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Google Nexus 5 vs LG G2, Samsung Galaxy S4: specs comparison

posted by Nick T. / Oct 31, 2013, 1:16 PM

Google Nexus 5 vs LG G2, Samsung Galaxy S4: specs comparison

In case you've somehow missed the news, Google just refreshed its Nexus lineup with a new, 5-inch model – its slimmest and fastest to date. The Google Nexus 5, as the smartphone is called, is here to succeed the Nexus 4, bringing upgraded hardware specifications, all the while sticking to "pure" Android 4.4 KitKat, free of carrier bloatware and UI modifications. It can be yours for as little as $350 off contract, which is a pretty good deal no matter how you look at it.

But the Google Nexus 5 is far from the only note-worthy smartphone in Androidland. On one hand, it's looking pretty good in the specs department, sporting a 1080 by 1920 pixel display, a Snapdragon 800 SoC, and an 8MP camera with optical image stabilization. But on the other hand, many of its Android alternatives – alternatives like the LG G2 and the Samsung Galaxy S4 – are at least as capable, if not better, in many key areas. And to give you a clearer representation of how the Nexus 5 stacks up against these, we've listed their hardware specs side by side.

Now, we've said it before and we'll say it again: hardware specifications aren't the only thing that makes a smartphone great. They do, however, allow us to estimate how a smartphone might perform in real life, giving us an idea as to what we should expect from it. With that out of the way, let's see how the Google Nexus 5 compares against the LG G2 and the Samsung Galaxy S4 from a hardware standpoint.

Google Nexus 5 vs LG G2 vs Samsung Galaxy S4

Display

Display size

5.0 inches

5.2 inches

5.0 inches

Resolution

1080 x 1920 pixels

Pixel density

445 ppi

423 ppi

441 ppi

Technology

IPS LCD

Super AMOLED

Screen-to-body ratio

70.89 %

76.28 %

71.91 %

Colors

16 777 216

Peak brightness

450 cd/m2 (nit)

Camera

Rear

Yes

Main camera

8 megapixels

13 megapixels

Hardware Features

Optical image stabilization, Autofocus, Back-illuminated sensor (BSI)

Sapphire crystal lens cover, Optical image stabilization, Autofocus, Back-illuminated sensor (BSI)

Autofocus, CMOS image sensor, Back-illuminated sensor (BSI)

Specifications

Aperture size: F2.4; Focal length: 30.4 mm; Sensor size: 1/3.2"

Aperture size: F2.4; Focal length: 29 mm; Sensor size: 1/3.06"; Pixel size: 1.12 μm

Aperture size: F2.2; Focal length: 31 mm; Sensor size: 1/3.06"; Pixel size: 1.14 μm

Flash

LED

Software Features

HDR, Panorama, Face detection, Burst mode, Scenes, ISO control, White balance presets, Touch to focus, Self-timer, Digital zoom, Geo tagging

Touch to focus, Face detection, Voice activation, Self-timer, Digital zoom, Geo tagging, Exposure compensation, ISO control, White balance presets, Burst mode, HDR, Panorama, Scenes, Effects

Digital image stabilization, Touch to focus, Smile detection, Face detection, Voice activation, Self-timer, Digital zoom, Geo tagging, Exposure compensation, White balance presets, HDR, Panorama, Scenes, Effects

Video recording

1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps)

1920x1080 (Full HD) (60 fps)

1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps)

Features

Optical image stabilization, Video light

Optical image stabilization

Digital image stabilization

Front

1.3 megapixels

2.1 megapixels

2 megapixels

Video capture

1280x720 (HD)

1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps)

Design

Dimensions

5.43 x 2.72 x 0.34 inches (137.84 x 69.17 x 8.59 mm)

5.45 x 2.79 x 0.35 inches (138.5 x 70.9 x 8.9 mm)

5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31 inches (136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9 mm)

Weight

4.59 oz (130 g)

5.04 oz (143 g)

4.59 oz (130 g)

Materials

Back: Plastic

Hardware & Performance

System chip

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974

Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 8974

Processor

Quad-core, 2260 MHz, Krait 400

Quad-core, 1900 MHz, Krait 300

GPU

Adreno 330

Adreno 320

RAM

2 GB LPDDR3

Internal storage

32 GB

64 GB

Storage expansion

Slot Type

microSDXC, microSDHC, microSD

OS

Android (6.0 Marshmallow, 5.1 Lollipop, 5.0 Lollipop, 4.4.4, 4.4.2, 4.4)

Android (5.0 Lollipop, 4.4.2, 4.2.2)

Android (5.0 Lollipop, 4.4.2, 4.3, 4.2.2)

Battery

Capacity

2300 mAh

3000 mAh

2600 mAh

Talk time

17.00 hours

34.30 hours

Stand-by time

12.5 days (300 hours)

34.2 days (821 hours)

Talk time (3G)

21.30 hours

17.00 hours

Stand-by time (3G)

34.4 days (826 hours)

15.4 days (370 hours)

Stand-by time (4G)

13.3 days (320 hours)

Music playback

60.00 hours

62.00 hours

Video playback

11.00 hours

Cellular

LTE (FDD)

Bands 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20

Bands 1, 3, 7, 8, 20

Bands 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 18

UMTS

800, 850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz

850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz

GSM

850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz

CDMA

800, 1900 MHz

Data

LTE Cat 4 (150/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS

LTE Cat 4 (150/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSDPA+ (4G) 21.1 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s

LTE Cat 3 (100/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS

Multimedia

Screen mirroring

DLNA, Wireless screen share, SlimPort, TV-out

DLNA, Wireless screen share, MirrorLink, SlimPort

DLNA, Wireless screen share, MHL

Shopping information

MSRP price

$ 399

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20 Comments

1. mr.techdude

Posts: 571; Member since: Nov 19, 2012

Nexus 5 is looking cool, its like nexus is the nissian gtr r35 vs Samsung as Ferrari, nissian gives u same performance but priced hell of a lot lower.

posted on Oct 31, 2013, 1:27 PM 10

6. Tommy1960i

Posts: 144; Member since: Oct 11, 2013

A nice phone And a good price To Nexus Hello To iPhone goodbye No more problems Now things are clear We are out of trouble The Nexus is here!

posted on Oct 31, 2013, 1:47 PM 4

15. rantao333

Posts: 345; Member since: May 21, 2013

say goodbye to overprice Samsung nexus here i come!

posted on Oct 31, 2013, 10:34 PM 0

2. sadiqahmed

Posts: 71; Member since: Oct 11, 2013

I've been waiting for the Nexus 5 to release and to decide between Nexus 5 and Lg G2. I think the the neXus looks really good and it my even feel better than the G2 but the battery is a huge disappointment. Gonna get the G2 now.

posted on Oct 31, 2013, 1:30 PM 1

3. mr.techdude

Posts: 571; Member since: Nov 19, 2012

Yes the battery is lower but, its stock android plus there's no crazy features going on like galaxy devices, its 4.4 kiktkat so less ram consumption which all equalls to a good battery life. Fingers crossed :?

posted on Oct 31, 2013, 1:34 PM 7

4. sadiqahmed

Posts: 71; Member since: Oct 11, 2013

No no no stop replying to my comments HAVE TO GET THE G2. But the nexus is so freaking awesome, don't know what to do and ya I do agree stock android is well... Stock android. But what do you think? It will last one day?

posted on Oct 31, 2013, 1:40 PM 0

5. datsyuk

Posts: 180; Member since: Jan 11, 2012

Just put Cyanogenmod on it with 4.4 on the G2. I'm on Verizon and I'm heavily considering the G2 now. Have been waiting for the Nexus now since last year but totally don't know what to do now with no Nexus (my obvious choice).

posted on Oct 31, 2013, 1:46 PM 0

8. _PHug_

Posts: 482; Member since: Oct 11, 2011

IMO the LG G2 is a better phone all around and I would prefer the G2... BUT 1. Will the G2 ever get an offical 4.4 update? I know I can change the ROM but then I lose a few of the reasons to get the G2 over the N5 like the IR blaster & wireless storage. 2. Cant hide G2 soft keys with out rooting, rooting sets off a flag that gives LG an excuse to not honor your warranty, not sure it can be unflagged.

posted on Oct 31, 2013, 2:03 PM 0

16. E.S.1

Posts: 308; Member since: Sep 14, 2013

Yes, it can be unflagged. I think G2 will get an update. And I am going with LG G2 instead mostly because of the battery. Thank you

posted on Oct 31, 2013, 11:15 PM 0

9. mr.techdude

Posts: 571; Member since: Nov 19, 2012

Ofcourse light ui, 2 fb ddr3 ram, s800 has a low power nanometer of 28 I think which is very good, all this in a 2300 may battery should last a day at maximum. Hey I have the HTC ONE same battery size and it lasts me a whole day of usage consisting games here and there, a lot of webbing, checking Gmails, calling and hell of a lot messaging. So why not the nexus 5 will last easily a day of good amount of use

posted on Oct 31, 2013, 2:12 PM 0

7. sadiqahmed

Posts: 71; Member since: Oct 11, 2013

4.4 will take some time to come on lg G2 and damn the nexus looks awesome, nothing fancy. Just a clean device. It will also be the first to get all the updates. But that idiotic battery! Any HTC One users out there? Even it has an 2300 mah battery. Does last the whole day?

posted on Oct 31, 2013, 1:58 PM 0

10. Tsepz_GP

Posts: 1126; Member since: Apr 12, 2012

Happy with my GS4 :) The Nexus 5 is great but the battery and lack of MicroSD expansion turns me off it. Great phone for devs though.

posted on Oct 31, 2013, 2:35 PM 2

11. hortizano

Posts: 294; Member since: May 22, 2013

All I consider in a phone is the additional storage.. I have a surreal case of panic that something will happen to the phone, losing all my information.. if I have a SD card at least I have a shot to recover it... Soooo.. sticking to my S4...

posted on Oct 31, 2013, 2:48 PM 0

12. procoder

Posts: 10; Member since: Mar 23, 2012

it should be krait 400 for Nexus 5..

posted on Oct 31, 2013, 2:55 PM 0

13. InspectorGadget80 unregistered

NEXUS 5 all the way but i don't see the xperia z or z1 in comparison here.

posted on Oct 31, 2013, 6:09 PM 0

14. MobileNico

Posts: 94; Member since: Aug 26, 2012

On paper the G2 seems phenomenal, and I'm sure it is. However, their UI overlay has been anything but unobtrusive, and I'm thinking that with similar hardware specs and stock Android, the Nexus 5 will likely feel quite a bit faster in day-to-day use. It's that much of a difference. It certainly was when comparing the Nexus 4 to the GS4. With the exception of the camera, last year's Nexus proved that clean, unadulterated Android can compensate for a lack of bleeding edge specs. I think that point will be proven again this year. Numbers don't lie, but they don't tell the whole story.

posted on Oct 31, 2013, 6:21 PM 0

17. mclifford81

Posts: 82; Member since: Jan 26, 2010

So I went from the Galaxy s4 to the verizon version of the LG G2 and haven't looked back. The phone trumps the Galaxy s4 in every aspect. Better photos, speedy browsing throughout the system, call quality is about the same, brighter and more visible screen. I also had the HTC one and the LG G2 has much better battery life than the two phones as well. Plus the LG G2 can be rooted to run cyanogen mod if you really want 4.4 as soon as possible however I am sure there will be an update around the corner since it is LG's flagship.

posted on Nov 01, 2013, 12:25 AM 0

18. Davidparker

Posts: 10; Member since: Nov 04, 2013

Why Nexus 5 has Krait 330? And Lg g2 have 400? plz someone make me clear !

posted on Nov 04, 2013, 5:08 AM 0

19. Campdia

Posts: 2; Member since: Oct 30, 2013

I Have S4 GT-I9500 Running 4.2.2 When I connect it to Kies and searching for firmware update Kies says that you have the latest Firmware For KSA GT-I9500 what should I do for getting 4.3

posted on Nov 11, 2013, 2:16 AM 0

20. Simpletech

Posts: 1; Member since: Dec 23, 2013

Hello everyone Im at a stale mate S4,LG,Nexus5 which to get the Phone arenas comparison has worked somewhat but there are still other enquires like the updating, which are easy to Modify/Unmodify to safe guard the warranty

posted on Dec 23, 2013, 3:04 PM 0

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