Google kills the Nexus 5
Google has pulled the Nexus 5 from the Google Play store – leading to speculation that it could be preparing a new version of its ‘small’ phone.
The Nexus 5 launched in 2013 and was widely acclaimed for its simplicity and its elegance: Like all Nexus devices, it ran a standard version of Android, rather than Android covered in the bloatware you usually get with the likes of Samsung. Two years on though and it is starting to look a little old. So this perhaps shouldn’t come as much surprise.
The question now though is whether Google will step up and replace the Nexus 5 with a newer model, with spec suitable for 2015. Contrary to other manufacturers, the numbers in Nexus names refers to the (approximate) screen size – meaning that unless users want to step up to a phablet with the Nexus 6, there isn’t an immediate replacement available.
A refreshed phone named the Nexus 5 (2015) wouldn’t be completely unexpected – the company has previously iterated its Nexus 7 tablet for each year whilst keeping the name.