Nexus 5 arrived

[Donald]

I ordered the Nexus 5 from Google Play on Thur and it arrived on Tue. 16GB, in black. My old phone was a Verizon Droid 2 Global where I unlocked the phone and the baseband. I had not used it on Verizon in about 1 year.

Its a larger phone but still fits into shirt pocket. I am getting use to no slide-out keyboard. Its a much newer version of the OS than my Droid, so I expected some minor differences. Everything seems reasonable, and no cell carrier bloatware.

One very positive thing is my Droid 2 Global was designed for GSM overseas not in the USA. So I think it was using a subset of the GSM frequencies, where as this phone as a normal unlocked GSM phone. So I am getting service where I did not before or it was very weak.

My carrier is Consumer Cellular which uses AT&T cell towers for the most part.

The only thing you can install is a micro SIM card, neither the battery nor a memory card can be installed. The power is via a supplied mini USB to normal USB cable and the power cube just has a normal USB connector.

 

[dparm]

Keep us posted. For $350, those look like a great device.

What other devices did you consider?

 

[racer12306]

iFixIt did a teardown on the Nexus 5 already. They rated it 8 of 10 where 10 is the easiest to repair.

While the battery is not everyday removable, it wasn't too bad to remove when replacement is necessary.

I'm looking forward to my next phone because the Nexus device of the time. Still 1.5 years away.

 

[redhat]

OK so bear with me but this phone (the 32GB one) is $400 w/o any contract and you can use it on Verizon?

 

[TrevorS]

I think its a great device and will be really big for Google.

I just purchased the Nexus 7 as a gift but am thinking its a little small and that the Nexus 5 would have been a better choice.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: redhat
OK so bear with me but this phone (the 32GB one) is $400 w/o any contract and you can use it on Verizon?


Maybe my first post was confusing. I doubt this will work on Verizon. I am using it basically on AT&T.

Yes its $400 + tax + shipping for the 32G version, no contract.

 

[redhat]

No your post wasn't I just was curious. Looking further definitely strengthens your doubts about Verizon compatibility.

Hmm... maybe it's time I jump to a Prepaid provider that has a good amount of LTE data available. This Nexus 5 looks like a heck of a phone for the price and you're not locked in!

 

[racer12306]

Originally Posted By: TrevorS
I think its a great device and will be really big for Google.

I just purchased the Nexus 7 as a gift but am thinking its a little small and that the Nexus 5 would have been a better choice.


The 7 is a small tablet, the 5 is a large phone.

Personally, I'm impatiently awaiting the next gen Nexus 10.

 

[SEMI_287]

I googled the Nexus 5 and it looks pretty awesome. Too bad Verizon won't allow it on its network.

How's the battery on that beast? I am very disappointed in my S3.

 

[dareo]

It came out too late and i had to get a Note 3 for twice the cost. I would have bought this instead, but i do really enjoy the Note 3.

 

[mrsilv04]

A guy here at work got his yesterday, and had to RMA it by the end of the day. It was unusable within a few hours. He was told that he gets to wait 3-4 weeks for a replacement unit.

It would randomly dial numbers by itself, and place calls. We sat in a conference room with it on the table, and watched it dial and place a phone call in the 402 area code with no one touching it.

It was neat to see, but the phone itself was an unusable piece of garbage.

 

[TrevorS]

I was avoiding buying the Nexus 7 when it came out to avoid any initial quality problems.

Mine arrived last week and lo and behold it had a July manufacture date.

All seems well but it had some excess glue at the bottom of the case.

 

[Donald]

The battery life seems fine. I have not charged it in a day and its down to 1/3. Part of the time was in an area with almost no signal.

It light year better than my Droid 2 Global with would not go 8 hours. Even new the Droid was short lived on battery power.

 

[jigen]

Pretty sure this device works on Att, tmo, and sprint. No verizon.

Google and vzw don't get along too well with the nexus line up since the galaxy nexus release.

 

[racer12306]

Hopefully that changes in the future or I might have to jump ship.

I'm sick of carrier and manufacturer control of these devices.

 

[SEMI_287]

Would it work on Straight Talk?

 

[Bryankkkk]

Glad I got my note 3 on big red, nexus is meh.(to me atleast)

 

[zloveraz]

Originally Posted By: SEMI_287
Would it work on Straight Talk?


Yes but you have to get the new AT&T LTE SIM for the phone and make sure you add the new APN. I helped my neighbor set hers up and the LTE is way faster than my Verizon LTE.

 

[Donald]

I am still liking the phone. I set it to do its UNLOCK by face recognition. Worked great, but then I shaved a little around my beard and it no longer recognized me. Maybe it was too dark? You enter the code then.

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: Donald
I am still liking the phone. I set it to do its UNLOCK by face recognition. Worked great, but then I shaved a little around my beard and it no longer recognized me. Maybe it was too dark? You enter the code then.


You should be able to go back into the enrollment screen and have it take multiple pictures of you - glasses on and off, shaven/unshaven, etc. This will improve the reliability of it.