And Nexus 5 It Is

After posting about backing up and the Triangle of Death, the inevitable happened. Old phones especially those that are a little more than 2 years old can die. The interesting thing with these solid polycarbonate mold injected phones, is that there is no way to pop the battery out or even check the insides if the problem is related to a mechanical switch defect. No, they cannot be opened up. So it would be interesting to see how the service center takes care of it.

This brings up the need to get a new unit then. And having a dead phone for four hours, that is, being disconnected with your contacts for just four hours can mean that 'something has happened to you' to them. It can also make you feel out of touch, and the rush to get back online can make things happen quickly. At least those times when you would normally go back to the internet and read on more articles comparing specs and reviews, are reduced to remembering what matters most and what is needed urgently.

And so the search for the next phone to replace an old trusty one began. Amidst the rows of Samsung handsets on one corner of the store, both faux-leather-backed and not, neatly arranged against the backdrop of colorful back covers, flip covers and hard covers and small pockets of offerings from the Chinese (Huawei, Oppo, Lenovo), the other Korean (LG) and the Taiwanese (HTC), two models stood out among the rest: the Sony Xperia Z family and the Google Nexus 5, which by the way is also from LG. 

Sony being able to keep the premium look on even the lowest range devices, and the Nexus 5, being the sole model from Google's Nexus program for 2013, makes selecting a bit easier. Whoever said that having more choices is good, can take his or her time and sort it out with the rest of the faux galaxies. 

Sony Xperia Z1 Ultra is very much interesting and very much wide. It can easily be the best looking phablet out there, no doubt. But something smaller as a phone replacement would be more appropriate.

Sony Xperia Z1 compact has similar internals, except for the 20MP (on full manual mode, 8MP on full auto, after some bi-pixel conversion from Sony) camera which dwarfs the 8MP from the Ultra. However, the water-proofing and dust-proofing has left this phone too fat and too small (4-inch screen).

Sony Xperia Z1 falls nicely in-between. Nice specs, nice camera, water-proof, dust-proof and premium. Then comes the price.  The big price difference compared with the Nexus 5 can indeed put a pause in the buying. Except for the 20MP camera (again on full manual, 8MP on full auto) and the element proofing, the other added value would be the removable SD card. But when you already have a dedicated Sony WX80 camera with a 16MP sensor which can be remotely controlled by your phone, it makes you think twice. Also it makes you carry twice the amount of gadgets of course in the real world scenario. But buying a Z1 can make that WX80 purchase a little bit redundant if not for the selfie potential. Decisions, decisions.

Finally, it all boiled down to what is essential at the moment. A phone that has a very good specs without the high impact on the pocket. Also a phone that can be updated quite regularly would make it last longer (remember the TF101 story). The bad experience with HTC One X when it came to the software upgrade part really drove home a point, Nexus wins here by a mile, although Sony is not far behind in keeping their flagships up to date. Finally the vanilla UI which runs so seamlessly on the Nexus can never be matched by any Wiz or Sense, and that is also one of the essential considerations.

And so Nexus 5 it is. Very high CPU/GPU/RAM specs. Good to decent camera with hardware OIS from Sony. Comfortable enough to hold and in the pocket. Easily upgradeable OS direct from the source (Google). And a no fuss UI that just works, in a snap, fluid-like motion. Android as it should be.