Galaxy Note 5 vs Nexus 5 2015 – premium vs powerful

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is finally official, alonsgide the new Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus and the two together paint a comprehensive picture of what the ideals and goals of Samsung are for the next few years. Although the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus is the premium, slightly gimmicky, but definitely interesting launch of the year, while the Galaxy Note 5 is the more common, yet still unique, new device in the Note series. Last year’s Galaxy Note 4 is still considered one of the best smartphones on the market, and the Galaxy Note 5 will actually have a hard time convincing people to switch from the Note 4. But what happens when the new Nexus line-up becomes official on September 29?

Google is prepping a new Nexus line-up of devices, with the Nexus 5 2015 as the leading release of the year. An event that is most likely the launch event and birthday of the new Nexus family of devices has been scheduled for September 29, so in a matter of weeks, we should have the new Nexus 5 2015 and maybe even Nexus 7 2015 and Nexus 6 2015 sitting in our laps. But Google is getting into even more serious competition than last year, as Apple’s new iPhone 7 is set to launch today and Samsung’s fresh line-up of devices is more popular than ever. That scenario begs the question: will the Nexus 5 2015 be more worth the investment than the already available Galaxy Note 5? Our guess would be: YES, but let’s see what the Galaxy Note 5 has to offer and what the rumors about the Nexus 5 2015 suggest.

The Galaxy Note 5 release happened in August in a dedicated Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event, and while first impressions of the phone were a bit disappointed, as fans expected more from the new handset than they got, reviews of the device are still overwhelmingly positive, emphasizing the good performance and design of the phone, but still condemning the lack of a removable battery and microSD card slot. But people seem to be getting used to living in the cloud and using cloud storage instead of the more unstable SD storage, which ultimately is a positive development. Still, there are supporters of microSd slots with good arguments, and the same goes for removable batteries.

Samsung focused a lot on the Galaxy Note 5 design, making the phone the ultimate example for premium design and user interface. A metallic body with a sealed in battery, a new, revamped stylus and an excellent display, as well as a golden finish and a shiny glass back panel make the Galaxy Note 5 a truly appealing device. The Nexus 5 2015 on the other hand, will most likely be less of a premium device and more of an affordable one, which is actually a plus rather than a minus for the handset. According to leaked images of the back panel of the Nexus 5 2015, the device will most likely sport a largely polycarbonate chassis with a metal frame.

That’s not as interesting as the polished, chamfered, shiny design of the Galaxy Note 5, but the upside of  it is that it will most likely keep the cost of the device in retail lower than other flagship smartphones. the front of the Nexus 5 2015 is still a mystery, but sources say that the collaboration between LG and Google for this device will result in a design that is similar to the LG G4 or even the Asus ZenFone 2. A bezelless appearance is a given, and most people also expect front-facing dual speakers to be present, which would be an excellent addition to the feature-list of the Nexus 5 2015.

The design of the Nexus 5 2015 appears to be a bit more ergonomic than that of the Galaxy Note 5, even though the small curves of the latter do provide for excellent hold, even if the device is among the largest smartphones on the market. The Nexus 5 2015 however will most likely sport a significantly smaller display, which will most likely make the handset much more portable and more easy to maneuver than the Galaxy Note 5. When it comes to size and footprint, the Nexus 5 2015 will most likely be about as thick as the Galaxy Note 5 at about 7.5 mm, but its footprint will be significantly smaller due to the smaller display.

The Galaxy Note 5 display is just as impressive as the Galaxy Note 4 display, but it brings nothing new to the handset family in this respect. The 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display comes with a neat QHD resolution of 1440*2560, offering the user a bright, sharp, crisp display like none other. The large size of the display combined with the revamped stylus make for an excellent writing experience and make using the S Pen a true pleasure for those who truly understand the purpose of the Note family of devices. Compared to that, the Nexus 5 2015 will probably lack a couple of features, like the stylus.

The Nexus 5 2015 display will most likely be a good deal smaller than the Galaxy Note 5 display, as rumors suggest its size will be between 5.1- and 5.2-inches. QHD resolution is most likely to be present, as FHD seems no longer the standard that most smartphone users are looking for when shopping for a new device. Still, the screen of the new Nexus is expected to feature something new, similar to Force Touch, but with an added twist. We can’t confirm that rumor, even though many say a new type of input method will be used by Google and LG when designing the handset. Our best bet is a simple, AMOLED display that measures 5.2 inches – that’s because surveys and studies have shown that that’s the ideal size for most smartphone users.

Moving on to hardware, the Galaxy Note 5 excels, as does the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, which has the same specs. Under the hood, the Galaxy Note 5 is powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 7420, backed by 4 GB RAM and 32 or 64 GB internal storage. The processor is the same as in the new Galaxy S6 line-up, but performance has been improved thanks to new TouchWiz features designed especially for the S Pen stylus. The user experience when it comes to performance is pretty awesome, but TouchWiz does tend to mess things up on occasion. If you’re a fan of stock Android, the Galaxy Note 5 software won’t really be your favorite.

The Nexus 5 2015, on the other hand, will be a haven for stock Android lovers, as the handset will most likely be launched with Android 6.0 Marshmallow, stock on board. With the optimization and new features of Android 6.0. the Nexus 5 2015 should end up being a powerhouse and it will definitely be able to compete agains the performance records of the Galaxy Note 5. We can’t say for sure yet, but rumor has it that the device will sport a Snapdragon 808 CPU, 4 GB RAM and the same storage options as the Galaxy Note 5. Add fast charging, wireless charging, LTE into the mix, and the two flagship smartphones almost seem like equals.

The camera  of a smartphone has become very important over the years, and Samsung demonstrated its commitment to satisfying camera needs with the last few handsets. Starting with the Galaxy Note 4, Samsung was crowned the king of smartphone photography, at least in the mainstream flagship market. But that doesn’t mean that there’s a lot of improvement options out there, as technology is struggling to keep up with demand. Nonetheless, the Galaxy Note 5 camera is just as good as the Galaxy Note 4 camera, sporting a 16 MP camera with optical image stabilization, autofocus and dual-LED flash. On the front, there’s a 5 MP camera, pretty standard.

The Nexus 5 2015 camera setup should end up being impressive, as the camera was one of the biggest problems of the predecessor, the LG Nexus 5, launched in 2013. With a lot of feedback and surveys, Google and LG will most likely focus on the camera performance of the new flagship, and rumors reflect this tendency. Leaks suggest either a dual camera with motion- or depth-sensing capabilities and a massive 16 MP sensor with OIS and autofocus, either a 12 MP camera with OIS and autofocus. We’ll have to wait and see which configuration prevails, but our hunch is that no matter which it is, the camera will be excellent. The front camera will most likely be a similar 5 MP shooter as on the Galaxy Note 5.

One of the most appreciated improvements done with the Galaxy Note 5 was battery life. Last year’s Galaxy Note 4 was a champ at that, with a two-day battery life with moderate use. Samsung went even further, and the new Galaxy Note 5 can even go almost three days with moderate use, which is pretty exemplary in an industry where battery life is the biggest problem. The unit harbors a 3000 mAh battery, which works awesomely well with the Exynos processor, fast charging and wireless charging. The same battery performance is expected of the Nexus 5 2015, too.

USB Type-C is the new standard, and the Nexus 5 2015 will most likely use it. The Galaxy Note 5, however, remains at microUSB 2.0, which is a bit of a bummer. Nonetheless, the older port does not impact the user experience that much, as we’re used to fiddling with USB cables and stuff like that on occasion. Fast charging bypasses too much hassle, so I wouldn’t necessarily consider the lack of USB Type -C a big flaw. Still, the Nexus 5 2015 will beat it in this department.

Last, but not least, the Galaxy Note 5 price is high. It’s really high and compared to the Galaxy Note 4, it’s not worth it. Although software-wise, stylus-wise and design-wise, the changes are awesome, the actual improvements made compared to the predecessor are minimal. That means that switching isn’t worth it. The Galaxy Note 5 price starts at $750 unlocked and goes up to $840, depending on the configuration. The Nexus 5 2015 price is estimated to be between $350 and $450, which is a huge difference.

If the specs of the Nexus 5 2015 turn out to be the ones we’ve mentioned, the Galaxy Note 5 might be the loser. Although a magnificent phone with extraordinary features, the Galaxy Note 5 is far too little of an upgrade and far too high of a price to be called a good deal. The Nexus 5 2015, however, if we’re right about the price, is an even better deal than the OnePlus 2, which says a lot about the industry and how it’s changing. We’re curious to see if our predictions are accurate and we will be back with an updated comparison once the Nexus 5 2015 goes official, so stay tuned.