Google Nexus 5 Rumour Round-Up: Everything You Need To Know

We round up all the rumours and reports surrounding Google's next smartphone, the Nexus 5, including its screen, processor, design, price and release date.

On 14 October, Google is expected to announce the new Nexus 5 Android smartphone, replacing the year-old Nexus 4 which proved that the search giant could produce a phone to compete against Apple and Samsung - but at half the price.

Below we have gathered together everything we know about the Google Nexus 5, which is expected to be a well-priced, 5in smartphone running a standard version of Google's new Android KitKat operating system.

Nexus 5: Screen

As with last year's Nexus 4, the Nexus 5 will be produced by LG and based on the South Korean company's G2 handset. Following the HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4 and Sony Xperia Z1, the Nexus 5 is expected to have a 5in screen with a full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080, translating to a pixel density of 441 per inch.

A MacRumors forum user who claims to have a Nexus 5 in his possession said the screen "was ok, didn't wow me like the Note 3. The bezel is very small." While this might not sound like a ringing endorsement, the Note 3 is priced at £600 SIM-free, and the Nexus 5 is expected to come in at under £300, making comparisons between the two difficult.

Nexus 5: Processor and performance

Inside, the Nexus 5 is likely to be powered by a quad-core, 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor - the same as used by the Samsung Galaxy S4, Note 3 and the Sony Xperia Z1. However, there is a chance that Google may opt for a cheaper, mid-range Qualcomm chip to keep the price down.

Alongside this, the Nexus 5 is expected to have 2GB of RAM - on par with most of the competition - and there will be at least 16GB of internal storage on the cheapest model. We'd like to see smartphone manufacturers start to offer 32GB in their cheapest models, but with Apple, Samsung and Sony sticking to half that, we've no reason to believe Google and LG will outdo them - especially given the Nexus 5's expected lower price.

A smartphone believed to be the Nexus 5 recently passed through the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) sporting a non-removable 2,300mAh battery, along with wireless charging functionality.

Recently ditched by Nokia (although still available through purchasing a compatible cover), wireless charging has been shunned by most manufacturers. Being included on the Nexus 5 might well be the technology's last chance to prove its worth, before being cast aside completely.

The Nexus 4 didn't come with 4G, and although this drew criticism in the US, in the less developed British 4G market, only EE customers were missing out. A year later, and with Vodafone, O2 and soon Three joining EE in offering 4G networks of their own, the Nexus 5 will undoubtedly get the update - and could well become one of the cheapest 4G phones on sale.

Nexus 5: Camera

The first glimpse we got of the Nexus 5 was its brief appearance in a Google video published to promote the latest Android update, 4.4 KitKat. There, the phone seemed to have a much larger rear camera than the Nexus 4, but more recent shots taken by the FCC and those leaked online, show a regular sized lens with a large chrome disc surrounding it - a design quirk also seen on the recently updated Nexus 7 tablet.

Google fell short in delivering a great camera with the Nexus 4 last year, ranking behind the Samsung, Apple and Nokia competition of the time, so we're not expecting a sudden change of fortune for the Nexus 5 - especially if Google wants to keep the price low.

According to a leaked log file and FCC documentation, the Nexus 5 will have an 8-megapixel rear camera, joined by a 1.2-megapixel sensor at the front. This goes against initial reports suggesting the new Nexus would get the same 13-megapixel unit as the LG G2, but pressure over keeping the price low may have swayed Google against including it.

Nexus 5: Design

Leaked photos, along with those taken by the FCC, show a device that looks similar to the Nexus 4, with its screen taking up the majority of the all-glass front. Only the rear panel gives the Nexus 5 some of its own personality, with 'Nexus' written horizontally in a large font - as seen on the back of the new Nexus 7 tablet - and that chrome disc surrounding the rear camera.

The Nexus 4 had a glossy, shimmering pattern to its rear cover, but this year Google looks to have toned things down, giving the Nexus 5 a rubberised plastic cover finished in matt black.

We don't know exact measurements yet, but the 5 is said to have thinner screen bezels than the Nexus 4, meaning despite the slightly larger screen, the phone's overall footprint should be about the same.

Unfortunately, and as with last year's model, it seems the Nexus 5 will not get a microSD card slot to increase its storage capacity, a feature Apple and HTC are also guilty of omitting.

Nexus 5: Software

In a surprise move, Google announced its next version of Android will be called KitKat, after the Nestle chocolate bar. Google has always named Android after sweet desserts, and after Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean, Key Lime Pie was odds-on favourite, but instead the lure of partnering with a hugely recognisable chocolate bar was seemingly too much to resist.

Despite Google launching an official Android KitKat page in early September, we're yet to see much of the new operating system - and with the update being a 0.1 increment rather than a leap to 5.0, the number of new features could be quite small - however, we can at least hope for some user interface tweaks and improved performance.

Nexus 5: Release date and price

Although Google is yet to send out the invitations, all rumours point towards an announcement date of 14 October for the Nexus 5 and Android KitKat - and recent reports stating the out-of-stock Nexus 4 will not be replenished suggest the new model will go on sale very soon, possibly before the end of October.

The Nexus 4 was a big hit thanks to its low price, starting at just £239 SIM-free from the Google Play Store - half the price of its rivals. We expect the new Nexus to follow suit, and sell for less than £300, comfortably undercutting even the Mini versions of of the Galaxy S4 and HTC One.