Google's Nexus 5 skimps on a few things to get to that juicy $350 price point without subsidies, and perhaps the most major one is its 2300 mAh battery capacity.
A brand new Nexus 5 with broken-in battery lasted 4 hours and 50 minutes on our standardized test, where the phones are running a taxing custom script with screens set at the same 200 nits brightness level. The results are in the ballpark of the Xperia Z1, iPhone 5s and Galaxy S4, but the Nexus 5 endurance is a far cry from the excellent 6 hours and 48 minutes of its forefather LG G2.
Granted, the G2 has a 3000 mAh unit, so its score is explicable, but what about the HTC One? It has the same 2300 mAh sealed battery unit capacity as the Nexus 5, yet lasts about 15% longer. All in all, the Nexus 5 battery test results are unimpressive, so almost daily charging would be the norm as with most smartphones. Still, the handset should get you through the working hours with normal usage, and that's what counts for decent battery life these days.
The handset's teardown showed that it is not overly hard to get to the battery and take it out with certain dismantling skills and a few tools handy, but that goes only for boosting its repairability score. This feat certainly doesn't count if you are the typical user handling a unibody Nexus 5 with embedded battery unit.
Are you surprised by the Nexus 5 battery test results, or is it about what you expected from the 2300 mAh juicer?
Nexus 5 battery life test
We measure battery life by running a custom script, replicating the power consumption of typical real-life usage.
| name | Time Higher is better |
| LG G2 | 6h 48 min |
| HTC One | 5h 45 min |
| Apple iPhone 5s | 5h 2 min |
| Samsung Galaxy S4 | 4h 59 min |
| Google Nexus 5 | 4h 50 min |
| Sony Xperia Z1 | 4h 43 min |
