Google Nexus 5 vs Apple iPhone 5s

After what feels like months of anticipation, rumours and false starts, the Google Nexus 5 is finally with us.

One of its main attractions is its low, low price of £299, but at that price can it really compete with the much more expensive iPhone 5s?

Let's find out:

Nexus 5 vs iPhone 5s: Design

The iPhone 5s is without doubt a premium product. It is all glass and aluminium with a build quality that is second to none. It is sleek (7.6mm) and lightweight (112g), almost disappearing in your pocket. The angular edges first seen in the iPhone 4s continue to impress, and with a gold option now available, even the fashion conscious are catered for.

The Nexus 5 is a different beast altogether. It is a combination of glass and soft-touch, matte, plastic covering the back of the phone. And while this, along with its low price, may suggest a cheap feeling product, that is not the case. It is thinner (8.6mm) and lighter (130g) than the Nexus 4 and the finish is similar to the Nexus 7, which is no bad thing. It may not be as refined as the iPhone 5s, but considering it has a screen a full inch bigger, it is still a highly desirable product. It is available in black or white.

Nexus 5 vs iPhone 5s: Screen

The iPhone 5s has a 4in screen with a resolution of 640 x 1136 pixels giving it a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch (ppi). The Nexus 5 in comparison has a 4.95in screen with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels giving it a pixel density of 445ppi.

Both use IPS technology and both displays are superb in terms of crispness and colour reproduction. At 4in the screen on the iPhone 5s is feeling decidedly small these days, while at 5in the Nexus 5 is only slightly larger than the 4.7in screen on the Nexus 4, which was just about a perfect size.

Nexus 5 vs iPhone 5s: Camera

The iPhone 5s has an 8 megapixel sensor along with autofocus and a dual LED flash to help with low light shooting. The camera also supports slow-mo video which is a unique feature for Apple.

The Nexus 5 similarly has an 8 megapixel sensor with autofocus but only a single LED flash. It does however feature optical image stabilisation technology which is a huge boon for amateur photographers. Google is playing up the camera capabilities of the Nexus 5 in its launch video for the phone, meaning it should be an impressive feature.

Nexus 5 vs iPhone 5s: 4G

The iPhone 5s and Nexus 5 both support all three 4G LTE bands which are used in the UK (800MHz, 1800MHz, 2600MHz) but while all networks are offering the iPhone 5s on their 4G networks, both Vodafone and EE have said they will not be offering the Nexus 5, though they have not said why.

You can of course always just buy the phone from Google directly and use an EE or Vodafone SIM.

Nexus 5 vs iPhone 5s: Performance

The iPhone 5s was the first smartphone to launch with a 64-bit processor. The dual-core A7 chip is hugely powerful and in benchmark tests has beaten all competitors despite featuring just 1GB of RAM. This is down to the tight integration between software and hardware, making everything much more efficient.

Despite its low price point the Nexus 5 features a cutting edge Snapdragon 800 chip from Qualcomm, which features a quad-core processor running at 2.3GHz. It is the same chip powering some of 2013's most high profile smartphones, including Samsung Galaxy S4 and Sony Xperia Z1. It is paired with 2GB of RAM.

Thanks to the fact the Nexus 5 is running a pure version of Android 4.4 it should make for a very smooth and fast interface.

Nexus 5 vs iPhone 5s: Storage

With regards to storage, Nexus 5 buyers can choose between either 16GB or 32GB - up from the option of 8GB and 16GB for the Nexus 4.

The iPhone 5s retains the same storage options as the iPhone 5, meaning you can choose between 16GB, 32GB or 64GB.

Unfortunately, neither the Nexus 5 nor the iPhone 5s feature a microSD card slot, so storage cannot be increased.

Nexus 5 vs iPhone 5s: Software

Both smartphones are the flagship models for the two most popular smartphone operating systems on the market.

The iPhone 5s runs the very latest version of the radically re-designed iOS 7, integrating the Touch ID fingerprint scanner on the home button to unlock the phone and make purchases in the App Store and iTunes.

Google is using the Nexus 5 as the reference model for Android 4.4 (KitKat). The new software features an updated phone dialler, which can be used to search for local businesses by entering keywords; the dialler will also look up unknown incoming phone numbers and provide any potential matches it finds in Google's search results.

Nexus 5 vs iPhone 5s: Price

The killer feature of the Nexus 4 is back for the Nexus 5 - its low price. At £299 for the 16GB model and £339 for the 32GB model, the phone is considerably cheaper than the iPhone 5s.

Apple's flagship smartphone will cost you £549 (16GB), £629 (32GB) or £709 (64GB) meaning you are paying a premium of £250 and £290 respectively for the 16GB and 32GB models.

Which should I choose?

As with all such decisions, this comes down to personal preference.

On the pro side for the Nexus 5 is its low price, great specs, large 5in screen and the latest version of Android.

On the other hand the iPhone 5s is a premium smartphone with superb build quality, a great (if small) screen, a good camera and the best selection of apps out there.

The choice, as they say, is yours.