Google has quietly started shipping its Nexus 5 with some hardware modifications that address some user complaints.
When Google launched the Nexus 4 in 2012 the smartphone quickly became a hit due to its low price and top of the line specs. LG built the smartphone and chose to use glass panels on the front and back of the smartphone. This decision led to a lot of cracked cases due to the smartphone being very slippery when placed on any surface. A few months into production Google began shipping a slightly tweaked Nexus 4 to address the issue.
The Nexus 4 began shipping with a slightly modified design change - the rubber border around the smartphone now had nubs in it that raised it off on a flat surface. This tweak also provided louder volume out of the handset's speaker.
According to a new report from XDA, Google has now started shipping a slightly modified Nexus 5 that addresses some early user complaints. The newest Nexus 5 now has slightly larger speaker grills, which seems to address a similar issue Google faced last year with the Nexus 4. The buttons on the new handset now have a tighter fit and are less likely to have a rattling sound when shaken and the smartphone's SIM tray is now flush with the side of the device. The changes are very minor but some users are confirming that audio is louder and the smartphone's buttons no longer rattle.
As a reminder, the Nexus 5 features a 4.95-inch 1920 x 1080 Full HD Corning Gorilla Glass 3 display with a pixel density of 445 pixels-per-inch (ppi) and runs Android 4.4 KitKat. It is powered by a 2.26GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, an Adreno 330 graphics processing unit (GPU) and 2GB of RAM.The smartphone ships with 16GB or 32GB of internal storage.
Its camera capabilities include an 8-megapixel rear camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) and improved HDR+ mode, as well as a 1.3-megapixel front-facing shooter. Its wireless connectivity options consist of 4G LTE radio, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/nc, Bluetooth 4.0 with Bluetooth 4.0 LE abilities, NFC, and GPS. The Nexus 5 supports wireless charging out of the box and is using a 2,300 mAh non-removable battery. The smartphone is available for purchase ulocked from Google and from T-Mobile and Sprint.
Google hasn't confirmed that it has started shipping a slightly modified Nexus 5 and there isn't any information yet on whether it has changed code in the new model's serial number to signal a difference.
