Ask me anything about the Nexus 5

[ogwilson]

Just like we did when the latest DROID phones launched, we're here to answer any questions you have about the Nexus 5. Ask away, and expect a response shortly!

 

[ktriebol]

Does the white one show fingerprints as easily as the black one?

 

[cptnobvious999]

* Do you really get 100GB cloud storage with it?
* Does the HDR+ function work any better than regular shots?

 

[SAL8116]

* Do you really get 100GB cloud storage with it?
* Does the HDR+ function work any better than regular shots?

I'm curious about that as well.

 

[ogwilson]

Does the white one show fingerprints as easily as the black one?

Unfortunately, I can't quite answer this one. The black one definitely is more of a fingerprint and dust magnet than I thought it'd be, though.

* Do you really get 100GB cloud storage with it?
* Does the HDR+ function work any better than regular shots?

1. Unfortunately I did not get a prompt to get 100GB of Cloud Storage for Google Drive. I saw the initial rumor about this, but so far it looks like that hasn't panned out.
2. HDR+ does create a more dynamic photo. Whether it's "better" than a regular shot is subjective, and dependent on many different factors and lighting conditions. I'll have to use the camera during sun down to get a really accurate idea. I'll have some sample shots shortly!

 

[austriak5]

How is battery life?

 

[saptech]

Who took my N5???

Spoiler

Just kidding!

 

[yuhs24]

I remember the nexus 4 having some responsiveness issues when it came out along with some colour problems are those fixed in this new nexus? Also hows the build quality if you dropped it without a case how much damage do you think it would take ?

 

[GotMoo]

Did you unlock bootloader/root or is this not needed anymore?

 

[steve]

Does the white one show fingerprints as easily as the black one?

The white seems to not show fingerprints. If it does collect them... I can't see them at all! I am very happy with the look and feel of the white back.

I don't think we need to worry about this getting too dirty either, but only time will tell with that.

 

[rayfin]

Is John Ive the antichrist and why is the Nexus 5 the best phone on the planet?

 

[ogwilson]

How is battery life?

I've only had it for a few hours so I can't say yet. The phone had 89% battery level out of the box, and after a few heavy hours of playing with it, I'm down to about 65%. I'll check back in after giving this thing a full workout.

Who took my N5???

Spoiler

Just kidding!

How's the battery life?

See above.

I remember the nexus 4 having some responsiveness issues when it came out along with some colour problems are those fixed in this new nexus? Also hows the build quality if you dropped it without a case how much damage do you think it would take ?

The Nexus 5 zooms! This thing is as fluid and slick as you'd expect it to be. You really get the feeling that the Snapdragon 800 and 2GB of RAM are being put to good use. No sluggishness issues outside of some minor scrolling jumps in Chrome (but Chrome has been slow for me no matter which phone I use).

As for your question about durability, I'm obviously not interested in finding out, but the phone looks like it can take some light bumps. It doesn't seem like it'd hold up from a tall drop onto a hard surface without a case, though. It's built great, but these things are fragile to begin with so always err on the side of caution.

EDIT -- oh, forgot to touch on display's color accuracy. It all looks fine from my end. It does tend to look a tad washed out in certain areas (especially noticeable with the blacks), however I have come from 4 straight AMOLED-based devices, so my perception of contrast is a bit spoiled.

Did you unlock bootloader/root or is this not needed anymore?

I haven't done that yet. The device has been rooted since day one, however there aren't many reasons for common users to root and unlock the bootloader just yet. You can bet I'll be doing it once the ROMs trickle in, though. You can find instructions for rooting at the All Things Root subsection here.

 

[steve]

why is the Nexus 5 the best phone on the planet?

Because you're on Verizon and can't have it.

 

[shagnscooby]

So I got my Nexus 5 today also, but there's no Google Now. Do I have to enable it somewhere? My auto-restore was interrupted so that might have something to do with it. But there's no Google now when i go to the left home screen and when I swipe up from the bottom it just goes to do a search.

I will mention that I did root and unlock it as soon as I got it using Chainfire's method.

EDIT: Nevermind, I got it. I would've thought it was there by default though. I had to long press on the home screen and go to those settings to enable.

 

[jgordon00]

There was some discussion of a new backup tool included with KitKat for apps, data, preferences, etc. It doesn't sound like this was accurate but it would be great if you could confirm one way or another.

 

[Lauski]

Do you have a Slimport adapter to test out:
-Making sure it works?
-Playback of movies?
-Lag & Input Lag during games?

(Subjective is fine here, I.E: Noticeable, Unnoticeable)

 

[Dim]

Well hello everyone, came here from Derek Ross' G+ post.

I would like to know how good is the GPS on this thing, since I use my phones
as a gps device in the car for navigation and it's fairly important to me. I guess I also use it for tracking runs quite a bit.

I've only seen one guy doing a test on it vs a GS4, and the GS4 was far superior. It was an indoors test actually and the Nexus5 took much longer time to lock and even then it had found maybe half the satellites of the GS4.

But to be honest I don't care much, if at all, how good it is indoors but more of how good it is outdoors where you actually need it. Good-average-bad-problematic? I'd love to know. Thanks.

 

[temporary101]

-Do I need a screen protector or case? I didn't have either for my GNexus and over 2 years it has only gotten 2 minor scratches. Don't even know how they got there. The N5 has gorilla glass 3 I think, so will that be enough or should I need a screen protector?

-What makes Slimport better then MHL? (not really nex5 related, skip this question if you want)

-Does it support OTG cables unrooted?

-Can I connect a ps3 controller to it wirelessly (unrooted) to play some games with it?

-Does the N5 come with earphones like the N1 and the Gnexus did (don't know about the others)? Better Yet, what ships in the box?

-How long does it take to charge up from 0 to 100% using the cable in an outlet, cable in USB port and wireless charging?

-Is there anything else I should be doing to prepare?

 

[louched1]

Does it have an IR blaster?

 

[jansportw]

What's the available hard drive space on the size you got?

 

[GotMoo]

-Do I need a screen protector or case? I didn't have either for my GNexus and over 2 years it has only gotten 2 minor scratches. Don't even know how they got there. The N5 has gorilla glass 3 I think, so will that be enough or should I need a screen protector?

I've ordered a case/screen protector for the N5 (should be here tomorrow) so I'll be keeping the silly film cover on til then. My GNex was just replaced 5 weeks ago and it already has scratches on it. No more of that...

-Does the N5 come with earphones like the N1 and the Gnexus did (don't know about the others)? Better Yet, what ships in the box?

No earphones in the box. Just N5, Micro-USB cable and charger plug. Then some papers that I think they're required to put in the box

 

[twflys]

Is there a Phone app and a People App? Before I would use the phone App as my source for contacts because of the black background. Is there a way to adjust settings to a black theme? Most of the apps are all with a white background now, huh? No custom options?

I am really going to miss the blues and the blacks of the old way.. I detest the white backgrounds.

 

[knwt]

There was some discussion of a new backup tool included with KitKat for apps, data, preferences, etc. It doesn't sound like this was accurate but it would be great if you could confirm one way or another.

This is my question as well. I've read so many times about it during the leak days, even here on Phandroid, but now nobody is talking about it anymore.

Nexus 5 Q&A, pictures show up on Reddit.
"There is a complete backup solution built-in

 

[temporary101]

Has this seen any updates?

this: App Ops: Android's Hidden Permission Manager

 

[nexusqa]

What about temperature. Does it get hot easily? On normal use or high load?
Does it cool quickly?