Nexus 5 leaks: Here's everything we've dug up

So we can almost certainly say that the next Nexus smartphone will be manufactured by LG once again. After FCC filings revealed some of the specs of the next-gen Nexus, largely believed to be called Nexus 5, and this time we have clear pictures of the phone thanks to the regulatory body’s largesse.

The interesting bit here is that some images in the FCC filing are of the LG G2. There’s even a user manual for the variant of the smartphone heading to Verizon. Photos of a WLAN and Bluetooth test setup are also seen and these clearly show the LG G2 instead of the Nexus 5. These photos were taken in Korea, and have been included from the filing for the LG VS980, a phone heading to Verizon. So unless there was a major goof-up at the FCC, the Nexus 5 will be a variant of the G2. The earlier filing revealed radios that could work on AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. So it’s safe to say that the Nexus 5 will launch on all carriers.

The button-less front-face of the Nexus 5

Large camera sensor
An unusually large camera cutout on the back hints at a bigger sensor than the Nexus 4. It lines up with the image that was ‘accidentally’ leaked through an Android 4.4 Kit Kat promotional video shown by Google. There’s no Nexus branding, but the shape and the camera lens are unmistakably the same. While we don’t yet have a megapixel number, we can assume it will be more or less in keeping with the competition.

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The battery is a 2300 mAh unit

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Nexus 5 could have the same Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module as the G2, considering the evidence presented above. To refresh your memory, the G2 has Wi-Fi connectivity up to the ac band and dual-band support as well. It also comes with Bluetooth 4.0 which supports the LE standard needed for low power consumption during prolonged tethering, such as with smartwatches and of course, Google Glass.

Possible fingerprint sensor
Interestingly, the new photos show a square cutout near the top edge of the phone, which hint at a possible fingerprint sensor. A look at the exposed interior of the phone shows a corresponding sensor. So it looks like Google and Apple have been working on their own fingerprint-based sensors simultaneously. However, the cutout could just be there for the purpose of FCC’s tests.

If you recall, the G2 has the unusual button setup with the power button and volume controls sitting on the back underneath the camera. It could be possible that Google reworked the internal circuitry to service a fingerprint sensor instead of the function buttons. In any case, the power buttons and volume rocker of the Nexus 5 are clearly on the sides and not the back.

The Nexus 5’s internals exposed

Processor and RAM
If other specs such as processor and RAM are also shared with the G2 (and this is very likely given the Nexus 4 and the LG Optimus G’s connection) then we can expect the same Snapdragon 800 SoC as in the G2 and 2GB of RAM. That SoC has a CPU with four cores clocked at 2.2+ GHz. Needless to say, it’s the most powerful smartphone processor in the market today.

The volume rocker is on the left edge

Battery
The photos show the insides of the Nexus 5 with the battery holding on tightly even as the rest of the circuitry is taken apart. The battery on the Nexus 5 will definitely be the non-removable kind. In terms of capacity, we can see that it’s a 2300 mAh unit, a shade larger than the Nexus 4’s 2100 mAh battery.

Here’s another look at the FCC’s Nexus 5 pictures:

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We now have some idea about how the Nexus 5 looks and what its specs could be. And FCC filings usually mean that the announcement is around the corner. With Apple riding the iPhone 5S and 5C wave, Google would want to swiftly get the spotlight back on the Nexus brand. An October announcement cannot be ruled out.

Images: FCC