I've been thinking about the whole Nexus 6/Nexus 5 conundrum for a couple of days now. The issue is that the Nexus 6 is a bit too big and expensive for some people, and even though the Nexus 5 will be sold alongside the Nexus 6, it doesn't look like it'll get a price cut even though it's a year-old phone. Now there's two price points for Nexus devices but a huge gulf between them in terms of size, specs and perceived value for money. But what if there was a third option?
In the lead up to the Nexus 6 reveal there were lots of benchmarks floating around for Shamu, the Motorola codename for the Nexus 6, that showed a 5.2-inch device. This is the device that may people wanted to see. But these same benchmarks also gave rise to the idea of a Nexus 5 (2014); simply a refresh of the current flagship. It looks like that isn't happening, but what if it had? Just how important are specs compared to design when it comes to new phones?
If Google had released an updated Nexus 5, with the same chassis, same screen size and heck, even the exact same screen, but with a faster processor and maybe an extra gig of RAM, would you buy it? Would everyone be upset that nothing had been done in terms of the design and feel of the device? Is this something that OEMs could actually look at as an option? Or is our lust for the new and improved too great to accept this? Is
We certainly hurl abuse at Samsung every time they release another lookalike device and I'd pretty much lost interest in Sony's design until the Xperia Z3 showed up with some new lines. But if a device as widely loved as the Nexus 5 reappeared with better internals would we be willing to forgive some design neglect for a low-cost but updated device? Even if LG did nothing other than replace the CPU, GPU and RAM I'd be interested and would probably be buying one right now.
Even if the same battery (which will benefit from the battery enhancements in Android 5.0) and the same less-than-perfect camera were included I'd still consider it a worthwhile purchase. But the question remains: would you buy it or consider it an insult? Just how much do you need to be ''new'' to make a phone worth your money? Let us know your opinion in the survey and add your thoughts to the comments below.