Does anybody here have a Google Nexus 5?

It's cell phone plan change time at Casa Boxhead and I'm trying to figure out what phones to get for the missus and myself. So far I've boiled it down to two candidates - three if I'm feeling adventurous - and I've only got experience with one of them. Basically, phone wise we're de-Appleing so the choice for my wife is either a Nokia Lumia 925 or a Google Nexus 5. Oh, and the third choice is a Lumia 1020 with the supposedly spectacular camera, but they're not officially available on T-Mobile and I'd be taking a bit of a risk that it doesn't play all that well with their LTE.

I've had a Lumia 920 on extended loan so I'm familiar with the system and like it a lot, but I haven't got any experience with a recent Android phone (we have an older Android tablet running 4.2.2, though).

Is anybody here using a Nexus 5 as their phone and if so, how has your experience been so far?

Me and my wife each have the galaxy note 2 and they're awesome, I had a nexus 4 and loved that one too

I have the Nexus 4, and I frickin love the phone. I really like handsets with just plain old Googles overlay on them.

I've played with a friend's Nexus 5, and if I were buying a new phone right now, that's what I'd buy. I'm currently using a Galaxy Nexus (basically Nexus 3).

I'm thinking I'll wait for the Nexus 6 (supposed to be out in August/September) though.

Note that if you want a bare Google overlay you can get that on many phones by rooting it and installing Cyanogenmod.

Typing this on a nexus 5. Awesome phone, good battery life. I love the fact that compared to all of the previous android phones I have had there is no crapware that I have to get rid of.

I'm with the previous posters in that I prefer Google phones with 'pure' Android. No bloatware. No brand specific apps. No brand specific tweaks to Android. The reason why I like pure Android is that Google will release and update and BOOM! It's on the phone. The more a manufacturer tweaks Android the less likely you'll get Android updates in a timely fashion.

I own a Nexus 4. It's great. The wife has one too. The Nexus 6 is projected to be out in October. I think I'll skip the 5 and wait for the 6.

I had the GNex and went to the nexus 4 about 9 months ago. Absolutely love the pure Google experience as opposed to having to root and load a ROM. Plus with no carrier subsidy, there's no contract stuff to worry about. My sister-in-law had the 4 and loved it but when she broke it a couple months back, she went to the 5 and says it is fantastic. Very fast, decent camera, had it two days after ordering from the play store.

One thing that I've found about the last few generations of nexus, though, is that it's really not worth moving up one generation. The 4 was better than the GNex, but only incrementally and my sister-in-law says the same about the 4-to-5 upgrade. Basically, if you had a 4 and it wasn't broken, there wouldn't really be $350 worth of value to go to the 5.

I had one when they first came out. Returned it cause the camera is awful.

I bought a Nexus 5 in January. Also had a Nexus 4 for 18 months prior. The Nexus 5 adds LTE radio, and a bigger screen. Do it.

I think the Camera is also very good, contrary to Pbw's experience.

If you buy it outright from the Google Play Store, there is no better bargain.

The reason I upgraded from the 4 to the galaxy note 2 was battery life, I hated the battery on it im not sure what the battery is like on the 5 though

Mrs. motomoron and I got 'em for Xmas, and love, love. love 'em. Excellent battery life, everything just works, stone reliable and I like the camera just fine. (fyi, it comes with a nearly invisible protective film on the lens. I didn't catch it for a week or so)

I give it top marks.

My wife and I both had Galaxy Exhibit 4Gs which are standard 4G phones on T-Mobile. We both upgraded. I have a Nexus 5 and she got a Lumia 510 (she bought a Win8 tablet/netbook and liked the interface). Both are T-Mobile LTE phones, we both have horrible signal issues now, areas I had 4G before will give me either 3G or no mobile data and I have dead spots in my home that I didn't have before. I'd make sure they have decent LTE coverage in your area before going to LTE phones. I live in Indianapolis if leave the city all bets are off. I do like the phone as long as I can get data coverage.

My work phone was a Google Nexus S phone (one of the first Nexus phones), and I received a replacement (not an upgrade) to a Lumia 1020 as the Nexus was getting slow. The Lumia phone is a good phone, call clarity and reception are great, and the camera is amazing, but I loath the Windows phone system. It's the little details of iOS and Android that make them great to use, but it seems as if Microsoft haven't paid much attention to the small things. If I could have my old Nexus back, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Why anyone would get a Windows phone is beyond me. If you get a Windows phone, it will annoy you and you'll eventually get an Android anyway, so why waste time with something that's not one?

moparman76_69 wrote: My wife and I both had Galaxy Exhibit 4Gs which are standard 4G phones on T-Mobile. We both upgraded. I have a Nexus 5 and she got a Lumia 510 (she bought a Win8 tablet/netbook and liked the interface). Both are T-Mobile LTE phones, we both have horrible signal issues now, areas I had 4G before will give me either 3G or no mobile data and I have dead spots in my home that I didn't have before. I'd make sure they have decent LTE coverage in your area before going to LTE phones. I live in Indianapolis if leave the city all bets are off. I do like the phone as long as I can get data coverage.

After ten years, I left TMO for the same reason. Now on ATT, and I have a signal most everywhere. Spending 25% more though..

In reply to edwardh80:

Actually I find the last Android phone we had much more annoying than the Windows phone. As I said, I like the recent Windows phone OS.

Reception and coverage on T-Mobile isn't quite as good as Verizon out here but the difference is fairly minimal. At least it's not big enough to require me to double our phone bill.

Thanks for everybody's input re the Nexus 5.

For the horrible signal issues, have you tried forcing the 4g network by turning the edge frequency off? I do that and it does wonders for my galaxy s3. The phone would switch back and forth as the 4g signal weakened slowing everything significantly. Spotty 4g is still way faster than strong edge.

Of course different phones, different area, and i don't have an lte capable phone, so your mileage may vary. ..

I'll second checking tmobiles coverage when I leave the houston area I'm frequently on edge/2g so my smartphone essentially becomes a very expensive bar phone but I knew that when I switched... att coverage in my area was horrid and I don't leave town often enough for that to be a big consideration.

anyway...

sorry I don't have first hand experience with any of those phones outside of a few short moments playing with a friends 1020... but I have had experiance using an unlocked att phone on Tmobile (granted this was before the final upgrade to LTE)... my experiance is that tmobile 3g (hspa+ is more than adequate for 99% of stuff including streaming videos but you are likely stuck with the 3g as ATT seems to make sure to not have the same LTE bands as tmobile phones... also in my expernaice... you will be on 3g/hspa+ as long as the area you are in has been upgraded to LTE... this was my experience about a year ago before I moved to a tmobile note2 (which got upgraded to LTE when tmobile LTE network went live)... and if LTE isn't a consideration I'd look closely at the much cheaper motoG (runs a near stock version of android to boot)

I'm a fan of naked android... I haven't bothered rooted and roming my note2 but I am running apex launcher so it has the look and feel of stock android... until I get into the menu system... for that I would consider the nexus5... I was very close to ordering a nexus4 before I found a tmobile manager that got me a the note2 for free

another phone I'd give serious consideration is the motoX