Though the Nexus 4 released in 2012 did have a lot of acclaim, there were certain drawbacks in the battery and in the camera of the phone, so let us see whether the Nexus 5 offers a good upgrade to the Nexus 4.
Design and Display
The Nexus 5 has a screen size of 5-inches with traditional button layouts featuring plastic with a soft touch, offering good grip. The Nexus 4 comes with a 4.7-inch display with a resolution of 720p, whereas the Nexus 5 comes with a 4.95 inches display and a higher resolution of 1080p, which is more crisp and vibrant in comparison. The Nexus 5 also makes use of Gorilla Glass 3 compared to the Corning glass 2, offering a better display, with a higher ppi of 445 compared to the 318 ppi of the Nexus 4. Both the screens use IPS technology and offer good viewing angles.
Interface/Memory/Processor
Both the devices use the stock Android version, with the Nexus 4 running on the Android 4.3 version and the Nexus 5 on the Android KitKat version, but the Nexus 4 will soon be updated to the latest version. It also has the OK Google feature for listening to your voice commands, which is not present in the Nexus 4. The Nexus 4 runs on the Qualcomm Quad core Snapdragon S4 Pro clocking at 1.5 GHz, whereas the Nexus 5 runs on the quad core Snapdragon 800 clocking at 2.3 GHz, but both the phones offer a RAM of 2GB, with the Nexus 5 using faster DDR3, whereas the Nexus 4 uses DDR2. The Nexus 4 has the graphics chip Adreno 320, with the Nexus 5 using 330. Memory options for the Nexus 4 were 8GB and 16GB, whereas the options for the Nexus 5 are 16GB and 32B. This makes the Nexus 5 a faster phone and very suitable as a gaming device, though the Nexus 4 is also quick and will become better with updates and will not have any lags.
Connectivity
The Nexus 5 offers support for LTE, whereas the Nexus 4 did not support it out of the box, though you could get it running with some hacking. The nexus 5 also supports CDMA as well as GSM networks in North America, making it work on Sprint, T Mobile, AT&T as well as 4G networks. Both the devices, however, offer good performance for browsing.
Camera Comparison and Specs
The Nexus 4 did not have very satisfactory camera specifications, whereas LG and Google seem to have put in special efforts to make a better shooter for the Nexus 5. The sensor remains the same at 8-MP, but the Nexus 5 has the optical image stabilization feature and is better in almost all aspects, such as better color, crisper images, lower noise and better focus. As for video recording, both the devices shoot at 1080p with the Nexus 5 shows excellent results due to the optical image stabilization feature, making the video less shaky when compared to the Nexus 4. The Nexus 5 again offers more colors that are natural as well as details with better microphone pickup, but also picking up more background noise.
Verdict
Battery life on the Nexus 5 is better and it offers a better video experience, as it has a bigger and a better display screen. The Nexus 4 comes with a 1200 mAh, whereas the Nexus 5 comes with 2300 mAh, but the Nexus 5 offers Qi wireless charging absent in the Nexus 4. The Nexus 5 is surely an upgrade on the Nexus 4, with a better screen and camera specs, better build, better camera and improved user experience. It is also available at a reasonable price of $349 for 16GB, compared to the $199 for the unlocked 8GB Nexus 4.
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