Google's Nexus 5: Best smartphone bang for your buck. There, we said it

>The phone ships with a charger that uses USB, which hurts recharge times compared to other chargers but does allow you to simply plug the phone into your computer's USB port and it will simply show itself as a removable drive.

Er? Most chargers use USB these days... the difference is that some are 800mA, some are up to 2.1A; the one that ships with the LG G2 is not far off the latter. I know that some devices will draw more current if the data pins are shorted, but things have moved on since then.

> but does allow you to simply plug the phone into your computer's USB port and it will simply show itself as a removable drive.

That's handy to know for Mac and Linux users. Strange that Nexus device should sport it, since it was Android that removed this feature in the first place. Some Sony phones can also connect as Mass Storage Class (but not mine. Annoying, because Microsoft don't allow you to choose which programs are associated with files on mobile devices, so you're stuck with the godawful Windows photo viewer).

Eight megapixels isn't as good as some of the competition...

Oh please, the megapixel number is pure willy waving, but with even less to back it up.

Over a certain threshold (about 5Mpixel in my books), there simply is nothing to be gained by going higher on a phone camera. Lets face it, you're not producing an A0 billboard picture. I'd be amazed if the pictures you take ever get any further than facebook/G+.

In fact less pixels can be good for low light images. If the sensor is a constant size, the photosites will be bigger. Meaning they will catch more of those elusive low light photons, making them easier to detect without having to resort to amplification and its associated noise.

To put things into perspective, a 1080 HD TV image is only 2Mpixel - Oh dear, have I just done an "apple retina" job on you? Can you now not see your monitor? Does the entire desktop look like Mine Craft all of a sudden?

So please, don't judge cameras on megapixel alone, there are so many more things it depends on. If not then I challenge you to produce a better photo with an xyz Zillion pixel phone camera of your choice, and I'll use a far lower pixel count device I have in the draw.

It's made by Nikon.

Slightly better phone?

You say

"If you want an unlocked phone that gives you full access and control then the Nexus 5 can't be beaten on price. If, on the other hand, you're buying through a carrier on a subsidized plan then you might be able to get something slightly better for around the same cost."

What phone would be classed as slightly better?

Screen size

I can't be the only person wanting a smaller screen can I?

A smaller screen means a smaller phone, so it would fit in my pocket easier, and drain a little less battery (although a smaller phone would have a smaller battery).

I don't need more than a 4" screen on my phone personally.

Oh, and whatever the make, it needs to be supported by Cyanogenmod.

"If you are an existing Android user you'd be happy if Santa dropped one down your chimney"

I'd be livid: that screen's not replaceable!

None of the lucky owners have mentioned reception: the service around my way is dire and my Nexus 4 really struggles - as in: rarely gets a signal. The missus' iP5s is way better (it pains me to admit): just wondering if trading up to an N5 would help ..?

"the Photo Sphere feature, designed to take 360 degree shots, still needs work. As you can see from the test image, the software still has problems and doesn't deal well with details."

When you go into PhotoSphere mode it does tell you for best results to use open areas and 30ft distance to the surroundings, which is why your photo looks good at distance but goes screwy where the laptop is. It can still be improved massively, even with the 30ft distance, there are still visible stitches, but nowhere near as bad as in your test photo.

Voice search works from 6 feet!!!

Don't like your work colleagues? ok google search porn.

Do I need gmail?

Do I need gmail to use the play store and download apps? I junked my gmail long time back for any serious use long time back, because of the New World Order by Google and NSA.

"eight megapixels isn't as good as some of the competition"

Megapixels were a selling point early in digital camera history, one'd think that people would have learned by now that once you have more than 5-6 megapixel it's the LENS which is the limiting factor.

8 megapixels is already way more than any user of a cell phone camera will ever need, because the poor quality of the lens means that most of it is "dead" resolution anyway (so if you really DO print that 20 megapixel image at billboard size, it still wont look sharper than the 5 megapixel shot).

Sweet-looking and the price seems right - some questions

Background: have an iPhone 4 which is getting a bit old. Been thinking of seeing what's on the other side of the fence (almost got a Z10 and may get one yet - they are _cheap_ 2nd hand).

I buy my phones direct to avoid contracts. Crucially, I don't get a data plan, I figure mooching wifi is good enough where I live. And, on principle, I refuse to pay the data fees Canadian carriers rob us with.

On the iPhone I eventually found some good offline maps (PocketEarth) and I know how the phone behaves in general w.o. data plans. iPhone w.o. data is a bit in the doldrums, but I know what to expect.

I don't expect Android to be much worse than iOS without data, but... this is a Google phone. And Google pretty much is the always-connected poster child. Oh, and can I cajole it into playing FLAC sound files natively?

So... any gotchas about forking out for a Nexus without getting data? Will the phone be easy to live with on Wifi-only? Should I cyanogenmod it instead?

Errrr... Panorama shots indoors? That's a rather silly idea.

Panorama works fine, but it's NOT meant for things up close like that. You are supposed to use it for landscape shots.

If you really want to make panorama shots indoors, you need to turn the camera while keeping it in the same position. The normal tendency is to hold it away from your body and turn yourself, but that wont work very well unless the target is far away.

you can't cook your dinner on one now

Having owned the N4 and now the N5, I can now confirm the new model does not kick out enough BTU's to fry an egg on anymore.

Thats a good thing in my book :D

Google has just sold out its innovation and future way of communicating by eliminating the ability for the NEXUS 5 to utilize Wifi voice over IP calling...I REPEAT THE NEW NEXUX 5 DOES NOT HAVE WIFI ENABLE CALLING FEATURES>>DON"T BUY IT!! It sell out. Eventually, the wole world will adapt Wifi enable cell phone call, which will be cheaper for every end user. Google has just made a big mistake and this will signal their downfall if they don't rectify this at once.