Camera
Google Nexus 5
The Google Nexus 5 has an 8 megapixel main camera with LED flash. The device comes with optical image stabilization (OIS) which was lacking in Nexus 4. To stabilize videos and images, the Nexus 5 features an InvenSense IDG-2020 dual axis gyroscope. The OIS feature has already proven itself in both the Nokia Lumia 1020 and LG G2 by producing clear shots with sharp details, even in low light conditions. This feature is lacking in iPhone 5S.
The Nexus 5 camera also has a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera and can shoot 1080p video at 30fps. There is also a new shooting mode now available on the Nexus 5, is called HDR+. While HDR mode takes two images and merges them at a hardware level for better contrast levels, HDR+ takes two images and merges them using a software algorithm. The HDR+ mode gives images in 3200 x 2368 pixels resolution, decreasing from 3264 x 2448.
On the software part, the Nexus 5 offers a new gallery called Photos, featuring Camera and Highlights. You can now create movies by selecting a mix of images, adding a background track and other effects. It is similar to HTC One's Highlights Reel feature. The Highlights tab contains all images that have been saved to Google+.
In addition, there are interesting features offered on Google+ like Auto-enhance and Auto-awesome. Set to on by default, Auto-Enhance takes your bad photos and improves them. In most instances, the difference Auto-Enhance makes is very subtle. On the other hand, the Auto-awesome feature analyses a series of photos, and makes them cool, without you having to ask it to. It can turn a burst of photos into an animated GIF. It can connect separate photos into a panorama, and it can meld three photos shot at different exposures into a single HDR image.
iPhone 5S
The iPhone 5s sports a better iSight camera. Under the hood is a 15 per cent larger active sensor area, packing in bigger 1.5-micron pixels and an aperture of f/2.2 allowing more light to come in, in addition to a backside illumination sensor (BSI). This allows the phone to capture sharper images and good quality pictures in low light. The iPhone 5s also has a ‘True Tone' flash made up of two separate LEDs. They're white and amber, which according to Apple, can be combined to reduce clashes in color temperature. This is done automatically thanks to some complicated software algorithms that adjust intensity and temperature on the fly.
The new camera can shoot 10fps in burst mode just as long as you choose to keep the shutter pressed down, with real-time analysis suggesting which of the shots look best.
There is also automatic exposure adjustment in the panorama mode along with fast autofocus and digital image stabilization.
The improvements in camera's video capabilities now allow you to shoot slow-motion 720p video at 120fps, and go back in-phone to select where you want your video slow-mo and where you'd prefer regular speed.
Overall, the new hardware improvements offer a refreshing upgrade duly supplemented by touchscreen performance, speed and responsiveness of the device. It gives you the feel of a premium camera in your hand.
The pictures taken by the iPhone 5S are detailed, bright, and has realistic colors. The dual two-tone LED flash used in the iPhone 5S adjusts colour temperature in real time, producing more natural skin tones. This gives a smartphone delivering great shots in day light and low light conditions. On the other hand, shots taken by Nexus 5 deliver muted colors. It is not to say that the images taken by Nexus 5's camera are bad, but it does not live up to the expectation.
Winner: iPhone 5S
Operating System
Nexus 5
Google Nexus 5 comes with Android KitKat 4.4, which means an awesome dialer. What Google did is it has made your contacts list the main screen with your favorites prominently featured, and the most recent call in your history right up at the top. However, it buries the "add new contact" option in the overflow menu, but a quick tap will get you to your history. At the bottom of your favorites you'll see the traditional contacts list, which is the standard alphabetically sorted list that goes on forever.
The new Dialer also looks to minimize how much time you spend in other apps only to be bounced back into the Dialer. This means, instead of going to Google Maps or Yelp to find a business, you can search right inside the Dialer app itself.
In addition, users can send and receive all text messages directly via the unified Hangouts app, and Hangouts for Android now supports location sharing.
The KitKat also brings deeper Google Now integration and more intelligent voice search to the table, along with NFC mobile payments.
iPhone 5S
The iOS 7 scores well in terms of offering a better curated App Store, Apple's ecosystem, and of course, the fingerprint scanner to unlock the device as well as pay for apps without entering annoying passwords every 10 minutes.
The new 64-bit A7 chipset designed by Apple and fabricated by Samsung will give you smoother performance when playing very complex games or while using other graphics-heavy apps.
Winner: Nexus 5
Battery Life
iPhone 5S
With the M7 co-processor, Apple has only managed to improve battery life on the iPhone 5S to only some degree. The iPhon 5S has a 1560mAh, up from 1440 mAh in the iPhone 5. This larger battery should provide a slight improvement over the iPhone 5, but some of its increased capacity may be eaten up by the slightly larger A7 chip.
Nexus 5
The phone comes with a 2,300mAh battery, which is a chunk smaller than the 2,600mAh battery of the Samsung Galaxy S4, but far higher than that of iPhone 5S'. However, with regular use the Google Nexus 5 will drain most of the way down within a day. This is not helped by the lack of a power saving mode.
Winner: Nexus 5
Verdict
Both the iPhone 5S and Nexus 5 are great devices in every respect. They have lot to offer in Android and iOS ecosystem. On paper, the iPhone 5S scores high in terms of build quality, faster benchmark performance, longer talktime, but the Nexus's larger pixel screen and super-intelligent Android 4.4 KitKat, gives it an edge over its rival.
Now the point here is which device are you interested in! While the Nexus 5 is a perfect Android device and gives you a great smartphone in hand at a tempting price, the iPhone 5S gives you a premium Apple product, with great app ecosystem, iOS 7, and super-fast performance.
Thus it remains a matter of choice and the price you are willing to pay. In every respect, both these smartphones offer full value-for-money.
