touch.
As well as a size comparison to an iPhone 4s. This thing is huge.
I’ve read reports that they’ve already slightly changed the design from the first production batch, mainly making the speaker holes larger. Without having another one to compare to, I can’t tell if this is one of the newer ones or not.
The build quality is great, considering the price point of the device. While it may not feel as complete as the iPhone 5s, for half the price, I’m not going to complain. The buttons themselves on the side of the device feel very comparable.
I love the contrasting color scheme, especially on the back of the device. The back has a slight matte texture compared to the sides, offering a little more grip.
While the contrast on the back is fitting, something seems strange about the speaker on the front being the only white object.
Another thing that bothers me is that the headphone jack is on the top of the device instead of the bottom. I was also a bit surprised to see that there were no headphones included in the box. Maybe I’m just spoiled from getting them with iPhones.
Having a 5 inch screen also means that it peeks out of the top of my front pocket. This makes it pretty uncomfortable when I’m bending over tying my shoes.
The camera on the device was pretty bad when it came out, but Google has addressed some of those issues in the latest firmware update. Overall, I’m pretty happy with the device overall and will be posting another article shortly on my perspective on both iOS and Android.
