Nexus 5 new vs old.

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May 13, 2012
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Long time reader, first time poster. Noticed some stuff not mentioned anywhere else. Think this might be the right place.

Got my nexus 5 near launch, it had a couple faults but I couldn't be bothered to RMA. Couple days back the power connector started playing up so decided to RMA after ~8 months.

Had a few observations of the new N5:

>Arrived with 4.4, ota update to 4.4.2 then to 4.4.3.
>Screen is yellow
>Power button (still) rattels
>Speaker holes are bigger
>Cold GPS locking is *much* faster. Tested indoors in flight mode with no agps. Lock in <60s compared to >5min.
>Camera is *much* better. Images are not as soft, and have less noise. Also theres noticeable difference when takeing a picture from a light bulb. Old phone just has soft 'blob' of light, on the new one the same region is crisp and sharp but has light flares (as I would expect from cheep plastic lenses).

Both phones stock unrooted 4.4.3 davlek, with GPS states app and latest default camera app.

Was wondering if *some* (not all) early batches were subject to bad QC or bad design. Could of course be that I a rouge dud phone. But i can only believe my own eyes: why; amongs other things, are the speaker holes bigger if there were no issues with the old design? Isn't it odd that a single phone had somany defects?

Have to add whatever LG's QC procedure is, it still is poor. The yellow screen is getting on my nerve so will RMA.
 

wideasleep1

Senior Member
Jun 2, 2006
1,549
526
Long time reader, first time poster. Noticed some stuff not mentioned anywhere else. Think this might be the right place.

Got my nexus 5 near launch, it had a couple faults but I couldn't be bothered to RMA. Couple days back the power connector started playing up so decided to RMA after ~8 months.

Had a few observations of the new N5:

>Arrived with 4.4, ota update to 4.4.2 then to 4.4.3.
>Screen is yellow
>Power button (still) rattels
>Speaker holes are bigger
>Cold GPS locking is *much* faster. Tested indoors in flight mode with no agps. Lock in <60s compared to >5min.
>Camera is *much* better. Images are not as soft, and have less noise. Also theres noticeable difference when takeing a picture from a light bulb. Old phone just has soft 'blob' of light, on the new one the same region is crisp and sharp but has light flares (as I would expect from cheep plastic lenses).

Both phones stock unrooted 4.4.3 davlek, with GPS states app and latest default camera app.

Was wondering if *some* (not all) early batches were subject to bad QC or bad design. Could of course be that I a rouge dud phone. But i can only believe my own eyes: why; amongs other things, are the speaker holes bigger if there were no issues with the old design? Isn't it odd that a single phone had somany defects?

Have to add whatever LG's QC procedure is, it still is poor. The yellow screen is getting on my nerve so will RMA.
don't rush that RMA...often the screen lightens in a few weeks.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
 

vin4yak

Senior Member
Mar 10, 2013
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Yeah, even I had a sorta Yellowish screen and after a week's usage, it settled down. Not sure whether I just got accustomed to it or whether it did indeed change. In any case, ever since I've started using custom kernels, changing the color calibration is too easy.
About the speaker holes and design.. they are random. There isn't any upgraded design.

What baffles me is that you got 4.4 pre-loaded on your new device!? It means that it's a phone which was manufactured between Sept-December. AFAIK, starting from the 401 unit (which is January 2014), Google started sending the phone pre-loaded with 4.4.2.
Now, it could be that google forgot to flash the 4.4.2 update on the new device OR there was a unit of the Sept-Dec batch (which I doubt) OR it could mean that Google sends refurbished phones in RMA??
@syntax_error.f90 Could you please tell the first 3 digits of the S/N Number which is printed on the bottom of the Nexus 5's box?
@rootSU Any input on this m8??
 
May 13, 2012
7
0
Yeah, even I had a sorta Yellowish screen and after a week's usage, it settled down. Not sure whether I just got accustomed to it or whether it did indeed change. In any case, ever since I've started using custom kernels, changing the color calibration is too easy.
About the speaker holes and design.. they are random. There isn't any upgraded design.

What baffles me is that you got 4.4 pre-loaded on your new device!? It means that it's a phone which was manufactured between Sept-December. AFAIK, starting from the 401 unit (which is January 2014), Google started sending the phone pre-loaded with 4.4.2.
Now, it could be that google forgot to flash the 4.4.2 update on the new device OR there was a unit of the Sept-Dec batch (which I doubt) OR it could mean that Google sends refurbished phones in RMA??
@syntax_error.f90 Could you please tell the first 3 digits of the S/N Number which is printed on the bottom of the Nexus 5's box?
@rootSU Any input on this m8??

The new N5 has serial starting with 312k.

It looks like a dec 2013 model, and is probably refurbished. Would it be written on the box if its refurbished?
 
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vin4yak

Senior Member
Mar 10, 2013
4,351
2,423
31
Mumbai
vinu.info
The new N5 has serial starting with 312k.

It looks like a dec 2013 model, and is probably refurbished. Would it be written on the box if its refurbished?

I haven't done any RMA myself so I don't really know if that would be stated or not. But officially, google says that they send BRAND NEW devices. Many people have asked them over phone calls and mails and they had assured that Google sends brand new devices as replacement when RMA is done.

I always thought what would happen to all those hundreds if not thousands of devices which are RMA'd. I guess the "brand new device" part is a big bull from Google. Can't blame them though.

I might be wrong and this could just be a coincidence as well.
 
May 13, 2012
7
0
Bad QC and low tolerances for consistency - definitely. You may or may not get bigger holes, rattling buttons, bad GPS, poor signal issues etc

Fair enough. Tolerance brackets for holes and connector patches are understandable, guess the tolerance is really large so it can be sold cheap. What about the camera softness and noise?
 

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    Bad QC and low tolerances for consistency - definitely. You may or may not get bigger holes, rattling buttons, bad GPS, poor signal issues etc