LG Nexus 5 (2015)

LG Nexus 5 (2015)

Crackor Squad detailing basic specifications for the upcoming 5.2" Nexus phone

The major specifications:-

1. Chipset

The 808 packs most of Qualcomm's cutting-edge LTE portfolio and other "flagship-level" features, but has only two high-powered A57 processing cores instead of the four found on the 810, in addition to four low-power A53 cores. The Adreno 418 GPU in the chip is respectable - its rated performance is roughly on par with last year's Adreno 420, featured in Snapdragon 805 devices like the Nexus 6 and Galaxy Note 4. The 808 will be paired with 3GB of RAM on this upcoming Nexus phone.

2. Size

The difference is going to be size. The LG Nexus is a 5.2-inch phone, around the same size as the original Nexus 5. By today's smartphone standards, that's pretty small. The Huawei Nexus, on the other hand, is rumored to be a 5.7-inch phone.

3. Feel/Body

From what we're hearing, the Huawei Nexus will be a metal-framed phone, much like the Ascend Mate 7. That means cool aluminum and the premium feel only metal can deliver. The LG Nexus looks as though it will have the same kind of rubberized plastic back as the original Nexus 5.

4. Specifications

The two Nexuses will run identical versions of stock Android, but you can expect some very different specs. The rumor mill claims the Huawei Nexus will be the more high-end phone, and that the LG Nexus will be a little more mid-range. We're not sure if that means Huawei will use its own Kirin processor in order to avoid Qualcomm's, but the specs differences are going to be a big part of the story.

5. Experience

How do you feel about a first-try Nexus? Huawei has never built a Nexus before and, we assume, doesn't have a huge history with Google, especially considering Google services are not allowed in China, where Huawei is big news. LG, on the other hand, has already made two Nexus phones with Google, and that experience must be worth something. If you didn't like either the Nexus 4 or Nexus 5 though, Huawei will be a breath of fresh air.

6. Camera

The rear camera will use a 12.3MP sensor, and a 5MP sensor will be out front - unfortunately that's all the detail we can get on the cameras at this point

This is another area where LG might have the upper hand. LG's G4 has a great camera, and while we couldn't expect a camera of that quality on a mid-range LG Nexus, if – and it's a big if – it had something close to it, we're not sure Huawei's Nexus would have much chance of topping it, even if it is the more high-end phone.

7. Battery

The LG-made Nexus will indeed have a type C USB port, but we don't know if it's just a reworked USB2.0 configuration or an actual USB3 device. The battery is a 2700mAh pack, which may sound small today, but remember - the 5" Nexus 5 shipped with a tiny 2300mAh battery back in 2013, and even the Galaxy S6's battery isn't all that large, at 2550mAh. 2700mAh on a 5.2" device sounds solidly average, though that's likely to disappoint some Nexus fans if it doesn't come with a promise of greatly-improved power consumption characteristics

The Huawei Nexus will surely have a much better battery than the LG Nexus. LG used to have great batteries (remember the LG G2?) but since the G3 things have gone downhill. If the Huawei Nexus will have a larger battery – it is the bigger phone after all – it should also hopefully be big enough to power the phone for longer. We all know how painful Nexus batteries have been in the past, so this could be a big win for Huawei.

7. Fingerprint scanner

Huawei also has a rock solid fingerprint scanner already on the Mate 7. It the best fingerprint scanner on Android. Things may have changed since the arrival of the Galaxy S6 and One Plus 2, but Huawei has a better chance of packing the Nexus with a fantastic fingerprint scanner than LG. Who knows though, maybe LG got its Nexus scanner straight from Huawei?

8. Brand/trust

This is a bit of a gray area, but it needs to be mentioned that there is still a little bit of mistrust among some Americans towards Huawei, which is related to a spyware scandal several years ago. While it's obvious that Google calls the shots on all Nexus projects, a misguided sense of suspicion might be hard to shake off for some tinfoil hat types. LG has a much better reputation in America than Huawei.

9. Display resolution

The display resolution of the two phones could have a major impact on a couple of things, namely price and battery life. If Huawei puts a QHD display on the larger Nexus, which it most likely will, then the larger Nexus will not only cost more to make, it'll also demand more power than the Full HD display that's rumored for the LG Nexus.

Moving to the display, we're being told it's a 5.2" full HD (1080p) panel - an interesting choice, indeed. The lower display resolution should cut back power consumption and keep the system running more smoothly and quickly generally, perhaps suggesting that Google is taking battery life at least somewhat seriously on this device. Modern 1080p LCD screens (then again, we don't know it's an LCD) also tend to look quite good when properly tuned, and given that LG is the manufacturer of the phone, it's possible they're also building some kind of trick IPS LCD display for it - but that's speculation. 5.2" and 1080p is all we know for now.

10. Storage

On the list of slightly more mundane aspects we have storage - the phone will come in 16 and 32GB models only. Given that the price will be "sub-flagship," those tiers are at least understandable, if not necessarily ideal. The phone will also come in three colors: black, white, and blue.

That's all we've got for now, but we'll let you know if we hear any more exciting upcoming Nexus news.